Message from the Superintendent: The Community of YS
November 18, 2016 by
An ess
ential component of the York Suburban School District is our Community of Encouragement and it is more important than ever that we ensure that all students are encouraged by our community.
Our fundamental task is to ensure that every student has and recognizes a path forward. To recognize a path forward, children must feel valued in the community in which they live and learn. ALL students must feel valued, no matter their race, ethnicity, religion, gender, country of origin, cultural background, or socioeconomic status. Feeling valued is a challenge for many students and by building a safe and inclusive community, we continue to work to enhance this sense of value for each and every student.
The District is fortunate to have a strong foundation of community and we will continue to reach out to all of our constituents to ensure that everyone is truly a part. It takes effort. Join me in reaching out to someone. Reach out to someone and encourage him. Reach out to someone and help her to be a part of this very special community.
We want you to be a part of the York Suburban Community of Encouragement.
Dr. Michele A. Merkle, Superintendent
Food Bank Collection
November 18, 2016 by
York Suburban is once again partnering with the York County Food Bank to collect non-perishable food items for the needy families of YSSD and York County. The following items will be collected in November and December. If you would like to contribute, please contact the Education Center (885-1210) or any of the other district buildings to donate.
Collection Dates:
HS Dec 1-9 (tentative)
MS Nov 29-Dec 13
EY Completed Drive – Items may be dropped off at the Education Center (EC)
IR Nov 14-23
YE Nov 29-Dec 2
VV Dec 5-9
EC Nov 29-Dec 9
Artists Exhibit at Downtown Art Gallery
November 18, 2016 by
Twenty-two YSHS artists displayed their work at Murphy & Diffenhafer’s COD Gallery during the third week of October. These artists were selected by YS art teachers to display their work as part of the first annual YCASE (York Community Art Scholars Exhibition). The YS display was part of art crawl through downtown York featuring student artists from nine area high schools. Fourteen of the students and 19 total works were selected by the YCASE judges to participate in the Finalists Exhibition from November 3-18 at Gallery Hall in Marketview Arts on West Philadelphia Street. The exhibition also featured a friends and family reception on November 3 .
YS Finalists included: Arthur Arbetman, Jourdan Hamme, Jack Korver, Rebecca Polanzke, Steven Stojanovic, Keelie Walker, and Vienna Zerbe. Three of York Suburban’s finalists were honored with awards during a Family & Friends Reception at Marketview Arts Gallery Hall on Thursday, November 3.
Arthur Arbetman – 1st place in Graphic Design
Jack Korver – 1st place in Photography
Rebecca Polanzke – 3rd place in Painting
Senior Morgan Gochnauer with two of her photographs.
High School Faculty and Students Featured by Professional Organization
November 18, 2016 by
For over a decade, teachers at YSHS have integrated POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) activities into science classes. POGIL activities incorporate science instruction into collaborative inquiry based environments that enhance student understanding of the material and also help them develop critical team-based skills to utilize across disciplines. Knowing the success YSHS experiences with the format, the POGIL organization enlisted the help of faculty and students to develop a video explaining the program’s practices. Teachers Leigh Foy and Erika Styer were featured with a number of students in the production. View the video at: https://pogil.org/contact/donate
Impact Closet Opens in the Middle School
November 18, 2016 by
On Saturday, October 22, 2016, students of the York Suburban School District Impact Foundation (IF) built an Impact Closet at York Suburban Middle School (YSMS). The high school and middle school students, with the help from the IF advisors, tore down old shelving and installed new industrial shelving and clothes hanging rods. The Impact Foundation also stocked the shelves with hygiene materials and school supplies.
By December 2016, the IF students will have constructed an Impact Closet in all six York Suburban buildings so every student in the York Suburban School District can learn without lacking the daily essentials for school and home. The students are able to build these closets using grant money received from the York County Community Foundation.
The Impact Foundation’s motto is students helping students. The Impact Foundation, formed in 2015, is a student committee of the York Suburban Education Foundation. Consisting of a student board of directors and student committee volunteers at the York Suburban High School, the Impact Foundation is focused on continuing York Suburban’s commitment toward educational excellence by educating and engaging students in meeting the needs of their own school community through philanthropic compassion.
A Community of Encouragement with Eastminster Presbyterian Church
November 18, 2016 by
Submitted by Dr. Denise Fuhrman
East York Elementary School staff and students have made new friends this year. The congregation of Eastminster Presbyterian Church has become an additional source of encouragement for our school community. Members of the congregation recognized the needs that existed in their own backyard. They were aware that roughly 37% of our students received free or reduced lunches.
Last spring church members approached our school asking if they could provide weekend backpack meals for fifty of our neediest students! The congregation pays the $85 per student for the year. Volunteers from the church pack the meals each Monday at the York Benevolent Association. Until we are able to secure a volunteer, the YSSD maintenance staff has been pitching in and picking up the meals each Thursday morning. Members of the Eastminster Presbyterian Church’s youth group and a East York staff member deliver the backpacks to classrooms Thursday nights. Fifteen backpacks are still available each weekend for qualifying students.
The generosity of church members does not stop there. Recently, the church’s Cool Knitting & Warm Fellowship group donated 46 sets of hats and mittens to our students. In the coming weeks, the hats and mittens will be placed in our front lobby. Students will be able to help themselves to what they need. 
Words cannot describe what a difference our new friends are making in the lives of East York students. Eastminster Presbyterian Church has shown a strong commitment to supporting the children in their neighborhood. Their hope is that other churches or nonprofit organizations will follow Eastminster’s lead!
Trout in the Classroom
November 18, 2016 by
The York Suburban Education Foundation (YSEF) is excited to follow YS middle school science teacher Kathleen Green’s seventh grade classroom this year. Mrs. Green successfully wrote a grant to participate in the Trout in the Classroom program and her trout eggs arrived the first week of November.
The Trout in the Classroom program is made possible through a unique partnership between PA Fish and Boat Commission and PA Council of Trout Unlimited. This partnership, coupled with assistance from local conservation organizations, was created to introduce Pennsylvania students to cold water resources and their importance to all communities. The partnership also provides brook trout eggs, trout food, technical assistance, curriculum connections and teacher workshops each year.
Mrs. Green attended a conference in State College to learn about raising the trout, setting up the equipment, and caring for the fish eggs.
Students in Mrs. Green’s classroom formed groups to set up the aquarium, paint a backdrop for it, and create spreadsheets for logging the temperature of the water, acidity of the water, and feeding of the trout. In the spring, the trout will be released into a stream specified by the PA Fish and Boat Commission.
Juniors Selected for Future Leaders of York
November 18, 2016 by
Submitted by: Dr. Brian Ellis
York Suburban Juniors Litzy Garcia and Ben Salazar were selected to participate in Leadership York program, Future Leaders of York (FLY). FLY unites students from each of the York County schools in a series of activities to develop their leadership skills with the goal of someday filling a leadership role in the York community. The student activities begin with orientation and a day long retreat followed by monthly visits within the York Community to agencies in the areas of: Health & Human Services, Communities in Action, Advocacy and Philanthropy, Business and Economics, Community Connections Networking, Government, and Leadership in Action. Each of the programs are facilitated by York County leaders. Both Litzy and Ben shared that they were excited about the program and the opportunity to see aspects of York County they hadn’t seen before and give back to the community.
Middle School STEAMs into Makerspace
November 18, 2016 by
If you walk by the York Suburban Middle School Library these days, you may be surprised to see students engaged in building and programming Lego robots or implementing the engineering design process to solve a K’nex STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics) challenge.
York Suburban Middle School is in the process of developing one of the most exciting library spaces to meet the ever changing needs of the 21st century learner. The goal is to offer a vibrant, flexible, and relative space for all students to engage in project-based learning that allows exploration and tinkering, imagination and creativity, innovation and collaboration. These learning opportunities will focus on both high tech and low tech options.
In addition,the makerspace allows for collaboration among subject areas and curriculum requirements. Currently, Mr. Jared Moore’s Applied Engineering and Technology classes and Mr. Matthew Moran’s Computer Information and Technology classes are delivering engaging and collaborative units in the newly purposed library space. Sixth graders are experimenting with gear ratios and bridge design. Seventh grade learners are involved with the construction and marketing of a product. Mrs. Karen Campbell and Mrs. Donna Joy Krane have supplemented the Applied Engineering and Technology course by implementing the engineering design process to solve K’nex STEAM challenges. Later units will have eighth graders building and programming Lego EV3 Mindstorm robots. Potential collaboration for the future includes a manufacturing enterprise unit that combines the current manufacturing project with the 8th grade business and accounting curriculum. Through these two courses, all YSMS students will participate in the initial phase of implementation.
As the phases of the makerspace evolve, the vision is to include areas where students can experiment and demonstrate their creative and innovative talents. Stations under consideration are: a one button studio for video recording; reverse engineering where students deconstruct small machines and invent a new device; coding; electronics; and Arduino. MakerCare features creative projects to benefit the community such as dog toys for the SPCA. Low tech areas will include poetry writing, fabric arts, 3-D printing, T-shirt design, puppetry, Duct tape projects, and music composition.
Students in Mrs. Heather Peterson’s class are also involved with the makerspace as they sort and categorize Lego and K’nex pieces by shape and color. Participating in this project offers these students an opportunity to develop real life vocational skills. By preparing the K’nex and Lego items for the makerspace, the students from the Autistic Support class interact with each other while simultaneously learning organizational skills, time management, and responsibility. These skills will transfer to the classroom and future job sites.
This is an exciting and productive time at York Suburban Middle School. Our students love the re-purposed library space.