February 2018
February 2018 Board Highlights
Oblock Junior High
French Field Trip
On Friday, February 2nd, Ms. Mendenhall and 38 students traveled to Paris 66, an authentic French Bistro, for a French field trip. Paris 66 is run and operated by all French staff. The students took part in full immersion so they had to order in French, ask questions in French, and participated in a question and answer period at end of their meal with the staff there. It was a wonderful experience had by all.
Battery Car Field Trip
On Thursday, February 1st, Mr. Silvis and Mr. Steele took 18 GATE students to Duquesne University to compete in a battery car competition. Students were all given the same motor and a battery pack. They were required to build a car out of scrap materials that would carry a full water bottle 20 meters. Four of the 6 teams were successful in completing this challenge. The team of Rachel Bunce, Alexandra George, and Gowri Warrier finished with a time of 17 seconds. The top team from Oblock, consisting of Rhudra Thakkar, Mark Van Orden, and Jeffrey Yan finished with a time of 13 seconds. Congratulations to everyone that participated.
Student Government
During the month of February student government sponsored the Animal Shelter Food/Toy/Blanket Drive. Donations were placed in the orange boxes that were located around the school. All proceeds will be given to local animal shelters. Student government thanks all those who gave donations.
Equations Tournament
On Tuesday February 20, Mrs. Barker, AEO math teacher and ten members of the Oblock GATE program traveled to Woodland Hills for the 33rd annual Equations Tournament. According to Mrs. Barker, “Equations is a game played with 24 cubes containing numbers and operators. The cubes are shuffled to reveal the resources for that round. A number goal is set and students take turns placing the cubes into 3 categories: forbidden, permitted, or required. Students are challenged to find complex solutions to average goals. The game takes a lot of forward thinking, logic, and reasoning skills.” Congratulations to Oblock team Rudra Thakkar, Maura Marston, Willem Powell, Alexis Beiter, and Vasishta Malisetty for finishing 3rd place overall. A very special congratulations to Rudra Thakkar for winning a 5th place individual award.
Snowflake Dance
On Thursday, February 8th, student council provided the opportunity for Oblock students to enjoy the winter season with their friends at the Snowflake Dance. The PTSA had pop, pizza, donuts, pretzels and candy for sale. PTSA had a Photo Booth at the dance to take pictures and capture the moment. Prior to the dance the 8th grade students voted on the “top ten”. The results were announced during the dance. Funniest-Kendall Cielieska and Cameron Wickline; Most Outgoing-Ellie Tongel and Tommy Marzina; Most Athletic-Cassidy Starr and John Ioannau; Best Smile-Alexis DiNapoli and Zach Fulton; Most Artistic-Addison Sofran and JD Cochran; Best Singer-Gia Marinacci and Cameron Moss; Most School Spirit-Kai Johnson and Jason Rowe; Kindest-Maura Marston and Sam Pine; Most Likely To Succeed-Gowri Warrier and Jeffery Yan; Best Dressed-Jade Tau and Jake Verrico.
Oblock Assembly
Dr. Stepnick, school dentist, came to speak with the Oblock Junior High students on February 13. He gave a very informative presentation on the consequences of students not properly taking care of their teeth. He touched upon the dangers of using tobacco and vaping. The students were amazed at the pictures and seemed to walk away with much knowledge from the assembly.
PTA Reflections Awards Dinner and Ceremony
On the evening of March 8th, many Oblock students will be honored for their hard work in the Reflections Program. There were a variety of categories in which students could have entered. The Plum Council of PTA at AE Oblock will acknowledge these students through a delicious dinner and awards ceremony afterwards. In the Literature category Gowri Warrier was awarded 1st. In the Visual Arts category 1st place was Lucas Havans, 2nd place was Natalie Thompson, and third place was Ava Shroeder. In Photography 1st was Rachel Bunce and 2nd was Mark Van Orden. In the film category was Ryan Kmonk with first, Gowri Warrier with second, and Rachel Bunce with third. Finally, in the music composition category, Gowri Warrier won first. Congratulations to all of these students on a job well done!
ESSPA Chess Tournament
On Friday, February 23, 2018, Oblock Jr. High hosted the ESSPA Chess Tournament in the library. There were 4 visiting schools, including over 40 students. The team of Vasishta Malisetty, Rudra Thakkar, Willem Powell and Alex Taylor finished in first place. The team of Dylan Piel, Austin Mitchell, Jonathan Rivett, and Mark VanOrden placed second. The team of Ian Moreno, Jeffrey Yan, Rachel Bunce, and Alexandra George finished in third. Congratulations to all those who participated.
Reading Hall of Fame
Team Read is still rolling along. There are 5 with over 500 points, 13 more with over 300 points, 86 more in the Hall of Fame with 126 points, 133 at the All-Star level with 76 points, 197 at the Varsity level with 26 points, and 81 at the Junior Varsity level with 10 points.