On November 23rd 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 November 22nd. The kits included pipe insulation, weather stripping, outlet gaskets, a furnace filter whistle, a water conserving shower head as well an advanced smart energy power strip. 214 innovation kits were distributed overall. This comes to 4,632 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 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 stephanie.dorman@nef1.org From left: Gene Shultz of PPL and Dr. Nebzydoski, Western Wayne science teacher

Western Wayne students Joanna Regalbuto, senior, and Amanda David, junior, attended PMEA District 9 Chorus on Thursday, Feb. 10, and Friday, Feb. 11, at Pittston Area High School for two full days of rehearsing and performing in an honor ensemble. Both Western Wayne students placed in their auditions and will represent Western Wayne at Region IV Chorus.

Calling all students grades 9-12. We are looking for athletes and partners to join our team.
Our club promotes a fun, competitive, and inclusive environment for students withand without disabilities.
Interested students, please sign the sign up sheet located in the high school office or contact Coach Cardamone by 2/28/2022.
For more information contact Coach Cardamone. Contact information is listed below.

Siena Cardamone

• Coach
  1 (800) 321 – 9973 option 4
  scardamone@westernwayne.org
  or scarda@wwsd.io

Dr. Mark Nebzydoski’s and Mrs. Maria Phillip’s classes participated in the rEV electrifying educational experience program this fall. Four students were chosen by the National Energy Foundation (NEF) to receive a pair of Beats Wireless headphones for their online share form submission evaluating the program. The winners included Mallory McCarthy, Aubrey Nixon, Sean Galliford, and Daniel Hall.
rEV is an electrifying educational experience driving electric vehicle (EV) adoption through an interactive presentation for students. Awareness of the benefits of EVs remains a significant barrier to mass-market adoption and rEV’s curriculum aims to dispel common misconceptions and promote future EV advocacy. The program is designed to educate students on the benefits of EVs through a STEM-based multimedia curriculum. After the experience, students and parents alike will understand the economic, environmental, and societal benefits of buying an EV. Students will have the opportunity to participate in the national level rEV Challenge, creating a video to compel their friends and family to learn more about the benefits and technology of EVs.
The school-to-home approach will bring this knowledge and awareness into students’ households to accelerate market transformation. EVs are an integral part of the future of energy and the ongoing transformation of the smart grid with high school students as the next generation of vehicle owners.
After a successful spring launch, NEF expanded the program further to reach 49 states, 500 schools and 44,000 students in the fall of 2021. The fall expansion also included the rEV Interactive Experience being presented in classrooms by our Energy Educators. Returning to the classroom has allowed us to further connect with students and see their excitement to take an active role in shaping their energy future.
NEF is putting middle and high school students in the driver’s seat by dispelling the myths surrounding EVs and giving students the opportunity to look into the future of transportation. With engaging program materials and a school-to-home connection, rEV is already making its mark in schools across the nation.
We’re excited to continue cultivating an energy literate society through EV education. Want to join our mission? Contact Chris Reilly at chris@nef1.org or 847-514-7626 to learn more!

The Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) students approved and proposed to the Board of the Wayne County Community Foundation (WCCF) a mini grant application for the purchase of a chiller for Dr. Mark Nebzydoski’s Pennsylvania Trout in the Classroom (PATIC) program. The chiller is a necessary component for raising trout in the classroom as it maintains the proper temperature for egg hatching and fry development of trout. Dr. Nebzydoski’s science classes are engaged in the PA Fish Commission’s Trout in Classroom Program and had gathered most of the components necessary to raise trout from eggs for release in the spring but needed a chiller. This mini grant fulfils that final component.
The Wayne County Community Foundation is a nonprofit foundation whose primary goal is to build a charitable reserve of funds for the current and future needs of Wayne County. The Foundation uses grant resources to support a wide variety of community organizations, empowering them where possible to thrive, grow, and become self-sustaining. The Wayne County Community Foundation, 214 Ninth Street, Honesdale, PA 18431, Phone: 570-251-9993, Email: info@waynefoundation.org https://www.waynefoundation.org/

The 2021-2022 Region 22 FBLA Virtual Regional Conference was held in January. Western Wayne FBLA had 58 members place in the top 5 at the conference. Of those 58 members 51 are eligible to compete at the State Leadership Conference in Hershey in April. Jared Goldman was also elected as Region 22 Secretary for the 2022-2023 school year.

*Eligible to compete at the State Leadership  Conference in Hershey.

“The silent cries of a blank page/ Waiting for words for an age” writes Western Wayne freshman Lillian Maros in her poem “Rushing Words” which won an Honorable Mention award from Scholastic Art & Writing Awards from The Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.
Lillian entered the contest after having heard about it in one of her classes last year. She is thrilled to have been recognized for her poetry. She has been writing fiction for a number of years now and truly enjoys crafting stories.
She explained the meaning of her poem, “It is about writing a book during COVID times and the pressure of all of that. The poem summarizes my life in general.”
Although Lillian enjoys writing full length stories best, she explained how writing poetry is a fun new challenge for her.
“Poetry is interesting because of all of the rhymes,” she explained. “It is a challenge to come up with many specific words. You have to have a large vocabulary. When I write fiction, I concentrate more on what I would want to read in a book and then try to put that in my stories.”

The full length poem is below:

“Rushing Words”
Blocked by the pain of a lightning-struck tree
Beaten and battered by winds from the sea
Screaming thoughts of inspiration whizzing by at blazing speeds
Small ideas and breakthroughs alike peaking through the weeds
The silent cries of a blank page
Waiting for words for an age
Water slamming against the rocks at the Point
The still, quiet sigh of the glistening pond
The whisper of the Lord’s sweet voice in my ears
The mind screaming of the horrors of school work, health, and all fears
Dreaming of words painting a story
While fears of failure come to worry
Goals upon goals of awards and approval
The dismay of the words they said would come cruel
The hoping and praying for an adventure of my own
The wish for a journey beyond that of my home
Could such exploits only exist in the brain?
Or is it just my want to dance in the rain?
The gift of thoughts flowing like a river
The pride of a medalist who has just won a silver
The confidence of a glorious choir
The constant need to reach higher and higher
The scratching and scraping of a pen on the paper
The paint soaked brush on a canvas is my nature
Words billowing like a raging cascade
Rushing words from which I am made

Western Wayne sophomore Carly Schott recently had the opportunity to have her artwork published in a children’s book called A Butterfly Called Bennie. Carly is a member of Western Wayne’s National Art Honor Society and will donate any profits she makes from this project to a charity of her choosing.
Nichole Laub, Director of Nursing at Aventura at Creekside in Carbondale saw some of her artwork through Carly’s mother. Laub then asked if she would like to work on doing some illustrations for the book project. The theme of A Butterfly Called Bennie is accepting the differences of others.
Carly worked closely with the author in creating her illustrations. She was asked to create colorful images for the book. She used the medium of colored pencil to create her pictures.
Having really enjoyed working on her artwork since the sixth grade, Carly jumped at the chance to use her art skills in this new way.
“I enjoy the process of creating and being able to see the finished product that I create,” Carly explained. “ I want to be an artist someday.”
The book is currently available at all local bookstores and the publisher: Dorrance Publishing Co. In addition, it can be purchased at Amazon, Kindle, Barnes & Noble, and BAM. Copies of the book also will be donated to all the local libraries and to all buildings within the Western Wayne School District. Pictured is Carly with a copy of the book she illustrated.