P-G: Mellon Middle School students prepared at retreat

Growing up can be hard, and especially difficult is the jump from middle school to high school, said Kara Berman, a counselor at Mellon Middle School in Mt. Lebanon.

"Middle school to high school is huge because [students] are really coming into who they are as a person," she said. "They spent all their middle school years figuring it out, and now I think they have a little better grasp on it."

To make the transition easier, Mellon has designed retreats for its male and female students. The programs, now in their fifth and sixth years respectively, are attracting the attention of other school districts.

Read the full article:

• www.post-gazette.com/pg/11146/1149150-55.stm (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)

Computer-Savvy Middle Schoolers Tutor Seniors

It was late April, and Lydia Davis, 72, of Mt. Lebanon was trying to build a snowman. But it wasn't the spring-like weather hampering her efforts, it was her limited computer skills. "I'm clicking and nothing is happening," she told her young instructor, Lydia Herman, 12, also of Mt. Lebanon.

The two were participating in a special computer class at Mellon Middle School in the Mt. Lebanon School District. The class, held in the school's computer room, paired five senior citizens with student council members for a one-hour computer training session in which the middle school students acted as private tutors.

Link: www.post-gazette.com/pg/08136/881806-55.stm