Day: January 13, 2012

Students Participate in Penn State University Essay Contest

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In December, ELanCo participated in Penn State University’s 29th Annual Essay Contest, a statewide writing contest for high school juniors.   The two top placement winners from Garden Spot were Katie Mueller and Sirena Rowland, and their essays have been entered in the state competition at University Park to compete against other local winners from around Pennsylvania.  In February, Penn State’s Department of English will announce twenty state finalists, and in the spring, the top three essayists will receive special commendations and honoraria for their distinguished work.

In adherence to Penn State’s guidelines for participating schools, Garden Spot’s local writing competition spanned sixty minutes, during which time the contestants read a recent Wall Street Journal article and composed an essay response to the piece.  The article, “Flash Mob Violence and the Constitution,” discussed constitutional, legal, and policy issues sparked by the use of social media to organize mobs and impromptu public gatherings in U.S. cities and in cities around the world.   Students’ essays were evaluated by a group of G.S. English teachers, and the two winning essays were sent to University Park to represent Garden Spot in the state competition.

Congratulations to all juniors who participated in the contest, and we wish Katie and Sirena the best of luck in the next round!

Student Intern Recognized for Outstanding Work

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Adrianna Vargas Smith was placed as a student intern for Juile Groft for the fall semester.   She has done an amazing job for Julie.  Several of the activities she has created  have already been used in the Anatomy class.  The students have enjoyed all of the activities and said they helped them learn. The internship program is a wonderful opportunity for our students to gain experience in the teaching field.  Adriana created her own unit plan and even taught one  Anatomy classes.  Last school year, Arrianna took Anatomy, so her insight has been extremely beneficial.  Julie Groft would like Adriana to be recognized for her outstanding work as a student intern.

FFA Members Awarded Keystone Degree

jhackman FFA

As part of the Pennsylvania FFA Convention, 7 members of Garden Spot’s Grassland FFA were awarded the prestigious Keystone Degree. This is the highest award an agricultural education student can earn within the state of Pennsylvania. Applicants completed an extensive application and have their applications and Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) Records reviewed by a local committee before being sent on to a state committee for final verification.  The Keystone Degree is the culmination of a three or four year effort recognizing excellence in leadership development, SAE, and involvement in FFA school and community activities.  This year’s recipients increase the total number of Keystone Degree winners from the Grassland FFA to 350 . See the following link to see a listing of all the recipients in the history of the Grassland Chapter. http://grasslandffa.org/Keystone-Degrees.php

The 2012 Recipients are:
Conner Martin, New Holland son of Scott Martin and Jo Harsh
Cortney Martin, East Earl, daughter of Barry and Pam Martin
Jonathan Martin, Narvon, son of Brian and Shirley Martin
Joshua Martin, Morgantown, son of and Leonard and Linda Martin
Paul McFarland, Narvon, son of  Paul and Marrine McFarland
Regina Sauder, East Earl, daughter of Cliff and Anna Mae Sauder
Janelle Weaver, East Earl, daughter of Gerry and Lynda Weaver

 

From left:  Josh Martin, Cortney Martin, John Martin,. Conner Martin, Secretary PA of Agriculture George  Greig,  Paul Mcfarland, Regina Sauder, Janelle Weaver

YPC Collects Items for Homeless

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Garden Spot Youth Peace Council (YPC) has been hard at work collecting needed items for the homeless at Water Street Rescue Mission.  They travelled to the Lancaster YPC meeting with other Lancaster area schools to hear a presentation from Water Street about poverty and homeless issues.  Our students collected items on their needs list and compiled Totes of Hope with the other schools.

In addition to helping those in our community, YPC is also thanking those in our school who work hard and are often not recognized.  YPC appreciates the cafeteria workers consistently helping out with new students in our building and the interactions and relationships they make with our students during  lunch.  The group put together bags of candy for our cafeteria workers along with appreciation messages in October.  The group will be doing the same for our bus drivers in the Spring.

YPC is also working on fundraising for KIVA, the program provides micro-loans for entrepreneurs starting businesses in third world countries.