THE

Volume XXIII, Number III Periodical of the Perry Local School District December 2011

District Office

4201- 13th Street S. W. Massillon, Ohio 44646 (330) 477-8121 http://perrylocal.org

Perry High School

3737 - 13th Street S.W. Massillon, Ohio 44646 (330) 477-3486 http://perrylocal.org/phs http://facebook.com/perryhighschool

Edison Middle School

4201 - 13th Street S.W. Massillon, Ohio 44646 (330) 478-6167 http://perrylocal.org/edison

Pfeiffer Intermediate

School

4315 - 13th Street S.W. Massillon, Ohio 44646 (330) 478-6163 http://perrylocal.org/pfeiffer

Genoa Elementary

519 Genoa Road S.W. Massillon, Ohio 44646 (330) 478-6171 http://perrylocal.org/genoa

Knapp Elementary

5151 Oakcliff Street S.W. Canton, Ohio 44706 (330) 478-6174 http://perrylocal.org/knapp

Lohr Elementary

5300 Richville Dr. S.W. Navarre, Ohio 44662 (330) 484-3924 http://perrylocal.org/lohr

Watson Elementary

515 Marion Ave. N.W. Massillon, Ohio 44646 (330) 832-8100 http://perrylocal.org/watson

Whipple Elementary

4800 12th Street N.W. Canton, Ohio 44708 (330) 478-6177 http://perrylocal.org/whipple

Elementary students in Perry are answering more and more questions in class since the beginning of the school year. This is due to some new technology that all preschool through second grade classroom teachers are using. The SMART Response LE interactive response systems are specifically designed for early ele-mentary students. The simple, colorful handheld remotes (clickers) allow students to answer questions, receive instant feedback, and stay engaged in lessons. Stu-dents throughout Perry’s five elementary buildings are excited about the “gamelike” feel that the clickers bring to the classroom. Walter, a first grader in Mrs. Deuble’s class at Lohr agrees, "I like the clickers because they are just like a video game." The technology even has one Lohr student excited about math. "I like the clickers because it's like a computer and I love doing anything on the computer, even math!" said Marcus. The clicker systems also allow students to participate who otherwise may not because of shyness, or they were simply not called on to answer. Tyler, a second grader in Mrs. Baker’s class from Whipple agrees, “I like them because I don't have to talk out loud." Immediate feedback on skills and lessons learned is one of the benefits that clickers provide. Genoa’s first grade teacher, Miss Mitchell states, “SMART LE has assisted in providing immediate feedback which has helped me to drive direct instruction and create flexible groups within my classroom.” The data that can be generated has allowed Mrs. Libster, a first grade teacher at Watson to, “look at students’ results and make quick interventions as you see necessary.”

Over eighty lessons and activities using the clickers have been created by district preschool through second grade teachers that are shared across buildings. One such example was the election day activity completed by Mrs. Rochford’s class. Her kindergarten students voted on their fa-vorite U.S. symbol using the clickers. The clicker technology is quickly becom-ing a favorite of teachers and students. The engagement and feedback provided

continues to be examples of how Perry is providing a 21st Century education with a focus on student achievement.

DID YOU KNOW? There are over 2,000 computers in Perry Local Schools.

TECHNOLOGYTECHNOLOGYTECHNOLOGYTECHNOLOGY A look at technology in Perry schools!

A MESSAGE from our Superintendent and School Board President The holiday season is a perfect time of year to think about the truly important issues in our lives. I’m reminded of an article I read in which the very poor parents of two boys struggled to save enough money to buy a train set for the two brothers. They scrimped for months and then spent more than they could probably afford for a Marx electric train for their sons. On Christmas Eve, a cousin stationed at a nearby military base pulled into the driveway. Open-ing the trunk of his car he lifted out a large heavy box. The brothers could hardly wait to see what it was. On Christmas morning they opened it first, and unwrapped an expensive new electric train set. Then they opened the presents from their parents--another electric train, that wasn’t nearly as nice as the one from their old-

er cousin. The parents were hurt, as the boys barely even noticed the present that they had worked so very hard to give them. The outlay of money for an unmarried Air Force lieu-tenant was very little compared to the sacrifice the parents had made, but all the children saw was the glamour of an expensive train. Amidst the glittering ornaments and flashing Christmas lights, the craziness of shopping and wrapping, of get-togethers, parties, presents, trees and turkeys — it is important to re-member our most important gifts: the gifts of our faith, our families, our friends, and our freedoms in this country, just to name a few. What gets more attention from us: the deeply meaningful relationships of faith, friends and family or the quickly-wrapped department store gifts that are often forgotten in a week’s time? As we participate in this season of the year, we encourage you to spend time on the important people, beliefs, and relationships in your lives. We are both extremely thankful for the very special Perry community, and con-sider ourselves servants on our students’ behalf. We are blessed with wonderful families, individuals, pro-grams, and events in our schools and township, making Perry a great place for a family. Thank you so much for your support of our students and schools! We wish you the most wonderful of holiday seasons! With gratitude and holiday cheer! Sincerely, John V. Richard, Superintendent Michael Brenner, School Board President

Perry Local Schools Mission

To emphasize excellence in learning and provide opportunities for every child to realize his/her potential

in a safe environment. To encourage students to become re-sponsible, productive citizens and life-

long learners.

Top DARE Students: From Left to Right: Mackenzie Spehar

Audra Deitz Morgan Hancock

MIZICKO NAMED HEALTH TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Congratulations to High School Health Teacher Rob Mizicko for being selected as the 2011 Health Education Teacher of the Year by the Ohio Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Rob has been teaching for 18 years, the last 14 years at Perry where he is also the Head Coach of the Boys Cross Coun-try team and the Head Coach of the Boys and Girls track teams. Coach Mizicko received his Health Teacher of the Year award on De-cember 1, 2011 at the OAHPERD Convention in Columbus. Way to go Rob! You make Perry proud.

Perry would like to wish our very own Bette Mizer a Happy

Birthday! She turned 96 on 11/11/11. It's very fitting that someone as patriotic as Bette would have been born on Veteran's Day!

SENIOR MOMENTS from Bette Mizer A time for sharing feelings which too often we postpone…the holidays are a perfect time to make our warm thoughts known. It is the time to count our many blessings, name them one by one!

Special days in November: 6th - Daylight Savings Time ended; 8th- Election Day; 11th- Veter-ans Day; 24th- Thanksgiving Day. November is American Heritage Month. For all Senior Cit-izens celebrating a November birthday; Topaz is your birthstone and the Chrysanthemum is your flower.

Special days in December: 7th - Pearl Harbor Anniversary; 21st - first day of winter; 25th-Christmas, 31st - New Year’s Eve. For all Senior Citizens celebrating a December birthday; the blue turquoise is your birth-stone and the Holly is your flower.

All Perry Township Senior Citizens are cordially invited to attend the annual Holiday Luncheon on Wednes-day, December 14th at Edison Middle School, from 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. (program and dinner). A $3.00 do-nation will be collected at the door. For reservations, please complete and return the attached form to Perry Local Schools, 4201 13th St SW Massillon, OH 44646.

Christkindl Market celebrated their 40th Annual Fine Arts and Crafts show this season at the Cultural Center for the Arts. Congrats to this group on making this a Canton holiday tradition!

Students of Mr. Mark Byrd’s class at Perry Local Schools are helping to build new “birds of prey” cages at the Sanders Wildlife Rehabilitation Center.

DID YOU KNOW? Wyoming was the first state to be admitted to the Union after our Constitution was amended, to allow WOMEN to vote and hold office.

NOTHING IS AS CONTAGIOUS AS ENTHUSIASM!

Perry Township History Club, Inc. continues to preserve and display the township’s history. Goals of the Club are to restore the 1893 Genoa school house and to coordinate events for the township’s bicentennial in 2014. For information, please contact President Charles Taylor, 330-575-2379.

LADY LIBERTY: The Statue of Liberty celebrated her 125th birthday (October 18, 1886) this past October 18th, 2011. During a week of special events, many high tech gifts surrounded her.

Closing Thought: Win new friends, but keep the old; the first are silver, but the other gold! With Perry Pride,

Senior Citizen Holiday Luncheon

Reservation Form December 14, 2011 12:00- 2:00PM

Name_______________________________ Address_____________________________ Telephone____________________________ Number Attending ____________________

For reservations, please complete and return this form to

Perry Local Schools, 4201 13th St SW Massillon, OH 44646 $3 Donation at the door.

Perry Rotary Seeking Nominations for

Outstanding Senior Citizens Nominees for this award must be 60 years or older and a resident of Perry Township; someone who has or is con-tinuing to make a positive impact on Perry Township and the surrounding area. The male and female recipients of this award will not be announced until their recognition at the Holiday Luncheon.

2011 Perry Outstanding Senior Citizen Name: ______________________________________ Address:_____________________________________ Telephone Number:____________________________ List 3 community activities that this individual has participated in during the past 5 years: ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Submit by December 9th to: Perry Local Schools 4201 13th St SW Massillon, OH 44646 Attn: Marcia Higgins

Home of the

Panthers

5 YEARS OF SUPERIOR BUS RATING The J. Babe Stern Award for superior bus rating in Stark County was presented to Perry Local Schools at the annual Stark County School Bus Banquet. This is the 5th year in a row Perry has received this award. Here's how the award is determined: The Highway Patrol inspected the buses for various things under the hood, under carriage and inside the buses during the month of July. Out of 55 buses, we only had 3 incidents where a bus needed to be fixed before it could get a sticker. The highway patrol then tallied the results from all the districts in Stark County and Perry was the district with the lowest percentage of issues. We won again!! Congratulations Mitzi and the Perry Team of: Walt Eagle, Joel Boughman, Lois Krynock, Annette Radsick, Veronica Fach, Missy Capuano, Stacey St. Jean, Seth Good, Dan Gooding and Anna Fach. If you get a chance, please thank all of them for their hard work and dedication to the Perry Local Schools. You make us proud. Congratulations!

PERRY RECOGNIZED FOR EFFICIENCY IN

OPERATIONS The independent education analyst group, Knowledge Works, recently ranked Perry Local Schools as tops in the state for operational efficiency in two different areas. Our Food Services program was rated #1 in the state in our demographic catego-ry, and our Central Office efficiency was rated #5 in the state! Superintendent John Richard took part in a panel on a televised event in Columbus to spread the word on the keys to success in these areas. Congrats to all parties involved in making Perry a statewide standout!

2011 MIDDLE SCHOOL

STARK COUNTY &

FEDERAL LEAGUE

INDIVIDUAL CHAMPION:

LEXI ECHELBERRY

This past middle school cross-country season was again another success. One of the members of the girls team; Lexi Echelberry, not only had a successful season, but had one of the best seasons ever in recent memory by an in-dividual at the middle school lev-el. Lexi is one of the best cross-country runners in the area. This is an outstanding accomplish-ment for Lexi who is a 7th grader at Edison Middle School, since this was her first year competing at the middle school level. Lexi competed in ten cross-country races this past season where she took first place in all but one. After Lexi’s first competition at the Golden Eagle Invitational, where she received second place, she never looked back and came up first in her remaining competi-tions. Lexi took 1st place at the North Canton Dave Clegg Invitation, Malone XC Invitational, The Stark County Championships, Stow Bulldog Invitational, and finished the season by winning the Federal League Championships. Not only is Lexi Echelberry the 2011 Federal League Champion, but she is also the Stark County Champion where she competed against every runner in the county. We want to congratulate Lexi on an outstanding cross-country season and look forward to more great accomplishments from her. Lexi you make all of us at Perry very proud. Lexi could not have ac-complished all this without the encouragement of her teammates. Members of this year’s middle school cross-country team were: Kasie Perretta, Jessie Williams, Ra-chel Brown, Hope Price, Shannon Howley, Lauren Die-trick, Hannah Petitti, and Jaylee George for the Girls Team. Boys Team: Evan Evanko, Alex Bevington, Scott Essig, Aaron Singo, Daniel Cronk, Sam Aegerter, Kyle Betivas, Logan Riley, and Seth Brand.

DID YOU KNOW? There are 450 Video Projec-tors in Perry Local Schools. These video projectors show the image of a computer, camera or DVD play-er so the entire class can view it at the same time.

AWARDS & HONORS

We are Perry

WHIPPLE ELEMENTARY

(perrylocal.org/whipple)

READING IS A COMMUNITY EFFORT Normally Whipple graduate, Mike Evans, (son of Whipple Secretary, Kathy Evans) fights fires and rescues people in distress in our local area. Howev-er, Mike took a day out of his busy schedule to share his love of fire-fighting with Whip-ple’s first grade classes in an effort to partnership com-munity and school in encouraging stu-dents to read. How do you accomplish that? What child doesn’t hold fire-fighters in high es-teem? Now, hand him a book that not only tells about firefighting but also has the sounds to go along with it and then sit back and watch as awestruck students become engaged. If he dons firefighting gear and breathing apparatus and fol-lows that with useful information that just might save their lives -- you now have their full attention! Throw in a paper fire truck and a handshake from a real life firefighter and you now have a memory about reading that hopefully will last a lifetime! What an awesome experience for our Whipple first graders!

SCHOOL NEWS WHIPPLE ELEMENTARY

TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED READING

Kids love technology! Ten years ago, Whipple decided to pair that love of technology with reading by incorpo-rating a software program called Accelerated Reader. This has turned out to be a great program for the stu-dents! Students in grades 2, 3 & 4 are encouraged to read various leveled books in the library and then take computerized comprehension quizzes over those books. The students are awarded points, based on their perfor-mance on those quizzes. These points can then be trad-ed in for prizes in the library. Students may spend their points each month or save them for larger prizes. Through the help of our PTO, we are able to stock our AR prize shelves with a huge assortment of prizes rang-ing from erasers and baseball cards to larger things such as disco lights and Webkinz! Students are encouraged to take AR quizzes in the li-brary, computer lab or in their class (whenever there is extra time). In order to encourage students to do their best, additional bonus points are awarded for each 100% grade that a student receives on a quiz. It has proven to be a very successful incen-tive and great read-ing program. Whipple’s second grade classes (pictured) have been notoriously enthusiastic with the AR program! Ms. Nolan loves to tell how eagerly her 2nd grade class has embraced AR! She is thrilled to see how they budget their study time so that they have extra time to read and take AR quizzes! Technology certainly has helped to enhance the love of reading at Whipple!

GO PANTHERS!

GENOA ELEMENTARY (perrylocal.org/genoa)

SMART BOARD, SMARTER STUDENTS

Our kindergarten through second grade students have the opportunity to use Smart Response LE clickers! Shown is Miss Mitchell’s first grade students using clickers to practice weekly vocabulary words. Miss Mitchell reads a sentence for students to fill in the blank on the Smart Board. Students try to answer using the choices given with their hand-held clickers. The answers transmit to the Smart Board and provide imme-diate feedback. The feedback given is displayed in a way that each student’s response is kept confidential to the rest of class, only the teacher knows who made the responses. The class, with the help of the teacher, takes time to discuss correct answers. The teacher can easily see who is on target or who will need additional support. The students have so much fun using this hands-on technology as they learn!

WATSON ELEMENTARY (perrylocal.org/watson)

GIRLS ON THE RUN 2nd YEAR IN A ROW Girls on the Run is so much fun! This is the chant that is heard from the girls participating at the end of each Girls on the Run (GOTR) training session. Watson has offered this wonderful after school program to 3rd and 4th grade girls for two years now. The partic-ipating girls started training in September. Their training sessions were to prepare for the 5K race but also for building confi-dence, self esteem as well as the direct benefit of im-proving their health and fitness. The Watson Girls on the Run also demonstrated their civic mindedness by making Thanksgiving cards for residents at a local nursing home. They also donated canned goods for the community Perry Helping Perry Food Bank. It was a great day for a race on Saturday November 13 as our GOTR Girls participated in the 5K race held at Lake Cable. The race is well known and part of the Subway challenge series. The training for the June race will start in March and culminate with the 5K race at Walsh University.

LOHR ELEMENTARY (perrylocal.org/lohr)

LOHR LOVES

TECHNOLOGY Lohr Elementary stays up to date with the 21st century in many ways! We currently have a computer lab which all students visit weekly equipped with 28 comput-ers. We also have interac-tive smartboards in all K-4 classrooms which is one of the many ways our teachers are engaging students and improving learning in the classroom. Take a quick tour of our building by visiting our webpage and watching a short movie we made using our flip video camera! Our website is also a great place parents can keep up to date on what is going on in our building and in their child’s classroom by going to their teacher’s class webpage!

KNAPP ELEMENTARY (perrylocal.org/knapp)

GREAT THINGS WITH TECHNOLOGY! Great things happen all the time at Knapp Elemen-tary when it comes to technology. Every day our students interact with technology through the use of our smart boards. Every classroom has an interac-tive, electronic whiteboard which enhances instruc-tion and learning. The teachers create content rich, engaging lessons which address specific skills that promote student success. The teachers are able to use online learning activities, games and short video clips that are being taught in class. The iPod Touch is another cool piece of technology that our 3rd graders in Mrs. Foen’s class use sev-eral days a week. These little hand held computers are perfect for reviewing skills that have been taught in all subject areas. Some of the students favorite apps are word salad, language and grammar games, and most importantly math flashcards. Mrs. Foen’s states, “The kids love it! Every day they want to know if we are using the iPods in class.” What a perfect combination, students learning through the use of technology and having fun at the same time.

GENOA ELEMENTARY (perrylocal.org/genoa)

APPRECIATING VETERANS DAY On Tuesday, November 8th the second graders at Genoa Elementary School walked over to Perry High School to visit the Veterans’ Memorial. While there, we discussed the importance of the holiday and read through the names of those men who are written on the plaques. We took a mo-ment of silence to honor our veterans and then al-lowed the students to place flags around the memorial and do some rubbings of the names. Prior to our visit we spent time learn-ing about Veterans Day and read two amazing books. The first book is The Wall by Eve Bunting and the second book was written by our own Matt Patron and it is called I Love You, Dan, Good Night! The students loved this experience and

have really come to love and respect our veterans.

STUDENTS EXPERIENCE TECHNOLOGY

Pfeiffer Intermediate students have a wide variety of technologies they utilize on a daily basis. Pfeiffer is fortunate to have SMART boards, clicker response systems, netbooks with building-wide wireless, a tech class and web-based programs that supplement learn-ing for student use. The most noticeable form of technology is the SMART board. Students may interact with the SMART board on their own or the teacher may use it to make a lesson more engaging by incorporating websites or videos into the lesson. Teachers may al-so save their lessons from the SMART board and up-load them to a website so students who were absent don’t fall behind. Another technology that students use at Pfeiffer is the Senteo clicker system. A clicker system is a device that students hold in their hands to input information for the teacher to analyze. This infor-mation could be a response to a question, answers to a test or the value of a math problem. Students receive instant feed-back from the device and teach-ers can make informed decisions about whether or not students are learning the material being taught. Teachers also use the clicker systems to analyze com-mon assessments that are given at the end of each nine weeks to check how students are progressing towards learning goals throughout the year. A new website that students at Pfeiffer are using is the Scholastic Reading Inventory, or SRI, and the purpose of this website is to measure students’ read-ing levels. Students answer questions about a reading passage and the program assesses their reading ability and even offers suggestions about books to read based on ability and interests. Teachers have utilized the results of the SRI tests to ensure they are select-ing appropriate books and passages for our students and to measure growth over the course of the year. We have already observed growth in our students from the first SRI test! Recently, Pfeiffer Intermediate received upgrades to its wireless network and the whole building is now covered! Teachers no longer have to sign up for a lab, and this allows for more flexibility in their schedules. In conclusion, Pfeiffer students use and interact with technology on a daily basis. We are fortunate for the technologies that are available to them, and there are more to come in the future!

PFEIFFER INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL (perrylocal.org/pfeiffer)

PFEIFFER RUNNING CLUB

Pfeiffer’s Running Club had record numbers this year. This was the fourth consecutive year that Pfeiffer held a running club which meets in the fall months. Each year the running club is expanding and this year was no different. The Pfeiffer Running Club consistently had 45 runners who would meet after school every Monday and Thursday for about an hour. The club started in August and ran through Oc-tober. When the running club would meet, they would learn about stretching, running and nutrition, not just run for fun. The running club had several chances to showcase their running abilities in races against other running clubs from the area. Pfeiffer’s runners outshined all other running club members. The runners also competed against themselves in try-ing to improve their own personal best racing times. We want to congratulate those who participated in this year’s Running Club. We also wanted to thank the Running Club members for making this year the most exciting year of Running Club yet and can’t wait until next year to continue the excitement for Pfeiffer’s Running Club.

LOHR ELEMENTARY (perrylocal.org/lohr)

IS THAT A MAGNA DOODLE? That’s not a magna doodle! It’s a wireless slate! The wireless slate allows teachers to interact wirelessly with the Smart-board. The wireless slate is a great way to engage students while at their desks. The teacher can use the slate to keep the momentum of the lesson moving or the students can pass it around to answer questions on it too. The students love the wireless slate because it is “like magic.” Whenever a child can say education is “like magic” it must mean they are engaged and excited about learning!

HAT DAY RAISES $1,000 Edison Middle School donated money to wear their favorite hats in honor of our friend, Nate Baker. Nate is an 8th grader from Edison who is battling cancer and we wanted to show our support in a special way. Edison students and staff raised $1000 from Hat Day to support Nate and his fami-ly. We are proud of the attitude of giving from our students!

He’s a great guy

He’s a great fighter He’s got Perry pride

He makes life brighter.

Show him your love And donate today Because you know

It will help him in every way. Seventy is his number

Out on the football field He played clean and fair But he got cancer so rare.

To me this is not fair

He had to go through this We love you very much Nate And don’t you ever forget.

Keep Fighting Nate! (written by Edison Student who wishes to remain anonymous.)

BUMP, SET, SPIKE Edison and Pfeiffer staff teamed up to play volleyball against the Perry High staff before a varsity game. Staff played as part of "Volley for the Cure" in support of breast cancer research. The gym was decked out in pink and our team came to play. It was a great time!

EDISON MIDDLE SCHOOL (perrylocal.org/edison)

MONEY RAISED IN HONOR OF

VETERANS DAY

The Edison Middle School students sold paper links to create patriotic paper chains in honor of Veterans Day this year. (Pictured: Sean Quinn & Zharyea Stokes) Our school's patriotism was shining with over $1,000 being collected to do-nate to the Dan Patron Scholarship Fund. This was a great way to show how thankful we are of all their sacrifices. Thank you veterans!

NATE BAKER PERSON OF CHARACTER Nate Baker was honored as Edison’s choice for a Person of Character at a recent ceremony at RG Drage. Nate’s nomination form read: Nate Baker is an 8th grade football player and wrestler at Edison Middle School. Nate has been diagnosed with adre-nocortical carcinoma which is a rare form of cancer. He is cur-rently receiving chem-otherapy. Nate has shown what it means to be a true model of character. He has a sense of determination and strength coupled with a positive attitude that lifts the spirits of those around him. He is the kind of person that shows up at football games to support his team even when he may feel like staying home. He is the kind of person who shows up at a blood drive in his honor to thank those who are donating because he is truly grateful. We should all aspire to have the heart, perseverance, and compassion of a person like Nate Baker. Congratulations, Nate!

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PERRY HIGH SCHOOL (perrylocal.org/phs)

AP SCHOLARS ANNOUNCED The following 2011 Perry graduates have earned the designation of AP Scholar by the College Board in recognition of their exceptional achievement on the col-lege-level AP Exams taken in May 2011. AP Scholars with Distinction: These students are Emma Anderson, David Buzinski, Michael McBurney and Matt Meeks

AP Scholars with Honor: These students are Bradley Linerode and Tyler Yoder.

AP Scholars:

Our Scholars are Emily Betz, James Bruder, Avery Demchak, Savannah Fox, Eric Harmon, Nicholas Justyn, Shelby Logan, Meghann Vodopich and Danielle Wagner. Congratulations to these individuals and their teachers

for a job well done!

MARCHING BAND GOES TO STATE On October 15th, the Perry High School Marching Band entered into an Ohio Music Education Association Marching Band competition. The students were evaluated on musical performance, marching performance, per-cussion, and overall "general effect" of the performance. The Marching Panthers com-peted in class AA (based on school size, AA being the largest) and earned a 1st place finish for their class. In addition, Perry earned a Superior rating which qualified them for the State Finals in Dayton, OH. This is the first time in school history that the Marching Band has earned a selection to State Fi-nals, and the only Marching Band in Federal League history to earn this honor. We are very proud of our students as they continue to set the standard for Stark County. The theme for this year's show was "The British Invasion", featuring songs by The Who, Rolling Stones, and the Beatles.

PRIDE

EXCELLENCE

TRADITION

AP RECEIVES NATIONAL RECOGNITION

The College Board has named Perry Local School Dis-trict as 1 of 367 school districts in the nation to be rec-ognized on its AP Achievement List! We will be high-lighted for opening AP classroom doors to a significant-ly broader pool of students, while maintaining or im-proving the percentage of students earning scores of 3 or higher. PHS now offers 10 AP courses. This year alone, more than 175 college credits will be eligible for our students through the AP program. This is an inspi-rational benchmark for our district.

DUAL CREDIT IS ROARING

At a recent statewide meeting, Stark County was ranked 3rd in the state in terms of dual credit offer-ings to high school students. Dual credit, or dual enrollment, refers to courses that high school stu-dents take and simultaneously receive high school and college credit. PHS teachers are certified by local colleges to teach college-approved courses right here at PHS. As the only Stark County school district offering a full 2-yr Associates De-gree within our high school walls, Perry is clearly leading the way state-wide in this area. This has been a key component to helping us reach nearly 80% in the number of graduates entering college within two years of graduation from Perry.

SPEECH & DEBATE THANKS The Perry Speech & Debate Coaches and Executive Of-ficers of the Boosters would like to extend our gratitude to the many parent volunteers who gave their time and energy for the Perry Speech & Debate Tournament November 4 & 5, 2011. Also, a sincere thank you goes to these local businesses which donated and/or discount-ed food for the tournament: Subway inside the Canton Walmart, El Campesino’s Restaurant and Snyder’s Pota-to Chips. Thanks also to Schnab’s Burgers and TGIFri-day’s for your recent support of our fundraisers. Your generosity is most sincerely appreciated. The Perry Speech & Debate Team will also sponsor the Big Dis-trict Tournament in February. We look forward to part-nering with all of you again. To the Perry Community: please patronize our generous supporters.

FOLLOW YOUR PANTHERS ALONG

WITH TWITTER Here are the available twitter feeds: -PerryLocal -PerryAthletics -PerryBaseball -PerryGymnastics -PerrySoftball -PerrySwimDive -PerryTennis -PerryTrackXC -ThePHSNews For more information, check out twitter.com.

PHS ACHIEVES NATIONAL CERTIFICATION

WITH PROJECT LEAD THE WAY

As supporters from business and academia looked on, Bob Ballinger, PLTW Instructor, Sherrie Kibler, PLTW Instructor, Stephanie Laskey, Gateway to Technology Instructor, Mary Jo Bowersox, Perry High School Guid-ance Department Chair, Cortney Ehret, Guidance Coun-selor, and Jennifer Reese, Assistant Principal/Career Tech Director, all from Perry High School recently ac-cepted a plaque proclaiming national certification from Project Lead the Way (PLTW). PLTW offers students either a pre-engineering or a biomedical sciences track in an effort to help schools increase the number and quality of engi-neers and bio-medical science students gradu-ating from col-leges and universities in the United States. To achieve national certification, a PLTW school must adhere to strict requirements, including—among other things—teaching the PLTW curriculum, administering the ex-ams provided, working with local business and industry, offering students a way to take all of the basic courses offered and providing them a clear pathway into post-secondary education. Since our school has achieved certified status, pre-engineering students may now take their high school credit earned in Project Lead the Way and receive credit at several national PLTW affiliate colleges and universi-ties such as Purdue, Penn State, and Rochester Institute of Technology. In addition, several Ohio colleges and universities have already worked out or are currently working out details that will allow pre-engineering stu-dents to enter a large number of Ohio colleges with col-lege credit, depending on the program and the require-ments of the specific college.

LADY PANTHERS SIGN

NATIONAL LETTERS

OF INTENT

Congratulations to the following Panthers on signing with colleges to further their career in aca-demics and athletics. Jayla Saibene (top)National Letter of Intent to play Softball for The Ohio State University in 2012-2013. Macy Byrd (middle) National Letter of Intent to play Basket-ball for Tiffin University in 2012-2013. Shelbi Tilton (bottom) National Letter of Intent to play Softball for Kent State University in 2012-2013.

COMMUNITY NEWS

PERRY HELPING PERRY Upcoming events: The food pantry and clothes closet will be held the 3rd Saturday of each month at Trinity Unit-ed Methodist Church from 10am-12pm. Proof of residency is required. Donations can be dropped off at this time. If you need someone to pick up your donations to PHP, whether it be food or clothing, please call 330-418-4148 or 330-949-1628 and we will have someone pick up your do-nation. We will be collecting items for our "NEW" Christmas voucher program to help those Perry Residents in need during the holidays. Please visit our website for a complete list of items needed at www.perrylocal.org/perryhelpingperry/ Please contact Patty Knotts at 330-418-4148 or Kelly Hajba at 330-949-1628 with any questions or email us at perryhelp-ingperry@yahoo.com. Join us on FACEBOOK!

FREE PERRY COMMUNITY DINNERS December 27 & January 31

4:00-7:00 pm Reedurban Presbyterian Church Corner of 12th & Perry For more information: 330-477-2838 Everyone is invited!

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA

When: Saturday December 10, 2011 Where: Perry High School Cafeteria Time: 9:00 am - 11:00 am Price: Adults- $7.00 Kids- $5.00 Preschool to 5th grade welcome For more information please contact Charlotte Fisher at 330-833-7629. Make checks payable to Perry Cheer Club.

PERRY CHRISTIAN CHURCH EVENTS

GRADES 7-12

December 16th - Basketball 5th Quarter 9-11:30pm December 30th - New Year's Eve Eve all-nighter 10pm-7am January 20th - Basketball 5th Quarter 9-11:30pm For more info: perrychristian.org, email mbaker@perrychristian.org, Facebook: Perry Christian Church-Youth Twitter: @perryyouth

STARKPARKS.COM Full Moon Hike: December 10th at 7 pm

Erie and Ohio Canals:

December 15th at 6 pm

Little Explorers- Deer:

December 21st at 10am & 11:15am

Canalway Center Explorers

December 27th-29th at 11am and 1pm

Paul Hervey 330.437.0026 FZRLAW.COM Canton Estates / Trusts / Probate

Corporate formation

Business planning, Litigation

Banking and creditors’ rights

FIRST SATURDAY DINNERS Richville United Church of Christ 6125 Richville Drive SW

January 7, 2012 4-7pm

Beef Tips and Noodles $8/adult $4/child (12 & under)

February 4, 2012 5-7pm

Spaghetti and Meatballs $8/adult $4/child (12 & under) Call for more information 330-832-1891.

SOUP WITH SANTA O2 Ministries invites everyone to Soup with Santa on December 11th from 5-7pm at TC Knapp Elementary. Get your picture taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus, make a craft, sing songs, watch videos, eat soup, hang out with friends and get in the holiday spirit. The whole event is FREE. For more information call 330-949-6827.

Students enjoy a lesson in front of the SMART Board and the use of Senteo Clickers.

Perry Local Board of Education Mike Brenner, Marlene Capuano

Jon Deitz, Betsy Elum & Bob Schnabel ________________________________________________

Meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 pm at Pfeiffer, and are open to the public.

The Perryite is published six times a year by the Perry Local Board of Education, and distributed to the community resi-

dents, businesses, and staff members.

The Perry Local Schools is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on basis of race, color, national

origin, sex, age or handicap with respect to employment and educational programs and opportunities for students.

Perry Local School District 4201 13th Street S.W. Massillon, Ohio 44646 ECRWSS

Postal Customer

Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE

PAID Canton, Ohio

Permit No. 2286

Perry Hall of Fame Please join us at The Executive Event Center for the induction of the Class of 2012 Perry High School Athletic Hall of Fame starting at 5:45pm on January 13, 2012. The following inductees will be honored:

Craig Day – Baseball, Class of 1969 Bob Edwards – Basketball, Class of 1988 Shane Fichter – Wrestling, Class of 1994

Zakiya Harris – Track, Class of 2001 Eric Heinzer – Football, Class of 2001

Gigi Hopple – Cross Country, Class of 1997 Chris Roddy – Diving/Swimming, Class of 1992

NAME_________________________________________________________________________ STREET ADDRESS______________________________________________________________ CITY_________________________STATE__________________________ZIP______________ PHONE: ___________________________________________

NUMBER OF GUEST TICKETS _____________ AT $30.00 each TOTAL = $__________ PLEASE MAKE CHECK OR MONEY ORDER PAYABLE TO: PERRY ADULT BOOSTER CLUB Return to: Perry High School Attn: James M Ziegler 3737 13th St SW

Massillon, Ohio 44646

NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 23, 2011 TICKETS WILL BE SENT TO YOU BY MAIL ON JANUARY 3, 2012

NO TICKETS WILL BE SOLD AT THE DOOR.

WHAT IS THIS? IT’S A QR CODE.

QR stands for Quick Response. These codes allow people to find out more information on a product or service with their smartphone. By scanning this with your phone, you’ll be taken

to the Perry Local Schools website.

VIEW THE PERRYITE IN FULL COLOR!

Go to http://perrylocal.org/community/perryite for a full color version of the Perryite, as well as, past editions.