Learning rhythms, beats, steps, and choreography isn’t just work for the Rockettes and Broadway stars, Western Wayne High School foreign language students have a yearly tradition of learning Spanish dancing as a part of their curriculum each fall.
Local dance instructor and studio owner Vince Brust works with the Western Wayne students to teach a variety of traditional Spanish dances such as tango, merengue, mambo, and salsa among others. Brust does this as a part of the Artist in Residence Program through NEIU-19.
The students have a few weeks of sessions with Mr. Brust in the fall leading up to a performance for the community this Thursday, November 9, in the Western Wayne High School Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Admission is FREE for everyone.
The high school students were thrilled to learn how to dance and get to meet and work more closely with their fellow classmates in the process.
Freshman Jennifer Stump said she had never danced before this fall, but that once she got started with the classes she really enjoyed them and realized how dance is directly connected to her color guard performances. Jennifer has been on color guard for two years being inspired to join by her aunt who was a part of a team in her youth.
“Once we started counting out the steps in the Spanish dance lessons, I realized that this is just like color guard,” Jennifer said. “I am always counting to be in time for my guard performances and the same skill helps me stay on time for all of the dances we are learning in class.”
Fellow freshman Kendall Murray said she is happy to expand her growing knowledge of dance through the classes offered through the school and taught by local professional dancer Mr. Brust.
“I really have been enjoying learning Spanish dance from an experienced teacher,” Kendall said. “I got to do a lot of different dance styles in our school’s musical last year and really think that my experience with Spanish dance is helping me to learn more styles and gain knowledge about a different culture at the same time.”
There will be about 30 students participating in the Spanish Dance Performance for the local community at 7 p.m. on Thursday, November 3, in the High School Veterans Memorial Auditorium. Again, admission is FREE for all.
The students and staff involved hope to see you there for what will be about an hour of performance fun.

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.
Earlier this month the students involved in the Watershed Program explored the Tunkhannock Creek Watershed as a part of their adventures in environmental studies. The five Western Wayne students who participated in this and will continue to learn from it throughout the school year include: Audrey Agnello, sophomore; Abigail Bell, freshman; Ryleigh Mahon, senior; Madelyn McClure; freshman; and Sofia Ochlan, freshman.
The girls enjoyed their opening experience with the program. Abigail explained how the students had the opportunity to learn about mushroom fungi, caught fish and identified them, and also learned about trees in the surrounding area during their trip to Tunkhannock Creek.
“I thought it was really interesting how we learned how to put a frog to sleep by rubbing its belly,” Abigail, who is an honor roll student, said when discussing the students’ experiences in the creek learning about the different amphibians that make it their home.
The students’ teacher who is moderating their participation in the program Dr. Mark Nebzydoski explained how the students will use the knowledge they gain from their excursions with the Watershed Program to develop a presentation about environmental issues on their school campus or in their community and this project will then help them serve as stewards of natural resources.
“The students have already started to work on developing notes from their experiences with the program to guide them towards their culmination project,” he explained.
Nebzydoski explained how Western Wayne had participated in this program in the distant past and are now very eager this year to be able to have this experience again with a new generation of students. The students will continue their learning experiences in November, January, March, April, and May, with their culminating project presentations scheduled for the end of May. The projects are called MWEE stewardship projects and they address the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and PA Science and Environmental Standards.
“I’m looking forward to more unique experiences in the outdoors to help my understanding of science and the environment,” Abigail Bell, freshman Western Wayne program participant, said.

The Western Wayne High School Spanish Club will sell handmade bracelets and bags as a part of the Pulsera Project, a non-profit organization that benefits artisans in Guatemala and Nicaragua. Each bracelet, or pulsera, comes tagged with the name of the artist who created it. Students enjoyed participating in the sale last year in both the middle and high school. This year, the club had the opportunity to interview Chris Howell, the co-founder of the Pulsera Project, and hear more about how these sales improve the lives of those artisans. The Pulsera Project will take place in the high school from Monday, October 23, to Friday, November 3. Items will also be on sale during the club’s annual Dance Showcase, which is open to the public, on Thursday, November 2 at 7pm in the high school auditorium. Pictured are the beautiful bracelets the club will sell.

On October 10^th Western Wayne High School Students in grade 9 experienced the THINK! ENERGY Innovation Program. This program is an interactive, hands-on presentation with a take home energy efficiency kit for each participating student and teacher. The program teaches the importance of energy, natural resources and environmental resources, and gives each participating student’s family energy-efficient technologies to install at home. Students and Staff in the high school received innovation kits on October 10^th.  The kits included faucet aerators, , a furnace filter whistle, a water conserving shower head, three LED light bulbs as well an advanced smart energy power strip.  136 innovation kits were distributed overall.  This comes to 5230 new LED bulbs distributed to the Western Wayne School District since the program’s launch in 2015.  

This program will also result in a number of mini grants for the teachers in the high school as well.  The Western Wayne High School teachers who will receive grants this year include: Dr. Mark Nebzydoski, Sara Brzycki, Christine McClure, Maria Phillips, and Helene Tscheschlog. The Think Energy Innovation Program has been brought to the schools by the National Energy Foundation, PPL Electric Utilities and the Pennsylvania Department of Education.  For more information or questions, please contact National Energy Foundation at 1-855-494-2942 or email  amy.lamielle@nef1.org