Volume

1, Issue 1
	
Aug./S
	ept. 2019

STEELER Nation News

Farrell Schools Undergoing Major Renovation By JORDYN SCOTT

Inside this issue:

Farrell Area Schools look and feel differ-ent this school year! The buildings have been undergoing a district wide renovation that started in June of 2018. The Farrell High Newspaper staff reached out to Superinten-dent Dr. Lora Adams-King who, along with the School Board and Business Manager, has been instrumental in bringing about these innovative improvements.

Dr. Adams-King tells us that the recon-struction is scheduled to be finished in No-vember 2019. It is an 18 month project in total and quickly coming to an end. Some highlights of the project have been the up-dates and remodeling of elementary school classrooms, hallways, ofices, cafeteria, and computer labs. The elementary lockers are now smaller for easier student access. Ongo-ing technology upgrades include IPads and Chromebooks. Windows, lighting, paint, and showcases have been updated throughout both the elementary and high school build-ings. Air conditioning has been cooling tem-peratures throughout both buildings since students returned this past August. Dr. Ad-ams-King’s overall impression is that it is go-
ing very well.

One of the most exciting things to show off is the brand new, state of the art, S.T.E.A.M. laborato-
ry. Farrell High School now boasts one of the most elaborate spaces of this kind in Western Pennsylvania. This innovative design space directly benefits our Farrell students in vari-ous ways. Students are preparing for their futures as well as the future of the technology and design fields that they will be facing in college and in real-world job and career fields. In this lab, and under the guidance of Mr. Justin Lewis, expert and lead STEAM instructor, students are already designing and producing
a variety of products and projects.

Hispanic Heritage Month
	2
	
Homecoming Court
	3
	
Linden Point
	3
	
Teacher Spotlight
	4
	
Classroom candids
	5
	
Student shout-outs
	5
	
Sports - New Head Football Coach
	6
	
Dress Code
	7
	
Farrell 5K / Million Father March
	8

Mark your calendars:

Oct. 4 - Homecoming game vs. Cochranton
Oct. 5- Homecoming Dance Oct. 8 - Language Competi-tion at SRU
Oct. 11- Act 80 early day Oct. 14 - Columbus Day No school
Oct. 15 - Senior Declarations DUE!

Volume 1, Issue 1	Page 1

Sept. 15 - Oct. 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month

Contributed by: Señora Torres

Each year, Americans observe National Hispanic Heritage Month from September 15 to October 15, by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ances-tors came from Spain, Mexico, Spanish-speaking countries in the Caribbean and Central and South America. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon Johnson and was expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period starting on September 15 and ending on October 15.
During National Hispanic Her-itage Month, we recognize the contributions made and the im-portant presence of Hispanic and Latino Americans to the United States and celebrate their herit-age and culture.
Hispanics have had a pro-found and positive influence on our country through their strong commitment to family, faith, hard work, and service. They have en-hanced and shaped our national character with centuries-old tra-ditions that reflect the multi-ethnic and multicultural customs of their communities.
Today, 57.5 million people or 18% of the American population are of Hispanic or Latino origin, making Hispanics the largest eth-nic minority in the United States.
Hispanics serve as Civil Rights

Spanish Teacher, Señora Torres, integrates her own Latino culture (from Puerto Rico) into Farrell Spanish 1-4 Classes.

leaders, politicians, military, edu-cators, first responders, science pioneers and public servants. His-panics also have a strong presence in the arts, media, and spots.

Hispanic individuals who have contributed to the History of our National include:
Sonia Sotomayor – Associate Jus-tice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Hilda Solis – Former Department of Labor Secretary
Felix Longoria and Hector P Gar-cia – Helped bring recognition to Hispanic World War II veterans and founded the American GI Fo-rum
Gina Rivera – Actor

Jorge Ramos – News anchor and winner of eight Emmy Awards Sylvia Mendez – Paved the way for school desegregation and the US perquisite to Brown vs. Educa-tion
Jennifer Lopez – Singer and Actor

Hector Elizondo – Actor

Roberto Clemente – Baseball trail-blazer
Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta – Co-founders of the United Farm Workers Union
Ellen Ochoa – First Hispanic to leave Earth’s atmosphere Franklin Chang-Diaz – Astronaut Victor Cruz – Athlete
Albert Baez – Co-inventor of the X-Ray microscope
Richard E. Cavazos – First Hispanic Four-Star General
Alfred Velazquez Rascon – Medal of Honor recipient and 10th direc-tor of the Selective Service System Joan Baez – Folk Singer and Activist Dr. Severo Ochoa – Doctor and bio-chemist - Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1959 for synthesizing RNA (ribonucleic acid)
Dr. Alfredo Quiñones-Hinojosa -Neurosurgeon, Author, Researcher, and Chair of the Department of Neurologic Surgery at Mayo Clinic Oscar de la Hoya – Boxing champi-on
Fernando Vargas – U.S. Olympian and boxing champion

For more information, visit

www.hispanicheritagemonth.org

Page 2	Volume 1, Issue 1

Homecoming Court 2019

Homecoming 2019 is Friday, October 4th with a game against Cochranton at home. The dance is Sat-urday, October 5th from 7pm-10pm at the Farrell VFW. This year’s theme is Fall. Student Council, un-der leadership of Mrs. Kim Kladitis, is expecting over 80 students to attend the dance.

Homecoming 2019 Court is represented by Senior students:
Raymond Raver Jr., SaNiyeh Thomas, Adrian Daniels, Nikki Jefferson, Tyrie Hammonds, Jasmine May, Kyra Crosby, Juwon Samuels, Kalia Knight and Eric Hopson

Linden Pointe Business Campus wel-comes three of Farrell’s finest

By NATHANIEL WILD		The Linden Pointe pro-gram is an entrepreneurship pro-gram geared towards helping young minds learn how to make and run a successful business. This year’s Linden Pointe class consists of three bright minds from Farrell, Melvin Hobson, Raymond Raver Jr. and Nathaniel Wild. Every day they leave school early, after 4th period, to go to the E-Center locat-ed in Hermitage. Along with ap-proximately twenty other students from Mercer County, they learn entrepreneurial skills, problem solving techniques, and many other skills needed to open, and run, a business of their own. Throughout

this year, they will be put into teams and tasked with thinking of a revolu-tionary idea in no specific domain. Teams will compete against one an-other in an event at the end of May, on what is called “Demo Day.” The win-ner of the contest will be chosen by a panel of judges.
Student Ray Raver sums up his feelings on the program, “E-Academy is an amazing program where I met a ton of great people from around Mercer County. I enjoy and I’d recommend the juniors to try this dur-ing their senior year. This program gives you many great opportunities to do different things that you wouldn’t normally do in class.”

Volume 1, Issue 1	Page 3

Spotlight on Social Studies substitute, Ms. Grills By JORDYN SCOTT

The Sumerians were a civilization that lived between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in 4000 B.C. They are credited for creating the first writing system in the world called Cuneiform! Try to solve the message below using the key.

The first student who solves it and turns it into room 104 will get a treat!

The first student who has Miss Grills for class will get bonus points!

Key

Page 4

Ms. Jessica Grills started at Farrell in the spring of 2019. She is a long-term Social Studies substitute. The reason why she came to Farrell High School is that it reminded her of the high school she attended. She graduated from Clarion-Limestone and Union City School District and then Clarion Uni-versity. She recommends Clarion University because it is relatively small, which makes education more personal, similar to here at Farrell. She majored in Social Studies Education.
Being a teacher was Ms. Grills’ dream job growing up. The teaching style she enjoys the most is group work, which encourages students to work together, manage time wisely, and develop flexibil-ity. The best thing about teaching is helping the stu-dents to understand the meaning and importance of Social Studies and History. The goal she has for herself is to hopefully to continue her career here at Farrell. A piece of advice she wants to give her stu-dents is to come to class, do your work, and turn it in.
Ms. Grills has very exciting news in her per-sonal life as some people already know; she is preg-nant with a baby boy. In a crazy twist of events, she found out that she was pregnant when she got into a car accident just a few months ago. Fortunately, mother and baby are okay and she expects the new addition to her family by this December. Good luck Ms. Grills and thanks for all you do for our Farrell students!

Volume 1, Issue 1

Ms. Bolyard’s Family Consumer Science Classes off to a busy start

Grades 9 and 10 students pare apples and fire up the stove for homemade dip and muf-fins. (Pictured above and right)

Grade 8 students completing a sewing project of felt pillows. (Pictured above and left)

Student SHOUT OUTS!

To: Miles Goodrich from Mrs. Armour: You know what you’re doing, THANKS so much for going above and be-yond!

To: Tacari Evans— Excellent début de l’année. Continue le BON travail!

-Madame

Volume 1, Issue 1	Page 5

Farrell Steelers Football Team, new Coach Amp snag 600th Win! By OMAR STEWART

Already marking a milestone of 600 Farrell Varsity Football wins with a blow out against Mercer on Friday, September 27, we interviewed new Head Football Coach, Antho-ny Pegues. Known as Coach Amp, he attend-ed Farrell Area Schools and was a part of the 1995 and 1996 Football State Championship Teams. Coach Pegues attended Grambling State University in Louisiana, and majored in Computer Science. What made Coach Pegues want to coach at Farrell was that he was one of “those kids” at Farrell and now wants to give something back to others like him. He wants to help create opportunities that can change students’ lives on and off the field. What Coach Pegues can bring to this coach-ing position is an opportunity for these young men to be successful both on the field and in life.
Having been offensive coordinator of the football team, Coach Pegues has learned some things from former Coach Jared Samu-els. He admires Samuels’ dedication to the game of football and his level of commitment to the kids. He went above and beyond for his student athletes. It is clear that Coach Samuels left some big shoes for Coach Pegues to fill.
When asked about his approach to the new position, Coach Amp responded, “I'm

Page 6

just trying to go above and beyond for the program, be one of the great coach-ing legends, and teach these young men the game of football that I love so much.” Coach Pegues’ coaching philos-ophy centers on love and passion for the kids and teaching them how to be-come outstanding young men and win games. A piece of advice Coach Amp offers to his athletes to be successful on the field is to work hard in the class-room and on the field, and everything will take care of itself.
One of Coach Pegues’ proudest personal moments was watching his son, Anthony, graduate from Washing-ton and Jefferson College. He cites win-ning the 2018 State Championship as one of his greatest coaching accom-plishments to date. Best of luck throughout the rest of the season and in your new position, Coach Amp!

Volume 1, Issue 1

Dress Code Dos and Don'ts:
Photos by MELONN WELLS

Don’t! Students are NOT permitted to wear T-shirts that are not Farrell Wear.

Don’t! Sorry, these trendy Ugg slippers are NOT a part of dress code.

Don’t’! Students are NOT per-mitted large logos nor pants with more than the standard two pockets in front and two pockets

Do! Visit the School Store or purchase your favorite club T-shirt to add some Far-rell Wear to your wardrobe. The school store is open most mornings 7:40-8:00 am.

While you’re DRESSED for SUCCESS… check out these college visits in October:

(this is for YOU Juniors and Seniors!)

Do! Complete that look with a solid, colored, collared shirt, skirt and tights.

Mercyhurst University Clarion University YSU
Bethany college

October 8th @ 12:45 October 10th @12:45
October 21st @12:45

October 29th @12:45

Volume 1, Issue 1	Page 7

Racing for charities: Farrell 5K

The 5K is a 3.1 mile run/walk race that is held annually, in September, at FASD. Under the direction of Mrs. Kladitis, Student Council sponsors this event to help raise money for Students for Charities. Students for Charities is an account that helps FASD provide support for families in the region that incur hard-
ship. A huge thanks to all that came out in

support!

Race helpers, Jailen Roye, Xavier Footman, Brice Butler and Gary Satterwhite provide water to runners during the race.

FASD hosts local “Million Fathers March”

“When I saw them (the crowd), it really made my day brighter,” commented Junior, Ma-ria Haynes. And brighter it was! A wave of male role models turned out to welcome students of the FASD into classes on Friday morn-ing, September 27. This nation-wide initiative hails as its mission:

“The Million Fathers March (MFM) is an opportunity for dads, uncles, grandfathers, coaches, mentors, clergy, men’s groups and organiza-tions to show their commitment to the educational lives of their chil-dren throughout the school year by escorting children to school on this day.”

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Some C.O.O.L stuff to do after school

Students weigh in on benefits of the C.O.O.L. Program:

Grade 7 students, Martese Beamon and Gizelle Wells take the challenge of a bal-ance and ropes course at Bad Dog Adven-ture Park.

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