By CARL E. FEATHER - Staff Writer - cfeather@starbeacon.com
Pymatuning Valley High School students took the afternoon off from their studies Friday to celebrate the school’s third consecutive year of being a School of Excellence.
The Pride Committee put together the afternoon of activities, which ranged from board games to video games; from corn hole competitions to Karaoke.
Patty Andrews, a PV High teacher and Pride Committee member, said the celebration was the third annual for the school. The idea is to reward students for the hard work and dedication it takes to receive an “excellent” rating from the State Board of Education.
“Achieving excellence in the state is a really big deal,” Andrews said. “It takes a lot of effort to do that.”
Van McWreath, the school’s principal, said excellence begets excellence, and the school is on a roll.
“Pride, in general, is an essence of this building,” McWreath said. “PV, in the last year, is just oozing with pride.”
McWreath said the string of excellent ratings has come about because students, staff and parents take very seriously the goal of improving student academic performance, meeting curriculum standards, doing well on achievement tests and showing up for class. He said it comes down to being focused and recognizing the result — excellence.
A poster near the cafeteria reminds students “Excellence is not a skill, it is an attitude.”
The excellence celebration got under way shortly after noon and continued through the end of the school day. Students could select from a variety of games, attend a movie in the auditorium, play board games and basketball, or just watch the fun from the sidelines.
Teacher Karen Cooley said the corn hole competition taught students and teachers alike some new skills, as did the “hillbilly golf” games.
“They are having fun, and that’s what it’s all about,” she said.
