PPL awarded Western Wayne student Amy Newman Wireless Beats Headphones as a prize for completing a survey about her usage of tools in the Innovation Kit that all Western Wayne 9th grade high school students and some students in other grades got as a part of the PPL Think! Energy program this past fall. The students were challenged to use the items in the kit such as a smart power strip and a special shower head for water conservation, among other items. Newman and many other Western Wayne students used these items and then filled in a survey about their experiences. Newman was the lucky winner drawn at random for the Western Wayne School District. “I love my Wireless Beats Headphones,” Amy said. “They are so much fun.” Pictured is Amy Newman enjoying her prize.

Twenty members of Western Wayne’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter were recognized at the Awards of Excellence program during the Virtual State Leadership Conference held recently.

During this conference, senior Lenny Maiocco, the PA FBLA Parliamentarian, and the other state officers conducted the session from their homes.  Nine officers were elected/appointed to lead the organization during the 2021-2022 school year including Morgan Coccodrilli, State Reporter; and Gabby Tetreault, State Parliamentarian.  Both students are juniors at Western Wayne.

The top ten members/teams were recognized for their performance in one of the 70+ different competitive events.  The top four winners in each event qualify for the National Leadership Conference to also be held virtually because of the Pandemic.

The members from Western Wayne included:  Intro to Parliamentary Procedure:  Jenna Kwiatkowski, first; Alex Chapman, third; and Skylar Long, fifth place.  Intro to FBLA:  Rhayni Carroll, second; and Emily Romanowski, tenth place.  Parliamentary Procedure. The team of Lenny Maiocco, Lena Piccolino, Gabby Tetreault, Rachel Hoch, and Kaeli Romanowski, third place.  Accounting II:  Alex Hineline, fifth; and Lacey Falloon, ninth place.  Management Decision Making, Rachel Tuman, fifth place.  Intro to Public Speaking:  Adrian Agnello.  Word Processing:  Laynee Nugent; Intro to Business Presentation:  Alaina Maiocco and Ella Pavlovich, ninth place.  Public Service Announcement:  the team of Julie Bryan, Cyrah Biehler, and Dustin Ferraro, ninth place.

In addition, the Western Wayne chapter placed fourth in the Outstanding Chapter event and third in the Local Market Share Award.  Lenny Maiocco placed third in Who’s Who in Pennsylvania FBLA and William Selden Scholarship Award.

Ms. Theresa Lubash is the local chapter adviser.

This past winter Western Wayne FBLA students participated in the Regional Leadership Conference for the state of Pennsylvania in a virtual format.  The students performed very well, and two Western Wayne students were elected as Region 22 FBLA Officers for the 2021-2022 school year.  Junior Luciano Azzato will serve as secretary for the region and Junior Morgan Coccodrilli will serve as president for the region next year.  At present, Lou serves as the region treasurer, and Morgan serves as the region secretary.

Lou said that he has been making the most of this unique year in education and FBLA.  He explained how he has had the opportunity to meet virtually with other region office holders.  Lou also enjoyed his experience in the virtual Regional Leadership Conference.  He discussed how he participated in the Business Calculations event and that he is preparing to participate in the State Leadership Conference for this same event during March.

As of right now, Lou is interested in the business field for a possible future career.  He really enjoys math in general.  He discussed what FBLA has taught him over the years.

“It’s taught me a lot of important skills that I have not learned in my regular classes,” Lou explained.  “I learned about interest and finance, and this has helped me to use my money the right way. Also, I have learned leadership skills such as responsibility, in taking care of others, and using my communication skills in a good positive way to get things done.” 

Lou aspires to attend a four-year university after graduation and is interested in Temple University, York University, and Penn State University.

Junior Morgan Coccodrilli is also glad to have the chance to participate in FBLA this year.  He explained how he helped to organize a meeting on a regional level by securing a speaker from the Woodloch Pines Resort to meet with the regional officers virtually.  Matt Kiesendahl of Woodloch spoke to the students.

“We learned how Woodloch has handled their business during the pandemic,” Morgan explained.  “We learned that it is important to cater to the people and to make sure your customers are your main priority. We also learned about the importance of caring for employees and adhering to CDC guidelines.”

In addition, Morgan explained how he really liked his experience in the Impromptu Speaking event at the Regional Leadership Conference.  He said that students in the event were given a prompt and ten minutes to prepare to speak on it.  The prompt was about how being in FBLA is like being a superhero.

“I discussed how being in FBLA is like being a part of The Avengers,” Morgan explained.  “You are a part of a team, and you help others.”

Morgan placed first in the Impromptu Speaking event.  He aspires to attend Penn State University and major in either engineering or premed.  He is also thinking about doing an ROTC program. 

“FBLA has taught me that a good leader understands when working with others not everyone will always agree.  You need to be able to find common ground to have success when working in a group,” Morgan said.

The following Western Wayne students placed in the FBLA Regional Leadership Conference.  In the Accounting II event: Lacey Fallon, first place; Alex Hineline, second place.

 In the Banking & Financial Systems event: Delaney Valinski, first place.  In the Business Calculations event: Luciano Azzato, third place.  In the Business Communication event: Hannah Elbert, fourth place.  In the Business Ethics event: Brett Schane and Caden Slifko, first place.  In the Business Ethics event: Adeladie Treibley, third place.

 In the Economics event, Haley Estus, fourth place.  In the Entrepreneurship event, Anya Rusnak and Sydney Hutchinson, fourth place.  In the Hospitality & Event Management Event:  Morgan Heenan, Sarah Collins, Alexandra Butler, first place.  In the Impromptu Speaking event:  Morgan Coccodrilli, first place.

 In the Introduction to Business event:  Lucas Putman, second place.  In the Introduction to Business Presentation event:  Alaina Maiocco and Ella Pavolvich, first place.  In the Introduction to Business Procedures event:  Brenna McGlone, second place; and Mackenzie Kennedy, fourth place.

 In the Introduction to Event Planning event:  Eleanor Black, fifth place.  In the Introduction to FBLA event:  Emily Romanowski, first place; Rhayni Carroll, second place; Taylor Maiocco, fourth place.  In the Introduction to Financial Math event:   Allie Pauler, third place; Weston Nugent, fifth place.  In the Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure event:  Skylar Long, first place; Alex Chapman, second place; Jenna Kwiatkowski, third place.

 In the Introduction to Public Speaking event:  Adrian Agnello, second place.  In the Management Decision Making event:  Rachel Tuman, first place.  In the Marketing event:  Aly McCarthy and Emilie McAllister, second place.  In the Parliamentary Procedure event:  Leonard Maiocco, Kaeli Romanowski, Lena Piccolino, Gabby Tetreault, and Rachel Hoch, first place. In the Personal Finance event: Thomas Gogolski, fifth place.

 In the Public Speaking event:  Kelton Slifko, second place; Lily Visceglia, third place.  In the Sports & Entertainment Management event:  Jake Kopcza, Alex Iovacchini, and Ashton Fitzsimmons, third place; and Caleb Hoch and Matthew Henneforth, fourth place.  In the Word Processing event:  Laynee Nugent, second place.

 In the Public Service Announcement event:  Julie Bryan, Cyrah Biehler, and Dustin Ferraro, all are Top 10 State Qualifiers.