other. Both teams were featured in the Post Ga-zette and the Valley Mir-ror. Congratulations to both teams for a great job representing Wood-land Hills!

Team Takes 1st Place In K’nex Challenge! By: Erin Huang

Project Polar Bear By: Nicole Welsh

Gifted Gazette

On Monday, December 6th, eight Gifted students participated in the first AIU K’nex Tournament. Woodland Hills brought two teams made up of four eighth grade stu-dents. Three alternates also attended. Both teams received awards at the tournament. Emily Scifo, Jonathan Leone, Nelson Zhukas, and Erin Huang got first place for

their structure, "The Lost Ping Pong Ball.” Samantha Edinger, Sarah Letson, Jimmy Kiley, and Liam Bachtell got Honorable Mention for Teamwork. Their struc-ture was called, "The Success of our K’nex.” The students had 2 hours to build a structure, us-ing only K’nex pieces, that would move a ping-pong ball from one end of a five-foot table to the

The first place winner from San Diego will win a trip to Churchill, Canada to see po-lar bears in the wild. Good luck to both of them on their effort towards Project Polar Bear!

Nelson Zhukas and Jona-than Leone, with the help of Grace Belmonte and Emily Scifo are working on a competition called Project Polar Bear. Project Polar Bear is an event where stu-dents come up with commu-nity projects to raise money and help the environment. Their project is raising money to buy PVC free backpacks for the preschool students in the district. PVC

stands for polyvinyl chloride and is a harmful gas com-monly found in plastic and many backpacks. They have made and sold screen printed t-shirts and held a bake sale at their school during the holiday concert. They have raised over $1,000 dollars! There are two other teams that Nelson and Jonathan are competing against. If they are the first place team they will get to visit San Diego, California and get a behind the scenes tour of their zoo!

Th e Wood l a n d H i l l s J un i o r H i g h S c h o o l G i f t e d Ed u c a t i o n N ew s l e t t e r

Special points of interest:

• Teacher Feature

• Cats Review

• Polar Bear Comic

• Going Green

February 14, 2011

Volume 1, Issue 2

Inside this issue:

Gifted Recipe 2

Eight Grade Trip 5

Equations Tournament 2

Baking with the Life Skills Class

3

Student Profiles 4

Science Bowl 5

Find It Collage 6

Making polar bear t-shirts.

Going Green By : Er ik S tanko and Jeremy Pike

Ingredients: • 1 pan (13x9) brownies, baked and cooled • 1/2 cup chocolate frosting • 1 lb chocolate-flavored candy coating • 40-50 lollipop sticks • Decorative toppings (sprinkles, nuts, coconut, etc) Directions: Use favorite brownie mix. Line baking sheet with wax paper. Add icing to crumpled up cooked brown-ies. Roll brownies into balls. Place on baking sheet. Freeze 2 hours.

Remove the brownies from freezer. Melt chocolate coating in microwave. Stir until completely smooth. Put each brownie ball on a skewer. Dip each skewer in chocolate coating to hold brownie in place. Dip brownies in coating when cool but not very warm. Sprinkle desired topping on brownie balls. Set on cooking sheet to finish drying. Can be kept up to a week in the refrigera-tor.

• Use matches instead of lighters

• Go to commercial car washes

• Use rechargeable batteries

• Download music instead of buying CD’s

• Unplug chargers when not in use

• Carpool and use public transportation

Nowadays, we’re treating our planet worse and worse. We throw recyclables in the trash

because it’s convenient. We litter because there’s no trash can in sight. We don’t realize what it’s doing to our planet. If we keep it up, we’ll be living on a huge lump of trash hurdling through space. Here’s a list of things we can do to prevent that:

• Turn off lights • Recycle

• Use LED lights • Limit use of aerosol cans

• Turn off water faucet • Plant plants and trees

• Don’t litter • Clean up litter

• Take shorter showers

• Compost

A Favorite Gifted Recipe Elizabeth McKay and Simon Jasiewicz

Students Win Third Place at Equations Tournament! By: Emily Scifo and Kevin Rode

equations tournament and 105 students from 10 different schools in the area at-tended. The students played three 40 min-ute rounds with different students at dif-ferent tables. They gave out awards for individual scores as well as team scores.

Woodland Hills A team took third place in equations tournament! Nelson Zhu-

kas from Woodland Hills B team also took third! The Woodland Hills A team consisted of Erin Huang, Emily Scifo, Jeremy Pike, Seamus McGuigan, and Justin Newman. Many of the gifted students took a class

called Equations. It is a game using cubes with different numbers and operations on the sides. The numbers vary from 0-9 and the operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, radical and power. Someone rolls the dice and makes a goal using a maximum of five cubes. Then everyone tries to come up with an-other way to get the goal using the rest of the cubes. Players take turns moving cubes into FORRBIDDEN, REQUIRED and PERMITTED. Woodland Hills High School hosted the

Page 2 Gifted Gazette

Teacher Feature: Mr. Ohodnicki By: Sarah Letson

Baking with Li fe Ski l l s Class

By: Grace Belmonte

The set in this show was wonderful. It was well built and nicely finished. The cast did very well portraying the different characters and scenarios in the show. It was very enjoyable to watch, and I would go see it again.

On December 10th , GATE and advanced reading class stu-dents attended A Musical Christmas Carol at the Byham

Theatre. The show was performed by Pittsburgh CLO (Civic Light Opera). Ebenezer Scrooge was played by Tom Atkins. Tom Atkins has played Scrooge in three different productions. Tom At-kins was a delightfully evil Scrooge. He acted as if he was Scrooge, as if he wasn’t on stage, and he was very believable.

A Musical Christmas Carol is about a bitter old man named Scrooge and the strange events that happen to him one Christmas Eve. When Scrooge gets home, he is visited by his dead business partner, Marley’s, ghost. Marley warns Scrooge that he will be visited by three ghosts during the night. Each ghost comes and takes Scrooge to different points in his life. Scrooge realizes that he can’t keep living alone and being mean to eve-ryone, and tries to change his ways before it’s too late.

Samantha to make the ornaments, and the other half went with Nicole, Emily, Sarah, and Elizabeth to make rice crispy treats. After the rice crispy treats were done, the class got to decorate them. The class used cookie cutters to cut out differ-ent holiday shapes in the rice crispy treats and ornaments. After the ornaments hard-ened, the class decorated them with glit-ter. The girls that helped feel very grateful to have shared in the opportunity work-ing with the life skills class. They were able to make new friends and learn more about helping their peers. They have ideas for projects for Easter and Marti Gras. They look forward to working with them in the future.

This past November, a few GATE stu-dents went to the home economics class-room to work with the life skills class; the students were Grace Belmonte, Emily Scifo, Elizabeth Mckay, Sarah Letson, Nicole Welsh, Claudia Zido, Erin Huang, and Samantha Edinger. These students

helped the life skills class bake and decorate funfetti cup-cakes. Half of the class went with Grace, Emily, and Nicole to make

the cupcake batter, and the other half decorated pre-made cupcakes with Eliza-beth and Sarah. Once the batter was made, the students took turns pouring it into the cupcake pans. After the cupcakes were made, the students had the opportu-nity to sit down with the life skills class to decorate cupcakes with them. A big thanks goes to Ms. Bostard, who allowed the students to use her classroom for this exciting class. This past December the same group of students made Christmas tree ornaments and rice crispy treats with the class. The ornaments were made out of applesauce and cinnamon. Half the class went with Claudia, Grace, Erin, and

North Carolina, California, and Ari-zona. Thank you Mr. O. for being the featured teacher of this issue!

Our featured teacher of this issue is Mr. Ohodnicki. Mr. O. is a very cool person. One of his greatest accom-plishments in life is becoming an un-cle. Mr. Ohodnicki is the 8th grade music teacher here at the Woodland Hills Junior High School. This is his first year teaching but he also student

taught at Mercer School District. The people he admires most are his par-ents and Mrs. Priore, the band and orchestra teacher. Mr. O. is engaged! His favorite food is General Tso’s Chicken. He has also traveled to many different places. Some of which are; Canada, Florida, Ohio,

A Musical Christmas Carol Review By: Grace Belmonte

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 2

8th Grade Trip By: Samantha Edinger

Q: What is your favorite amusement park? A: My favorite is Kennywood and I love it. Q: What was your favorite toy when you were a little kid? A: My favorite childhood toy was Barbie. Q: One last question, do you have any sib-lings? A: Yes, I have one younger brother and one younger sister.

Stephanie Polce is an 8th grader who goes to Woodland Hills Junior High School. She lives in Turtle Creek, has been to interesting places, and has very interesting hobbies. Lets see what she has to say. Q: Where have you been outside of Pittsburgh in your life? A: I have been to Disney Land, Canada, and Virginia Beach. Q: What are your favorite hobbies? A: I like to read, play video games, and watch TV. Q: What is your favorite thing about Gifted classes? A: That you get to learn new things that you

never knew. Q: Do you have any pets and if so, what are they? A: I have one Golden Retriever and one yel-low Canary. Q: Do you play any sports in your free-time? A: No, I do not. Q: What do you like about school so far? A: That I get to learn new things. Q: What are some of your favorite things that you like to do in you free-time? A: I play the violin and I take jazz and tap at M&M Dance Academy. Q: What are your favorite school subjects? A: My favorite subjects are U.S History and Orchestra.

going to board a boat at Pier 4 for the Potomac Spirit Twilight Dinner Dance Cruise. After dinner, the group will spend their evening at their choice of memorials. On day three, the students will check out of the hotel and load up their luggage. They will then go to some memorials of choice and eat lunch at the Pentagon City Mall Food Court. The student will then go Iwo Jima Marine Corps Memorial, and then they will take an Arlington National Cemetery walking tour. They may even see the Changing of the Guard at The Tomb of The Unknowns. Finally, they will leave DC and get back to the Jr. High at 9:30pm. It will be a long weekend for the stu-dents, but it will also be a very fun weekend.

This year the 8th grade trip is in Washington DC. The students who are going on the trip will leave on May 19th and they will get back on May 21st. The trip costs about $374 a student. I know that may seem like a lot, but you can fundraise to help with the cost. Mrs. Nyapas has already done a cookie dough fundraiser and a pie fundraiser. She is going to be doing a hoagie fundraiser and a Sarris Candy fundraiser later in the year. Even though the price is a little high, it is worth going on the trip. On the 8th grade trip the students will be doing many fun things. On day one, the students will be leaving early in the morning to get to DC. When they get to DC, they are going to take a US Capitol tour. After that, they are going to check into the hotel and order pizza. Then they are leaving

for the Kennedy Center to see Shear Madness. On day two, the students will be touring the

White House. They will then go see the Na-tional Archives, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, and the Smithsonian Museums of the group’s choice. They will get lunch at McDonald’s Air & Space Café. Later, they are

Student Profile: Stephanie Polce By: Lily Briggs and Brendan Howell

Student Profile: Mitchell Mroczkowski By: Alison Rossey and Kirsten Terry

Answer: Mr. Heffner

Question : What is your dream vacation spot?

Answer: Hawaii would have to be my dream

vacation spot.

Mitchell is a seventh grade student whom we

interviewed for our Gifted class. Here are

some questions and answers we received from

him.

Question : What sports do you play?

Answer: I play soccer.

Question : What do you do in your free time?

Answer: I play video games.

Question : What is your favorite subject and

why?

Answer: I like algebra because I like numbers.

Question 4 Who is your best friend?

Answer: I have a lot of friends but my best

friend would have to be Kevin Rode.

Question : Do you do your homework?

Answer: Yes, I do but not all the time.

Question : Who’s your favorite teacher?

Page 4 Gifted Gazette

Geometric Construct Field Trip By: Nicole Matthews and Katie Ryan

Science Bowl By: Samantha Edinger

They had everything that a junkyard would have. They made an old car and a dirty garage with graffiti on it. It wasn’t the best set but it was good. I thought the singing was phenome-nal! Every cat had to sing, not all of them had solos but they sang in the background. The cats that did have solos were really good! They also danced while singing which I think would be really hard! Over all, the musical was really good. I think it was one of my favorites so far.

On January 27th, a group of gifted, band, and orchestra students went to the Byham Theater to see the mu-

sical Cats. The musical is based on a book of poems written by T.S. Elliot. It is set in a junkyard. The actors and

actresses sing and dance to the poems about jellical cats. The show was about two hours long. The director held a question and answer session at the end of the show. The audience could ask questions and the cast and crew would answer them to the best of their ability. My favorite part of the musical was when one of the cats sang the song “Memories”. I liked that part because it was kind of sad that all of the other cats didn’t like her and all she wanted was the cats to like her. I thought the set was really good!

Our school took three teams. All of the teams had lots of fun participat-ing. It was a great way to have fun, and use science at the same time. Stu-dents also went to the OmniMax thea-ter to view Hubble.

Science Bowl was awesome this year. It was held at the Carnegie Science Center. Students had to do many ex-citing things. The tasks they did were: *Maneuvering a team member

through a maze which instructions while the team member was blind folded

*Recreating irregular colors by using food coloring

*Making a string and cork pass a 4ft. floor without using manmade power

*Creating a structure out of newspa-per and tape that would survive a tornado

who attended the trip had a wonderful

time discovering their creative differ-

ences. The Carnegie Geometry, Propor-

tions, and Ratio: Connections between Art

and Math was a tour that was very educa-

tional, fun

and enter-

taining to

the stu-

dents and

the teach-

ers.

On November

10, 2010, the

students involved

in the gifted class

of geometric

construction and

design went to a program at the Carnegie

Museum of Art. This was a kick-off event

for geometric construction and design.

The gifted students were accompanied by

Mrs. Nyapas, Ms. Bateman, Mr. Pascuzzi,

and Ms. Ryba. The gifted students got a

chance to learn about geometry, propor-

tions, and ratios in a fun, interesting and

exciting way. They saw different types of

art and architecture while the tour guide

explained how angles, ratios and geometry

work together in art. They saw different

pieces of architecture and art that the stu-

dents drew and interpreted. At the end of

the tour, the students tried to redraw the

painting of their choice. They could re-

draw the paintings in different ways like

regular, sharp, and wavy. All the students

Cats Review By: Nicole Welsh

Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 2

Upcoming Gifted Events

February 18th - No School

February 21st - School is in Session

March 14th—18th - PSSA Testing

March 18th - Theater Performance Work-shop

April 11th - Propaganda Tournament

We have an opportunity to attend a PMT performance of Seussical on March 24th. The cost will be $10. More information to come.

How many objects can you find? - A collage by Nick Cross and Mitchell Mroczkowski

Special thanks AGAIN, to Mrs. Boswell and Mr. Rodrigues who help make this publication happen!!! !

Be part of the 25Be part of the 25Be part of the 25Be part of the 25thththth anniversary of anniversary of anniversary of anniversary of

Graphiti! Graphiti! Graphiti! Graphiti! Submit your best piece of art or writing work to the Woodland Hills High School Graphiti Maga-zine. The theme of the magazine this year is “Nostalgia’’. This is basically your memories from the happy times in life or those to come. Submit your art or writing from January to March by either giving them to Mrs. Nyapas or emailing them to: graphitisubmis-sion@gmail.com

Gifted Gazette Staff

Grace Belmonte, Jordan Bigelow, Lily Briggs, Nicholas Cross, McKenzie Garth, Brendan Howell, Erin Huang, Simon Jasiewicz, Sydney Kaboly, Sarah Letson, Nicole Matthews, Elizabeth McKay, Taron Polk, Kevin Rode, Katie Ryan, Kirsten Terry, Tonee Turner, and Nicole Welsh Editors: Emily Scifo and Claudia Zido Asst. Editor: Jeremy Pike Advisor: Mrs. Nyapas

Woodland Hills Junior High Gifted Department ____________________ 7600 Evans St. Pittsburgh, PA 15218 Phone: 412-351-0698x4247 Fax: 351-4064 Email: nyaphe@whsd.net