The Western Wayne Marching Band visited local nursing homes on Wednesday, Oct. 30.  They spread some cheer for the fall season while playing music and wearing costumes at Ellen Memorial, Wayne Woodlands, and Julia Ribaudo nursing homes.  The band is under the direction of Mrs. Elaine Ort.

Western Wayne High School will send seven of their high school chorus students to the PMEA District 9 Chorus Festival to be held from January 15 through January 17 at Marywood University.  The following Western Wayne students have all been accepted to District Chorus as either qualified or as an alternate.  The students pre- auditioned to qualify for districts at Tunkhannock Area High School in October.  These students include: Alexandra Solimine, 1st place, alto 2; Joanna Regalbuto, 2nd place, soprano 2; Dakota Beavers, 7th place, tenor 2; Trinity Williams, 14th place, alto 2; Brad Wood, 16th place, tenor 2; Alex Taylor, 16th place, bass 1; Rhonda Fenkner, 19th place, soprano 1; John Nichols , 22nd  , 1st alternate; and Lily Visceglia, 23rd , 2nd alternate.

                All of the students involved are excited to represent Western Wayne at District Chorus in January.  The students will get their audition music sometime in November.  Western Wayne junior Rhonda Fenkner explained that the students will have at least seven songs to prepare.

                “It is exciting and stressful at the same time,” Rhonda explained.  “Last year we had both a South African and Korean piece to prepare for the audition.  Those pieces, of course, are more challenging because, along with learning notes and lyrics, you also have to learn all of the correct pronunciations.”                 Western Wayne Administration, faculty, and staff all wish these students the best at the District Chorus Festival in January.

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.