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Owen J. Roberts senior Liam Conway to run in Nike Cross Nationals | Pioneer Athletic Conference
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Teacher Contributes to Inquirer
Mr. Clifford Hall, Strings Specialist at Owen J. Roberts teaching at North Coventry and East Vincent Elementary Schools, penned a fascinating article for the Philadelphia Inquirer about a boutique vintage instrument shop in Philadelphia.
Read the article: http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/music/want-to-see-some-really-old-martin-guitars-this-philly-shop-hosts-a-rare-exhibition-this-weekend-20171130.html?photo_1
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Welcome Mr. DeAngelis to North Coventry
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Horticulture Students Decorate Welkinweir Mansion
A group of high school horticulture students decorated the great room of the local Welkinweir house for their holiday open house to be held Saturday, December 9 from 3:00 until 7:00 p.m.
The estate looks festive thanks to a community of volunteers. A group of talented OJR students decorated the living room. The Herb Society transformed the Pine Room and the Conestoga Garden Club decorated the front entrance and entrance hall. The Green Valleys and Welkinwier events committee put a festive spin on the picturesque dining room.
Welkinweir is a 197-acre oasis of natural beauty featuring a 55-acre arboretum and historic estate house, as well as ecologically diverse wetland, meadow, and woodland habitats. The property is a living laboratory for the study of ecological issues, sustainability, and land stewardship, offering inspiration and education for visitors and community members. Welkinweir is the home of Green Valleys Association, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to protect and preserve the water resources of Northern Chester County through advocacy and education.
Visitors are welcome on Saturday!
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Computer Science Education Week
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| At West Vincent, Mrs. Ippolitto’s grade six students introduced coding to Mrs. Orso’s grade one students, then helped them create code in an iPad program of their choice |
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| Mrs. Bilotta's first grade class gains coding skills |
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| EC Grade 4 students use Hour of Code resources |
In Kelly Loomis’ third grade, they had fun with an “unplugged” coding relay getting them ready to more fully understand the code commands they would use later in the week with Block Island on the iPads.
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| Unplugged! |
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| Making coding fun |
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| A lot of excitement during a coding relay! |
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13th Annual Senior Citizen Day
About 135 honored guests from the Owen J. Roberts community visited the high school today for a concert by the High School Concert Choir and Jazz Bands. The Anchor Club sponsored a holiday tea immediately following the concert. Wildcat Ambassadors were on hand to assist and serve guests. During the teach the Freshman Choir and String Orchestra performed.
Many thanks to club members, faculty advisors and directors, and high school faculty and staff who contributed time and talents for today's event.
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Tree Festival Makes Season Bright
Scores of seasonal shoppers avoided mall traffic by attending the second annual Tree Festival at the Wyndsor Farm during the season's first gentle snowfall on Saturday, December 9.
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| Photo courtesy of Jessica Marzella |
The event, which benefits Owen J. Roberts Ed Foundation and Friends of the Arts, is a fundraiser that makes the season bright for all. Generous local businesses donated to decorate themed Christmas trees and stockings which were raffled through ticket sales. Raffle winners won the entire tree from hand-made skirt to tree topper. The assortment of trees was valued at over a thousand dollars. Cards of 20 raffle tickets could be purchased for $20. Some favorite themed trees included:
· Lego Tree--- Clever ornaments made from Legos with Lego play sets under the tree!
· Penn State Tree--- This tree is dedicated to the #1 PSU Fan! LOTS of Penn State Swag.
· Night Out Tree-- donned with gift cards to some amazing local and national businesses: Kimberton Inn, Severn Stars, Cheesecake Factory, St. Peter's bakery, Starbucks, Coventry Pub, Kimberton Whole Foods, just to name a few!
· Golf Tree----Green Fees to some of the best golf courses/country clubs in our area!
· Sweets Tree--- The sugar plum fairies will LOVE this confectionery creation!
· Seafood Tree-- Complete with gift cards to have a seafood feast at home from Mosteller's Seafood, Captain Chuckies or enjoy a meal at Bonefish Grill.
In addition to hot cocoa, twinkling lights, a crackling fire, and soft fallen snow, captivating melodies of the season radiated from the rafters with performances by middle and high school choral groups. The great event for families included "take home crafts" and time with Santa. OJR graduate and children's book author/illustrator Mark C. Collins offered a reading of his book “The Christmas Cookies". Mr. Collins has published 8 books that were available for sale the day of the event.
Handmade ornaments created by our elementary school children adorned trees and were available for sale. A tempting assortment of sweets was baked by students from the middle & high school family & consumer sciences.
Proceeds from the event enhance programs for Owen J. Roberts students.
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Students Introduced to Infinite Possibilities
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| In this special Hour of Code edition of Box Island, students learn the basics of algorithms, sequences, loops and conditionals |
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| Ozobot is a tiny robot with infinite coding possibilities |
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| In this "unplugged" activity, students had to give clear and concise verbal instruction |
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| Using the principal of basic directions to understand algorithms |
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| Animation activities were a lot of fun |
The fourth grade team at West Vincent Elementary held an hour of code on Monday, November 11th. In the morning, students skyped with a Computer Engineer. Then, students participated in three different hour of code rotations.
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| Learning animation strategies |
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OJR is one of 447 school districts in the U.S. and Canada to be named to AP Honor Roll
Owen J. Roberts School District Placed on the College Board’s 8th Annual AP®District Honor Roll for Significant Gains in Student Access and Success
447 School Districts across the U.S. and Canada Are Honored
Pottstown, PA —Owen J. Roberts School District is one of 447 school districts in the U.S. and Canada being honored by the College Board with placement on the 8th Annual AP® District Honor Roll. To be included on the 8th Annual Honor Roll, Owen J. Roberts School District had to, since 2015, increase the number of students participating in AP while also increasing or maintaining the percentage of students earning AP Exam scores of 3 or higher. Reaching these goals shows that this district is successfully identifying motivated, academically prepared students who are ready for AP.
Dr. Susan Lloyd, Owen J. Roberts School District Superintendent-elect, offered, “Having achieved this honor five times, our high school has clearly demonstrated an ongoing commitment to helping more students learn at a higher level.”
“Congratulations to all the educators and administrators in this district who have worked to clear a path for more students of all backgrounds to participate and succeed in AP,” said Trevor Packer, head of AP and Instruction. “These educators and administrators are fostering a culture in their schools and classrooms that allows students to face new challenges and build the confidence to succeed.”
Helping more students learn at a higher level and earn higher AP scores is an objective of all members of the AP community, from AP teachers to district and school administrators to college professors. Many districts are experimenting with initiatives and strategies to see how they can expand access and improve student performance at the same time.
In 2017, more than 4,000 colleges and universities around the world received AP scores for college credit, advanced placement, or both, and/or consideration in the admissions process. Inclusion in the 8th Annual AP District Honor Roll is based on a review of three years of AP data, from 2015 to 2017, looking across 38 AP Exams, including world language and culture. The following criteria were used.
Districts must:
- Increase participation/access to AP by at least 4% in large districts, at least 6% in medium districts, and at least 11% in small districts;
- Increased or maintained the percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students taking exams and increased or maintained the percentage of American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander students scoring 3+ on at least one AP Exam; and
- Improve or maintain performance levels when comparing the 2017 percentage of students scoring a 3 or higher to the 2015 percentage, unless the district has already attained a performance level at which more than 70% of its AP students earn a 3 or higher.
Owen J Roberts School District is highlighted for achieving these outcomes among an AP student population in which 30% or more are underrepresented minority students (American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander) and/or 30% or more are low-income students (students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch).
The complete 8th Annual AP District Honor Roll can be found here: https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/score-reports-data/awards/honor-roll
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Sea Urchin In-vitro
On November 15, students in Mrs. George's Genetics class learned about meiosis, mitosis, and model organisms by performing in vitro fertilization with sea urchins.
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DECA Results
DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. Results from DECA District Competition on Wednesday, December 13, are in. Approximately 300 students competed from many local public and private schools in the area. The following OJRHS students may be congratulated:
Lexi Ramsey, 2nd place in Apparel and Accessories Marketing
George Kullen, 3rd place in Accounting Applications
Sean Zubey, 4th place in Accounting Applications
Jared Folsom, 1st place in Automotive Services Marketing
Stephen Giacoponello, 4th place in Automotive Services Marketing
Jon Arditi, 1st place in Business Financial Services
JP Duffy, 2nd place in Business Financial Services
Alekya, Srinivasan, 5th place in Business Financial Services
Theo Damiani, 1st place in Business Services Marketing
Taylor Severn, 4th place in Business Services Marketing
Sriya Jonnadula, 1st place in Entrepreneurship Individual Series
Kira St. Clair, 4th place in Entrepreneurship Individual Series
Shivani Praveen, 5th place in Entrepreneurship Individual Series
Jordan Roach, 1st place in Food Marketing Series
Quentin Sherwood, 4th place in Food Marketing Series
Annie Arditi, 6th place in Hotel Lodging Management
Eric Friedemann, 2nd place in Human Resource Management
Ava Destefano, 6th place in Human Resource Management
Gavin Delahaye, 1st place in Marketing Communication Series
Max Murphy, 4th place in Marketing Communication Series
Lucas Gray, 2nd place in Quick Serve Restaurant Management
Derek Monastra, 3rd place in Quick Serve Restaurant Management
Aaron Jeong, 1st place in Restaurant and Food Serve Management
Zach Kardos, 1st place in Retail Merchandising Series
Jackson Braun, 1st place in Sports and Entertainment Marketing
Michael Giacoponello, 2ndplace in Sports and Entertainment Marketing
Nidhi Rupani and Maddi Koury, 2ndplace in Business Law and Ethics Team
Mike Dietrich and Graham Pugh, 1stplace in Buying and Merchandising Team
Gus Coroniti and Dan Frisk, 3rdplace in Entrepreneurship Team
Andrew Malmstrom and Carter Niness, 2ndplace Hospitality Services Team
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Students Get the Beat with Beet Box
High school students could get the "beet" during lunch last week.
The AP computer Sci classes set up Raspberry Pi demos during Computer Science Education Week in the cafeteria (during all lunches) making a BeetBox. The Raspberry Pi is a tiny computer that may be used to learn programming through fun, practical projects. A BeetBox is a simple instrument that allows users to play drum beats by touching actual beets. It is powered by a Raspberry Pi with a capacitive sensing board and an audio amplifier in a hand-made wooden enclosure.
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Search for Best Holiday Cookie
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| Special guest judge, Dr. Lloyd, gets teased a bit about interrupting baking times with snow delays/dismissals |
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Operation Angel Tree
Toys for Tots, Pennies for Patients and Dollars for Doggies are some of the other winter holiday service projects happening in our schools this season as students think about caring for one another.
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Dr. Susan T. Lloyd Sworn into Office
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| Mrs. Melissa Booth, Dr. Susan Lloyd and Mrs. Heather McCreary |
Congratulations to Dr. Susan Lloyd, who was sworn into office today for the role of Superintendent of Owen J. Roberts School District by President Judge Jacqueline Carroll Cody at Chester County Court of Common Pleas, West Chester, Pennsylvania. In attendance were Board of School Directors Mrs. Melissa Booth, President, and Mrs. Heather McCreary, Vice President.
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Jolly Big Guy in Tiny House
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| The build started indoors fall 2016. Modular units were assembled on a trailer in June 2017. The roof was installed Nov. 2017. Electrical and wiring will be accomplished with TCHS today. |
It’s a giant week for the tiny house! The compact living quarters will be wired in time for holiday décor worthy of accepting a big-time visitor—Santa Claus! The jolly guy in red will arrive on Thursday evening, December 21, at approximately 5:00 p.m. to greet the house’s first official visitors. Guests may plan to “tour” the tiny house and visit Santa prior to the 7:00 p.m. annual Band/Orchestra Holiday Concert. This year’s Distinguished Alumni and Community Service Awards sponsored by the Owen J. Roberts Education Foundation will be presented at the concert. The concert will feature the High School Orchestra, High School Jazz Band, and High School Concert Band. Admission is free and a fun night of music to put you in the holiday spirit.
Construction of the tiny house is a multi-year STEAM Club project which began in the fall of 2016 with a $1,000 grant from the Education Foundation. As part of the tiny house movement, an architectural and social movement to live small, the house was custom-sized to fit on a tandem-axel trailer base. On Wednesday, December 20, the house will experience its first move on wheels as it is towed from the back of the high school to be staged at the front of the school for its reveal.
Come out and share in the excitement of the newly-wired and positioned tiny house! The STEAM club, the Owen J. Roberts Education Foundation, the High School Bands and Orchestra, and Santa all look forward to visitors on Thursday, December 21, outside the band wing at the front of the high school.
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Travis Brown is Student of the Month at TCHS
Travis Brown is a senior from the Owen J. Roberts School District who has attended TCHS fulltime for three years. He is enrolled in the Robotics and Avionics program. This straight A student has perfect attendance.
Further accomplishments include:
· Cooperative Education student @ BOY Machines
· National Technical Honor Society
· SkillsUSA member
· Distinguished Honor Roll student
· Student rep at TCHS Career Expos
"Travis is an outstanding young man. He is courteous and polite. He is always professional and a great representative of TCHS," says Tom Mable, Instructor, Robotics & Avionics.
After graduation, Travis plans to continue employment with BOY Machines building injection molding machines. Cooperative Education instructor Mr. Lew Gordner reports that Travis Brown has been doing his co-op at BOY Machines Inc. for about one year now. Over that time period Travis has done an excellent job at BOY Machines. His monthly co-op evaluations have indicated that Travis is extremely dependable and has done a great job learning the specific tasks related to servicing and maintenance of the different types of Mold Injection Machines developed by this company. Brian Towler, National Service & Training Manager at BOY Machines Inc., commented, "Travis is a phenomenal worker.”
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Distinguished Alumni and Community Service Awards
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| Dr. Kathleen Hocker, Director OJR Ed Foundation, Mr. Richard Wells, Mrs. Elizabeth Wells, Mrs. Holly Miller, Mr. Ron Miller, Dr. Rod Gabel, Ed Foundation |
On Thursday, December 21, the Owen J. Roberts Education Foundation presented the annual Distinguished Alumni and Community Service Awards. The Distinguished Alumni was awarded to Richard G. Wells (Class of 1954) and Elizabeth J. Wells (Class of 1956). Richard and Elizabeth Wells combined nearly 80 years as educators before retiring. Through the years, Mr. and Mrs. Wells influenced scores of students to aspire for excellence. Residing in the Owen J Roberts community, they remain committed to supporting students in various educational programs. Richard and Elizabeth Wells created the Instrumental Music Scholarship Fund awarded during the annual commencement exercises at Owen J. Roberts High School.
The 2017 Owen J. Roberts Community Service Award was presented to Holly and Ron Miller.Holly and Ron are co-founders of ‘In Ian’s Boots, Inc.’, a non-profit organization that provides shoes and boots to those in need. They have taken a tragic event in their lives, the loss of their only child who was killed in a sledding accident, and found a way to turn that dark day into an amazing bright spot for the Owen J. Roberts community and beyond. To date, they have donated shoes to 3,242 individuals in the tri-county area and over 150,000 pairs of shoes to 32 countries around the globe!
The Owen J. Roberts Education Foundation encourages excellence among students and faculty by providing funding for activities that are innovative in nature and compliment the basic classroom educational experience.
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Girls of Color Career Fair
The Middle School held its first ever Girls of Color Career Fair the week prior to winter break. Professional women came in for a round table with middle school girls on the unique experiences of being both a woman and a non-white woman as it relates to education, society, and the workplace. The interactive panel featured professional women of color from our community who provided various experiences and voices. They encouraged each student to find her voice and find the self love that will help each individual to build a strong foundation for success in life. The professional contributors traveled from as far as Baltimore and Center City and represented careers which included a medical practitioner, a college dean, an entrepreneur, master's program students and an artist.
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Audience with Senator Rafferty
The Watery Wizards of Oz, as the team is called, became active citizens as a direct result of the research for their problem (the project portion of the challenge). They found out that the issue of safe medicine disposal was much bigger than just how disposed medicines might affect water quality. This group of fourth, fifth and sixth grade students began to understand that medicine disposal was also a key component in the opioid crisis. "We don't want to grow up in an environment where this problem is going on," the team said. So they began a public health campaign and started contacting local politicians for support and caught the attention of Senator John Rafferty.
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