EverGreen Hosts Lou Ruspi Jr. Foundation Presentation

Western Wayne’s EverGreen Elementary School hosted the Lou Ruspi Jr. Foundation on Friday, Oct.20 to talk to students in grades third to fifth about mental health and wellness.  They also discussed ways students could take care of themselves and be good friends. Students learned and discussed skills that influence happiness along with social and emotional awareness to help build confidence and self-esteem. They also discussed mindfulness and using positive thoughts, words, and actions.  From left, front row: Donovan Gregorski, Nevaeh Demming, Emma Bower, and Vincent Donnini.  From left, second row: Mrs. Butler, health and physical education teacher; Carrie Chase, LRJ Foundation; Kelly Osborn, LRJ Foundation; Mandy Doria Ellard, LRJ Foundatoin; Mrs. Palko, School Counselor; and Justin Pidgeon, EverGreen Elementary School principal.

 

Western Wayne Fashion Students Redesign Wedding

Spending hours working to create the perfect wedding dress sounds like the kind of challenge famous designers featured at Kleinfeld Bridal take on to please their brides.  Students in Western Wayne’s Fashion II Class worked for about three weeks on a Wedding Gown Remake Project in which they took gowns donated to the school and redesigned them based on the style of professional wedding dress designers.

Seniors Kayla Fitzpatrick and Cailin Brown worked on this very challenging project.

Kayla’s original dress had a lot of length to it in both the front and back.  She decided to turn her dress into what she described as a “Modern Victorian” style.  She kept much of the train length but shortened the front of the dress to about knee length.

“The biggest challenge I faced in my redesign was working with the beading on the dress,” she explained.  “You have to be careful to not pull a string or it could be ruined.”

Kayla also redesigned a veil for the dress.  She took it off the headband it was originally on and put it on a choker necklace so that way it would be like a cape to go with the wedding dress.

“When I saw the veil I thought it was just too pretty to get rid of,” she said.  “So I decided to turn it into a cape-like veil because I just love the cape trend and thought it would make the ensemble look more modern.”

Fellow classmate Cailin explained that she wanted her dress to be the type of gown a bride could wear on the beach in the summertime but still be somewhat formal.

The dress she started out with had many layers of fabric.  Cailin decided to shorten the gown to about tea length and kept some of the back train.  She also added a pink ribbon around the waist.

“If there weren’t so many layers it would have been easier to work with,” she explained.  “I still plan to work on the dress more before showing it in our spring show.”

Both of the girls will have students model these wedding dresses along with a variety of other pieces that will be a part of their respective senior collections.

From left: Cailin Brown and Kayla Fitzpatrick pose with the wedding dresses they redesigned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kayla Fitzpatrick’s dress before and after her redesign.  She calls this style “Modern Victorian.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cailin’s dress after and after her redesign.  She envisions a bride wearing this dress to a summer wedding on a beach.

 

Holiday Food and Toy Drive – National Honor Society

The National Honor Society is collecting non-perishable food and toys for the holiday season.  All donations will be given to the Wayne County Food Pantry, Ronald McDonald House, and the Wayne County Christmas Bureau.  Drop off locations are the offices in each school building.

AP Biology Students Learn from Alumnus Danielle Swingle

Recently the AP Biology classes had the opportunity to learn from guest speaker Miss Danielle Swingle.  Danielle is a 2014 graduate of Western Wayne and currently at senior at East Stroudsburg University.  Danielle majors in Biochemistry with a minor in Chemical Biotechnology.  Danielle researches through the ESU Wildlife DNA Lab as well as holding an internship at a local chemical company and maintaining academic excellence.

During her visit Danielle shared her research on the Characterization of the Microbiome of American Dog Tick Mouthparts.  Her study used first generation sequencing technology to analyze American Dog tick samples collected in East Stroudsburg, PA, in order to characterize the bacteria residing on or in parts of the tick capitulum.  Danielle also shared her career pathway, information about her major and opportunities in the field of Biochemistry at local Universities.  Danielle also described how she manages her life as a student athlete at the collegiate level.  Students were excited to hear about current research in the field of Biochemistry from a fellow Wildcat.

We are very thankful to have an alumnus of the AP program take time out of her schedule to share research with our students as they study the field of Biology and plan their futures.

 

Universal Publishing Donates to EverGreen Hurricane Relief Effort

Universal Publishing, a company based out of Waymart, donated boxes of school supplies (pencils, books, writing journals) to help Western Wayne’s EverGreen Elementary School in their efforts to aide hurricane victims.  EverGreen and other buildings in the Western Wayne School District conducted a hurricane drive from September 25 through October 13. From left: Justin Pidgeon, EverGreen Elementary School principal and Josh Wasylyk (CEO).

 

EverGreen Elementary Participates in Red Cross Project

Western Wayne’s EverGreen Elementary School’s fifth graders recently took part in “The Pillowcase Project” presented by The American Red Cross. Through “The Pillowcase Project”, the children learned how to prepare for emergencies, practice what they have learned, and shared their knowledge with family and friends. Each student was given a pillowcase to take home. In the event of an evacuation, students could put their personal belongings in the pillowcase. The school thanks Mr. Jamie Collins for a wonderful presentation. From left: Lily Kieva, Madison Stiffler, Mr. Jamie Collins, Daniel Lodini, and Lance Maiocco.

Governor Commends Western Wayne Business Student

Allison Mattern, a junior at Western Wayne High School, has been recognized by Governor Tom Wolf for placing second in the nation in the Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure event at the FBLA National Leadership Conference held this past summer in Anaheim, CA. Mattern recently received a certificate from Governor Wolf commending her for this accomplishment. From left: Theresa Lubash, business department chair and FBLA advisor at Western Wayne and Region 22 FBLA co-advisor; Mattern; and Paul Gregorski, high school principal.

Western Wayne Hosts 11th Bi-Annual Cavalcade of Bands

A sense of camaraderie over a shared love of music and performance filled Western Wayne’s football stadium on Wednesday, October 11, for the 11th Bi-Annual Cavalcade of Bands.

                Nine local schools presented their field shows for a packed stadium of spectators. Featured schools included: Honesdale, West Scranton, Greater Nanticoke Area, Valley View, Carbondale Area, North Pocono, Northwest Area, and Mid Valley. Western Wayne, as the host school, had the honor of performing last with the audience on their feet watching.

                All of the local bands were awarded participation trophies at the conclusion of the event. The districts involved in these creative and entertaining marching band field shows come to a cavalcade to show their hard work to each other and enjoy a fun-filled evening of music with friends and family.

From left: Kate Hirsch, Rachael Harsch, Alex Filkovsky, and Brit Trutt pose before their performance at Western Wayne’s Cavalcade of Bands.

 

Western Wayne Band Director Elaine Ort conducted the Western Wayne Marching Band as they played the “Star- Spangled Banner” at the 11th Bi-Annual Cavalcade of Bands.

 

Fundraiser to benefit new PROSPER program!

 

There will be a multi-vendor fundraiser to help benefit Western Wayne School District’s new PROSPER program.

This new initiative, Promoting School-Community-university Partnership to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER), utilizes evidence based drug and alcohol prevention programs in the school to reduce adolescent substance abuse as well as other problematic behaviors. It also sponsors Strengthening Families a seven week program for youth ages 10-14 years and their parents or caregivers which improves parenting skills, builds life skills in youth and strengthens family bonds.
Each participating vendor has promised to gift at least 10% of their profit in support of Western Wayne’s PROSPER project. As a society, we all can do our part in strengthening our communities, local families and especially our youth.

Fundraiser dates and times are:

October 11, 2017 at Robert D. Wilson Elementary School from 3 P.M.-6 P.M.
October 25, 2017 at EverGreen School from 3 P.M.-6 P.M.
November 8, 2017 at Western Wayne Middle School from     3 P.M.-6 P.M.

RDW Kindness Club Receives Donation

The Kindness Club at R.D. Wilson Elementary is up and running again for the fourth consecutive year. The club, which was starting as part of Rachael’s Challenge, includes a rotation of fifth grade students who develop projects to spread kindness in the school and community. Last year’s students decided to post kind messages on the new electronic sign at the school’s entrance. A community member saw the sign and called the school to ask about the club. Ms. Booth, the club’s advisor, gave examples of the projects that students had developed over the past few years. The community member (who wishes to remain anonymous) was so inspired that she offered to donate $100 to the cause.

Students (Grace Langendoerfer, Zoe Albitz, Mason Rush, Samantha Linn, Annaliese Dickison, and Madison Weist) will use the funds to buy art supplies, props, and other small necessities to carry out their wonderful projects. Thank you again to our generous donor!