Mr. Marshall: Adopt-A-Bot!

Did you know that Mr. Marshall is a "found object assemblage artist"? That's right! He creates one of a kind robotic sculptures composed of found materials and is dedicated to helping bots find new homes! Check out his awesome work on his Adobt-A-Bot blog and come see his latest robotic works on display at Galer Estate Winery this Thursday, December 5, 2013 from 5-9 pm.

Crazy Faces!

No Shave November was a huge success as the staff raised over $1,200 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation. And 17 lucky students got to choose how the participants would shave or decorate their faces. Have a look at the photos right here!

Mr. Kelley: Published!

8th grade Creative Writing teacher, Mr. Kelley recently had his article, "Digital Writing: the Public Act of our Private Lives", published in the November 2013 edition of California English. The story can be found on pages 13 & 14. The link takes you to a digital version of the entire journal.

News From FCS

Ms. Ballard and Ms. Hisler have been busy in FCS! The donations from FCS have gone to the Kennett Food Cupboard, which is under the big umbrella of the Chester County Food Bank.  We received a wonderful letter from State Senator Andrew Dinniman.  We recently completed the Green Ribbon School Application with the assistance of a number of staff members and district office and will know the status of that at the end of January. We also completed several more grants and currently appear on the Kitchen Gardeners websitehttp://kgi.org/patton-project-gardens.  We have been an integral part of Longwood's Teacher Institute for Garden Based Learning each summer while our Adopt-A-Bed program continues to grow with the help and support of families and staff from around the district. This program will now expand to include the two 30 foot high tunnels, which are growing fast and furiously right off of the access road. We are well on our way to becoming a Project Learning Tree partner. Next up, the King Arthur Flour Company will be presenting assemblies to the 6th and 7th graders to teach them the history, math, and science behind bread baking while learning a lifelong skill. They are to share this with their families and return one loaf the following Monday. Three years ago we received 200 loaves that were donated. This year, the recipient will be the homeless shelter in West Chester and will kick off our season of giving back even more to the community. Our club and Patton Project classes continue to make pillowcases and quilts for sick children at AI DuPont, which are delivered with cards by a district parent who is also a pulmonary doctor who has treated several of our students. We have also just been cleared to begin donations of fresh greens to our own cafeteria. Finally, we are being interviewed by a national agency to possibly appear in a national spot about those who love to grow!!!  We are very grateful for all of the incredible support offered by everyone!

No Shave Novermber

Don't forget to contribute to No Shave November! The final totals will be announced on Monday with all proceeds going to prostate cancer research. And check out the great staff photos right here!

Name That Tune!

It was another Fun Friday on HawkTV this week! Each week, teachers and staff get together for some good, spirited, Patton fun -- all in the name of Fun Friday! This week, teachers and staff competed in a friendly game of "Name That Tune" -- and it wasn't easy! Mrs. Leahy vs. Miss Hershey, the ladies in the office and more. Check out this week's fun and games right here!

Run, Miss Faccenda!

Congratulations to Miss Faccenda on completing her second marathon last month! Miss Faccenda competed in and finished the 38th Marine Corps Marathon on a challenging course in Washington, DC on October 26.

High Tunnels

Kudos to the 8th grade students in the "Patton Project" led by Miss Ballard and Miss Hisler. The program continues to expand with the construction of two 30 foot long high tunnels, donated by the Chester County Food Bank, each containing three additional garden beds. Read all about it in a great story in the Unionville Times.

Halloween at Patton

There were costumes everywhere around Patton on Halloween! The teachers and staff adopted a variety of themes such as Minions, Ladybugs and more! Check out the photos from a fun-filled day!

Book Fair Picks!

The Patton PTO Book Fair runs all this week, from October 21-15. Check out the great selection of books from Scholastic! Need a good book to choose? Then check out these great Book Fair Picks from Patton faculty and staff! The first picks come from Mrs. DiGregorio and Mrs. Replogle.

Fun Friday MINUTE!

With the "Minute To Win It" event coming on October 11, the teachers did their part in support of this event for the American Cancer Society by playing MTWI games for each of the last two Fun Fridays! On Fun Friday, we take a sneak-peak at what teachers & staff do to have some fun!! Check out the staff having a blast competing in Flip Your Lid and Nose Dive!

Who Are You?

More hilarity continued this week on HawkTV with another edition of Fun Friday!! Each week we'll take a sneak-peak at what teachers & staff do to have some fun!! This week featured a look back at what some of our Patton teachers and staff looked like when THEY were in middle school! We called it "Who Are You?" -- have a look right here!

Fun Friday Cookie!

The good times continued this week on HawkTV with another edition of Fun Friday!! Each week we'll take a sneak-peak at what teachers & staff do to have some fun!! This week featured a competitive (but fun!) round of Minute to Win It! This week, teachers from different teams and departments took the challenge in the "Face the Cookie" game. Check out the fun right here!

Patton Presenters

Invited to deliver presentations in teaching grammar to a graduate class at West Chester University and another in teaching with technology at the Google in Education Summit at Bowie State University, our very own Mr. Kelley had a busy summer in education.

His grammar presentation at WCU highlighted Connie Weaver’s research and writing about teaching grammar. She find that sophisticated grammar is only developed in literacy-rich classrooms and that grammar taught in isolation actually seldom transfers to writing. Mr. Kelley showed younger teachers how they can still teach grammar through the writing process while catering to the developmental needs of each student.

His presentations at the Google Summit (first time ever on the East Coast) walked teachers from the D.C. and Maryland area how iPads and Chromebooks to provide students access to curation, publishing, and collaborative opportunities that never existed otherwise. Additionally, he shared how he uses the technology to secure mentors for his classroom--authors who share their experiences via Skype, Twitter, and Google Hangouts. He even had past CFPMS students join in the conversation with the teachers in the auditorium through a Google Hangout!

Currently, he is collaborating on a research-based article for English Journal with several well-known and published educators across the country: Gary Anderson, Cindy Minnich, Meenoo Rami, Sarah Andersen, and Luke Rodesiler.

In September, he will be presenting to a group of local teachers at the Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project’s “Fall Saturday Seminar--Digital Literacy Conference” on September 28th.

Coming this spring, Mr. Kelley will be travelling to Nancy Atwell’s school in Maine, the Center for Teaching and Learning, to observe how literacy is taught and shared across their curriculum. He was granted the internship from among hundreds of applications. We look forward to his sharing what he learns with the staff as well as with his students.

Patton Volunteers!

During the summer, Mrs. Steinen volunteers for the West Philadelphia Alliance for Children, (WePAC), an organization that refurbishes and reopens libraries in Philadelphia public schools. Due to recent budget cuts in the Philadelphia school district, more than 80% of Philadelphia public schools lack a functioning library. Since 2009, WePAC has opened 16 previously closed elementary school libraries, and is currently running 12 libraries in West and Southwest Philadelphia, providing library services in schools with more than 5,000 students.  Anyone who would like to donate children’s books in good condition can bring them to Mrs. Steinen’s class room, and she will take them to school libraries in Philadelphia.

Name That Tune!

The good times continued this week on HawkTV with another edition of Fun Friday!! Each week we'll take a sneak-peak at what teachers & staff do to have some fun!! This week featured a competitive (but fun!) round of Name That Tune! Teachers from different teams and departments faced-off to test their musical knowledge. Who knows the latest music as well as music from the 90's, 80s and even the 70's!! Check out the fun right here!

Patton For Pie!

Fun Friday kicked off on HawkTV on August 30! Each week we'll take a sneak-peak at what teachers & staff do to have some fun!! And what did they do this week?? PIE-EATING!! Check out the photos and the video from this messy (but fun) event!

Patton Authors!

Congratulations to Mrs. Basilio and Mrs. Martin on both having books published in the iTunes Store! Mrs. Basilio has published two books, "Economic Geography" and "Population Geography" while Mrs. Martin recently published her book entitled, "GarageBand Podcasting". Both are enhanced, interactive texts designed especially for use on the iPad and created with Apple's iBooks Author software.

Patton 4 PAM at Relay!

Congratulations to the Patton 4 Pam team that took part in the The Relay for Life event held at Unionville HS on June 7-8. The event raised over $25,000 for the American Cancer Society! The Patton team of teachers, spearheaded by 7th grade teacher Mrs. Spisak, raised over $2,000 for the fight against cancer. The team included Mrs Brogan, Mr AND Mrs Spisak, Mrs DiGregorio, Mrs Jordan, Mrs. Nanis, Mrs  Remphrey, Mrs. Replogle, Mr Kelley and Mr Walsh while Team Coach A's Angels was led by fellow staff member Mrs Allband.

Congrats Mrs. Walsh-Shell!

Patton Athletic Trainer Kathy Walsh-Shell was recently recognized as the Outstanding First Sergeant of the Year for the Delaware Air National Guard! Here is a link to the article that appeared in Delaware Online.

Discovery Education

Patton Computer teacher Robin Martin was recently selected to attend and present at the DiscoveryEducation Summer Institute. The Institute is being held in Burlington Vermont with 125 educators from all over the USA!

Way to Go Mrs. Landry!

Congratulations to UHS Girls Lacrosse coach and MS math teacher Wendy Landry for her win over Downingtown this week. This win marked her 100th as coach of the UHS team. Mrs. Landry we are so happy for you!

The Patton Project

The Patton Project was conceived by Family and Consumer Science teachers, Betsy Ballard and Kimberly Hisler, at the start of the 2010-2011 school year. It began with an idea and then raising the necessary funds to build the initial 16 raised beds, now 22, and a greenhouse. In addition, a pergola is currently being constructed next to the raised beds and greenhouse. It was conceived of by Ms. Ballard and Ms. Hisler, designed by a UHS student with help and support from Mr. Berkeihiser and is being constructed by the high school tech ed class under the guidance of Mr. Linkmeyer.  Two high tunnels have also been added to the garden project and are currently under construction just off of the athletic fields. From the start, the students have been responsible for the building of the beds, filling, seeding, maintaining and harvesting the fruits and vegetables. Many of these items have been used in the FCS cooking labs, as well as over 2000 lbs being donated to the Kennett Food Cupboard. The beautifully shaped pumpkin is a result of their efforts. This is truly the fruits of their labor. The Patton Project students create lovely quilts, pillowcases, and pillow in addition to their work in the gardens. Teams of students create handmade items that will eventually be donated to sick children at AI DuPont Hospital for Children many of whom come from our own community. The pictures you see depict both the greenhouse, raised bed project and our first quilt and pillowcase donations made to AI Dupont by students and Ms. Ballard and Ms. Hisler. These two teachers are thrilled to have such caring and truly selfless students who care so much about sustainability and giving back to those in our community. In addition to their other activities, students learn about goal setting and spend time investigating possible careers. The culmination of this unit is a ten year plan where the students set realistic, achievable and measureable goals for the near and distant future. It gives them a leg up on the next four years with a clearer focus of what the time after UHS could be like for them!

Patton Faculty FIT!

Patton staff members know the importance of staying fit and have been proving it the last few months! Amidst the recent sadness and tragedy of events in Boston, we shouldn't overlook that Physical Education and Health teacher Mandi Quinn qualified for and finished the 2013 Boston Marathon - and in under four hours! In March, Teachers Kristie Replogle and Stacy Remphrey completed the Philly Fight for Air Climb, tackinlg the 50 floors and 1088 steps at Three Logan Square in Philly to raise money for the American Lung Association. And Patton teachers Matt Rusnak, Judy AnStrauss, HoneyBeth Kropp, Jen Gera, Wendy Landry, Shannon Freehart, Criss Bunting and Marcia DiGregorio also completed the recent 5K Run for Our Sons with Mr. Rusnak and Mrs. AnStrauss finishing tops in their age group! That's Faculty Fit!

Common Core State Standards

On Saturday, April 6, teachers from the Pennsylvania Writing Project Network -- including Patton English teacher Brian Kelley -- convened in Pittsburgh for a rich day of inquiry into the Common Core State Standards. The event was hosted by the Western Pa Writing Project and featured workshops on rigorous CCSS-aligned instruction and assessments conducted by the Institute for Learning. Find out more about this Day fo Common Core as well as a blog post by Mr. Kelley on his thoughts on writing driving CSS assessment.

Run For Our Sons Heroes

Kudos to Patton health teacher Marcia DiGregorio in helping make happen a fourth successful Run For Our Sons here at Patton MS on April 20. Mrs. DiGregorio, led by the tireless efforts of UHS teacher Joanna Johnson and with the support of the Patton Gives Back Club, the event has raised over $50,000 (and still counting!) for Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy in their fight to end Duchenne and to help kids like Elliot and Henry and Johnson.

Patton Presenters

Patton Middle School faculty have been well-represented at local, state and regional conferences this year. 8th grade math teacher Stacy Remphrey presented "Got linear equations? Now, Let’s See What They Mean" at the NCTM Regional Conference in October while technology teacher John Walsh presented sessions on the use of Google Apps and Introduction to Twitter at the PAMLE Conference in February. Patton technology teacher Robin Martin also presented at the recent Google Apps for Education Summit in Virginia, discussing how to become a GAFE school.