< Previous%Locally SourcedLocally Sourced There is a new branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) that has formed in Coraopolis. Recruiting for new members began July 1 and there are now over 130 excited members of this new branch. Memberships cost only $30 per year for adults, $10 for children and $15 for students. The mission of the Coraopolis NAACP mission is to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination. Members can join one of 20 different committees, including WIN (Women In the NAACP), Education, or Community Development, to name just a few. By doing so, members can make a difference in the communities that the branch serves. The NAACP’s Coraopolis branch serves Coraopolis, Moon Township, Sewickley, McKees Rocks and surrounding communities. To join the Coraopolis NAACP, or for more information, contact Carter L. Spruill, president, Coraopolis NAACP, at coraopolisnaacp@gmail.com or (412) 329-7998. NAACP branch established in Coraopolis, new members wanted CONTENT SUBMITTED Francis Lally, MD, FACC Cardiovascular Medicine Get back in rhythm. Connect with Dr. Lally and his expert cardiovascular care team through AHN’s nationally recognized heart program. Now seeing patients at Allegheny General Hospital, in Moon Township, and soon in Sewickley. (412) DOCTORS doctors.AHN.org/Francis-Lally West Hills Meals on Wheels, located in the Coraopolis United Methodist Church on Ridge Road in Coraopolis, will participate once again in the Subaru Share the Love Event from Nov. 19 to Jan. 2. During that time, the kitchen will partner with Subaru of Moon Township on many virtual events to promote the campaign. Through the Subaru Share the Love® Event, Subaru of America donates $250 for every new Subaru vehicle purchased or leased to the customer’s choice of four national charities, including Meals on Wheels, with a minimum guarantee of $250,000. WHMOW serves the Coraopolis, Neville Island, Moon Township and Crescent Township areas by delivering hot, nutritious meals to their clients - along with a big smile and some friendly conversation. To kick off the Subaru Share the Love® Event, West Hills Meals on Wheels kitchen had the Planters NUTmobile visit their location Nov. 18. The Planters NUTmobile staff volunteered in the kitchen to help prepare meals and even used the NUTmobile to deliver meals to several clients. They also parked at the church for the community to come and visit. During the Planters NUTmobile event, WHMOW held a Stuff the Subaru food drive. The church collected non-perishable goods for blizzard boxes that are delivered to clients in the event of delivery cancellations due to inclement weather. West Hills Meals on Wheels looks forward to all of the events throughout the Subaru Share the Love® Event. West Hills Meals on Wheels again partnering with Subaru Planters NUTmobile staff volunteered in the West Hills Meals on Wheels kitchen and helped deliver meals. CONTENT SUBMITTED 10 • Allegheny West Magazine • Winter 2020lLegislative Update Legislative Update BY STATE REP. ANITA KULIK State Rep. Anita Kulik I have wanted to use this column as a way to provide information about events in Harrisburg. I have tried to provide details about things we do, and actions that are being taken. This year has been a very unique - perhaps we can easily say bizarre - year. However, if there is one thing this year has brought to light, it is the importance of home and family. While many of us are looking forward to the end of 2020 with great anticipation, there has never been a more important time for us to embrace the holiday season. There is much that we, your elected officials, must still do. We passed a temporary budget, but now it is time to pass a final budget to carry us through until June. We have many bills outstanding. I introduced various pieces of legislation, such as Alina’s Law, to address domestic violence. This has been pushed to the side by the committee that must address it, as other pressing items of legislation have been debated. However, all of these bills are important, and the House and Senate must focus on all issues. While there is so much to do, I realize that we are all ready to experience a familiar sense of normalcy. Yes, COVID is still with us and may be for some time. We continue to wear our masks, which are now turning festive. We’re keeping a polite distance and sanitizing just about everything. We have shown that we can live safely and respectfully of others and will take this with us into the holiday season. It is truly the most wonderful time of the year - not because it is coming to the end of an otherwise terrible year, but because it is a time that so many of us have been looking forward to enjoying. We have missed so much this year, from religious holidays to family milestones, from weddings to summer gatherings, from sport events to graduations. A family Thanksgiving dinner that spills into holiday shopping, baking and family time will be most welcome now more than ever. I am looking forward to tuning into my favorite holiday special, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” - the original one from when I was a child. The Grinch realizes that Christmas and the other seasonal holidays are not about gifts or decorations but the sense of togetherness. We need this now, more so than I can ever remember. We need to regain our sense of civility and kindness. We lost these this past year and need to remember that we live together in our communities. We must work together for the common good. Being respectful of those around us should be our normal. I trust that my colleagues in Harrisburg will realize and follow through with that. I trust that we all can look in the mirror, and into our hearts, and realize that divisiveness is not going to solve any problems. Whatever you are looking forward to this season, I wish you much joy. I wish you all a new year filled with hope. I wish you all a holiday season and a new year that brings you happiness, health and a lot of love. To quote my other favorite story, “God Bless us, everyone.” Express knows jobs. Get to know Express. O ces in Robinson & Monaca 412.494.2000 ExpressPros.com Full-time and part-time opportunities in a variety of positions: Administrative, Professional, Industrial, Skilled Labor, Skilled Trades, and Skilled Professional No Fees! Winter 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 11y > Learning Curves Learning Curves If you own a house in the suburbs that was built prior to 1980 and it still has the original sewer line, it could be in trouble. Most residential lines are made from materials that were only meant to last upwards of 30 years. Over time, ground movement, tree roots, construction and other factors tend to wreak havoc on these old lines. Whether comprised of cast iron, steel, terra cotta or even plastic, the lines will eventually fail. This can lead to backups and, in a worst case scenario, raw sewage spilling back into the home. To replace a sewer line such as these, plumbers have traditionally excavated the old line and replaced it. Though costly, the new line lasts a lifetime. Unfortunately for many households, old sewage lines tend to be buried underneath new construction and landscaping. Replacing a line by excavating it can thus involve demolishing and replacing costly items such as driveways, retaining walls and landscaping. In that case, replacing a sewer line can run homeowners thousands of dollars above and beyond just replacing the line. Fortunately, new technology allows for the repair of old sewage lines without excavation. A system known as trenchless pipe repair and lining involves digging a small hole down to the old line and coating the inside in an epoxy. The epoxy cures to a plastic that is just as thick as a modern sewer line. It does not mitigate flow, can be installed any time of the year and lasts a lifetime. The process also costs about the same as a traditional sewer line replacement. Homeowners who would otherwise need to replace a driveway, retaining wall or landscaping could thus save thousands of dollars. Trenchless pipe repair for sewage lines isn’t a commonly offered service in this area, however. That’s why Jim Meyers and Son Plumbing in Oakdale decided to invest in machinery earlier this year that would allow them to offer it to both residential and commercial customers. So far, they’ve fixed old sewer lines that would have otherwise incurred significant added expenses. To clear blocked sewer lines, Jim Meyers and Son Plumbing also uses a pressurized water system prior to installing the epoxy that flushes out buildup. Pressurized to 4,000 psi, the system can even clear roots from a line. A camera system allows them to inspect the pipe for blockages. For more, visit meyersplumbingpittsburgh.com or call (412) 787-7805. How to repair a sewer line without destroying your yard or driveway Rather than excavate and replace this old sewer line, it was flushed and then coated in an epoxy that will keep it operating for a lifetime. Jim Meyers and Son Plumbing in Oakdale is now one of the few plumbing businesses in the area offering trenchless pipe repair for residential and commercial sewer lines. The service allows for the repair of a sewer line without excavation and can potentially save property owners thousand of dollars. CONTENT SUBMITTED 12 • Allegheny West Magazine • Winter 2020CAround Your Town Around Your Town Ginger Stage of Moon Township went through a lot of trouble to get her German shepherd, Dakota. When she initially went looking for him, she didn’t just want a German shepherd or even a type of German shepherd. Rather, she wanted a particular bloodline with a unique personality trait. Before Dakota, she’d owned three other shepherds. The third, which was a relative of Dakota’s, was by far the most pleasant. The dog’s personality had been so distinctively nice that she went to great lengths to find one with the same genetic disposition. “When we had to put our third shepherd down we told the breeders we wanted that same mellow personality,” she says. “We went back to the breeder and she tracked down the bloodline. The breeder was in Canada and was using him as a stud because he was famous for that mellow personality.” Though the stud had passed away, the breeder was still using that shepherd’s frozen sperm for artificial insemination. Stage jumped at the opportunity to get a new puppy in the bloodline and Dakota ended up being everything she wanted. That was almost 13 years ago, however. Now, Dakota is suffering from the ailments of old age. Earlier this year, his hind legs started to give out. Then, around Labor Day, he lost the function in his front legs, but only temporarily. He regained function and Stage staved off having to make some tough decisions about euthanasia. Still, with Dakota unable to use his hind legs, it was an eventuality that Stage had been forced to consider - but she also had reason for hope. By chance, a neighbor who had witnessed Stage on several occasions trying to walk Dakota had approached her with an idea. That neighbor was Arif Sirinterlikci, an engineering professor at Robert Morris University. He suggested having some students build Dakota a mobility device for a class project. Stage said she would be grateful for the help. In September of 2019, students in the university’s biomedical engineering department working under professor Won Joo began working on an exoskeleton for Dakota. They even brought Dakota into the lab a few times to take measurements. As his legs continued to deteriorate, they decided to instead make Dakota a wheeled mobility device that could support his hind legs. They also designed a crane that could lift Dakota out of the back of Stage’s SUV. In March, Joo’s students tried out a prototype of their device on Dakota. Though the harness was a little low, and the wheels a bit small, it showed promise. “Once he started to walk and found he could walk he just wanted to go,” recalls Stage. Shortly after, COVID-19 shut down the country. Joo and his lab personnel were the only ones allowed in the labs, and they were busy printing parts for face shields for medical personnel and nasal test swabs for UPMC. “Before they could finish, COVID shut the labs down,” says Mark Houser, director of news and information for Robert Morris. “As soon as the labs opened back up in the late summer, they got back to work.” Since then, lab manager Gabe Cottrell and work-study students have been trying to finish the project that students who have since graduated started. They tweaked the cart’s design and finished the crane that fits on the back of Stage’s car. On Oct. 30, they invited Stage onto campus so they could install the crane and try out the tweaked device on Dakota. After a little bit of work, the crane was able to easily hoist Dakota out of Stage’s car, but it was evident that the cart still needed some adjustments. Still, it was promising. “We’ll have to make some modifications to it,” says Cottrell. “When you have a design and go to put in a final product, there’s always a change you have to make.” Cottrell and Joo should know. They’ve had plenty of experience building medical devices for people. Lately, they’ve even been working with Pittsburgh-based Union Orthotics and Prosthetics to develop 3D-printed prosthetics. This was the first time either says they’ve worked on a device for a dog, however. As many of the same concepts apply, they’re hopeful that their efforts will give Dakota back his mobility. Stage, who is now a widow and has to move Dakota on her own, says she’s grateful for all the work students and staff have put into the project. “I was thrilled and so impressed,” she says. “And they were so generous with their time. And these contraptions cost a lot of money. It’s a godsend.” Robert Morris lends expertise to local pet owner STORY AND PHOTOS BY DOUG HUGHEY Ginger Stage and her German shepherd, Dakota, are pictured with engineering lab manager Gabe Cottrell and Won Joo, professor of biomedical engineering, at Robert Morris University. The two men have been overseeing an effort that started out as a student project to give Dakota back his mobility. They are currently finishing a crane (pictured above) and a mobility device (pictured below) for him. Winter 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 13Winter 2020 14 • Allegheny West Magazine • Winter 2020 www.cornellsd.org For the third year in a row, Cornell School District has been ranked first overall by the Pittsburgh Business Times on their annual Overachieving List. The Pittsburgh Business Times releases annual rankings of school districts from across the Pittsburgh area and state. Its overachieving list is among its most telling, because it looks past economic status and examines district achievements, including impact on student outcomes. Cornell Superintendent Dr. Aaron Thomas stated, “The #1 ranking on the Overachieving List is a great accomplishment for our district and demonstrates the work and commitment our students, families and staff have shown over the past few years. I remember when we were shooting for the top 10, and then aiming for number one. To be where we are now, the number one ranked for the third year in a row, is truly a great accomplishment for our district!” The district will continue working as hard as it always has, and will evolve and adapt with the ever-changing times. Some of the highlights over the past few school years include the transformation of existing spaces into new learning spaces; the creation of a new computer science program; the creation of an eSports team; the continued implementation of the Collins Writing program in classes; each student receiving their own technology devices to take home; and the continued success of grant awards, to name a few. The hard work will continue, and this recognition will just grow the district’s sense of pride and satisfaction. COVID-19 has caused significant changes and modifications to many aspects of daily personal and professional lives. For the Cornell School District, one significant change caused by COVID-19 was how the district’s annual open house event was held. In the past, Cornell’s district-wide open house has been one of the school’s largest attended events. Particularly at the elementary level, classrooms tend to get packed with families eager to meet their child’s teachers, see where their child sits, and find out what assignments and projects their child has completed. Therefore, it was especially difficult to acknowledge that Cornell’s open house couldn’t happen this year, or at least not in the same capacity as it has in the past. A plan was put in place to offer a virtual open house but, in the end, it was decided that having teachers record and post presentations was the best approach. Teachers were asked to cover specific information in their presentations. They outlined academic and behavioral expectations, discussed course objectives and milestones, went over teaching and student schedules, gave an overview of COVID-19 precautions, and covered contact information. The videos were then posted on the district website and each teacher’s Google Classroom sites. Videos are still posted to the district website if a parent or guardian wishes to view them. Cornell School District would like to thank all stakeholders for their flexibility and understanding throughout this unique situation. The district will continue to come up with creative options for events and programming while this situation persists. Cornell named most overachieving school district for third consecutive year Open house held virtuallyWinter 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 15 #WeAre Cornell Go to: www.cornellsd.org for the latest district news Middle and High School • Khan Academy www.khanacademy.org Instructional videos help kids learn new concepts, review old ones, or hear something explained in a different way. As an app and a site, this service lets kids find experts explaining and showing how to tackle lots of school-related material. • Vocabulary.com www.vocabulary.com Great for teens who want their vocabulary lessons gamified. As kids play the game and answer the questions, the difficulty adjusts to their level and rewards them with points (which might keep them playing longer than strict drill practice). • Shmoop www.shmoop.com Offers teens study help and test prep with a twist. It’s the tone of this site that sets it apart, as its wry humor and teen-speak make its novel summaries and SAT prep more palatable. • Google Scholar scholar.google.com Since the web is a wild west of information, it can be hard for a kid to sort through it all to find credible resources. This search engine helps weed out the noise and serve up search results a teen can actually use. Ten websites all kids should bookmark By Christine Elgersma, Common Sense Media Websites come and go -- but the ones that are truly useful stick around for the long-term. For students, having a few go-tos in your back pocket whenever you need to exercise some math muscles, build vocabulary, practice analytical skills, or do research is a time- saver (and sometimes a lifesaver!). What kinds of sites are bookmark-worthy? Ones that offer solid, supplementary information, adapt to your kid’s level, provide fun practice instead of drill-and-kill, and show videos to explain complex concepts. Class after class, semester after semester, these 10 sites are the ones you’ll come back to. So, bookmark them -- you’ll start learning a lot faster. Preschool and Early Grades • Bedtime Math bedtimemath.org Great for kids who need some daily math practice but dislike drills. Parents and kids can explore a real-world math problem together, and the different levels let kids of different ages participate. • Prodigy Math Game www.prodigygame.com An engaging combination of fantasy-based video game and math practice, this adventure also escapes dull drills. It’s available as a website and an app. • Bookopolis bookopolis.com Like a Goodreads for kids, this site lets kids log their reading, rate books, and earn rewards for reading. It’s great for reluctant readers who might trust another kid’s endorsement about a book. Older Elementary School • Factmonster www.factmonster.com Kids can use this as a resource for a variety of subjects. With biographies, an atlas, and other reference materials, Factmonster is an informative place for kids to find fun facts and play educational games. • Free Rice freerice.com While very simple, this game has two purposes: to teach words and to feed people. For each multiple-choice vocabulary question answered correctly, 10 grains of rice go to the UN World Food Program. For the past two years, Cornell School District has partnered with the Coraopolis Community Development Corporation to deliver its Snack Pack Program to students and families. The Snack Packs have been made possible thanks to the generosity and efforts of a number of wonderful organizations that allow the CCDC to provide the program. Snack Pack Program The Snee-Reinhardt Charitable Foundation and The Pittsburgh Foundation support the efforts of the program. Also, Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank gives access for the food that goes into the Snack Packs. Families and students who qualify receive a Snack Pack to take home at the end of each week, and will continue to do so for the remainder of the school year. Cornell is very fortunate and excited to provide 60 snack packs to students through this generous program.16 • Allegheny West Magazine • Winter 2020 Karen Murphy - President Robert Dinell - Vice President Stephanie Mazzocco - Treasurer Darlene Abbott Mark Cavicchia Cornell School District 1099 Maple Street • Coraopolis, PA 15108 www.cornellsd.org Dr. Aaron Thomas Superintendent athomas@cornellsd.org (412) 264-5010, ext. 120 Dr. Doug Szokoly High School Principal dszokoly@cornellsd.org (412) 264-5010, ext. 104 Jeffrey Carter Elementary School Principal jcarter@cornellsd.org, (412) 264-5010, ext. 241 Carla Antoniades Director of Pupil Services cantoniades@cornellsd. org Kris Hupp Director of Technology & Instructional Innovation khupp@cornellsd.org Patrick Berdine Business Manager Cornell School District Board of Directors *Patrick Berdine - Secretary *Trish Andrews - Solicitor - non-board member* #WeAre Cornell Michael Griffith Michael Engel Caryn Code Linda Solecki #WeAre Cornell Go to: www.cornellsd.org for the latest district news Toward the end of the summer, the Cornell School Board of Directors voted to start the school year with a unique instructional schedule. Students were to attend school five days per week on half- day rotations. Students were either assigned to the morning or afternoon session. When not in school, students were to complete additional assignments and coursework online via Google Classroom, which is facilitated by classroom teachers. This approach allows Cornell to adhere to a six-foot social distancing measure at all times when school is in session. The instructional model has worked very well but has posed an issue with the scheduled early dismissal that the district has scheduled throughout the year. The early dismissals are built into the school calendar so teachers can attend mandatory trainings and professional development sessions. It also allows them to meet at each grade or department level to review student assessment and achievement data, review curriculum, and explore different instructional options. It was decided that scheduled early dismissal days would be fully remote learning days, as that would allow the district to maximize those days academically. It also allows students from both sessions - morning and afternoon - to connect and see one another. The first remote learning day occurred Friday, Oct. 2. Students were expected to connect from home at the start of school, and all teachers taught synchronously, meaning live with students on the video platform Google Meet. It was a learning experience for all. Nothing but positive feedback was received. Student attendance for that day was also very high. Remote learning days will continue to be utilized not only for early dismissals, but also when winter weather necessitates a cancellation or two-hour delay. In that case, the district will move to remote learning for that day. Please check the school calendar for any future remote learning days. Be sure to also check emails and expect phone calls early in the morning if winter weather dictates a remote learning day. Cornell moves to remote learning days Cornell is excited that the local Salvation Army, along with the great people at the Coraopolis Community Development Corporation, have provided families with the opportunity to participate in the Sheetz for the Kidz Holiday Program. This generous program offers extra support for the holidays by helping families fulfill their holiday wish list. Cornell feels very fortunate and grateful to have such tremendous and generous organizations like the Coraopolis Community Development Corporation and the local Salvation Army to partner with in support of local families and students in Coraopolis and Neville Island. Sheetz holiday programWinter 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 17 Superintendent’s Message Cornell participating in free residential Wi-Fi pilot program This map shows the Meta Mesh coverage areas. The green areas have excellent coverage and the yellow have good coverage. Areas in red are not being serviced at this time. Cornell Families: I hope that this newsletter finds you doing well and that members of your family are safe and sound. It has been a rather eventful start to the school year to say the least, but I am happy with the educational programming our faculty and staff have been able to provide to our students. I’m also overwhelmed by how supportive and understanding our families have been during this difficult and challenging time. Everyone at Cornell School District understands that the current half-day rotation schedule isn’t ideal. We all want our students back in the classroom full time, five days per week. However, at this time, we just can’t do that and abide by the six-foot distance recommendations on a consistent basis across the board. With the uncertainty of the cold and flu season, and the potential for travel during the holiday season, it was decided that it would be best to stay the course with our half-day schedule. This will ensure that six-foot distancing is accomplished in every classroom. At the same time, we will ask everyone in school to continue to wear masks and wash hands routinely. We have coined the routine and consistent practice of those safety measures as “The Big Three” and we’ll continue to practice them with full fidelity. While abiding by the proper health and safety measures, we also acknowledge that our students, as well as our staff members, need a sense of normalcy at this time. That is why we have worked so hard to ensure that extra-curricular clubs, activities and athletics can still continue, but in a way that balances the health and safety of our students and staff. The additional measures may grow tiresome for our students, but we must consistently do them to ensure our spaces and learning environment are as safe as we can possibly make them. As you will see from reading through this newsletter, we haven’t let this pandemic stop us from continuing to offer our students the best possible learning opportunities. We are very proud of what our students and staff continue to accomplish and achieve, and we are happy to highlight them in each edition of Allegheny West Magazine. As you will see, it is a collaborative, team effort, and our students deserve the best opportunities, supports, and recognition that we can give to them. Thank you again to everyone who is working so hard to make Cornell School District a special place. We’ll continue to work tirelessly to keep it that way. Our students, families and staff deserve it. Enjoy reading, and thank you to the Cornell community for the continued understanding and flexibility. We are Cornell! In the spring of 2020, Cornell began working with local organizations to address the district’s digital divide. While Cornell was able to distribute devices for students who needed them, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed that it’s not just a lack of devices that prevents students from participating in remote learning. In fact, the problem runs a bit deeper. Many Cornell students do not have reliable Internet access in their homes. For these students, Wi-Fi access is the main obstacle to success in online school. To respond to this pressing issue, Cornell has teamed up with Meta Mesh Wireless Communities, which is the first nonprofit wireless Internet service provider in the country. Meta Mesh’s mission is to bridge Pittsburgh’s Digital Divide by providing broadband wireless Internet to those who can not get it otherwise. Through a combination of fundraising, grant writing and community cost-sharing methods, Meta Mesh has been able to provide Wi-Fi to households in need at little to no cost. In partnership with Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and the Keystone Initiative for Network-based Research and Education, Meta Mesh is launching a pilot program called “Every1online” to test their new in-home Wi-Fi program. This pilot program will provide 12 months of no-cost Wi-Fi service and equipment to households within the service area. Meta Mesh Wireless Communities is working hard to get families online before the end of 2020. Cornell is one of Every1online’s participating communities, along with the New Kensington-Arnold School District and the Homewood area. After antennas are installed on the Coraopolis water tower, Meta Mesh will begin the home installation phase in each of these locations throughout November and December of 2020. The service coverage map above will be used to determine which locations can receive the broadband signal from the Meta Mesh tower. To see whether a home is eligible to receive free broadband wireless Internet services through Every1online and to learn more, visit www.metamesh.org/projects. Dr. Aaron Thomas, Superintendent18 • Allegheny West Magazine • Winter 2020 Cyber spotlight Updates from the Google Certified Coaching Program at Cornell Introducing Sora: Sora is a digital library of books and audiobooks students can download to their devices. Available titles range from “Dog- man” to “Harry Potter” to “Wonder.” Elementary students with iPads already have the app installed and can begin downloading books right away. High school students can go to soraapp.com/ library/aiu3 on their Chromebook or download the app on their personal devices. Sora for Apple devices: apple.co/3jFVLGw Sora for Android devices: bit.ly/3kG38PP Students will select Allegheny Intermediate Unit 3 as their school and then will choose Cornell School District from the list. They will then be prompted to log in with their Cornell Google credentials. Students can also add their public library card number into Sora if they have one to access even more digital books. Mrs. Klein, the school librarian, will be working with students in the elementary school to help them access digital books over the next couple of weeks. Open eBooks As a reminder, students do still have access to another library through the Open eBooks app on iOS or Android devices. When using Open eBooks, just select “log in with Clever” and enter your Cornell Google credentials. Open eBooks for Apple devices: apple.co/31U4hvT Open eBooks for Android devices: bit.ly/35KsZj9 Happy Reading! The Cornell School District is excited to have the Google Certified Coach Program - formerly known as the Dynamic Learning Project - up and running this year. With the help of Rachel McVeagh, Cornell’s instructional technology coach - who is also a Google Certified Coach and Trainer - teachers are finding exciting ways to work with their students within Cornell’s new hybrid model. Teachers are using Google Classroom with ease to share digital class materials like assignments, resources and announcements, as well as to communicate with their students. Teachers are now also feeling more comfortable with other essential platforms like Google Meet for delivering live virtual instruction. Teachers are feeling empowered to begin using the platform creatively, even when they are face-to-face with students in school, to help with things like collaboration while remaining socially distanced. Many teachers have signed up to take advantage of the 1:1 instructional technology coaching, the main component of the Google Certified Coaching Program that Cornell offers. Of the 14 teachers who have been participating in the first two coaching cycles of the year, a few chose to focus on designing more interactive lessons. Others chose to work on challenges specific to their content or grade-level needs. Others opted to build student capacity in the areas of collaboration and communication. Some of the tech tools used to help tackle these challenges have been Nearpod, Flipgrid, Seesaw and Jamboard. Cornell is excited to continue working with coaches and teachers. The district looks forward to keeping the community up- to-date on these efforts. Cornell Cyber Academy, which provides a high quality, flexible educational alternative to the traditional brick-and-mortar classroom, is currently in full swing. This asynchronous online program is available to students at each grade level and is aligned with the Cornell School District curriculum and PA Core and Academic Standards. Students enrolled in the cyber academy have access to core content area and elective courses through Edgenuity that are taught by Cornell School District teachers. Cornell Cyber Academy also offers access to individual online courses for Cornell High School students. Students who are interested in additional courses may contact Gina Walter, guidance counselor, for more information. Elementary students in grades K through six also have access to Cornell Cyber Academy. Core subject instruction is provided by Accelerate Education and facilitated by Cornell Elementary teacher Lindsay McKee. REPORT CARDS COMING SOON! Cornell Cyber Academy operates on the same grading period schedule as traditional school. The following dates mark the end of each quarter: Quarter 1 - Nov. 5 Quarter 2 - Jan. 26 Quarter 3 - March 31 Quarter 4 - June 9 Students in the full online program will receive their report cards via USPS mail. IMPORTANT REMINDERS Attendance for Cornell Cyber Academy is tracked weekly. Students are expected to participate and complete assignments daily. Elementary parents should contact Mrs. McKee if there are any attendance questions. Senior high parents may contact Mrs. Reagle at 412-264-5010 extension 124. Sora at Cornell School District How much and how widely a child reads has long been considered a key predictor of a child’s academic success. In light of this fact, and the district’s sheer love of reading, Cornell is excited to announce its adoption of Sora by Overdrive. Winter 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 19 Each day, Cornell High School students and faculty start their day by watching CHS-TV, a digital video version of the high school’s morning announcements. The video is streamed in via YouTube and contains a rundown of important information and public service-style announcements. Students produce the segments in a mini studio at the school with professional video editing software, a green screen and scaled-down versions of equipment one would find in a real newsroom. In years past, the announcements have been a bit buttoned-up. This year, though, as everyone returned to school amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the students responsible for producing the announcements decided they needed to change things up a bit. “Everything was dark because of coronavirus, so we wanted to bring a bright comedy aspect to it,” says anchor MJ Smith about how the group has approached the production this year. The result has been an upbeat, entertaining and fun daily news segment that delivers just the right tone and energy in those groggy morning hours. The students have also infused their personalities and sense of humor into the production to create something that’s distinctly their own. So, even while MJ and co-host Jada Jenkins are reminding students about the protocols regarding mask wearing, they’re doing it in a way that’s positive and entertaining. “The best way to put it is they liven it up,” says teacher Patricia Dahmen, who oversees the production. “They have different hand motions and even start each segment with a rap. There’s no way to describe what they do. You have to just watch it.” The rap started as a one-off idea, says MJ. Once it caught on, they decided to run with it. Now, they come up with a different rap each day to kick off the segment. Sometimes they even come up with it last minute. MJ says they were inspired by the Weekend Rap segment in the subscription service Flocabulary, which teachers use to prompt discussions about current affairs. For the most part, the students currently involved in CHS- TV have been working on the production together for years. They’re all juniors and have also worked together on other school productions such as the school musical and plays. Behind the scenes, Victoria Cohen is the director and producer; Allison Ricketts handles graphics production and icons; and Morgan Engel is the prompter and news editor. Victoria took over this year for the first time as producer and is thus responsible for pulling everything together using the professional video editing software WireCast. It’s the same software utilized in real newsrooms and has a rather significant learning curve, she says. “It was a big learning experience for me,” she says. Over the past five years, Victoria and the rest of the group have also been working with Dahmen to upgrade the broadcast’s look. It now includes professional-looking transition screens, a ribbon ticker, icons, a digital background and more. The room they use, too, has gotten some improvements over the years, including a false wall that helps with the audio and holds their green screen backdrop. They also recently upgraded from a hand-held camera. “It’s a pretty professional setup,” says Dahmen. “For a small school, we have a lot going on.” Dahmen says the students are highly motivated and want to make sure they get it right, even if they have to re-record. That’s a luxury they haven’t had in years past, when they aired the segment live in the mornings. Now that some students attend in the morning and others in the afternoon, they’re meeting afterschool to pre-record the show. In some ways, that’s allowing them to take risks that they might not normally take with a live broadcast. At Cornell, Dahmen teaches English and AP English, as well as a dual-enrollment journalism course offered through Point Park University. Students who complete the course can earn college credits. The course has also benefitted from a partnership with John Lefkovitz from Steel Town Entertainment. A couple of times per week, Lefkovitz drops in virtually to work with students on the video editing software Adobe Premier. CHS-TV is thus an opportunity for Dahmen’s students to apply what they’re learning in the classrom, she says. CHS-TV segments are available at YouTube and viewable by the general public. To watch them, search for Cornell CHS-TV. Educating students about potential careers and occupations is a responsibility that Cornell School District takes very seriously. School guidance counselors work very hard to ensure that all career standards and benchmarks are being met, and students learn about careers and professions at the appropriate grade levels. Recently, Cornell partnered with Robert Morris University in order to introduce students to professionals in healthcare through a mentorship program. Each month, Robert Morris coordinates and facilitates an hour-long workshop where students from Cornell join peers from Quaker Valley, Hampton, Seneca Valley, Keystone Oaks and Parkway West CTC in order to connect with a healthcare professional employed in an identified field. That professional covers their professional responsibilities and roles; their educational path to get to that point; and the pros and cons of their profession. Identified areas so far include healthcare administration, nursing, nuclear medicine, human resources, patient safety and quality, and data analytics. Sessions conclude with students having the opportunity to ask specific questions and the experience has been great thus far. Cornell is looking to expand on this type of programming, as exposing students to potential careers can have an impactful consequence on their future. Be on the lookout for more career pathway programming that Cornell students will be exposed to in the future! Health programming partnership with RMU CHS-TV brightens up mornings at Cornell Jada Jenkins and MJ Smith deliver the morning announcements on CHS-TV (introduction screen shown at top). Next >