Quiz Bowl
On April 30, we had four students go to the Middle School Quiz Bowl competition at the Smethport IU: Abbi Anderson, Megan Empson, Amanda Ford, and Rebecca Morgan. This Quiz Bowl followed the same format as the senior high Quiz Bowl that we had earlier in the year, but it was just geared for middle school students.
Seedlings for Schools
In May, students will also be spending a day with Jason Childs from the Department of Conversation located in Coudersport. Jason and I have been working together to create the “Seedlings for Schools” program into a meaningful program for the high school students. Jason will be leading us through a stream reclamation project in the Sinnemahoning area. Through the Game Commission and with the help of Mandy Marconi, I was able to procure the donation of 150 seedlings for our students. In addition to working with Jason, Stan Hess from the Forestry Department will be joining us on our conservation project as well.
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April News
Rotary Speech
This year, we had three students participate in the Rotary Club’s 4-Way Speech Contest: senior Ethan Kibbe, junior Amanda Gibble, and sophomore Sam Ritter.The Rotary Club sponsors an annual speech competition for students in grades 9 through 12. The 4-Way Speech is based on a student’s ability to
address an ethical problem using the principles of the Rotary’s 4-Way test in his/her speech: 1) Is it the truth? 2) Is it fair to all concerned? 3) Will it build goodwill and better friendships? And 4) Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
This year’s competition was held on March 3 at the Maple Tree Restaurant. I am proud to announce that Ethan Kibbe won the first place award! Ethan addressed the role of the small farm in our modern day society. Ethan’s topic rang true to his audience, and his first place position was strengthened by his powerful speaking and presentation skills.
Ethan plans on majoring in mass communication. Ethan is going to join his
brother, Steve, and sisters, Amelia and Ellen, at St. Bonaventure University next year.
Quiz Bowl
We had 28 students attend this year’s annual Quiz Bowl competition held at the Port Allegany High School on March 7. Quiz Bowl is an academic competition that tests students’ knowledge in areas such as history, science, and the arts. Students participate in teams of 4 or 5 to answer questions using a lockout buzzer. Quiz Bowl has a particular set of
rules that the students had to learn to play. The students met several times before the competition to practice. Well, that practice paid off! Northern Potter took home the first place award! The team consisting of Kurtis Coates, Ethan Kibbe, Matt Morgan, and Aaron Olney beat out multiple teams from nine schools! We are extremely
proud of them! The sophomore team of Sidney Goldsborough, Shayna Graham, Sarah Morgan, Joy Olney, and Sam Ritter made it to the semi-finals, but lost out to the Port Allegany team of seniors. They did an amazing job!
Bizwars
The Jamestown Community College created a new competition and forum to help students understand the entrepreneurial mindset. We had 11 students attend this program. Their day consisted of three parts: Dress for Success, the Entrepreneur Interview Panel, and the Shark Tank competition. The professors addressed the issue of how to dress professionally and led students through the interview process. They also gave students insight into the
use of social media as part of the interviewing process. With 17 years of interviewing experience, the professor who is currently in charge of hiring for the University offered the students insight into how to conduct themselves in
everything from the initial phone interview to the final portfolio presentation.
For the final part of the day, the students were divided into groups working with students from the other participating schools to meet the challenge provided by the directors of the program. The Shark Tank challenge was to propose a
profitable business idea that would be the most likely to succeed in high schools across the area. The team that had the best idea won. We had three students on the winning teams: Kurtis Coates, Ethan Kibble, and John
Polen.
Model UN
This year’s Model UN trip to St. Bonaventure was a great success! We had 14 students participate in five committees from 7 countries! At the final awards ceremony the moderators from each committee presented their awards.
Awards were presented based on logical reasoning, preparation, and communication skills. Northern Potter’s Ethan Kibbe and Matt Morgan earned the highest award, the “Superior Award,” for their efforts as part of the
Disarmament and International Security Council from Sweden. Ellen Kibbe and Morgan Soule won the “Excellence Award” for their work on the World Health Organization Committee from South Africa. While 4 of our students walked away with medals, Northern Potter has much to be proud of! I may be biased in my opinion, but I sincerely believe that we had not only the most well-behaved and polite students, we also had the best dressed students! I simply cannot express how privileged we should all feel to have these students in our school!
Coming up in April is the High School Computer Fair, the Middle School Computer Fair, and the Middle School Quiz Bowl.
March News
March Enrichment Activities
March 3 Rotary 4 Way Speech: We had three students (Ethan Kibbe, Sam Ritter, and Amanda Gibble) going to compete in the annual public speaking competition in Coudersport. Ethan Kibbe took first place, and Sam Ritter and Amanda Gibble had honorable mentions.
March 6 Middle School Reading Competition: Students read books from the assigned list to compete in this annual tradition held at the Fretz Middle School in Bradford, PA. Seventh grader Abby Anderson and a team of Children’s School students attained a gold medal at this event.
March 7 Quiz Bowl: The Academic Quiz Bowl that was scheduled for February had to be postponed due to bad weather. We had 30 students going to Port Allegany to compete, and out of nine schools represented, Northern Potter took first place!
March 14 BizWars: 11 students have signed up to participate in BIZWARS at the Jamestown Community College. The competition is based on the hit TV series “Shark Wars.”
March 21 Model UN: We have 14 students attending the Model UN competition at Penn State this year! This is a two-day competition held Friday, March 21 and Saturday, March 22.
March 31 Persuasive Speech: The high school students have been provided an open topic of their choice to prepare and present a persuasive speech.
February News
Quiz Bowl
This year’s Quiz Bowl is scheduled for February 18th at the Port Allegany High School, and the word is out! The students are very excited, and we currently have 24 students in grades 9 -12 interested in attending. I expect that number to grow!
Quiz Bowl is game of trivia questions based on a wide range of topics such as math, history, literature, and science. Students improve their abilities to cooperate and work in groups. Groups consist of four or five students per team with a moderator asking the questions.
Last year, Northern Potter’s Ethan Kibbe had the highest individual score overall!
4-Way Rotary Speech
The Rotary District 7360 sponsors a speech contest every year in Coudersport, and this year, the speech will be held on March 3 at the Crittendon Hotel in Coudersport. Our only roadblock to participation in this speech is that we are limited to three participants. There are more students interested than can be accommodated!
The contestants choose the topic of his or her own speech, but they must address an ethical problem using the principles of the 4-Way Test: Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?
Winners have the chance to compete in regional competitions and will be eligible for cash prizes up to $1000.
Individual Projects
I have asked each student to design and implement an individual project. Here is an update of the progress that each student is making.
Abbi Anderson: She is finalizing a glogster presentation about her 4-H project on horses. She is going to use the glogster to make a presentation to her peers in order to refine her public speaking and presentation skills.
Sidney Goldborough: Sidney has made her final decision about her project. She has decided that she would like to repair the doors in the soccer field bathrooms. She has made a list of steps to completion and is currently preparing her proposal for Mr. Eglesia to approve.
Sam Ritter: Sam is investigating the possible need for building permits before he begins construction of a zip line. He is also setting up a meeting with the head of maintenance, Mr. Kirk McCaslin.
Amanda Gibble: Amanda has had her graduation project approved and is currently working on developing a community service project. She is strongly considering fundraising for the band. She would like to donate money to the band for new uniforms.