Northern News

January 17, 2023 - School Board Committee Meeting - Administration Building, 6:30PM

January 24, 2023 - School Board Meeting - Administration Building, 6:30PM

The Northern HS Singers have been selected to sing the National Anthem at the January 9th Opening of the PA Farm Show. The link is a media post about the whole contest and all the winners, and Northern is among the winners.https://www.media.pa.gov/pages/farm-show-details.aspx?newsid=291

In late November, NES 1st grader Keegan Reese dressed as Mr. Kirkpatrick, School Superintendent, for Thursday’s theme: Dress like a Future Career Choice.

Pictured: Keegan Reese and Mr. Steve Kirkpatrick

Kindergarten and first grade students collected pajamas and books for the Pajama Project. We collected 28 pairs of pajamas, 55 books and a few stuffed animals. These items will be going to the Women’s Center in York as that is the partner the Pajama Program paired us with. Every pair of pajamas donated gets a new book donated by Scholastic. There were 20 kids who brought in donations. (Seven classes had the chance to participate: Hoff, Brubaker, Kane, Lane, Downey, Warren, Kunkel.) Since 2001, classrooms across the country have donated nearly 7.5 million pairs of new pajamas. The Scholastic Reading Club has more than matched those numbers with nearly 700,000 new books to the Pajama Program.

Pictured: L-R, back to front

Standing: Mrs. Kane, Chloe Houser, Elizabeth McCain, Reeve Parks, Brynnlee Guzik, Jasobeam Marin, Jenazareth Ramos, Haydon Houser, Sam Foster

Kneeling: Avalynn Wertz, Gwen McKeever, Thaddeus Middaugh, Oliver Nixon, Carson O’Brien

Kneeling front: Link Cornwall, Aliza Dill, Molly Foster, Madelyn Hock, William Norfolk, Kinsley Regan

Northern York County School Board Reorganization Meeting the Northern York County School Board held its annual Reorganizational Meeting on Tuesday, December 7. The Board voted for Mr. Ken Sechrist to remain as Board President and Mrs. Ann Hoverter as Vice President. Committee chairs were assigned as follows:

• Athletics and Activities – Mr. Thomas Welch (twelch@northernyork.org)
• Budget and Finance – Mr. Greg Hlatky (ghlatky@northernyork.org)
• Buildings and Grounds – Mr. Joe Rudy (jrudy@northernyork.org)
• Curriculum – Dr. Beth McLean (emclean@northernyork.org)
• Personnel – Mrs. Alyssa Eichelberger (aeichelberger@northernyork.org)
• Policy – Mr. Zachary Kile (zkile@northernyork.org)
• Transportation – Mr. Steve Becker (sbecker@northernyork.org)

A slate of next year’s meeting dates was approved and will be posted to the District’s School Board website later this month. The Board typically meets each month as a Committee of the Whole on the 3rd Tuesday of each month and for a Regular Board Meeting on the 4th Tuesday. Meetings will typically convene at 6:30 PM. Your School Board Directors make key decisions that drive education from voting on budgets to adopting policy to conducting comprehensive planning. They invite you to contact them with your District-related questions and concerns.

• Representing Region 1 (Wellsville Borough, Warrington Township, Washington Township): Mr. Sechrist, Mr. Welch, and Mr. Kile
• Region 2 (Monaghan Township, Carroll Township): Mrs. Hoverter, Mr. Hlatky, and Dr. McLean
• Region 3 (Dillsburg Borough, Franklintown Borough, Franklin Township): Mr. Rudy, Mr. Becker, and Mrs. Eichelberger.

Students in Miss Daly’s first grade class at NES shared their stories with Mr. Steve Kirkpatrick, Superintendent.

The Holiday Gift Drive was amazing this year! Multiple parents were brought to tears of joy while the gifts were being loaded into their vehicles. One young father said, “I’m going to actually be like Santa Claus this year.” Due to the generosity of the staff and members of the community, 52 families received gifts, food, hygiene products and more! The generosity of our community and efforts of our staff is truly amazing. Thank you to all who helped make this Holiday meaningful for those in need.

On the afternoon of December 20th all staff were invited to the annual Social hosted by the NYCSD School Board of Directors. The social is held in the cafeteria of Northern High School, with food provided by Scott Shedlock and staff, and music provided by staff and student entertainers. A great start to the holiday break!

At the December 20, 2022 the Board of School Directors recognized the 6 students whose artwork was featured on the 2022 NYCSD Holiday cards. The students recognized were:

Kiley Heltzel (Grade 12), Cora Hershock (NES – Grade 3), Maddie Zarate (Grade 10), Allist Crist (DES – Grade 5). Absent: Mackenzie Robinson (Grade 8) and JR Guzik (SME – Grade 5).

As a thank you to the students in Mrs. Alicia Murlatt’s PACE class for helping keep the Administration offices looking good, they were treated to a holiday party and even Santa Claus stopped by for a visit! The students made crafts, ate snacks, and shared Christmas stories. A fun time was had by all who attended!

Pictured: Brayden (Barry) Decker

Students in Mrs. Raina Kane’s first grade class at South Mountain Elementary used round mints and hot water to see what would happen to the candy. The red comes off and makes a neat design in the water. They also used whole candy canes and round mints with hot water and cold water in a cup to see what would happen from the different types of water. The end result was that hot water melts it faster and the mint in the hot water completely dissolved! A fun science holiday project experiment!

On Tuesday, December 27th, current and former Northern High School swimmers conducted their annual "Swim-a-Mile, Bring-a-Smile" swim-a-thon fundraiser. The swimmers obtain pledges for completing a continuous mile (defined as 1650 yards in competitive swimming) and the team chooses a local non-profit social service organization as the beneficiary of their efforts. Current Northern swimmers complete the mile by themselves, while returning Northern Swimming alumni work together and complete the distance via mile relay teams. Over the years, the Northern Swimming and Diving program has raised money in this way to support Canine Rescue of Central PA, Covenant House of York, Four Diamonds Fund, Foundation Fighting Blindness, CURE International, Project SHARE, the Sam Mizrahi Memorial Fund, The Salvation Army, PA Wounded Warriors, Special Olympics, the Dillsburg VFW Riders Group and more.

This year the team chose New Hope Ministries (https://nhm-pa.org) as the beneficiary of the swim-a-thon. New Hope was chosen because they directly and significantly impact many lives by assisting members of our local community with food and other basic household needs through their stability and workforce development programs and with various youth programs.

Alumni pictured who helped support Northern Swimming 2022-23 and New Hope Ministries represented classes from 2014 to 2022 and included (from left to right front row) Rachel Hawkins, Anna Pontius, Ann Secord, Mary Secord, Zach Chavey, Katelyn Boyce, Dahna Yoon, Jenna Breon, Jackie Brettschneider, Noah Spencer, Andrew Chavey and Daniel Reyes. In the back row is Ethan Spencer, Ben Clarke, Seth Hawkins, Evangeline Soerens and Abigail Soerens. Also providing support were alumni Jane Secord, Matt Langland and Raina Diziki.

Current 2022-23 Northern swimmers who participated were Daniel Abreu-Flores, Elizabeth Anthony, AJ Black, Jon Brettschneider, Jeremiah Clark, Logan Dohner, Liberty Dorsey, Brody Douglass, Kady Grasser, Sam Kazakavich, Madelyn Lemley, Hannah Lusk, Madison Mansell, Savannah Pentz, Cole Ryan, Cathleen Saunders, Aubrey Stuckey and Sondo Yoon. Seven of the current Northern swimmers completed a mile swim for the very first time.

While the team is still collecting pledges, so far, along with the alumni, they have raised over $1200 that will go directly to New Hope Ministries, with the intent of fulfilling the name of the event, "Swim-a-Mile, Bring-a-Smile!"

A message from Superintendent Kirkpatrick:

Last month's early snowfall was a reminder for us all that winter weather has arrived. When weather conditions dictate that unscheduled closings, delays, or early dismissals are in the best interest of student and staff safety, the District will use several communication channels to notify parents, students, and staff as quickly as possible:

• Blackboard Alert Messaging System – Notification will be sent via automated phone calls and emails
• District Website – Information will be posted as an on-screen alert when you visit the District website at www.northernpolarbears.com
• Social Media – Information will be shared on the District’s Twitter feed @NorthernYorkSD
• Other – Details will also be reported to local radio and television stations

Notifications for each weather-related event will specify whether extracurricular activities including athletic games and practices will be canceled for the day.

There will be no instruction on the first two winter weather closings. These “snow days” will be made up on February 17 and March 10 per our 2022-23 School Year Calendar.

For closings beyond the first two snow days, instruction will take place at home and will be provided through remote learning. The District has the authority to provide up to five of these remote learning days, should conditions necessitate, before we would have to start adding days to the end of the school calendar in June. Wishing you all a safe and fun winter season!

The Polar Cares Closet collects gently used clothing and new cleaning supplies which are shared with students and families in need. The greatest needs are: underwear, socks, girls leggings, boys athletic pants, and detergent. Also needed are Giant or Weis brown paper bags. All donations can be dropped off in any of the Polar Cares bins located in the lobby of each school building.

Thank you, as always, for your support of our NYCSD families!

Northern is pleased to introduce a new discount program for Dell computers and accessories to all district staff, students and families.

Link to website for discount pricing: http://www.dell.com/epp/NorthernYork

Pictured above: Information on upcoming Black Friday Sale

For their Annual Campaign, the Polar Bear Foundation is sharing the district's message of BeCome BeLong Be Northern by offering a yard sign to those who donate $30 or above. Donations can be made at http://www.polarbearfoundation.net

PBF is beginning to plan for the gala after a three year hiatus! If you are interested in helping please reach out to smoose@northernyork.org.

Northern York County School District is currently in need of substitute nurses. Must hold an R.N. Rate of pay: $30/hour. Please contact Vangie Unti at vunti@northernyork.org to apply.

$251/day

Apply online: https://www.applitrack.com/NYCSDK12/onlineapp/default.aspx?all=1

We're hiring full-time Aides! Refer a friend - make $100. See attached for details.

Apply online: https://jobs.willsubplus.com/jobs?districtIds=623

Apply online: https://www.northernpolarbears.com/Page/36

All community flyers are posted online. Please visit the following link to view all flyers: https://www.northernpolarbears.com/domain/11

#BecomeBelongBeNorthern

Get all the latest Northern York County School District school news at the following Twitter handles:

https://twitter.com/DearOldNorthern (Northern High School)

https://twitter.com/NMS_PolarBears (Northern Middle School)

https://twitter.com/DESPolarBears (Dillsburg Elementary)

https://twitter.com/NESPolarBears (Northern Elementary)

https://twitter.com/SMEPolarBears (South Mountain Elementary)

https://twitter.com/WESpolarbears (Wellsville Elementary)

Email: ssentman@northernyork.org

Website: www.northernpolarbears.com

Location: 650 South Baltimore Street, Dillsburg, PA, United States
Phone: 717-432-8691