Parker PRIDE Winners
May 21, 2019
Congratulations to last week’s Parker PRIDE winners:
Izzie Behnke
Cameron Ashbaugh
Ben Kuhn-Syed
Alex Wardrop
Hayden Chong
James W. Parker Middle School’s Parker PRIDE program is a new program that launched from the school’s PBIS initiatives. Each week, five students will be recognized for exhibiting the positive behavioral expectations set. Students will be selected randomly from those who have earned “tickets” throughout the week. Students selected will choose an incentive from a list of five choices. This is only for grades 5 and 6.
GMHS students organize Senior Give Back Day
May 21, 2019
As members of the Class of 2019 near the end of their time at General McLane High School, they found a special way to go out with a “bloom”.
General McLane High School’s Principal’s Cabinet organized a “Senior Give Back Day” on Friday. Approximately 90 seniors volunteered to mulch, plant flowers and clean up to improve the image of General McLane High School’s campus.
“We have been so fortunate to attend General McLane High School for the last four years that we want to give back,” said Olivia Green, a Principal’s Cabinet member and one of the event’s organizer.
Students secured donations to help defray the costs of the needed materials. A big thank you to the following donors who helped students meet their goals:
- Utz
- J’s Mainstreet
- Scotland Yards
- Mary Morosky
- Steve & Tracy Halmi
- Wellman’s Trucking
- Lowe’s
- Weiss-Early Construction
- Karen Hodas
- Tim and Kris Thomas
- Katie Thompson
- Megan Green
- Kathy Kehl
- Allison Marendt
- Meghan Chelton
- GMHS Staff (Jeans Day)
- Deiss & Halmi Engineering
Some of the work completed by students included:
- Adding a chalkboard and seating to the amphitheater
- The Experience Academy created educational signs describing tree types. The signs were replaced with new ones and the posts were cemented.
- Students moved almost 60 yards of mulch for the rainwater retention area.
- The Education Center flower beds were weeded, mulched, and new flowers were added.
- A brand new flower bed was added to the front of the building and the planting on the south end was expanded and mulched. The seniors painted stones for each planting.
- Students removed sod from the front and Education Center sides of the building and put down a layer of mulch along the entire perimeter
According to Green, the organization hopes to expand the day in future years and invite the whole school to contribute giving back to both the towns of Edinboro and McKean.
General McLane High School’s Principal’s Cabinet is a group of students who help create a positive environment among students within the District. This group is an active member of the Positive Youth Development initiative. In fact, General McLane High School was the first school-based group to adopt the promotion of the 40 assets. The Cabinet has put on a variety of assemblies since it launched in 2007, including their annual “You Make a Difference” event.
Members of the Principal’s Cabinet include: Seth Myers, Eli Buto, Abraham Kozloff , Carlos Mamani, Spencer Conaway, Tyler Herberg, Olivia Green, Kaley Berger, Debbie Fiscus, Elizabeth Barringer, Taylor Thomas and Kendra Trezona.
See the Erie News Now Coverage
McKean students create hulu hoops for performance
May 17, 2019
McKean Elementary School students created their own Hulu hoops in preparation for their upcoming dance performance.
Retired teachers and volunteers assisted the second grade students in creating their own hula hoop.
Second graders have been learning basic dance concepts and many hula-hoop moves. McKean Elementary School welcomed artist Jennifer Dennehy to its building in March as part of the Erie Arts & Culture’s Artist-in-residency program. The Artist Residency Program is a collaboration between Erie Arts and Culture and General McLane, one that provides a professional artist(s) where the artist (s) works with a small group of learners over a period of time. General McLane’s residency was provided through an Erie Arts & Culture grant.
Through Dennehy’s time she will provide second graders with an opportunity to learn dance basics, hoop dancing, a dance routine and hoop art. The focus of program is on self-esteem, expression and staying healthy through a variety of mediums.
Students will showcase all of their hoop art and host a performance on Friday, May 24th.
SMORE Reading
May 17, 2019
There’s nothing quite like reading around a campfire. Just ask James W. Parker Middle School students, who recently finished reading their class book Brian’s Winter by Gary Paulsen.
Throughout the novel, fifth graders in Miss Stonis’ language arts classes read around a camp fire, each receiving a turn sitting in the tent (shelter). To celebrate the end of their class novel, the class made s’mores and enjoyed them around the camp fire.
Students were reminded that they need to do “SMORE READING” in order to maintain being excellent readers.
Parker PRIDE Winners
May 13, 2019
Congratulations to this week’s Parker PRIDE winners:
Kasey Ramey
Wyatt Spellman
Cassia Myers
Trent Dennis
Katherine Quinn
James W. Parker Middle School’s Parker PRIDE program is a new program that launched from the school’s PBIS initiatives. Each week, five students will be recognized for exhibiting the positive behavioral expectations set. Students will be selected randomly from those who have earned “tickets” throughout the week. Students selected will choose an incentive from a list of five choices. This is only for grades 5 and 6.
Moments with Mom
May 13, 2019
McKean Elementary School hosted its Moments with Mom on Friday to honor the special ladies in our students’ lives. Students brought in their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, big sisters and close friends to share with them their morning routine.
This event is sponsored by McKean Elementary School Parent Teacher Association (PTA). For more information on what they do, please see our website.
Lancer Legacy Honorees Announced
May 9, 2019
The 2019 Lancer Legacy Honorees have been selected. The 11th Annual Lancer Legacy Banquet will take place Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at McLane Church. This year’s banquet will honor Judy Lawrence (’62), Paul Riccomini (’88), Jan Bennett and Kay Pericak.
Two Distinguished Alumni Awards will be presented to Lawrence and Riccomini.
Lawrence worked in fundraising and giving for four different universities. Prior to retiring, she served as the Vice President of Major Gifts and Planning for United Way of Erie County. Outside of her work experience, Lawrence has given back through various community outreach, including the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Erie Insight (now Erie Ambassadors), Leadership Erie, the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the Nonprofit Partnership. She was the American Association of University Women’s 2015 Woman of the Year and was one of the Dynamic Dozen Women Making History Award recipients from the Mercy Center of Women in 2009.
Riccomini works at Penn State University as the Associate Professor of Education (Special Education) and Coordinator of Online Programs. Prior to joining Penn State, Riccomini worked as a mathematics teacher in Erie City School District and Wake County School District in North Carolina. He earned his doctorate in special education from The Pennsylvania State University and his master’s degree in education and Bachelor of Arts in mathematics at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. He has coauthored three math intervention programs targeting fractions, integers, and algebraic equations. Additionally, he is a co-author of the bestselling Response to Intervention in Math (Corwin, 2010) and Developing Number Sense through the Common Core (Corwin, 2013).
The Lancer Legacy Award for Distinguished Service to the General McLane School District will be awarded to Janice Bennett. Bennett worked as both a secondary health and Physical Education teacher and a High School Guidance Counselor at General McLane. Before retiring in 2005, Bennett was instrumental in developing the Student Support Program, which was the first of its kind in the area.
The Lancer Legacy Award for Distinguished Service to the General McLane Athletics will be awarded to Kay Pericak. Pericak served the General McLane School District as a mathematics teacher for 38 years, serving at McKean High School prior to McKean and Edinboro joining to form General McLane High School. She formed and served as the head varsity coach for the girls volleyball team in 1974, and took the Lancers to the State Championships in 1976. She also served as an assistant track and field coach and was part of the 1978 coaching staff of the team that earned a state championship.
These awards are presented during the Lancer Legacy Academic Banquet of Excellence. After the presentation of the Distinguished Alumni and Lancer Legacy Awards, the Annual Academic Awards Ceremony for students takes place.
The banquet starts at 6 p.m. and the Awards Ceremony starts at 6:45 p.m. Tickets to the banquet are $20. To reserve your ticket, please visit generalmclane.org or stop by the Education Center, 11771 Edinboro Road. For more information, please call 814-273-1033 x5901.
McKean seeking donations for Nature Trail
May 9, 2019
McKean Elementary Health and Physical Education teacher Lisa Roberts has always found ways to bring her avid outdoors enthusiasm to the classroom.
Since Roberts started at General McLane in 2011, she has incorporated nature walks within her kindergarten and first grade curriculum, providing elementary students with the opportunity to experience nature while practicing balance and proprioceptive skills from walking on different surfaces.
“I loved hiking and trails, and this was an opportunity to provide students with an active and engaging lesson on the elements of nature beyond the classroom walls,” Roberts says.
Well, things are about to get a little more scenic at McKean Elementary School. McKean Elementary will be creating the McKean Elementary Fitness and Nature Trail.
The new multipurpose trail will run along the back perimeter of McKean Elementary School and include areas for biking, climbing, balancing as well as interactive sensory experiences and so much more. All of the construction will be made out of natural materials like wood and rock. These areas will be able to be used for cross-curricular exploration.
“I am excited to really create something that will have a lasting impact on General McLane students and families for years to come,” Roberts says. “We are eager to create an engaging local experience for students to get outside and exercising with families and friends after school hours.”
There are six phases of this trail project totaling close to $40,000. Thanks to donations from McKean Elementary PTA and St. Francis Usher’s Club ($4,000), Phase 1 and 2 of the trail is expected to be complete this summer. This phase includes all the walking paths for the entire trail and the construction of the first obstacle station, an island/water themed station, which will combine balance with science and discovery.
The six phases of the project include: paths and walkways, science exploration, a bike area, pumpkin patch-obstacles, a climbing area and music/sound and sensory exploration. All areas will have designated spots for classroom utilization and for teachers to adapt their content through QR codes etc. They are also planning on emphasizing history and vegetation and wildlife specific to McKean to study. Dahlkemper’s Landscape Architects and Contractors will be constructing the trail.
Roberts found inspiration for the trail while visiting Presque Isle State Park’s Nature Play Space at Beach 11 in 2017.
“The Beach 11 project is very cool and all natural. I wanted to create something at McKean to be natural and blend with the tree line and keep in that theme of enjoying our natural habitat,” Roberts says.
McKean Elementary Parent Teacher Association fully supports this project and have helped by donating $15,000. They are currently seeking donations for the remainder of the project. In addition to monetary donations, they are also looking for material donations to help offset the costs. These donations include logs, rocks, mulch, a small bridge for the creek crossing and hardy, low maintenance plants.
Donation forms can be found here
Questions about the project, please contact Lisa Roberts at lisaroberts@generalmclane.org or (814) 273-1033 ext. 4020.
Fifth graders build bluebird boxes
May 8, 2019
James W. Parker Middle School students built their own bluebird habitats this week!
Fifth grade students in Mrs. Santos’ classroom built a bluebird nesting box, thanks to the Pennsylvania Wildlife Commission who donated the wood and hardware for 200 habitats. Students were able to take home their bluebird box to hang at home to help build Eastern Bluebird habitats in our area. This is the fourth year doing this lesson.
Wildlife conservation officers Mike Stutts and Cody Jones did a lesson with the students, helped them to build the habitats and then had students watch a video about the best places to hang their bluebird boxes. Mrs. Boyd, Mr. Boyd, Mr. Santos and Mr. McGahen volunteered their help.
This was part of the fifth grade science curriculum.
Making Connections with “Miracles on Maple Hill”
May 8, 2019
James W. Parker Middle School’s students recently spent a day making connections from Virginia Sorensen’s “Miracles on Maple Hill”.
Students in the fifth grade Reading Success class took a field trip last Friday to Hurry Hill Maple Farm, which has a museum completely dedicated to local history, particularly of former Edinboro resident and Newbury Medal award winner Virginia Sorensen.
The class first read the Newbury Medal award-winning book and then visited the museum, worked in the sugar shack, hiked in the woods and explored some of the nature described in detail throughout the book. After seeing how maple syrup is made, students then spent time exploring all of the artifacts and photos in the museum, all related to “Miracles on Maple Hill.” The students enjoyed seeing the people that inspired the characters in the book and getting to handle some of the pieces of equipment and artifacts from the book.
Hurry Hill Maple Farm owner Jan Woods let each student from the class hold the Newbury Medal that Virginia Sorenson won in 1957 for writing this children’s novel. Ms. Woods also took students on a bus tour around the district, pointing out sites from the book. The class ended the day with lunch at Charlie’s Pizza Pub, where the kids used their math skills when paying and applying a “tip,” followed by a quick visit to the local library.
This class is taught by Tiffany Brooks & and Pamela Glasl.
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