Green Lane Gazette
December - 2022
Attendance Reminders
All attendance notes, trip approval requests, and other inquiries should be emailed to hst.attendance@bristoltwpsd.org or call 267-599-2109 to speak with our attendance clerk.
The Guidance Department spent much of November focused on college, and we are thankful for all of your support. Our seniors have submitted over 600 college applications so far, and we are anxiously waiting to hear about acceptances and scholarships. Thank you to staff members who have written letters of recommendation - we appreciate the time it takes to make each letter unique!
Because of our Title I designation, SAT and college application fees are waived, and AP exam fees are reduced. Many of our students are taking advantage of these opportunities. Thank you to Ann Bodnar who helped 57 students use fee waivers to register for the December SAT, and thank you to Chrissy King and Kathy Armstrong who helped process fees for 111 AP exams (this is up from 87 exams last year).
Kudos also to Karen Davis who was responsible for facilitating two Bucks County Community College events at Truman: Financial Aid Night and FAFSA Completion Night. Both evenings were very informative and well-attended. Karen also coordinated a field trip to the Lower Bucks Campus of BCCC for their "Future Ready" Conference, which included students from Truman and Bristol HS. Around 80 students registered for workshops in a variety of career paths ranging from CDL certification to Criminal Justice. It was a great day, and our students were commended for their excellent behavior.
One final thank you goes to Adrienne Jones for working so hard with Admin to get Credit Recovery off the ground in December.
- Mr. Mergard led the Truman DECA team to a bunch of wins and hardware at the DECA Regional Competition at Temple University.
- Mrs. Cundari’s Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) class - completed their Dessign/program for their robots. See the attached Youtube video.
- Mrs. Cundari, meanwhile, is having tremendous success with the Truman Woman in STEM Club. They have begun the design and build process for their ClawBot Activity.
Freshman in English 9 courses are finishing up a unit focused on conflict and characterization, moving into examining point of view and reading “The Casque of Amontillado.” There will also be a continued focus on utilizing the R.A.C.E.S. strategy for writing constructed responses. Students will continue making progress on their personalized Reading Exact Path.
Sophomores in English 10 courses are taking a deep dive into characterization, with a strong focus on motivation and direct/indirect characterization. Students will also be examining numerous reading and writing strategies in preparation for the Keystone Exams. Students will continue making progress on their personalized Reading Exact Path.
Juniors in English 11 courses have begun a focus on literature written in the literary era of romanticism. This includes an examination of the subgenre of “dark romanticism” and the literary concept of an archetype. Some of the literary works that will be read and analyzed are “The Devil and Tom Walker” and “The Pit and the Pendulum.”
Seniors in English 12 courses are currently moving into reading literature of the Middle Ages, which includes Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales. Along with the text, students will inspect the role of characterization within various individual tales from the work and the concept of a frame narrative.
Ms. Hoffman left the department to become the interim Assistant Principal at Keystone Elementary school. She has been greatly missed by students and staff alike. During her absence, Ms. Ashida Cooper has been added to the Phys Ed staff. Ms. Cooper is also the Truman Girls Basketball coach.
Driver Education Students learned the importance of having good credit during The Buying a Car Webquest. This activity brought to light the actual cost of owning a car. Students learned just how interest rates can affect car payments and how insurance deductibles work. Students also needed to calculate the yearly cost of gas, which had some students re-thinking the cars they were planning to purchase.
Physical Education Now that it is cold…Phys Ed students have been inside, except for the rare nice day when we can make it outside. Students have a choice of basketball, weight room, volleyball, and walking for fitness.
PE Majors Since the beginning of the year, the PE major students have been working hard to plan and prepare for the annual dodgeball tournament. On November 23 the tournament was the culmination of all of their efforts! The tournament was fun for students and staff alike. The event raised over $600 for our S.A.D.D. Program.
In math, the Algebra 1 courses are working hard to meet the various academic standards that will be assessed on the statewide Keystone exams in January & May. Many other students and teachers, though, have their eyes turned toward the winter session of the Keystone exams, which will take place the second week of January in the new year. While our current Algebra 1 and Algebra 1B students have a few months left to prepare, students who completed Algebra 1 in a previous school year may be eligible for this testing session. Any student who missed a prior Keystone exam, or who wasn’t quite successful on their first attempt, has another opportunity to pass the test this January. Stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.
Elsewhere in math, the learning continues. Geometry students are learning all about the properties of parallel lines and how they connect to triangles, quadrilaterals, and other polygons. In Algebra 2, students have just finished a unit on linear programming, and will begin solving systems of three variables next week. Our consumer math students are completing a unit on discounts and understanding the necessity of consumer goods. Students in Pre-Calculus just began a unit on rational functions, where they are studying holes in graphs and vertical asymptotes. Our AP Calculus students are studying optimization, where they are looking for the smallest or largest value a function can take. This topic finds practical application in maximizing profits while minimizing cost and materials.
This month we are highlighting the work of two new science teachers, Fiona Link and Michael Zoda.
Ms. Link teaches one Honors Biology class and four Academic Biology classes. Throughout November, the students learned about a variety of topics including macromolecules, enzymes, chemical reactions, energy, and photosynthesis. They made Biology come to life by investigating a murder scene and testing for specific macromolecules present in the victim’s stomach (see image). They also examined how enzymes impact the speed of chemical reactions by conducting a catalase lab and creating elephant toothpaste! Before Thanksgiving break, Ms. Link's students practiced social-emotional learning by taking a moment of gratitude to reflect on at least one thing they were grateful for. Students were asked to decorate a fall leaf by writing the item(s) of gratitude on the leaf and displaying it on the front door. Sometimes, we all need a reminder of that "one thing" before starting the school/work day!
Mr. Zoda teaches Academic Biology and Honors Biology II. In biology, they spent the month of November learning about energy in biological systems. Students studied photosynthesis and cell respiration. They learned how each of these processes transforms energy for life on Earth. They completed a summative project where they had to create posters with these processes explaining why they might be important for a developing colony on Mars.
In Honors Biology 2, students studied enzymes, and the digestive system. Students completed an enzyme lab with potatoes, examining the effect of catalase enzyme under various temperature and pH conditions. They also studied the prominent enzymes of the digestive system, and how the process of digestion and absorption take place. As a class, they created a giant digestive system poster, where each student wrote a research report about a specific structure within the digestive system.
It has been a busy month for students in the social studies department.
Ms. Egan's AP Government class will soon be discussing whether to impeach or not to impeach. Each group's mission is to determine whether or not their assigned president committed any impeachable offenses while in office. Students will present their findings in a slide presentation.
Ms. Currie's fourth period students are creating bumper stickers that explain the principles of the Constitution, which included a gallery walk activity. (Pictures attached.)
Mr. Huber and Ms. Wright's classes enjoyed a field trip to Washington, D.C., in the last week of November. Students had the opportunity to tour the monuments and memorials on the National Mall. By chance, they were also able to see the presidential motorcade drive by. The trip concluded with a visit to the Holocaust Memorial Museum to connect to students' learning on WWII, responsible citizenship, and human social behavior. Students were able to speak with survivors of the Holocaust, and reflect upon the importance of preventing genocide and dictatorship. (Pictures attached.)
Mr. Kotofsky's Pop Culture classes had a great time attending their American Pop Culture field trip. (Pictures attached.)
Hola, Ciao, and Hello! Happy Holidays! We are so proud of the tremendous progress that many of our students have made in their language acquisition during this part of the year. Make sure your student keeps up with practice over the winter break. Have a magical holiday season!
Classroom Corner:
Many of our Spanish and Italian classes have been working on cultural or grammar related projects. In particular, Medical Spanish just completed a project tied to the injury vocabulary. Italian 1 will be creating videos describing themselves. Signora Guida’s students are pretending to be Italian travel influencers on TikTok and Instagram. Our ELD classes have been exploring plot and learning about many other literary terms. Señorita Broggi’s class will participate in the Pulsera Project to buy pulseras from Nicaragua/Guatemala artisans in support of fair trade.
Teacher Spotlight - Mr. Patrick Gleeson, Italian
Mr. Gleeson completed his undergraduate work at Arcadia University with a degree in Math and Italian. His Master’s degree is in Education from Cabrini University. Prior to teaching Italian at Truman, he taught math. Mr. Gleeson enjoys spending time with his family, playing the guitar, and traveling. He is the “expert on all things coffee” according to his colleagues in the World Language Department.
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