Below is a link to senior, Shailyn Pugh’s cover art as she is Happenings Magazine’s December feature. She is featured on page 13.

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This year’s Semi was themed, “Harvest Ball” and was held on Saturday, November 23, from 4 to 9 p.m.  at Ladore, Waymart. There were over 250 students in attendance and several faculty members helped the Western Wayne security team chaperone the event. The  2019 Semi Prince is Lou Azzato and the Semi Princess is Rylee Sheehan.  From left: Western Wayne High School Principal Paul Gregorski, Lou Azzato, Rylee Sheehan; and Vice Principal Matt  Barr.

The Western Wayne High School received a 500 dollar 2019 ExxonMobil Educational Alliance Grant for their math and science departments. ExxonMobil and Liberty Petroleum present these grants to various area schools each year. The check was presented to Western Wayne on Thursday, Nov. 21. Western Wayne Administration and staff are excited to use these funds to better the educational experiences of their students. From left: Mr. Matthew Barr, high school vice principal; David Stinson, district manager; and Mr. Paul Gregorski, high school principal.

            This year Western Wayne High School will have a student ambassador program.  Ambassadors will greet visitors to the high school and escort them to their destination in the building.  In November, the ambassadors went through a training with Julie Bialkowski from Penn State Scranton.  

            Freshman Skylar Long said she learned a lot about developing her communication skills from the training session.  Skylar is highly involved at Western Wayne being a member of both the volleyball and basketball teams along with participating in Future Business Leaders of America.

“I think that participating in the student ambassador program will help me be a better student leader,” Skylar said.  “I will learn how to take control of situations and how to be personable with people.”

Skylar explained that student ambassadors will be given advance notice of when they will greet visitors. In addition, student ambassadors will dress professionally and give visitors a brief tour of the school.  They will also engage visitors by telling them facts about the district such as the history of Western Wayne along with other information about sports and clubs at the school that individual student ambassadors are a part of.

Junior Lenny Maiocco will also be a student ambassador and hopes the program helps him to develop his communication skills.  Lenny is a student leader at Western Wayne who is involved in many activities.  He is a member of the tennis team, FBLA, NHS, Youth Advisory Committee, student council, and National Society of High School Scholars.

“My experience in the program will help me to work on my ability to present information that I know to others,” Lenny, who aspires to study engineering or law, said.

Senior Sydney Peet agrees that the program will help her in the future.

“The program will allow me to grow my communication skills and work on connecting with others,” Sydney, who plans to study global business with a minor in musical theater, said.

All of the Western Wayne student ambassadors look forward to working with visitors to their school.

Western Wayne High School AP Biology students visited Lacawac Sanctuary and Biological Field Station on October 17. 

 Students had the opportunity to engage in field research in the area of Forest Ecology and Conservation Biology.  During the course of the visit, students collected and analyzed data from the Lacawac Forest including a comparison of biodiversity inside of Deer Exclosures as compared to the rest of the forest, tree identification, invasive species discussions and conservation ecology. 

These rich field experiences allowed students to really understand the characteristics of a stable forest ecosystem.  Students learned about research that is happening at the collegiate level at Lacawac Field Station and about partnerships between Lacawac and various universities.  These students will return to Lacawac in the spring to conduct their own research in the area of aquatic ecosystems.

All of the students greatly enjoyed their field experience.

Junior Cailie Thoman, who wishes to study marine biology in college, explained the benefits of doing scientific work in this type of setting.

“I liked getting out and being in the fresh air on our hike while we worked,” Cailie explained.

Her classmate fellow junior Carter Davis agreed.

“We got a lot of experience on collecting data,” Davis, who hopes to enter the business field, explained.  “I find it easier to learn outside.  I think I am more attentive out there in the field.”

Another classmate junior Courtney Petrilak explained how the students had many tasks on their trip.

“One thing we collected data on was different tree types,” Courtney, who aspires to be a physician’s assistant, said.  “We had to identify them.”

All of the students agreed that their study of science grew and developed through the work they engaged in on the trip.

 High School Biology teacher Mrs. Christine McClure is grateful to have the opportunity to have these types of experiences with her students.

“We would like to thank Mrs. Jamie Reeger for organizing, coordinating and creating such rich learning opportunities at Lacawac for our students and the Western Wayne Education Foundation for their generous grants that continue to fund our experiences,” McClure said.   “We would also like to thank our administration for their support of this trip.  We look forward to working with Lacawac Sanctuary and Field Station in the future as we continue to promote scientific research and career pathways in our community.”