May 2018
May-June 2018 Board Highlights
Oblock Junior High School
Challenge 24
On May 8, Mrs. Schuchert, AEO math teacher took four GATE students to the AIU for the Challenge 24 competition. Challenge 24 is a competitive game that fosters students to become critical thinkers and problem solvers. They competed against schools from all over Allegheny County. Congratulations to the Oblock team of Carly Beninati, Ellie Tongel, Rudra Thakur, and Alex Beiter for competing. Plum sent three representatives to the semi-final round!
Plum Volunteer Fire Departments
Plum’s Volunteer Fire Departments came to AEO on May 1, 2, and 3 to show their off their trucks and equipment to Oblock Junior High students. They set up stations and had firefighters available to give information to all students. On the final day, the firefighters invited students interested in the program for a question and answer period. Eighth graders who will be 14 years of age by this summer were invited to participate. The firefighters discussed the importance of the volunteer fire departments to our Plum Community. Oblock students found the assemblies fascinating.
Drug and Alcohol Awareness Assembly
On May 9, Wilkins Elks sponsored Ray and Brooke Lazono from Prevention Plus to come and talk to Oblock students about drug and alcohol awareness. Mr. Lazono discussed what happens to your brain when people drink alcohol and the long-lasting effects it has on your body. Ray was a very enthusiastic speaker and students responded well with the information that was presented. Brooke went over the dangers of vaping and how highly addictive nicotine is once starting to use the drug. They shared genuine stories that the students were able to relate to. They took volunteers who wore goggles to represent what it’s like to be intoxicated. The students seemed to appreciate the message that Ray and Brooke shared with them.
French Dinner Cruise
On Monday, May 21st, Mrs. Mendenhall and forty French I students enjoyed a French dinner cruise, aboard the Gateway Clipper. The students had the opportunity to experience French cuisine, culture, games, authentic French Pop music straight from the airwaves of France, and entertainment of Howard Mineone, French comedian and mime, all while sailing along Pittsburgh's Three Rivers.
Track
The AEO Track Team had a very successful season with 110 7th and 8th grade boys and girls participating. Boys’ Head Coach Wade Campbell and Girls’ Head Coach Courtney Mendenhall were assisted throughout the season by Bernie Pucka and Rich Bernardi.
The track and field team had wonderful results at the 16th Annual Plum Invitational on May 9. The following athletes medaled at the meet: 3rd place for the boys’ 4x800m relay: Connor Pivirotto, Nathan Mienke, Sam Schohn, and Ethan Jones; 2nd place for the girls’ 4x800m relay: Morgan Filar, Ally Pack, Nina Kite, and Maddie Bevacqua; 6th place for the boys’ 1600m: Connor Pivirotto; 6th place for the girls’ 400m: Maura Opina; 5th place for the girls’ 800m: Morgan Filar; 3rd place for the boys’ 800m: Ethan Jones; 2nd place for the girls’ shot: Kai Johnson; 6th place for the girls’ triple jump: Morgan Proskin; 4th place for the girls’ 4x400m relay: Morgan Filar, Ella Logan, Nina Kite, and Maura Opina; 6th place for the boys’ x400m relay: Ethan Jones, Jacob George, Bo Wisdom, and Dylan McEwen. Great job to all of the athletes and helpers at this invitational!
Congratulations to the following students that medaled at the WAADA Championships on Saturday, May 12: Girls’ 4X800m relay placed 3rd: Morgan Filar, Ally Pack, Nina Kite, and Maddie Bevacqua; Boys’ 1600m: Connor Pivirotto placed 6th; Girls’ 400m: Maura Opina placed 2nd; Girls’ 800m: Morgan Filar placed 2nd; Girls’ Discus: Kai Johnson placed 4th. Congratulations to all of the athletes that competed Saturday and to the entire track team for a great season!
Girls’ Softball
The girls’ softball team had a tremendous season. Members of the team include: Kailey Byrnes, Emma Denne, Kendall James, Jaralyn Kincaid, Makenzie Lang, Taylor Lorish, Maura Marston, Constance McCarthy, Jillian Moore, Ashley Polakovic, Kylie Shotts, Bailey Walker, and Shianne Walker. Great season girls!
Art Field Trip
On Thursday, May 17, twenty-five Art Club members from Oblock Junior High School took a field trip to the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse and Construction Junction. Students were given a tour of both places and learned that they are brother-sister nonprofit organizations with the same mission - to help educate the public about the benefits of reuse for the environment, community, and self. They see reuse as a vehicle for boosting self-confidence, learning new skills and creating opportunity for all. At the Center for Creative Reuse students participated in a scavenger hunt and chose materials for their own art projects to take home with them. Students enjoyed exploring the possibilities of the materials and left excited to transform their reclaimed materials into cool art projects when they got home.
Ship-a-Chip
Sixteen GATE students participated in the “Ship-a-Chip” competition against a total of 14 teams. The students had to work to mail a Pringles potato chip through the US Mail to Springdale High School without having it break. The rules this year had the students create their own package out of a cereal box. They also had to successfully attach a steel plate to the outside of the box, yet under a paper wrapping so that the package could be picked up by a drone with a magnet to make a final flight upon arrival. This was done to simulate drones delivering final packages to customers. If the chip made it intact, the combination of the smallest and lightest package would win. Two teams from Oblock were successfully able to mail the chip without having it break and they placed 1st and 2nd overall in the competition, and the 3rd place team was also from Oblock. In 3rd place was Team AKA (Ana Juba and Ava Wildow). The 2nd place team, for the 2nd year in a row, was the Cereal Killers team consisting of Rachel Bunce and Gowri Warrier. CONGRATULATIONS to the winning team called "No Name" consisting of Ian Moreno and Jeffery Yan.
Music Concerts
The 7th and 8th grade Chorus, under the direction of Jenifer Paraschos, performed their spring concert on May 8th. This year, there are 460 students involved in the choral program. The 7th and 8th grade Select Ensembles performed "The Seal Lullaby" based on the text from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book and the madrigal "Fire, Fire, My Heart". The 7th grade students performed "Shoshone Love Song", "Blackbird", and "Flashlight", to name a few. The 8th Grade Chorus entertained the audience with numbers like "Crawdad Song", "Seasons of Love" and "September", by Earth, Wind and Fire.
Seventh grade students Paige McAndrew, Hannah T., Jade Turner, Annabelle Bunce, Abby Wilson and Alayna Wright were featured in "Blackbird". Seventh grade students, Annabel Arhin and Lauren Price, performed solo piano pieces and solos were performed by Katrina Evankovich and Annabelle Bunce during stage changes. Eighth grade students Ellie Tongel, Gia Marinacci, Trystyn Auth and Morgan Proskin performed "This is Me" from the blockbuster The Greatest Showman. The concert was accompanied by Judi Figel.
Mr. Robert Kalanja's Orchestras performed at Oblock's Art's Night on May 10th. The performance included a guitar ensemble, chamber orchestra, several soloists, as well as the 7th and 8th grade orchestras. Music ranged from "A Whole New World" by Alan Menken, to "Memory" by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and to "Russian Sailor's Dance," by Reinhold Gliere. Along with the plethora of music performed, there was the Oblock Art Show in the hallway surrounding the auditorium, where parents could look and enjoy the art and the concert. Congratulations to the string musicians and artists of Oblock on another successful year!
The AEO Band students performed in their concert on Thursday, May 24th at AEO Auditorium. Under the direction of Mrs. Bethany Loy, 7th grade students opened the concert with the “Star Spangled Banner”, followed with an exciting, original band piece called "Encanto." Students played a medley with songs from the musical Annie and finished up with an exciting popular favorite, "Uptown Funk!" Students in 8th grade played music from Jurassic Park, “Russian Sailors' Dance”, “Sing Sing Sing”, and “Great Gate of Kiev”. Bravo to all involved!
AEO Art Gallery and Annual Art Show
Art is a dynamic element of Oblock Junior High. The art department has been making constant additions to the permanent art gallery in the hallways to display exceptional artwork completed by students. In the halls dazzling exhibits of creative projects are on display for the 17th annual Art Show.
The students once again have produced a wide variety of amazing works of art. Eighth grade art students, Ashley Persia, Addison Sofran, Alexia Pridmore, Emily Simmons, and Marissa Mamatas are the featured eighth grade artists this year, they have produced a wide range of watercolor paintings, still life drawings, acrylic paintings, and colored pencil works of art. Several students have explored photography this school year, creating several different projects using the iPads. In addition to all the larger projects, many students have produced some really interesting works of art, have explored photography, printmaking, metal sculptures, and also used recycled materials to create one of a kind works of art. The art show will be on display starting May 10th and run until May 31st. Again this year was another very successful display of student creations.
The seventh graders focused on the ceiling tile project, creating many designs on the ceiling tiles throughout the school. In addition, students drew realistic portraits in their choice of media, and many students created cardboard sculptures independently or in groups. Seventh graders finished out art class creating clay projects and grid drawings. A brand new category in the art show is the seventh grade photography project. Every seventh grade student was asked to submit a photograph. The seventh grade art award winner is Talia Reese for her photography.
From the decorated Ceiling Tiles to the recycled artwork to the photography and printmaking, the displays both awed and impressed the visitors who attended the Band Concert and the Academic Awards Night activities.
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” ~ Degas
Awards Night
Students who achieved exceptional academic success this year at A.E. Oblock Junior High School were recently honored. The event was the Academic Awards Night that took place on May 30, where 85 seventh graders and 92 eighth graders were honored for achieving a 4.0 GPA; also on this night, 9 students received special awards for elective areas. The prestigious Oblock Citizenship Awards were presented to the 8th grade girl, Kasey Kiggins, and the 8th grade boy, Matthew Diss, who were selected by their teachers for best exemplifying the qualities of leadership and citizenship.
Principal Joe Fishell welcomed parents and students. Musical entertainment during the dessert social was provided by the AEO Strings Group, under the direction of Mr. Robert Kalanja and AEO Band, under the direction of Mrs. Bethany Loy. Frank Czura, delivered the alumni address. Members of the 7thand 8th Grade Select Chorus, directed by Mrs. Jenifer Paraschos, provided entertainment.
Mr. Miller, Ms. Markiewicz, and more than 25 teacher volunteers participate in the event. The event recognized and honors AEO students who have worked all year to achieve academic success. The theme of the event was “Who you are inside is what helps you make and do everything in life.” –Mr. Rogers
Special awards were presented to individual students in several categories at the Awards Night. The categories and recipients included the following: Chorus— Ellie Tongel; Band— Justin Wesolowski; Orchestra— Alexandra George; Art—Ashley Persia; Technology Education— Jason Rowe; Physical Education— Maura Marston & Xander Thornwart; Spanish— Leila Durham; and French— Hailey Drapcho.
Yearbook
Students at Oblock received both a paper copy of the yearbook and a video yearbook this year, which was created by Mrs. Durick and the yearbook staff. Yearbook staff members this year included Abby Wilson, Adriana Mack, Aleah Thornton, Alyssa Warner, Carl Raitano, Colin Celani, Delaney Conklin, Emily Simmons, Emma Sullivan, Francesca North, Francesca Typanski, James Cochran, Jensyn Roman, Kaitlyn McKenna, Madison Koehler, Matthew Diss, Megan Miller, Mia Santucci, Nathan Brown, Nina Ricciuti, Steven Jones, and Talia Leone.
Honors Breakfast for Honor Students
The Honors Breakfasts on May 21 (for 8th graders) and May 22 (for 7th graders) recognized 102 8th graders and 100 7th graders for achieving grade point averages between 3.4 and 3.9. Each student received a hearty breakfast and a special certificate. Congratulations to those hard working students.
8th Grade Picnic
AEO 8th graders enjoyed a picnic day the last week of school to allow them to celebrate their graduation from junior high school. These deserving students attended Zone 28 in Harmar. They were able to engage in many activities including bowling, laser tag, pool, and arcade games. The eighth graders enjoyed socializing with their friends, listening to a DJ, and a lunch of pizza, cookies, and drinks were provided for the students.
Talent Thursday Extravaganza!
All year Oblock students have been able to display their talents during their lunch periods. On June 8, AEO enjoyed the third Annual, Talent Thursday Extravaganza. All the acts practiced to put on a show for the entire school. The seventh and eighth grade students thoroughly enjoyed the performances. Congrats to all participating students!
Reading Hall of Fame Breakfast
On Thursday, May 31, 2018 Oblock readers celebrated their hard work with a Reading Hall of Fame breakfast. There were exactly 200 students who conquered the task of reading at least 126 AR points throughout this school year. The first student, Rachel Bunce accomplished this task in the first week of school and the last few made it in as late as yesterday! No matter when these hardworking students and avid readers achieved this feat, they celebrated by eating donuts or breakfast sandwiches and winning wonderful prizes such as Target and Barnes & Noble gift cards, Pirate and Kennywood tickets, boxes of books, or posters. Congratulations to all students!
Library News and Top AEO Readers
The top readers and Fantasy Baseball Math Club attended a Pirate game at PNC Park thanks to a grant from PPG. The morning of May 26 started with a weather presentation by local meteorologists Jeff Verszyla from KDKA and Stephen Cropper from WPXI. Then students had time to start their workbooks by completing a scavenger hunt for stations located throughout the stadium with answers to the questions.
May 5-12 was the annual spring Scholastic Book Fair. Students went to the Book Fair during their reading or English class and were able to return for purchases before school or during their study halls. It was a great time to get books for summer reading! Overall, the book fair was a huge success! A large portion of the profit from the book fair went to purchase prizes and gifts for the Hall of Fame Breakfast.
The Team Read Competition has 200 students earning a place in the esteemed Reading Hall of Fame. To reach this prestigious goal, students had to read an average of 25-30 books and accumulate more than 126 Accelerated Reader points (hours). Encouraged by a support team including Principal Joe Fishell, activity period/study hall teachers, and the reading/English teachers, the students moved through the junior varsity, varsity, and all-star ranks before being inducted into the Hall of Fame. When this program started eleven years ago, the Hall of Fame only had 31 students!
Thirteen Hall of Fame members made it to the prestigious 500-Point Club. There were also 3 students earning more than 1,000 points (Mark VanOrden, Alexandra George, and Rudra Thakkar). In addition, AEO had 113 All-Star Readers; 212 Varsity Team members; and 66 Jr. Varsity Team members. Also, over 40 lucky Hall of Fame students won gift cards to places like Amazon and Target ranging from $5 to $125.
Students who had the most points in their grade or the most in their individual reading classes were also awarded free Kennywood tickets thanks to the PTSA.