Your New Library: Fast Lane to the Future

The Gateway to Information for the Year 2015 and Beyond...

THE UPPER ST. CLAIR HIGH SCHOOL LIBRARY

Aria Dietrich – a freshman, Aria initially became an LMA because she needed volunteer hours for her MYP IB program, but she is staying because it is an excel-lent way to get her homework done, and to help others at the same time. Com-pared to Ft. Couch, Aria says that the high school “…is different, sometimes over-whelming, a tiny bit stricter, and bigger!” Although classes are somewhat more

challenging than in middle school, Aria feels she can han-dle her teachers’ high expectations, and she likes all of her classes. She is a member of the archery club and the marching band. Aria enjoyed playing lacrosse this past summer, and is trying out for the high school team in the spring. In her free time, Aria likes to read, draw, write, and sing. We are delighted to have you helping us out in the library, Aria!

Sydney Hopfer – a junior, this is Syd-ney’s third year as an LMA. Since she is planning to graduate a semester early next year, Sydney concentrated on taking the classes she really wanted this year. She loves Forensics Chemistry and Sta-tistics in particular; however, she enjoys all of her classes so far. Sydney’s career goal is to work in a children’s hospital as either a neonatal or pediatric nurse in a cardiology or respiratory department, or

to become a child life specialist. A child life specialist ex-plains, in a child friendly manner, what a child can expect during his/her stay. The position requires a background in child growth and development, and a Master’s in Counsel-ing. Sydney is also an ardent feminist, who strongly be-lieves in life and workplace equality for all women. Thank you, Sydney, for your sincere dedication to the library throughout high school.

SPOTLIGHT ON LIBRARY MEDIA ASSISTANTS

Jaci Pribish – senior Jaci needed community service hours, and discov-ered that her love of books + her pleasure at helping others = free mods spent productively helping out in the library. Jaci particularly loves her fo-rensics science and English class. Her forensics class has inspired her to consider a career in forensics anthro-pology. Jaci's love of animals (she has 2 dogs, a crested gecko, and a

parrot at home), has her also thinking about becoming a veterinary technician. She is working weekends at McDonald’s to help pay for her phone bill, and to save money for CCAC next year. In addition to reading, Jaci enjoys watching Netflix in her spare time. Thank you, Jaci for being so helpful in the library. Good luck to you next year!

Surya Raju – now a junior, Surya is happy to be an LMA because it is a productive way to spend her free mod doing school work, and also socializing with the other LMAs. Surya was busy horseback riding this summer at a barn in Sewickley. This fall, she has been entering competitions for the first time. In her very first competition, Surya won a first prize blue ribbon. She thought

this was a fluke until she won a first prize blue ribbon in her second competition! She has already qualified for the regional competition coming up in March. Participat-ing on a competitive level is helping Surya become more disciplined and organized with her free time. She is de-voting more focused time on her studies this year, and is trying to stay on top of all of her school work assign-ments. Keep up the good work, Surya!

TRICK OR TREAT FOR UNICEF - The high school UNICEF club and Ms. Rentschler sponsored “Trick or Treat for UNICEF” to help support the U.S. Fund for UNICEF campaign during Halloween. These funds help provide millions of needy children with clean water, immunizations, medical care, and emergency support. UNICEF club members and LMAs Aria Dietrich, Sydney Hopfer, Jaci Pribish, and Surya Raju collaborated with guidance counselor Ms. Madia to enlist the help of interested Ft. Couch students to assist in this worthy fundraising endeavor.

Fall 2015

Open House Back in Time Reading Contest Winners of Barnes & Noble gift certificates: Monica Day [Parent of 12

th grade Leah & 10

th

grade Miranda] Wuthering Heights Russ Johnson [Parent of 12

th grade Laura]

Hardy Boys novels

The ‘Smart Desk’ students are again stationed at the re-serve desk in the back of the library. Smart Desk students are available to help both other students and teachers with any computer or technology related issues. Feedback on their work has been extremely positive. They may be reached at smartdesk@uscstudents.org, or by phone at extension 2626. LIBRARY VOLUNTEERS: Many thanks to Leah Cooper, Deepa Godbole, Melanie Lenthall, and Julie Polens for dedicating so much free time to the library. ART DISPLAYS : Be sure to stop by and check out the beautiful art display of student work from Ms. Valentine’s art classes in the Main Office Foyer. Ms. Smigel’s art classes’ work is in the showcases across from the LGI and throughout the library.

NEW ONLINE DATABASES: Gale’s Discovering Collec-tion and EBSCO’s MagillOnLiterature Plus have both been upgraded and expanded to include more comprehensive information. They have been replaced by Gale’s Student Resources in Context (multidisciplinary resources), and EBSCO’s Literary Reference Center (literary resources), and are available from ‘Student Links’ on the HS web-

site.

Teacher/Librarian Collaborations August—October 2015 Ms. Mostowy's Academic Biology students researched a news article for a Biology and Me project on a biological consequence that directly affects their lives. They created presentations and gave oral reports based upon their re-search. Later, her AP Biology classes worked on their science labs. Ms. Buccili’s, Ms. Duchi’s, Mr. O’Rourke’s, Ms. Krizner’s, and Ms. Panchura’s 9th grade English classes attended orientation on library resources. They then completed an Online Odyssey assignment to review the library online databases and eBooks. Ms. Erwin’s forensics classes looked into the circum-stances behind various serial killer the crimes. Afterwards, they examined a crime scene for clues to determine who and how the crime was committed. Students then pre-sented their evidence and conclusions. Ms. Dewalt’s Academic English classes completed the 1000 Words Project to describe photographs documenting the turbulent times spanning the Reconstruction Era through the Civil Rights Era, during which To Kill A Mock-ingbird was written. Later, they istened to book talks to help them select supplemental reading novels. Ms. Kistler’s AP environmental classes created presen-tations to demonstrate how the populations of different countries impacted their use of resources. Ms. Moeller’s English classes analyzed Emily Dickinson poems. Ms. Gouker's, Ms. Buccilli's and Mr. Yonker’s 11th grade English classes started their year long information-al research projects by listening to overviews of the library databases. Ms. Hanna’s and Mr. Martocci’s Honors and MYP World History classes studied the process of how ancient empires developed. Mr. Durkin’s AP US History class began a mini research paper using primary documents and footnotes to examine the historical roots of the American identity. Mr. Durkin’s Psychology classes explored the psycholo-gy of learning by studying the conditioning and reinforce-ment aspects of video game design. Mr. Edwards IB History of the Americas classes learned how to utilize the new ACCESS PA interface to borrow materials from other state libraries for their personal pro-jects. Mr. Loboda’s social studies classes examined primary resources to explore the positions of presidential candi-dates for the 2016 Great Presidential Election Debate.