< PreviousCAround Your Town Around Your Town STORY BY PAT JENNETTE PHOTOS SUBMITTED It is often said that the only thing constant in life is change. For three airport area siblings who collectively invested 137 years of their lives - their entire careers - with the airline industry, nothing could be truer. Bill, Joe and Pat Czyzewicz have successfully landed on the doorstep of their next life phase after retiring from what was once Allegheny Airlines, and is now American Airlines, within months of each other. Their stories could fill a book about an ever-changing airline that has defined Pittsburgh’s aviation industry for nearly 80 years. Back in the 1970s, Allegheny Airlines defined Greater Pittsburgh International Airport. In 1992, a massive $1 billion rebuilding and expansion of the airport was completed so it could become a major hub for what was now US Airways. Through numerous mergers and changes, that airline has since folded into American Airlines. Fortunately for the Czyzewiczs, their story has a silver lining. The timing of their retirement worked well in light of American Airlines’ announcement Aug. 25 that it would furlough another 19,000 employees and downsize due to COVID-19. The Czyzewiczs’ collective tenures working for one company for so many years reflects a days-gone-by reality that is now the exception rather than the norm. Not only did the Czyzewiczs remain in the same company for their entire careers, they also survived four mergers, two bankruptcies and the downgrading of Pittsburgh as a major aviation hub after USAir shifted its operations. When Moon Township resident Bill Czyzewicz, the oldest, went to work at Greater Pittsburgh International Airport after graduating from Montour High School in 1972, he followed in the footsteps of his late father, Bill Sr., who was already a longtime employee of what was then Allegheny Airlines. Bill Sr. retired in 1990 as a production supervisor after 25 years with the company. Bill Jr. started in the mail room. He eventually moved up to catering and then lead baggage agent. He recalls, “I’ve always been in love with aviation and thought my future would be secure in Pittsburgh.” “After six years and earning an associate degree at Penn Technical Institute, I was promoted to a mechanic in the instrument shop where I overhauled, tested, and calibrated various aircraft cockpit instruments,” he recalls. He further secured his niche seven years later. As Allegheny Airlines was in the process of becoming USAir, he obtained his federal airframe and powerplant license. Over the next nine years, Bill overhauled jet engines, auxiliary power units and associated components. He also tested the latter two. The remainder of his 48-year career involved overhauling entire aircraft, primarily Boeing 737s and Airbus narrow body aircraft. His brother, Joe, also a Moon resident, did not plan on pursuing an airline career. Yet upon graduating from Montour in 1974, he stepped into his brother’s position as a mail clerk. He transferred to reservations in 1977 then became a flight attendant in 1979. Says Joe, “I enjoyed being a flight attendant until I retired in May with 46 years of service. The airline provided many opportunities for my life and I am very grateful for that.” Among those opportunities was extensive traveling, making friends with many people industry-wide, and meeting his late partner, Del, who was also a flight attendant. As Joe established seniority within the system, his travels took him to international locations that most could only dream of seeing. Joe’s work ethic earned him the coveted Flight Attendant of the Year award in 1998. He also served as the uniform union representative for the Pittsburgh base. This month, Pat, who is also a Montour alumna, will close out her 43-year career with the airline. She currently lives in Hopewell. “During high school, I did want to eventually work at the airline,” she says. “I was only 17 when I graduated (in 1975), so I worked at an insurance company for almost a year. My father heard of a temporary position at Allegheny Airlines where I could work in the hopes of getting into Allegheny long term. I worked as a temp in 1976 and was hired full-time in 1977.” She moved within the company frequently as her positions and responsibilities changed throughout the airline’s mergers, bankruptcies and changes. She oversaw maintenance training schedules for mechanics and simulator scheduling for pilots. By the 1990s, she had moved into management as a crew-scheduling trainer. While working full time, Pat pursued a Bachelor of Science in information technology through CCAC and Carlow College. This propelled her into positions as a systems strategies analyst and technical analyst, which entailed supporting the desktop hardware for the US Airways 24/7 operations center. When US Airways outsourced its IT department, she found herself working as a technical consultant until the airline moved her into the IT security group. She played a key role in the transition when Mid-Atlantic Airlines migrated within US Airways. When the merger between America West and US Airways occurred in 2005, Pat was promoted to senior IT manager. As such, she supported applications for the operations center and express carriers at the new Moon Township Operations Control Center. Three area siblings retire from lifelong airline careers Bill, Pat and Joe Czyzewicz recently retired from American Airlines after a combined 137 years with the company. 30 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2020CAround Your Town Around Your Town In 2013, Pat explains, “The merger between US Airways and American began. The Moon Township Operations Control Center was being closed and a new center was being built in Dallas, Texas. I was offered a position as director of IT at the Integrated Operations Center overseeing the IT support of the two existing Operation Control Centers while participating in the IT oversight of the new DFW Operations Center, which opened in 2015.” For the next six years, she commuted between Pittsburgh and Dallas, overseeing applications and IT support for the new building. Pat recalls, “One of the hardest and saddest outcomes of all these struggling airlines and mergers was how it impacted Pittsburgh’s airport and its passengers. Our new airport took a real hit as part of the America West merger when it was downgraded from a hub city. To see so many airlines and flights being pulled out and our airport so empty was extremely hard.” Bill echoed Pat’s feelings. “During my years there, I experienced mergers with Mohawk Airlines, Piedmont Airlines, PSA, America West Airlines and finally American Airlines,” he says. “That meant we had more aircraft to work on. The events of 9/11 changed the entire industry, too. I had to sweat out two bankruptcies and the consolidation of the airlines.” One can only imagine the conversation around the dinner table when the three of them, with their father, would discuss the industry during its deregulation, bankruptcies, fuel increases, mergers and 9/11. Each sibling’s perspective reflected their positions within the company. “My brothers both come from labor positions and my father and I were back office management, so we at times looked at things very differently and could generate some interesting family discussions,” Pat says. She adds, “One thing remained the same between all of us - how we were brought up. My father taught us to give 150%, be hardworking blue-collar workers and stick it out long term.” The late Bill Sr.’s work ethic not only played out through his airline career. In the 1950s, he established a very well-respected appliance repair business, Bill’s Electric Service, that served the airport region for most of his life. Bill Jr. learned the business before he was a teenager and continued to carry it on after his father’s passing in 2001. With his retirement from the airline looming, Bill Jr. soon decided to retire from the appliance business, too. As a family fully engaged with the industry, they also saw the value of working for an airline that made them feel like family. As Pat reflects, “Allegheny and US Airways were much smaller companies and more like a family. You knew everyone and had a history with everyone. American Airlines was larger, a mixture of TWA, American West, US Airways, legacy AA, and others – so initially I knew only the employees that stayed on from US Airways.” On the plus side, she adds, “With American being so large there were more opportunities to move around within positions and locations. I now have great friends in Phoenix and Dallas.” As they enter the retirement phase of their lives, each expressed gratitude for the opportunities they have had throughout their careers. Despite job shuffling, benefit losses, downsizing and more, they were able to use their skills and talents to benefit a major industry in the region. Pat notes, “Many great people lost their jobs and benefits, took pay cuts, lost vacation time and seniority. We were fortunate to keep our jobs, even though we were each impacted differently.” Bill recalls, “I stayed a mechanic during the whole time, but due to closures and outsourcing of internal shops, got moved around and my type of work changed.” “Although I remained as a flight attendant in Pittsburgh, my base closed. I had to commute from Philadelphia as the airlines changed,” Joe says. When not on the clock, both Bill and Joe also volunteered with the company. Joe participated in air shows for USAir. He also got involved in special projects such as a volunteer group called Do Crew. According to the American Airlines website, the Do Crew is made up of American team members and retiree volunteers who participate in community-based projects that benefit a variety of nonprofit organizations. This magazine interviewed Bill for a story that appeared in the September 2017 Moon edition about his long-time involvement coordinating the PIT Maintenance Base car cruise. That story can be read at awmagazine.com under the archives tab. “It’s an annual day of employee appreciation that lets our employees, retirees, and friends bring their antique and classic cars to the hangar for a day of fun, music, and raising money for a designated charity,” he explains. He also volunteered for 14 years as coordinator of the USAir Show Team. “Myself, my family, and about 20 other volunteers would take an aircraft to an airshow somewhere in the U.S. and teach people about the industry and what we did,” he notes. Bill says he credits his late father for his family’s work ethic that inspired their tenacity during a struggling time in airline history. For now, he says he plans to enjoy his antique car - a 1964 Galaxy 500 - along with some golf while getting a few home projects done. He also plans to travel around the country to see his grandchildren with his wife, Patty. “It’s been a great phase in my life and, God willing, I plan to enjoy the fruits of my labor,” he says. Pat plans to enjoy a new home she is having built in Center Township, as well as to take time to enjoy her family and travel. After four decades in the skies flying around the world, Joe’s sentiments reflect a different desire. “I’ve traveled the world, but Dorothy was right, there’s no place like home!” he says. Joe Czyzewicz returns from his final flight as a flight attendant in May. The medallion below commemorates when Allegheny Airlines became USAir. October/November 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 31CAround Your Town Around Your Town On a cool Wednesday evening in September, members of the North Fayette VFD showed up at the firehouse in the Hankey Farms community for a weekly training session. On this particular evening, firefighters were also busy on a work detail that involved pulling hoses off a truck that had been used to respond to a fire earlier in the week. In between spraying down and folding hoses, firefighters listened to captain Alex Toth talk about nozzles, pressures and priming. As is now required by the department, each of the volunteers wore a mask to protect against the spread of COVID-19. It was one of a number of measures the department initiated earlier this year as the pandemic was sweeping across the country. Other measures the department has since implemented to protect crews include limiting the number of firefighters who enter a building, screening people at calls for COVID-19 symptoms and communicating with each other via an app to alert fellow firefighters if someone on a call may have COVID-19. Allegheny County 911 also now screens callers and alerts first responders to any potential or confirmed cases on a call. A couple of months ago, the department even stopped holding training sessions for a time after some of its members fell ill. “We had a couple scares,” says the department’s deputy chief, Jay Lynn. “We have several EMS who could have come into contact with people who had COVID so we suspended our training sessions so our numbers wouldn’t get depleted.” Luckily, to date, the department hasn’t had anyone test positive, though a number of firefighters said the possibility is something that weighs on them. There’s always the chance that they may encounter someone on a call who hasn’t been screened or who hasn’t been entirely truthful about their symptoms. Some asymptomatic people may be sick and not even know it. “A lot of the time we are thinking about it,” says assistant chief Brandon Wharton. “Especially the line officers. The line officers are in charge of all of these guys. So, we don’t want anybody getting sick for the job we do.” Such is that way that volunteer fire departments and individual firefighters have been adjusting to the pandemic as they’ve continued to perform duties that were perilous even before COVID-19 hit. Communities, too, are relying on departments to stay healthy. If even just one fire fighter contracted COVID-19, it could shut down an entire department. Imperial VFD chief Bob Bradburn says that he’s heard of some departments that had to do just that for upwards of two weeks. In such an instance, it falls to neighboring departments to pick up that department’s calls, he says. There’s always the possibility that, if volunteers no longer feel safe, they could also stop volunteering. So far, though, local fire chiefs in this area say their volunteers have taken things in stride. If anything, Bradburn says that these days he has twice as many volunteers available on calls because so many have been laid off from their day jobs. To keep those volunteers safe and feeling safe, he says the department has undertaken numerous measures. He says his firefighters now wear masks or respirators on calls and that they’ve also been putting more work into sanitizing the building and their equipment. “It’s probably a lot of overkill but we wanted our volunteers to feel safe,” he says. Bradburn says they’ve also encouraged some of their more at- risk members to spend minimal time at the station. VFDs, though, don’t just rely on the goodwill of their volunteers. They also rely on fundraisers and community support to continue operating. This year, though, many of the fundraisers departments usually rely on were canceled due to COVID-19. That led many departments to innovate on the fly in order to find new ways to raise funds. Their efforts could even lead to a fundamental shift in how departments fundraise going forward. For example, the Imperial VFD this year wasn’t able to rent out its hall or host fundraising events as it has done in years past. Instead, in recent months it has shifted to fundraising through social media. Pin boards on Facebook have allowed departments to hold raffles and solicit funds that they would have normally raised at in- person events. Oakdale fire chief Bill Hartman says that his department, too, began holding online raffles Local VFDs adapt to new normal shaped by COVID STORY AND PHOTOS BY DOUG HUGHEY Members of the North Fayette VFD unroll and clean fire hoses during a recent training session. ABOVE: Lieutenant Jason Nice and junior firefighter Cross Bates prepare hoses to be packed onto the engine. BELOW: Assistant chief Brandon Wharton and captain Alex Toth prepare a hose to be loaded onto the fire engine. BOTTOM: Firefighter Alexis Zacchera loads “crosslay” hoses, which can be quickly deployed at a fire scene. 32 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2020CAround Your Town Around Your Town for designer purses and other items after it was unable to hold its annual street fair. “We’ve given away a lot of purses,” he says. Hartman says the department initially had every intention of still holding its fair, but that the liquor license the department applies for through the state got held up too long. By the time they got it, they didn’t have enough time to plan, he says. A $25,000 grant from the county helped offset the revenue they lost on the street fair, but Hartman says that even with that and their raffles, they’re still down from last year. In McDonald, the VFD was forced to adjust the format of its annual McSummerfest fair that it usually holds in July. Rather than the full-on festival the department usually hosts with bands, rides and games, it instead organized a take-out drive-through event. People could order funnel cakes, fried oreos, fries and other fair food the department usually serves up at the fair to take home. Though the event didn’t raise nearly as much money as McSummerfest usually does, fire chief Doug Cooper says it helped. “The drive through helped us,” says Cooper. “We made about one-third of what we normally would make, but it did help.” Like other departments, Cooper says his department is also soliciting donations online, in part by using social media. At the same time, the department, which responds to most of its calls outside of the one-mile borough where it’s located, has received funding from North Fayette, Cecil Township and Robinson Township in Washington County. A number of departments also said they received donations of masks, gloves and other personal protective equipment from Allegheny County and the community. Hartman says those supplies were of particular value when there were shortages during the early days of the pandemic. Lynn, too, credits Allegheny County and the local community with providing PPE during those early days. Bradburn says that state Rep. Valerie Gaydos came through as well around that time with a donation of hand sanitizer for his department. Several of the departments say that, despite the circumstances, they feel fortunate that they haven’t been impacted worse by the pandemic. Lynn in particular says his department hasn’t relied on fundraisers much these past few years. His department, too, was able to obtain a $25,000 grant through the county to purchase equipment to protect firefighters. To demonstrate to the community that they haven’t gone anywhere and remain ready to serve, the department even conducted a couple of small parades for kids who couldn’t have birthday parties due to the pandemic. “We wanted to show the community we were still there for them,” he says. “We wanted to show that a fear of being sick wasn’t going to stop us from being there for them. We wanted to reaffirm that we’re still there to help.” Want to support your local VFD? Visit them online for more information: North Fayette: www.northfayettevfd.org Findlay: www.imperialvfd.org McDonald: mcdonaldfire.com Sturgeon: www.sturgeonvfd.org Oakdale: www.oakdalefire215.org October/November 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 33lLegislative Update Legislative Update BY STATE SEN. PAM IOVINO State Sen. Pam Iovino With the General Assembly back in session and my offices physically re-opened to the public, by appointment only, I stand ready to continue fighting to serve and to represent you. There are major decisions facing our Commonwealth. I am focused on making the prudent decisions and the smart investments to tackle our recovery and to get us moving forward. This edition’s updates focus on policies to do just that. State Sen. Pam Iovino represents Pennsylvania’s 37th Senatorial District. Her Robinson Township district office is located at 5996 Steubenville Pike and can be reached at (412) 788-2967. Visit her online at www.senatoriovino.com. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @senatoriovino. Maintaining school control of sports and extracurricular activities In September, I voted “yes” on House Bill 2787. This legislation would allow school districts to make their own decisions regarding resuming sports and other extracurricular activities, including whether spectators are permitted. I heard from an unprecedented number of constituents who supported this legislation and are confident in their schools’ ability to implement COVID health and safety plans for the protection of all involved. Comprehensive guidance and reporting for nursing homes during COVID-19 Nursing homes, long-term care facilities and congregate care facilities, which house the most vulnerable to COVID-19, have confronted and continue to face significant challenges from the pandemic. We need to develop protocols and structures in anticipation of a surge of cases this fall and winter. That is why I have introduced legislation that would do the following: • Create a protocol for residents and eligible family members to receive notifications about their health, to review their notification agreement, and to update it in the case of an infectious disease outbreak; • Provide guidance and prioritization for testing and personal protective equipment for residents and staff in facilities with confirmed COVID-19 cases; • Mandate aggregate data to be published by each facility outlining the number of confirmed positive and presumed positive COVID-19 cases and deaths due to COVID-19 for residents and staff of the facility; and • Outline inspection, assessment and auditing guidelines to ensure facilities are following safety and reporting protocol. Supporting business interruption insurance claims In September, I held a virtual event with my colleagues and members of Pennsylvania’s small business community to advocate for bipartisan legislation I introduced that would help Pennsylvania businesses file claims on their business interruption insurance policies. This potential source of funds could prevent businesses from being forced to close their doors. Business interruption insurance is coverage that replaces income lost in the event that business is halted due to a disaster. Since the pandemic and resulting shutdown, many Pennsylvania small businesses have sought financial relief by filing claims on their business interruption insurance policies, only to be denied due to ambiguous insurance policy language. To confront the most daunting economic challenge of our time, we need to put in place every available option to provide safety nets and recovery tools to support our businesses and our economy. That includes business interruption insurance. You can watch the full virtual event on my website. Paid family and sick leave - a necessity for PA working families I continue to advocate for the passage of legislation that would provide paid sick and family leave for nearly all of Pennsylvania’s workers. I supported this policy before the pandemic hit, but now, paid family and sick leave has become an absolute necessity for the health of our working families and our economy as a whole. No employee should have to choose between taking care of a sick family member and keeping their job. Likewise, no employer should have to choose between the health of their business and being loyal to their workers. That is why I am proud to co-sponsor the Family Care Act. This bipartisan and bicameral legislation would provide working Pennsylvanians with paid family and medical leave. Importantly, this legislation would do so without adding a new burden to small businesses. 34 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2020lLegislative Update Legislative Update BY STATE REP. VALERIE GAYDOS State Rep. Valerie Gaydos State Rep. Valerie Gaydos represents Pennsylvania’s 44th District. Her office is located at 1009 Beaver Grade Road in Moon Township. Subscribe to her emails at www.repgaydos.com and follow her on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/RepGaydos. Legislation to assist small businesses I have introduced legislation designed to assist small businesses that want to provide health care benefits to their employees during this challenging time. House Bill 2200 would provide a mechanism for employers to join together to offer quality health insurance as a benefit for their employees, some for the first time. When small businesses group together, they are able to spread out the risk across the group and negotiate for discounted health insurance coverage the same way large businesses do. It puts the employer in a competitive position to maintain and attract a talented workforce. The legislation is before the House Insurance Committee for consideration. Prescription drug pricing bill is now law Also, legislation I sponsored to increase transparency and consumer choice in the prescription drug marketplace was recently signed into law. It is Act 67 of 2020. There are many inexpensive, generic medicines for which an insurance co-pay can often be more expensive than if the patient simply pays out-of-pocket, bypassing their insurance company altogether. However, pharmacists were previously prohibited from informing their customers of lower-cost alternatives by a “gag clause” imposed by pharmacy benefit managers. My law removes this gag clause and empowers pharmacists to tell their customers everything they need to know in order to make an informed purchasing decision. The signing of this legislation is a huge win for the consumers of Pennsylvania and the millions of senior citizens - many of whom are on fixed incomes - who rely on prescription medications for their health. Medical payment reform legislation passes House Finally, my legislation to curb improper payments by Pennsylvania’s Medicaid system passed the House and is now before the Senate for consideration. The bill, House Bill 2353, would mirror a federal law to combat fraud and guarantee that every Pennsylvanian in need gets the help they are entitled to without interruption or complication. The current pandemic amplifies what we all know to be true: when our state’s citizens need help, we must act quickly to provide it. Pennsylvania operates the fastest-growing Medicaid system in the U.S. and we owe it to our citizens to ensure the taxpayer money that funds this system is properly safeguarded and distributed to those who need assistance. The coronavirus can best be described as a bully that has been controlling our lives for the past six months. We have flattened the curve and met our mission of slowing the spread of the virus. This has given hospitals time to prepare for unknown consequences. Our focus now is to try and open the economy, which has been a major concern for many businesses, especially restaurants and bars that are not permitted to operate at full capacity thanks to Gov. Tom Wolf’s extreme restrictions. However, at the end of the day, we are all after the same thing - we want transparency in our government, and we want our citizens to be able to work and earn a living without having to risk their health. I want you to know of other ways that we are trying to help our businesses survive due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Visit my website at www.RepGaydos.com/coronavirus for more information. I have been fighting for you in Harrisburg. I am working to ensure openness, transparency and logic in the process of getting our state back on its feet. I pledge to continue to work with Gov. Wolf and to be a champion for transparency in our government. This pandemic isn’t going to disappear. So, we must collaborate to find solutions. We must find a balanced path to recovery. October/November 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 35Your SchoolsYour Schools N RTCS reopens for in-person classes Robinson Township Christian School welcomed students back for in-person learning in late August. Students in grades K through 12 are now attending class in person five days a week. While all public schools were required to submit a detailed reopening plan to the Pennsylvania Department of Education before the start of the term, private schools were given a bit more flexibility. While advised to adhere to the guidelines, they were able to tailor them to their own unique needs. To develop its own plan, RTCS put together a task force of educators, parents and healthcare professionals. After prayerful consideration and many meetings over the course of the summer, the task force determined a full return to the classroom would be feasible if everyone adhered to the measures outlined in their detailed safety plan. As part of the plan, parents are asked to monitor children for potential symptoms before sending them to school each day. Upon arrival, students and staff are met at a safety checkpoint, where they are given hand sanitizer and their temperature is checked. Students are also required to wear masks on the premises until seated in the classroom, where they are appropriately spaced from neighboring students. With a student-teacher ratio of 6:1, following these safety guidelines has been very achievable. “I really think we have a good solution, one that is very compliant with what the CDC is saying and the PDE,” RTCS Principal Bryan Campbell said. “But it’s also very compliant with what we think we need to be doing to serve our God and our constituents as a Christian school.” Campbell believes the small class sizes and close-knit community makes RTCS able to adapt well with the ever-present changes of 2020. The nature of RTCS lends itself well to adapting as needed and being flexible. The school has also gained some new students whose families felt distance learning wasn’t the best option for them. “We are still getting calls regarding enrollment from parents who think their children aren’t thriving with virtual learning,” said Campbell. “I encourage them to come in and see what we have to offer as an alternative.” RTCS expands kindergarten program RTCS is pleased to announce the open enrollment of a second morning kindergarten class that started this fall. An afternoon aftercare program is now also available for both kindergarten classes. As well, RTCS welcomed kindergarten teacher Barb Beideman this school year. Beideman has taught in both Christian and public schools. She also homeschooled her own sons. She holds a BA in elementary education from Grove City College and a master’s degree from Clarion University in library sciences. She is certified in Orton-Gillingham, a phonics-based method of teacher reading skills. Beideman has taught as an adjunct instructor in the Department of Library Science at Clarion and led support groups for homeschooling families. She was a homeschool evaluator for 19 years. In addition, she has worked at the Children’s Dyslexia Center of Pittsburgh and has provided private tutoring. “It’s a blessing to see children learn and grow. I hope to foster a love of learning and to come alongside parents at RTCS in helping them to educate their children in the Lord. I am already learning from the faith I see in my kindergarten students,” Beideman said. Robinson Township Christian School CONTENT SUBMITTED ABOVE AND RIGHT: RTCS welcomed back students in August. Barb Beideman 36 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2020N Your Schools Your Schools Archangel Gabriel Christian School AGS welcomes back students After 179 days, students at Archangel Gabriel Catholic School returned Sept. 8. Students had a choice of returning to school five days a week or attending school virtually. Though things looked different, with face masks, face shields, desk shields, stickers on the floor and socially distanced desks, everyone who returned was still happy to be back in school. When asked what they missed most besides seeing their friends, students overwhelmingly said they missed their teachers and were just tired of being home every day. School started a little later than originally planned for the Diocese of Pittsburgh. This gave teachers sufficient time to set up their classrooms according to safety guidelines, prepare for Google Classroom streaming and create new accounts for every student in the school. The school community is looking forward to the year ahead but, above all else, hoping to stay safe and healthy. Cross country The AGS cross-country team has been hard at work since starting their conditioning workouts mid-July. Though it has been an uncertain summer, the team has practiced successfully while complying with the Diocese and AGS health and safety plans. Runners in grades four through eight have been practicing at Settler’s Cabin Park and on the Montour Trail. They have practiced hard and run two to three miles per workout. They’ve also worn masks during their downtime and practiced social distancing. As well, they sold 936 pepperoni rolls in their first AGS cross-country fundraiser and have even managed to fit in a few adventures. Their team’s first meet took place Sept. 10 at Settler’s Cabin Park, where they hosted Ave Maria, St. Margaret and Our Lady of Fatima in several mini-meets. Semi Annual Car Raffle Fundraising is an important part of the success of AGS, which is why the school brought back its car raffle this year. AGS is currently selling raffle tickets for a chance to win a 2020 Jeep Cherokee. The school’s amazing volunteers are selling tickets in front of the school on Steubenville Pike and outside of Bruster’s on the weekends. A winner will be drawn Oct. 3 at the St. Malachy Food Festival. Longtime school secretary retiring Longtime school secretary Gemma Ruggiero has retired after 23 years of service to AGS. Ruggiero has been the school secretary for the past 12 years and, prior to then, was a volunteer and assistant in the school office. Ruggerio’s children attended AGS from preschool through eighth grade. She and her husband hope to spend lots of time with family and friends. They wish to thank every family who has gone through Holy Trinity and AGS during her time there. Jennifer O’Shea, formerly the secretary at St. Malachy and then the AGS Kennedy Campus, will take over her duties. AGS offering full-day preschool Something big happens every year at AGS. This year, that big thing involves expanding the school’s program to offer a preschool at its Robinson campus and a daycare at its Kennedy campus, at what was formerly St. Malachy School. AGS’ Robinson campus will thus now serve students in grades pre-K through eight while its Kennedy campus will accommodate school families who need year-round extended care for their young ones. Full-day options for 3- and 4-year olds are now available. AGS is grateful for the patience families have shown during this transition period over the past few years as Holy Trinity, St. Malachy and St. John of God have merged to create AGS. The school will continue to have a strong preschool program to ensure successful transition into kindergarten and beyond. The campus offers adequate and safe outdoor space for children to socially distance and take mask breaks. CONTENT SUBMITTED Students returned to AGS with their face shields and Chromebooks. Gemma Ruggiero AGS is expanding to offer preschool and pre-K programs. October/November 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 3738 • Allegheny West Magazine • October/November 2020 It was a first day of school like no other September 25 as students and staff enthusiastically kicked off the start of the year during this otherwise challenging time. Students were given a choice of returning to school in person five days a week or attending remotely, either through the Synchronous Online Learning Academy or the West Allegheny Virtual Academy. Regardless of which learning model students selected, administrators and staff were excited to see their students following an abrupt end to in-person instruction in March. As in past years, students were welcomed back with much fanfare. From kindergarten through grade 12, their arrival was celebrated at all five schools. ABOVE: Tracy Pustover and Robert Ostrander join staff at the high school to welcome back students. School board members welcomed back students at each school building on the first day. BELOW: Synchronous students joined in the first day celebrations from home. BOTTOM: Positive chalk messages greet students. First day of school delivers welcome normalcy ABOVE: Students wore their favorite masks on the first day. BELOW: Parents line up to drop students off at the middle school in an effort to help the District with its health and safety plan. October/November 2020 • www.awmagazine.com • 39Next >