Community Connection

As we approach Veterans Day, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all the brave men and women who have selflessly served our country in the armed forces. Our veterans have made incredible sacrifices to protect the freedoms and privileges we hold dear, and their dedication and unwavering commitment to defending our nation should never be underestimated or forgotten.

Our schools play a vital role in helping the next generation understand the importance of Veterans Day and the respect and gratitude we owe to our veterans. Education is the key to ensuring that our students appreciate the sacrifices made by those who have served and the significance of the freedoms we enjoy today. We must instill in our children a deep sense of respect and admiration for the men and women who have worn the uniform and stood on the front lines to protect our way of life.

Teaching our students to appreciate the sacrifices and heroism of our veterans involves more than just words in a classroom. It's about fostering a culture of gratitude and understanding. Our teachers and staff are committed to this important task, integrating lessons about the history of our nation's military service and the values it upholds. These lessons provide a foundation for our students to engage in thoughtful discussions and activities that honor our veterans.

This year, we have several initiatives planned in our schools to commemorate Veterans Day. Students will be engaged in various activities to learn about the significance of this day and to express their gratitude. These activities include writing letters of thanks and creating artwork to celebrate veterans, participating in ceremonies and celebrations, and inviting veterans to speak at our schools. By involving our students in these activities, we hope to instill a deep sense of appreciation for the sacrifices made by our veterans.

This Veterans Day, I ask you to join us in expressing our deepest gratitude to the heroes who have served our nation and in instilling in our students a sense of appreciation for the freedoms they have been provided. Let us remember that it is through education and remembrance that we can honor our veterans and pass on their legacy to the next generation.

Thank you to all our veterans for your service, and thank you to our community for your unwavering support in teaching our students to appreciate the heroes who have secured the blessings of liberty and security that we enjoy.

May we never take them for granted.

The Indiana Area School District was invited to present at this year’s Pennsylvania Positive Behavior Supports Network and Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) Implementers' Forum at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center. This event, sponsored by the PA Training and Technical Assistance Network (PATTaN), brought nationally renowned speakers and experts from across the state together to share best practices and to provide training and support to school districts. As one of the only districts to have built a true MTSS system at the Junior High School level, IASD was asked to share our example, the trials we faced through the journey, and what we have found to be most successful.

This MTSS work was made possible due to a Comprehensive Support Grant secured from PATTaN by our Director of Education, Mr. Zahorchak. The grant facilitated the purchase of materials, training, and consultative support from PATTaN experts in secondary literacy and positive behavior supports. The IASD Board of Directors also provided critical support necessary to implement the creation of this system. Those supports combined with the “can-do” attitude and some hard work by our teachers created an emerging model for other districts to follow.

We had the honor of sitting on a panel with representatives of the Connellsville School District who are also working on their own MTSS efforts. We answered questions about the reason we felt this change was necessary, the data systems that we use, the curricular work we have done, and the systems that we have built to support behavior and academics at the Junior High. Kudos to Mr. Zahorchak, Dr. Minnick, Mr. Bowers, Dr. McMasters, and the faculty and staff at the Junior High for their dedication, diligence, and their commitment to students!

For more than 40 years, ATHENA International has recognized outstanding women and pioneering leaders with global, national, and local communities. With nearly 8,000 recipients, the ATHENA Leadership Awards celebrate changemakers and trailblazers who open doors of leadership and opportunity for women in communities across the globe. The Indiana County ATHENA group has been part of this incredible tradition for the last 36 years, recognizing transformative leaders from our communities who represent the principles of the ATHENA International. Each year the local chapter celebrates a professional who lives authentically, learns constantly, builds relationships, fosters collaboration, acts courageously, advocates fiercely, gives back to their community and who celebrates and promotes the success of women.

The 2023 recipient of the ATHENA Leadership Award is Indiana Area School District Director, Dr. Sue Rieg. Dr. Rieg has embodied the principles of ATHENA throughout her 41+ year career as an educator. She has provided an impeccable example for young women while serving a a teacher, and administrator, a university professor emerita, and most recently as the Interim Dean of the College of Education and Communications at IUP. Throughout her impressive career, Dr. Rieg has inspired, guided, and mentored so many young professionals, both men and women, and has provided hope and opportunity to literally thousands of young people. Even in retirement, she continues to give back by volunteering her time to serve as a facilitator of the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching program at IUP and sits on the boards of the ARIN Intermediate Unit 28 and IASD.

Dr. Rieg was recognized at the annual Emerging Women Leaders luncheon, which is held each year to celebrate and inspire middle and high school ATHENA Club students. Over 40 Indiana County students were in attendance at the event, a testament to the outstanding work of the ATHENA organization. The clubs at Indiana Senior High School and Marion Center Senior High School strive to develop diverse, transformative leaders of the future and celebrate the change-makers and trailblazers like Dr. Rieg who open doors of leadership opportunities for women in communities in our area.

Congratulations Dr. Sue Rieg for receiving this well-deserved recognition for your lifetime of service and achievement! We are proud of you and are thankful that you are part of our community!

The East Pike Inclusive Playground project is coming along nicely. Phase 1 of the project has been completed, and Phase 2 is underway. This phase involves the installation of the inclusive equipment that will allow students with mobility needs to access and play with their classmates. This equipment has been ordered and should be installed sometime in the early spring. Thanks to the tireless work by the parent group led by Bailey Adams and Brandy Pavlick, the money to complete Phase 2 and 3 has been raised. The United Way of Indiana County has also provided a generous donation to help provide the access path from the building to the playground to make it easier for all students to get to and from the site. There is still some work to do with some landscaping needs and efforts to finish the project, but the lion’s share of the work is well underway.

To see how you can support this project. please visit the website.

The students at the Junior and Senior High Schools were treated to a unique learning experience thanks to the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching recipients at IUP. These scholars are educators from around the globe who have been selected to come to the United States to study our education system and to share their experience with us. We are fortunate in Indiana to be a partner with the IUP Fulbright program - one of only three universities in America to have such a program.

IUP provides courses for continuing professional development, as well as the opportunity for these scholars to observe and share their expertise with U.S. colleagues and students.

This past month, the 17 Fulbright teachers had the opportunity to share the cultures of their 10 home countries with the Junior and Senior High students at the “Cultural Fair.” They shared details about the food, customs, and traditions of their cultures and specifically focused on the similarities and differences of their cultures and American culture. The Fulbrights dressed in their traditional clothes and even let some of the students try on articles of clothing and sample treats from their home county.

I visited the event, and was inspired by the positivity and the sense of acceptance and community that was present. The students were so curious about what the Fulbrights had to share, and it reminded me of the power of education. Our students now know so much more about so many foreign cultures, and this knowledge has the power to fight the fear and judgment that can happen when something is strange to someone. The Fulbright Scholars I spoke with were excited about what they had learned about us as well and will take back a new perspective of America to share with their people.

It has been an honor and a privilege to be able to host these outstanding educators. I want to thank them all for what they have done for us, and I want them to know that they are always welcome in Indiana!

This past month, Chartwells sponsored a Discovery Kitchen learning experience for students that focused on fall fruits. Members of our food services team took time out of their busy days to talk with students about the versatility of fall fruits in cooking. The students got to learn how these fruits are grown and then how they are used to make delicious and nutritious treats. The students' lesson focused on apples and pumpkins. They not only learned about these staples of western PA, but also got to shop for apples for their families and got to take home the recipe for (and even got to sample) delicious pumpkin bread!

We are so grateful to have a partnership with a company like Chartwells who understands the importance of education. Thank you to Eleanor Bland and her team of professionals who take such incredible care of our students and staff every single day!

On Saturday, October 14th, the IUP football team celebrated its annual Community Day. This incredible event emphasizes the partnerships between the school district and the university and encourages the community to support the Crimson Hawks. Hundreds of free tickets to the game were provided to the K-8 schools in Indiana, and the Hawks recognized the efforts of IASD parents, Bailey Adams and Brandy Pavlick, who raised the funding for the completion of the East Pike Inclusive Playground. The parents and their sons, Myles Pavlick and Graham Adams, joined me as honorary captains during the coin toss before the game. IUP was able to hold Edinboro scoreless in the second half in a 20-10 comeback victory in the driving rain.

Thank you to IUP Athletic Director, Mr. Todd Garzarelli, for making this event possible, and to all the teachers, parents, students, and community members who came out in some miserable conditions to support this wonderful event!

The Association of School Psychologists (ASPP) of Pennsylvania announced this week that Indiana Area School District’s own Dr. Angela McMasters has been selected as the School Psychologist of the Year! This prestigious honor is given to only one of the thousands of school psychologists serving in the 500 school districts across the Commonwealth and qualifies Dr. McMasters for consideration for the National School Psychologist of the Year!

The ASPP awards one school psychologist each year for outstanding service to their students and community. In order to qualify, the nominee must be providing a full range of services; performing the job in an exemplary manner; must be well respected by colleagues, students, and parents/caregivers; must be well informed about the goals and standards of the state professional organization (ASPP); must demonstrate one or more of the ASPP core values (advocacy, continuous improvement, collaboration, diversity, focus on children and youth, integrity and visionary leadership), and must represent school psychology well. Dr. McMasters embodies all of the core values of the ASPP and is being recognized for years of hard work and courageous leadership in the field. She spearheaded the efforts that transformed our school systems to be more student-centered, data-driven, and effective. Her work at the Indiana Area Junior High was just recognized by the state as an exemplar for other districts to follow, and I can tell you personally that Ange is never satisfied with the results. She will always keep fighting to improve her practice as well as the systems we have in place. She is a tireless advocate for students, dedicated to the mission of improving their mental, social, emotional, and academic well being. This recognition is well-deserved, and we are so proud of Dr. McMasters and the incredible staff of school psychologists that we have here at IASD!

New IASD Science Teacher, Mrs. Lisa Adams, was awarded an Innovative Teaching Grant from Delta Kappa Gamma. Mrs. Adams won the grant for her project: Three-Dimensional Learning: Making Science an Authentic Experience - an effort to make Science education more student-centered, inquiry based, and hands-on. But these are not the three dimensions Mrs. Adams’ project is referring to; they are merely the outcome. The three dimensions are Practices, Core Content Ideas, and Cross-cutting concepts. These dimensions are the cornerstone of the new PA STEELS (Science, Technology & Engineering, and Environmental Literacy and Sustainability) Standards in Science education which broaden the scope of the subject matter and focus on effective instructional practices. Practices emphasize that engaging in scientific investigation requires not only skill but also knowledge that is specific to each practice. Core Ideas are those that have broad importance across multiple sciences or engineering disciplines or are a key organizing concept of a single discipline; provide a key tool for understanding or investigating more complex ideas and solving problems; relate to the interests and life experiences of students or be connected to societal or personal concerns that require scientific or technological knowledge; be teachable and learnable over multiple grades at increasing levels of depth and sophistication. Finally, Crosscutting Concepts have application across all domains of science. As such, they are a way of linking the different domains of science. They include: patterns, similarity, and diversity; cause and effect; scale, proportion and quantity; systems and system models; energy and matter; structure and function; stability and change.

Delta Kappa Gamma is an international society with the mission to promote the professional and personal growth of women educators and excellence in education. Each year DKG awards grants of $500.00 to Indiana County women educators or their teaching teams. The funds to support these innovative teaching grants are raised by Apollo-Ridge, Indiana Area, Marion Center Area, Purchase Line, River Valley, and United School District teachers and administrators, both practicing and retired.The grant proposals were evaluated using a scoring rubric with the following criteria: 1. Enhance curriculum; 2. Enrich student learning; 3. Meaningful assessment; and 4. Thoughtful budget planning and quality of written grant proposal.

Mrs. Adams is an expert in the STEELS standards and the application of three dimensional instructional methods. This grant will help her and the rest of the science department make strides toward transforming our curriculum at IASD to be more in line with the STEELS standards and three dimensional learning. We would like to welcome Mrs. Adams to our team and congratulate her on receiving this grant. We look forward to what is coming!

November is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Month, and once again, IASD will be participating in a variety of efforts to raise awareness and to support those in need. More than 40,000 Pennsylvania children and youth experiencing homelessness were served by the ECYEH program in 2021-22 (Source: PA Dept. of Ed.), including 18 students and their families right here in Indiana.

Homelessness at any age is a traumatic experience, causing emotional, physical, and mental reactions, but those effects are amplified in children and youth. Homelessness can be a serious disruption to education which can cause significant and life-long effects. Our staff, especially our school counselors, nurses, and principals, do a lot of work to support these students to provide them with an educational experience that is as smooth and disruption-free as possible. Children experiencing homelessness need help adjusting to new teachers, assistance with meeting assignment expectations, and basic needs like clothing, food, or school supplies.

Homelessness is one of the greatest barriers to a child’s success in school. We encourage all students and staff to wear red on Friday, November 17th as a symbol of our awareness and support. To learn what else you can do to help, visit: https://bit.ly/ECYEH-Impact

We are very pleased to introduce Ms. Krista Templeton to fill the Operational Principal position at the Junior High, Eisenhower, and Horace Mann elementaries. Ms. Templeton is a dynamic leader, a high-energy influencer of change, and a driven professional who strives to be the best in everything that she does. She has the qualifications, experience, and skill-set that are perfect for the position, and she comes highly recommended. Her versatile skill set and experience should make her a perfect fit in the position being vacated by Mr. Donald Bowers.

Ms. Templeton has served as the principal of the Northern Cambria Middle School (grades 5 - 8) over the past three years, where she managed and led a staff of 33 teachers and 15 support staff. She has been a champion of positive behavior initiatives, trauma-informed practices, new approaches to mental health and developing the social-emotional well being of students. Her experience aligns perfectly with many of the initiatives we have at IASD, and I believe that she will truly be able to hit the ground running and quickly add value. Ms. Templeton starts just after Thanksgiving break,and we are so grateful for the opportunity to add her to the team here at IASD! Please welcome her when you get the chance!

We would like to thank Mr. Bowers for over 17 years of dedicated service to our community. He is an outstanding educator and leader, and we are sorry to see him go. He will be taking on a new challenge as the Director of Education in the United School District.

We wish the best to both of you in your new roles!

Indiana Area High School Marching Band hosted the annual Indiana County Bandfest featuring 16 participating marching bands. The event was held at Indiana Area Senior High, and served as a way for members of the marching band community to see each other’s shows and network with each other. Each band got to perform their show twice - once for all the other marching bands in the area, and once for the parents, fans, and community members. The evening culminated in a special appearance by the “Beast of the East,” The IUP Marching Band, which features graduated members of many of the local schools and treated everyone to an incredible performance!

It was truly a night of camaraderie, fun, and outstanding music, dancing, marching, and twirling!

Website: www.iasd.cc
Location: 501 East Pike Road, Indiana, PA, USA
Phone: (724) 463-8713
Facebook: facebook.com/IndianaAreaSchoolDistrict
X: @IndianaAreaSD