Northern Bedford County School Board Hears of Student Projects, Program Awards

The Northern Bedford County School Board met Tuesday, March 10, to discuss and decide several agenda items.

As part of the meeting, the board presented a plaque of recognition to Starla Snyder, the school nurse. Snyder is to receive the South-Central School Nurse Excellence Award March 28 in State College. Nominees for this award were acknowledged by their peers and one apparent reason for Snyder’s receiving this award is due to her ability to remain calm under stressful situations. The school board presented Snyder with a framed plaque and a thanks for all of her efforts to keep Northern Bedford healthy.

FBLA project

Students Veronica Griffith, McKayla Hall, and Sarah Heck made a presentation to the school board on behalf of the FBLA group. These three students told the board about their recent experience teaching the fifth graders at Northern Bedford Elementary School. As part of this project, these three high school students had to create a curriculum and lesson plans tied to the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Career and Education Work standards (CEW) and then present those lessons to the students they worked with.

Griffith, Hall and Heck created four lesson plans as part of their competitive FBLA project. Lesson 1 was titled “Careers and Career Choices.” In the lesson plan, students create a career interest inventory.

Lesson 2, “How to get a job,” presented students with the challenge of finding jobs, filling out applications, and creating a resume. Lesson 3, “Job Interviews and Career Retention/Advancement,” allowed students to participate in a mock job interview. They were required to answer interview questions and learn positive and negative traits that might “transfer from school and home to the workplace.”

Lesson 4, “Entrepreneurship,” explored what characteristics an entrepreneur might have.

The three FBLA students all expressed a desire to continue their education with the pursuit of teaching degrees. The FBLA students will be presenting their project at an upcoming FBLA competition.

Other reports

The elementary school 2020-21 pre-kindergarten and kindergarten registration is under way. Pre-kindergarten registration was scheduled for March 10-11. Kindergarten registration was held March 12.

Ag Literacy Week, March 16-20, “focuses on connecting volunteers from the agricultural community to local classrooms to increase student knowledge about agriculture.”

As part of this week’s recognition, Naomi Sollenberger, a representative of the PA Farm Bureau, was to present a lesson to the first-grade students. After the presentation of this lesson, Sollenberger was to present the first-grade teachers with a copy of the book being used to help enhance the students’ learning of agricultural related issues.

Middle School Principal Wayne Sherlock announced to the board that the student body held its first semi-formal dance Saturday, Feb. 29, in the cafeteria. This event was initiated by PRIDE members Addison Love and Aaliyah Pepple.

As part of this event, students were able to “dress up while making memories with their friends and was enjoyed by all who attended.”

Thanks were given to PRIDE advisors Crawford, Over and Miller, who were “instrumental in making the night a success.” A special thanks was given to Laird, Musselman, and Ewart, who served as chaperones for the evening.

Sherlock said that “with the positive feedback and student participation, this will become an annual event.”

Dance-a-Thon

The 11th Annual NBC Dance-a-Thon was set to begin April 9, 2020, at 9 p.m. and conclude April 10 at 7 a.m. It was discussed that over the last 10 years the Dance-a-Thon has raised more than $275,000 for charitable organizations.

This year’s Dance-a-Thon is being organized by Black and the money raised will again go to the American Cancer Society and area families who have children with medical needs.

The adult Easter egg hunt is set for March 25 at Panther Community Stadium. Also, an assembly/pep rally has been scheduled to kick off this event the afternoon of April 9. Anyone wishing to make a donation can contact the school.

Editor’s Note: All scheduled events described above are subject to change based on state and local decisions related to coronavirus control efforts. Those interested are urged to call the school to verify that events will be held. It is likely that these events have been cancelled or postponed.

Excellence award

On Feb. 13, Frederick, Beatty, and O’Dellick accepted the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Excellence Award on behalf of the Northern Bedford CTE teachers and students.

The qualifications for this award are that 75 percent of students at the school must score “advanced” on end-of-program technical assessments (NOCTI exam).

“Advanced level achievement scores reflect the student’s ability to comprehend technical skills and the ability required to successfully perform the duties of an entry level job in a safe and effective manner,” O’Dellick explained.

He said that Northern Bedford was one of eight schools in the state this year to attain this educational milestone and to receive this recognition.

O’Dellick also expressed his congratulations to Pratt, who received the Jostens 2019 National Yearbook Program of Excellence award.

O’Dellick explained that these awards are “presented twice a year, one in the spring and one in the fall for yearbooks delivered during the school year.”

The award was given to Northern Bedford’s yearbook program for completing the criteria in three categories. Those categories included: “creating an inclusive yearbook, generating school engagement, and successfully managing the yearbook creation process.”

Jeff Batzel, NBC’s athletic director, is to be honored at the State Directors Awards Banquet scheduled for March 26 at the Hershey Lodge. He will be the recipient of the Pennsylvania Distinguished Service in Athletics Award for 2020.

Also, in the sports arena, seniors Colby Imler (linebacker), Steven Kline (defensive end) and Kyler States (wide receiver) will participate in the 50th annual Ken Lantzy All-Star football game at Johnstown High School June 12. It was announced that Coach Black will be helping as an assistant coach at this year’s event.

Finally, Dalton Smith (Junior) and Kyler States (senior) were named the 2019 Southern Alleghenies Football Coaches Association MVPs for offense and defense this past January.