April 2013 - Perkiomen Valley School District

West Students Present “Seussical Jr.”The Perkiomen Valley Middle School West Drama Club presentedthe rollicking play, “Seussical, Jr.,” March 8-10. In “Seussical,Jr.,” The Cat in the Hat tells the story of Horton, an elephantwho discovers a speck of dust containing the tiny citizens ofWhoville. Many favorite Seuss characters were brought to lifein this musical extravaganza, including: Horton the Elephant,played by Emma Strausser; The Cat in the Hat, played by ZoeMuller; Gertrude McFuzz, played by Emma Muller; Mayze LaBird, played by Margaret Homan; and JoJo, the little boy with abig imagination, played by Tara Vigiolto. The performance alsofeatured cameo appearances by Yertle the Turtle (RyanShayer), Mr. and Mrs. Mayor (Robert Lewis and Abigail Lofton),Sour Kangaroo (Mackenzie Stamp), Young Kangaroo (MadelineKuiken), Vlad Vladikoff (Jared Pinkham), and even The Grinch(Rachel McKernan). These colorful characters took the audienceon a journey from the Jungles of Nool, to Circus McGurkus,and to the invisible world of the Whos. In the end, thepowers of friendship and loyalty are challenged, but Hortonemerges triumphant! Many thanks to directors Krista Yerkesand Judi Riley, the cast, the crew, and stage crew for a wonderfulproduction!Skippack Students All Smiles for Dr. SeussSkippack Elementary School second-grade studentsDelaney Quoos and Gracen Brant celebrated Dr. Seuss’birthday and Read Across America in March.

West Musicians WinAccolades at Jazz FestivalThe Perkiomen Valley Middle School West JazzBand participated in three competitions this yearand performed in exhibition at the High SchoolJazz Band Home Show held on March 22 atWest. The group garnered ratings of “superior,”“excellent” and “outstanding” at Strayer MiddleSchool in Quakertown, Spring-Ford Middle Schooland Boyertown Middle School, respectively. West’strumpet section was named the best of all competingbands in two of the three competitions;Strayer and Spring-Ford. West’s trombone section wasnamed the best in two of the three competitions; Spring-Ford and Boyertown. West’s saxophone/clarinet sectionwas named Best Woodwind Section at Boyertown. MatthewBubb received two outstanding soloist awards this springfor his flugel horn solo in “Blackbird,” the Beatles song asarranged by Mrs. Dawn Krown. The Jazz Band will performin assemblies at Schwenksville and Skippack elementaryschools in May and end the school year by performing inthe West Spring Band Concert on May 8. Congratulationsto Mrs. Krown and our amazingly talented Jazz Band members!PVMS East Student Wins Again in Mercury’s “Design An Ad” ContestFor the third year in a row, a Perkiomen Valley MiddleSchool East computer education student has won ThePottstown Mercury’s “Design an Ad Contest.” The grandprizewinner was Trey Martin. Students at East have wonapproximately $1,500 in cash and prizes by participatingin the ad contest. Winners are selected by the respectiveadvertisers and the grand prize is chosen by the newspaperstaff. In addition to Trey, East had an additional 10winners who each received $20 American Express GiftCards. In this contest, students take graphic design conceptslearned in computer class and put them into practiceby creating an advertisement for the competition.Seen here is thegrand-prize winnerTrey Martin withInterim AssistantPrincipal Tony Jordanand teacherCharles Testa.Several other Perkiomen Valley Middle School East studentswon awards in the Pottstown Mercury contest. Seen here inthe front row are Casey McMullin, Brenna Zepp, Kaitlyn Smith,Gabby Spurlock, and Kylae Donovan. In the second row areCatherine McFadden, Kerri Kirsinger, Trey Martin, Tony Jordan,Miranda Templeton, Charles Testa, Joey Gorla, Garrett Patla,and Tim Mumford.

PVMS East Students Perform fortheir Peers in Music ClassesStudents in Mrs. Catherine Yeagle's and Mrs. Amanda Ferrara's musicperformance classes at Perkiomen Valley Middle School Eastshowed their stuff this month as they performed recitals for theirclassmates. Students practice and perform songs of varying degreesof difficulty at their own pace. The culminating performanceduring the recital allows students to share music with others anddemonstrate their learning. Students remark about the sense ofaccomplishment and pride they feel after they perform.Shown above is seventh-grade student RylieMartin performing for her class. Also shownis seventh-grade student Andrew DiTullioperforming, with classmate Isaac DeLeon.PVMS East Faculty Outshoot Students in Annual Basketball CompetitionEighth-grade students took on the faculty March 8 duringPerkiomen Valley Middle School East's Annual Student -Teacher Basketball Game. It was an exciting evening andthe stands were packed with both students and facultymembers cheering on their teams. The students' enthusiasmshowed in their spirited clothes and their intensityon the court. However, the faculty were ready for a win.The faculty ended the students' two-year winning streakwith a final score of 75-63. In photo at right, eighth-gradestudent Sam Gintz takes a foul shot. In photo at left arethe members of this year's winning faculty team. Fromleft to right in the first row are Rebecca Sjoblom, AlexLeahy, Kim Slomeana, Laurie Tall, and Tony Jordan. In thesecond row are Colin Black, Greg Furman, Chris Hughes,Matthew Ramus, Matt Cummins, Michael Heffernan, andTim Mumford.

PVMS EastStudents’Creativity onDisplay at ArtShowPerkiomen Valley MiddleSchool East hosted its annualart show on March 13, showcasingmany of the piecesstudents have createdthroughout the year. Thisyear students worked withmany different mediums andmade "green" art createdfrom materials that mightotherwise have been thrownaway or recycled. The studentsalso created multimediapieces that incorporatedfound objects.The music department atEast organized students toplay live music, which addedto the colorful, artistic environment.It was a great eveningto showcase the creativeexpressions of East students.Angelica Santiago, seen above, performed duringPerkiomen Valley Middle School East’s art show. In thephoto above is a drawing by Rhiannon Weigelt. Workby the following students was also on display: MadisonCooper (photo top right), Vivian Pot (middle photo),and Danielle Swiss (bottom photo).Evergreen Elementary School Students Dressas Poets for Presentation of Favorite VersesEvergreen Elementary School fourth-grade students recently completed a uniton poetry in Ms. Jenny Cochran’s class. They dressed in costume to presenttheir favorite verses.Issabelle Strausberg performed “For Sale,” by Shel Silverstein, Kelly McKenzieperformed “PE School Prediction,” by Isabel Joshlin Glacer, and Griffin Kilgoreperformed “The Big Rock Candy Mountains,” penned by someone anonymous.Griffin also played the song on his bass. He worked with Mr. SteveSuloman, the orchestra teacher, on the music notes.

Student Works Evoke Africain Evergreen Art ShowEvergreen Elementary School recentlyheld its Annual Art Show,Book Fair, and Family Night. Thetheme of the art show was “Africa.”Under the direction of art teacherMiss Danielle Stubbs, students createdmany pieces of beautiful artwork.Hundreds of family membersstopped in to see the display.The fifth-grade art club transformedthe school lobby into King Tut’sTomb. They are pictured at top leftwith an Egyptian sarcophagus theycreated.South Students GetMusical in MarchStudents at South Elementary School celebratedMusic In Our Schools Month by participatingin a Music Spirit Day. Students andstaff were invited to dress in clothing withmusic notes, musical instruments, concertshirts, or even all black and white like thekeys on a piano. Each morning on the announcements,students heard a piece of musicand learned about the composer. Manystaff members' musical experiences andbackgrounds were also shared with studentseach morning.

Schwenksville CelebratesRead Across AmericaRead Across America Spirit Week at Schwenksville ElementarySchool was well-received and enjoyed by the entire school population.Each day of the week, students and staff dressed in Dr. Seussinspiredspirit wear. Students wore crazy socks in honor of “Fox inSocks”; their favorite color in honor of “My Many Colored Days”;hats in honor of “The Cat in the Hat”; clothing reflecting a futurecareer in honor of “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!”; and red and white ora Dr. Seuss-inspired shirt, sweatshirt or top hat.Physical education classes enjoyed visiting a variety of Dr. Seussthemedstations. Seen below, with ten apples on top, are SierraDeMaula and Ana Clara Campos.Seen in their career clothes (above left) areJovanna Jon, Sophie Sellers, Nico Silver andShammah Hill. Pictured with the Cat in theHat (above right) are Deena Kojiem, BriannaTripodi, Mollie Logan, Sophia Hoffman, andMadison Gilchrist.Seen in the middle photo is Sarah Foster wearing her crazyhat. In the photo at right are Chase Bailey, IndyWeniger, Madison Gilchrist (front row); and David Koresko,Andrew Breneman, Principal Pauline Galiardi, HunterSprecher, and Grace Heimbach (back row).

Getting Into the Spirit of Readingat Schwenksville ElementaryDuring Read Across America at SchwenksvilleElementary School, there was also an opportunityfor the older grade levels to visit withand read to younger grades. Pictured at rightare: Yousttena Benyamin, Alexia Carlson, LoganDimmick, and Brooklyn LaSorsa. The studentswere from Mrs. Merideth Fields’ fourthgradeclass and Miss Melody Fennell’s secondgradeclass. Students also wore crazy socks aspart of the festivities and some worn in Mrs.Deb Collins’ first-grade class can be seenabove.Schwenksville Students Make New Friends at GreenfieldSchwenksville Elementary School first-grade studentsin Mrs. Maureen Eliasson’s class enjoyed avisit with their neighbors at Greenfield Senior Living.The students showed off their reading skills.This was one of several visits by first-graders thisyear as part of a community service project. Picturedwith their new friends from Greenfield are:Vincent Whitaker (above); and Brandon Chapkovich(left).

“Funny Girl”Comes to PVHSApproximately 80 Perkiomen Valley High School students are workinghard to prepare for the April 5-7 performances of “Funny Girl.”The show is being directed by Tracy Griffie.PVHS Student Demonstrates VikingPride Through Graduation ProjectPerkiomen Valley High School ninth-grader CaylaVeverka raised over $1,000 through various fundraisersin order to purchase the materials needed to createthe designs seen on the fencing surrounding theThomas J. Keenan football stadium. Cayla completedthe chain link fence art using “Put In Cups” and raisedthe money to purchase the materials as part of hergraduation project. Both the Vikings and the letteringseen on the fencing are her handiwork. Thank you,Cayla, for your efforts to beautify the stadium and fordemonstrating your Viking pride!

PVHS Students Compete in Rotary Speech ContestPerkiomen Valley High School student Audree Bonavita won firstplacehonors in the Central Perkiomen Rotary Club’s annual 4-WayTest Speech Contest held in March. Students wrote and presentedspeeches relating to the Rotary 4-Way Test, an ethical decisionmakingmodel. The following students also participated: Jay Adams,Matt Nielsen, Becky Hane, Christiana Joseph, and Wendy Osei-Bonsu.Audree will go on to represent Central Perkiomen Valley Rotary Clubat the regional competition this month.PVHS Wind Ensemble Plays in HarrisburgThe Perkiomen Valley High School Wind Ensemble had the honorof playing at the State Capitol in Harrisburg on March 26 as part ofthe celebration of “Music in our Schools Month.” The Wind Ensemblewas selected to play after teacher David Overholtzer appliedfor a performance slot through the Pennsylvania Music EducatorsAssociation. He contacted Rep. Marcy Toepel’s office to lether know that they would be playing and she treated the group toa tour of the House floor following the performance.