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Three students who attend CSF Buxmont in Sellersville currently have artwork on display at the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) building in Harrisburg. The exhibit is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Art Education Association and displays artwork from children all across Pennsylvania in grades kindergarten through 12th grade.

The exhibit can be seen Monday through Friday, March 3–April 11, 2014, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. An artist reception will be held on Saturday March 22, 1–3 p.m. The exhibit is located in the PDE Honors Suite (first floor), at 333 Market Street, Harrisburg, PA. Questions regarding the exhibit can be sent to [email protected]

The staff and families of Buxmont Academy would like to congratulate the 2013 graduating students. Buxmont Academy is proud of its graduates and of all its students, who worked hard to attain their goals this school year.

Ted Wachtel, the founder of CSF, Buxmont Academy and the International Institute for Restorative Practices has authored a new book, Dreaming of a New Reality: How restorative practices reduce crime and violence, improve relationships and strengthen civil society. This inspirational narrative shows how 35 years of dreams and dedication can lead to proven results – healing victims, preventing bullying, curbing conflict and boosting satisfaction and productivity.

Learn more »

The Restorative Practices Foundation, CSF Buxmont’s sister organization, has launched the Restorative Works learning network, a website focusing on helping people become more knowledgeable and proficient in restorative practices.

Visit the Restorative Works web site.

The first CSF Buxmont program to serve young children, Buxmont Elementary opened in January (at the request of the Pottstown, Pa., school district) and has made great strides helping students improve behavior and academics through restorative practices. (Community Service Foundation [CSF] and Buxmont Academy are IIRP model programs.)

School coordinator Jessica Petrolati told Kara’s story. On her second day, during an unfamiliar process talking about feelings, Kara began yelling and banging things around, ran from the room and broke a window. After Jessica and Kara talked a bit and she calmed down, Jess told Kara that the next day they would need to discuss the “restorative questions.”

The next day Kara said she was very ashamed of her behavior, and Jess asked her the first restorative question: “What happened?” Kara’s answer: “I got mad.” Period. She had never been asked to discuss her feelings before. When she got mad, she yelled and broke things, said she was sorry and that was the end of it. “That’s not the way we do things here,” said Jess. “You’re going to have to talk about it.” Jess then went through the other restorative questions: “What were you thinking about at the time?” “Who do you think was affected by your actions?” “What can you do to make things right?” Kara opened up and answered each one.

That afternoon Kara talked with her fellow students in group, apologizing for her behavior. The other kids not only accepted her apology, but they also gave her advice on how they deal with anger.

Kara’s outbursts became milder and less frequent as she learned how to talk about her emotions. Her mom also saw a big change in Kara’s behavior at home. Kara taught her parents about the restorative questions. When she got angry, Kara asked her parents, who had never talked about such things, “Can we talk about it?”

And when other kids in school had an issue, Kara would help them out by asking them questions and helping them talk about their feelings.

Three science teachers from Buxmont Academy in Bethlehem, Sellersville and Feasterville were chosen out of more than 500 applicants from around the world to receive grants to participate in a workshop provided by GLOBE (Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment), a worldwide, hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science education program.

Joan Balla, Buxmont’s science chair, from Buxmont’s Bethlehem school; Judy Foulke, from the Feasterville school; and Juliet McCleery, from the Sellersville school, are joining about 40 other science teachers from July 9 through 13 at the University of Colorado in Boulder to learn how to engage their students in the GLOBE Student Climate Research Campaign (SCRC). The program teaches students to collect, analyze and share climate data via an international database, as well as communicate their experiences with students from as many as 112 nations around the world, via web-based teleconferences. The data entered by the students will become part of an essential databank employed by climatologists to track the state of the environment.

The Buxmont Academy teachers say that the GLOBE program will help advance Buxmont’s STEM (science technology engineering and mathematics) curriculum, a key theme in education today. Balla says she hopes the program will give students “an appreciation and a sense of ownership of the world we are inheriting — a personal stake in their environment, not merely a theoretical one.” Says Foulke, “This is real science, to be used by real scientists.” McCleery stresses the program’s multicultural aspects, noting that the students will be participating every other week in international webinars to share data and discuss their findings via Skype. In this way they will learn what life is like in other countries and build relationships with students from cultures very different from their own.

Balla thinks she and her colleagues were chosen to take part in the GLOBE program because the judges were impressed with Buxmont’s focus on restorative practices, which helps students take responsibility for the choices they make, as well as the fact that Buxmont’s staff continually seek out opportunities that enable students to enhance their knowledge and skills as part of their individual education plans.

The staff and families of Buxmont Academy would like to congratulate the 2012 graduating students, received their high school diplomas Thursday June 14 at a noon ceremony, with proud family members looking on. Buxmont Academy is proud of its graduates and of all its students, who worked hard to attain their goals this school year.

Bethlehem School: Left to Right: Charlie Stimmel, of Hellertown and Chris Mendez-Acevedo, of Allentown.

Sellersville School: Dennis Fisher, of Sharon Hill; Natalie Harris, of Furlong, Christian Perez, of Telford; Amanda Rumianowski, of Doylestown; and Tyler Schuster, of Plumsteadville. Left to right: Tyler Schuster, Amanda Rumianowski and Dennis Fisher

Pottstown School: Alex Hummel, of West Lawn

Woodlyn School: Tyra Lockhart and Courtney Cooper, both of Upper Darby; and John Duffy, of Media. Pictured: Tyra Lockhart

Feasterville School: Left to Right: Annalise Sheppard, of Doylestown and Aissa Hernandez, of Norristown;

and Tina Deckard-Johnson, of Bensalem.