PASC News Inside This Issue News & Notes.....................2 • Regional Rep Schools Elected • Middle Level Reps to be chosen in November Dale Hawley Award Winners Named .............................. 2 Dotty Noll Named Winner of the Linda Greb Award...2 PASC Advisors of the Year Selected.................................3 The Brain Show.......................3 Thank You District 9...............4 Using Google Forms for Elections................................6 Advisor Get-Away Weekend with a Purpose.....................7 NASC Conference Changes to STAR Leaders..................8 Student Input Sought on Summit Topics.......................8 Three Scholarship Deadlines in October............................9 State Board of Education Meeting Report................. 10 Letters for Lyrics.................. 10
Volume 35 Issue 2 October 2010
“PASC for Everyone” Video Contest to Begin PASC is sponsoring a contest to develop a video and an action plan to put what you have learned from PASC into action. First presented at the state conference in Scranton, the contest offers a $500 prize that will be used to implement the winning action plan at your school. For complete details on the contest go to: http://pasc4everyone.weebly.com ELIGIBILITY: This contest is open only to students or advisors in PASC member schools that have paid their dues for 2010–2011 school year. Student Council advisors must acknowledge and approve any submissions for the submission to be eligible. DEADLINE: This contest begins NOW and ends at midnight EST on January 5, 2011. HOW TO ENTER: Step 1: Create and upload a video that captures the essence of PASC Work with your council, your advisor, and others within your school to create a one- to threeminute video that captures the essence of PASC. It’s often difficult to express in words
what PASC means to students who have attended summer workshops, conferences, or other programs. Use creativity and technology to express the nature of PASC in terms of leadership, service, and personal growth. Once the video is edited and ready to be viewed, upload the entire video to your favorite video storage site (YouTube, Vimeo, etc). After the video is uploaded, copy and save the URL for your video. Following
the essence of PASC with your school.
Work with your council, your advisor, and others within your school to develop an action plan of how to share the essence of PASC with your school. The lessons and experiences PASC brings to student leaders who attend PASC programs have tremendous potential for all students in your school. Develop specific actions that you can implement as a council essence (noun): the intrinsic to bring the most nature or indispensable quality important aspects of something, esp. something of PASC to all abstract, that determines its students. Your character action plan must include:
the completion of step 2, you will submit the URL for your video along with the action plan. IMPORTANT: Your video must be creative and original and between one- to threeminutes in duration. Step 2: Develop and submit an action plan of how to share
1. Goal(s) 2. Action Steps (including responsibilities, resources, and timelines) 3. Measures of Success. Your plan must be both ambitious and achievable. The plan should have an impact on the largest number of students/ continued on page 8
News & Notes 2011–2012 Regional Representative Schools Elected at State Conference During caucus meetings on Saturday, October 8th, schools were elected to be the new regional rep schools. A student from each of these schools will be selected to serve a twoyear term on the PASC Executive Board which begins on January 1, 2011. The following schools were elected: Region A: Ford City High School Region B:
Quaker Valley High School
Region D: North Pocono High School
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 in each of our Gold and Blue Summer Leadership Workshops. The students are recognized by the respective workshop staffs as outstanding delegates during the workshop programs in July and August. The Dale Hawley Awards were announced at the State Conference on October 8th. The winners are:
Region E: New Oxford High School
Grove City Blue:
The following representatives will begin the second year of their terms in January 2011:
Lebanon Valley Blue: Megan Wenhold, Cocalico MS
Region C: Cody Kiser
Susquehanna Gold: Mike Klecker, South Western HS
Region F:
Shade Jr.-Sr. High School
Sarah Ebner Interboro High School
Grove City Gold: Advanced Gold:
Alessandro DiBello, Ingomar MS Lizi King, West York HS Tim Cummings, North Pocono HS
Region G: Gracie Sloane Boyertown High School
2010 Middle Level Representatives and Advisors to Be Chosen in Nov. Interviews of teams of a seventh grader and an advisor from PASC member middle schools were to be held at the state conference. No applications were received in time so the deadline for applications has been extended until November 10th (postmark).
PASC is looking for good ideas to share with member schools. Does your council have a project or activity that was particularly successful last year? Do you have a unique way of organizing your council? Do you have some great ideas for teambuilding or meeting management? Have you conducted a fundraiser that was particularly successful? What does your council do that really works?
At the Friday General Session of the State Conference, Dotty Noll was named as the 2010 winner of the Linda Greb Award. Dotty has served on PASC Summer Leadership Workshop staff at Susquehanna University for the past 19 years. She created the organizational skills unit, which combines personal organizational skills, organizational skills for groups, and project planning. In addition, Dotty has presented organization skills workshops and roundtable presentations numerous times for advisors at both state and national conferences. She is a teacher and technology coordinator for Eastern Lebanon County High School in District 8 and is the PASC Website Coordinator and Act 48 Coordinator.
Help other PASC members by writing up a short article with your idea and sending it with photos (if available) to PASCInfo@aol.com and you could find your council featured in an upcoming issue of PASC News!
The award is named in memory of Linda S. Greb, who served on many workshop staffs and passed away in 2003 while serving as the director of the Advanced Gold workshop. It is given annually to a workshop staff member for outstanding service to PASC.
The application and job description can be found at www. pasc.net. Appointment of two students and two advisors will be made by December 1 by PASC Executive Director, Jim Finnemeyer in consultation with Middle Level Coordinator Amy Kauffman. Please contact PASCInfo@aol.com or call 215-280-9299 with any questions.
Share Your Successful Ideas
2
Dotty Noll Named Winner of the Linda Greb Award
PASC News • October 2010 • www.pasc.net
PASC Advisors of the Year Selected
The Brain Show:
Lou DeLeo Named Middle Level Advisor of the Year
Unique Assembly Program Featured in Scranton
Louis DeLeo, student council advisor at Tunkhannock Middle School, was named 2010 PASC Advisor of the Year at the State Conference earlier this month. In nominating him, a student wrote of Lou, “Our advisor is so organized and spends countless hours on Student Council activities. He tries to involve EVERY Student Council member in all activities and encourages us to reach out to involve many students who aren’t in Student Council.” Lou’s principal wrote that he “has been an advisor for over 20 years and has worked with over 1,600 students on various school and community projects. Under his guidance, our Student
Council has done traditional projects such as bumper sticker contests, Box-Tops for Education, appreciation days, adopt-a-family Christmas shopping, and the 8th grade dance.” But in past years, Student Council has also helped plan a PSSA pep rally, sponsored Special Olympics, and has raised funds for disaster relief in New Orleans and in Haiti. This past spring Tunkhannock Middle School co-hosted the District 9 Spring Conference. Lou DeLeo is truly the “go to” guy at Tunkhannock. Congratulations and best wishes to Lou as his name and resume are submitted for additional regional and national recognition.
Felix Yerace Named High School Advisor of the Year High school advisors selected by their districts as Advisors of the Year were also recognized in Scranton. Receiving the Linda Greb Advisor of the Year Award was Felix J. Yerace of South Fayette High School in District 3. Felix began his PASC career as a high school student, attending PASC conferences and summer workshops. He now utilizes the skills he learned through PASC to teach a leadership class as well as social studies classes.
and staff, and initiated a district–wide recycling program. Yerace’s Student Government officers note the huge turnaround in their council from having no Constitution, no treasury log, and few active members to a vibrant organization in the school that now has a Student Advocacy Committee that meets monthly with building principals, conducts voter registration drives for seniors, sponsors a Homecoming Carnival with a wide variety of student participation, and has created a positive school atmosphere by sponsoring an 8th Grade Move Up Day each spring.
In nominating Felix, the assistant superintendent of the South Fayette School District wrote, “that since he became advisor, Student Government in our school has had the single most This PASC High School significant impact on changing Advisor of the Year is named for the face of student participation former Mars High School advisor and PASC in both co-curricular activities and in their role as Executive Board member who passed away in student leaders within the high school.” 2003 after a courageous battle with cancer. Felix is a young man who epitomizes Linda Greb and Student Government at South Fayette High her ideals. We congratulate Felix and wish him School sponsors numerous school-wide activiwell as he is considered for regional and national ties, performs a multitude of charitable works, maintains a birthday bulletin board for students recognition.
“That was great!!!” “That was sooo much fun.” “I can’t believe how much we got involved.” These are just a few of the comments heard from PASC middle and high school delegates as they left separate “Brain Show” programs at the State Conference. One advisor said, “I was not sure if the high school students would get into it as much as the middle school kids. I think the high school kids liked it even more.” Based in northeastern Pennsylvania, “The Brain Show” has been so popular in the school districts around Scranton that our State Conference hosts thought it would be a great Thursday night conference activity, and it was. The Brain Show has the look and feel of an authentic live TV game show. It is appropriate for elementary, middle, and high schools and is curriculumappropriate for grades kindergarten through college. Each program lasted an hour and could have certainly gone on longer. The Brain Show can be used as an educational assembly, entertainment for a Family Fun Night, or as a fundraiser. For more information call: 877-676-9741 (toll free) or 570-676-9741 or go to their website: www.TheBrainShow. com.
PASC News • October 2010 • www.pasc.net
3
Thank You to District 9 Team for an Outstanding State Conference After 73 years of schools volunteering to host the annual PASC State Conference, what happens when no school comes forward to invite the PASC conference to their building? That was the dilemma that the PASC Executive Board faced in March 2009. Coming to the rescue was veteran District 9 Director Edrene Wright and a team of advisors from District 9 who said, “We can make this happen with the help of the University of Scranton.”
Tackling Challenges The last conference to be held in northeastern Pennsylvania was in 1979 at Bishop Hannan HS with Miss Wright as the host advisor. To make the 2010 conference work, several changes from traditional PASC State Conferences had to be made. To accommodate the University’s schedule, the dates of the conference needed to be moved to fall break weekend in early October. With host schools spread out as far as an hour from Scranton, host homes could not be used and thus PASC held its first hotelbased conference. Eight host schools, working together, overcame the challenges of distance and communication. Approximately 750 delegates attended despite numerous schools not in attendance because of Homecoming weekends and many students being required to take SATs on Saturday, October 9. PASC dropped the registration fee by $10 to help schools faced with increased hotel fees. The host 4
PASC News • October 2010 • www.pasc.net
schools raised funds to keep down costs. The University Admissions Department donated Thursday night’s ice cream social and Saturday’s breakfast in the Dining Hall. The University waved facility use fees.
Thursday Activities The weather during the conference cooperated beautifully. Delegates enjoyed walking around the campus during registration. Thursday evening’s meal in DeNaples Center elicited rave reviews. Keynote speaker Alvin Law entertained and challenged delegates as he demonstrated how individuals can overcome adversity and obstacles through determination and hard work. A unique activity followed the General Session as middle level and high school students separately enjoyed the “The Brain Show “(see article on pg. 3 for details). Advisors mixed and mingled at their own program coordinated by Interboro HS Director of Student Activities Andy Costanzo. The University of Scranton staff in the bookstore, Long Center, and Dining Hall praised student
delegates for their friendliness, politeness, and overall positive attitude and enthusiasm, noting that they were the best student group they had ever had on campus.
Friday Sessions Friday morning began with a complimentary continental breakfast hosted at each of the four conference hotels. The second General Session held at the Long Center featured awards and recognition as well as a keynote address by Bobby Petrocelli, who shared his personal story and encouraged the delegates to recognize how, in just 10 seconds, a few words or an action taken can make a huge difference in another person’s life. After the second General Session, buses, cars, and vans filled with delegates left The “U” and headed to Old Forge Junior-Senior HS, where former student council advisor and current Superintendent RoseAnn Brutico opened the buildings to more than 600 PASC student delegates who held workshops, saw a multimedia presentation, and had the “best pizza around”
Conference (cont’d) for lunch. Advisors meanwhile went to nearby Arcaro and Genal’s Restaurant and had a delicious pizza lunch, heard a presentation on a financial education program sponsored by Wells Fargo Bank, participated in roundtables, and provided PASC with outstanding feedback and new ideas focusing on association goals for 2011–2013. Delegates returned to hotels to get ready for the banquet and dance held at Genetti’s Manor in Dickson City. The banquet food was exceptionally delicious, many returned for seconds, and all were served in 30 minutes. “EJ the DJ” entertained student delegates while advisors had their own social time in an adjacent room with prize drawings, massages, and sharing of ideas and time together.
Saturday Activities Saturday morning was a time to say thanks, to hear the results of the Big Brother Big Sister State Charity effort, to see Altoona Area High School’s presentation about the 75th PASC Conference to be held next November, and to view a final conference-in-review slide program. Will PASC hold another state conference in which hotels will be used to house delegates or in which university facilities are needed? We don’t know. We do know that it can be successful, with both hosts and delegates working together to create a Super Experience. “Scranton Team,” THANK YOU for showing us the art of the possible and for leading by your positive “we can do this” example.
Keynote speakers Alvin Law (above) and Bobby Petrocelli (below) gave delegates much to think about as they shared their stories.
PASC News • October 2010 • www.pasc.net
5
Using Google Forms for Elections By Kyle Kaufman Google Forms are amazingly powerful and absolutely free. I use them to collect all sorts of information (registrations, t-shirt sizes, contact info for a group, etc) and then can share that information quickly using the sharing features of Google Docs (I hate retyping information or pulling information from multiple emails).
your form is “multiple choice” and simply asks for the grade of the student who is completing the form. Then, set the “Go to Page” to automatically direct students to their specific grade’s nomination page.
Another use for Google Forms is voting associated with elections, homecoming, and other school activities. You can create Google Forms to handle just about any type of voting and the results populate a spreadsheet rather than having to run Scantron forms or sort paper ballots. Also, if your school has Google Apps (http:// www.google.com/apps) and established email addresses for all students, you can even go a step further and password protect the voting, ensure one vote per student, and monitor participation. (Without Google Apps, there are still ways to validate data but you’ll need to be creative. For instance, you could make the first questions in your form collect a student ID number and then when you count results, sort by ID number to check for duplicates. You may also be able to Export to Excel and use its powerful validation functions to compare your list of ID numbers. ) If you have a basic understanding of Google Forms, then I believe the descriptions below will be enough to get you started on setting up your own forms for collecting nominations or for voting. If you haven’t used Google Forms before, you may want to check out some of Google’s support resources first (http://docs.google.com/ support/ and search “forms”).
Nominations To collect names of students who are nominated for a particular position, you need to use “text” responses in a Google Form. The number of different names someone can submit determines how many questions you post on your form. For instance, if students may nominate up to three girls for homecoming court, then create a form that has three “text” response questions.
Often nominations occur per grade level and Google Forms has an interesting way to handle that. Create a single form for all grade levels but insert “Page Breaks” for each grade. The first question on 6
PASC News • October 2010 • www.pasc.net
After students enter the names they wish to nominate, have the form continue to some final question (I ask students to recommend a song to play at the dance). Once they do that and click submit, their nominations are entered into the spreadsheet. If you specify that the names must be in “last name, first name” format, then you can simply sort your results alphabetically and either count the names by hand or use a formula like “count if ” to count for you. Another nice feature is the ability to stop accepting responses, which effectively turns off the form and creates time limits on when voting can occur.
Voting When using Google Forms for voting for multiple candidates when candidates are already determined, you can use “Check Box” questions and set the check box to read “1”. The question title is the name of the candidate. You have as many questions as you have candidates. Students select the candidate they want by checking the box and the spreadsheet will record a value of 1 in that
Using Google Forms for Elections (cont’d) candidate’s column in the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will then have the names of the candidates across the top. You simply need to use the sum function in the spreadsheet to tally the results (this is similar to how you would use the traditional Scantron to count votes). If there is only a single choice from a list of candidates, then simply make it a multiple-choice question with the names of the candidates as the multiple-choice values. After everyone votes, you simply sort the list alphabetically and count the number of occurrences of each name. If you have a lot of votes, use the “count if ” function to tally names for you.
Sharing the Form After you create your form, you’ll have a crazy-long URL that you need to have students visit in order to vote. If your school has effectively deployed Google Apps, you could share the form via email to all students. More likely, you’ll want to create a webpage and post the links, then advertise that website. If you set up your website in advance, you could have it published in the student handbook and then you simply announce when voting opens for a particular election. By using the website for voting, you also increase traffic to your website and other information you might have posted there. The biggest challenge is to get students to participate and so you may need to consider extra advertising or incentives/contests as rewards for participating. If you post your form’s link on a website, it’s public—keep that in mind if you don’t have Google Apps to control access. You can turn your form on or off under the “forms” menu item in your spreadsheet to control when students vote. We allow students to vote from home but if you wanted to limit voting to a lunch
period, you could. We also set up a table of laptops at lunch to allow students to vote so that in the event a student doesn’t have a computer at home, they can still vote. There are other ways of configuring the Google Forms to meet whatever needs you might have for your particular election or nomination process. I create the forms as the advisor, using my account, so that I’m the only one who sees the results. If you have students create the forms then they would have access to the results as they occur—just something to consider. You may have a technology coach or other personnel in your building who might be able to help you with this setup if the thought of creating a ballot is a bit overwhelming. Ultimately, it’s an efficient way to quickly conduct voting and nominations.
Kyle Kauffman (kyle.physics.apple@gmail.com) serves as student council advisor at South Western HS. Follow Kyle’s blog at http://kyle-physics-apple.blogspot.com for more tech articles.
“Get Your Ducks in a Row” Advisor Get-Away Weekend with a Purpose National Conference on Student Activities December 3–5, 2010 in Kansas City, Missouri This weekend conference is guaranteed to be a “shot in the arm” for any advisor to student council, class government, or NHS. It is an opportunity to Learn-Share-Grow-Get Inspired. It is hosted by the Missouri Association of Student Councils and sponsored by NAWD (The National Association of Workshop Directors), Herff Jones, and Dynamx Digital.
In a limited amount of space, it is hard to describe the impact this conference will have. For classroom teachers, you will return to classes on December 6th renewed; as advisors you will be recharged and eager to work with your officers and members. You will be filled with new ideas from the Parade of Ideas sharing, prepared to tackle new projects, motivated by the keynote speakers, and maybe even more by the experience of having shared a weekend with people
like yourselves…people who are excited about kids, committed to activities, who believe that you can make a significant difference in your school. How refreshing can it get?! For a schedule and conference details you must go to: www.nawd.com and click on Conference Brochure. A website will unfold before you that will motivate you to book a room at the Kansas City’s Westin Crowne Center Hotel. Know that you will have friends from Pennsyl-
vania also attending. At least 10 PASC advisors have already made their reservations. Check out Southwest Airlines for inexpensive flights to Kansas City that are still being offered this fall. Advisors, if you can find a way to get-away for your own personal growth and development, this is the conference you want to go to. Call the PASC Office at 215-280-9299 or email PASCInfo@aol.com to talk with someone about this outstanding opportunity for teachers and advisors.
PASC News • October 2010 • www.pasc.net
7
NASC Conference Changes to STAR Leaders Conference The traditional NASC national conference held each year in late June for the past 74 years is changing in 2011. The STAR Leaders National Conference will include student leaders from student councils as well as officers and members from National Honor Society and National Junior Honor Society chapters. The new national conference will be hotel-based both for housing and for sessions. The first STAR Leaders Conference will be held within walking distance of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. Star stands for Students Taking Active Roles as Leaders.
The opening and closing general sessions are expected to involve all student and advisor delegates. Both the Student Council delegates and the NHS/NJHS delegates will each have one additional general session designed specifically around their needs and interests. There will also be separate workshops for NHS/NJHS and for Student Council, as well as some large group sessions for all student delegates. Likewise there will be breakout sessions designed
separately for Student Council advisors and NHS/NJHS advisors as well as sessions applicable for any activities advisor. Conference details and a tentative schedule are posted at www.nasc.us. The conference is scheduled to begin on Saturday, June 25 and to end at mid-day on Monday, June 27. PASC will announce our pre-conference trip plans and cost in November. We expect that the conference registration fee will be
$350. Additional costs must be added for hotel rooms, meals, and transportation to St. Louis. The anticipated cost, which will include PASC pre-conference and team- building activities, will be $1,200. PASC plans to fly from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia on Thursday, June 23 and return on Monday evening, June 27. PASC will open its pre-trip to Student Council members and will reach out to involve NHS/ NJHS student and advisor delegates from Pennsylvania as well. Watch PASC NEWS and www.pasc.net in November for details and the PASC application process.
Student Input Sought on Summit Topics PASC is committed to promoting civic engagement and student dialog about critical issues facing the students of Pennsylvania. For the past 12 years, PASC has sponsored a one-day program in Harrisburg that encourages students to create proposals on four or five wide-ranging issues and to propose solutions to the Governor and to members of our state legislature. This year the Student Summit will be held in Harrisburg on Thursday, February 24, 2011. How does the Student Summit work? 1. Students in grades 9–12 develop and submit proposals to PASC. 2. Students are assigned to one of four or five committees 3. Students work with 20–25 other students to refine proposals and develop one or two per committee to bring to the 8
student General Assembly. 4. Following a break for lunch, all students reconvene in the Chamber of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. 5. Committee members present proposals (all proposals to be considered are duplicated for members of the student General Assembly) 6. For each proposal, 30 minutes of debate and Q & A with student presenters is held. Then all student General Assembly members vote to approve or disapprove the proposal. 7. Proposals are submitted to a representative of the Governor’s staff and to the staff of the State House of Representatives. What do we need from YOUR Student Council Members TODAY? Let us know the topics that you feel should be considered
PASC News • October 2010 • www.pasc.net
for the 2011 Student Summit by completing a quick online survey at https://app.e2ma.net/ app2/survey/21892/24965/4 855c708e4/. For your opinion to count, the survey must be completed by Monday, October 25. If you think other areas should be addressed, include
them in one of the “other” options on the survey. Four or five topics will be selected by members of the PASC Executive Board and will be announced through in November. Applications to attend the Summit will then become available.
PASC for Everyone Video Contest Announced (cont’d from p.1) staff in the most significant way possible. It is expected that your plan be specific and actionable within the 2011 spring semester or the summer of 2011. Step 3: Implement your action plan If you are selected as the finalist in this contest, you will be granted $500 to support your action plan. We hope that everyone who submits a video and action plan is able to find the means to put their plan into action, even if not selected for the $500 grant. Once you’ve implemented your plan, please take time to come back to the website and share your success with the larger PASC community. Visit the “PASC for Everyone” Blog to post success stories.
PASC NEWS
Three Scholarship Deadlines in October
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.
United States Senate Youth Scholarship Program
Executive Director Jim Finnemeyer North Penn HS 1340 Valley Forge Road Lansdale, PA 19446 215-280-9299 215-855-0632 (Fax) Finnemeyer@aol.com PASCInfo@aol.com
Every Pennsylvania high school principal received the Senate Youth nomination packet in late August. Applications are also available on the Pennsylvania Department of Education website and the PASC website at www.pasc.net. Each school may nominate one outstanding student leader to be considered for the scholarship. Please encourage your high school principal to help honor your own top student leader by participating in the Senate Youth Scholarship program.
Assistant Executive Director Kathy Ann Coll 174 Link Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15237 412-366-5744 Kcoll1@comcast.net PASC President Jillian Roeske Mountain View HS RR 1, Box 339 Kingsley, PA 18826
Two student delegates from each state will be chosen to receive $5,000 college scholarships and the opportunity to spend a week in Washington, D.C. (all expenses paid) with delegates from across the nation.
PASC Email: PASCInfo@aol.com
To be eligible for the Senate Youth scholarship, a student must be a high school junior or senior and must hold an elected position in student council, class government, or regional or state officer position in a statewide organization. After being nominated by the building principal, the student must complete an application packet and submit it by October 20, 2010 (postmark).
PASC Website: www.pasc.net
Horatio Alger Scholarships
PASC President-Elect Mariam Ahmad Altoona Area HS 1400 7th Avenue Altoona, PA 16602 PASC News Editor Lyn Fiscus Leadership Logistics
The Horatio Alger Association is accepting applications
for the Class of 2011 due no later than October 30, 2010. Please share the following information with your Guidance Department and with students that you know who fit the following criteria: The Horatio Alger Association seeks to assist students who have demonstrated integrity, perseverance in overcoming adversity, strength of character, financial need (under $50,000 adjusted gross family income), a good academic record, commitment to pursue a college education, and a desire to contribute to society. Within the Horatio Alger Scholarships there are three special programs of interest to PASC members: n National Scholars Program: Three Pennsylvania students will be selected to each receive a $20,000 scholarship and will be invited to the National Awards program in Washington, D.C., with 105 other students and the Association’s ten 2011 Distinguished American Award Winners in April 2011. n Franklin Scholarship Program (only for Pennsylvania seniors): The Franklin Scholars Program annually awards $10,000 to 25 students in the state of Pennsylvania. The program is designed to increase student understanding and appreciation of the contributions of Ben Franklin and Horatio Alger, Jr. Scholarship criteria are the same for other Horatio
Alger Scholarships. An additional essay on Ben Franklin is required. n NASC Scholarship: A Horatio Alger Scholarship for a student council member in an NASC and PASC member school. On the application when you see the question: How do I know about this scholarship? CLICK on NASC and then answer all of the student leader questions. These scholarships can only be applied for online: www. horatioalger.com/scholarships/ index.cfm Prudential Spirit of Community Awards The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program will award scholarships to students recognized for their dedication and selfless commitment to volunteerism. Eligible students must currently be in grades 5–12 and must be engaged in an act of volunteerism that has occurred, at least in part, during the 12 months prior to the application date. Programs could be done in or out of school. All middle level and high school throughout Pennsylvania will receive program information and applications in early September. Applications and information are also available at www.prudential.com/ community/spirit. Please do not miss this opportunity to give outstanding young volunteers the recognition they so richly deserve. Deadline is October 30, 2010.
PASC News • October 2010 • www.pasc.net
9
State Board of Education Holds Its First Meeting of the 2010–2011 School Year By Travis Gilbert, SBE Senior Student Representative—Big Spring High School
dents are performing at grade level in 2014, as the No Child Left Behind Act requires.
The Pennsylvania State Board of Education met September 15–16 in Pittsburgh, with the Pittsburgh Public Schools as our host. During this meeting, many action items were voted on and the board viewed many presentations.
The Board also passed Keystone Exam eligible-content and assessment anchors for the tests. They are being used to measure AYP, and will be given in the areas of Algebra I, English Literature, and Biology. The anchors were developed by Pennsylvania educators from across the state. Now draft performance level descriptors (PLDs) are being developed with hopes for a Board approval in June of 2011. PDLs are statements that describe the knowledge and skills expected of students performing at different levels (advanced, proficient, basic, below-basic). The anchors and eligible content can be viewed online at the Department of Education website (www.education.state. pa.us) and click on State Board of Education.
The board reviewed the 2010 PSSA report, which showed that 82% of Pennsylvania schools are meeting all of their Adequate Yearly Progress targets, compared to 78% of schools last year. The report also showed that schools that have increased their per-pupil spending by more than $2,000 have experienced the greatest reduction in the number of students scoring below basic, and that the closer a district is to its funding adequacy target, the more students perform at, or above grade level. Educational leaders hope the achievement trend continues so that all stu-
Finally, the Board passed PLDs for the Pennsylvania
Shannon Sullivan, Junior SBE Rep, addressed the PASC State Conference in Scranton on October 7th and had an opportunity to meet with delegates to gather opinions and to hear ideas during ice cream socials that evening. Shannon has also prepared materials on SBE issues that can be found on the PASC website in the SBE section.
Alternate System of Assessment (PASA) tests, which are designed to assure that Pennsylvania students with the most significant cognitive disabilities are included in the state accountability system. The PASA are administered to students by their teachers on a one-to-one basis and the tests are recorded with detailed narrative notes and submitted for scoring. The tests are given to students in grades 3 through
8 and in grade 11. The State Board plans to meet November 17 and18 in Harrisburg. Students may contact me at travisgilbrt@yahoo. com or Shannon Sullivan, the junior representative, at ssullivan1993@gmail.com with any questions or concerns relating to Pennsylvania educational policy. I hope everyone’s year has started off well, and that everyone has a great homecoming season!
Letters for Lyrics Seeks 1 Million Letters for Soldiers By Melissa Raybuck, Director of the PASC Blue Workshop at Lebanon Valley College Each year, thousands of military service men and women say goodbye to their family, friends, and loved ones and depart for the dangerous duty of keeping our country free and safe. Imagine how something as simple as a letter or care package could turn their day around. 10
Dodge dealerships have found a unique way to get Americans involved. When you write a letter to a service man or woman, Dodge will give you something in return. Dodge has teamed up with several country artists to put together an amazing CD as a gift for your generosity. When participants bring a letter that they have written to a person in the military into a participating Dodge dealer, they will receive a CD for free.
PASC News • October 2010 • www.pasc.net
Delegates at the Lebanon Valley College Blue Summer Leadership Workshop participated in this amazing service project this year. Workshop delegates and staff members teamed together and wrote more than 100 letters to soldiers this July. Each student in return received a free CD from the Dodge Ram “Letters for Lyrics” campaign. It was a fun, rewarding service project that LVC Blue Workshop delegates were
proud to be a part of this year. Looking for a way for you, your student council, or school to get involved? Visit http:// www.ramtrucks.com/en/letters_for_lyrics/ for information and participating dealerships. Help the dealers of Dodge Ram Trucks reach their goal of accumulating one million letters for soldiers this year. Now you can join in on the fun and encourage our troops!