Content area
Full text
NORTH PARK
PLATFORM TENNIS COURTS RESTORED, REBUILT
The Allegheny County Parks Department and the North Park Platform Tennis Association have dedicated two new aluminum platform tennis courts to replace older, wooden structures. They also celebrated the renovation of a wooden court and a warming hut, which were damaged during the heavy snow in February. The dedication took place early this month.
The association, which includes 14 men's and women's teams and 130 members, has a lease agreement with the county to maintain the courts. In addition to hosting association matches, the group also maintains public hours for the platform tennis courts.
The association received a $10,000 grant from the American Platform Tennis Association to build one of the new aluminum courts, and its members performed demolition and some of the construction.
Brookside Lumber in Bethel Park and HP Starr Lumber Co. in Valenica and Zelienople supplied lumber at-cost for improvements to the hut, and Carpet Network donated carpet for the hut. In all, the association has invested more than $33,000 in contributions, grants and in-kind services in improving the platform tennis complex during the past 12 months.
MARS AREA
THUMBS UP FOR TECHNOLOGY
Jason Thompson, an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Mars Area Middle School, told school board members last week that a study he conducted showed students who use the Active Expressions remotes in class retained the knowledge better than students who did not use the devices.
Active Expressions are devices that allow students to answer questions from their desks and work with the interactive white boards. Then students' answers are tabulated electronically and shown on the board.
Mr. Thompson said he undertook the study as an assignment for a graduate school class. He asked a teacher to teach material...