Some courses have sold out, but there are still many exciting opportunities for summer learning and fun at Owen J. Roberts. Kids may want to test their skills in Minute to Win It, learn how to play bocce or frisbee golf, or ease Senior Year stress with College Application Boot Camp.

For quick planning, an updated session summary may be found here.

There are four ways to register for programs, including an exciting new online registration.   Access the summer brochure and all registration materials at http://enrichment.ojrsd.com. Check the link for the most current offerings and session locations. Registration will be open until May 31.

Owen J. Roberts summer programs offer students of all ages a place to come together to play, learn, and grow. For more information e-mail Missy Walton or Heidi Lehmann at mwalton@ojrsd.com or  hlehmann@ojrsd.com, or call 610-469-5196.

June 4

7:00 PM @ the Middle School

Elementary Musical Instrument Recruitment Meeting

Information:

The band and orchestra directors of the Owen J. Roberts Elementary schools will be holding their annual recruitment meeting on June 4^th, 2013  at 7:00 PM to discuss signing up for an instrument for the upcoming school year.  The band meeting will take place in the OJR Middle School Auditorium, and the orchestra meeting will take place in the OJR Middle School LGI.  At this time, Menchey Music Service, Inc. will present their rental program and answer your questions.  You will have the opportunity to register your child for an instrument at this time. 

Who is able to participate: 

·         Strings Program:  Open to students in grades 3-6 (2013-2014 school year).

·         Band Program:  Open to students in grades 4-6 (2013-2014 school year).

Contacts:

Band Teachers

·         East Coventry, East Vincent, and French Creek (brass and percussion):  Andrew Klick (aklick@ojrsd.com)  

·         French Creek (woodwinds) and West Vincent:  Neil Fronheiser (nfronheiser@ojrsd.com)

·         North Coventry:  Sarah McGahey (smcgahey@ojrsd.com)

String Teachers

·         East Coventry:  Sybil Vernon (svernon@ojrsd.com)

·         East Vincent and North Coventry:  Cliff Hall (chall@ojrsd.com)

·         French Creek:  Martin Prescod (mprescod@ojrsd.com)

·         West Vincent:  Neil Fronheiser (nfronheiser@ojrsd.com)

For the second year, Owen J. High School students directed a hunger relief campaign competing with other area school districts to gather much needed supplies for food banks in our region. For the second year they also brought home the big prize--$10,000! Shire’s Great Food Fight! is organized by regional high school students, sponsored by Shire Pharmaceuticals, and benefits Philabundance, the region’s largest hunger relief organization. Beneficiaries of the drive include the Pottstown Cluster, which serves families living in the district. This year’s food fight ran from February 25th through March 8th. Student ambassador, Shannon Kolb, was interviewed on KYW radio and all involved students reached out to the community to create awareness for the issue of hunger.

Green practices have been a focus of the Owen J. Roberts School District this year with the District establishing a variety of energy conservation measures and building efficiency programs. On November 14, 2012, student representatives from all OJR schools participated in an event which marked the official capturing of solar energy by the 525 kW solar photovoltaic array installed at the High School & Middle School – more than 2,200 solar panels mounted on building rooftops! Since that time, students have continued to support green efforts with their own unique work and exceptional projects.

Gavin Brown, Audrey Farnham, and Sam Smith, 6th grade students from French Creek Elementary School, were recently awarded 2nd place for 6th grade in the state of Pennsylvania for the U.S. Army eCybermission Challenge, a web-based, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) competition. This group of French Creek students aptly applied what they have learned in the classroom to a real-life problem in their community by developing a plan to help students remember to close the exterior doors when entering and exiting the building as a group.  Students learned about a simple way they can take responsibility to help reduce energy costs and keep their school a safe place to learn and play. The students acquired and put to use a variety of technology, research, and communication skills to effectively carry out their plan. 

Another award winning group of students are the Owen J. Roberts High School Animal Studies Club, which ranked as a “top 5 high school finalist” for the Philadelphia Zoo’s UNLESS Contest 2013 competing against schools from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The grand prize winner will be announced on May 29. The UNLESS contest project involved multiple forms of energy conservation and community outreach. Students focused on digital, print, and interpersonal outreach and included classroom frogs as method for directly connecting people to the animals endangered by energy consumption. Club members procured a recycling bin and successfully encouraged animal studies students to stop putting recyclables in the trash. Next, the club designed a pledge poster where students and staff could pledge to do something that would help save wildlife. Students secured over 90 signatures from people pledging to make changes to help conserve energy and save wildlife. Club members also wrote letters to encourage local businesses to adopt environmentally friendly procedures. The sale of reusable water bottles funded the ability to grow lettuce to feed classroom animals, secure a rain water barrel, and also serve as a way for students to encourage others to cut back on the waste they create every day in the form of disposable beverage containers.

A new link on www.ojrsd.com features a real-time look at the Owen J. Roberts sustainable energy project. Check the green@ojr link for info-graphics which represent an estimated environmental impact of the solar project. An estimated 30% of the energy needs on Owen J. Roberts’ main campus are being generated with solar.

Congratulations to our hard working students for their green efforts! It is hoped that district renewable energy and energy conservation efforts—especially those of students—will help the greater community reduce its carbon footprint and inspire even more green practices.

The 2012-2013 OJR School Calendar has been revised to reflect the final changes for the month of June.  Please click here to view the revised calendar.

At the April 8, 2013 School Board Meeting, the Board of Directors approved the 2013-2014 OJRSD School Calendar.  Please click here to view the approved calendar.

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