Highlands School District

HIGHLANDS STAFF MEMBERS RECOGNIZED FOR 25 YEARS OF SERVICE On the Staff Opening Day for the 2024-25 school year, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Cathleen Cubelic recognized 21 staff members who celebrated 25 years of service at Highlands! Staff members were escorted by members of Superintendent Dr. Monique Mawhinney's Student Cabinet or by family members who share a Highlands connection. With sincere appreciation and gratitude, we congratulate the following staff for their 25 years of dedication and commitment to Highlands: Marian Ayres Fischer - Pre-K Counts Teacher Escorted by Shane Sultzer   Cynthia Smith - Kindergarten Teacher Escorted by Carter Brown   Michele Pacek - Kindergarten Teacher Escorted by Michael Reid-Wells & Giuliana Malta   Nicole Baker - MTSS Interventionist at Highlands Elementary Escorted by her father, Ron Korczynski, who was an art teacher at Highlands for 32 years!   Kristine Hrivnak - 1st Grade Teacher Escorted by Mikenzie Anderson    Annette Wasilowski - Food Services, Highlands Elementary Escorted by Jamaal Cook   Trish Beam - 8th Grade Learning Support Teacher Escorted by... Kevin Schmitt - Recently retired 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher, who is also celebrating 25 years!   Scott Cale - 5th Grade Science Teacher Escorted by his children, Highlands students Aiden Cale & Lilliana Cale   Ron DeJidas - 6th Grade Science Teacher Escorted by Vincent Markey   Mike Foster - 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher   Wendy Hutchison - 8th Grade Science Teacher Escorted by Ava Josefoski & William Woody   Renee Ludwig - Middle School Choral Director Escorted by Serenity Matthews & Drake Hatajik   Chris Nowicki - Recently retired 5th Grade Social Studies Teacher   Kelly Schoepf - MTSS Facilitator at the Middle School Escorted by Quinn Dickerson   Teresa Emeloff - High School Art Teacher Escorted by Chloe Fox   Jennifer Galcik - High School Special Education Teacher Escorted by her daughter, Hannah Swartz Miller, who is an ELA Teacher at Highlands Middle School.   Rich Macura - High School Special Education Teacher Escorted by Asira Hayden   Autumn Melczak - High School Social Studies Teacher Escorted by Gabby Godfrey   Matthew Sespico - High School Science Teacher Escorted by Keegan Babinsack Matt Taladay - High School Science Teacher Escorted by Mason Powell CONGRATULATIONS! 👏

Way to go, Elijah Majocha!

THE HIGHLANDS CLASS OF 1984 is having a 40th REUNION! 💛🤎💛 Saturday, Sept. 14 (Tentatively 6:00PM - 11:00PM) Hillcrest Country Club 3411 Leechburg Road, New Kensington, PA 15068 Questions: [email protected] or to Scott Malobicky at [email protected] ➡PLEASE SHARE with any Highlands 1984 Alumni! ➡➡Register by clicking on link below. https://lnkd.in/eQi2hHEw

CONGRATULATIONS to HHS Class of '24 graduates Abbi Polliard & Kaylie Polliard, who were the first females in the High School's Entry Level Fire Training (ELFT) program to be honored with the Fred Falise Community Service Award through the Highlands Emergency Services Alliance (HESA)! The ELFT dual enrollment program is offered to students at Highlands and 4 other school districts through a partnership with the Allegheny County Fire Academy and Fire Instructor Michael Krzeminski. #firetraining #communityservice #RamPride #WeAreHighlands

YEAR-END HIGHLIGHTS: MIDDLE SCHOOL MAKERSPACE ACTIVITIES! Students in grades 5-8 had a busy spring in the school's Makerspace, an active, hands-on area in the school library where students gather to explore, create, invent and learn. Check out the activities in the images below and zoom in to read the descriptions! Special thanks to Middle School Library Media Specialist Jennifer Kosior for the information, photos and videos! For more photos and videos of these creative lessons, please visit https://bit.ly/3z2Bk46 #makerspace #STEAM #handsonlearning #RamPride #WeAreHighlands Monique Mawhinney Becky Bragan Cory Sakolsky Eli Butler

HIGHLANDS CELEBRATES 56th COMMENCEMENT! Rain held off, but it remained a mostly cloudy, windy and cool June evening as the district celebrated the Highlands High Senior Class of 2024 at the 56th Annual Commencement with a traditional outdoor ceremony at Golden Rams Stadium on Friday, June 7, 2024. Special alumni guest speaker was Class of 1992 graduate Clifford Stroud. Click on the link below for the LIST OF GRADUATES, CEREMONY RECAP, GRADUATE HONORS, multiple PHOTO GALLERIES and VIDEO LINKS! https://bit.ly/3XmjROd #classof2024 #R4L #WeAreHighlands #graduation

"The challenges are big. The obstacles are formidable. But when it comes to connecting with parents and truly supporting students, Highlands School District is heading down the road to success. Quite literally. In a district where 64 percent of families are classified as socioeconomically disadvantaged, and where two large Section Eight housing units are located, Highlands is committed to meeting families where they are — and traveling directly to them to accomplish that." https://lnkd.in/e2zBSMjA Monique Mawhinney Cathleen Cubelic Amber Dean

"TOTALITY" THRILLED! Highlands High School Earth/Space and Planetary Sciences Teacher Matthew Sespico was "thrilled out of his mind" to experience the totality of the Solar Eclipse on April 8 near Indianapolis, IN! Shown in the first 4 photo collages are pictures that Mr. Sespico took on that historical day. His favorite part of the eclipse was capturing the "Diamond Ring". The last photo collage features pictures taken by Highlands sophomore Owen McIntire, who shares Sespico's passion for astronomy. #solareclipse #earthspacescience #RamPride #WeAreHighlands

HIGHLANDS STUDENTS SHINE in Sustainability Design Challenge! High School CHS Spanish IV students, teacher Laura Fleischer Proaño and library media specialist Kristen Gettens participated in a 6-month sustainability design challenge sponsored by the Consortium for Public Education and Pittsburgh-area organizations including companies, universities, non-profits and governments. The bilingual sustainability design concepts developed by the Highlands students encompassed projects to promote student engagement in community and school governance, composting waste collected at school, initiating a high school SAT prep class and revitalizing the Heights plaza. READ MORE about this exciting experience and view the PHOTO GALLERY of our students here: https://bit.ly/3JaSz5f #sustainabilityeducation #RamPride #SpanishClass #WeAreHighlands Covestro

CONGRATULATIONS to retired Highlands elementary teacher and varsity baseball head coach Fred Paganelli on his impending induction into the A-K Valley Sports Hall of Fame on May 4! As head coach of Highlands baseball from 1985-2000, Paganelli won five section titles (1988, ’91, ’92, ’94, ’96), and his teams were second-place finishers in the WPIAL four times (1989, ’93, ’95, ’97). #R4L #RamPride #WeAreHighlands https://lnkd.in/eeGbB49M