www.L-Spioneers.org

A Quarterly Publication of the Lampeter-Strasburg School District Fall 2009

1

L-S Senior Returns After Year Abroad

Last August, while most of her classmates were starting their junior year at Lampeter-Strasburg High School, 16-year old Alisha Ring was preparing to travel halfway around the world to live in Slovakia as a foreign exchange student. The trip was part of the Rotary International Student Exchange program.

From August 15, 2008 – June 29, 2009, Ring lived in the town of Piestany, located in the western part of Slovakia. While smaller in size than Lancaster, Ring said the landscape and weather were very similar to Lancaster County. Some of the staples of the Slovak diet were also similar, with potatoes and cabbage being primary ingredients of many dishes. Alisha said her host families were surprised to hear that she didn’t eat hot dogs and hamburgers all the time.

Ring spent most of her time in school. “I was very under the radar. When I didn’t know Slovak, I pretended I did and then when I did know it, I could speak it fi ne. Nobody really knew I was the exchange student until halfway through the year.” While learning to speak the language was her toughest challenge, learning to get around also proved to be interesting. Instead of the students moving from class to class, the teachers switched classrooms. Ring said her course load was pretty intense and included pre-calculus, physics, chemistry, biology, French, Slovak language and literature, world history, civics, and geography.

Ring kept busy outside of the classroom, too. Two days a week she played nine-pins (similar to bowling) with an after-school club. She also performed with a Slovak folk dancing troupe and was able to travel throughout Slovakia and other parts of Europe.

Now that she has returned to L-S for her senior year, Ring said that her year abroad has defi nitely infl uenced her plans for the future. “I’m really interested in learning about other cultures and languages.” After graduation, Ring hopes to attend the University of Pittsburgh and to study abroad again.

Inside This Issue:

• National Merit Semifi nalist - page 2

• Technology in the Classroom - page 3

• Calendar of Events - page 4

District to Hold Second H1N1 Vaccination Clinic for Students

Lampeter-Strasburg School District has tentatively scheduled a second H1N1 vaccination clinic for Tuesday, December 8, 2009. The voluntary clinic will be held at Lampeter-Strasburg High School next to the Performing Arts Center from 5:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. This clinic is only for students who attend Lampeter-Strasburg School District and who have already completed and returned an H1N1 vaccination consent form to their school nurse.

Vaccinations will be given according to the following schedule:

5:00 p.m. - Lampeter & Strasburg Elementary Schools5:45 p.m. – Hans Herr Elementary School6:30 p.m. – Martin Meylin Middle School7:00 p.m. – Lampeter-Strasburg High School

Those students who returned a consent form, but have not received the H1N1 vaccine, will receive their vaccination at this time. As a reminder, students nine and under need two doses of the H1N1 vaccine. Those students who received their fi rst vaccination on November 5, 2009 will receive their second vaccination at the December clinic.

Approximately 900 students pre-registered to receive the vaccine which is being given free of charge to all District students. The District vaccinated nearly 500 students at its fi rst clinic. Dr. Robert Frick, Superintendent, said, “Since school districts had quick access to the vaccines, sometimes quicker than it was available to physicians’ offi ces, I believed that it was important that we provide it for the parents in our community who wished to take advantage of it.” Based on the response, it appears many parents in the District agreed.

Hundreds of familes waited in line at the District’s voluntary H1N1 clinic on November 5. Unlike other parts of the country, most students were vaccinated within thirty minutes of their arrival time.

www.L-Spioneers.org

Lampeter-Strasburg School District

2

All District Schools Meet AYP…Again!

For the seventh consecutive year, the Lampeter-Strasburg School District has met all Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets in all of its schools. The purpose of AYP is to ensure that all students have reading and math skills that prepare them for the future. Adequate Yearly Progress measures whether schools and districts have met the improvement goals established by No Child Left Behind. To make AYP,students in the school or district must meet goals in all three areas: (1) Graduation and Attendance, (2) Academic Performance, and (3) Test Participation. Congratulations Pioneers!

L-S Senior Named National Merit

Semifi nalist

Lampeter-Strasburg High School Senior, Chelsey Ott has been named a National Merit Semifi nalist. Chelsey is the daughter of Jane and Timothy Ott of Strasburg. Her score is among the highest in Pennsylvania and across the country, and it represents less than one percent of all high school seniors who took the 2008 PSAT.

In addition to her classes at Lampeter-Strasburg High School, Chelsey is also studying Arabic at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster. She also excels outside of the classroom, where she is a member of the National Honor Society, the Lampeter-Strasburg Thespian Society, the Tri-M, the Madrigals, and participated in the fall play and spring musical. In addtiion, she was a 2009 Lampeter Fair Queen candidate and a member of this year’s homecoming court.

Three seniors have also been named as Commended Students by the National Merit Scholarship Program for their academic achievements. To receive this honor, these students needed to score among the top fi ve percent of those who took the 2008 PSAT. Those recognized were the following: Bryan Blackiston, son of Loretta and the late Paul Blackiston of Willow Street; Ronald Fox, son of Darlene and Ronald Fox of Strasburg; and Dylan Mikus, son of Lisa Bergeron and Kent Mikus of Lancaster.

Art has always been a part of 16-year old Neil Maser’s life. His mom, Gretchen, is a well-known local candle maker and his brother, Gavin, is a photographer. Now Neil is making a name for himself in the area of glassblowing, a passion he just discovered a little over a year ago. In fact, he’s perfected his craft so well, some of his work is already on permanent display at the new

Lancaster County Convention Center.

Two summers ago, Neil’s mom wanted him to take some art classes. The pair found GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading. The high school junior began taking classes in glassblowing and soon realized he had found his niche. “I love it! It’s so much fun.” Neil says he likes to do sculptures because no two pieces are ever the same. “Glassblowing is always a two-person job,” says Neil. It’s also very labor-intensive and of course, hot. The furnace which melts the glass is set at over 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Neil says, “I’ve never burned myself, but I have lost all my arm hairs and gone home with a bad sunburn.”

Neil now works with two other local glassblowers at Kevin Lehman Pottery in Lancaster. The trio work together on many different projects, including the piece on display at the Convention Center which features a giant glass rock wall in the hotel lobby. Neil says, “It looks cool. I really like it, and Mom’s really proud.”

As for the future, Neil hopes to go to the Tyler School of Art at Temple University to continue learning about glassblowing. Eventually he hopes to open his own studio.

To learn about the achievements other L-S students are making, be sure to check out our Web site, www.L-Spioneers.org and click on District News. You can also receive the latest District news delivered directly to your computer. Go to the District Web site for a quick and easy tutorial.

Student Spotlight: Through the Looking Glass

www.L-Spioneers.org

Lampeter-Strasburg School District

3

Six New Teachers Join District StaffLampeter-Strasburg School District is proud to welcome six new teachers to the staff for the 2009-10 school year.

Front Row (left to right): Shannon Metzler, (LTS) Mathematics, Martin Meylin; and Chelsea Mearig, (LTS) Language Arts, Martin Meylin

Back Row (left to right): Leah Panico, (LTS) Social Studies, L-S High School; Lynette Showers, (LTS) Spanish, L-S High School; William Sinopoli, Social Studies, L-S High School; and Pamela Brubaker, (LTS) Mathematics, L-S High School

Walnut Run School: Preserving A Piece of L-S HistoryRenovations are nearly complete for the Walnut Run School. The school, which is part of the Lampeter-Strasburg School District, is reported to have been the last one-room public school in Pennsylvania until it closed in 1994. “One room schools, like Walnut Run, provided education in America for over 100 years, and our nation prospered under the leadership of many famous Americans who received their education in this type of structure,” said L-S Superintendent, Dr. Robert Frick.

Over the last year, a group of local contractors and members of the L-S staff, Glenn Davis, Charles Daubert, Roy Gerlach, Don Henry, Sharon Peters, Ben Rice, and Matt Tracy completed several projects. Work was done, both inside and outside of the school building, which included giving the walls and trim a fresh coat of paint,

refi nishing the original hardwood fl oors and antique desks, and installing a new pot belly stove. The school was also completely rewired, insulation was added, and a new furnace was installed.

There are still several projects that need to be completed before the school is considered completely refurbished, a major job involving the re-pointing of the school’s brick façade. The school had its fi rst “unoffi cial” debut in October when members of the Lampeter-Strasburg School Board held a Workshop meeting at the school. Frick hopes the Board members are the fi rst of many who will use the school. “I would hope that our local history classes and those who study the history of Lancaster County will have an opportunity to experience what it was like to attend this type of school, one that is very different than the modern buildings that we have today.”

Technology in the Classroom…Learning A-ZWhen it comes to technology, it’s not surprising that children can sometimes know more about it than their parents. One reason is because technology is becoming a vital part of today’s classrooms. Recently, the District purchased a new software program called, Learning A-Z. The software will be used by teachers at Lampeter, Strasburg, and Hans Herr Elementary Schools. The software is divided into six modules, Vocabulary A-Z, Writing A-Z, Science A-Z, Reading A-Z, Reading Tutor, and RAZ Kids. Teachers will be able to use the programs to create customized lessons. All of the modules provide teachers with instant access to thousands of printable books, worksheets, lesson plans, and assessments.

Jackie Potter, kindergarten teacher at Lampeter Elementary School, is already familiar with part of the program. Last year she encouraged her students to use RAZ Kids at home. The interactive Web site is designed to help students improve their reading skills. Students log onto the online bookroom, fi nd a book on their reading level, and then choose whether they want to read a book with help, read independently, or listen to a story. Potter says that many of her students used the site not only during the school year, but also this past summer. Now she’s looking forward to incorporating RAZ Kids into her classroom curriculum.

WkbatesRpwa

J

yy

www.L-Spioneers.org

Lampeter-Strasburg School District

School Board Members

Mr. James H.Byrnes, PresidentDr. Richard A. Graff, Jr., Vice PresidentMr. G. Scott Riekers, TreasurerMrs. Melissa S. Herr Mr. John E. Hults Mr. Jeffrey A. Mills Mrs. Rebecca F. NeimerMrs. Patricia M. Pontz Mr. Philip R. Wimer

SuperintendentRobert A. Frick, Ed.D.

Pioneer Review StaffEditor: Kristle F. EvansWriter/Designer: Julie E. McCrary Printer: Cooper Printing

Non-Profi t OrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDLancaster, PA 17604

Permit 242

Lampeter-Strasburg School DistrictP.O. Box 4281600 Book Road.Lampeter, PA 17537-0428717-464-3311

Five Inducted Into Athletic Hall of Fame

Nearly 100 guests celebrated the induction of fi ve new members into the Lampeter-Strasburg Athletic Hall of Fame on September 25, 2009.

Honored at the reception and football game were the fi ve inductees – Mark Overly, Jana Kauffman Smith, Jared Schnapf, Kelly Zander Black, and Mary Hoover, posthumously.

To learn more about these former L-S athletes, go to www.L-Spioneers.org.

Calendar of Events12/3 – 12/5 Martin Meylin Musical

HS Performing Arts Center7:00 p.m.

12/10 Grade 6 Holiday ConcertHS Performing Arts Center7:30 p.m.

12/11 Grade 5 Holiday ConcertHS Performing Arts Center7:30 p.m.

12/15 Grade 7&8 Holiday ConcertHS Performing Arts Center7:30 p.m.

12/17 Alumni Visits -LSHS2:00 p.m.

12/22 LSHS Holiday ConcertHS Performing Arts Center7:30 p.m.

12/24 – 1/3 Winter Vacation1/18 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Teacher Inservice Day1/26 Teacher Inservice Day

**Date may vary depending on snow days**

1/30 District Chorus FestivalHS Performing Arts Center7:00 p.m.

Mission StatementThe Lampeter-Strasburg School District recognizes that each child has unique abilities, talents, and needs. The District is committed to providing, in an accountable partnership with the parents and the community, opportunities for each learner to acquire the knowledge, skills, and values to become a responsible, productive citizen.