Ringgold S.D.

A visit to the Pennsylvania Wood Mobile, arranged by Ringgold educators, demonstrated how the state’s forests have shaped the history of the state and nation and how the forest industry impacts today’s economy.

Participants in this workshop at Carroll Middle School became Ukrainians for a day as they practiced Pysanky decorative egg-writing and learned how they could incorporate this resist method of wax and dye art into their art classrooms.

Forming kindergarten transition teams that engage the pre-K child and family, community and child care providers was the subject of this workshop at Monongahela Elementary Center.

Past and current air quality regulations, and the impact the Donora smog disaster had on these rules, were explored in this multi-disciplinary session at Carroll Middle School.

Brave New Computer Classrooms!
From palm technology to PowerPoint and SmartBoards, computers and technology figured prominently in this year’s Mon Valley Learns schedule. As one Frazier facilitator put it, the programs were for “everyone from the tecno-weak to the computer geek”.


This Finley Middle School workshop in Ringgold S.D. explained how teachers can navigate and use United Streaming for curriculum enhancement and how to set up netTrekker search engine user lists for students. 


“A Brave New Classroom” at Perry Elementary in Frazier School District looked at the multitude of technological activities available to teachers who want to engage their computer-savvy students.


At Brownsville Area High School, workshop participants explored adding Internet scavanger hunts and other interactive activities to their classrooms.


“Using Technology in the Classroom to Integrate the Penn Literacy Network” was the subject of this session at Charleroi Area High School.

Trinity Area S.D.

PowerPoint can be used to bring history alive in the classroom. In this session, participants focused on researching the Internet for background and photos of landmarks unique to the region.

Trinity Area High School offered a historical walking tour of Washington, Pa.

Monessen City S.D.

The Greater Monessen Historical Society Museum was the destination for this session on local history resources.

Yough S.D.
“Nutrition and Weight Management” at Yough High School provided participants with menu information and some tasty but healthy treats, such as the low-fat quesadillas shown here.

West Mifflin Area S.D.

Preparing students for their 720 days of classroom instruction in high school is becoming an integral part of teacher preparation. West Mifflin Area High School Principal Mark Hoover, above, talked about how his district is planning to meet its Project 720 goals in the session he presented.

Frazier S.D.
Vincent Rafail led a workshop at Frazier High on non-traditional ways to make PSSA prep activities come alive for students.

Modern special education practices, including preparing for the PSSAs and strategies for reading, writing and math – were the subjects of this session.

Bentworth S.D.

New “Bees” to the teaching profession had a chance to exchange ideas and frustrations and gather support from their peers at this workshop at Bentworth Elementary School. Left to right are Kim Bruce, in her second year of teaching first grade in Trinity Area School District; Deidra Damich, a first-year Grade 3 teacher at Marian Elementary (Belle Vernon Area S.D.); and Karen Fields, in her second year of teaching special education K-3 at Bentworth.


Facilitator Kristen Gnora talks with participants in a “Music That Motivates” session at Bentworth Elementary School that explored integrating music into elementary math and reading.

Brownsville Area S.D.

Schools hosting Mon Valley Learns sessions are asked to provide coffee and light refreshments for visitors to their school and Brownsville Area High School went all out.


Lynn Jellots led a fast-paced workshop on “The Magic of Storytelling” at Brownsville Area High School and showed her group how to have students create and produce storybooks.

Arts Collaborative at Cal U.
A special Mon Valley Learns session, presented by the Arts Education Collaborative of Pittsburgh in partnership with California University of Pennsylvania and Bentworth School District, drew a large crowd to the Cal campus. Designed to support standards-based learning in, with and through the arts, it featured a performance by Attack Theater of Pittsburgh, a panel conversation that views the performance through the lens of the PA Standards for Arts & Humanities, and small-group discussions about how the Collaborative can provide in-depth quality professional development for the teaching profession. Arts resource people were on hand as well.


Facilitator Sarah Tambucci, executive director of the Arts Education Collaborative of Pittsburgh, addresses the group.


Cal U students helped out at display tables.


Audience interaction was the name of the game.


A workshop participant scans the program for the morning.

Steel Valley S.D.

“Technology in the Classroom” at Steel Valley Middle School outlined ways math teachers can create  interactive lessons using technology.


Winning at chess in six easy moves? For some it may have been more, but learning how to incorporate math, strategy and risk analysis into the game could not have been easier during a workshop at Barrett Elementary. Above, Brian Mann of West Mifflin Area waits for Steve Ehrlich of East Allegheny to make his move. They were two of 32 teachers in this workshop session.

Clairton City S.D.

Vivian Weir of Clairton Elementary dressed the part to demonstrate how to make things “hunky dory” in the kitchen. Weir, along with colleagues Jill Geletko and Lynn Kostanich, helped teachers master ethnic culinary dishes “just like mom used to make!”

Belle Vernon Area
Men as well as women were welcome in the “Quilting Patch” at Belle Vernon Area High School, where facilitator Annette Clay explored the ancient art of fabric piecing and the modern way it can be adapted into a multi-disciplinary unit.

Scrapbooking can help students with preparations for PSSAs, especially if it involves paragraph-writing. This workshop demonstrated how to help middle school students create a book of their own.  
 
East Allegheny S.D.

When East Allegheny School District was designated to receive students from the now-defunct Duquesne High School in September, a group of teachers found this to be the time to support education not only in the classroom but at home as well.

With the help from a mini-grant from the Consortium’s Skills for Life Initiative, the No Parent Left Behind Program began and eventually became the subject of a Mon Valley Learns session. It is designed to involve both parents and their children in academic achievement. Parents receive strategies and tools to help their students at home while students have access to on-site tutoring sessions focusing on study skills, homework help and organization. Information on No Child Left Behind and PSSA resources are provided to parents, and parents go through a demonstration of Edline, the online grading program that parents can tap into to check on their child’s. Parents also receive resources from the LifeSkills Training Parent Program (part of the Skills for Life initiative) that give them effective strategies to arm their child with general social skills and drug, alcohol and tobacco resistance skills.

East Allegheny teachers Kelly Woleslagle, Marcie Sippey, Lori Steiner (not shown) and Linda Ripper presented the No Parent Left Behind workshop for Mon Valley Learns.

Kelly Woleslagle provides some individual attention.