How many seeds are inside a pumpkin? That was the question that Mrs. Detter’s first grade students pondered during a recent math lesson. The students were split into small groups. Each group of students was given a pumpkin. The first task was to estimate by looking at the pumpkin how many seeds might be inside. The second task (with the help of parent volunteers) was to clean out the inside of the pumpkin and separate the seeds from the pulp. The third task was to count up the seeds using groups of five. The last task was to compare the number of actual seeds in the pumpkin to the estimate. The students also read the book, How Many Seeds In a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara.

Students at Pequea Elementary spent part of this week learning about National Fire Prevention Week. At the end of the week, the school held a fire drill with the West Willow Fire Department responding. After searching the school for possible fire hazards (and finding none!) the firemen showed the students around the fire truck and emergency vehicle explaining how they fight a fire and describing the function for different pieces of equipment.

The students in Mrs. Thomson and Mrs. Kaplan’s second grade classes learned about world geography and also read the book, “Everybody Cooks Rice” by N. Dooley. Tying the two lessons together resulted in Rice Day Extravaganza. The students were treated to rice dishes from sixteen countries. They sampled coconut rice from Sri Lanka, curry rice from India, plov from Uzbekistan, maki-sushi from Japan, Spanish rice from Puerto Rico, Haitian rice from Haiti and more. Staff and parents prepared the different dishes for the students to sample.

Miss Weber’s 2nd grade students received instruction from Conestoga Garden parents, Mrs. Horst and Mrs. Thomas, on how to start a worm compost. The students measured the red wiggler worms that are used for composting. They prepared the newspaper bedding in a plastic tub, added recycled food and the worms. The worms  will eat the food scraps, which will become compost as it passes through the worm’s body. The students also had a chance to separate worm castings that produce fertilizer from uneaten food and newspapers from a previous composting bin and add the fertilizer to the carrots and beets in the garden.

Penn Manor is proud of our 2012 performance of the statewide Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) results released today by Secretary of Education Ron Tomalis.  While we did not make all of the increased national targets for all of our schools, the results clearly indicate that the vast majority of students in Penn Manor are performing well above the expectations of No Child Left Behind.  While we continue to strive for higher achievement, we are proud of the performance of our students and the instruction provided by our teachers.

Eshleman Elementary has traditionally been one of the higher performing elementary schools in Lancaster.  This year they made 12 of the 13 targets missing the target for the economically disadvantaged subgroup in reading.  After reviewing the scores for all student, if one student in that subgroup had answered one or two more questions correctly, they would have met all targets this year.

Mrs. Drexel’s kindergarten classes at Pequea Elementary are getting ready for autumn. Each student made a paper plate tree with falling leaves. The trees will be used to decorate the hallways in preparation for the fall season.