Children's Literature Project

For Mrs. Niebauer’s HS English/Enrichment class, I completed an Independent Research Project based on children’s literature.  To apply what I had been studying, I organized for the 9th and 10th grade English/Enrichment class to visit the Central Cambria Elementary School on April 3rd.  The class was divided into groups of 2 or 3 and sent to read several books to one of the four 1st grade and four 2nd grade classrooms.  Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes, Oh, The Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss, and Olivia by Ian Falconer are just a few examples of the stories the children heard.  After the high school students finished reading, they had a short discussion with the elementary students about how important reading is.  Also, because the 1st and 2nd grade students will be venturing into chapter books very soon, the high school students gave them specific tips on how to choose the best ones from the library.  For example, they suggested asking the librarian, friends or family, and picking books based on interests.  The elementary students seemed excited to have the 9th and 10th graders there with them, and the high school students looked as though they equally enjoyed themselves.

-Lindsey Monito

Rockin’ Out Cancer

Central Cambria’s National Honor Society students hosted their first ever Rockin’ Out Cancer Dance to benefit Relay for Life on March 26th.  The event helped to raise over $600 dollars towards this year’s Relay for Life contribution.  NHS advisor Mrs. Shirk stated, “I was so pleased with the turn out and support from not only the students but members of the district’s staff who offered to chaperone and donate items for the dance.”  The dance followed Central Cambria’s Relay for Life theme of the 50’s.
Students in attendance at the event were able to not only ‘rock out’ cancer by dancing the night away they also were able to participate in a hula hoop contest, limbo contest, as well as enjoy some cool refreshing root beer floats.  

The next effort that the National Honor Society will be conducting is their annual “Relay Day” held at the high school.  Students in grades 9-12 are able to have a fun-filled day that benefits the American Cancer Society.  This year’s plans for this annual event include: a basket raffle, faculty-student volleyball tournament, talent show, DJ, face and hair painting, guest speaker, and many other fun activities.  This year’s “Relay Day” is planned for Thursday, May 23rd.  As always, CCHS is appreciative of any monetary or basket donations used to support the cause.
If you are interested in making a donation, please contact Mrs. Shirk at mshirk@cencam.org.  

The National Honor Society’s efforts will culminate on June 8th as the NHS students and Central Cambria School District’s staff walks as a team for 24 hours during the Northern Cambria County Relay for Life held at the CCHS Track.  If you are interested in participating in this event, you can sign up as a walker on the American Cancer Society’s webpage.  Mrs. McDermott is impressed with the continual efforts of NHS students as they devote time and attention to so many positive initiatives throughout the school year.

CCHS Students Enter the Moody Mega Math Challenge

Under the direction of Dr. Joseph Karwoski, five students (Nathan Radebach, Mitchell Vogatsky, Phillip Miller, Alex Chiappini, and Wyatt Braniff) from CCHS joined 1,281 high-school teams (over 5,000 students) from 29 states on Sunday, March 3rd to compete on a real-world competition. Designed to pique high-schoolers' interest in real-world mathematics, the Internet-based Challenge gives participants 14 hours to solve a genuine problem that may be social, political, financial, or otherwise relevant to their lives using applications of mathematics.
This year’s problem was:  Waste Not, Want Not: Putting Recyclables in Their Place.

The problem is completely unknown to teams until they log on for the Challenge Day.  Teams download the problem at 7:00 a.m. and have until 9:00 p.m. that night to research the topic, gather data, develop assumptions and analyses, establish mathematical models, and present their findings, using help from any free, publicly available, and inanimate sources of information. Once all of the teams upload their solutions, the work begins for more than 80 PhD-level mathematicians, whose job it is to read and pare down the hundreds of submissions to just the very best that qualify for prizes. Judging occurs in three stages. The final rank order of the top six teams is determined at the third stage, which involves in-person presentations at Moody's Corporation headquarters in Manhattan in April. Winners receive scholarship prizes totaling $115,000.00 at an awards ceremony immediately following their presentations.

The M3 Challenge spotlights applied mathematics and computational science as powerful problem-solving tools and as practical courses of study and meaningful professions. Through participation in the Challenge, young people realize that math is not only useful, but fun.

Environment Studies in Grade Five

Students in grade five at Cambria Elementary have been studying about environments with the science modules they recently received from ASSET STEM Education. Funding for this unit of study was received from last year’s Supper for Science. The pictures below are of fifth grade students in Mrs. Long’s classroom with their live critters. Students had to create habitats for the critters as part of their scientific investigations.

CC Recognized as 2013 Best Communities for Music Education

Central Cambria has been recognized again this year by the National Association of Music Merchants as a 2013 Best Communities for Music Education. Congratulations to all of our music instructors for receiving this outstanding achievement.

Kathleen Farabaugh’s STORY ON-LINE at Green Screen Adventures

Congratulations to a second grade student at Cambria Elementary School! Kathleen Farabaugh's submission, “The Horse and the Girl” has been featured on Green Screen Adventures’ website!  GSA is a national series and website that features stories written and illustrated by students in first through eighth grade. Here is the direct link to her video:
http://greenscreenadventures.tv/the-horse-and-the-girl/

Fire Safety Presentation

Mr. Geoff Pablic visited second grade at Cambria Elementary to discuss fire safety with students. The children learned a lot from his presentation! The students and their teacher would like to thank Mr. Pablic for taking the time to stop by at our school and help our students to learn more about what they should do in an emergency situation.

Spanish Club

Studies have shown that the sooner children are introduced to a second language, the easier it is for them to grasp it. In order for students to learn the basics of a second language, and make an easier transition to learning Spanish in High School, Spanish Club was created at Jackson Elementary.

In Spanish Club, students met bi-weekly during lunch and learned basic vocabulary, sentence structure, punctuation, and a little about the culture. The lessons taught in those sessions were aligned with the first few chapters in their high school Spanish Book. Spanish Club was offered to 5^th grade students and the response was great. At Jackson Elementary a total of 24 students signed up, and were excited to attend. Students were broken into two groups of twelve in order to participate in a small group setting. Due to the large number of students who showed interest at Jackson Elementary, Spanish Club was expanded to Cambria Elementary. Spanish Club was also received very well by those 5^th grade students with a total of 46 students signed up. This created three groups of twelve and one group of ten. The totals from both schools make-up nearly half of their 5^th Grade class.

Students at both schools were wonderful to work with and always came willing and eager to learn. I was happy to have had the opportunity to work with a great group of students. I hope they will continue to take advantage of other enrichment activities they are offered in the future.

"Breakfast with the Easter Bunny" at Jackson Elementary School

This was the first annual "Breakfast with the Easter Bunny" at Jackson Elementary School. Thirteen Interact Club members came to Jackson Elementary School to help with this exciting event.

We want to thank Cody Mack, Nick Myers, Steven Papuga, Tyler Gironda, Sarah Hansen, Tayler Sechrengost, Lexi Murin, Katie Bracken, Tana Opdenhoff, Livi Lipnic, Kim Lloyd, Marci Wyland, and Kandace Long.

Over 150 elementary students ate breakfast and got pictures with the Easter Bunny and his friends, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Hello Kitty, and Scooby Do. The Easter Bunny and his friends and helpers 　held an Easter Egg Hunt with students in our Life Skills Classroom and handed a special treat to every student at Jackson Elementary School. Thanks also to Mrs. McDermott and Mr. Nik.

State/ National Qualifying Forensics Students

On March 22 and 23 Kara Gouchnour (poetry), Josh Hodgson (Impromptu), and Christoff Trexler (Radio Broadcasting) traveled to Susquehanna University to compete at the State level.  These students were chosen to complete at this event based on their performance at the State Qualifying Meet held at Richland High School on February 15^th.  This Memorial Day weekend Steve Sloan (Humorous Dramatic) and Josh Hodgson (Declamation) will travel with their coaches to Philadelphia where they will be competing at the National level.  CCHS has had a strong foundation in forensics as built by Ms. Marilyn Englehart. The last few years have been building years for new coaches Michelle Kokus and Michelle Shirk, but in true reflection of the students here at Central Cambria our students have continued to shine. 

Preparing Future Business Leaders

Kelli Ruiz, Director of Education for Junior Achievement of Western PA, conducted a training session for some of our high school students who have volunteered to teach economics lessons to our 6th grade middle school students.  Six groups of students are slated to teach one lesson a week over a 6 week time period.  Our student volunteerteachers will present a middle school program entitled "JA Global Marketplace" covering various concepts such as trade, markets, business practices, technology, and currencies.  They will also work to enhance students' skills in the areas of interpreting maps, charts, and globes as well as oral and written communication, working in groups, gathering and organizing information, in addition to critical thinking and enhancing math skills and calculations. Through continued efforts to enhance the Economics course at CCHS, Susan Dixon and Tom Aurandt were successful in having Mt. Aloysius College recognize the Economics class as equivalent to their Econ 201 class (Introduction to Economics) for dual enrollment purposes.

EASTER BUNNY VISITS CAMBRIA ELEMENTARY

The Easter Bunny and his Friends visited Cambria Elementary School during the students' lunch break on Thursday, March 28th. Several students from CCHS helped the Easter Bunny to distribute dozens of chocolate easter eggs to the children before they left for the Easter Vacation. The smiles on the students' faces tell a story....enjoy!
Happy Easter Everyone!
Dr. L

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