Honoring yesterday, inspiring tomorrow. in this issue: - Winchester ...

placed at Prospect Park by Catholic
Charities but are supported by a number
of agencies, including the Greater
Pittsburgh Literacy Council, which
provides English as a Second Language
classes, and South Hills Interfaith
Ministries, which operates a preschool
at the Prospect Park complex.
Winchester Thurston worked
with Pittsburgh Cares, which operates
a clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities
in the area, to introduce the
students to the refugees.
The students learned first-hand
about the refugee experience, including
the lives the families left behind and the
ones they are trying to build in the U.S.
They practiced language skills with the
refugees, giving the women and children
an opportunity to learn English in way
that differs from formal lessons. At
lunchtime, the students were treated to
traditional dishes the refugee mothers
prepared from their homelands.
Josh Kivuva, a Literacy Council
English as a Second Language teacher
on hand to facilitate discussions among
the students and refugees, challenged
the Middle Schoolers to “…imagine
how your life would be if at home, there
is not enough food and no money and
there is fighting outside and you are not
allowed to work.”
The students were silent.
Kivuva then encouraged the
students to act as groups or individuals
to make a difference to those in need.
The presentation inspired Madalyn
Levy ’11 to organize a paper products
drive as soon as she got back to school.
Upon receiving diapers and other
essentials collected as a result of Levy’s
efforts, the refugee women responded
by writing heartfelt messages of thanks,
carefully penning postcards to each
participating student.
schoolnews
wt today
WT PLACES FIRST IN STATE,
THIRD IN NATIONAL KNOWLEDGE
MASTER OPEN
The team of ten fifth-graders placed
first in the state in the Knowledge Master
Open (KMO) and third in the national
KMO contest for their division. A total
of 330 schools nationwide participated
at the fifth- and sixth-grade level contests
in March 2007.
Proud team members were Sonu
Bae ’14, Danny Balter ’14, Nat Brodsky
’14, Arif Caner ’14, Quinn Charney ’14,
Rachel Dubner ’14, Tristan Hull ’14, Ben
March ’14, Bruce Morrison ’14, and Zoe
Schoen ’14.
The KMO contest is held twice each
for both secondary and fifth- and sixthgrade
teams. The curriculum-based tests
consist of 100 to 200 multiple-choice
questions in a variety of academic
subject areas: math, science, language
arts, social studies, and the arts.
A challenging academic competition
in which teams of students
compete—nationally and internationally—without
leaving their own schools,
the KMO program annually attracts
more than 3,000 schools and 45,000
participants from the U.S. and several
foreign countries.
CHESS TEAM PLAYERS EARN
TWO STATE TITLES
Andre Curtis ’16 and Danny Balter
’14 won first place in the 2007 PA
State Scholastic Chess Championships
K-9 U100 and K-6 Open Divisions
respectively in March 2007. Ruben
Ramanathan ’14 took fourth place in
the K-6 U800.
No stranger to winning state chess
championships, Balter earned the PA
State Scholastic Primary Champion
title in 2006, playing in the K-3 Open
Division. This year, by winning the K-6
Open division he earned the PA State
Scholastic Elementary Champion title.
The Winchester Thurston team of
Danny Balter ’14, Tristan Hull ’14, and
Noah Goldstein ’16 placed second in the
K-6 Open. The team of Andre Curtis ’16
and Nathaniel Hull ’17 placed fourth in
the K-9 U1000 Division, and the team of
Ruben Ramanathan ’14, Nathaniel Hull
’17, and Kabir Khan ’16 placed fourth in
the K-6 U800 Division. Also competing
were Samuel Boehner ’08 in the K-12
Open, Hazel Boehner ’10 in the 7-12
U1300 Divisions, and Andre Curtis ’16
in the K-3 Open.
Under the direction of Coach John
Young, the chess team has consistently
Upper School students collaborate on Knowledge Master Open questions
in the secondary school competition.
30 Thistletalk Autumn 2007