8th Grade "Green Up Avonworth" Service Project

Thursday, May 1 from 12:00 P.M - 1:30 P.M. eighth graders will take part in the third annual “Green Up Avonworth” initiative by planting and caring for trees on our school property.  Through the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s “Seedlings for Habitats” program, we will plant a variety of trees to the left of our walkway that leads to the Cobblestone development.  Students will also weed and mulch the trees that were planted by previous years’ eighth graders.

The “Green Up Avonworth” project provides a terrific opportunity for the kids to extend learning about environmentalism from the classroom to their own school community.   Students will read selections from Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and research Pittsburgh’s “green efforts” in reading class. The tree-planting event will allow our students to build habitats and start their own “green” initiative at school.  

Parents and guardians are welcome to join us!  If you like being outside and enjoy planting, we would love your help supervising the kids. We hope you can join us for our tree planting event and appreciate any help you can offer!  Please note that all parents working with children at our school must have the proper clearances in place.  If you have your clearances and plan on attending, you must let us know by emailing Kathy Galecki at kgalecki@avonworth.k12.pa.us .  On the day of the event, please report to the middle school office to receive your pre-made visitor pass. Thank you!

  

Pittsburgh Project

Students are beginning the final phase of their Pittsburgh Project.  Over the next few weeks, students will create scripts for running routes that will feature some important landmarks throughout the City of Pittsburgh and surrounding neighborhoods (including a Ben Avon/Emsworth route for all of you local runners!)  Stay tuned to Stay Connected for information about how you can learn about our city while getting some exercise!

Courthouse Field Trips

Last week, 8^th grade students traveled to the Allegheny County Courthouse for a field trip.  In their Civics classes, students were introduced to the criminal and civil court systems prior to their visit.  Upon their arrival at the courthouse, students were greeted by a Deputy Attorney General of Allegheny County, David Spurgeon.  Mr. Spurgeon talked to students about his role in the judicial branch and warned them about the consequences of drug and alcohol related crimes.  Next, students visited real criminal court rooms to observe trials in action.  Some judges even invited the students to speak with them in their chambers about their job.  The day concluded with a brief tour of Pittsburgh neighborhoods including Oakland, the North Shore, the South Side, and the Strip District to help students prepare for their ongoing Pittsburgh research project.

 

Research Update

In English class, we are halfway through our research project!  Students have done a great job researching and organizing their ideas - it's been awesome to watch all of the hard work happening in English class!  We are about to start digging in to the drafting process, and will focus on in-text citations, embedding quotes, and polishing all of these facts into final products!  Ask your student what they have learned about Pittsburgh - and stay tuned for the exciting things we are going to do with their new found knowledge!

English Update

English 8 students are learning all about the ‘Burgh!  We have started our research project and students are really digging into their sources and organizing their ideas.  Our final product this year is a tour of a neighborhood in our city that is designed for runners to use to learn something about our city while getting ready for the Pittsburgh Marathon (or who are just interested in getting a little knowledge with their workout!)  These running tours will be available sometime in April, so keep an eye out for our publications!