Canon-McMillan Spotlight
Laurel Williams, Virginia Pham, Jessica Cox and Ashlyn Spina of Canonsburg Middle School.
Students in Dr. Sandy Cavanaugh’s class helped surprise her with an award from Chevron and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Courtesy Canon-McMillan School District
Courtesy Canon-McMillan School District
This edition, the Canon-McMillan School District spotlight shines on:
Lauren Paddick, a Canonsburg Middle School English teacher who won a $500 McDonald’s MAC Grant to help fund her Ozobot Project. While learning to program Ozobots, students will read and analyze fairy tales and program Ozobots to demonstrate traits of a character in a fairy tale. After mastering basic programming, students will use literary elements to write their own fairy tales featuring an Ozobot as the main character and at least one other Ozobot as a secondary character. Students will work in groups to create their fairy tale and story board and represent a character’s feelings and actions with the Ozobot programming options. Students will also write an informational essay about the implementation of technology in English class and how they approached programming a robot to demonstrate human feelings and actions. Ozobots can also be used as an enrichment activity throughout the school year for students interested in programming.
Dr. Greg Taranto, Canonsburg Middle School principal, and Angela Marasco, CMS math teacher, who were selected to present at this year’s Three Rivers Educational Technology Conference. Taranto and Marasco shared how coding is used to teach problem solving at Canonsburg Middle School’s Team-Oriented Problem Solving (TOPS) course, a requirement for all eighth graders.
Dr. Mark Abbondanza, North Strabane Intermediate School principal, for achieving the 2017 Frank S. Manchester Award for excellence in journalism.
Nina Unitas, who received the 2017 Pennsylvania Art Education Association Outstanding Supervision/Administration Art Educator Award. This award recognizes exemplary contributions, achievements and service to art education at the state, regional and national levels.
The 36 LIFT students (and their families), who raised $675 for the Canonsburg Food Bank.
Amy Zimmerman, Michael Zimmerman and Makenzie Buhman, who presented at the 14th annual Washington County Literacy Seminar hosted by the Washington County Federal Program Coordinators this past August at Washington & Jefferson College. They presented for teachers across Washington County.
Joni Mansmann for her member spotlight article in the ASBO (Association of School Business Officials International) magazine.
Scott Chambers for being selected as a member of the AASA principal’s supervisory academy.
Canon-McMillan High School’s Kailee Monaghan, one of two students who recently received the Luminari Award. Luminari is a nonprofit headquartered in Pittsburgh that provides an all-expense-paid admission to Luminari’s “I Want to be an Ambassador!” camp – a merit-based scholarship with a value of more than $1,200. She was nominated by her school for having demonstrated motivation, open-mindedness and the willingness to learn.
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Kamatsu aids
C-M Backpack
A $1,250 donation from Kamatsu Corp. to Blessings in a Backpack will help the nonprofit do more good in the Canon-McMillan School District.
Blessings in a Backpack provides free food – items like granola, canned soup and Ramen – for the weekend to children who qualify. This is the fifth year the nonprofit has partnered with the district.
A crew from Kamatsu stopped by South Central Elementary School in November to drop off the check and to help package the food the children would take home that week.
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Counselor is finalist
for leadership award
Canon-McMillan High School counselor Karen Rubican has been named a finalist for The School Superintendents Association’s (AASA) Women in School Leadership Award.
The finalists represent the states of Maryland, Montana, Illinois, Oregon and Pennsylvania.
“Fewer than 25 percent of school district leaders are female, which means it’s essential to create opportunities that will bring more women into the field of education administration,” said Daniel A. Domenech, executive director of AASA. “The Women in School Leadership Awards program serves as a vehicle for women educators to develop their leadership skills and advance their careers. We congratulate our finalists who have worked exceptionally hard in serving the students in their respective communities.”
The awards are designed to recognize exceptional leadership of active, front-line female administrators who are making a difference in the lives of students every day and to pay tribute to the talent, creativity and vision of outstanding women educational administrators in the nation’s public schools.
Last year, AASA announced a new category – the School Based Award – which recognizes the leadership skills of talented teachers, coaches and other school-based employees seeking leadership positions.
Candidates are judged based on leadership in meeting the learning needs of students, personal and organizational communication strength, constant professional improvement of knowledge and skills, and active community involvement.
The final award recipients in each category will be announced during the AASA National Conference on Education, Feb. 15-17 in Nashville.
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Orrock, Neuman
in Hall of Honor
Two outstanding members of the Canon-McMillan community have been inducted into the district’s Hall of Honor.
This year, Kevin Orrock was inducted into the hall for citizenry. State Rep. and Washington County Judge-elect Brandon Neuman – a school wrestling standout – was inducted for citizenry/athletics.
Alumni and community members 30 years of age or older who have made significant contributions to the Canon-McMillan School District community are eligible for nomination. While nominees do not have to be graduates of the school district, they must have made a positive difference in the Canon-McMillan education community.
Categories for the Hall of Honor include academia/scholastic achievement, athletic achievement, artistic achievement, valor and outstanding service to the community. The Hall of Honor banquet took place Oct. 7 at the high school.
This is the Hall of Honor’s 10th year. The first class of five members was inducted in 2007.
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Kamatsu aids C-M Backpack
A $1,250 donation from Kamatsu Corp. to Blessings in a Backpack will help the nonprofit do more good in the Canon-McMillan School District.
Blessings in a Backpack provides free food – items like granola, canned soup and Ramen – for the weekend to children who qualify. This is the fifth year the nonprofit has partnered with the district.
A crew from Kamatsu stopped by South Central Elementary School in November to drop off the check and to help package the food the children would take home that week.