PASC News Inside This Issue • News & Notes..................2 • Dale Hawley Award Winners Named • R.J. Long Named Linda Greb Award Winner • 2010 Middle Level Reps and Advisors Chosen • Celebrity Councils: Celebrate! Highlights..............3 • PASC Advisors of the Year Selected .............................4 • PASC Raises a Quarter of a Million “For the Kids........5 • Holly Days Activity..........5 • National Student Council News in Brief.....................6 • LEAD Conferences Offer New Programs • NASC Conference Trip • Souper Bowls for the Local Food Pantry .....................7 • Bob Tryanski Named Earl Reum Award Winner.......7 • State Board of Education November Meeting ........8 • Alumni Partners Give Back to PASC..............................8
Volume 34 Issue 4 December 2009
Student Summit in February to Focus on State Issues Student Voices Need to be Heard as the Race for Governor Begins The 13th annual PASC Student Summit in Harrisburg will concentrate on state issues as the search begins for Pennsylvania’s next Governor. What will happen in Pennsylvania in the next five years will be the focus of the Summit. Student ideas and concerns will be shared with Governor Rendell as he begins his final year as the leader of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. What do students whose schools are members of PASC want to share with our commonwealth’s next chief executive as he or she begins his or her four-year term in 2011?
other than that of lunch, which they obtain on their own.
For the past 12 years, the Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils has taken the initiative to bring together approximately 150–200 student leaders in Pennsylvania for a discussion of critical issues facing the youth of our state. In partnership with PennCORD, this program is held in the State Capitol and will be a major civic engagement initiative in Pennsylvania for students in grades 9–12. There is no cost to the students or to the faculty sponsor or parent who accompanies them to Harrisburg
• Rebuilding of our State Infrastructure (including bridges, highways, and mass transit)
The 2010 program format will allow student leaders to develop, debate, and present resolutions on five major areas of concern to all Pennsylvanians. Issue areas will include but are not limited to: • Education • Energy and Environment • Healthy Lifestyles • Economic Development/ State Budget and Funding
• A work session in which students in each of the five topic groups will review and debate the merits of individual student resolutions. The student committees will select resolutions to be presented to the entire group in the House Chambers. • Lunch at the state capitol building or at nearby Strawberry Square Mall at the students’ expense.
The major components of the schedule include:
• An afternoon session on the floor of the House of Representatives using the desks, rostrums, and microphones of the members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Student speakers will present their proposals, debate will occur, and each student will vote expressing their personal opinion for each proposal. All five topic areas will follow the same format.
• A discussion session on each of the five critical issues concerning Pennsylvania youth.
• The program will end with the presentation of the approved student resolutions to
• Student resolutions on topics not listed above. Delegates will be asked to submit resolutions, in advance, on topics in the areas listed above or on other topics that they feel should be addressed by the youth of the Commonwealth.
continued on page 5
News & Notes Dale Hawley Award Winners Named Each year the National Association of Student Councils provides each state association with five awards named for the former Executive Director of NASC, Dale Hawley. Pennsylvania has annually given these awards to one student at each of our Gold and Blue Summer Leadership Workshops. The student is recognized by the respective workshop staffs as an outstanding delegate during the workshop programs in July and August. The Dale Hawley Awards were announced at the State Conference on November 14th. The winners are: Grove City Blue: Kaitlin Walsh, Thomas Jefferson MS
Executive Director Jim Finnemeyer presents the PASC gavel to the Pennridge HS hosts.
Lebanon Valley Blue: Sean Todd, North Pocono MS Grove City Gold: Tyler McTigue, Deer Lakes HS Susquehanna Gold: C. J. Cassey, Penncrest HS Advanced Gold: Jesse Brown, Interboro HS
R. J. Long Named Linda Greb Award Winner R. J. Long, student council advisor at Quaker Middle School, was named the 2009 Linda Greb Award winner, an award that is given annually to a workshop staff member for outstanding service to PASC. R. J. has served on PASC Summer Leadership Workshop staffs since graduating from Knoch High School in District 2. He began his PASC workshop career as a delegate and went on to serve as a group leader at Susquehanna Gold and Advanced Gold before joining the teaching staff at the Grove City Blue workshop in 2005. He currently teaches the units on Communication, Meeting Skills, Roles of Officers, and Civic Engagement and coordinates the culminating team-building exercise.
PASC members show off the grand total raised by schools for the Four Diamonds Fund.
The award is named in memory of Linda S. Greb, who served on many workshop staffs prior to serving as Advanced Gold Director, a position she held until her passing in 2003. R. J. is a social studies teacher, student council advisor, and lacrosse coach at Quaker Valley Middle School and is treasurer of the PASC District 3 Board.
2010 Middle Level Representatives and Advisors Chosen During the state conference, Morgan Vallie and her advisor, Sue Lyons of Big Spring Middle School, and Todd Sean and his advisor, Erica Castaldo of North Pocono Middle School, were selected through interviews to become the new Middle Level Representatives beginning their terms on January 1, 2010. Morgan and Todd are seventh grade students.
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PASC News • December 2009 • www.pasc.net
A variety of workshops (above) helped delegates enhance their skills. Delegates were also inspired by kenote speakers Josh Sundquist (below left) and Scott Greenberg (right).
Celebrity Councils: Celebrate! PASC members enjoyed a jam-packed state conference at Pennridge HS, November 12–14 with student-led workshops, inspiring speakers, large and small group sessions, networking, fun, and more. A highlight of the conference was a three-hour Mini-thon on Thursday evening to raise money for the state service project, the Four Diamonds Fund (see article on page 5). Friday night featured a dinner and dance, and Saturday morning engaged all delegates in regional caucuses and PASC’s first ever Alumni Panels organized by our Alumni Partners organization. For more details about business conducted at the conference, please read articles elsewhere in this issue.
F A C E S
PASC members use such unusual techniques as newspaper fashion shows and duct-taping people to walls to make their point and raise funds for causes.
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PASC NEWS is published monthly during the school year. To submit announcements, articles, or corrections for newsletters, please email the Executive Director or Assistant Executive Director. Articles or information from PASC NEWS may be reproduced for use, with appropriate credit. Executive Director Jim Finnemeyer North Penn HS 1340 Valley Forge Road Lansdale, PA 19446 215-368-6196 215-855-0632 (Fax) Finnemeyer@aol.com PASCInfo@aol.com Assistant Executive Director Kathy Ann Coll 174 Link Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15237 412-366-5744 Kcoll1@comcast.net PASC President Abby Case Pennridge HS 1400 N. Fifth Street Perkasie, PA 18944 PASC President-Elect Cheyenne Santoriello Mountain View HS RR 1, Box 339 Kingsley, PA 18826 PASC News Editor Lyn Fiscus Leadership Logistics PASC Email: PASCInfo@aol.com PASC Website: www.pasc.net
PASC Advisors of the Year Selected Carrie Andraychak Named Middle Level Advisor of the Year Carrie Andraychak, student council advisor at Greater Johnstown Middle School, was named the PASC Middle Level Advisor of the Year. In nominating her, a student wrote of Carrie, “Our advisor continually teaches us valuable life lessons that we could never learn in the classroom. Lessons like compassion, and doing for others when in need and more importantly, what it is to be a family you can count on. That is what our student council is, a family, and our advisor is the head of that family.” Greater Johnstown Middle School’s student council has created a rock garden as a student study area, has painted murals and inspira-
Carrie has been an advisor for 11 years and is active with PASC at the district level, serving as a co-host of the District 6 conferences in 2005 and 2008. Congratulations and best wishes to Carrie as her name and resume have been submitted for additional regional and national recognition.
Kyle Kauffman Named High School Advisor of the Year South Western High School’s Kyle Kauffman was named the PASC High School Advisor of the Year. Kyle is truly a 21st Century advisor. He brings outstanding technological skills to every student council task in which he is involved as he applies modern technology to student activities. At the same time, he is a role model for student council advisors as he works with his own students. Kyle sets the highest standards for his students and they achieve them time and time again. An example of Kyle’s technological expertise is the creation of a Wiki site for PASC where students and advisors can share projects. He began this during the PASC Advanced Workshop in July 2008. He taught delegates about Wiki sites and then created one. Since then, several hundred projects have been submitted to the site. This past summer at the Advanced Gold Workshop, he shared a dozen examples of how student activities can use various forms of modern communication and provided several resource sites as examples. All of this was done with a very hands-on approach. A second session that Kyle has taught is titled
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tional quotes to decorate the halls, has planned carnivals, and has raised more than $10,000 for charities. Council spirit is built through monthly working lock-ins lasting two to three hours and through the annual spring student council overnight trip to Baltimore, Williamsburg, or Washington, D.C.
PASC News • December 2009 • www.pasc.net
“Finding Your Voice.” In this unit, Kyle took a traditional “making a presentation” workshop session and redesigned it to have a focus in which students take a real issue or problem in their school or community and develop a presentation to address that issue. These presentations are each videotaped and the next day, students gather to review the presentations and critique them in a most professional manner. Kyle began his PASC involvement as a high school student. He attended PASC conferences and summer workshops, served as a workshop counselor, and then became a staff member. In 2008, Kyle was given the Linda Greb Award, a very prestigious award presented to summer workshop staff members. Kyle is the District 8 Director for PASC and served as co-host advisor for the 2008 state conference. He is blessed to have a wife who is not only a very understanding partner but who was named the PASC and NASC Region 2 Middle Level Advisor of the year in 2008. What a dynamic team! We congratulate Kyle and wish him well as he is considered for regional and national recognition.
PASC Raises a Quarter of a Million “For the Kids” By Zach Costa, 2009 PASC State Conference Co-Chair Last month, PASC gathered at Pennridge High School to celebrate its achievements over the past year. In raising money for the Four Diamonds Fund, PASC truly made a difference to hundreds of families across Pennsylvania. Anyone who was at the conference can testify to the amazing power and importance of the state service project this year. Thursday evening of the 2009 PASC State Conference was a celebration of the State Service Project, the Four Diamonds Fund. More than 800 PASC delegates and Pennridge student volunteers participated in a three-hour Mini-Thon event. Delegates heard the incredible story of a Four Diamonds Family, learned a line-dance, and much more “For The Kids!” This year’s state service project was a true success in many ways. When the project began, just over 40 schools were involved with the Four Diamonds Fund. Now, after year of spreading the initiative throughout the state, nearly 100 schools have gotten involved in some way. In the 2008–2009 fundraising season, high schools and middle schools from across the state collectively raised $833,222.49! This amazing number comes from the dedication of thousands of students! With dedication and hard work, PASC can proudly announce that of that total it raised more than $230,000! The Four Diamonds Fund, PASC, and Pennridge are truly thankful to every school that got involved and the many success stories that came along with this year’s state service project!
Holly Day Activity By Jane Smyser, Advisor Red Lion High School Red Lion High School Student Council annually sponsors a jolly Holly Day on the last day prior to winter vacation. This two-hour afternoon event adds holiday cheer and fun to the lives of students. Activities that are offered include: Cookie decorating, free hot chocolate, free snow cones, free pictures with Santa, Family Feud, Match Game, karaoke, snowball fight (AKA dodgeball), 3 x 3 basketball tournament, line dancing, swimming, bingo, movies and popcorn, a bouncy house, making cards for nursing homes, “Festivus” activities, Wii games, a dance, and more! Faculty support is critical for this event to be a success! Each student council committee has at least one staff member to monitor their station. In
Student Summit in Harrisburg (cont’d from page 1) a representative of Governor Rendell. Resolutions will also be sent to the campaign committees of the Republican and Democratic candidates for Governor. An application form and list of the topic areas can be found at www.pasc.net. Student delegates are asked to submit proposals for resolutions at the time of application. We look forward to bringing approximately 150–200 senior high school students together on Thursday, February 25, 2010,
for this program. PASC encourages advisors from PASC member schools to select up to three high school students and an alternate (whom we will invite if space allows). These students should be interested in the political process and particularly interested in the five topics that have been selected for debate this year. Advisors are asked not to limit the selection to Student Council leaders, but to also recruit interested students from National Honor Soci-
ety, class government, and through direct contact with their school’s Social Studies department. It is hoped that students in your school will be interested in attending this challenging and unique educational opportunity in one of the most impressive settings in America, the Pennsylvania Capitol. Transportation can be provided by the student council advisor, another faculty member, or a parent.
addition, each staff member helps during the two-hour event. Each department sponsors an activity held in their area of the building. Thus the entire building is in use. Student council budgets $900 for the event for materials and supplies, including $250 to be spent on gift certificates. Throughout the day, names are drawn at random by the school secretaries. They call the students to the office, where they receive free $5 or $10 gift cards. Gift cards are purchased at Target, Walmart, Sheetz, Borders, and other popular area stores. Planning involved: • Approval by the principal • Support from the faculty as activity sponsors • Creating a special bell schedule for the day • Printing a map of the building noting rooms where special classes and events are held • Have fun and celebrate your success! After the day is finished, we clean up, and student council celebrates our success by having a party! We have pizza, subs, and other goodies, and after we eat we view a video of our accomplishments so far in the year. It is a good way to relax, enjoy each other, and reflect!
PASC News • December 2009 • www.pasc.net
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National Student Council News In Brief NASC LEAD Conferences Offer New Programs and Activities
“START THE ENGINES OF LEADERSHIP”
Energize Your Leadership by attending one of the NASC LEAD Conferences, a weekend of national-level leadership training at an affordable price. The 2010 LEAD Conferences will feature keynote speakers, student-led workshops, and special advisor sessions. In addition, NASC will offer two additional special aspects of the program that delegates have the option to apply to attend. It is important for delegates to realize that these programs will fill up quickly and that they need to sign up early. Review the options below and go to www.nasc.us to find more detailed information and to apply to attend not only the LEAD conference but these special opportunities as well.
Student leaders and advisors are invited to join the PASC delegation to Indianapolis, Indiana, for the 2010 NASC Conference hosted by Cedar Grove High School. The PASC-sponsored pre-trip will feature team-building activities, opportunities for intrastate networking, and tons of fun.
Date and Location February 5–7, 2010, at the Crystal City Marriott in Washington, D.C. See the NASC website for information on other LEAD conferences scheduled for Chicago, Illinois (February 19–21, 2010) and Phoenix, Arizona (March 19–21, 2010). Registration LEAD Conference registration can be done online or by mail. For the Washington, DC, LEAD Conference, the early-bird deadline is January 4, with a registration fee of $165, while the regular deadline is January 22, at a cost of $185.
The two special opportunities for which students have to apply to participate are: The Purpose of Leadership Games This program will be interactive group game-playing session(s) designed to “train the trainer” so that school teams can learn by doing and will then have the essential tools and resources to use leadership games with their own school groups. Each games session will provide attendees with an overview, a handout of instructions, and a list of resources. At the conclusion, instructors will process the games, providing attendees with an explanation of the benefits associated with playing the game(s). Teams consisting of an advisor and up to three students may sign up in advance. In-depth Officer Training Session This training program is designed for student council and National Honor Society officers or students aspiring to hold officer positions. It is limited to no more than two students per school. Selection for the training is based on a first-come, first-served basis and current school affiliation (membership) is required. Acceptance will be confirmed via e-mail to the applying school adviser. The purposes of the program are to: • Build and enhance personal leadership • Provide an understanding of officer duties and responsibilities • Teach skills for successful officers • Prepare officers to take skills learned back to their own schools and communities. PASC News • December 2009 • www.pasc.net 6
NASC Conference to be Held June 22–30, 2010
Sites and activities along the way to the conference will include white-water rafting in West Virginia; tours of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky (a World Heritage site); and squad activities at beautiful Land-between-the-Lakes on the Tennessee-Kentucky border. PASC will sponsor a motor coach leaving eastern Pennsylvania on June 22 that will join a second coach in Pittsburgh for the preconference trip and travel to the conference in Indiana. The NASC Conference will begin on Saturday, June 26, and will be filled with outstanding keynote speakers, workshops, and large and small group activities for both students and advisors. A trip to Indy would not be complete without a visit to the International Speedway, “Home of the Indy 500.” The trip will conclude for western PA delegates on June 29, while eastern delegates will stay in host homes in western PA and then travel back home on June 30. Become a member of the 2010 PASC delegation by going to www.pasc.net and registering online NOW at http://unicorn1. wufoo.com/forms/m7x4a3/! The final deadline for registrations is February 16, 2010. Registrations require a $500 deposit sent to Kathy Coll after online registration is completed. The total cost of the pre-trip and the conference will be $1,200 and must be paid in three installments; the final installment being due by May 1. The $1,200 fee will include NASC Conference registration fee, transportation to and from the conference, hotel costs on the pretrip and during the conference, admission fees for activities, and conference t-shirts and buttons. If you have any questions, e-mail Kathy Coll at kcoll1@comcast.net.
PASC Seeks Workshop Presenters for the NASC National Conference If you have presented a workshop at a state or district conference and plan to attend the NASC Conference in Indianapolis, make plans now to present a workshop at the 2010 NASC Conference. PASC delegates typically are selected to present six to eight workshops at national conferences. Download the application at www.nasc.us and use the workshop rubric found at www.pasc.net to guide you in the application process. The workshop application and a copy of handouts must be sent to PASC Assistant Executive Director Kathy Coll postmarked by February 2, 2010 for consideration. Start planning your workshop now. If you have any questions, please contact Kathy Coll at kcoll1@comcast.net.
Souper Bowls for the Local Food Pantry This project was shared at the 2009 PASC State Conference as part of the Advisors’ Roundtable Presentations Those in need of food are often remembered at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but not during the rest of the winter months. Use this twist on a football Super Bowl theme to collect needed food items in the four weeks of January. Super Bowl Sunday is February 7, 2010. Set a quota of items for each week based on the number of students in your school. Try for 80% of the school population and make the count cumulative so that if students fall short one week, they can make it up the next. Use an incentive system by which students can earn a half hour toward an activity period. Meeting the quota for four weeks would earn a 2-hour activity period. The entire school earns the reward. Recruit the faculty in advance to sponsor activities for the student body. Activities could include: scrapbooking, Apples to Apples games, Madden Football tournament, Guitar Hero, movies, open gym, chess tournament, stamping, board games, kiddie card games, baking brownies, and so forth. Have students volunteer to bring their PS II, X-box, Wii, etc. Ask faculty members to post activities they are hosting and the number of students they can host for an event. (Ask faculty members who do not host an activity to help with the open gym and movie supervision). You could even tentatively schedule one big school event during the real Super Bowl week as a reward.
Requirements include: • Getting permission from the principal to have the drive and the activity period as a reward. • Planning with a local food pantry to accept your donations or to come to school to pick them up. • Letting faculty members know what is going on prior to the start of the drive and getting their cooperation to host their favorite activity events or to supervise. • Placing boxes for food collection in each homeroom. • Creating an advertising campaign and planning creative
announcements with weekly themes. • Planning with Student Council reps and student volunteers to do weekly food counts and announce results. Weekly Themes: • The Breakfast Bowl—bring any non-perishable item that could be eaten for breakfast: cereal, Pop Tarts, pancake mix, syrup, peanut butter, jelly, hot chocolate, tea or coffee, etc. • The Pasta Bowl—bring any items that can be associated with pasta: pastas, macaroni and cheese, sauces, parmesan cheese, pasta salad, dessert.
• The Lunch Bowl—bring any item that can be used for lunch: cans of fruit, veggies, Jell-O and pudding cups, canned tuna, spam, etc. • The Souper Bowl—bring in any items associated with soup: cans of soup, crackers, ramen noodles, etc. Accept any item the student feels matches the theme of the week. They can be very creative. Be sure to publicize this program in advance to parents and the entire community prior to the first collection week. Let them know of your success at the end.
Bob Tryanski Named Winner of the Earl Reum Award Pennsylvania-born and PASC-raised, Bob Tryanski was recently presented with the Dr. Earl Reum Award recognizing his contributions to leadership development and training of activity advisors. The award was presented on December 5th at the annual National Student Activities Conference sponsored by the National Association of Workshop Directors. Although he currently lives in Kansas, Bob continues to find ways to support and encourage PASC programs. Most recently, Bob has worked on the Ivory Park project with Kathy Coll through his Keep It Campaign. (The Ivory Park project was featured in the fall issues of PASC NEWS.) Bob has worked actively with the PASC Alumni
Partners and has played a lead role in the creation of the George Meyer Scholarship Program, which provides scholarships to PASC workshops in honor of the former Bethel Park HS advisor and Grove City Gold workshop director. Bob also facilitated the 2008 PASC PAL Conferences. In addition to his Pennsylvania connection, he has served as a workshop consultant for student programs and a presenter of advisor programs in more than 30 states. He has created workshops to include not only traditional student council programs but programs for many other groups including the noted Union League of Philadelphia, Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge, Presidential Classroom for Young Americans, the Horatio Alger Association, the United Way, and most recently work
with the sons and daughters of our nation’s governors. He is in high demand as a speaker for school programs and at conferences for student leaders and workshops for advisors. PASC is proud that a young man “we raised from a pup” has received such a prestigious award in the field of leadership education.
PASC News • December 2009 • www.pasc.net
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State Board of Education November Meeting By Gardiner Kreglow, SBE Student Representative The State Board of Education held its 291st meeting November 18–19 in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. The meeting began with a tour of Bloomsburg Memorial Elementary School in which Board members observed a variety of classes. Special interest was paid to the food in the cafeteria, amount of activity at recess, and how physical education classes were run because in the next eight months the Board plans to make recommendations or develop regulations around student health and wellness. In the afternoon the Board moved to Bloomsburg’s high school for committee meetings. Student Member Elect Travis Gilbert attended a meeting of the committee on school safety, which announced its intention to finish the development of school climate standards. I attended the academic standards committee meeting, where the committee was updated on the state’s new curriculum model, Standard Aligned Systems, and its dedicated website, which will include a comprehensive data system that will help teachers assess student skills and monitor their progress. Following committee meetings the board came together as a whole to listen to a status report on how H1N1 is affecting Pennsylvania’s schools. This report concluded the Board’s business on November 18th. On November 19th, the Board met as a whole and with no major action items, spent most of its time reviewing and discussing Pennsylvania’s 8
application for the Race to the Top fund. The Race to the Top fund is part of President Obama’s efforts to catapult our nation’s education system forward. The fund is a set of competitive grants that states must apply for, and states must demonstrate how they would use the money to make innovative changes within their state.
If Pennsylvania were to be selected as a grant recipient, we would receive between 200 and 400 million dollars. The Board will hold its next meeting January 20–21 in Harrisburg at the Department of Education. A major portion of the meeting will be devoted to a set of draft standards related to school climate, which is part
of the Board’s goal to make the commonwealth’s schools safer. Other agenda items will include discussions on health and wellness as well as teacher quality. Travis and I both look forward to sharing in these discussions. Please feel free to contact me via email at GKreglowSBE@gmail.com or Travis at travisgilbrt@yahoo.com.
Alumni Partners Give Back to PASC November 14th, 2009 marked the official kick-off to a new year for the Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils Alumni Partners. Thirty-eight alumni gathered at Pennridge High School in eastern Pennsylvania for the 2009 PASC State Conference. The day began with a breakfast social sponsored by the PASC Executive Board. After the breakfast, alumni gave back to PASC by breaking up into panels and speaking to the delegation about the importance of networking. Alumni conveyed the message that the connections one makes through PASC are lifetime connections that one can continue to rely on even
PASC News • December 2009 • www.pasc.net
after graduation. “Thank you to everyone who took the time to give back and encourage the delegates to stay connected,” says Allyssa Rommel, PASC Alumni Partners Coordinator. This program was orchestrated by a 2004 graduate of Pennridge High School and active member of PASC, Nate Wambold. “Thank you, Nate, for devoting your time and energy to such a positive and motivating program!” says Rommell. Following the program, alumni engaged in the first Alumni Partners meeting focused around brainstorming and collaboration for the future of the Partners. Alumni discussed such possibilities as
alumni chapters for social gatherings, future alumni programs to continue giving back to PASC, and clothing apparel to promote the Partners. Alumni also expressed interest in assisting with recruitment for summer workshops under the leadership of Bryan Shelly. “This meeting was a great opportunity to get everybody’s ideas down on paper and begin the planning process,” says Rommel. “Now, it is time for all of us to move forward with our ideas and really make a difference!” If you have any other ideas concerning the future of the Alumni Partners, contact Allyssa Rommel at alumni@ celebrate2009.org.