Community Service
As members of SPSEA, we strive to give back to our community. Devoting ourselves to the community promotes healthy relationships among and between teachers, schools, students, and communities.
Head Start Christmas Party
Participating Members:
Cameron Collins
Lucas Ali
Angela Schwartz
Natalie Sarnese
Abby McCracken
Mioni Robb
Kyle Harper
Jaff Pacuch
Carly Franks
Haley Stonebraker
Shirley Petropolous
Kimberly Ruffner
Gina Wotjowicz
Nicole Queer
Emily Monahan
Co-Chairs:
Kaylee White
Kelsey Butler
Each winter, Pitt-Greensburg's Resident Housing Department (RHD) sponsors a toy and clothing driving specific to the children at Jeannette Head Start Program. For each child, a piece of clothing or outfit in their size is chosen as well as a gift (based on their letters to Santa). Our SPSEA chapter partners with the RHD to plan and execute a Christmas-themed program with games, activities, and our own Santa (played this year by Kyle Harper) who passes out the toys to all the "good boys and girls." The Grinch was a special guest (played by another member, Cameron Collins).This year, the event occurred on December 7. Our SPSEA also buys and wraps gifts for the Head Start teachers, who are often underpaid and under-appreciated.
 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |
College Day
Participating Members
Co-Chairs
Mina Waldron
Courtney Gaffey
Courtney Cambal
Courtney Gaffey
Haley Stonebraker
Colleen Murphy
Angela Schwartz
Jay Grubb
Rowan Alexander
Cameron Collins
Mina Waldron
Natalie Sarnese
Casey Fortuna
Peyton Clark
Emily Monahan
Kimberly Ruffner
Lucinda Wracher
Carly Franks
Chelsea Holmes
Katelyn Zanotti
Kelsey Butler
Kaylee White
Mioni Robb
Kayla Fencil
Molly Staszak
Lucas Ali
Nadia Louis
Nicola Queer
College Day is an annual event sponsored by the UPG SPSEA chapter. For the day, students aged 14 to 21 from the Clellian School for Exceptional Children come to our campus for a full day of activities planned and organized by chapter members. The professors and staff on campus are asked for donations to accompany the swag we put in their bags. This year's theme was Monsters!
 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |
JDRF Walk
Participating Members:
Matthew Grayo
Kendra Moxon
Leta Cirgliano
Katelyn Zanotti
Rowan Alexander
Shirley Petropolis
Lindsey Wittkopp
Shannon Speed
Ellen Dusetzina
At the University of Pittsburgh of Greensburg, it’s a tradition to host a walk for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) for our students and the community around Westmoreland county. This year our chapter of SPSEA was given the opportunity to enjoy the smiling faces as the JDRF’s "fun crew". SPSEA’s "fun crew" encouraged the walkers to ensure everyone felt like a winner that day. As a member of the fun crew, we supported amazing people who were fighting to end this disease.
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |  |
WQED Writing Contest Evaluation
Participating Members:
Andrew Barnhart
Courtney Cambal
Lucinda Wracher, Maura Carr
Haley Stonebraker
Natalie Sarnese
Olivia Larson​
Lucas Ali
Miranda Anker
Kimberly Ruffner
Katelyn Zanotti
Angela Schwartz
Pitt-Greensburg enjoys an excellent relationship with WQED, the public television channel in Pittsburgh. Each year, WQED runs a writing contest for elementary students -- and they need each story to be evaluated based on a rubric. This is a huge task, but with a lot of people, the task flies by. The stories were brought to campus in large U.S. Mail containers and they were all evaluated within one day, within a morning and afternoon session on April 12, 2018.
 |  |  |  |
|---|
Hallow-Boo Halloween Carnival
Participating Members:
Co-Chairs:
Courtney Cambal
Emily Monahan
Chelsea Holmes
Miranda Anker
Lucas Ali
Kendra Moxon
Cameron Collins
Molly Staszak
Natalie Sarnese
Leta Cirgliano
Haley Stonebraker
Summer Lash
Kately Zanotti
Carly Franks
Kelsey Butler
Matti Tyskewicz
Kyle Harper
Amanda Stein
Mioni Robb
Olivia Larson
Gina Wotjowicz
Rowan Alexander
Nicola Queer
Matthew Grayo
Lindsey Wittkopp
Joseph Bolla
Aubrey Mollenaur
Kayla Fencil
Abby Bechtel
Our annual Hallow-Boo event was held on October 27, 2018, for about 100 students from grades 1-3 from three Greensburg Salem elementary schools. Students were invited to our campus for a night full of activities, such as collecting candy, face-painting, Halloween-style bingo, creating “Scary Slime," and various other games. They had the opportunity to get their photo taken with characters from "Up" and "Cars!"
 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |
Be My Hero Dance
Participating Members:
Co-Chairs:
Alex Poellentiz
Eric Baer
Rowan Alexander
Lindsey Wittkopp
Casey Fortuna
Courtney Cambal
Natalie Sarnese
Emily Monahan
Kelsey Butler
Matthew Grayo
Leta Cirgliano
Each year, students from the NHS Schools for Autism are invited to Pitt-Greensburg for an afternoon dance. As in the past, NHS Students can dance with Pitt-Greensburg students (mainly line dances), sing karaoke, play board games, eat snacks, participate in a sensory table, and attend a social event that is different from any they have ever attended. Pitt-Greensburg SPSEA members plan and implement the NHS Dance each year. This year's theme was Superheros!
 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
Katelyn Zanotti
Nadia Louis
Kaylee White
Kelsey Butler
Olivia Larson
Abby McCracken
Mina Waldron
Carly Franks
Outreach to Teach 2018
Participating Members:
Carly Franks
Rowan Alexander
Nick Papson
Ashley Brantley
Brittani Malik
Allison Popelas
Lindsey Wittkopp
Luke Falbo
Lucas Ali
Kendra Moxon
Lucinda Wracher
Jessica Williams
Amanda Stein
Randy Duke
Mauricio Trejo-Garcia
All of the Pitt-Greensburg students who attended the conference assisted with Outreach to Teach. This beautification project is always a highlight of the conference, knowing that we can physically do something to make the environment a better place for students. Pitt-Greensburg students ended up helping with painting, sorting books, and serving pizza.
Read To Succeed
Participating Members:
Mioni Robb
Brandon Cross
John Kerlicker
Abby McCracken
Cheynee Hankins
Ted Kondrich
Melissa Crookston
Madison Sitler
Olivia Senay
Lauren Kertis
Nick Papson
Andrew Barnhart
Ashley Brantley
At nearby Greensburg Salem Middle School, a new afterschool program was developed to assist the lowest achieving students. This program, Read to Succeed, is led by Mrs. Barbara Garafola, the 8th grade language arts teacher. Some of our secondary students have volunteered each semester, working with students in grades 6 through 8 to develop reading comprehension, writing skills, and a love of learning.
READ For LifeLong Learning
Participating Members:
Carly Franks
Rowan Alexander
Nick Papson
Ashley Brantley
Brittani Malik
Allison Popelas
Lindsey Wittkopp
Luke Falbo
Lucas Ali
Kendra Moxon
Lucinda Wracher
Jessica Williams
Amanda Stein
Randy Duke
Mauricio Trejo-Garcia
Read for LIFELong Learning is an after-school reading enrichment program that lasts six weeks. Each Read "Leader" (made up of SPSEA members) chooses a book to focus on and creates activities to increase interest and comprehension. This year, eligible students in grades 2-5 got to choose their books, creating mixed-age groups to teach.
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |
WQED day / Read Across America
Participating Members:
​
Allison Popelas
Aubrey Mollenauer
Kendra Moxon
Natalie Sarnese
Miranda Anker
Kelsey Butler
Nicola Queer
Maura Carr
Katelyn Zanotti
Amber Bright
Olivia Larson
Leta Cirigliano
Kimberly Ruffner
Gina Wojtowicz
​
​
Co-Chairs
Kimberly Ruffner
Gina Wojtowicz
WQED is the local public television channel in Western Pennsylvania. Each year, they sponsor a writing contest. In order to get second-grade students ready for the contest, they ask Pitt-Greensburg SPSEA to run a program to teach the various parts of a story (e.g., characters, setting, plot). This year the event was held on March 1,2019, at Maxwell Elementary School.
 |  |  |
|---|---|---|
 |
American Education Week
Participating Members:
Kendra Moxon
Rowan Alexander
Lindsey Wittkopp
Amanda Stein
Lucas Ali
Connor Lane
Lydia Myers
American Education week, which occurred November 12-16, 2018, is an opportunity to recognize and thank educators for the time, effort, and love they put into teaching their students. This year, Pitt-Greensburg SPSEA thanked each professor with a candy bar, an Expo dry erase marker, and a note saying either "You're making a MARK in education" or "You're doing a reMARKable job". Students grouped the gifts together with ribbon and tied on the note.
"A teacher is one who helps others and influences lives forever."
Catherine Pulsifer
"You've Got A Friend Day"
Participating Members:
Pitt-Greensburg got a request from Ms. Lauren Jones, coordinator of the "You've Got a Friend Day" who works for Westmoreland County Parks. She asked if we could send 50 volunteers to assist for the full day on Wednesday, October 3, 2018. This event hosts 600 students with physical and/or cognitive disabilities who were arriving to Twin Lakes Park at 8:30am and leaving by 2pm. We were not able to send 50 students (the request was made a week prior to the event and many of us had classes), but we were able to send five, who stayed the whole day.
Carly Franks
Gina Wojtowicz
Kimberly Ruffner
Lucas Ali
Alyssa Sadler
