Volume 26, Issue 3 • June 2015
In this Issue
Primary News .....................................................2
Intermediate News.............................................3
Library News.......................................................4
Dr. Conover.........................................................7
Technology News...............................................8
Music Notes......................................................10
Admissions Notes.............................................12
Spotlight On Faculty........................................12
Middle School News........................................14
Spanish News....................................................15
Physical Education News.................................15
Published by the Falk School PTO
From the PTO President — Reflecting on Falk Magic
As winter finally loosens its hold on Pittsburgh,
this issue of FalkTalk finds kids, teachers, administration and parents eagerly anticipating summer
adventures. But before rushing on, I encourage you
to take some time and think about the magic made
here at Falk during the 2014-2015 school year.
This season
has been extraspecial as kids
and the Falk
community
jointly lifted their
voices, music
and hearts into
the sky to honor
Dr. Lee Ann
Conover.
The year started out with a welcome picnic and
dance on the beautiful upper terrace overlooking
Oakland. As Dr. Suzik gave his first welcome to
the Falk community, the air was charged with
excitement. And, who can forget the kids, adorned
in Cheryl Capezzuti’s giant puppet costumes,
line dancing with their classmates and fun-loving
teachers and interns? Once the business of school
got underway, Dr. Suzik and faculty held inaugural
curriculum nights to share the rationale behind
Falk’s approach on Mathematics and Language
and to stimulate open discussions with parents and
families about pedagogy and progressive education. The PTO partnered with Dr. Suzik to offer two
Town Hall meetings, which helped accelerate the
‘getting to know you’ process for parents and Dr.
Suzik. In recent weeks I have had the opportunity
to see Dr. Suzik interacting with parents, kids
and families at various Falk events. The energy
of “newness” can still be glimpsed, and, more
important, I believe that the Falk community and
Dr. Suzik have joined together in a solid and exciting partnership that will benefit our children and the
greater Falk community for years to come.
The PTO launched several new initiatives this year.
In partnership with the front office, we streamlined
our approach to communications, condensing
announcements and calls for volunteers into one
school-wide announcement, distributed weekly by
email. A special shout-out is due to Kelly Maddox
and PTO Secretary, Ann Gaul, for making this
important change. In the interest of improved
communications, we reinvigorated the Room
Parent Network with Mariana Achugar and Amy
Strada’s leadership. The idea behind this network
is to enhance dynamic communication between
teachers and their students’ parents – whether
discussions be about an upcoming project or
sharing photos of school events and activities.
The PTO also sponsored parent-driven initiatives
including the Diversity and Inclusion Group led
by Deb Desjardins and Maggie Jones and the
Learning Diversity Parent Support Group led by
David Kauffman. As a final new initiative, the PTO
sponsored several webinars on parent-chosen
topics. These webinars were held in the evenings
and were well attended. Special thanks are owed
to parents Erika Forbes and Laura Dietz, faculty in
the School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry,
for moderating exciting discussions after each
webinar.
This year we also reinvigorated the Falk Fund
in partnership with parent Trustees Karen Clay,
Casey Kurtz and Dave Lamont. The Falk Fund is
seeded by funds from the PTO and is charged with
supporting activities that benefit our students and
the Falk community. Be on the lookout next year
for new Falk Fund initiatives including announcements for small grant opportunities for faculty.
Speaking of money, I owe a special thanks to
PTO Treasurer, Mike Steich. The value of Mike’s
organized and transparent approach to tracking our
funds cannot be overstated. PTO Vice President
Anne Brownlee organized the Town Hall meetings
and quietly but surely saw to it that locally sourced,
healthy fare was provided during PTO meetings.
Anne will provide strong, thoughtful leadership as
PTO President during the 2015-2016 school year.
Music is traditionally an enchanting feature of
spring at Falk. This season has been extra-special
as kids and the Falk community jointly lifted their
voices, music and hearts into the sky to honor Dr.
Lee Ann Conover. Emblematic of the creativity,
dedication to excellence, and passion that we hope
to instill in our children, Dr. Conover is retiring after
21 years at Falk. The spring concerts led by Dr.
Conover and Maria Sassani were something to
behold. At the Middle School Concert, the chorus
and the band each presented Dr. Conover with
cards and words of heartfelt thanks. Parents and
continued on page 2
From the PTO President, continued
families gave Dr. Conover a standing ovation
followed by lots of hugs, laughter and the occasional tear. Dr. Conover and Maria Sassani then
partnered to direct the Middle School Musical,
a rousing and endearing rendition of “Guys and
Dolls”, to a “standing room only” audience. These
events were really wonderful, but they did not
prepare me for the magic of the Intermediate
Concert and Chorus at Bellefield Hall. Sure, the
venue is nicer and the acoustics better than our
beloved “multi-purpose” room, but I have never
been more impressed and charmed by a musical
event at Falk. Dr. Conover and Sassani even
convinced Dr. Suzik to join the Intermediate Band
for the instrumental portion of the program. A final
“thank you” for Dr. Conover is planned for the End
of Year Pizza Party on June 1st – this event is not
to be missed!
So, as you settle into summer and find yourselves
wishing for cooler weather (yes, you will!), take
some time to reminisce about this very special
year at Falk. As a departing “Falker” (our son is
graduating this year), I certainly will!
Tica Hall
PTO President,
Mom to Gabriel Batista (Grade 8)
Primary News
Kindergarten has been
extremely excited that the
weather has FINALLY been
warm! We have been taking
advantage of this by playing
outside at the Kindergarten
and roof top terraces. We
have also been very busy
the past several weeks
working on our combined
Kindergarten class play
called “Snatchabook and the
Bedtime Stories.” We are excited to perform our play during the first
week of June. This year has certainly flown by, and we have grown so
much! We look forward to finishing up the year with a transportation
field trip and our Primary Picnic. We hope you all have enjoyed this
year as much as we have.
First grade can’t believe that this school year is almost over. The first
graders have been super busy preparing socially and academically
for second grade. Both first grades have been working really hard
in writing workshop in preparation for their final author celebration.
They also enjoyed learning how technology is used to clean the water
we drink and use daily when an Alcosan representative visited each
classroom. We enjoyed celebrating Dr. Conover as a community and
going to PNC Park with our Kindergarten and second grade buddies.
We are looking forward to the Primary Picnic, which will be our final
field trip of this school year.
Spring is always a fun time in second grade, and we are happy to be
back out, running around in the warm air. It’s been a great season
for collaborations as well! Room 21 recently completed a science
project with help from the school library and Technology. The students
researched different space related topics and expressed what they
learned in the form of a stop motion video. We are also teaming up
with Technology to build different types of bridges as a part of our unit
on Pittsburgh. Room 20 has been getting “into the Spring of things” by
working on a number of projects, including Haiku, Art History formal
analysis papers, and learning all about plants. We enjoyed field trips
to see the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and to check out PNC
Park as well. We’ve also enjoyed working with the 6th graders on
Shakespeare explorations.
The Primary team would like to wish everyone a happy and relaxing
summer!!!
2
Intermediate News
Fourth Grade
In our Ancient Egypt Unit in Social Studies
we made a map of Ancient Egypt, we
learned about daily life, and how the Nile
River helped the Egyptians survive. For
our final projects groups were assigned a
Pharaoh to research his time period. We
made a poster showing our research. We
also made a description of an Egyptian god.
-Malcolm Kurtz
For our last part in Reading we are doing
Literature Circles. In Literature Circles,
we read and discuss the book we have
chosen as a group. Each person in the
group has a job to do every day. Now
we are working on our final projects. Our
final project has to relate to the book. For
example, the group that read The Wolves
of Willoughby Chase is making their own
room in a mansion, because Willoughby
Chase is a mansion.
-Karina Saba
In Art, 4th graders are making fairy tree
houses. First you would build a sculpture
out of cardboard. Then you would
decorate your sculpture with bark, moss,
and flowers. Well, you would cover it with
nature!
-Julia Ferline
In Science we are doing rainforests.
We are now looking at threats to the
rainforests. We are asking questions:
for example, Why do people log? Other
things we’ve been studying about are
acid rain, pollution, cattle ranching, slash
and burn agriculture, deforestation, and
endangered species.
-Hannah Malkin
“Dr. Conover’s Last Concert Ends with
a Big Bang!”
The 2015 Intermediate Concert was the
first time Falk had a concert at a “real”
concert hall. It also had the
biggest
band in Intermediate history.
It started with a mini clapping
sequence. There were 5
songs and 5th grade had a
special song called “Hall of
Fame.” The band did 5 songs
too. The band was conducted
by Dr. Conover, and the
chorus was conducted by Ms.
Sassani. Afterwards there
were cookies and lemonade.
-Michael Faiello & Phillip
Leong
Fifth Grade
In fifth grade Language Arts
we are writing children’s books. First we
thought about things that kids like, for
example: candy, animals and presents.
We also talked about memories that we
had from our childhood. We used the list
to brainstorm multiple story ideas. Then
we picked one that we wanted to turn into
our story. We stretched it into pages, and
then we typed it up so that our teacher
could check it, and make suggestions.
Once we got our story approved, we could
make a storyboard, and get our hardback
book. Once we got the book we could
transfer our writing and pictures onto the
blank pages. After we pen everything, we
will color in all illustrations.
I loved making the children’s books
because we got to get really creative
with our ideas, and writing. It feels great
to know that I made a book, and went
through the whole process. I plan to keep
my book forever.
-Gracie Cain
In science class we have been learning
about plants. We planted our own plants,
they are called Wisconsin Fast Plants
because
they are made to grow
really fast. We made
observations and learned
about different parts
of plants. A botanist
came and talked about
pollination. We also
conducted experiments
on our plants. My
group’s experiment
was to put our plant in
a plastic bag to see
what would happen.
It survived!
- Arjun Wasan
In 5th grade PE class we are learning
about handball. It is a very fun game,
especially with Ms. Hunt who is hilarious!
In handball you need to have a ball, a
net, and two teams. Room 119 has some
really good players! (no names!) When
you play you can only take 5 steps, and
when you shoot you have to JUMP.
-RubyAna Ashman
In Math we are doing a unit called Budget
Math. The students are given realistic jobs
and wages. They were asked to find their
tax payments, pay their student loans,
find a house they could afford and wanted
to live in, and other real life things. The
students are having a blast!
-Harry Burton
In Technology we have been doing a collaboration between Technology and Art. In
art class we have been making creatures
made of all sorts of materials. Then, in
technology class we have been attaching
things like motors and sensors to them, to
make them move.
- Michael Baim
3
Volume 26, Issue 3
Library News
Spring Reading Initiative
The Spring Reading Initiative will come to a close on June 3rd
when the entire Falk School community comes together to celebrate reading at our annual All School Read-In. At that time, the
total number of pages read and books read from April 1st through
May 31st will be announced. As of May 22nd the cumulative
page tally was 342,854, which is 70,615 short of where we were
on this day last year. The announcement of this year’s totals
will be followed by fifteen minutes of sustained silent reading.
Parents and caregivers are invited to attend.
Summer Activities
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh –
Carnegie librarians visited Falk on May
14th to promote this summer’s reading
program with our K-5 students. The
theme this year is “Every Hero Has a
Story”. It will kick off at the Main library
in Oakland with a Fun Family Festival
including snacks, activities and entertainment on Sunday, June 7th from 12 noon
to 5:00 PM. Register then or at your local
library. Read, collect prizes and attend
fun programs until August 9th. This year’s
grand prize has not been announced yet, but last year it was a
Kindle Fire.
Falk School Library – During the summer, we don’t allow books
to circulate so that we can do inventory. However, all of our electronic resources are available from any computer connected to
the Internet. These resources include “Novelist,” which is a great
way to find your next good read, and many databases that might
help you answer questions. Links to the databases are found on
the library website’s Online Resources page. All the passwords
for these databases are found in the online document “Passport
to Passwords.” This pdf document is password protected; the
password is “falk.”
Annual Library Book Fair
The 2015 Library Book Fair was a great success with gross sales
of $11,967 and $2,796 in profit, which will be used to enrich the
library collection. The All for Books program brought in over
$387. This money purchased 50 books from the Fair for classrooms and the Library. In addition, Scholastic donated 387 books
to two nonprofit organizations that support literacy.
More importantly the Fair created excitement about books and
reading. This would not be possible without the support of the
Falk School community. Thank you to the school and library
staff, the homeroom teachers for facilitating All for Books, the
parent volunteers, and everyone who made the Fair a success.
We are very grateful to our parents who were able to work at the
fair this year:
Joanne Alarcon, Michelle Bertocci, Aaron Brenner, Kate
Brownlee, Melanie Costa, Vanessa Emig, Melody Farrin, Muge
4
Finkel, Erika
Forbes, Sam
Frizzell, Marie
Gaestel, Rebecca
Gildengers, Gabey
Gosman, Thalia
Gray, Tica Hall,
David Huang, Elif
Incekara-Hafalir,
Maria Kapetanaki,
Jina Kaufman,
Tina Levick,
Sherry Light,
Jenny Liu, Li Liu,
Rachel Mackey,
Pattie Mareda,
Judy McClelland,
Jessica Morowitz,
Karen Moyer,
Beth Myers,
Laura Myers,
Valerie Oke, Inci
Ozgunes, Revathi
Pennathur, John
Ramirez, Kate
Rothstein, Rosie
Sherman, Matthew
Siegler, Gayle
Strandberg, Kaveri
Subbarao, Chip
Tea, Melissa Tea,
Patricia Tsagaris,
Shauna Volmrich,
Deborah Walker,
Kevin Whitley.
Behind every successful event are
the main organizers. Our Book Fair co-chairs were parents Paula MonaghanNichols and Deb Zuroski. Under their leadership, the Library was
transformed for the theme “Under the Sea”, decorated with ocean
creatures donated by the art teachers. The Fair opened with a
teacher/staff preview breakfast. We also had a “Family Fair”
night on opening day. Our co-chairs recruited volunteers (and
took sales shifts themselves), distributed materials, assembled
the gift baskets, planned the faculty and staff preview breakfast,
and more. A special thank you to Paula and Deb.
Three gift baskets were awarded to students in the Book Fair
Raffle. Each basket contained books and other items in keeping
with this year’s theme. The winners were:
• Primary basket: Simone Leong
• Intermediate basket: Vasi Benos
• Middle School basket: Alex Sayette
Library News, continued
Birthday/Gift Book Program
Carnival Gifts:
The Library and the PTO coordinate the program
as a means of expanding the library collection while
commemorating special events and special persons: birthdays, holidays, grandparents, teachers,
interns and sometimes even pets! An appropriate
bookplate is placed in each book. All Falk students,
teachers, interns, and staff benefit from the continuous updating of the collection.
Elias Vila-Kubiak, I Am Malala: How One Girl
Stood Up for Education and Changed the World by
Malala Yousafzai
In the fall families received a letter inviting them
to participate, a donation form, and a book list.
Students and adults can also come to the Library
to browse books and complete an order form.
Donations can be made at any time. Keep in mind
the dollar amount for each book is a suggested
donation. This information is also available on the
library website at http://www.falkschool.pitt.edu/
library-pages/about/Gift-book-program.
Zahra Nauhaus, Penny and Her Marble by Kevin
Henkes in honor of Dr. Conover
Sarah Delano and Cindy Tipper coordinate this program with Ms. Williams. If you have any questions
about the Gift Book Program, contact Ms. Williams
at 412-624-8516 or lwilliam@pitt.edu.
Many thanks to the following donors:
Library Gifts
The Tea Family, National Geographic Atlas of the
World, December 2014
Lucia Lazzara-Goodrich, Olympians: Ares,
Bringer of War by George O’Connor, February 2015
Lucia Lazzara-Goodrich, Nice Shot, Cupid! by
Kate McMullen, March 2015
Etienne Strandberg-Houze, File Under: 13
Suspicious Incidents by Lemony Snicket, April 2015
Natalie Floreancig, Unstoppable Book Two:
Breakaway by Jeff Hirsch, The Last Apprentice:
Fury of the Seventh Son by Joseph Delaney, and
“Who Could That Be at This Hour?” by Lemony
Snicket in honor of her birthday, January 23.
Book Fair Gifts:
Maya and Sophie Frizzell, Pieces and Players by
Blue Balliett and Molecules: The Elements and the
Architecture of Everything by Theodore Gray
Anonymous, Deep Blue by Jennifer Donnelly
The Beckman Family, Danger in the Darkest Hour
by Mary Pope Osborne
The Wagner-Oke Family, The Fourteenth Goldfish
by Jennifer L. Holm
Laura Brodkey, Eon: Dragoneye Reborn by Alison
Goodman
Samantha Larkin, Maple by Lori Nichols, in honor
of Dr. McConnaha
Dylan Nauhaus, Warriors: Forest of Secrets by Erin
Hunter in honor of Dr. Conover
Benjamin Grossman, Venus & Serena Williams by
Lauren Diemer and Megan Guthbert in honor of his
grandmother, Ellen Falk Hirsch, class of ‘42
John Ludden, Dinosaurs in the Sea by Joseph
Staunton
Nikhil Saxena, Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
Neil & Cara Wagner-Oke, The Imaginary by A. F.
Harrold in honor of Nancy Oke
Neil Wagner-Oke, The Watermelon Seed by Greg
Pizzoli in honor of his birthday, August 23, 2015
Cara Wagner-Oke, The Tomten and the Fox by
Astrid Lindgren in honor of her birthday, June 30,
2015
Luke Pena, Twenty-One Elephants and Still
Standing by April Jones Prince in honor of his
birthday, August 22, 2015
Stephanie Acosta-Mikulasek, Smile by
Raina Telgemeier in honor of Sophia and Katia
Acosta-Mikulasek
Leon Platzer, Press Here by Hervé Tullet
Simone Rothstein, The Story of Fish and Snail by
Deborah Freedman in honor of her birthday, May
10, 2015
Theo Rothstein, Bad
Magic by pseudonymous
bosch in honor of his
birthday, July 20, 2015
Raphael Rothstein, A
Perfectly Messed-up Story
by Patrick McDonnell
in honor of his birthday,
January 31, 2015
Aidan and Sydney Sherman, The Chicken Squad
by Doreen Cronin
continued on page 6
5
Volume 26, Issue 3
Library News, continued
PYRCA
Falk once again participated in the Pennsylvania
Young Readers’ Choice Awards (PYRCA).
The Falk winners were:
K-3: The Adventures of Arnie the Doughnut:
Bowling Alley Bandit by Laurie Keller
3-6: Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo
6-8: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library by
Chris Grabenstein
The statewide winners were:
K-3: Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
3-6: Jake and Lily by Jerry Spinelli
6-8: Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz
Come see our display in the Library to see how
many Falk votes each of the books got!
As we continue participating in this reading initiative, we hope to increase the participation
of students in grades 3-8 next year.
THE HEARTWOOD PROGRAM
The Heartwood Program is a literature-based ethics curriculum for children. The program uses
illustrated books from representative cultures around the world to help children understand seven
attributes: courage, loyalty, justice, respect, hope, honesty, and love. The stories are primarily
folklore, legends and hero tales. The books are read aloud in class and then discussed. The different
attributes are featured according to a schedule throughout the school year. Parents are encouraged
to read the books aloud with their children. Many of the books are available at the public library and
the Falk School Library. See the Heartwood Institute website - http://www.heartwoodethics.org/.
Love is the attribute for May
Main Books:
The Rag Coat by L. Mills
The Seeing Stick by J. Yolen
Honey, I Love by E. Greenfield
Magical Hands by M. Barker
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters by J. Steptoe
Annie and the Old One by M. Miles
Supplementary Books:
Blackberries in the Dark by M. Jukes
Grandma Didn’t Wave Back by R. Blue
The Hundred Penny Box by S. B. Mathis
The Keeping Quilt by P. Polacco
The Legend of Scarface by R. San Souci
Love You Forever R. Munsch
My Mother is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World by R. Rehyer
Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs by T. DePaola
Now One Foot, Now the Other by T. DePaola
Sachiko Means Happiness by K. Sakai
Saying Good-bye to Grandma by R. R. Thomas
The Wednesday Surprise by E. Bunting
6
Best Wishes Dr. Conover
7
Volume 26, Issue 3
Technology News
Middle School
This semester, the 6th graders have been learning
Photoshop and working on their iSearch projects in
a cross-curricular project with Language Arts. The
students are mastering a layering technique within
Photoshop and utilizing this skill set to create a
concept image for their iSearch project. In addition,
they are using their knowledge of Google Sites to
create a website to house their iSearch project.
This collaborative project has helped to reinforce
the skills the students have already learned and
generate a deeper understanding.
The 7th graders had several push-in opportunities this semester. During Health and Physical
Education, they analyzed their personal fitness
data gathered utilizing the Go Fit activity watch
monitors. This gave them the opportunity to synthesize their activity in relationship to the national
standards. In addition, the 7th grade took an
in-depth look at the national nutritional guidelines
and was able to analyze a day’s worth of dietary
consumption. During Art, the 7th grade took their
self-portraits, dream bedrooms, and an oil and
watercolor landscape painting to create a themed
iMovie Trailer.
7th graders also had a chance to sign up for the
publicity team for the Middle School musical.
During this time, the team designed and created
brochures and flyers in Google Docs and set up a
web-based reservation and seating system. They
also designed and produced tickets, movie posters,
and an iMovie video that introduced the musical.
In 8th grade the students learned HTML programming and designed and built websites that dealt
with the issues of equality and environment. This project was designed
for students not only to learn the
basics of HTML but also to get them
to think about the world they live in.
Intermediate
Ms. Sukenik’s 5th grade has been
working on Hummingbird Creatures
this semester. The project is a
cross-curricular project between Art
and Technology. The students built
and accessorized their creatures in
Art class. During Technology they
connected electronic components
and programmed their creatures to
animate them. Ms. Metcalf’s class
created state brochures and learned proper email
etiquette and how to attach documents.
4th graders wrapped up their algorithms unit by
attaching rotating arms to their robots and experimenting with ways to “kick” a ball in a controlled
8
way. 3rd grade has been using the Scratch platform
to design and program original video games.
The whole intermediate team will be participating
in a Technology/Engineering Science Olympiad
over the last few weeks of school. This was made
possible by the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh,
which gave Falk a materials grant of more than
$2,800. During the Olympiad, 3rd graders will be
observing and analyzing Bristol Bots and then
creating their own to perform tasks. 4th graders
will be researching and constructing bridges to
compete in a weight bearing contest. 5th graders
will be looking at different types of green energy
and utilizing solar racecars to collect and analyze
data and then utilize their conclusions to make a
prediction on the best time to race their cars.
Primary
Ms. Wright’s 2nd grade class completed stopmotion animation projects inspired by Matisse’s
paper cut-outs. They are currently exploring the
medium of audio, developing a persuasive podcast
presenting positions on Macbeth as the class’s
favorite Shakespeare play. Mr. Nardini’s class
completed animations of the solar system and is
hard at work in a hands-on exploration of bridge
design. Although explorations in the two classes
parallel each other for much of the year, these
collaborative projects offer a wonderful opportunity
for Technology and classroom teachers to share
interests and expertise.
First grade has been investigating how our water
gets clean. We experimented with different filtering
media and designed our own filtering systems. We
had a visit from Alcosan, from which we learned
about the role of the caddisfly as an indicator
species in our water. We considered the systems
aspect of water engineering, exploring how
differently shaped containers can be connected
to transport water. In culmination, we built clay
vessels with Ms. Capezzuti that will be installed
outside the classroom windows.
Technology News, continued
Kindergarten went to the Children’s Museum where they utilized their
knowledge of circuitry and applied it to making moving bots. They brought their
machines back to Falk and continued the project by exploring more ways to
get them to move and decorate them. The Kindergarten year is wrapping up
by the students looking inside toys and wondering and talking about how they
work. The culminating activity has the students looking at shoes that light up
and describing how they work.
Robotics
We are seeking adult robotics mentors for 2015-16 Middle School and
Intermediate club programs. If you have engineering/robotics/computing expertise that you would like to share with our young roboticists, or just enjoy being
involved in a fun activity with your children, let us know! In particular, as we
move into our second year of Middle School FIRST Lego League, we would
love to involve industry parents, even if your child is not directly involved.
Please contact Laura Tomokiyo (tomokiyo@pitt.edu) if you are interested!
Making and Learning
Over the last few years, our Technology program has moved
toward incorporating elements of building, engineering, and
design - a direction that parallels the wider “Maker Movement.”
We believe that hands-on exploration is a crucial component
of learning and wish to support our children in developing the
skills to articulate, design, and realize an object according to
a unique need or dream. We are delighted to announce that
we have been selected as one of six schools to work with the
Children’s Museum in the Kickstarting Making program. We
are also excited and grateful to have received an extremely
generous donation of a Boxzy 3d printer / laser etcher / CNC
mill that will be housed in the Technology studio. 3rd grade
parent Nate Weathington made us aware of this amazing
device and is hoping that the donation can include families
across the grade levels - please contact Nate (5thgear@
gmail.com) if you are interested in contributing to this project!
Apples for the Children
Finally, thank you to all the families who have linked Falk to
their Giant Eagle cards - through the Apples for the Students
program we were able to purchase two mini tablets with
speakers to take into classrooms for collaboration with classroom teachers.
Information about registering your card is here: http://www.gianteagle.com/
Save/Supporting-Our-Schools/Apples-for-the-Students/. Thank you for your
support!
Laura Tomokiyo (tomokiyo@pitt.edu) and Tim Wagner (wagnert@pitt.edu)
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Volume 26, Issue 3
Music Notes
The Music and Performing Arts
Department finished up the year
with many outstanding performances from students representing the Primary, Intermediate
and Middle School levels. Dr.
Conover and Ms. Sassani are
tremendously thankful for all of
these collaborative opportunities,
and have enjoyed each and
every one of them.
Have a great, musical Summer!
3/265th Grade Music Puppet
& Spanish Collaboration
4/15 Middle School Spring Concert
4/22 Mr. Nardini’s 2nd Grade The Hobbit
5/11 – 5/14 Middle School Musical Guys and Dolls
5/20 Intermediate Spring Concert
6/2 Kindergarten Snatchabook
and the Bedtime Stories
6/6 3rd Grade Great Migration
& Civil Rights
10
“Guys and Dolls”
WOW!! Congratulations to every Falk Middle School student
for their fantastic work on “Guys and Dolls”. This production
was an absolute joy. We hope these pictures will bring back
happy memories as you celebrate our multi-talented Middle
School students.
11
Volume 26, Issue 3
Admissions Notes
We had a wonderful turnout of new families at the Spring
Carnival. And they loved it! Special thanks to the PTO for
hosting our new families and to all of our parents, students,
faculty, and staff who welcomed them to the Falk School
community.
We are always looking for current parents to help new families
transition to Falk. If you are interested in being a resource for
those just joining our community, please email the admissions
office at falkinfo@pitt.edu.
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2016
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Do you have a younger child who will be five years old by
September 1, 2016? Please plan to complete their kindergarten
application by the end of summer. Log into your Family Access
Portal account and select “Apply” from the top menu bar.
Spotlight on Faculty and Staff
In this issue we posed eight questions to
Rebecca Wright, 1st/2nd grade teacher, and
Carrie Smith, Middle School Language Arts
teacher:
Rebecca Wright
Please tell us about your role
at Falk, such as how long
have you been here and
what part of your job brings
you the most joy? I teach 1st
and 2nd grade at Falk and
have been here for 6 years.
I enjoy having the freedom to
share my interests with my
students, and teaching Shakespeare and Art History
to 1st and 2nd graders is a blast!
Where did you grow up and what places have
you called home? I grew up in NYC, and I have
also called DC, Annapolis, Baltimore, and now
Pittsburgh home.
12
From your childhood, can you recall a favorite toy,
activity, or author? Legos. Madeline L’Engle.
What do you miss about being a child? Not worrying about finances!
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Reading, writing, and eating yummy exotic food.
If you could have dinner with one famous person—living or non-living—who would it be and what
restaurant would you go to? The gentleman who
stared down the line of tanks at Tiananmen Square.
The restaurant would be entirely his choice.
If you didn’t have this job, what would be your
dream job? Teaching in a maximum security prison.
I worked in a prison as a criminal history profiler and
analyst and found it fascinating from a sociological
perspective.
Finally, if you could have any superpower, what
would it be and why? The ability to restore health
-- physical and mental – in others. n
Spotlight on Faculty and Staff, continued
Carrie Smith
Please tell us about your
role at Falk, such as how
long have you been here
and what part of your
job brings you the most
joy? Teaching at Falk is
an absolute delight. My
first year at Falk was as
an intern with Greg Wittig
in Middle School English
language arts during the
2012-2013 school year. I then had the opportunity
to teach alongside first and second grade teachers
in Primary the following year as a resource teacher.
Now, I teach 6th and 7th grade English language
arts. What I love about teaching are the students.
Where did you grow up and what places have
you called home? Whenever someone asks me
where I am from, I always ask if they know where
Penn State University is located. Often Penn State
is described as being in the “middle of nowhere.”
Well, I’m from that nowhere. I grew up in Burnham,
Pennsylvania, where the town center is a steel mill
and the surrounding area is known for its Amish
and Mennonite communities. People from the area
rarely get caught up in the nitty gritty of the actual
towns, but rather refer to the whole area by the
county name (which happens to be Mifflin). Being a
collection of small towns, we have quite a collection
of quirky events, from Hartley’s potato chips falling
from the sky on New Year’s Eve to Goose Day on
September 29.
From your childhood, can you recall a favorite toy,
activity, or author? What I loved most as a child
was playing pretend. I grew up surrounded by
family, and my cousins and I could often be found
using whatever was available to us to play, using
couch arm covers as bandages and jump ropes for
microphones.
What do you miss about being a child? My fondest
memories from childhood are wrapped up in the
little rituals I was so amused by. I spent a lot of time
with my grandparents, and I loved our morning and
bedtime routines when I would stay over. My grandmother would wake me up singing “Wake Up Little
Suzie” and by the time I reached the stairs I could
already smell coffee and peanut butter melting on
an English muffin. I would stir the orange juice,
which was frozen from concentrate, and crack
my grandfather’s hard-boiled egg with a small
spoon. Before bed each night, my grandfather
and I would curl up together with a tape recorder
playing “April in Portugal” by Les Baxter, and I’d fall
asleep imagining glamorous people dancing in an
underground cafe.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time? My
fiancé and I recently bought a house and have
been enjoying planting and tending to flowers and
vegetable gardens, among other house projects. I
am often most content to be out and about around
the city at coffee shops and events or off in the
woods hiking and camping.
If you could have dinner with one famous person—living or non-living—who would it be and
what restaurant would you go to? Choosing one
person is tough, but I think I would have to say
James Baldwin. I would invite him over for dinner
at my house. I’d expect we would have a long
conversation.
If you didn’t have this job, what would be your
dream job? My dream job besides being a teacher
would likely be a small business owner of some
kind, probably of a diner or bakery.
Finally, if you could have any superpower, what
would it be and why? Oh, the super power
question! Sixth grade students can tell you I
have thought long and hard about what my super
power would be. If pressed, I would have to say
time travel, and not just your run-of-the-mill time
travel either. My super power would allow me to
travel to any point in time with one other person
without being detected. I would want this super
power so that I could witness events as they were,
have another person
to offer a different
perspective and
discuss afterward,
and use my knowledge to influence
society. Kind of like
the Giver, but a little
more passive. n
13
Volume 26, Issue 3
Middle School News
They got the
chance to
interact with
Native Spanish
speakers in our
community and
learn about the
influence that
Hispanic food
and culture
has had in
Pittsburgh.
Carnegie Awards
Three (3) of our
Middle School
students received the
prestigious Carnegie
Awards for their
outstanding work in
science and technology. Haley Nichols, a Falk 7th grader, received
the Intermediate Division Award for her work with
Himalayan Sea Salt. Haley investigated the health
benefits of the Himalayan sea salt by comparing
the salt to normal sodium chloride as well as other
salt varieties from France, Hawaii, and India. She
compared which salt allowed brine shrimp to hatch
and thrive.
The 6th grade team of Benjamin Bermann and
James Votruba-Drzal received the Junior Division
Award for their work with algae. They were
interested in exploring how
biomass from algae can be used
to produce biofuel. The team
tested growing conditions to find
which variables resulted in the
most Spirulina algae, manipulating
nutrient levels, agitation, and water
temperature. Their results showed
that high temperature, low agitation,
and either low or high nutrient levels
generated the most algae.
The students were honored at
an awards ceremony earlier this
month at the Carnegie Music Hall.
We are extremely proud of their
accomplishments!
ISEF 2015
6th grade students in Ms. Baker’s Science class
participated in the 2015 Outreach Day on May
14th hosted at the International Science and
Engineering Fair. They had the opportunity to
participate in a lab activity on invasive species, visit
and interact with student scientists from around
the word, as well as visit the Expo where new and
innovative techniques were
being showcased.
7th Grade Social Studies
Guest Lecturers
On May 18th, the 7th grade
Social Studies had visitors from
the University of Pittsburgh’s
Center for Russian and Eastern
European studies conducted
an informative and educational
discussion on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Specifically, the
lecturers, Mr. Werner Selle and
Ms. Alyssa Cypher, spoke to the
14
students
on how
the conflict
is multifaceted,
encompassing
cultural,
ethnic,
economic, and territorial disputes that
have existed for hundreds of years and which
continue to the present, to influence and cloud the
conflict. Furthermore, these enthusiastic professional lecturers gave insight as to how the conflict
may play out in the future. The students were able
to showcase their knowledge of the conflict by
asking well-thought-out questions that sparked
substantive discussions.
6th Grade Spanish
This semester students have been working on
many cultural learnings about the Latino community. On May 13th we invited Alberto Vazquez
(Ana Vazquez’s dad) to talk to the students about
life in Puerto Rico. He is a native from Puerto Rico
and he talked to the kids about his childhood,
his favorite foods and Puerto Rican history and
politics. The students were very engaged and
interested in learning more about this country
and its culture. It has been a great year for the
6th graders in Spanish and I wish them a great
summer and break.
8th Grade Spanish
On May 27, 8th grade students went to the Strip
District to tour a variety of Hispanic shops and
restaurants. They got the chance to interact with
Native Spanish speakers in our community and
learn about the influence that Hispanic food and
culture has had in Pittsburgh. They also got a
chance to try many Hispanic foods and even make
their own tortillas. They were very excited for this
opportunity to experience Hispanic culture in our
community!
Spanish News
In March, students in the fifth grade classroom
performed a folk tale in Spanish and it was a
great collaboration project. This performance
was also shown to the international visitors from
IALS who came to visit our school. The creation,
translation, adaptation and execution of this
play ‘Domingo Siete’ was a joint effort by many
members of the Falk community including, the
Art teacher Ms. Capezzuti, the Music Teacher
Ms. Sassani, Ms. Gómez, 8th grader Miranda
Carpenter-Achugar and the 5th grade classes
and their teachers. This Colombian folk tale
was re-written by Miranda under the supervision of Ms. Gómez as part of the curriculum
of the Spanish Heritage Language Learners
Class. Miranda was instrumental in the design
of materials, the translation of the play and
the teaching of cultural learnings to the 5th
graders. The interdisciplinary collaboration at
Falk between the Spanish Heritage Language
Learners class, the 5th graders, Music, Art and
the 5th grade teachers Ms. Metcalf and Ms.
Sukenik was a challenging yet beneficial cultural
learning experience for all. We hope that this
extremely rewarding non-English language play
performance will be the first of many at, by and
for the Falk school community.
Physical Education News
Falk Baseball 2015
Take me out to the ball game. Take me with the crowd. Buy me some
peanuts and Cracker Jack. I don’t care if I never get back. Falk baseball is
back! Our team just finished its fourth year of glory on the diamond. Falk
School enjoys a partnership with the Community Day School in Squirrel
Hill to field the yearly baseball team. The players from both schools work
together to build skills, develop teamwork, and have fun in the sun. The
Falk/CDS team practices at CDS and travels to all of the games. We play
against Shady Side, Sewickley, Deer Lakes, and others. As the coach, I
look forward to each season and the opportunity to work with players from
both schools. It is a great example of community building and provides
Falk players with the chance to make new friendships. BATTER UP!!!
Pictured from left (Sam Bisno, Graham Abbott, Chuck Kiesling,
not pictured Ben Bermann)
15
Volume 26, Issue 3
Falk Laboratory School
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh PA 15216
Published by the Falk School PTO
Editor
Deborah Walker
dlwalker23@yahoo.com
Designer
Patricia Tsagaris
pinkhaus.design@verizon.net
Please send us your contributions
for future editions of FalkTalk.
Happy Summer!