PASC News Volume 35Issue 8

April 2011

Pick up any newspaper across our state or watch any local news program and one can’t help but see that Pennsylva-nia is facing a 4 billion dollar shortfall in funds beginning on July 1. Governor Corbett and members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and State Senate must, by law, balance the Commonwealth’s multiple billion dollar budget this spring.

How did we get to this crisis point? The federal govern-ment’s economic stimulus program of 2009 and 2010 will come to an end this year, caus-ing a $2½ billion shortfall. The recession continues to cause lower employment and thus a loss of tax revenue. Expenses for various state government programs continue to cost billions, Governor Corbett campaigned on a promise not to raise taxes or fees in Penn-sylvania if he was elected as Governor. He intends to honor that promise. Thus, 4 billion dollars of cuts in spending must come from somewhere and no one wants it to come from things that are important to them.

Governor Corbett presented his 2011–2012 budget in February. It included $1 billion of cuts to spending for basic el-ementary and secondary educa-tion and $625 million in cuts in state aid to Pennsylvania’s state universities, and Penn State, Temple University, University of Pittsburgh, and Lincoln University (all of whose state aid will be cut by 50%).

Every school district in Penn-sylvania is thus facing serious decisions regarding funding of their schools’ curriculum; sala-ries and positions for teachers, administrators, and support staff; the costs of co-curricular programs such as student coun-cil, class government, clubs, and athletics; and school field trips and activities.

Where Do Student Leaders Fit In?Cuts will need to be made

by June 30, which means that decisions by your School Board will be made by early to mid-June.

Get the Facts!

Read local newspapers, talk with your principal, talk with

your teachers, talk with your parents, and listen, listen, listen!

Make Student Voices Heard While Decisions Are Being Made at the Local Level!

1Use what you learn about the problems and what

plans are proposed in your school district to voice opinions and make recommendations BEFORE decisions are final-ized and NOT AFTER.

2 Schedule a Student Forum with students who have

a variety of interests and opinions. Ask your school to provide a place to meet during lunch or before or after school. Make plans to meet during different times to hear students’ opinions so that the schedules of as many students as possible can be accommodated. Plan these listening sessions care-fully. Publicize them wisely.

3Ask to meet with your school administrators

(principal first and then

continued on page 2

A Call to ActionPennsylvania’s Education Budget Crisis Calls for Student Voices to Be Heard

InsIde ThIs Issue

News & Notes ..................... 2

Gaining Certified Student • Leader Recognition

PASC Blue Workshop to • Host Advisor Open House in July

PASC Selects New Student Rep for the Pennsylvania Board Of Education ...........3

New Advisor Roundtable Topics Sought ...................... 3

State Board of Education Considers New Health and Wellness Initiative and Other Items .......................... 4

Mark Your Calendar for Summer Workshops ........... 5

PASC Alumni Share Value of PASC Experiences ............... 5

Plan Now to Reserve Seats for State Conference .......... 6

Recruiting Workshop Presenters for State Conference ........................... 6

Celebrate National Student Leadership Week ................. 7

In a State Conference Full of Fun, Student Entertainment Is Just the Beginning! ............... 7

Middle School Council Stays Busy with Activities ............. 8

Creating an End-of-Year Multimedia Show ................. 8

PASC News • April 2011 • www.pasc.net2

News & NotesGaining “Certified Student Leader” Recognition from NASCNASC has created a recognition program that allows

student leaders to use the designation of “Certified Student Leader” on their transcripts for college and on scholarship applications. This program is a rigorous and challenging national skill and knowledge-based recognition program. To apply, students complete a variety of tasks focused on building leadership knowledge and improving skills, keeping records of their activities and demonstrating they’ve met the award criteria by creating a personal leadership portfolio.

Documentation for this individual award should be sub-mitted by August if students wish to use it for college and scholarship applications in the fall. Juniors, check this out NOW! Underclassmen, look over the criteria and begin this year building your “Leadership Portfolio.” For details on how to apply, visit: www.nasc.us/NASCStudentLeadersProgram.aspx.

PASC Blue Workshop to Host Advisor Open House in JulyEver wondered what a PASC Workshop is like? Middle

level advisors will have a chance to find out at open house sessions this July during PASC Blue Workshops.

Watch for a postcard invitation in the mail in late April to attend the Grove City College workshop (Wednesday, July 20th) or the Lebanon Valley College workshop (Tuesday, July 26th). Advisors can attend for a few hours or from 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Advisors who have delegates attending will have an opportunity to see them in action, while advisors who may never have sent students to a PASC Summer Leadership Workshop will have an opportunity to check out the program, the staff, and the facilities so that in future years they can share their knowledge of this leadership training opportunity with students and parents. Advisors who attend during lunchtime will be hosted by PASC and will have time to eat with workshop staff members and ask questions.

Information on the details of the Open House will be posted in May at www.pasc.net along with the schedule for the day at each site. Mark your calendars now to join us at PASC Blue in 2011.

Watch for your postcard invitation in the mail!

superintendent) to hear their opinions on the budget prob-lems facing your own school. Express, orally and in writing, your ideas and concerns. Do it now!

4 Gather opinions and sup-port for your concerns and

ideas from parents and other adults in the community. En-ergize them to become involved in addressing the budget crisis in your schools and community.

5Attend the next scheduled School Board meeting and

ask to speak at the appropriate time. All School Board Meet-ings are open to the public. You are part of that public and have a right to present concerns and ideas to your elected school board members. Keep these points in mind:• Be prepared. Use all of the

good speaking and presenta-tion skills that you have been taught.

• Always be respectful. • Provide clear and concise ex-

amples to back up your point of view and that of other students. It’s not enough to present opinions that student activities are important to stu-dents. Back up what you say with research supporting the integral role student activities play in education. Check out archived issues of the Alliance for Student Activities’ The Advocate newsletter at www.alliance4studentactivities.org for some research to sub-stantiate the value of student activities.

• Remember timing is critical. Next year’s school budget must be adopted by June.

6Engage the local press to get student opinions heard.

Be sure that you have correct

facts so that you look knowl-edgeable and prepared. Make sure to work with members of your school’s newspaper staff to prepare “Opinion Articles” in both school and local press.

7 If you will be 18 years of age by April 17, be sure to

register to vote. Vote in the primary election on May 17. Local and county government leaders and candidates for local school boards will be elected during the primary election this year. If YOU cannot vote, be sure that your parents and neighbors are registered and that THEY vote. This year’s elections are all about local is-sues and local schools.

Making the Voice of Students Heard at the State Level

The final decisions on what cuts will be made to educa-tional spending in the public schools of Pennsylvania and at the state college and university level will ultimately be made through compromises achieved between Governor Corbett and the members of the Pennsylva-nia House of Representatives and State Senate.

1Learn the facts. Form opinions

2 Contact YOUR local State Representatives and State

Senators. Share your specific concerns and ideas. Write them or email them SOON!!

3Urge your parents and rela-tives also to contact your

local state representatives. As voters, their voice will be heard by elected officials.

4Not sure who they are and how to contact them? Visit

www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/contact.cfm

Call to Action (cont’d from page 1)

PASC News • April 2011 • www.pasc.net 3

In March, the PASC Selec-tion Committee reviewed 21 applications for the position of Junior Student Member on the State Board of Education. On Saturday, April 2, 2011, SBE member Dr. Frances Michelini joined the committee to inter-view the six finalists. These students demonstrated a great desire to serve the public school students of Pennsylvania and presented excellent resumes, letters of recommendations, and essays. Each student who was interviewed expressed the need for SBE Student Mem-bers to find active ways to com-municate with student council leaders and with other Penn-sylvania students about the actions of the State Board of Education. They also suggested ways to gather student opinion for Pennsylvania students.

Erin Agnew, a sophomore at Springfield Township HS (Montgomery County—District 12) was named as the

PASC Selects New Student Rep for the Pennsylvania Board Of Education

Junior Student Member on the State Board of Education for the 2011–2012 school year. Erin will join junior Shannon Sullivan from North Allegheny HS on the State Board of Edu-cation. Shannon is completing the first year of her two-year term. Travis Gilbert, Senior Member of the SBE, will con-clude his term as the first two-year Student Member of the State Board of Education at the SBE meeting in Harrisburg, May 17–18, 2011. Erin will join Shannon and Travis at this meeting, representing the 1.8 million public school students of the Commonwealth.

The June issue of PASC News will feature a final report from Travis. In September 2011, Shannon and Erin will begin writing a series of articles for PASC NEWS. Student SBE Members also report to the PASC Executive Board, and will develop surveys and other communicational links as they

PASC thanks and congratulates the following SBE Member finalists who will serve on an Advisory Board to the Student Members of the State Board of Education: David Solberg, General McLane HS; Erin Agnew, new Student Board Member; Michael Casciotti, Cumberland Valley HS; Ross Fine, Upper Dublin HS; Erin Thompson; Cumberland Valley HS; and Joshua King, South Western HS.

Erin Agnew, a sophomore at Springfield Township HS, was named as the Junior Student Member on the State Board of Education for 2011–2012 school year.

move forward in this unique opportunity of civic engage-ment. For additional informa-tion on Travis, Shannon, and Erin, the selection process, and the role that the State Board of Education plays in the long-term improvement of educa-tion in Pennsylvania, go to www.pasc.net/board_of_educ/board_of_ed.html

New Advisor Roundtable Topics SoughtAdvisors planning to attend

the state conference in Al-toona are invited to present a 10-minute roundtable to other advisors. Every high school and middle school has favorite projects, school and community service ideas, ways of organizing the council, training officers and representatives, fundraisers that work, and many other ideas to share. Advisors, if you have never presented a state conference roundtable, WE NEED YOU in 2011. This is an easy way for advi-sors to be involved at the PASC state conference.

Roundtables are presented three or four times on Fri-day, November 11th. Presenters are asked to duplicate 75 copies of a one-page handout to be distributed to those who come to each 10-minute presentation. As a thank-you, advisors who present a roundtable idea are given a complete set of all the hand-outs from all the presenters.

Advisors, please indicate your interest in volunteering to present a topic by sending an email to Kathy Coll at kcoll1@comcast.net by June 15th. In that email, indicate a topic title and a one or two sentence summary of the topic.

PASC News • April 2011 • www.pasc.net4

PASC NEWS is published monthly during

the school year. To submit

announcements, articles, or corrections for newsletters, please email the Executive Director or Assistant Ex-ecutive Director. Articles or information from PASC NEWS may be reproduced for use, with appropriate credit.

Executive DirectorJim FinnemeyerNorth Penn HS1340 Valley Forge RoadLansdale, PA 19446215-280-9299215-855-0632 (Fax)Finnemeyer@aol.comPASCInfo@aol.com

Assistant Executive DirectorKathy Ann Coll174 Link AvenuePittsburgh, PA 15237412-366-5744Kcoll1@comcast.net

PASC PresidentMariam Ahmad Altoona Area HS 1400 7th Avenue Altoona, PA 16602

PASC President-ElectSavanna HovisLaurel JSHS2497 Harlansburg RoadNew Castle, PA 16101

PASC News EditorLyn FiscusLeadership Logistics

PASC Email:PASCInfo@aol.com

PASC Website:www.pasc.net

By Shannon Sullivan, Junior SBE Member

The March Pennsylvania Board of Education meeting was held in Harrisburg, March 15–16. At the Health and Wellness Committee meeting, Leslie Best from the Pennsyl-vania Department of Health reported on the Active Schools program, which provided grants of $10,000 to 40 schools within the Commonwealth dedicated to promoting physi-cal activity and education. The program required schools to adopt 30–60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity. The program’s ideals were reflected in its phenomenal results: 26.5% of overweight students became normal weight, 16.4% of obese students reduced their BMI to the overweight category, and 2.1% of obese students became normal weight.

Following the presenta-tion from the Department of Health, I did a presentation to the board providing feedback and input from the students on the PASC Executive Board regarding the current health and wellness issues. In January, Travis Gilbert, Senior SBE Member, and I had the op-portunity to attend the PASC Board meeting and had a very productive discussion concern-ing health and wellness. After listening to the concerns raised by the PASC students, the board discussed them. They are interested in looking further into the students’ concerns. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to provide your insight!

State Board of Education Considers New Health and Wellness Initiative and Other Items

The Board welcomed Dr. Ronald J. Tomalis as the act-ing Secretary of Education. The Secretary addressed the difficult budget shortfall and how it will impact the board. The implementation of certain provisions of the Keystone Ex-ams is expected to be delayed by one year. The delay will allow for course corrections caused by the anticipated fiscal challenges as well as allow-ing extra time for districts to fully align curriculum with the content assessed by the Key-stone Exams. A Project Based Assessment Rollout Plan was also presented to the board and it would allow for an alterna-tive if a student were unable to achieve proficiency on the exam twice. One of our Board mem-bers, Dr. Ivory Nelson, said he believes, “This should be an integral part of the Keystones.”

The board approved the School and Safety advisory committee members; the role of the committee is in place by Act 104. In pursuit of a qualified and diverse com-mittee, State Board Members have made personal outreach to key stakeholders statewide.

Chairman Torsella has sent formal communications to the entities empowered to appoint representatives, and the Board staff has made this committee public on the PA State Board of Education website. The com-mittee’s role is to create a model memorandum of understand-ing between the school entities and the local police depart-ments.

Please don’t hesitate to contact Travis or me—we’d love to hear from each of you personally. You can reach me at SSulli-van1993@gmail.com

or Travis at travisgilbrt@yahoo.com

Share Your Successful Ideas PASC is looking for good ideas to share with member schools.

Does your council have a project that was particularly successful

last year? Do you have a unique way of organizing your council?

Do you have some great ideas for teambuilding or meeting man-

agement? Have you conducted a fundraiser that was particularly

successful? What does your council do that really works?

Help other PASC members by writing up a short article with

your idea and sending it with photos (if available) to PASCInfo@aol.com and you could find your council featured in an upcoming

issue of PASC News!

Shannon Sullivan, Junior SBE Member

PASC News • April 2011 • www.pasc.net 5

Looking for a great way to obtain some leadership training, extend your network, and have a great time this summer? The PASC 2011 Summer Leadership Workshop is just what you are looking for. The application, Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) sheet, sample daily schedule, and curriculum benchmarks for this summer’s camps can now be found on the PASC website.

View Summer Workshop Video OnlinePennridge High School state conference chairs visited the PASC Summer Workshops in July, 2011

and created a video that you can see on You Tube by going to www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A-kX8vGGoU. Please share this video at an upcoming Student Council meeting, or provide it to your student leaders and parents to give them a sense of what our leadership workshops programs offer. This video can also be found on the PASC website by clicking on summer workshops.

Please note the following dates and locations and begin planning now for students to attend in July. Costs & Deadlines: Early Bird Regular (May 13th) ( June 10th)Blue (Grades 7–9) Grove City College July 17–21 $335 $360 Lebanon Valley College July 24–28 $335 $360Gold (Grades 9–12) Grove City College July 10–15 $360 $385 Susquehanna University July 24–29 $360 $385Advanced Gold (Grades 11–12) University of Pittsburgh/Johnstown July 17–23 $445 $470

Multi-Delegate Discount CreatedIn an effort to support schools that send more than three delegates to the Summer Leadership Pro-

grams, PASC has created a multi-delegate discount for 2011. • The discount is $10 per delegate and applies to both early bird and regular registration deadlines.• The four delegates from the same school can combine and attend any of the five PASC Workshop

programs.• Multiple delegates from the same school can come from more than one organization in the school

(ie: Student Council, Class Government, National Honor Society)

Register Now!

“The knowledge and experience gained from PASC through their summer leadership work-shops (camps) has been the solid foundation I have used to build each level of my personal and professional journey. The skills and experiences learned, tested, and applied during PASC have enabled me to become a successful and confident leader. I remain grateful to the many PASC lead-ers and fellow students who helped me develop such a strong foundation of leadership. PASC was the start of an amazing personal and profes-sion journey that I eagerly continue each and every day.”

—Heidi Millard, graduate of Mountain View HS and Albright College, lawyer for the Homicide Trials Bureau, Office of the District Attorney of Queens County, New York

“With a coveted federal clerkship as my first job out of law school, offers from several prestigious law firms soon followed. Yet I deviated from the traditional lawyer’s path to pursue a career in public service as a court administrator. My PASC experi-ence equipped me with the organizational tools, administrative knowledge, and communications skills to lead a dynamic organization while in high school. The confidence engendered by that experience car-ried forth in my life and career. PASC showed me the value of finding and pursuing your passion in life while also giving back to your community.”

—Timothy B. McGrath, graduate of Bishop Han-non HS in Scranton, Temple University Law School, employed as the Clerk of Court of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Philadelphia, married and father of two daughters.

PASC Alumni Share the Value of Their PASC Experiences

Underclassmen: Mark Your Calendar for a2011 Summer Camp Experience with PASC

PASC News • April 2011 • www.pasc.net6

During the first two weeks in April, advisors from all PASC member schools should receive a State Conference packet in the mail. That packet includes:• An Early Bird Reservation

From• Frequently Asked Question

sheet that includes informa-tion on conference hotels

• Student Workshop Applica-tion and Scoring Rubric

• Forms to provide data on YOUR school’s service and charitable contributions

• Advisor hotels and program information

If you do not receive this packet by April 15, please immediately contact: info@pasc75.org

Key information that you need to know now!

n LOCATION: Altoona Area Junior High School and Altoona Area Senior High School

n DATES: Thursday,

November 10 to Saturday, November 12, 2011

n CONFERENCE WEB-SITE: www.PASC75.org

n THEME: “With a Little Help from My Friends”

n COST: $110 per delegate (student or advisor)

n REGISTRATION QUESTIONS: Call 814-946-8254 or email kshope@altoonasd.com

Plan Now to Reserve Seats for the State Conference

Everything You Want to Know about the PASC ConferenceIs Now at WWW.PASC75.COM

Note the following procedures:

n Early-Bird Reservations: May 1–August 1• Reserve spots for up to 6 stu-

dent delegates plus advisor(s) • No names needed until Au-

gust 25–October 14 • Registration fee of $110 per

delegate must accompany Early-Bird Reservations

n Online State Conference

Registration: August 25–Oc-tober 14• All schools who wish to at-

tend the PASC state confer-ence must register online.

• In order to register, the Advisor will need a PASC user name and password which will be sent to each school this spring with their 2011–2012 dues invoice and again in August. Passwords will be activated upon pay-ment of 2011–2012 PASC dues. Invoices for these dues will be mailed by April 15.

Schools that participate in Early-Bird Reservations will be allowed to register six student delegates, while schools that register during the regular registration period may register four student delegates. Work-shop presenters and advisors will not be included in the limits for early-bird or regular registration.

Recruiting Workshop Presenters for State ConferenceIncluded in the spring mailing about the state conference in Altoona is information for students who wish to apply to present workshops on Friday, November 11. An appli-cation is included along with a copy of the rubric that will be used to select workshops to be presented. Copies of these materials and suggestions for how to put together a creative and excellent workshop for states is also posted at www.PASC75.org and at www.pasc.net.

For the past two years, PASC has asked workshop pre-senters to submit a video of the workshop to be used in the selection process. The submission of a video is again encouraged in 2011. The video can be made during a workshop presentation at the spring district or regional conference, or a video can be made during a practice pre-sentation with students from the presenter’s own school.

Deadline for submission of applications to present workshops is August 8, 2011.

Workshop presenters will be notified of their acceptance by August 18, 2011.

Show what you know! Present a workshop at states.

PASC News • April 2011 • www.pasc.net 7

In an effort to make this year’s state conference more enjoy-able for all, Altoona Area HS is planning a wide variety of student entertainment. Del-egates will be able to participate in these organized events dur-ing the four-hour registration period on Thursday, November 10. There will be games and activities for all age groups, personalities, and interests.

The Planetarium at the Altoona Area HS will be open for two different shows that afternoon. Also, the swimming pool will be available from noon until three, so make sure

that you bring your bathing suits and towels! The faculty cafeteria will be transformed into a casino featuring black jack, number wheels, roulette wheels, Chuck-a-Luck, Texas Hold ‘Em, and many other card games. Students will compete for “play” money that can be turned in for tickets for the prize drawings that will be held during the general sessions.

In the gymnasium, students will have the opportunity to en-joy numerous inflatable games and activities. In addition, you can have a caricature picture drawn or visit a photo booth

with unlimited film! The two student cafeterias will provide space for a video arcade and a refreshment area. A variety of board games also will be available. In addition to all of this, the committee is attempting to secure a magician and a hypnotist to each perform two or three shows.

Make plans for your school dele-gates to arrive early so that all students can participate in

the numerous activities avail-able from 12 to 4 p.m. It will be a great time with food, prizes, and much more. Don’t miss it!

In a State Conference Full of Fun, Student Entertainment Is Just the Beginning!

Each year during the third week in April, NASC, NHS, and NJHS invite schools to recognize and celebrate their student leaders during National Student Leadership Week. Because lives are saved every year thanks to a variety of projects undertaken by student councils and other student leadership groups, this year’s theme focuses on “Student Leaders Saving Lives through Leader-ship and Service.” Get your council together to brainstorm ways they can help improve safety for students in your school or com-munity. Plan your activities for April 17–23, 2011. Check out the resources on the NASC website (www.nasc.us/nslw) for ideas and materials to plan your activities or try some of these ideas:• Start a campaign to promote teen-parent safe driving agree-

ments. Research from Liberty Mutual Insurance and SADD indicates that teens who have formal driving safety rules estab-lished with their parents are significantly more likely than teens who have no family driving safety rules to say such an agreement would make it easier for them to resist peer pressure when it comes to making a decision between safe and unsafe driving be-haviors. Download a customizable Family Ground Rules driving agreement at www.libertymutualteendriving.com.

• Conduct a survey of students driving into the school parking lot one morning to see if your students beat the national average of 76 percent for 16 to 24 year olds who wear seat belts. Give out Smarties candy to those who are wearing seat belts, and a Dum Dum lollipop to those who need to re-think their decision not to wear a belt.

• Develop your own anti-bullying PSA similar to this one from the Jersey City Public Schools (http://www.jcboe.org/antibul-

Celebrate National Student Leadership Week This Monthlying/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=107), then have students sign a wall banner with the actions they pledge to take to stop bullying in your school.

• Organize a pledge wall to get teens to think about and practice specific good driving behaviors. On a wall in a visible place in your school, have students sign and post pledge cards with prom-ises to do such things as “turn off my cell phone when driving,” “not distract my friends while they are driving,” “keep the music volume down while driving,” and so forth.

• Plan and participate in activities associated with National Youth Traffic Safety Month in May as sponsored by the National Organization for Youth Safety (NOYS), www.noys.org/Youth-TrafSafe/toolkit.html

• Visit www.KeeptheDrive.com/ for tips and resources for safe teen driving, including many project ideas for use at your school.

• Visit www.breakthecycle.org/ for information to share with stu-dents at school to prevent date abuse, particularly as prom season approaches this spring.

• Collaborate with the guidance office and the school administra-tion by hosting a safety forum for student leaders. Consider inviting officials from police, fire, and emergency departments along with others from social services offices with a goal of brainstorming projects and activities to build a safer school and community.

• Check out the Love Is Respect website (www.loveisrespect.org) for a free, downloadable toolkit with information, resources and ideas on promoting dating abuse awareness in your school and community.

PASC News • April 2011 • www.pasc.net8

This year Northampton Area Middle School Student Coun-cil has been busy! After starting the year with an apparel sale to promote school spirit, one of our first council activities was giving a presentation to our school board. Our middle school renamed our teams to represent the local cement com-panies in our area. The cement companies came to teach us all about their company and their history. We presented all that we learned from these compa-nies to the school board and community members.

During October we had one of the most exciting events of our year. In support of our new school-wide positive behavior support program, student council hosted an in-school performance from Australian pop star Cody Simpson to re-ward students for their positive interactions.

We also participated in Red Ribbon Week and sponsored dress-up days each day of the week. We collected donations

Middle School Council Stays Busy with Variety of Activities

for the dress-up days and col-lected $890, which we donated to our high school’s post prom party.

We started a Staff Member of the Month program where we vote for the people in the building who help make the middle school a great place. The student council counts up all of the votes, then the win-ners’ names are announced and their pictures go on our student council bulletin board.

During the holidays we had a

The Northampton Area Middle School Student Council makes a difference with a variety of activities throughout the year.

door-decorating contest where every homeroom was able to decorate and it made our whole building festive! The winning homeroom won a pizza party and got school supplies for their homeroom.

We recently wrapped up our Pennies for Patients campaign. Our goal was to raise $1,000 and if we did the principals would have to kiss a pig. We raised 1,618.25 so we will see them kiss the pig soon!

We are looking forward to

a few more events this year including a “Go Orange for Animals” campaign in April, visiting our elementary schools to talk to upcoming 6th grade students about middle school, Teacher Appreciation Week, TV Turn-off Week, and our end of the year 8th Grade Farewell Dance. We have had a great year!

The Northamption Middle School Student Council is advised by guidance counselor Katherine Carney.

With all the technology available today, it’s easy for any student group to produce a multimedia show. To create one for your council’s end of year banquet, follow these steps:

n Determine what your goal is for the show. Keeping your goal in mind will be useful as you look for slides, music, and video clips to incorporate.

n Plan how the show will be delivered. What software will you use to organize your presentation? This might be limited by what software you

Creating an End-of-Year Multimedia Showhave access to and the hardware you will be able to use when you present the show. Different programs have different capa-bilities. Work with something you are familiar with unless you have ample time to devote to learning a new program.

n Organize the order of information to be presented. There are many ways to orga-nize: chronological, by topic, by key person, by type of event, etc. The goal you selected for your presentation will come into play as you organize the

show. If you are recapping the year, a chronological presenta-tion might be best. If you are creating a show to recognize the outgoing officers and members of the group, a show organized with a short series of photos or video clips of each person might be the method to use.

n Select a consistent visual style. Two or three predomi-nant colors, a consistent typeface, and complementary background colors will help create a unified impression.

n Gather the elements of the presentation. Photos, videos, audio, music, graphics, and text can come from a variety of sources.

n Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to assemble the show—assume that glitches will happen that will delay the process, and plan to finish at least a day before you need to.

n Save the show and make a back-up copy—you don’t want some computer malfunction causing you to lose all your hard work!