Upcoming Meetings Board Regular Meeting, 7 p.m.Mars Planet Foundation Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

All meetings are open to the public and are held at the District’s Administration Office, 545 Route 228, unless otherwise noted. For details, call (724) 625-1518.

Tuesday, Sept. 13 — Tuesday, Sept. 20 —

The Communicatore

No. 5Vol. 11

Mars Area School District

A weekly eNewsletter serving residents of Mars and Valencia boroughs as well as Adams and Middlesex townships.

Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016

High School to Induct 2016 Sports Hall of FameMars Area High School will hold its 2016 Mars Area Sports Hallof Fame Induction Ceremony at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16, atMars Area Middle School. Inductees are Michael Baumgartel, Class of 2001 (Football),Dave Pisarcik, Class of 2006 (Wrestling), Brittany Zaborowski,Class of 2006 (Track & Field), the 1977 Girls Varsity BasketballTeam (Valerie Danner, Kathy Doman, Lisa O’Connor Denham,Katie Kier Maitland, Nancy Molnar Raymond, Carolyn Shott, SusieStar, Kathy Lisman Wood, Kim Burford Geyer, Leda Best, LeslieAiken Brooks, Leslie Bannerot Leopold, Linda Trump McLaughlinand Joyce Adams Simpson) and the 1971 Boys 1,600-MeterRelay Team (Ed Best, Ed Totin, Bob Harbison, John Schlessler).All inductees will also be recognized at 6:30 p.m., prior to theFightin’ Planets football game against the Montour Spartans at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16, at Mars Athletic Complex.The Mars Area Sports Hall of Fame recognizes those individualswho have distinguished themselves in athletics during and beyondtheir years at Mars Area School District. Nominations are acceptedthrough April 30 of the previous school year. For more information, visit www.marsk12.org.

Middle School to Offer Scholastic Book FairMars Area Middle School will offer a Scholastic Book Fair,Monday through Friday, Sept. 12-16.A Family Night event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday,Sept. 15, during the school’s Open House/Curriculum Night.Proceeds benefit the school’s library.For more information, call (724) 625-3145.

Elementary PTO Selling SpiritWear, Window ClingsMars Area Elementary PTO is taking orders for Mars SpiritWearand Window Clings through Wednesday, Sept. 21.SpiritWearmay be ordered online at www.sportslocker.biz/team-stores/ (select “Mars PTO 2016”), where parents can opt to shipitems directly to their home. Otherwise, SpiritWearorders mustbe picked up from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 12, atMars Area Elementary School.Window Clings must be ordered using paper forms, which areavailable in each elementary building. Paper order forms forSpiritWearmay also be obtained in each school’s main office.For more information, visit www.marspto.org.

Schools to Hold Student Picture DaysMars Area School District will hold Student Picture Days asfollows:

Tuesday, Sept. 13— Mars Area Middle School (724)625-3145; Mars Area Centennial School (724) 625-2601Wednesday, Sept. 14— Mars Area Primary Center (724) 625-1588Thursday, Sept. 15— Mars Area Elementary School(724) 625-3161

For more information, call the individual school building.

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Back-to-School

Teachers at Mars Area Primary Center welcome parents at the school’s First GradeParent Orientation, held Sept. 6. Photo by Josh Schwoebel

Elementary School to Offer Parent OrientationMars Area Elementary Schools will hold its Parent Orienta-tion from 6 to 8 p.m. tonight (Thursday, Sept. 8).For more information, call (724) 625-3161.

Middle School Open House Set for Sept. 15 Mars Area Middle School will hold an Open House/Curricu-lum Night from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15.For more information, call (724) 625-3145.

High School AFS/MISA Chapter to MeetMars Area High School AFS/MISA (American Field Service/Mars International Student Association) Chapter will meet at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14, at Mars Area High School. The school’s AFS/MISA Chapter is seeking local familiesinterested in hosting students from other countries. For moreinformation, call (724) 625-1581.

2 The Communicator — Sept. 8, 2016 Mars Area School Districte

Volleyball Team Expecting Strong SeasonMars Area High School Girls Varsity Volleyball Team isexpecting to be competitive this season.In 2015, the Lady Planets ended the regular sea-son with an overall record of 6-8 and 4-8 in Sec-tion 3-AAA. This season, the team moves toSection 4-AAA competition.“With the new classification, we are looking forward torenewed rivalries and challenges,” says Tami Caraway,head coach. “We are ready to see how well we can com-pete with the best teams in our new section.”Returning players include seniors Julia Zimmerand CassieMcKernan, who were named to the 2015 All Section (3-AAA)Second and Third Teams, respectively. Also returning to thisyear’s team are seniors Julia Frye, Rachel McKernan,Gabrielle Nataleand Mikayla Tiller.Other players to watch include juniors Sydney Amell,Isabelle Berkopec, Kaylee Ebbert, Sophia Lamm,Ashlee Schlegeland Madeline Schlegel; sophomoreAlayna Chizmar; and freshman Paytyn Long. The team’s next game is against the Butler Golden Tornadosat 7:15 tonight (Thursday, Sept. 8) at Mars Area High School.

Contact Parent Meetings Scheduled on Sept. 15Mars Area Elementary PTO will offer Contact Parent Meetingson Thursday, Sept. 15, in the PTO Room (218) at Mars AreaCentennial School. Times are as follows: v Fourth Grade— 9 a.m. v Third Grade— 10 a.m. v Second Grade— 11 a.m. v First Grade— Noon v Kindergarten (AM & PM)— 1 p.m.Contact parents plan and attend class parties; coordinatevolunteers to aid teachers in the classroom; and act as a liai-son between teachers and parents. For more information,visit www.marspto.org.

REMINDER — Student Information to be Updated OnlineMars Area School District is reminding any parents who have yetto complete their student’s emergency and back-to-school infor-mation via the District’s Internet-based system to please do so. Postcard mailers with each student’s personalized login infor-mation and step-by-step instructions for completing this onlineprocess were distributed to all District parents (K-12) in August.Parents who have multiple students attending Mars Area schoolsshould have received one mailer per student. To complete the online forms, parents will need to log in at www.marschild.net to review and update each student’s information.Parents may login to the website as many times as needed duringthe online collection period to complete a student’s information. The deadline to complete and submit the online forms isMonday, Sept. 19.Parents/guardians who do not have or have misplaced the mail-er or those who do not have access to the Internet or a computermust contact the principal at the student’s school to requestpaper forms. (Note: The District cannot provide the personalizedlogin information and password that is listed on a student’s indi-vidualized postcard mailer.) Questions regarding the completion of the online forms may bedirected to (724) 625-1518, ext. 1510 or 1519, between 8 a.m.and 3 p.m., Monday through Thursday.

High School to Offer College & Career FairMars Area High School will offer its annual College & Career Fairfrom 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 20, in the cafeteria.The event, which is open to the entire community, including par-ents and students from surrounding school districts, will featurenumerous colleges and universities as well as business andtechnical schools and military representatives.For more information, call (724) 625-1581.

Elementary PTO

Mars Area Elementary PTO 2016-2017 Board members are (back row, from left)Kristen Lutzic, Heather Johnson, Jen Lyker, Michele Krafjack, Jennifer Pro, TracyAshbaugh, Jody Gagnon, Julie Ford, Tina Richard, Susan Cable and Jenna Falkner;(middle row) Karen Goul, Tanya Yoshioka, Katie Ray, Alison Painley, Sandy Becker,Jennifer Chomicki and Nikki Williams; and (front row) Karen Harvey (vice president),Jessica black (secretary), Rachel Steigerwald (president), and Amy Riggio (treasur-er). Photo by Josh Schwoebel

Elementary PTO to Hold Box Tops ContestMars Area Elementary PTO will hold its annual Box Tops for Education Contest, Monday, Sept. 19, through Friday,Oct. 14, at Mars Area Primary Center, Mars Area Elemen-tary School and Mars Area Centennial School.Students in kindergarten through sixth grade will be asked tobring in Box Top coupons found on General Mills brandproducts. Each Box Top will be collected and sent to BoxTops for Education, which will make a payment to the schoolbased on the number of Box Tops collected.VOLUNTEERS NEEDED— The PTO is seeking volun-teers to cut Box Tops from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Fridays,Sept. 23, 30 & Oct. 14, at the District’s Administration Office.No clearances are required to volunteer for this purpose. The class in each grade that collects the most Box Tops willreceive a prize. For details, e-mail bigred_213@yahoo.com.

Mars Robotics Association — Competitive Robotics TeamOpen to students in Grades 7-12. Adult mentors welcome.

For details, visit www.marsfirstrobotics.org.Adams Township — Community Day

Saturday, Sept. 10, noon to dusk @ Adams Township Community ParkFor details, call (724) 625-2221 or visit www.adamstwp.org.Mars Area Public Library — Bark for Books Dog Walk

Saturday, Sept. 17, 10 a.m. @ Adams Township Community ParkFor details, call (724) 625-9048 or visit www.marsarealibrary.org.

Girl Scouts — Information SessionWednesday, Sept. 21, 6 p.m. @ Mars Area Public Library

For details, e-mail trefoilscouts@gmail.com.Mars Robotics Association — Competitive Robotics TeamOpen to students in Grades 7-12. Adult mentors welcome.

For details, visit www.marsfirstrobotics.org.Mars Backstop Club — Golf Outing

Sunday, Oct. 2, noon @ Suncrest Golf CourseTo register, visit http://marsbackstopclub.wix.com/baseball.

Community EventsThe following is a list of upcoming events offered by organizations, groupsand individuals that are not associated with Mars Area School District:

Note: This information is provided as a community service at the request of anon-school organization. This information and/or activity is not associated withMars Area School District. Any questions or correspondence should be directedto the activity coordinator using the contact information provided. More informa-tion is available on the “Community” page at www.marsk12.org.

Questions regarding The eCommunicator may be addressed to Josh Schwoebel, Director of Communications, at (724) 625-4589 or via e-mail at jschwoebel@marsk12.org.

Mars Area School District 545 Route 228 Mars, Pa. 16046 Phone: (724) 625-1518 Fax: (724) 625-1060 www.marsk12.orgl l l l l

Mars Area School District The Communicator — Sept. 8, 2016 3e

Fifth-graders to Participate in Stream StudyMars Area Centennial School fifth-graders will participate inStream Study Field Trips on Fridays, Sept. 16, 23, 30 andOct. 7, 14 and 28.Fifth-graders will travel to Breakneck Creek to study theproperties of the watershed under the guidance of studentvolunteers and science teachers from Mars Area HighSchool. The field trips are part of the Mars Area WaterProtection Program, which employs a “hands-on, cross-cur-ricular” approach to train high school students in hydro-geo-logical content and technology. For more information call (724) 625-2601.

Mars Area Senior Joins CMU Team to Solve ProblemMars Area senior Nathan Kaliedawas part of a team of ninehigh school students at the Pennsylvania Governor’s School forthe Sciences that tied eight world records for solving a version ofthe Traveling Salesman Problem.The problem, an example of complex algorith-mic or NP-hard problems, asked the students todevise the most efficient method of deliveringpackages to a set number of customers within agiven timeframe. As part of the students’ finalproject, the team set out to solve a version ofthe problem referred to as the “Vehicle RoutingProblem with Time Windows.”The students developed an artificial intelligence framework for acomputer program to choose and modify the best routes until anoptimal solution was established. The program quickly solvedeight variations of the problem, tying for a world record each time.The Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Sciences, held atCarnegie Mellon University, is a five-week, summer enrichmentprogram for high school seniors. For more information, visithttp://science.pa-gov-schools.org.

Nathan Kalieda

Elementary PTO Holding ‘March for Mars’ Fund-raiserMars Area Elementary PTO will hold a “March for Mars” walk-a-thon fund-raiser on the following dates: v Wednesday, Oct. 5— Mars Area Centennial School v Thursday, Oct. 6— Mars Area Primary Center v Friday, Oct. 7— Mars Area Elementary SchoolAs part of the fund-raiser, students are asked to collect donationsto benefit Mars Area Elementary PTO’s support of educationalprograms at the Mars Area School District’s elementary schools.Students who submit donations by Friday, Sept. 16, will be eligi-ble to receive one of several prizes. Checks may be made payable to “Mars Elementary PTO” andmay be dropped off at the student’s school building or mailed toMars Area Elementary PTO; P.O. Box 173; Mars, Pa. 16046.Online donations will also be accepted at www.crowdrise.com/march-for-mars-2016/fundraiser/marspto. (Note: In the event of an event cancellation because of inclementweather, all donations will be considered a donation to Mars AreaElementary PTO.) For more information, visit www.marspto.org.

Foundation Seeking ‘Day of Giving’ Donations Mars Planet Foundation is seeking donations as part of thePittsburghGives 2016 Day of Giving from 8 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.on Wednesday, Sept. 21. The Pittsburgh Foundation, which sponsors the program,will offer matching funds to all participating organizationswithin Butler County through The Endowment for ButlerCounty. To donate, visit www.pittsburghgives.org/nonprofitsand search for “Mars Planet Foundation.”Mars Planet Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization,serves to develop, promote and finance educational programs,activities and projects within Mars Area School District. Formore information, call (724) 625-1518, ext. 1531.

High School to Hold Open House/Curriculum NightMars Area High School will hold an Open House/CurriculumNight from 6 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 22.For more information, call (724) 625-1581.

@MarsAreaSD@MASDasst_super@MASDAthletics

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