Welcome to
Neil Armstrong
Middle School

Team Friendship Celebrates Earth Day!

In celebration and recognition of Earth Day 2008, the students on Team Friendship enhanced the overall appearance of the school grounds as a team project.  Students were encouraged to devise ways to make the grounds around Neil more appealing, while helping the environment.  In addition to plating various trees, shrubs and flowers, the students also helped by picking up garbage and recycling appropriate materials.  Team Friendship thanks Lowe's, Home Depot and K-Mart for their generous donations!  The donations not only helped to beautify the school, it made the project a genuine success!  Thank you to everyone who was involved in this green project!

Please click here to see more photos of our Earth Day project

Drama Club Stages Two Plays!

The Neil Armstrong Drama Club outdid themselves this year with two excellent plays.  "The Trouble with Derek" was about a senior boy who is involved with drugs, and pretends to like a freshman girl so he can use her to store his drugs in her locker so he doesn't get caught.  "Rumor and Revenge" is about a girl who thinks she was not invited to her friend's birthday party, because her little sister stole the invitation.  To get revenge on her friend, she starts a rumor about her and ends up learning it was a big misunderstanding.  Both plays conveyed great messages!  Congratulations to the cast and crew for two super productions!

Please click here to see photos from both of the plays.

Seven Play in District Band

Seven Neil Armstrong Music Students participated in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association's District Elementary Band Festival, held at Thomas Jefferson High School.  Congratulations to  sixth graders Mary Hannah Swaney (flute and piccolo), Allie Vargo (clarinet) Kevin Fleischmann (oboe), Jason Harnack (trumpet), Ashley Arzillo (French horn), Phoebe Gorges (French horn) and fifth grader Noah Blanc (tuba).  They students were among a group of 152 musicians from 58 schools to participate in this event.

The Cat's Pajamas Win Battle of the Books!

After being delayed due to bad weather in February, the Battle of the Books Tournament took place on March 27 in the Neil gym and the results are in!  Congratulations to The Cat's Pajamas--Kaileigh Poe, Olivia Schanck, Hayley Lazzari, Hayley Hulbert, Jamie Cavrak,  Alyssa Kearns and Manager Leslie Poe for "clawing their way" into First Place!

For more information about this year's Battle, please click here!

Fifth Grader Finishes Third in Local Chess Tournament

Fifth grader Aaron Coplan finished in Third Place in the Fifth Grade Division  at the second annual St. Louise Invitational Chess Tournament. Students in kindergarten through sixth grade from 11 area schools participated in this event.  Congratulations, Aaron!

Music Students Participate in Woodwind Day!

Over 80 Neil Armstrong woodwind musicians had the opportunity to participate in a special Woodwind Day at Bethel Park High School, where they sat side-by-side and played with woodwind musicians from Bethel Park High School and Independence Middle School.  Neil students traveled to BPHS after school where they participated in master classes and rehearsals with 20 BPHS and IMS musicians, before having dinner and then traveling to Bethel Retirement to play a concert for the residents. It was a great way for Neil musicians to learn from their older peers and use their musical talents to entertain the community.

Please click here to see more pictures from the Woodwind Day rehearsal

Team Ranger Studies Ocean Biome

Fifth graders on Team Ranger recently combined science and language arts to create an ocean biome in the hallway outside their classrooms.  Students worked in small groups to research ocean life such as starfish, squid, sharks, porpoises, turtles and fish.  Then they made giant murals in the hallway to create a giant display that makes everyone who walks through the hallway feel as if they are in an aquarium.  The students used their language arts skills to write cinquain poems about the ocean life they studied.  Then they gave presentations to their classmates about their research.

Please click here to see pictures of the hallway biome.

Mrs. Huwe Named a Teacher of Honor!

Congratulations to Science Teacher Mary Huwe, who has been named a Teacher of Honor by the Teacher Excellence Center, along with Bethel Park High School English Teacher Charles Herd and Independence Middle School Language Arts Teacher Nadine Peters.  Mrs. Huwe will be honored at the 2008 Celebration of Teaching, which will be held on April 24 at the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.  She is now eligible to be named one of seven Teachers of Excellence.  Good luck, Mrs. Huwe!

Jarrod Cingel Wins Neil Spelling Bee

Congratulations to sixth grader Jarrod Cingel, who was the winner of Neil Armstrong's annual Spelling Bee.  Jarrod correctly spelled eight words--including "synchronous" and "paprika" to win this year's Bee.  Sixth grader Ben Muscato and fifth grader Aaron Coplan were the final competitors in the Bee with Jarrod, missing "hibachi" and "sayonara."  Jarrod will now represent Neil Armstrong in the Western Pennsylvania Regional Bee, which will be held on Saturday, March 15 at the University of Pittsburgh.  Good luck, Jarrod!  A special thanks goes to IMS seventh grader and last year's Bee winner, Kyle Barron, and his father, Bruce, who coordinated this year's Bee at Neil.

Neil Students Participate in Brass Day

One of the highlights of the school year for Neil Armstrong brass musicians is the opportunity to participate in the annual Brass Day, hosted at Bethel Park High School. Neil students join musicians from Bethel Park High School in an after-school rehearsal and master class at the high school, followed by a side-by-side concert for the residents at Bethel Retirement. This activity is not only a great way to showcase our musical talent in the community, but Brass Day also gives the Neil students an opportunity to be mentored by older students and encouraged to continue with their music.  This year, over 75 Bethel Park brass players participated.   Pictured here is an "aerial" shot from the performance at Bethel Retirement!

Carnival Raises $7,400 for Autism

This year's Charity Carnival raised $7,400 for Autism Speaks! The Carnival was a huge success, as students moved from room to room to participate in various activities and games.  The face/body painting room was constantly busy as was the cafeteria area, where students paid to throw a sponge topped with Cool Whip at Principals Janet O'Rourke and Gregg Paladina.  And if games weren't your cup of tea, the lobby was filled with numerous gift baskets that could be won via Chinese auction. Carnival is always a fun day at Neil!

Please click here to see more pictures from this year's Carnival!

Robotics Teams Place 9th and 24th!

Congratulations to the "LEGOS" team of Neil Armstrong sixth grade Gifted Students, who finished in 9th place in the Table Missions Competition at the LEGO League 2008 Robotics Tournament, held at the Carnegie Mellon National Robotics Engineering Center.  Members of the 9th place team were Jarrod Cingel, Kevin Fleischmann, T.J. Gallagher, Brandon Hanson, Christian Hokaj, Katerina Kimes, Ben Muscato, Billy Ruschel, Mary Hannah Swaney and Katherine Yan.  Also competing for Neil Armstrong in this competition were the "Nuclear Nerds"--sixth graders Pat Gillece, Alec Harris, Nick Konyk, Michael Stephenson, Sarah Reiland and Valerie Poutous, who finished in 24th place.  There were nearly 70 teams from Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas, and as far away as Maryland and New York.

Please click here to see pictures from the competition.

SHIM Shopping Trip was an Overwhelming Success!

For the eighth consecutive year, Neil Armstrong students have supported the Angel Emporium project sponsored by the South Hills Interfaith Ministries.  Students bring in money and then use their math skills to shop in teams to purchase Christmas presents for the needy in the South Hills--adults as well as children!  This year the students brought in $8,000 and shopped at places such as Target, WalMart, Babies R Us, Burlington and Kohl's for moms, dads, infants, toddlers, children, teens and grandparents.  The gifts filled the auditorium stage steps!  Two special assemblies were held so everyone could see all that was purchased, including four bicycles!  Representatives from SHIM were on-hand to thank the students and commend them because Neil Armstrong Middle School is the largest supporter of the Angel Emporium program.

Please click here to see more pictures from the sixth grade assembly.

CalcuSolve Team Finishes in Fourth Place

Congratulations to sixth graders Jarrod Cingel, Kevin Fleischmann, Christian Hokaj and Billy Ruschel, who finished in Fourth Place in the CalcuSolve Competition against 71 teams from Allegheny and Washington  Counties.  The competition was held at Duquesne University.  Congratulations also to the other NAMS students who participated in the event--Brandon Hanson, Jenna Smetana, Katerina Kimes, Stephen Condre, Marissa Oakley, Logan Tuite and Adithya Kirshnachand.  The students were coached by Nicole Loebig and Mike Milliken.

Students Duct Tape Mr. Blanc to the Wall!

Students on Team Discovery duct taped their science teacher, Mr. Blanc, to a wall in the cafeteria to raise money for their shopping trip to benefit the South Hills Interfaith Ministries' Angel Emporium.  Students paid $1 for a yard of duct tape, which they personally affixed on Mr. Blanc.  Over $500 was raised through this project, so that equates into a lot of duct tape on their favorite science teacher.

Please click here to see if Mr. Blanc got stuck to the wall!

Native American Visits Fifth Grade Classes

Native American Todd Johnson, a Huron Indian and French and Indian War Re-enactor, visited Neil Armstrong as part of the fifth grade unit of study of Native Americans.  Mr. Johnson came dressed as an Indian during the French and Indian War days and brought with him many Indian artifacts, pelts and tools for the students to peruse.

To see more pictures from Mr. Johnson's visit, please click here.

They're Off to See the Wizard!

Each year, the teachers of Team Discovery plan a very special day for their students around the classic film, "The Wizard of Oz."  The teachers dress as Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Wicked Witch of the West.  Students participate in a variety of special "Wizard"-themed projects, including using their math skills to count the number of bricks on the Yellow Brick Road, participating in a group writing story, updating the Oz characters in 21st century fashions, making mini-scarecrows and creating a tornado (vortex) in a 2-litre plastic bottle.

Click here to see pictures of all of the Oz characters!

Neil Students Support Mission in Zimbabwe

All 30 homerooms at Neil Armstrong have stepped to the plate and have sponsored an orphan at the Nyadire Mission School in Zimbabwe, Africa.  Each homeroom purchased a back pack and filled the back pack with school supplies to be shipped to a student in the mission school. Additionally, each homeroom raised $50 to send to Zimbabwe to financially support their assigned student.  The money will cover the cost of a school uniform and administrative fees for an entire year.  The Neil students will also correspond with their new friend periodically throughout the school year.  Thank you, Neil Armstrong, for your enthusiastic support of students who are not as fortunate!  Pictured here are fifth grade students in Mrs. Romito's Team Atlantis home room, filling their back pack with lots of great school supplies!

Just Say No Club Celebrates Red Ribbon Week

The Neil Armstrong Fifth Grade Just Say No Club kicked off Red Ribbon Week by writing anti-drug messages on the sidewalk leading to the school's front door with pastel chalk.  Some of the sayings included, "If you smoke, you're a joke," "Sometimes saying 'No' is the right path," "Drugs are dumb," and "Drugs aren't cool.  They just make you a fool."

Please click here to see more photos from the project!

Student Wins Punt, Pass and Kick Competition at Heinz Field!

Congratulations to sixth grader Josh Krafczynski, who won the First Commonwealth First Team Punt, Pass and Kick Contest in the Boys 10-11 Year Old Category, with a combined total of 86 yards.  The finals were held at Heinz Field during the half time of the Pitt/Connecticut football game.  Way to go, Josh!

Russian Family Visits Neil

The Dikhonov family from Russia spent a half day at Neil Armstrong, escorted by sixth grader Hannah Snyder.  Hannah met the family at a camp this past summer and wanted to show off her school to her new friends.  They were accompanied by translator Andre Belousov, who also performed some Russian folk songs for the students in Mrs. Cupp's social studies classes.  Not only was it a great way for the Dikhonovs to learn about American education, it was also a great way for Neil students to learn about Russia!