Western Wayne Parent/Guardian Survey

Recently, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) released preliminary guidance for the phased reopening of Pre-K to 12 schools. Western Wayne School District intends to consider all of the guidelines put forth by PDE, CDC, and the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Our goal is to welcome students back to school in the fall. Surely, the safety of our students along with continued excellence in education will by our top priorities.

We are asking all parents/guardians to complete the following survey to assist us in the planning of the reopening of schools for the 2020-2021 school year. If you are unable to complete the survey online, please contact the District Office at 1-800-321-9973.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSde6e9DjPmojCnDAFdao9eM1FTXQx0Dbk_rLN4xN6BWTMoNuQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Responses will be collected through July 1, 2020.

PA Support & Referral Helpline

The Department of Human Services (DHS) launched a statewide Support & Referral Helpline staffed by skilled and compassionate staff who will be available 24/7 to assist Pennsylvanians struggling with anxiety and other challenging emotions due to the COVID-19 emergency and refer them to community-based resources that can further help to meet individual needs.

The toll-free, round-the-clock support line is officially operational.
The number to call is 1-855-284-2494.
For TTY, dial 724-631-5600.

To create and staff the support line, DHS has partnered with the Center for Community Resources (CCR), an experienced regional crisis and call center provider based in Butler County and licensed to provide crisis services.

CCR staff are trained to be accessible, culturally competent, and skilled at assisting individuals with mental illness, intellectual disabilities, co-occurring disorders and other special needs. Staff use the principles of trauma-informed care to listen, assess needs, triage calls, and provide appropriate referral to community resources to children, teens, adults and special populations.

CCR will collaborate with individuals, families, police, emergency medical teams, hospitals, schools, and human service providers on the local level to provide quality care to their community members.

Many other resources also remain available to Pennsylvanians in need of support, including:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Nacional de Prevención del Suicidio: 1-888-628-9454
Crisis Text Line: Text “PA” to 741-741
Veteran Crisis Line: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Disaster Distress Helpline: 1-800-985-5990
Get Help Now Hotline (for substance use disorders): 1-800-662-4357
Pennsylvania Sexual Assault Helpline: 1-888-772-7227
National Domestic Violence Helpline: 1-800-799-7233

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Free Meals

In an effort to minimize travel for families, we will no longer serve meals five days per week. However, families will still receive meals for all five days. Starting Monday April 6, breakfast and lunch meals will be provided at RDW and Evergreen Elementary Schools from 11:00 am -12:30 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.
Multiple meals will be distributed on Tuesdays and Thursdays to cover the next day.
We encourage families to continue to be proactive in reducing the risk of Coronavirus by not congregating at the pickup site once meals have been distributed. Please continue to wash your hands often and stay home if you are sick.

Western Wayne Students Learning Through STEAM

Designing balloons worthy for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and constructing a house that could withstand the big bad wolf’s huffing and puffing are just  two applications of STEAM that Western Wayne teachers tested out in their classrooms this year.

          Elizabeth Watson, Western Wayne principal of STEAM, explained how STEAM is working at the district this year.  Watson was recently selected STEAM Ambassador for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

          “I have been working in the classrooms with teachers and designing lessons to help them come up with other ideas on their own,” Watson said.  “It all boils down to project-based learning.”

          Western Wayne fifth grade teacher Joanne Connolly did a STEAM project with her students at Evergreen Elementary that was a week-long problem-solving activity called “Balloons Over Broadway.”

          Connolly described the event.  “Due to a helium shortage, the students were then tasked with engineering a new way to keep the balloons afloat without helium,” she said.  “We incorporated science by learning about the properties of helium and its importance in many applications other than balloons.  Students learned that helium is used in the cooling process for the magnets in an MRI machine, for example.”

          Connolly gave more information about the week-long event.  “Students then worked in small groups to engineer a design to keep their balloon afloat,” she said.  “Next, a parade was held, and students then voted for the most creative balloon and the most functional design.”

          Connolly and her students were both very excited about the results of their STEAM project.

          “As a teacher it is exciting to watch the students problem-solve and work collaboratively for a common goal,” she explained.  “The incorporation of STEAM into our classrooms has sparked a new excitement for learning, tremendous conversations, and more students getting to share their unique talents.”

          Watson agrees that the STEAM lessons this year are really engaging the students.

          “Kids are loving the things we are doing,” Watson explained.  “It is good motivation for them to work hard in class.”

          Another Western Wayne elementary school teacher Sarah Wood, from Robert D. Wilson Elementary, has also been incorporating STEAM in her classroom.

          Wood explained how the students did a The Three Little Pigs unit and used STEAM.  “We start each unit reading the book, then identifying a problem or science element,” she explained.  “After The Three Little Pigs, we talked about wind and what made the different materials in the book hardier to the wolf’s attempts at knocking them down.”

          Wood further explained the students’ STEAM work.  “The students then experimented with hay, sticks, and bricks  to see which were more easily blown away by their breath.  Their final project was to build a house that could stay standing when blown with a hair dryer.”

          Wood’s students also completed another STEAM project.

          “The second unit was the Gruffalo.  Students programmed robot mice to make their way through a maze and past the characters that wanted to hunt it down,” she explained.  “We started the programming with paper arrows, then gradually introduced punching code into the mice.”

          In addition, Wood described another STEAM project in her class.

          “Another unit was on the Gruffalo’s Child.  In this unit, we looked at shadows,” she explained.  “We experimented with making shadows on the wall and then built a shadow box theater from cereal boxes and wax paper to retell the story to the parents.”

          Wood truly believes that her students benefit from STEAM.

          “I believe that STEAM can give different students a chance to shine,” Wood explained.  “I did a coding lesson with first grade this year as part of the Pennsylvania CS grant initiative, and it was fun to see students who struggle with reading or math discover that part of learning that comes naturally to them.  They became the experts to their friends and were able to be the ones who shared knowledge instead of being the receiver.”

          Watson is thrilled that students in Wood’s classes and so many others in the Western Wayne School District are benefiting from learning through STEAM.  She explained that thinking through STEAM lessons can be helpful to students in today’s day and age.

          “Today’s students understand what ‘debugging’ means,” Watson explained.  “Through STEAM students learn that stumbling blocks are part of the process of learning.  They essentially learn about revision and how sometimes the only way to fix or improve something is by toiling and persevering through it.  Creating inventions in the real world is a process that takes years, and students can learn this concept through STEAM.”

          Watson feels excited that so many Western Wayne students are being exposed to lessons and projects associated with skills needed for possible careers in STEAM areas that they may want to pursue.

          “There are so many jobs that are available in technology fields, engineering fields, etc.,” Watson said.  “The sooner they get a feel for what they like then we can tie it in other places and set them on a career path early on.”

K-9 units for educational purposes at EverGreen Elementary

On Wednesday, January 15, 2020, third grade at EverGreen Elementary had the opportunity to continue their learning about K-9 units for educational purposes and a career connection. Their current English-Language Arts story is about K-9 units and their partners. Axel, an 18 month old Giant Schnauzer, is an officer for the Carbondale Police Department. He was accompanied by Carbondale Police Officer Robert Williams (handler) and Officer Brittany Mang. The presentation included learning about the extensive training Axel has gone through such as tracking suspects, searching for narcotics, and helping to protect other officers. Students were shown how Axel can do each job. Officer Williams spoke with the students about these jobs and listened to students as they were able to compare Axel to the dog they read about in their story. Two of the most interesting parts for students was to see that Axel isn’t one of the common breeds of dogs to become a K-9 officer which is usually a Labrador Retriever or German Shepard. Axel can also take commands from multiple languages (English, German, and Italian) as each means a different task for Axel such as work or play time. The EverGreen third grade thanks Officer Williams, Officer Mang, and Axel for their time!

EverGreen Student Council adds Wildcat colors to Christmas Tree

The EverGreen Student Council (Maria Gadous, Justin Jimenez, Cameron Press, Leighna Narvaez, President Skyla McGuire, and Isabella Kolp) added some Wildcat colors to the tree at EverGreen. Jason Vass and Sophia Floros are absent from the photograph.

EverGreen Students thank PTA for Pride

The EverGreen Elementary Student Council and student body would like to say “thank you” to the PTA for this year’s holiday gift so students can show their pride!