During last month’s winter coat drive, R.A. Lutz Elementary fourth grader Nicholas Marino found a special way to celebrate his mom’s 50th birthday.
“He wanted to buy me a gift, and I told him the greatest gift of all is an act of kindness,” his mother shared. Taking that to heart, he organized a coat drive to celebrate her milestone birthday, embracing the true spirit of giving.
“It’s wonderful for my son to be part of a school that encourages kindness,” she added.
Beyond school, Nicholas continues to give back, regularly volunteering with his mom. Whether donating food to retirement homes, delivering meals to churches, or assisting those in need, his commitment to service shines.
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Special education teacher Victoria Sgattoni joined forces with speech therapist Kim Wyse to host an incubator for special education students at Baldwin High School. Seven eggs arrived in room 324, where they kept warm for 21 days in the incubator before the first much-anticipated pip, signaling the first chick breaking out of his shell. Students were delighted to see the crack in the egg on March 4 and overjoyed to arrive at school on March 5 to find that four chicks had hatched overnight. On March 5, students got to witness the fifth chick hatch and emerge from his shell.
After all the eggs hatched, the chicks were moved to a cage where they could stretch their legs. Classroom 324 hosted the chicks for two weeks. Throughout the project, students learned a host of lessons, beginning with the parts of an egg, the life cycle of a chicken, candling eggs for signs of life, and responsibility by caring for the chicks.
The program is provided by Hatch the Chicken, which offers incubators to schools and community groups and then collects the chickens and continues to raise them.
The Baldwin-Whitehall School District is introducing a new instructional approach to provide students with real-life workplace experience. Next year, the High School will be launching a new program entitled “Fusion.” Eleventh and 12th-grade students will be able to take up to two classes (ELA and/or social studies) in a customized approach, online asynchronously or synchronously with BWSD teacher support.
The flexible schedule will allow seniors to engage in internship opportunities outside of the classroom with local business and community organization partners.
The Baldwin-Whitehall School District is already enlisting local businesses to become internship partners. On March 31, the district will host an internship expo, explaining the program, answering questions, and inviting businesses to host internship/apprenticeship opportunities for the students.
“We are very excited about this new way of learning for our students and hope we can reach out to as many local businesses as possible — even reaching partnerships across the region,” said Dr. Kara Eckert, district deputy superintendent for instruction and learning.
Interviews are available about the new program on March 31 or anytime by request.
Nathan Kistler earned a master of science in analytics from the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta in December.
Brady Hodge made the dean’s list at John Carroll University for the fall 2024 semester.
Lauren Caye and Matthew Peterson were named to the dean’s list at Seton Hall University for the fall 2024 semester.
Elena Zandier and Emily Zandier made the dean’s list at Youngstown State University for the fall 2024 semester.
Katelynn Handa, a sophomore acting major at Slippery Rock University, played the role of May in the SRU Theatre Department’s musical, “Junie B. Jones.” The show ran from Feb. 28-March 4.
Jesselyn Morden made the provost’s list at Ohio University for the fall 2024 semester. Kayla Bennett made the president’s list. Nick Dolan, Nathan Gdovic, Mauro Salimbene, Madison Stroh and Feifei Zhao were named to the dean’s list.
Gagan Phuyal made the dean’s list for the fall 2024 semester at Berea College.