Students from a variety of local schools have the opportunity to participate in an educational forum in which they can learn about the environment and collaborate with each other throughout the 2023-24 school year.  Students from Western Wayne, Carbondale Area, Forest City, Lackawanna Trail, Lakeland, Mountain View, Old Forge, Riverside, and Wayne Highlands have already started their journey in this exciting, educational experience.

Each school will have a team of five students and a teacher-advisor.  The forum will engage students through place-based educational field experiences and hands-on investigations.

For the month of February the students participated in a trip to the Lackawanna College Environmental Education Center. 

“I really feel like my experiences through the Watershed Program are helping me to expand my knowledge of science,” Madelyn McClure, freshman said.

From left, Western Wayne students: Audrey Agnello, Sofia Ochlan, Madelyn McClure, and Abigail Bell. 

The Western Wayne Middle School, Western Wayne High School, and Liberty Middle School Bands joined together on Tuesday, February 6, to participate in a one-of-a-kind clinic and exhibition concert sponsored by the KHS America Academic Alliance.

    After working tirelessly on the festival music in their own schools, band students from the two districts met for the first time as a band early on the morning of the event and spent the day getting to know one another through music. Under the baton of esteemed clinician Dr. Peter L. Boonshaft, the students had  the opportunity to collaborate and learn festival rehearsal techniques to take back to their schools.

     Dr. Boonshaft, Director of Education for KHS America, is the author of the critically acclaimed best-selling books Teaching Music with Passion, Teaching Music with Purpose, and Teaching Music with Promise. He was honored by the National Association for Music Education and Music For All as the first recipient of the “George M. Parks Award for Leadership in Music Education.” Dr. Boonshaft was selected for the Center for Scholarly Research and Academic Excellence at Hofstra University in Hempsted, NY, where is Professor Emeritus of Music.

    The culminating exhibition concert was free and open to the public and very well attended.

    Western Wayne Assistant Superintendent Dr. Cynthia LaRosa gave the opening address to the audience and welcomed Dr. Boonshaft and the students and staff of Liberty Middle School to Western Wayne.  She told the crowd she hoped they would “experience what can happen when students are motivated and inspired and to enjoy the magic of music.”

    The audience certainly did enjoy the magic of music that afternoon being first treated to a variety of musical selections performed by the Pride of Western Wayne, the High School Marching Band. Then they experienced the truly unique musical collaboration of Western Wayne Middle School and Liberty Middle School students playing together after having worked with the esteemed Dr. Boonshaft.

    “What happened here today is because of dedicated teachers,” Boonshaft told the audience.  “Music allows someone to gaze into the infinite, and today I spent a few hours gazing into the eyes of the infinite with these talented students and their teachers. They are the future of music.”

For more information on KHS America and the Academic Alliance, visit www.academicalliance.org

The Western Wayne School District congratulations its 2023-24 FBLA State Qualifiers that will be competing at the State Leadership Conference in Hershey this April.

L – R Top Row:

Weston Nugent, Adrian Agnello, Graysen Valinski, Connor Bryant, David Elias, Jamie Chapman, Hunter Smith, Kayden Peifer, Logan Pauler, and Paul Borowski.

L – R Middle Row:

Avery Ullner, Clare Coccodrilli, Raeleigh Kromko, Madelyn Vinton, Natasha Amberg, Lauren Dramisino, Allie Pauler, Khloe Mistishin, Maggie Kotchessa, Grace Moser, and Makenzie Chearney.

L – R Front Row:

Paityn Duprey, Bryn Vinton, Audrey Agnello, Phoebe Schmitt, Madelyn McClure, Taylor Maiocco, Rhayni Carroll, Colette Schmitt, Angelina Correa, Lauren  Geisheimer, and Olivia Gries.

The Western Wayne Middle School, Western Wayne High School, and Liberty Middle School Bands will join together on Tuesday, February 6, to participate in a one-of-a-kind clinic and exhibition concert sponsored by the KHS America Academic Alliance.

     After working tirelessly on the festival music in their own schools, band students from the two districts will meet for the first time as a band early in the morning and spend the day getting to know one another through music. Under the baton of esteemed clinician Dr. Peter L. Boonshaft, the students will have the opportunity to collaborate and learn festival rehearsal techniques to take back to their schools.

     Dr. Boonshaft, Director of Education for KHS America, is the author of the critically acclaimed best-selling books Teaching Music with Passion, Teaching Music with Purpose, and Teaching Music with Promise. He was honored by the National Association for Music Education and Music For All as the first recipient of the “George M. Parks Award for Leadership in Music Education.” Dr. Boonshaft was selected for the Center for Scholarly Research and Academic Excellence at Hofstra University in Hempsted, NY, where is Professor Emeritus of Music.

     The culminating exhibition concert is free and open to the public. The concert begins at 4:00 pm at Western Wayne High School Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Doors open at 3:30 pm.

For more information on KHS America and the Academic Alliance, visit www.academicalliance.org