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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.

          The students have a few weeks of sessions with Mr.  Brust in the fall leading up to a performance for the community in early November.

          Some of the students in the classes with Brust have been working with him for four years.  Seniors Nicholas Gombita, Kendra Oliver, Samantha Scaduto, and Alyssa Iovacchini feel very excited to be working again on their dancing skills this school year.

          “The experience helps to immerse us in both the culture of Spanish and dance,” Nick explained. “I have been learning more this year about how to count different music when I dance.  Some dances are counted in threes and others in fours.  Each dance is different.”

          Another experienced dancer Kendra, who helped to choreograph one of the dances performed for the community last year in the annual Spanish dance performance, said she loves going to the classes each year to learn more and more.

          “The salsa and cha-cha are my favorites,” Kendra said.  “The steps are faster and more challenging than some of the other dances.”

          Students of all ability and experience levels take Spanish dancing as a part of their Western Wayne foreign language curriculum.

          Two freshmen Jaden Gregory and Nate Irvine have been enjoying learning this type of dance for the first time.

          “It was hard at first to get accustomed to dancing with each other,” Nate said.  “But it got easier the more we learned.”

          “My favorite part are the cross-body leads,” Jaden explained.  “They are a very smooth part of the dances.”

          Jaden’s classmates freshmen Julia Phillips, Cassia Sheehan, and Ashley Small-Bermudez also have been enjoying their first experience in Spanish dance with Mr. Brust.

          All of the girls have a lot of fun learning new steps each day.  Julia likes the spins and turning in dance.  Cassia thinks the cross-body leads are the most fun steps, and Ashley likes the expression she gets to put into the hairbrush step.

          “This connects really well with what we are learning in the classroom,” Cassia explained.  “It gives us a taste of what real Spanish culture is like.”

Western Wayne High School students in grade 9 experienced the THINK! ENERGY Innovation Program on Tuesday, October 22. 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 22.  The kits included four LED light bulbs, a water conserving shower head as well an advanced smart energy power strip.  Overall, 225 innovation kits were distributed.  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:  Dr. Mark Nebzydoski, science teacher; Eugene Shultz and Robert Penkala, presenters; and Paul Gregorski, principal. 

Western Wayne sophomores Bridget Oppelt and Rachel Tuman have been chosen to present Western Wayne at the 2020 Central Pennsylvania HOBY Leadership Seminar at Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, from May 14 through May 17.

Both young ladies are very accomplished at Western Wayne. Bridget is an honor roll student who enjoys being a part of the Western Wayne Marching Band where she plays the alto saxophone. She also does baton with the Double R Twirlettes and likes to ride horses in her spare time.

Like her classmate, Rachel also is highly involved in academics and activities. Rachel is a member of the Mock Trial Team, PJAS, Science Olympiad, FBLA, Spanish Club, and is the vice president of the sophomore class.
The girls were chosen for HOBY through essays they submitted about what leadership means to them.
“I wrote about how leadership is a role that you can use to guide and help others,” Bridget said.
Rachel agreed that helping others is a large part of leadership.
“I wrote about how there are two types of leaders: positive and negative ones,” Rachel explained. “Positive leaders help to develop tomorrow’s leaders.”
Both girls are very excited to attend the HOBY Leadership Seminar.
“I look forward to hearing what is said about leadership and meeting other students and hearing their experiences,” Rachel said.

Local students had the chance to work hands-on with a 3D-printing machine, robots, and dissection tools among many other things at the 5^th annual Women in Science Symposium hosted by the Wayne Pike Workforce Alliance and the Lacawac Sanctuary& Biological Field Station on September 17 at the Woodloch Pines Resort.

       Western Wayne was one of the schools present at the event along with Delaware Valley, Wayne Highlands, Valley View, MMI Preparatory School, and Wallenpaupack Area.  Over 300 students attended the event. The keynote speaker this year was Dr. Katie Leonard, president of Johnson College. 

       The purpose of the event was to give students, like women, minorities and other underdeveloped groups, information on STEM career paths, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education. Students met with representatives from local colleges to discuss career options, hear presentations from female, working professionals and had the opportunity to speak with these professionals after the presentations finished. 

       Female students from both the Western Wayne middle and high schools had the chance to attend the event.

       The high school students from Western Wayne in attendance who have attended the event for multiple years prior said this was the best symposium yet.

       “It was all very interactive and hands-on,” Alexandria Bien-Aime, a sophomore at Western Wayne, explained.  “I want to be a surgeon so I was particularly interested in the station where I got to use tools to dissect animals.”

       Alexandria’s classmate Hudson Malinowski also liked the unique hands-on stations at the symposium.

       “I got to work with a robot and program it to play music,” Hudson, who wishes to pursue a career in music, said.

       The students explained how there were many different colleges represented at the event and that they were able to explore different majors.

       Sophomore Mia Rovinsky especially enjoyed the college fair portion of the event.

       “It was good to hear other students’ questions and concerns about the STEM field in the question and answer sessions,” Mia, who wants to be a doctor, said.

       Mia’s classmate sophomore Rachel Tuman also enjoyed taking advantage of all of the information about colleges and STEM at the symposium.

       “I think the experience helped us all to refine our knowledge,” Rachel, who wishes to pursue a career in forensic science, said.  “I enjoyed seeing all of the people there willing to help propel us into a science career.”

From left:  Western Wayne sophomores Hudson Malinowski, Alexandria Bien-Aime, Rachel Tuman, and Mia Rovinsky.