2nd grade travels the world

The second graders at Heritage Elementary School have been traveling around the world with passports in hand! Students have been learning about traditions and customs celebrated around the globe during the holiday season.  Students focused on language, culture, food and greetings from the United States, Israel, Africa, Sweden, Germany, Mexico, Russia, England and Australia.

Quiz Bowl

Heritage fourth graders pulled out a third place win at this year's Westmoreland County Quiz Bowl. The event was hosted by Mrs. Lynn at FR's Middle School on November 30th.  24 teams participated from FR, Greater Latrobe, Norwin, Southmoreland, Derry and Mount Pleasant. Members of the third place team included Roman C., Riley B., Anna P., Abby M. and Nick M.  They earned certificates for their team points.  Deven R. was a member of Sloan's first place team and earned a piece of the trophy as well as a certificate. Participants could also earn Quiz Bowl pins as top individual point earners. Second grader Alex B. tied for first place with 150 individual points.  Riley B. placed fifth with 110 points. Roman C. and Anna P. also scored in the top ten with 80 points.

Second grader Alex B. tied for first place with 150 individual points.

Members of the third place team included Roman C., Riley B., Anna P., Abby M. and Nick M.  They earned certificates for their team points. 

Invention Convention

Second through fifth grade students from Franklin Regional Elementary Schools applied problem-solving strategies to develop a practical invention for the December 8th Invention Convention. The county competition, hosted by Yough School District, required the students to create a model or drawing of an invention and prepare a marketing strategy describing the invention. Students were judged within their grade levels and four Heritage students received ribbons and certificates for their efforts. All inventions submitted will move on to the state level.
Congratulations to all winners and all the participants in this year’s Invention Convention!

In fourth grade, Anna P. combined efforts with a friend from Sloan (Sophia I.) and they placed first with their Cardiac Alert invention.

This invention... Fourth grader Riley B. took second place for her Toothy Toothbrush Holder - a fun and efficient way to help children put toothpaste on the toothbrush without getting it all over the counter. 

Third grader, Christopher W., earned an Honorable Mention for his Helping Hand - an aid to help kid pouring a drink from a heavy or full container. 

In second grade, Tanisha N. received a second place ribbon for her Tube Tip  - a mess-free and decorative toothpaste tube tip.  

Additional students participating in the event included Katelynn H., Julianne L., Nick M., Aadi A., Anika J. and Harper L.

TURKEY CUP CHALLENGE-Heritage is a three-peat winner!

Thank you for your participation in this very important & FUN fundraising event to help provide Holiday food for thousands of families in need throughout Westmoreland County.

Heritage Elementary families donated $11,210.62 and earned the 1st place trophy for a third year in a row as the school to donate the most money in the entire county. On December 7th, representatives from the Westmoreland County Food Bank visited Miss Weaver's 3rd grade class (class that raised the most money) to present our school the 1st place trophy. In return, we presented the Westmoreland County Food Bank a check for $11,210.62. Make sure to check out the trophy in our display case when you enter the front doors of our school. 

The total amount raised amongst all of the Westmoreland County schools for this year's Turkey Cup Challenge was $29,072.49. 

For every $1 donated, the Westmoreland County food bank is be able to purchase $10 worth of food, that's over $290,000 worth of food!

Pittsburgh Post Gazette writes about our writing

Click this link to read the article that was printed on November 25th.
We are very proud of the students and staff for their consistent commitment to growth here at Heritage Elementary.

Escape Room

Students in Mrs. Lynn's math class attempted to "escape the classroom" using their problem solving and decimal math skills.  Students worked in groups of three and four and had 45 minutes to solve a series of puzzles, combination locks and decimal math problems.  A team could choose to receive up to two teacher hints if it was stumped, but would have to pause their work for 60 seconds per hint as a penalty.

Julianne L., Sean Y. and Alexandra M. were the first to escape, and did so in 28 minutes!  The team comprised of Connor L., Sophia L., Jadyn L. and Evelyn M. finished closely behind! Luckily all teams escaped with even a few minutes to spare so no one was stuck at school through the Thanksgiving break!

Mannequin Challenge - Project Fit America

Students from Mr. Berardinelli's Physical Education class created a video for our friends at Project Fit America.  Project Fit America's indoor and outdoor equipment were obtained through a grant from Excela Health in the 2014-15 school year. Great job Mr. Berardinelli and all the students in this video!!

Click here to view the 
Mannequin Challenge video

Heritage Students Get Patriotic With Uncle Sam

Students in grades K-5 celebrated American History  with Uncle Sam from Uncle Sam's Comedy Jam during a 40 minute PTO sponsored bash this morning!  Program topics included facts about the Constitutional Government, The Importance of Rules, Separation of Power, Symbols of Freedom, Checks and Balances, The Bill of Rights, and much much more! With help from the audience, Uncle Sam engaged both students and staff in history lessons that were filled with plenty of learning and laughter.

First Grade Storyboards in the Writing Lab

First grade students visited the Heritage Writing Lab today to kickoff a study of narrative storyboarding. Storyboarding is a strategy writers utilize to pre-tell or pre-visualize a story by sketching the character's want, problem and solution in sequence. The idea of storyboarding was first developed at the Walt Disney studios in the early 1930's. Walt Disney animators created the idea of sketching scenes on separate sheets of paper. First grade writers will continue to develop their narratives from their storyboards and will celebrate published pieces upon completion.

Technology is the new canvas in 5th grade

Technology is the new canvas in fifth grade, where students extend the possibilities of creativity while integrating art and technology. In November, the computer and art teachers teamed up to teach a unit on 3D design and printing with 5th grade students.  The students used Tinkercad, a 3D design application, to create Franklin Regional themed pottery stamps that will be printed on a 3D printer. Eventually, the stamps will be used to create clay tiles in the art room.  We are thankful to the Gurrentz Company for their generous donation of 3D printers to the FR elementary art rooms. Because of Gurrentz's generosity, our students and staff are able to benefit from this exciting learning experience.

Muffins with Moms

Our Heritage PTO sponsored "Muffins with Moms" for 3 days this week. Students and their moms enjoyed muffins, juice and coffee. Thank you to our wonderful PTO and the hundreds of moms and students that attended. It was a wonderful event enjoyed by all that participated!

Heritage Fitness Club

Our Physical Education teacher Mr. Berardinelli is very excited about designing and directing our first Heritage FITNESS CLUB! This club is open to all 4th and 5th grade students. Students participate in fitness-based activities such as runs, challenges, fitness-gram practices as well as games they love! Heritage staff members are invited to participate as well!

The Fitness Club meets on the first and third Thursday of every month from 7:45-8:30am. The first meeting took place on Thursday, November 3.

National Honor Society partners with 5th graders

For the third year in a row, Mrs. Sberna's class worked with National Honor Society students to complete the publishing of their informational writings.  The high school students helped the students with formatting, editing, and enhancing their writings with lists, pictures, charts, and other features of informational texts.

Clean sweep at Calcu-Solve

Franklin Regional won first place overall with the amazing efforts of a Heritage Elementary team consisting of Julianne, Katelynn, Nick and Roman!  Julianne also won second place overall and Katelynn tied for third place overall.  Be sure to congratulate them on their big win!  
Furthermore, the younger students gained some great problem solving experience and were able to solve at least a few of the very difficult math problems!  We are so proud of them for giving it a go!
In addition to the first place finish, the second and third place team wins went to Newlonsburg teams so it was a Franklin Regional sweep at this year's event.

Veteran's Day Assembly

On November 9th and 10th, members of the American Legion Post 711 from Murrysville visited Heritage Elementary School. 

During each program our students learned about:

• Veterans Day 
• The five military branches of service flags and the history behind each flag
• The experiences of one veteran that served four presidents on Air Force One
• The military experiences of each legionnaire
• Flags Over Murrysville-how it is accomplished and how residents can help out 
• see form below for details

All Things STEAM!

Science Week Pittsburgh October 22-28, 2016 Sponsored by Pittcon (The Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh and the Society of Analytical Chemists)
Science Week Pittsburgh presenters Brett Bielewicz and Megan Melucci offered outreach and support programs for science education in the Tri-State area by sponsoring teacher/student workshops and grants for science materials.
There were weekend teacher workshops hosted by Heritage Teachers Bielewicz and Melucci including Science Olympiad and Roundtable Discussions, as well as three days of interactive student workshops for students in fourth through seventh grade. Grants were available for attendees to provide relevant science materials for their schools. Workshops were held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
Heritage fourth grade students and teachers were able to attend the student workshops on Wednesday, October 26. They were able to participate in all six workshops!
CLICK HERE to view a brief video of the week!

1. Atoms, Molecules, and Matter
2. Pittcon Planetarium
3. STEAM DREAMS: Student Connections that Count
4. Sounds Like Fun: The Physics of Sound
5. Light, Color & Spectroscopy
6. How Wind Does Work

Students from grades 3-5 paint on canvas

The Heritage PTO sponsored another family fun event in conjunction with Corks & Canvasses after school on Monday October 24th in the Heritage cafeteria.We had 50 students participate in this second PTO sponsored event lead by Sarah Hunter from Corks & Canvases. The children seemed to have a great time and each one left with their own mini-masterpiece. Thanks to Sarah, Corks & Canvases and the parents who volunteered to help with the event.

4th Grade Poetry and Art Workshops with The Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation

Students in 4th grade participated in poetry and art workshops with the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks foundation. Louise Sturgess, Executive Director of PHLF, and Karen Cahall encouraged Heritage students to look more closely at their communities and to think about how places matter in their lives.  Students sketched a detail of a historic landmark of their choice and wrote from the point of view of the detail, utilizing personification, alliteration, simile, metaphor, and first person narration in their work. The poems and artwork created by students in these workshops help to articulate the beauty of various historic landmarks in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties. Student work will be displayed in the 4th grade hallway for all to appreciate and enjoy.

Many thanks to the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation for their continued partnership with the Heritage family and to the Heritage PTO for funding this valuable experience each year.

The Oldest

I'm old and solid, hard as a rock.

I've survived a very dangerous thing, a flood!

I'm old like the earth and I see things every day.

Towers, cars, people, a lot of stuff!

Do not strike me or I'll strike you back!

I'm sitting like a gorilla to this day, I'm still alive.

I am part of the wall of the Fort Pitt Block House!

The Bridge of Sighs

I connect the courthouse to the old jail.

When prisoners are done with court,

they walk to jail inside me.

When they look out my window 

and see people talking and laughing on the streets, 

they sigh because they wish they were free.

I am the Bridge of Sighs.