The District is aware of concerns and potential misinformation regarding CAT Pack games. To clarify, Western Wayne School District is excited that our student-athletes will once again participate in Special Olympics at Delaware Valley; an opportunity that has not happened since COVID.
We acknowledge the excitement around CAT Pack games, and to increase opportunities for peer engagement, the district plans to incorporate CAT Pack activities into building-level events, such as monthly PBIS, spirit games, and field day. Funds acquired through a local grant will be used to create a memorable experience for those students who may not meet Special Olympic criteria.
Additionally, the district continues to collaborate with Special Olympics to offer extracurricular activities, such as unified track and field and more recently, bocce ball.
We will continue to celebrate all students in district activities throughout the year. Please contact the District Office with any questions. 1-800-321-9973 Option 5.
The February edition of Scholarships & Career Opportunities is now available. All grades should read this document to get information on college, careers, important dates, SAT/ACT exams and of course…scholarships!
National School Counseling Week 2025, “School Counseling: Helping Students Thrive,” sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), will be celebrated from Feb. 3–7, 2025, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems and how students are different as a result of what school counselors do. National School Counseling Week highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career.
Western Wayne FBLA recently attended the Regional Leadership Conference at The University of Scranton. Students participated in competitive events and attended workshops with local business leaders. Twenty-two Western Wayne Students qualified to compete in the State Leadership Conference in April. Students who qualified are as follows:
Clare Coccodrilli, Isabella Kolp, Avery Ullner – 1st Place, Intro to Social Media Strategy
The Western Wayne School District would like to congratulate high school band director Mrs. Elaine Ort on being the recipient of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 9 Citation of Excellence. Mrs. Ort is the only band director in District 9 to be chosen for the award this year. This award is given to music educators who demonstrate high musical standards both inside and outside the classroom. She will attend an awards banquet at the PMEA State Conference in April to receive the official recognition. In addition, Mrs. Ort has had the honor of being a member of America’s Bands Directors with her most recent appearance with this group at the 2023 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The district is proud of Mrs. Ort’s past and most recent accomplishments. Pictured is Mrs. Ort at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Please also enjoy this link to an appearance Mrs. Ort made on PA Live last year to discuss her accomplishments in music.
Western Wayne High School’s Watershed Group is proud to announce the acceptance of a grant to sponsor a fourth-grade field trip to the Varden Conservation Area this spring. This initiative, led by students, exemplifies their commitment to fostering environmental stewardship and creating meaningful educational opportunities for younger learners.
Sophomore Aliyah Gregory wrote the grant and is thrilled to have been given it to use to help the younger students at Western Wayne have this unique educational experience.
“I really enjoy helping environmental causes,” Aliyah said. “I also aspire to be a teacher one day and think that working with the fourth graders later this year will be a good experience in leading others.”
The program, Community Connections to Our Watershed, has a legacy spanning over two decades. Each year, education staff from Lackawanna and Nescopeck State Parks collaborate with local schools to engage students and educators in an environmental forum. Participants explore local parks and public lands while learning from conservation professionals who work tirelessly to ensure equitable access to clean water—a resource vital for both human and ecological health. An overview of the 2023-2024 program, including information, pictures, and highlights from field trips, is available athttps://tinyurl.com/CCTW2024
This year’s participating schools include:
Lackawanna County Teams: Carbondale, Forest City, Lackawanna Trail, Lakeland, Mountain View, Old Forge, Riverside, Western Wayne, and Wayne Highlands.
Luzerne County Teams: Crestwood, Hanover, HAAS, HACC, Hazleton, Northwest, Tunkhannock, and Wyoming Area.
Western Wayne High School students have already participated in enriching field trips to Lackawanna State Park, Keystone College, the Old Forge borehole, and the Alliance Landfill. These experiences provided hands-on lessons in understanding healthy watersheds, monitoring their condition, and implementing solutions to maintain water quality. These activities were made possible through support from Pennsylvania American Water Company, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), and DCNR’s Watershed Education Program.
Sophomore Dakota Douglas greatly enjoyed the trip to Keystone. Part of the experience that day was the students doing a simulated bird watching activity where they used binoculars to look at pictures of birds on trails and then identify them.
“The bird watching activity was really fun,” she said. “I love science and hope to study psychology one day in college.”
The program will culminate on May 6, 2025, with a student presentation banquet at Montage Mountain. Western Wayne students will present their project, which involves designing and implementing a field trip for fourth-grade elementary students to the Varden Conservation Area. Drawing from their own learning experiences, the high school students crafted ecology-based activities to inspire and educate their younger peers.
To fund this initiative, the students successfully applied for a grant through the Wayne County Community Foundation (WCCF). The Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) reviewed and approved their mini-grant application, which secured funding for transportation and programming costs.
The Wayne County Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a charitable reserve for the current and future needs of Wayne County. Through its grant programs, the Foundation empowers community organizations to grow, thrive, and achieve sustainability. For more information about the Foundation, visit their office at 214 Ninth Street, Honesdale, PA 18431, call 570-251-9993, email info@waynefoundation.org, or visit https://www.waynefoundation.org.
Western Wayne High School is deeply grateful for the support that made this student-led program possible. This grant underscores the power of youth initiative and collaboration in promoting environmental awareness and education within our community.
From left, kneeling: Aliyah Gregory and Kyleigh Turner. From left, standing: Dakota Douglas, Jerrah-Ann DeBree, Mark Nebzydoski Ph.D. advisor; and Giuliana Velazquez.
Curriculum Night will be held Wednesday, January 29, 2025, from 6:00 to 8:00. Administration, Guidance and the Department Heads will go over the curriculum, graduation requirements and the scheduling process.
The January edition of Scholarships & Career Opportunities is now available. All grades should read this document to get information on college, careers, important dates, SAT/ACT exams and of course…scholarships!
Wester Wayne FBLA members attended the Regional Leadership Workshop held at Woodloch Resorts this past December and had a great experience learning at and participating in this event. Back row, from left: Khloe Mistishin, Cameron Press, Jared Goldman, and Madelyn Vinton. Front row, from left: Phoebe Schmitt, Olivia Gries, Ms. Brooke Hochreither, Western Wayne FBLA adviser; Colette Schmitt, and Madelyn McClure.
ALL NEWS
High School February Students of the MonthMarch 5, 2025The following students were recognized by the Student Council as students of the month for February. Their teachers and administrators weighed in on the decisions. All of the students chosen hold a high standard of academic and personal excellence. They are true examples of the P.R.I.D.E. standards for PBIS at our school.
First, Leah Reeger is our selected freshman. Leah is an all-around excellent student who has a passion for art. In addition, she is involved in Envirothon, Student Council, and Ultimate Frisbee. One of her favorite classes is her Honors English class. She feels as though her writing is growing in strength this year, especially her poetry and literary analysis work.
She also is greatly enjoying her Introduction to Ceramics class this year.
“We are learning how to make basic items like bowls,” Leah explained. “I really like coming up with new items to create and then making them a reality through my art.”
Leah aspires to own a coffee shop with an art theme that focuses on nature.
Next, Eric McGrath is our chosen sophomore this month. Eric is an enthusiastic student who gives his best effort in all he does. His sports and activities include soccer, track, and Envirothon. His favorite class this year is English.
“I like writing best, especially fiction analysis,” he said. Eric plans to attend college after graduation with an undecided major at the moment.
In addition, Loucynthia Allen is this month’s featured junior. She is another very dedicated student who enjoys art. Her clubs and activities include Spanish Club, National Art Honor Society, and Envirothon.
Her favorite class this year is ceramics.
“I really like being in my own world when I create art,” she said.
She aspires to become a dentist or dental hygienist for her future career.
Finally, David Elias is our senior spotlight this month. David is an exceptional academic student and talented student athlete. His sports and activities include basketball, track and FBLA.
His favorite class is calculus.
“I enjoy problem solving and working with numbers,” he said.
David plans to attend a four-year university upon graduation with an undecided major.
The Western Wayne School District congratulates these February students of the month and wishes them the best in their future endeavors.
From left: Leah Reeger, Eric McGrath, Mr. Robert Black, high school assistant principal; Loucynthia Allen, and David Elias. [...]
PA State Grant UpdateMarch 5, 2025PA State Grant Information:
PHEAA has informed us that they will be not be using GrantUS to process the PA State Grant. They will be using their legacy system and expect to have grant rewards out in April 2025. Please be on the lookout for an email from PHEAA if your filled out your FAFSA regarding the state grant. [...]
Students Win Big With Energy Efficiency!March 4, 2025A group of ninth grade students at Western Wayne High School received the Honorable Mention award in a special PPL contest.
Aidyn Graci and Mitchell Ferraro General Science, students from the high school were the Honorable Mention winners in the PPL Electric THINK! ENERGY Innovation Challenge. The contest required students to develop an interactive and hands-on presentation on energy, natural resources and environmental issues.
Science teacher Dr. Mark Nebzydoski led the challenge for Western Wayne by registering all Western Wayne High School students for free energy conservation kits, which consisted of three compact fluorescent light bulbs, a smart energy power strip, a shower timer, a faucet aerator and water-saving shower head. Each student was then asked to take the kits home, install the energy-saving equipment and survey how much energy was saved due to the use of the equipment.
“The students projects submitted were very creative and entertaining.” Nebzydoski said. “Seeing students learning about energy efficiency and applying it to the real world is the perfect model of how education should work.” “High school students are tomorrow’s homeowners, so reinforcing energy efficiency messages is important.”
The winning students’ project included a video on energy efficiency. They can be found from a link on the Western Wayne Website. https://youtu.be/EDmCGFHw4Lk Winning students each received Beats wireless earbuds. Dr. Nebzydoski received $250 for classroom supplies.
“I am proud of the student’s hard work and achievement,” Dr. Nebzydoski said.
The students really had a lot of fun making the video with the ongoing theme of “Come on, Mr. Nebz!” Throughout the clip, they kept telling their favorite teacher to be more careful about energy usage in his classroom.
Mitchell Ferraro, who of the winning students who aspires to be a social studies teacher, really liked how fun it was to make the video and tell Mr. Nebz what to do throughout it.
Fellow video creator Aidyn Graci, who aspires to study business one day be very successful, was relieved when they finished the project. “I was glad to get to the end and see our hard work pay off,” he said.
PPL Electric Utilities, in conjunction with National Energy Foundation (NEF) and the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), is proud to sponsor the THINK! ENERGY with E-power educational program. There are three program offerings for various grade levels and each is designed to provide teachers and students with energy education. All program offerings are free and are correlated to Pennsylvania learning standards.
Please see contest link https://thinkenergy.org/ppl-innovation/teachers/
From left: Dr. Mark Nebzydoski, Mitchell Ferraro, and Aidyn Graci. [...]
PPL Awards Gift Certificate to Western Wayne SophomoreMarch 4, 2025PPL awarded Western Wayne sophomore student Liam O’Brien an amazon gift card as a prize for completing a survey about his usage of tools in the Innovation Kit that all Western Wayne 9th grade high school students got as a part of the PPL Think! Energy program this past fall. The students were challenged to use the items in the kit such as a smart power strip, LED bulbs, and a special shower head for water conservation, among other items. Liam, who aspires to study culinary arts or sports broadcasting in the future, and many other Western Wayne students used these items and then filled in a survey about their experiences. Liam was the lucky winner drawn at random for the Western Wayne School District. Liam said he got the most use out of the power strip from the PPL kit. He likes his science class and prioritizes helping the environment. “I think it is important to be environmentally conscientious so that plants in nature can thrive and people in general have better health,” Liam said.From left: Dr. Mark Nebzydoski and Liam O’Brien. [...]
Scholarships & Career Opportunities – March EditionMarch 3, 2025The March edition of Scholarships & Career Opportunities is now available. All grades should read this document to get information on college, careers, important dates, SAT/ACT exams and of course…scholarships!
Click here: https://ww3.westernwayne.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Scholarships-and-Career-Opportunities-March-2025-2.pdf [...]
Safe2Say Something is a youth violence prevention
program run by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.
The program teaches youth and adults how to recognize
warning signs and signals, especially within social media,
from individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others
and to “say something” BEFORE it is too late.
