Western Wayne High School AP Biology students visited Lacawac Sanctuary and Biological Field Station on October 17. 

 Students had the opportunity to engage in field research in the area of Forest Ecology and Conservation Biology.  During the course of the visit, students collected and analyzed data from the Lacawac Forest including a comparison of biodiversity inside of Deer Exclosures as compared to the rest of the forest, tree identification, invasive species discussions and conservation ecology. 

These rich field experiences allowed students to really understand the characteristics of a stable forest ecosystem.  Students learned about research that is happening at the collegiate level at Lacawac Field Station and about partnerships between Lacawac and various universities.  These students will return to Lacawac in the spring to conduct their own research in the area of aquatic ecosystems.

All of the students greatly enjoyed their field experience.

Junior Cailie Thoman, who wishes to study marine biology in college, explained the benefits of doing scientific work in this type of setting.

“I liked getting out and being in the fresh air on our hike while we worked,” Cailie explained.

Her classmate fellow junior Carter Davis agreed.

“We got a lot of experience on collecting data,” Davis, who hopes to enter the business field, explained.  “I find it easier to learn outside.  I think I am more attentive out there in the field.”

Another classmate junior Courtney Petrilak explained how the students had many tasks on their trip.

“One thing we collected data on was different tree types,” Courtney, who aspires to be a physician’s assistant, said.  “We had to identify them.”

All of the students agreed that their study of science grew and developed through the work they engaged in on the trip.

 High School Biology teacher Mrs. Christine McClure is grateful to have the opportunity to have these types of experiences with her students.

“We would like to thank Mrs. Jamie Reeger for organizing, coordinating and creating such rich learning opportunities at Lacawac for our students and the Western Wayne Education Foundation for their generous grants that continue to fund our experiences,” McClure said.   “We would also like to thank our administration for their support of this trip.  We look forward to working with Lacawac Sanctuary and Field Station in the future as we continue to promote scientific research and career pathways in our community.”

At the annual engineering competition at Wallenpaupack High School, students were challenged with building a structure out of simple materials, that was able to transport a weighted model car across the span of two points on the wooden foundation students were given.  The structure created by the students also had to move in some way to allow a 9″ obstacle to pass underneath.  

         The Western Wayne Team A decided to make their bridge unique and not use the optional pier support in the middle of the bridge.  The team’s ideology behind this was that it would help make their bridge stand out.  Their philosophy worked, the bridge was the only one in the competition that did not use a pier at all.  

         With all of the great minds working together, they came up with a design plan for a drawbridge that would lift upward to allow the car to pass under it.  Since the team was only provided a limited selection of materials, they had to be creative with their design choices.  They made this hinge out of cut up pieces of straw and a piece of spaghetti that passed through the straw allowing it to pivot.  

         The team’s design for the other half of the bridge held stationary.  They used a technique of braiding paper towels to create a cable-like suspension for the static portion.  By giving their bridge these attributes, the team achieved the innovation award at the competition.

         The Western Wayne Team A consisted of Jacob McCormick, Landon Firmstone, Collin Murray, Matt Rosengrant, and Max Phillips.

         Max discussed his experience at the competition.

“We used the first 20 to 30 minutes to brainstorm how we could make a bridge with the given materials.  We first thought of a draw bridge, but we thought it would be too complex.  So, we decided to try to make a half drawbridge, half suspension bridge,” Max explained. “I personally learned how to work as a team better and to find different ways to use unique materials.”

         Max’s teammate Matt also enjoyed his experience at the competition and thought he benefited from it.

“At the annual Wallenpaupack engineering competition, my team and I were faced with an engineering problem.  The problem was that we had to create a bridge which lifted up on one side in order for a car to pass under it.  We ended up winning the innovation award.  I believe this was mainly due to the paper-towel rope we made for the suspension part of the bridge as well as the pasta noodle and drinking straw hinge we made for the drawbridge section of the bridge,” Matt explained.   “Overall, this competition challenged my mind a lot and was very enjoyable.  I would definitely recommend anyone interested to attend.”

From left member of the Western Wayne Team A:  Max Phillips, Collin Murray, Matt Rosengrant, Landon Firmstone, and Jacob McCormick.

Seven members of the Western Wayne High School chapter of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) recently participated in a Business Retreat sponsored by the Wayne County School-to-Work Committee.  In addition to students from Western Wayne, students from Wallenpaupack, Honesdale, and Forest City were in attendance.

The day began with an opening session conducted by Thomas Shepstone, Shepstone Management, who discussed the trends and forecasts of jobs in the Wayne County area.  Next, Laurie Guzda got the students involved with an exciting marketing activity.  

        This was followed by a field trip to Moka Origins, a coffee roastery and bean-to-bar chocolate factory. The owners have established their own farm in Cameroon, Africa, and are uniting with partner farmers around the world to strive to generate real social change.  Jeff Abella, Director, Himalayan Institute and CEO of Moka Origins, spoke to the students about social entrepreneurship and small business strategies.

Representing Western Wayne were (seated) Lenny Maiocco and Derek Mason.  (Standing) Kate Mattern, Darlene Black, Sydney Peet, Ezra Tetreault, and James Fryzel.  Ms. Theresa Lubash, FBLA Adviser and Business Department Chairperson, accompanied the students.

Western Wayne Junior Lacey Falloon won second place for the Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science Academy Creative Task Challenge for its first unit of study.

Lacey is working through the course as a part of her computer science class at Western Wayne High School.  Lacey explained that the task that won her the second place certificate was her coding of actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s face when he played Jack in the blockbuster hit Titanic. 

She explained that he is one of her favorite actors, and she thought it was a unique idea for a coding task.  Lacey loves the challenge of coding and has been spending time both in the classroom and outside of school on perfecting her coding skills.

“I like beating others to get a task complete,” Lacey explained.  “I’m always trying to finish first.”

Along with trying to work on her coding speed, Lacey also constantly tries to come up with new creative ideas for coding.

“For my second unit task for the Carnegie Mellon course, I made stick figures climbing a ladder,” Lacey said.  “For this project, my picture has to keep changing to different things.  It takes time to create projects like this.”

When Lacey isn’t working on her programming skills, she enjoys doing projects for Future Business Leaders of America where her primary focus is accounting.  Lacey likes to set goals to challenge herself in all of the work that she does.

“I like a challenge,” Lacey said.  “When I finally figure out something with coding, I sit there and wonder why I didn’t figure it out from the start.”

Lacey looks forward to working on more coding projects in her course at Western Wayne.  Western Wayne faculty, administration, and staff are proud of her accomplishments and can’t wait to see what she does next.

Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) from Western Wayne High School learned leadership skills, organizational skills, and project ideas while attending the FCCLA Regional Leadership Meeting on October 25^th at Reading Area Community College.

          Members attended workshops on Leadership, Statewide Initiatives, Publicizing your Chapter, Safety, Family Consumer Sciences related topics, and State Officer Candidacy.  During the meeting, local chapter members also learned about the PA FCCLA outreach project and the membership campaign.

          Club advisor Lori Lucchesi, FCS Teacher, Western Wayne High School, explained how this is an exciting year for her students.

          “We have built our club membership up this year,” Lucchesi explained.  “The students felt excited to start the year off at the Regional Leadership Meeting and are now working on projects for the FCCLA State Leadership Conference in the spring.”

          Western Wayne members expressed enthusiasm toward returning to their chapter with great ideas and lots of motivation for a successful year.

           Freshman, Ashley Small Bermudez learned about FCCLA programs and competitions and stated, “The workshop taught me about a useful planning process that will help me organize community events and achieve my future career plans.”

          Sophomore Katarina Wood explained, “I attended an FCCLA work session that gave me key strategies to balance my extracurricular and academic skills.”

          Another sophomore Mackenzie Sheatler found it very interesting to learn about the safety of children at the conference.

          “I like learning about how kids interact and child development,” MacKenzie, who aspires to be a social worker, explained.

          Sinclaire Ogof, a senior and vice president of membership for Western Wayne, reported that “Twenty seven students attended the FCCLA Regional Leadership Meeting and our Western Wayne Chapter’s membership has tripled this year, totaling 52 students!”

          All of Western Wayne’s FCCLA members are excited to work with this club throughout the year and some have already begun their projects for the State Leadership Conference to be held in the spring at Penn State Main Campus.

          Sinaea Buford, FCCLA president who aspires to major in forensic science and minor in criminal justice, is working with fellow FCCLA member Sadie Nahman on a project for the category of event management for the State Leadership Conference.

          The girls are working to plan a senior citizen prom for the local community.  They wish to work with Wayne Woodlands Manor and Laurel Place on the event.

          “I really like to work with the elderly,” Sinaea, who has volunteered at Golden Way Personal Care Home in Waymart, explained.  “I like to make them happy by listening to them and making them feel like they are at home when they talk to me.”

          Fellow FCCLA member Shailyn Pugh said she also hopes to do a service-based project for FCCLA this year.

          “I like helping in the community and doing service projects,” Shailyn, who aspires to be a pharmaceutical technician, said.

          Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America is a dynamic and effective national student organization that helps young men and women become leaders and addresses important personal, family, work, and societal issues through Family & Consumer Sciences Education and Related Occupations.            FCCLA is unique among youth organizations because its programs are planned and run by members.  It is the only national in-school organization with the family as its central focus.  Participation in national programs and chapter activities helps members become strong leaders in their families, careers, and communities.

Twenty-nine members of the Western Wayne chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America recently attended the organization’s annual State Leadership Workshop at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in the Poconos. This was the largest workshop in FBLA history bringing together more than 1,500 members and advisers from across the state for leadership development.
Senior Ezra Tetreault, PA FBLA’s First Vice President, together with the other eight state officers, conducted the opening and closing sessions.
Students were then able to choose from a variety of workshops to attend covering such topics as Entrepreneurship, Leadership Lessons, Communication, Characteristics of Leaders, Business Innovation, FBLA Competition Boot Camp, Officership, and Marketing and Digital Branding.
This workshop was also the kickoff of the PA FBLA State Project, which benefits the American Heart Association. With a goal of $67,000, the state chapter has already raised more than $14,000 by holding a charity walk, a charity basket auction of nearly 100 baskets, a t-shirt sale, and several meals at the Great Karoo restaurant with a portion of the profits going to the state project.
Attending the workshop were Cassidy Asinski, Jamie Bryan, Julie Bryan, Haley Estus, Rachel Hoch, Sydney Hutchinson, Abby Kapschull, Skylar Long, Emilie McAllister, Madison McGlone, Laynee Nugent, Ella Pavlovich, Sydney Peet, Lena Piccolino, Anya Rusnak, Gabby Tetreault, Lou Azzato, Tommy Gogolski, Parker Howell, Zane Janiszewski, Matt Leslie, Lenny Maiocco, Derek Mason, Jack McAllister, Kiel Rizzi, Carson Rush, Kelton Slifko, Tim Smith, and Ezra Tetreault.

Row 1 (l to r): Jamie Bryan, Cassidy Asinski, Lena Piccolino, Haley Estus, Madison McGlone.
Row 2 (l to r): Emilie McAllister, Gabby Tetreault, Sydney Hutchinson, Anya Rusnak, Derek Mason.
Row 3 (l to r): Rachel Hoch, Sydney Peet, Abby Kapschull, Tommy Gogolski, Kelton Slifko, Kiel Rizzi, Lou Azzato.
Row 4 (l to r): Laynee Nugent, Ella Pavlovich, Skylar Long, Julie Bryan, Matt Leslie, Jack McAllister.
Row 5 (l to r): Lenny Maiocco, Carson Rush, Zane Janiszewski, Tim Smith, Parker Howell.

Western Wayne junior Cassidy Asinski is the 2019 ACS Susquehanna Valley Section National Chemistry Week Poetry Contest 9th-12th Grade Winner. Cassidy’s poem was judged as being the best out of all 9th-12th grade entries received by our section.

The poem has successfully been submitted to the national competition for a chance to win up to $300. In addition, Cassidy, her parents, and her science teacher Maria Masankay are invited to the annual Susquehanna Valley ACS Awards Banquet in May. Cassidy will receive a $50 check and a certificate at the banquet.

Cassidy’s poem is titled “Rust.”  She explained that she chose this topic after doing some research.  Cassidy, who enjoys both science and English classes at Western Wayne, said she really wanted to make her poem stand out by personifying rust throughout it.  The poem is told in the first person point of view of rust itself.

“I wanted to make it really unique,” Cassidy explained. 

Cassidy is highly involved at Western Wayne High School.  She is a triple-sport athlete who is a member of the soccer, basketball, and track teams.  She just made the first team all-stars for soccer.  Cassidy, also, participates in FBLA and is a member of NHS.  She is keeping her options open for the future, and says she is interested in the study of forensic science.

She feels excited to have won the poetry contest and looks forward to representing Western Wayne at the awards banquet for it in May.

Western Wayne faculty, administration, and staff, are proud of Cassidy’s accomplishments and wish her the best in her future endeavors.