New Cumberland High School's Little Indian Handbook

A few years ago my Mother-in-law passed away.  Among her things we found a 1952 New Cumberland High School handbook called "The Little Indian."  It was the first handbook of it's kind for the former New Cumberland High School.
 
I've scanned the handbook into my computer so I can share it with all of you.  There is a lot that stands out about this little book.  The first thing is that it was created by ninth graders back in 1952.  There were no computers, meaning no graphics programs, and no desk top printers.  The image of the Indian, the 'Little Indian' logo and the school map, all appear to be original drawings, probably created by students.

Back in the day, the school newspaper was called "The Hi Times," only boys played sports, and there was dancing everyday after lunch.  On page 13, the Activities Calendar is filled with dances, parties, and more dances.  On page 34, The Assembly Schedule shows events such as Trampoline Stars, The Hammerettes, and Royal Scots.  Take a look through "The Little Indian" to discover what kids were doing in high school, and what was expected of them, in 1950's New Cumberland.

I hope you enjoy this peek back into New Cumberland history.  Please leave a comment about what you found interesting, and share the "Living in New Cumberland" blog with your friends.

Hope you enjoyed this peak back into New Cumberland history.  Please leave a comment about what you found interesting, and share the "Living in New Cumberland" blog with your friends.

Save Our Schools

I attended the public hearing held by the West Shore School District (WSSD) in regards to the proposal to close either New Cumberland or Lemoyne Middle School.  I had never attended such an event, but with all three of my children being affected by this potential decision, I thought it was a good time to start.

Mr. Thomas Burnheimer, Director of Pupil Services, WSSD

The meeting was hosted by Thomas Burnheimer, Director of Pupil Services for the WSSD.
Mr. Burnheimer was joined by several of the administrative staff, including Dr. Jones, Director of Secondary Education, who addressed a lot of the questions.  Mr. Burnheimer was the person in charge of pulling together this study that was requested by the school board.  He started off the meeting, trying to lighten the mood with comparing the meeting to a party.  Basically stating that when you have a party, you try to please everyone with the menu items, but there is always going to be someone there who does not like what you are serving.  Not sure if it was just me, but it I thought it was more like a funeral in there than a party, and nobody likes a funeral.

Slide from the presentation to close a middle school.

Mr. Burnheimer then went on to explain the committee process, the study they conducted, and then showed a presentation of the proposal to close the middle school.  That presentation can be viewed at this link WSSD Demographics update relating to middle school closure.  After the presentation, he opened the floor to questions from the crowd.

There was  a crowd of approximately 400 people attending the meeting with about 45 people asking questions or making statements.  The meeting lasted 3 hours.  The overall theme of the statements, and questions from the audience was to keep both schools open. The audience suggested the school district to find another way to cut spending.  The schools should be the last source of cuts.  Suggestions from the participants included

1. Raising taxes
2. Close and sell the Administration building, placing administration in the schools.
3. Cut administrative staff

A parent asking a question of Mr. Burnheimer.

Money was not the only issue aired at the meeting.  Many parents were concerned about the impact on the students, staff, and community.  There were several parents attending whose children do not attend either of the affected middle schools, but will be shuffled between Allen and Crossroads middle schools.  Their issue was, why are their kids schools be changed if they don't attend either Lemoyne or New Cumberland?  They all wanted their children to stay put in the schools they are presently attending.  I think we all want that.

Specific concerns regarding the impact on the children included:

1. Length of bus ride
2. Emotional affects
3. Class size
4. Overcrowding of remaining middle school buildings
5. Course offerings
6. Extracurricular activities changing or being eliminated
7. Quality of Education
8. Students getting 'lost in the shuffle'
9. Reduction of teaching staff

Overall, it was a informative evening.  I wanted to attend because I was curious as to what the rest of the community was thinking, especially those in our neighboring community of Lemoyne.  There was a little of pitting the two schools against each other, but for the most part, speakers stayed away from those types of statements.  It seemed that the people who attended, and spoke just wanted to have a say in this decision.  I want to personally thank those of you who got up to speak.  I am not a public speaker, and I was glad that there were so many people who were willing, and able to get up to the microphone to air their concerns.

Members of the news media in attendance at the hearing.

If you were unable to attend, and would like to have some input in this decision, you still can.  To submit your comments online, click this link, Online comment form WSSD middle school closure.  If you prefer to send comments via the postal service, click this link Print out comment form WSSD middle school closure.

Don't delay, please submit your comments today.

All related information and links are provided at one central page here: http://www.wssd.k12.pa.us/news.cfm?story=1939

We're Number 1!

This past Saturday morning, I started my day by checking out the local news.  I perused the websites of the local newspapers and TV stations.  I looked for stories about New Cumberland to share with the community on my social media pages, New Cumberland News on Facebook and NC17070News on Twitter.  Well, I did find a news item about New Cumberland on www.Pennlive.com.  The headline read, 'New Cumberland budget holds line on taxes, fees.'  I scanned the article and found out that our taxes were being kept at 3.9 mills.  After that, I came across another story about Lemoyne having to raise their taxes.  I read through the article for more details, and found out that they were raising their tax rate from 2.1 mills to 2.3 mills.  That's when a bell went off for me.  Something didn't seem right.  I went back over to the article about New Cumberland and double checked the millage rate.  Yes, I had it correct, the article stated that New Cumberland is keeping the tax rate here at 3.9 mills.  Huh?  Lemoyne's current tax rate is 2.1 mills, soon to be 2.3, and ours is 3.9 mills?  Seems like a big difference between two neighboring towns. 

On a side note, I just to make sure I'm being clear, and want to again specify which tax I am talking about.  All property owners pay a county, municipal and school real estate tax.  The specific tax that I am talking about is the municipal tax, and that money goes to the borough in which one  owns property.  Also, a little information about what exactly a 'mill' is.  I found the following definition on the Cumberland County Website:  "A mill is a way to express tax rate.  One mill equals one thousandth of a dollar.  One mill is expressed as .001.  The tax is computed by multiplying the millage rate set by the taxing body times the assessed value of the property."  Here is the link to the page where I found this definition: http://www.ccpa.net/DocumentCenter/Home/View/6869 .

After discovering the difference in tax rates between our town and our neighboring town of Lemoyne, I decided to do a little more digging.  I wondered what residents in other West Shore and Cumberland County municipalities pay in taxes.

I did an internet search which took me to the Cumberland County Website.  There I found a page entitled "Property Assessment Forms and Resources."  Under the heading 'Real Estate Tax Forms' I found the file 'Current Real Estate Millage Rates.'  I clicked that title which opened the PDF file 2012 County and Municipal & 2012-2013 School Tax Rates.

This file offers a great deal of information about tax rates in Cumberland County.  Looking at ONLY the Real Estate Municipal column, I saw that New Cumberland has the highest Municipal Tax Rate in all of Cumberland County.

That's right, we're number 1 (drum roll, please) in municipal real estate taxes.

Listed below are the top 10 highest municipal tax rates in Cumberland County.
3.9 mills        New Cumberland
3.065 mills    Wormleysburg
3.058 mills    Carlisle Borough & 2nd, 3rd, 4th Annex
3.022 mills    Camp Hill
2.6 mills        Shippensburg Borough
2.58 mills      Mechanicsburg
2.434 mills    Newville
2.1 mills        Lemoyne (To be raised to 2.3 next year)
2.1 mills        Shiremanstown
2.05 mills      Lower Allen & L.A. Annex/Shire

Now, when you combine New Cumberland's municipal tax rate with the school tax and county tax, we fall lower on the overall list.  The West Shore School District, which serves New Cumberland and other municipalities, has one of the lowest school tax rates in Cumberland County at 9.3 mills. 

The view the entire 2012 County and Municipal & 2012-2013 School Tax Rates file, please click this link: http://www.ccpa.net/DocumentCenter/Home/View/8646

I encourage you to visit the Pennlive articles at these links:

New Cumberland Budget holds line on taxes

Lemoyne homeowners to see 9.5 percent increase in taxes next year

Help Hillside School Be A Winner!

Hillside Elementary School

School funding is all over the news these days.  Most of the news involves there not being enough funding to go around.  Here in the West Shore School District our taxes were raised for the 2012-2013 school year.  In Cumberland County, the school taxes went up 3.33%, while our York County neighbors had theirs raised 4.58%.  We hear about other districts cutting sports and kindergarten.  We are lucky that has not happened in our schools, yet.

As taxes go up, parents are being to asked to chip in for their children to be able to participate in sports and other activities.   West Shore School District has recently enacted an activity fees for middle and high school.  These fees range from $50 - $200, to cover sports, band, JROTC and more.  To find out more about the West Shore School District's activity fee, click here.

We seem to pay more and more, and get less and less for our tax dollars.  Schools are always looking for new ways to raise money.  There are the usual fundraisers, but sometimes we need something different.

So, it's summer, and school's out, why am I writing about school funding?  Our town's public elementary school, Hillside, is trying something new.  Avery Office Products has a promotion called "Avery Give Back to Schools."  Hillside is trying to win this promotion, but they need the entire community to get behind them and vote.  To win this promotion, they need community members to go to the Avery Give Back to Schools Website, login with your Facebook ID or register for a website ID.  After logging in, find Hillside by searching the name or zip code 17070.  You will click to vote, then verify your vote.  It's simple and it takes less than a minute.  Unfortunately, one vote on one day, won't be enough.  They need you to vote every day between now and September 14.  Please bookmark the Avery site, and when you check your email, or Facebook page, take a minute to vote for Hillside.  I will keep a link here on this page so you can easily connect with the promotion.

What will Hillside win?  If they are among the top 5 vote getters, they will receive $10,000 worth of Avery School Supplies, $1,000 worth of gift cards, and 25,000 Box Tops for Education coupons.   25 runner up schools win 10,000 Box Tops for Education coupons.  For just participating in the promotion, all schools have a chance of winning one of 10 prizes of 5,000 worth of Box Tops for Education coupons.

I know if we can get our community behind Hillside, they can be one of those top 5 winners.  Currently Hillside ranks in the 260's out of approximately 16,000 schools.  Thank you for helping Hillside be a winner!

Click here to vote for Hillside. 

PS:  Just learned you can vote more than once, if you vote for two different schools, so make sure you vote for New Cumberland Middle School, too!

Finding the Artist in Everyone at Basso Art Studio

Last spring, while walking through town, I noticed a sign go up outside of Oxford Hall Celtic shop.  The sign read 'Basso Art Studio.'  Nearby, I saw a box hanging off of a railing.  The box contained class schedules for a brand new art studio and school being started up by Laura Basso.  I'm always looking for activities for my kids.  My family loves art and being creative, so I looked over the schedule to see if anything fit our hectic schedule.  Sure enough, there was a class for my kids.  The kids loved it and they looked forward to going each week.  My goal was to try to expand their artistic range a little.  They are obsessed with drawing anime/manga, a Japanese style of animation.  The class, and the teacher, broadened their artistic horizons and allowed them to share their interest in anime.  When our schedules allow, I know we'll be going back to Basso Art Studio for more classes. 

The Entrance to Basso Art Studio is down the stairs.

Basso Art Studio, founded just last year, is tucked away underneath the Oxford Hall Celtic Shop, in the business district of  New Cumberland.  The proprietor is Laura Basso, and after years of working for others, she decided to establish her own studio.  Laura grew up right here in New Cumberland and now lives nearby, in Etters.  She has been studying, working, and teaching the arts most of her life.  She has a degree in Fine Arts from Kutztown University and has exhibited her work in venues throughout the mid state, including Whitaker Center, Mechanicsburg Art Center, New Cumberland Library and more.

Laura Basso didn't start out with the intention of being an art teacher.  That came about through her wanting to be involved in her kid's school.  West Shore School District used to have a program called the "Famous Artists Program," where parent volunteers would go into classrooms and present lessons about popular artists and their works.  Laura thought that was right up her alley and ended up spending 8 years with the program.  Through her volunteerism, she found out that she enjoyed sharing her love of art with others.  From there, she took up teaching art classes at a local gallery.  Last May, she branched out and opened her own studio and school.  She says her young business is growing and thinks being on Bridge Street helps bring in a lot of people.  She says, "I moved here and got so much support from the community."

Laura Basso in her studio.

Starting any kind of business can be difficult, but Laura tells me she's making it work.  "I just love it so much and get such a positive feedback from the kids, and the parents, that I just keep doing it. It's fun, I'm lucky."

Laura's words say it all when she talks about the children's classes, "I have just a positive response.  Lots of smiles, it's like magic.  Everything clicks and I see the light bulbs go on in their heads."

She adds, "It gets the kids to use creative problem solving skills, which is beneficial in any subject, just for lifelong skills, or any career you go in to."

Laura offers classes for adults, too.  The classes are open to any skill level.  She tells me she gets a lot of people with little experience or who haven't done anything in a while, but those students are often her favorites.  She teaches most of the classes herself, but recently added Shannon Kelley, who focuses on preschool art, and Donna Kovalchick, who teaches photography.   She says, "I think it's inside all of us.  It doesn't matter if you can't draw or have no experience, you can still find that creativity in you just for life fulfillment and enjoyment."

Kids and adults can get creative at Basso Art Studio.

March is 'National Youth Art Month,' and Laura has activities planned to get more kids interested in art.  Youth Art Month is observed  each March to stress the value of art and art education for all children.  The studio will be hosting a Youth Art Exhibit all month.  To kick it off, Laura will host a reception at the studio on March 10th, from 1 pm - 4 pm.  On that day, kids and families are welcome to go into the studio and try their hands at creating their own art.  Laura will have art supplies available for the kids to use, and when they are finished, they can take their masterpieces home with them.  The event is free and open to the public.  The studio's class schedule will be available at that time.  Refreshments will be available.  In addition to the open house, the Children's Art Exhibit will be available for viewing March 17th, 24th & 31st.  But, if your kids want to be creative, make sure they get there on the 10th, that's the only day she'll have the supplies out for them to use.  To see the National Art Month flyer for Basso Art Studio, click here for the Youth Art Month Flyer.

Create a picture of a yummy treat!

Classes and lessons are available for both children and adults.  Classes offered include; preschool art, multimedia art, teen drawing, pastel and much more.  Laura offers painting parties, a scout merit badge program, home schooling classes and private art lessons.  Laura tries to think outside of the box and come up with unique classes for her students.  A friend of hers gave her the idea to have a class where students purchase a dessert from Dingeldein Bakery, (which is just across Bridge Street from the studio), then bring the dessert to the studio where they will create a picture of it.  When finished, the students get to enjoy their desserts along with some complimentary tea from the Oxford Hall Celtic Shop.  You get to be creative and enjoy a wonderful dessert, what could be better!

Basso Art Studio is located in downtown New Cumberland at 315B Bridge Street, just below the Oxford Hall Celtic Shop.  For more information about Laura and Basso Art Studio, please go to http://www.bassoartstudio.com/.

For more information about Youth Art Month, go to
http://acminet.org/youth_art_month.htm

Links to other businesses mentioned in this blog:
http://www.oxfordhall.com/mysitecaddy/site3/