High School Students Participate in FBLA State Leadership Conference

Students learned how to feel confident in giving presentations, how to effectively use leadership skills, and how to apply their knowledge of the business world among other things at the FBLA State Leadership Conference this week in Hersey, PA. The event took place from April 3 through April 5.

Thirty-one Western Wayne High School students attended the conference and seventeen placed in the top ten in the state. Those members placing in the top four in their events are now eligible to attend the National Leadership Conference this summer in Anaheim, California, from June 27 through July 3.

The following students placed: Dakotah Sopko, first place for Accounting I; Jack Tuman, first place for Accounting II; Ty Alpaugh and Laurel Frable, fifth place for Digital Video Production; Abby Black, first place for FBLA Principles and Procedures; Angelia Reggie, third place for FBLA Principles and Procedures; Samantha Atcavage, Evan Coons, Jillian Dudley, fifth place for Introduction to Business Presentation; Allison Mattern, first place for Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure; Noelle Orehek, eighth place for Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure; Morgan Amorine, Alexandra Buckman, Chayni Carroll, Jacob Karnick, Hannah Roedel, third place for Parliamentary Procedure; and Ezra Tetreault, second place for Public Speaking I; and Jacob Karnick placed sixth in Who’s Who in Pennsylvania FBLA. Also, Western Wayne FBLA received 10th place in Outstanding Chapter.

From left, first row: Evan Coons, Jacob Karnick, Dakotah Sopko, Angelia Reggie, Morgan Amorine, Hannah Roedel, Chayni Carroll, Ty Alpaugh, and Laurel Frable. From left, second row: Jack Tuman, Ezra Tetreault, Samantha Atcavage, Jillian Dudley, Abby Black, Allison Mattern, Alexandra Buckman, and Noelle Orehek.

RDW Kindness Club once again inspired kindness in others

Students in the RDW Kindness Club once again inspired kindness in others. Allie Pauler, Cianna Tyler, Carter Mistishin, Jacob Schott, Sean Bosshard, and Emily Dickson developed a scavenger hunt for first graders. Students were broken into small groups and had to find colored cards hidden throughout the building. On the cards were kindness-related words: generous, thoughtful, compliments, helpful, and caring. Once a card was discovered, students in the Kindness Club led a discussion about the meaning of the word and examples of how first graders could show this behavior. “They really enjoyed it” said Ashley Kromko, first grade teacher. “We plan to incorporate these words into our writing vocabulary.”

Middle School Students Participate in Northeast Regional Science Olympiad Competition

Creating bottle rockets, precisely using laser lights, and using interpersonal skills and linguistic communication skills to build an object, were just some of the tasks that students tackled at the Northeast Regional Science Olympiad Competition on March 8, 2017, at Penn State Wilkes-Barre Campus.

Pictured are the participants. From left, top row: Alexandria Bien-Aime, Rachel Tuman, Mrs. Nichole Musewicz, Madison Weinczyk, Maggy Langendoerfer, Joseph Sweeney, Miranda Kubilus, Bridgette Summers-Flannery, Rachel Hoch, Celeste Orchard, and Mr. Josh Rowe. From left, bottom row: Alexandra Butler, Makayla Gregory, Lena Piccolino, Courtney Petrilak, Sydney Ely, Abigail Lopez, and Jenny Guadagno.

Team mates Celeste and Rachel, 8th grade, placed first in their event called Write it/ Do it. The girls explained how the event involved them very precisely communicating with each other. For the event, Celeste had the task of looking at materials to build an object. Then she had a limited time to write extremely clear directions for Rachel to use to make the object. Finally, Rachel had a set amount of time to create the object based on Celeste’s directions.

Celeste, who is used to working by herself to complete tasks efficiently, said this experience helped her to build her confidence in others’ work abilities.

“I gained trust in other people because I knew that Rachel understood my instructions,” Celeste explained.

Rachel, also, learned a lesson from the experience involving analytical skills.

“I learned how to read information carefully because I had to pay attention to what Celeste said to do without any other instruction,” Rachel said. Rachel further explained that the event was challenging because she had more materials in front of her than she needed to build the object. Therefore, making Celeste’s directions even more instrumental in the construction process.

Western Wayne High School Students Participate in Annual Mock Interview Event

Anyone who has ever interviewed for the job of their dreams has most likely encountered the dreaded prompt: “Tell me about yourself.”

Students from Western Wayne, Forest City, Honesdale, and Wallenpaupack all had the opportunity to practice their response to this prompt and many others as a result of their participation in the Annual D. Carl Peet Memorial Mock Interview Day – Students Test Interview Potential event held at The Park Street Complex in Honesdale on Thursday, March 23.

Twenty-one Western Wayne students participated in the event. Their participation counted as a part of one of the following courses: Business Communications and Procedures, Sports and Entertainment Marketing, and Entrepreneurship classes all taught by Theresa Lubash, Western Wayne business department chair. Lubash’s students have been taking part in this event for over 15 years.

Lubash is a part of the Wayne County School-to-Work Committee. The committee, who works to put together this event, is comprised of representatives from the four area school districts and members of the local business community. Twenty-four business people from various local businesses took part in the event and helped the students to have an authentic interview experience.

From left, row one: Madeline Johnson, Holly Kuplack, Ryan Cavage, Bradley Carey, James Sommers, Jake Tinklepaugh, Jacob Karnick, Graham Dudley, Ethan Boots, Sal Tirado, and David Tucker. From left, row two: Justin Lee, Nate Adams, Jack Tuman, Jason Telese, James Kemmerer, Luai Hassan, Kaitlyn Juhasz, Kayla Fitzpatrick, Gracie Guarino, and Claudia Kovaleski.

Wayne County 4-H Extension Educators – “From Farm to Table”

Some first grade classrooms at EverGreen Elementary had a “From Farm to Table” presentation given by the Wayne County 4-H Extension Educators. The presenters read a book to the classes entitled Before We Eat, and our students participated in some activities that taught them about the origin of the foods they eat. We want to say thank you to our own Western Wayne High School student, Brianna Metschulat, and her leader, Ms. Scull, for taking the time to come visit!

Western Wayne Wears Pink and Blue for Jude

In support of the Jude Zayac foundation, students, staff and administrators wore pink and blue on Friday, March 24, 2017. The foundation strives to promote awareness of SIDS.

From left: Mr. Justin Pidgeon, Principal Evergreen Elementary, Ms. Elizabeth Watson, Assistant Principal Middle School, Julien Walck, Gabrielle Tetreault, Rachel Hoch, Samantha Killian, Adam Silfies, Mrs. Kristen Donohue, Principal Middle School, Dr. Katie Shemanski, Secondary School Psychologist, and Ms. Jennifer Robinson, Assistant Director of Instructional Services

WWMS Students of the Month February

Ms. Elizabeth Watson, Assistant Principal, Gavin Toy, Grade 6, Rylee Sheehan, Grade 7, Rhonda Fenkner, Grade 8, Mrs. Kristen Donohue, Principal

High School and Middle School Students Participate in Regional PJAS Competition

Young scientists from Western Wayne performed experiments on a variety of subjects including water conservation, soil erosion, auditory and visual learning, and even the true size of a double-stuffed Oreo cookie for the Region 2 Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science Competition on Saturday, March 4, at Wilkes University.

Both Western Wayne High School and Middle School competed. Fourteen participated from the high school and six from the middle school.

The following students placed at the competition for the high school: Trina Barcarola, first for her work in behavioral science; Maya Black, second for her work in behavioral science; Paige Barillo, second for her work in behavioral science; Gianna DeBastiani, third for her work in behavioral science; Kirstin Metschulat, first for her work in behavioral science; Caitlin Falloon, second for her work in behavioral science; Mallory Jablon, first for her work in behavioral science; Noelle Orehek, first for her work in botany; Brianna Metschulat, second for her work in zoology; Jack Van Horn, third for his work in chemistry; Kathryn Mattern, second for her work in ecology; Darlene Black, first for her work in ecology; Vaeda Pontosky, second for her work in engineering; and Jillian Dudley, second for her work in mathematics.

The following middle school students, also, placed: Jamie Bryan, first for her work in behavioral science; Diala Hassan, second for her work in behavioral science; Caydence Faatz, first for her work in zoology; Jonatan Stanley, second for his work in chemistry; Haley Estus, third for her work in ecology; and Samantha Killian, second for her work in earth and space.

Of these high school and middle school students the following will present their research at the PJAS State Competition on May 14 through May 17 at Penn State Main Campus: Kirstin, Mallory, Noelle, Darlene, Jamie, and Caydence. Also, Jillian was awarded a fellowship to study at the Lacawac Sanctuary Field and Research Station this coming summer.

From left, high school participants: Noelle Orehek, Trina Barcarola, Jillian Dudley, Kirstin Metschulat, Mallory Jablon, and Darlene Black.

Students Promote Upcoming Production of Bye Bye Birdie

Western Wayne musical theater students performed for the community at the annual Dr. Seuss night event held at the R.D. Wilson School on the evening of Thursday, March 2. The students performed selections from their upcoming musical production of Bye Bye Birdie which will be on Friday, April 28 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, April 29 at 7 p.m.; and Sunday, April 30 at 3 p.m. All performances will be at the newly renovated high school auditorium located at 1970A Easton Turnpike, Lake Ariel, PA 18436. From left: Marty Spewak, Lily Visceglia, Maggie Podunajec, Holly Oppelt, Laurel Frable, Alivia DeLeon, and Calla Shaffer. Back row: R.J. Clemens and Lindsey Karwacki.

Middle School Students Work on Donation Project for VIP

Western Wayne Middle School students recently learned that even a small gesture can be extremely meaningful to others who are in need. A group of seven middle school students under the direction of Mrs. Carrie Wittenbrader, English language arts teacher, made blankets to give to families in need through the Victim’s Intervention Program in Honesdale.

A discussion in Wittenbrader’s first period class led to some of her students wanting to do a service for members of the local community. After going through a number of ideas, Wittenbrader and the students settled on the project of making blankets to give to VIP. Other clubs have worked with and made donations to VIP in the past from Western Wayne Middle School, so Wittenbrader thought this would be a perfect fit for the group’s new project. She assembled a group of 7th and 8th grade students who were interested in the project that she works with in class on a daily basis. Once all of the blankets are complete Wittenbrader will donate them to VIP.

Kneeling from left: Terron Keill, Maggie Millon, and Jagger Gale. Standing from left: Lily Visceglia,, Rachel Wertman, Keyly Robinson, and Anthony Benjamin.