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Campus Rewind May 2023

Welcome to Collegium Charter School's K-12 Campus Rewind.

Our Campus Rewind captures many of our K-12 activities and compiles them for the Collegium Community to review and share with their friends and family.

May 2023

1. Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

2. Book Walk

3. A Day in the Life of a Kindergartener

4. Teen Mental Health First Aid

5. Teacher Appreciation Week

6. K-4 Art Show

7. Elementary Spring Concerts

8. Special Olympics

9. Wicked on Broadway

10. 23 Days till Graduation

11. BMX Anti-Bullying

12. PSSA Carnival

13. Mother's Day Craft

14. Highlighting Middle School Social Studies

15. Playground Communication Boards

16. NJHS Induction Ceremony

17. 150 Building Career Day

18. High School Mental Health

19. “They Made a Difference: Women in History”

20. "Dress Like a Star" Day

21. Dandelion Dash

22. Memorial Day

Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May was Asian American and Pacific Islander Month.

Book Walk

In the 150 Building, Mrs. Keenan’s and Mrs. Richmond’s 4th Grade students completed a Book Walk.

Each student researched a topic and wrote their own stories about it.

A student, Aaliyah W., said, “I liked writing it and doing the book walk. I felt my classmates did a great job and deserve to take their stories home to share with parents and guardians!”

Grayson B. added, “I liked how creative I was with naming my armadillos Banana and Banana Jr. When brainstorming, I also wrote my predator, the puma, as Dwayne 'the Brock' Johnson."

Asiyah R. said, “The book walk was really fun, and I liked seeing how creative everyone was. After days of thinking, I named my butterflies Beyonce and Shrek.”

Day in the Life of a Kindergartener

We were excited to unveil our "Day in the Life of a Kindergartner" video!

We believe this is a great opportunity to show a part of our Kindergarten students’ experience in Collegium, and we’re beyond excited to share it with our community.

Our main goal for this project is to give a comprehensive summary of a “Typical Kindergarten Day” at Collegium Charter School to help potential/future families see our students in action and gain an understanding of all our activities happening in our Kindergarten classes.

Thank you to our 150 Building Kindergarten students, teachers, and staff for their amazing collaboration by providing relevant and accurate information on their academic day!

Teen Mental Health First Aid

This year in our High School, our Tenth Grade students were part of the Teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) program.

In this program, our students learned the common signs and symptoms of a mental health challenge and a mental health crisis, specifically suicide.

They also learned how to approach and open a supportive conversation about mental illnesses and addiction with their friends.

Students learned to be aware of the impact of school violence and bullying on mental health.

They understood how to seek help from a responsible and trusted adult.

The tMHFA program also requires that a minimum of 10% of adult staff in a High School Building be trained in Youth Mental Health First Aid. It taught adults how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health or substance use challenges among children and adolescents ages 12-18.

Once the information and research about the teen program were shared with Kristin Gallahan, our High School Principal, she designed a plan to bring this amazing program to 10th Graders at Collegium.

“We were so grateful for this opportunity to share the tMHFA Program with the 10th Graders at Collegium Charter School,” said Ms. Kapczynski, one of the lead presenters/trainers of tMHFA.

“Teen Mental Health First Aid teaches the students that it is not about having to say the perfect thing to your friend...instead, it's about being there for your friend and connecting them to a trusted adult."

"This program also reinforces the value of connections and friendship, essential to living mentally well.”

Teacher Appreciation Week

We are so grateful for our incredible CCS employees every week–but on this week–we shared some extra appreciation for all that they do with special treats.

K-4 Art Show

We hosted our Annual K-4 Art Show in the 150 Building!

“Our young artists have worked hard this year, and each had a masterpiece displayed in our show,” said Mrs. Shortridge, 468/486 Building Art Teacher.

“Thank you to everyone who came out and enjoyed the evening with us!”

Elementary Spring Concerts

All of our Elementary music groups presented their Spring Concerts this month!

We invited all to come to support our Elementary music students at their performances.

“We are very proud of our music students!” said Mrs. Kistler, our 468/486 Building Music Teacher.

“They have worked so hard learning their music for the past few months, and they did a great job singing and playing their instruments for more than 500 of their teachers and peers at the Spring Concert."

"We all loved getting to share our music with everyone in our building!"

"It is a great opportunity for the younger students to see what they can do musically here at Collegium."

Special Olympics

Thirteen of our 468/486 Building students participated in the Special Olympics Track and Field meet at Coatesville Area High School.

The athletes participated in walking, running, jumping, and throwing events.

“This was the first team from Collegium to participate in this event,” said Ms. Knowles, our Occupational Therapist.

Participants were heard saying, "Jumping was my favorite thing" and "I can’t wait to show my teacher my ribbons!"

"It was a beautiful day, and both students and staff had fun!”

Wicked on Broadway

Our High School Music Department traveled to New York City to watch a matinee performance of Wicked on Broadway!

After the performance, two cast members and an assistant stage manager greeted and spoke to our High School Musicians about the performance.

Students got a chance to meet and have their playbills signed by Michael Thatcher (Witch's Father/Ozian Official), Dan Gleason (Fiyero), and Jonathan Bach (Assistant Stage Manager).

Mr. Motter (our High School Music Teacher) and Mr. Thatcher (Cast) are proud alumni of West Chester University and collaborated on this special moment outside of the theatre for our students.

When asked about the experience of meeting cast members and crew, Noah K., a Sophomore, said, "It was a one-of-a-kind experience, seeing their performance."

"It showed me what a professional-level theatre production looks like. I hope to bring that dedication, passion, and professionalism to our future theatre productions."

Mr. Motter would like to thank the many parents who chaperoned the trip and the CCS Community for supporting our fundraising efforts. We could not do it without your support!

23 Days till Graduation

The High School celebrated “23 days til Graduation” with the class of 2023.

The Seniors were treated to a special breakfast, signed their class banner, & put handprints on our Unity Club banner.

“We were excited to offer them time to celebrate each other and visit with their friends and classmates as they approach the end of their high school careers,” said Ms. Rogai, High School Assistant Principal.

BMX Anti-Bullying

Dialed Action Sports entertained and informed our 5th and 6th Grade students about anti-bullying, anti-drugs, bicycle safety, and responsible choices.

“Our 5th Grader students delved into the topic: Athlete Leaders of Social Change, learning about the many fearless athletes that stepped up and stepped out to change their world for the betterment of all,” said Mrs. Christman, 5th-8th Grade Curriculum Support Specialist.

“As excited as we were to expose students to the long list of athletes heroes in history, we were as excited to introduce them to athletes who are working tirelessly each day to inspire positive changes in their communities."

"We felt the messages of anti-bullying, anti-drugs, and pro-safety were perfect for our 5th and 6th Graders, and we were thrilled to share this unique and memorable experience with them.”

PSSA Carnival

The 468/486 Building held a PSSA Carnival!

The PSSA Carnival was an opportunity for 3rd and 4th teachers/staff and students to celebrate their hard work on the PSSAs.

Students played games, ate snacks, pied a teacher, dunked a teacher, etc., with the raffle tickets they earned while taking the PSSAs.

Students had to do their best by taking their time and using their test strategies.

“It’s meaningful to students because they get to celebrate themselves and all that they were able to accomplish by enjoying an afternoon of fun and games!” said Mrs. Thomas, 468/486 Building 3rd Grade teacher

Mother's Day Craft

In the 150 Building, Ms. Rappoldt's Kindergarten students learned all about living and nonliving things, different types of trees, and how we depend on them for resources like paper during the third model of the EL curriculum.

The students also learned to care for the trees by reducing, reusing, and recycling.

The students saved scrap paper from crafts and other activities to create seed paper to give as gifts for Mother's Day.

One student said, "I had a lot of fun cutting up the paper and squishing it together."

"The paper kept getting stuck to my hands! I can't wait to see the flowers grow!"

Highlighting Middle School Social Studies

In May, we highlighted our Middle School 8th Grade Social Studies teachers, Mr. Conner and Mr. Munro.

Both are new additions to our Middle School this year and make an impact in and out of the classroom with our students.

“Mr. Munro and Mr. Conner educate their students not just within their content of History but preparing them to be global citizens,” said Mr. Kauffman, the Middle School Instructional Coach.

“Our students, staff, and CCS community are lucky to have them as part of our family!”

Playground Communication Boards

We installed playground communication boards in our K-4th Grade buildings.

The boards are a form of low-tech Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) used in a playground setting.

They include pictures with English and Spanish text, numbers, letters, and a social story.

Playground communication boards fully include students with language and learning differences in communication opportunities during recess.

AAC boards help students who may not have developed spoken language or English language to make comments, engage in social conversations with peers, and state their wants and needs.

“Our school community includes many autistic students, English learners, and students developing their language skills,” said Brianna Ryan, Speech-Language Pathologist.

“We want to give all our students every opportunity to communicate fully in all school settings.”

“We wanted our early language learners to be able to communicate when they could not easily carry their AAC devices,” said Jodi Kobernick, Speech-Language Pathologist.

“We discovered that it would also benefit our English learners that may not have enough English vocabulary to communicate with their peers on the playground.

"The project was a joint effort between our Administration, the Autistic Support Program, and Operations Department.”

“This is such an exciting moment for all of us at Collegium Charter School,” said Mallory DeCarolis, the 468/486 Building Principal.

“Through this communication board, we are creating an inclusive environment for all of our students, and I am looking forward to the relationships and sense of belonging that this board will help us continue to create.”

Kristin Camburn, the 150 Building Principal, added, "We are excited to teach both our staff and students about our new communication board and to utilize it to help our students communicate their needs to their peers and classmates while outside at recess."

NJHS Induction Ceremony

Our Middle School inducted 22 new members into the National Junior Honor Society.

These students were selected based on a set of criteria surrounding the five pillars: Scholarship, Service, Citizenship, Character, and Leadership.

Natalie H., a newly inducted member, said, "I feel very honored and grateful to receive this opportunity.”

150 Building Career Day

The 150 Building hosted one of its biggest events of the year: Career Day!

It’s a day where our students learned and interacted with many different careers from their local community.

It provided students with first-hand experience of potential career paths.

“Our goal is to continue to expose them to as many opportunities as possible to facilitate interest and growth in their career development,” said Mr. Dower, 150 Building School Counselor.

“We have been fortunate to see many people from our communities: Firefighters, Veterinarian Technicians, FBI Special Agents, Soccer Coaches, Police Officers, Bakers, Stem Cell Research Scientists, and many more that have volunteered their time to help our students grow.”

High School Mental Health

Melissa Hopely Rice, a motivational speaker raising mental health awareness, presented to our High School students. She is a National Alliance on Mental Illness Main Line PA member.

“We hope that providing opportunities for our students to learn about mental health will normalize the discussion of asking for help when needed,” said Mrs. Wolfe, High School School Counselor.

The assembly focused on being present in the moment and providing a space where a person's feelings are heard and validated.

This small interaction can provide a feeling of support for the student.

Student leaders in the National Honor Society and Aevidum organization were trained to assist with this program.

“We want our students to know they are cared for and important,” added Mrs. Wolfe. “They always have a space to process their feelings and receive support.”

“They Made a Difference: Women in History”

Using literature and informational texts to introduce students to gender and racial inequality issues in the United States, our 4th Grade ELA classes learned about women's rights and ratifying the 19th Amendment.

The Mobile Ed Productions performed its show “They Made a Difference: Women in History.”

The performance highlighted the lives and work of many strong women.

The performance focused on women such as Clara Barton, Florence Nightingale, Madame Curie, Amelia Earhart, Helen Keller, and many others.

It covered the fields of science, exploration, education, public life, and literature.

The performer adopted the role of a time traveler, sliding effortlessly from one impersonation to another.

Though in no way diminishing the accomplishments of men nor denigrating the role many women choose to play as homemakers, the performance: “They Made a Difference” allowed our students to visit other sides of life through education and entertainment.

"Dress Like a Star" Day

The Elementary Student Council hosted another Spirit Day: Dress Like a Star Day!

Our students were encouraged to dress up as their favorite actresses/actors, singers, songwriters, and performing artists.

Enjoy these pictures of our Hollywood Stars of CCS!

Dandelion Dash

The 468/486 Building held its annual Dandelion Dash.

Students walked/ran during the event and tried to complete as many laps as possible within the given time, with five laps being 1 mile.

In Health class, students learned ways to protect their skin.

They had the opportunity to bring lotion for our first annual Lotion Drive that benefited the skin cancer patients at the Abramson Cancer Center Chester County Hospital.

The donation would allow cancer patients to recover more quickly from treatment at the Cancer Center.

We are pleased to announce that our total number of donated lotions was 127!

"It was great to see our students and their parents care and support the needs of others,” said Mr. Thom, the 468/486 Building Elementary Health and PE Teacher.

Memorial Day

We remembered and honored the brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Your bravery and service will never be forgotten.

In memory of many, in honor of all, THANK YOU.

Thanks for taking the time to enjoy our Campus Rewind! If daily campus updates are preferred, make sure you "Like" and "Follow" the official Collegium Charter School Facebook Page via the link below.