Gateway Students Win In Monroeville Art Show

Congratulations to the winning participants of the Monroeville Art Show. Elaine Sung was awarded 1st place, Bria Williams 2nd place and Best of Show, and Brian Carey, Joy Nosbisch and Max Merola were awarded Honorable Mentions. All of the art is on display outside of the auditorium lobby. Please stop and take a look.

GMS French Students Earn Top Medals for Le Grand Concours

Seven Gateway Middle School students earned top rankings in Le Grand Concours (The National French Exam) by competing against 100,000 national competitors. Placing Nationally were Dilafruz Khakimora, 4th place; Jessica Coulter, 5th place; Anny Park, 7th Place; and Meryl Gottlieb, Sara Mascaro, Tarun Guhanand, and Dallas Newcomb, 8th Place. Faculty sponsor for the test was Susan Poljak.

Le Grand Concours is an annual competition sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French. Students of French in grades 1-12, in all 50 states and abroad, compete against each other for prizes. Students take a written test and compete against students with similar educational background for prizes including certificates, medals, books, DVDs, trips, and scholarships. Pictured (from left) are the Gateway Middle School National French Exam winners who placed in the top 10 nationally: Dilafruz Khakimora, Anny Park, Meryl Gottlieb, Sara Mascaro, Jessica Coulter, Tarn Guhanand, and Dallas Newcomb.

Gateway 8th Grader Ranks First in Poetry

Dilafruz Khakimova took First Place honors in the Eastern Suburbs Special Programs Association (ESSPA) Poetry Contest for middle school students. The competition was hosted by Highlands School District this year and was a mail-in competition between eastern area schools. The title of the winning poem was, “The Story of the Unforgotten.” Faculty sponsor for the contest was Jodi Piacenti.

Middle School Spanish Students Earn Medals on National Exam

Five Gateway Middle School students earned top medals after taking the National Spanish Exam. Earning Silver Medal certificates were Chavana Swaminathan (88th percentile) and Joshua David (85th percentile). Earning Bronze medal certificates were Karlaysia Callaway (82nd percentile), Regina Nefjodova (83rd percentile), and Christine Ritter (82nd percentile). Faculty sponsor for the test was Susan Poljak.

The National Spanish Examination is an online, standardized assessment tool given by over 3000 teachers throughout the United States to measure proficiency and achievement of students who are studying Spanish as a second language. The National Spanish Examination is the most widely used test of Spanish in the United States.

GHS Band Names

Drum Majors Selected to Head Gateway Marching Band

As the school year begins its official wrap up, the Gateway High School Marching Band is already getting in step for next season. The Marching Band begun its process by selecting next year's leaders, Drum Majors Nick Diana, Dan Romagno, and Mike Murray, who will all be seniors next year. The band will once again be under the direction of Mr. Robert Read who is hoping to march a total of 120 including Color Guard."Our big performances this year will be the Bands of America Regional Championships in Massillon, Ohio - and the Grand National Championships in the new Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana," said Read. "The National Championships will take place November 12 - 16, 2008. There will be 140 bands at the Grand National Championships this coming year, so it is going to be very competitive."The Gateway Marching Band will also be hosting a band contest on Saturday, September 20, 2008, as well as hosting the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Marching Band Championships on Saturday, October 25, 2008. There will be approximately 24 bands in the Championship show.

Gateway to Receive Awards for Student Efforts for Susan G. Komen Foundation

Teams from both Gateway Middle School and Gateway High School will be participating in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure on Mothers' Day (May 11, 2008) at Schenley Park in Pittsburgh. Gateway will be honored at the event by McDonald's with the School Challenge Award. Awards will be presented on the main stage at 10 a.m. Recognition will be given to one of our students for his work in organizing, "Dance for the Cure," and the High School will be recognized for its ongoing commitment to the Komen.

Ramsey Elem's Samantha Memije is W-I-N-N-E-R of Spelling Bee

I had the privilege of watching 60 or so children compete in the Gateway Spelling Bee last night, and Samantha Memije, from Ramsey Elementary, squeaked by Noaha Rose to win the competition. The top spellers from every third and fourth grade classroom in the district were present for the competition, competing for the top spelling title. The two hour event continued through approximately 9 rounds until only Samantha and Noaha remained. When Noah made a mistake on 'souvenir' (I didn't know how to spell it either, despite 21 years of education), Samantha was able to correctly spell it, along with "recommendation" (as I recall) for the win. Congratulations go to Samantha, and Noaha, and all the spellers.
As an interesting note to me, the Final Five in the competition was an interesting cross-section of the district. On the stage at that point, after about 7 rounds, stood an Indian male, Spanish female, Caucasian male, Black male, and a Caucasian female. I'd challenge some of our surrounding districts to demonstrate such depth of diversity in their academic achievers.

Children participating in the event included:
RAMSEY ELEMENTARY: Chad Brennan, Matthew Coulter, Rebecca Dawson, Luke Haley, Kaden Jobe, Kayla Johnson, Maureen Kirkpatrick, Michael Klopicki, Nancy Levin, Juliet Lomeo, Ryan Mahokey, Samantha Memije, Payton Otterman, Nolan Seifert, Audrey Wohlfarth, and Mitchell Wohlfarth.
UNIVERSITY PARK: Mark Blubaugh, Michael Connelly, Hannah Frost, Jessica Guido, Jake Haberle, Anabella Lassiter, Kevin Marston, Abby Mayhue, Savannah Mynahan, Maria Olive, Rachel Perconte, and Jason Sarar.
EVERGREEN ELEMENTARY: Clara Bailey, Adam Clark, Ross Diggs, Clarisa Espinoza, Nick Falvo, Dominic Fultz, Breanna Funaro, Sidney Hillwig, Joel Miller, Darus Ramavarapu, Kelsey Schaller, Arvind Swaminathan, Ryan Taylor and Adam White.
MOSS SIDE ELEMENTARY: Phillip Allerton, Kyrie Bernardl, Jaquuan Brisker, Matthew Conley, Abigail Fabrizi, Cassondra Hanna, Max Herman, Zachary Isett, Michael Kim, Noah Liang, Destiny Owens, Joaha Rose, Anthony Scalise, and Anu Timple.
PITCAIRN ELEMENTARY: Holly Bihary, Rachel Borst, James Bradley, Kara Burke, Zach Burkey, Tiffany Cronin and Kayla Stallworth.