Zoom Meetings the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of June, July, and August
Are you ready to take your writing to the next level? Would you like to see your work published alongside award-winning authors? This summer, you’ll get to work with three Pennsylvania authors who will offer creative prompts and a real-time look at their writing process via Zoom. Our self-published SummerZine will include poetry, short stories, and essays by Lancaster County teen participants and our guest authors, and it will be catalogued at all libraries in the county. Each participant will receive a FREE copy of this year’s Teen SummerZine! Read below and watch the 13 minute video (TeenSummerZine Video) to learn more about each month’s guest author. At around 8 minutes and 30 seconds you will meet Alexandra Villasante’s (August’s Guest Author) pet rat!
Linda Oatman High is the author of more than twenty-five books for children and teens, with many of her books winning awards and honors. Linda’s writing awards include the 2017 Ross Legal Fiction writing contest from the American Bar Association, as well as the prestigious 2012 international short list of six for the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. Linda holds an MFA in writing from Vermont College, and she is also a journalist/ playwright/poet.
Alison Green Myers is an avid reader, poet, and writer. She has served as a classroom teacher, literacy coach, curriculum writer, and school director. She is the Program Director for the Highlights Foundation, a National Writing Fellow, and an active member of the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators. A Bird Will Soaris her first book for middle grade readers and is the recipient of the 2022 Schneider Family Book Award.
Alexandra Villasante has always loved telling stories—though not always with words. She has a BFA in Painting and an MA in Combined Media (that’s art school speak for making work out of anything). Born in New Jersey to immigrant parents, Alex has the privilegio of dreaming in both English and Spanish.
When she’s not writing or painting, Alexandra plans conferences and fundraisers for non-profits. She lives with her family in the semi-wilds of Pennsylvania. Her debut Young Adult novel, The Grief Keeper, was an Indies Next, Indies Introduce and Fall 2019 Junior Library Guild Selection. The Grief Keeper is on ALA’s Rainbow Book List 2020 and is the winner of the 2020 Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Children’s Literature/Young Adult Fiction.
The characters created by the 2nd and 3rd graders are coming to life as they write their narratives. Just to name a few, we have an adorable beagle puppy named Shadow who desperately wants to live with his best friend Daisy. A talented character named Danny the Dictionary who is about to face the competition of her life. A desk lamp named Mr. Cline Cline, and Gary the Gekko whose goal is to win gold in mountain climbing in the Olympics. The imagination of these kiddos is inspiring!
Student writers are hard at work thinking about…
Grammar, spelling, and punctuation. …
Concise language. …
Writing for their audience.
Finding their voice and
Organization and structure.
Vocabulary Showcase.
Intermediate grades selected one of the many vocabulary topics studied in class and created a final presentation. Students demonstrated what they learned by sharing a project they completed earlier in the unit and designing an activity to engage the class. Presentations topics included phobias, antonyms, homophones, idioms, and Greek and Latin root words and were shared using Google Slides, Blooket, and Canva.
Students learned far more than the topic of their presentations. They experienced first hand the importance of being prepared, how to project a presentation from their computers, time management, and public speaking.
Madeline sharing a homophone menu and Kenise sharing phobias.
Middle School
Students were put into engineering design teams and charged with designing and building a chair lift out of everyday materials. The chair had to carry a ping pong ball up a rope from the valley to the mountain and back down without falling out of the chair. All teams completed the project successfully!
Together teams reviewed the challenge, brainstormed, built prototypes, and tested their designs. As the project unfolded it was obvious to see which students gravitated towards Engineering Habits of Mind such as problem-finding, visualizing, improving, creative problem-solving and adapting. Many fields demand these types of skills such as Mechanical, Civil, and Electrical Engineering. It’s never too early for students to notice what they are curious about and what aligns with their way of thinking. Who knows? These observations may lead to the next challenge, class, or potential career.
Millersville University offered it’s 34th Annual Glenna Hazeltine Women in STEM conference on Tuesday April 5th, 2022. The keynote presentation was given by Dr. Nicky Fox, Heliophysics Division Director in the Science Mission Directorate NASA Headquarters, Washington D.C.
The conference is designed to encourage young women in grades 7-12 to pursue education and a career in mathematics and sciences. Professional women in STEM fields met with the girls to describe their professional duties, educational backgrounds, and the benefits of of STEM professions.
The four young women from Marticville Middle School selected to attend the conference were Claire Mincemoyer, Gianna Menaquale, Kaylie Eshbach, and Natasha Wee. They attended presentations by engineers, biologists, chemists, and health professionals.
From left to right: Gianna, Natasha, Kaylie, and Claire
The IU is thrilled to share the 2022 IU13 summer camp offerings. They offer unique opportunities for fun and learning that are designed to meet the needs of advanced and gifted learners. This summer, they are focusing on technology (Spheros and Ozobots) and environmental education. All camps will be face-to-face with tech camps being held at IU13 in Lancaster led by Judy Trusz and environmental camps being held at Lancaster County Central Park with Naturalist Lisa Sanchez.
Last summer, they had an amazing inaugural family camp day as parents attended with their children. They don’t know who loved it more–the kids or the adults who attended with them. They are offering three one-day family camp experiences at Lancaster County Central Park.
