JHS Cheerleaders are “Grand”!

The Greater Johnstown Varsity Cheerleaders Attended the Annual Allegheny Regional Cheerleading Competition on December 4, 2010. The Competition is hosted by The Slippery Rock University. The Girls Competed against eight Teams in the Medium Varsity Division. They received first place in their division, and received the Grand Champion Award of the day. This is awarded to the team with the highest score of the day in all divisions. They were first out of a total of 33 teams. This competition is a qualifier to attend Nationals in Orlando, Florida. The Girls received a bid to Nationals, and will attend the competition February 13, and 14, 2011, in Orlando, Florida.

Gervon Simon Captures Point Stadium Awards!

Gervon Simon won the 2010 Point Stadium Award and also took Point Stadium Play of the Year honors. A first-year starter at quarterback, Simon was involved in all four touchdowns as Johnstown defeated rival Bishop McCort 27-14 on Oct. 15. He rushed for 100 yards and scored twice on the ground. Simon passed for 113 yards, including a 26-yard fade pass to Dwight Andrews for a touchdown and a 6-yard scoring strike to Marc Watson. The game’s turning point came when Simon broke an 80-yard touchdown run after the Crushers had closed within a touchdown in the second half. That run was the Play of the Year winner.

Source- Tribune Democrat, Mike Mastovich, Dec. 31st. 2010.

Trojans well represented on Tribune Democrat’s All Area Team!

Four Trojans from the 10-2 squad made the Tribune Democrat's All Area High School Team--two players on offense and two on defense. Gervon Simon and Dajour Morris made the offensive side and Alkwan Williams and Calvin Anderson made the team on the defensive side.

Gervon Simon- Completed 120 of 223 attempts for 2,338 yards and had 30 touchdown passes for the Trojans. Gervon also ran for 659 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Dajour Morris- Played on both sides of the ball during the season. He was a leader on the line that protected Gervon and opened numerous holes that led for over 2,000 yards on the ground. Dajour has committed to the University of Akron to play football.

Calvin Anderson- Led the entire state in interceptions. On offense, Calvin had 20 catches for 331 receiving yards. Calvin also made First Team All State in Class AAA.

Alkwan Williams- Ranked third in the area in tackles with 137 tackles, including 87 solo stops. He recorded five sacks and 18 tackles for loss of yardage. At receiver, he caught 26 passes for 370 yards and 8 TDs.

Second Team picks included: Brock Eisenhuth – Offensive Line, and Dwight Andrews – Wide Receiver.

Honorable mention picks were: Mark Watson – Wide Receiver, Javon Vuckovich – Defensive Line, Jerrell Hardison – Linebacker, and DaQuan Minter – Defensive Back

Trojan Swimmer to Districts

On Wednesday, January 19, 2011, Alexandra Popovich, while swimming with Richland against Bishop McCort, qualified for the District VI AA swim meet in the 50 Meter Freestyle with a time of 29.2 seconds. She also qualified in the 100 Meter Breaststroke with a time of 1:22.99. Alexandra will compete in the District VI meet to be held in State College on March 4th and 5th.

Good Luck Alexandra!

JHS continues to grow and succeed!

For the fourth consecutive year, Johnstown High School has made Adequately Yearly Progress (A.Y.P.)! This is a tremendous accomplishment for the school, district, and Greater Johnstown Community. JHS is filled with wonderful students, teachers, and coaches who are dedicated to student success. In addition, JHS has been named one of America’s Best High Schools according to the U.S. News and World Report for the past 3 consecutive years. In order to reach these wonderful accomplishments, JHS instituted a plan to carefully evaluate all elements of instruction at the high school. The main focus of our analysis was and continues to be our curriculum, instructional methods, assessments, student course scheduling, tutoring, and student improvement monitoring. The effective and efficient use of formative assessments, quality questioning, researched based strategies, and data driven instruction are some of the key components of our efforts toward systematic change and ultimately academic improvement. It is with great pride that I can state that the last four years have resulted in the highest levels of student achievement ever at GJHS. Math and Reading scores have increased significantly. As a result, we have exceeded or met the state requirements of (A.Y.P.) the past four years.

For this accomplishment the student, teachers and parents have much to be proud of. Great teaching, teamwork, collaboration, student focus and commitment on academic improvement are some of the main reasons for our success. However, I cannot stress enough how important the role is that you the parents and guardians of our students play in helping our students achieve success. For your tremendous support I am eternally grateful. Please know that the GJHS staff is dedicated to knowing each child by name and developing their potential to the best of their ability.

I am proud to say that the administration and faculty place the best interests of our students and community first. Through our PSSA results, we have clearly demonstrated that we are continuing to take the necessary steps for continued academic improvement thus preparing our students for the next phase of their education and career goal attainment.

In closing, I thank you for your commitment to our school, staff, and students at the Greater Johnstown High School.

Sincerely,

Mr. Michael J. Vuckovich
Greater Johnstown High School Principal

Jaclyn Highland named a "Commended Student"

Mr. Vuckovich, the Principal at the Greater Johnstown High School, announced that Jaclyn Highland has been named a Commended Student in the 2010 National Merit Scholarship Program. A letter of Commendation from GJHS will be presented to Jaclyn at the next school board meeting.

About 34,000 commended students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Commended students like Jaclyn placed among the top 5%of the more than 1.5 million students who took the 2009 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test(PSAT/NMSQT.

“Recognition of high-achieving students is essential to advancing educational excellence in our nation,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “As demonstrated by their outstanding performance in our highly competitive program, the young men and women named Commended Students represent some of the most academically talented students in our country. We sincerely hope this recognition will enhance their educational opportunities and encourage them in their pursuit of academic success.”
Jaclyn is currently a senior at GJHS. She is a member of the Color Guard, Spanish Honor Society, and the Essay Performance Company.