Recent Press Releases
Butler Catholic Students Goes to Penn State
for PJAS
March 2010
Ten promising scientists from
Those qualifying for the May 16-18th Penn State meet include eighth grade students Ansu Benjamin on “Contradicting Colors”, Matt Patterson, “Keep the Heat: Insulate Great”, and Emma Preston with experiment entitled, “Crazy Colors.” Eighth grader Stephanie Centano’s experiment, “Dark or Light Bring It On”, explores dog responses to a maze with and without light. Angela McKnight’s, “Fighting the Burn,” refers to this eighth grade student’s data on freezer burn and plastic wrap. This group also includes Rachel Denny who investigates the whitening power of toothpastes in her project, “Smile” and Dana DePaulo tested artificial sweeteners against sugar in “How Sweet It Is”. Seventh grade students going to States are Mallory Truax, “Which Type of Soda Makes a Plant Grow Faster?” Nate Morgus, “Corrosion of Various Metals in Dilute Sulfuric Acid”, and Nick Grenci, “Crystal Clear Reception”.
Earning a second place award at regional
competition were Kate Kletzli, “Guessing Games”, Ian McNany,
“R-Factor”, and Bryce BonAnno, “Catapult”. All students completed a
research project previous to the meet and reported their findings
through a 10 minute oral presentation during which judges rated
numerically the students’ success in each of five independently
evaluated criteria. Mrs. Jayne Chobot is PJAS moderator and middle
school science teacher at
Ansu Benjamin was all smiles as she qualified for her second year in a row. “It’s a lot of work but well worth the time. States is always fun, especially after you finish your presentation.” Students will hone their presentation between now and May. Comment sheets from judges at the Regional Meet guide them to perfect their work. “I am glad I have another chance to present my results since I know them better than before. There are some things I have to work on to make it clearer,” remarks Nate Morgus.
Submitted by:
Mrs. Elizabeth Spohn
Students catch robotic excitement
December 2009
Persistence pays off for this year’s Butler Catholic School’s robotic team, the Robo-pens, as they competed on Saturday, December 5, in the First Lego League Competition at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Consortium in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh, PA. The team received the second place award for programming and a second call-back for research presentation in a field of 68 teams involving more than 1,000 area middle school students. This outstanding accomplishment is credited to the ten member team of seventh and eighth grade students in Butler Catholic’s elective class for robotics.
Robo-pens team members from 8th grade are Tyler Protivnak, Tyler VanGrootenbruel, Daniel Cleary, Matthew Patterson, Jordan Camp, Katelynn Kletzli, and Emma Preston. Students from 7th grade are Mallory Truax, Anna Swartwout, and Nate Morgus. Mrs. Jayne Chobot, middle school science and robotics teacher, is the team coach. “This is an outstanding team that had some members with previous experience and all with a determination to succeed. All of the students participated in all aspects of the competition,” said Mrs. Chobot.
School Principal, Sister John Ann Mulhern sees the robotics program as an important aspect of the technology program at Butler Catholic School. Each of the four years that Butler Catholic School has competed has shown improved development. The “Smart Move” challenge this year required problem-solving skills, creative thinking, and teamwork as the Robo-pens pitted their customized robots against other participants’ entries. They plan to compete in the the May Madness competition at Sarah Heinz House in Pittsburgh.
Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Academy recognized the Butler Catholic team at the awards ceremony that day. Further awards are listed at: www.firstlegoleague.org. The National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC) is an operating unit within Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute (RI), the world’s largest robotics research and development organization.
Robotics at Butler Catholic School draws not only 7th and 8th graders for their elective class but also attracts more than fifteen students from 5th and 6th grade who participate in the after school Robotics Club. These students are ready for things to come in the ever evolving world of technology.
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Submitted by:
Mrs. Elizabeth Spohn
Guest Celebrant
October 2009
Father Kris D. Stubna, diocesan secretary for education, will be at Butler Catholic as celebrant for the school liturgy mass on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 1:15pm.
Hosting Challenge of Champions
October 2009
Once again, Butler Catholic School will host more than 200 participants at the annual Challenge of Champions on November 14, 2009. Students from non-public schools in the Midwestern Intermediate Unit IV will compete in a wide-range of academic games.
Hey Ho, Pinocchio
May 2009
Working with a prop seven inch nose, “Hey Ho, Pinocchio” lead, Keenan Barlow, carried Butler Catholic’s 6th annual school play through a rousing performance. Presented in the school auditorium at 515 E. Locust Street, each evening at 7:30 p.m. on May 14th through 16th, dozens of primary school students as puppets and older boys as the “Bad Boys” set the whole auditorium ringing with songs and shouts as they danced their way through this version of the famous classic.
Second grader, Hunter Hartley says, “The part I like best about the play are the chase scenes where they run through the audience.” The theme of teaching the importance of honesty and showing love is not lost as everyone sees Pinocchio’s nose grow in length every time he tells a lie!
Assisting with their magic for the puppet Pinocchio’s transformation to a live boy were Cricky, a hip, cool cricket with a conscience, played by Molly Moses and the Blue Fairy, Kate Kletzli. Gepetto his father, portayed by Tony Harpel, showed how love makes us all “real”. Much real talent was shown on stage and behind the scenes by many other students involved. Student Director was 8th grader, Brittany Slupe. Assisting Sister John Ann, school principal and play director were teachers including Miss Christine Fisher as Set Designer, Mrs. Maria Kletzli, Props, and Mrs. Barb Moran, Sound Technician.
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Goin’ Green and not just in April
April 2009
Butler Catholic School students are gearing up in April to keep the green goin’. In addition to new projects that promote earth-friendly choices, awareness of lifestyles that do less damage to our environment is taking center stage.
Every grade level is adopting practices within the classroom that promote our
natural, God-given resources. From reading books like Our Class Is Going Green written and illustrated by kindergarten students for Oak Park Elementary School in Bartlesville, OK, to recycling Pringle potato chip cans to make Easter baskets, students are on the move to recognize their part in making a favorable environment available for future generations. 5th graders actively reduce garbage by carrying lunch or snack items in reusable plastic containers rather than throw-away materials. Making the choice to bring in Capri-Sun juice because the container is part of a recycling campaign at school
demonstrates students’ intention to be a part of this.
Many classrooms are starting green right in their rooms. For Kindergarten
students, it’s an herb garden. 2nd grade started growing marigold flowers to take home while the 3rd grade will receive tree seedlings to plant. 4th grade tomato plants sprouting on the classroom window sills will be enjoyed all summer long when the students have them planted at home.
Earth Day on April 22nd brings with it plans to clean up litter around the school yard and along the Butler Catholic’s route that it has taken on through the state program, Adopt – a– Highway. Middle School students will also be participating in the Spring Clean-up on April 18th at the YMCA/Armco Park site to prepare the acreage for summer fun.
In order to save paper, Butler Catholic School changed the format of its school
newspaper, “The BC Buzz”, so it is now a link on the school website to be viewed and printed. The link is on www.butlercatholic.org Although environmentalism is associated with the color green, it comes in all colors, including the energy efficient light bulbs that have been installed throughout the school. Conserving water and paper use in restrooms to seeing art projects that use recycled paper are reminders of our mission. Year round practices of using both sides and scraps of paper develop those habits that help in the long run. Everything from
keeping desks and lockers cleaned and in order to picking up litter in the halls, become habits to increase awareness of individual responsibility in this effort. Butler Catholic School is committed to making the best use of God’s gifts to keep our world “green”.
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Submitted by Mrs. Elizabeth Spohn
Butler Catholic School
515 E. Locust Street
Butler, PA 16001
724-285-4276
