Around the Schools

Western Wayne to Host Open Mic Night Friday, Jan. 19

Western Wayne’s newly formed drama club called Wildcat Curtain Call invites the public to join them for an Open Mic Night at 7 p.m. on Friday, January 19, in the Western Wayne High School Cafeteria located at 1970A Easton Turnpike, Lake Ariel, PA 18436.

Admission is free!

The show will be a family-friendly event with Masters of Ceremonies junior Lindsey Karwacki and sophomore Honour Shaffer. The show will feature songs by a Fife and Drum Corp. led by Western Wayne senior John Kear, who was recently recognized as an Artist of the Week on WVIA.

Other acts include a comedy piece by eighth grade student Nick Valentin titled “American Airlines” along with a performance of the famous Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First” routine by Nick and senior Schuyler Chumard.

The night will also feature a variety of musical selections. There will be featured soloists including Laurel Frable, “Sick of Losing Soulmates;” Sam Clemens, “All Star;” Lily Visceglia, “Don’t Rain on My Parade;” R.J. Clemens, “For Forever;” and Ty Alpaugh, “Somewhere That’s Green”.

Junior Emily Barone with play flute for one performance along with singing “Titanium” as a duet with friend and classmate Lily Visceglia. Sophomore Becca King will play harmonica. Sam Pritzlaff and John Kear will entertain the crowd with a duet of the Beatles’ classic “If I Fell” and to end the evening sophomore Andie Solimine will sing “Carry On my Wayward Son” while accompanying herself on acoustic guitar.

The students will also perform group numbers that include: “Don’t Stop Believin’ ” and “Seasons of Love.”

“We are very excited to get the community out to see these talented Western Wayne students,” Tori Clemens, president of the Western Wayne Drama Parents, said. “We look forward to seeing them shine on Friday night along with raising some money to support our drama club students.”

The Drama Parents Club will be selling a variety of treats at the free admission event this evening. There will be coffee, tea, and bottled water along with a variety of sweet treats and snacks available for sale.

“The event will feel like a coffee house,” Clemens said. “We want everyone to feel at home during the performances.”

Pictured are some of the members of Western Wayne’s Drama Club who will be part of the free admission Open Mic Night taking place tonight at 7 p.m. in the high school cafeteria. From left, standing: Honour Shaffer, Lindsey Karwacki, and Andie Solimine. From left, kneeling: John Kear and Lily Visceglia. The event is open to the public.

Western Wayne Participates in “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?”

Western Wayne Participates in “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Contest Creating sets for MSNBC, making podiums for presidential debates, and producing custom sets for television shows and movies are just some of the high-profile jobs that Boyce Products Ltd., a manufacturing facility located in Damascus, PA, produces.
A group of Western Wayne Middle School students visited this very impressive facility on Tuesday, January 9 to learn more about the plant and its employees as a part of their participation in the Pennsylvania state-wide competition called “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?”
Created by the Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC) in Allentown, PA in 2013, the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” contests draw entries from more than 200 teams across Pennsylvania. The teams of students and teacher coaches receive camera equipment, software, and professional guidance as they learn to script, record, and edit their video stories. The contest’s objective is to change students’ perceptions about manufacturing careers.
The “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” contests are supported regionally by their sponsors and partners. Production support is provided for several of the contests by PBS39 Lehigh Valley in Bethlehem, PA. There are 12 contests held in Pennsylvania during the 2017-2018 school year. These contests involve students from 40 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties – a combined area that represents more than 9 million of the state’s 12.7 million residents. The contest format also has been adopted by groups in 11 additional states.
Mrs. Kristen Donohue, Western Wayne Middle School principal, worked with Mr. Bill Schoen, “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Northeast, PA contest manager from the Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial Resource Center (NEPIRC), Hanover Township, PA, to get her students involved in this very educational and fascinating contest. The inaugural “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” contest for Northeast, PA features 13 teams from Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, and Wayne counties.
After discussing the opportunity with Schoen, Donohue worked to form a group of eighth grade students who are academically dedicated and have an interest in manufacturing and technology to participate in the project. She thought those qualities would make for the perfect recipe for success in this endeavor by her students.
“It’s unbelievable to know a company in Wayne County produces such high-end products to use all over the nation,” Donohue explained. “I was so glad to be able to show our Western Wayne students that the possibilities of working in such an industry are so close to home.”
The group of Western Wayne students consisting of Addie Treibley, Ally Bien-Aime, Morgan Coccodrilli, Justin Olson, Ava Compton, Rachel Hoch, Rachel Tuman, and Hudson Malinowski were thrilled to have this experience at Boyce.
The students are currently working to edit their footage to submit for the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” contest deadline for the Northeast, PA region on March 9.
Both the students and Donohue are very grateful for the unique, educational, and pleasant experience they had at Boyce. They look forward to a reception sometime in the spring for all groups who participated in the contest.
“Every employee of Boyce couldn’t have been nicer or kinder to our students,” Donohue explained. “We thank them so much for this opportunity.”
To learn more about the incredible work done at Boyce visit their website at www.boyceproducts.com
To vote for the Western Wayne Middle School team to win the Viewer’s Choice Award for the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” contest for the Northeast, PA region visit www.whatssocool.org/ from Monday, March 19, through Wednesday, March 21.
Please take a moment to help our young and talented Western Wayne Wildcats win this honor for their hard work on this very informative project.
The public also can visit www.whatssocool.org/ at any time to find out more information about this contest and the schools, businesses, and other organizations involved in this awesome educational endeavor.
From left, standing: Mrs. Kristen Donohue, Middle School principal; Morgan Coccodrilli, Hudson Malinowski, Rachel Hoch, Ally Bien-Aime, and Rachel Tuman. From left, kneeling: Addie Treibley, Ava Compton, and Justin Olson.

Western Wayne Middle School students Hudson Malinowski and Morgan Coccodrilli learn about a machine used at Boyce Ltd. while on a recent field trip.

Hudson Malinowski takes video footage at Boyce Ltd. for use in Western Wayne Middle’s School submission to the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Contest while her fellow Western Wayne teammates look on.

Western Wayne Middle School students Hudson Malinowski, Morgan Coccodrilli, and Justin Olson are seen learning about tasks done at Boyce Ltd. from discussions given by their employees.

Western Wayne Senior Accepted to Vassar College

Ty Alpaugh has been recognized as an outstanding student by Western Wayne High School Administration. She is a senior who has just been accepted into the prestigious Vassar College located in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Ty, a two-year National Honor Society member, is a National Merit Scholarship Semi-finalist who scored a 1500 out of 1600 on her SAT with her score evenly split between Reading and Math.
She greatly looks forward to studying liberal arts at Vassar next year with a focus on drama and film.
Ty has been interested in these areas of study throughout her high school career. She dedicated herself to four musical productions at Western Wayne playing roles such as Pinocchio in Shrek, Rose Alvarez in Bye Bye Birdie, and she is currently in rehearsals to play Billie Bendix in Nice Work if You Can Get It. Ty loves developing her acting, singing, and dancing skills in musical theater.
She aspires to one day live and work in New York City. She dreams to earn a living on Broadway as an actress but also has an interest in cinematography. Currently she is taking a video production course at Western Wayne and looks forward to pursuing this study in college.
Ty also has much experience with music through her participation in band and chorus during her high school years. Ty plays the drums in Western Wayne’s marching band and plays mallet percussion for the concert season. She also has served as historian for the band for two years.
Along with all of her performing arts experiences at Western Wayne, Ty is proud of her accomplishments as an athlete. She has participated in Western Wayne’s Tennis team for four years serving as co-captain her senior year. The team made it to playoff rounds this year.
Ty feels excited to take all of her enthusiasm for excellence in all areas to Vassar this fall.
“I just can’t wait to meet all of the new people from different backgrounds,” she explained. “I feel like it will be such a tight knit community at Vassar where everyone has a passion for the arts.”
From left: Alpaugh and Western Wayne High School Principal Paul Gregorski.

Western Wayne Receives Educational Alliance Grant

Each year Exxon Mobil gives millions of dollars in grants to schools nationwide. They have a long history of supporting educational programs, like Educational Alliance, that focuses on improvements in math and science from pre-school to higher education. Exxon believes it is fundamentally important to encourage the next generation to pursue studies and careers involved in these fields. This year Western Wayne High School was one of 16 schools in the state of Pennsylvania that Liberty Petroleum Distributors, based out of Scranton, working with Exxon Mobil was able to present with an Educational Alliance Grant for 1,000 dollars for use in its math and science programs. From left are Jennifer Bradley, Western Wayne High School Assistant Principal; Paul Krewson, District Manager for Liberty Petroleum Distributers; Maria Masankay, Co-Chair of the Western Wayne High School Science Department; and Ted MacDonough, Chair of the Western Wayne High School Math Department.

Physician Assistant Student visits from St. Francis University

On December 20, 2017 the Anatomy and Physiology, AP Biology and Honors Chemistry students had the opportunity to learn from Miss Diana Hassan, a Physician Assistant Student from St. Francis University.  Miss Hassan is a 2013 Western Wayne Graduate and will be completing her Master’s Degree in the Physician Assistant program in May of 2018.  Diana spoke with students about her research on the disease Meningitis.  Her presentation entitled Meningitis:  A True Medical Emergency gave students information about the varying causes of Meningitis as well as symptoms and treatments.  This information was particularly valuable for students who are college or military bound and will be living in close proximity to one another.

            Miss Hassan educated students on the importance of seeking medical care if a person is suspected of suffering from Meningitis and classic symptoms that are associated.  She also shared statistics and information on the varying pathogens that can cause the disease at different stages of life.  Students had the opportunity to ask questions and discuss the disease .  Diana then spoke to the students about her college pathway and how she attained her degree.  Students were grateful to hear about such an important topic from a Western Wayne graduate.  We are thankful to Diana for sharing her expertise and her career pathway with our students.  We are wildcat proud of Diana and her accomplishments!

 

Western Wayne Holiday Baking

Western Wayne Cooking Students Create Holiday Projects Creating delicious sweet treats isn’t only a job best suited for Santa’s elves. At the Western Wayne High School, students in Mrs. Stephanie Zoppi’s Basic Foods class along with her other culinary classes have been working all month to create a variety of decadent holiday cookies and treats.

Cappuccino cookies, craisin cookies, gingerbread cookies, and lemon butter cookies are all endeavors they have taken on this holiday season just to name a few. The students say they enjoy learning new recipes and baking techniques from Zoppi. Many of them chose to take Basic Foods because they have always loved cooking and baking with their families.

From left: Felicity Sickler, Zane Janiszewski, Caitlyn Burdick, and Maggy Langendoerfer prepare lemon butter cookies in preparation for the holiday as a part of their Basic Foods class at Western Wayne High School.

FBLA State Leadership Workshop

The students all gathered for an opening general session to kick off the event and then had their choice of a variety of workshop sessions and presentations. These sessions covered a variety of essential information that FBLA students looking forward to continued academic and professional success could benefit from. Pictured are Western Wayne students who attended the event.

Row 1, from left: Julia Sennefelder, Cosette Talarico, and Abby Gogoloski.
Row 2, from left: Claudia Kovaleski, Jillian Dudley, and Grace Hollister.
Row 3, from left: Laura Booths, Skye Smith, Laurel Frable, and Allison Mattern.
Row 4, from left: Gracie Guarino, Paige Barillo, Journey Sosa, and Melissa Petrilak.
Row 5, from left: AJ Merone, Brandon Garnett, Gianna DeBastiani, and Samantha Atcavage.
Row 6, from left: Bailey Walck, Jake Ortola, Dylan Walck, Evan Coons, and Ezra Tetreault.

7th grade STEM Day

On Nov. 20th there was a 7th grade STEM Day carried our by Mrs. Collins and her senior lab techs. Mrs. Collins and her techs invaded the 7th grade physical science classrooms and performed a variety of STEM-related activities with students. Special guest, Sarah Stapleton, from Wilkes University’s Science in Motion program “SIM”, spent the day with our 7th graders as well, showcasing some of the great laboratory equipment SIM loans out to local school districts. The day was a success, and all students gave their best efforts, and behavior.

Seniors featured were: Dakotah Sopko, Alexandra Buckman, Mason Coccodrilli, and Danny Boots

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