The Kindness Club played a pivotal role in organizing a significant event at Robert D. Wilson Elementary. From March 11th through the 15th, we conducted a food drive aimed at supporting those in need within our community. The Kindness Club took charge of collecting the donated items, and we are incredibly fortunate to have received an outstanding assortment of nonperishable foods. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all who contributed to this impactful initiative. Your generosity and support truly make a difference in the lives of others. Thank you.
Members of the community who come out to enjoy the annual Read Across America Night at Western Wayne’s RDW Elementary School on Thursday, February 29, will surely leave thinking about all of their favorite creepy, kooky, and mysteriously spooky Addams Family members because the Western Wayne Drama Club will treat people in attendance to a sneak peak of their spring musical The Addams Family School Edition, a new musical comedy. Western Wayne Middle and High School musical students will put on a performance from their upcoming spring production of The Addams Family School Edition as a part of the entertainment. THE ADDAMS FAMILY School Edition A NEW MUSICAL Book by MARSHALL BRICKMAN and RICK ELICE Music and Lyrics by ANDREW LIPPA Orchestrations by Larry Hochman Based on Characters Created by Charles Addams Originally produced on Broadway by Stuart Oken, Roy Furman, Michael Leavitt, Five Cent Productions, Stephen Schuler, Decca Theatricals, Scott M. Delman, Stuart Ditsky, Terry Allen Kramer, Stephanie P. McClelland, James L. Nederlander, Eva Price, Jam Theatricals/Mary LuRoffe, Pittsburgh CLO/Gutterman-Swinsky, Vivek Tiwary/Gary Kaplan, The Weinstein Company/Clarence, LLC, Adam Zotovich/Tribe Theatricals; By Special Arrangement with Elephant Eye Theatrical
The event will kick-off at 4:45 p.m. and is free to the public. Kids of all ages can enjoy a variety of activities in celebration of Dr. Seuss’ birthday. There will also be a Book Fair at the event hosted by the PTA, and attendees can meet The Cat and Hat along with Thing One and Thing Two. From 4:45 to 5:30 p.m. guests can tour the RDW building and stop in classrooms to hear stories read by RDW staff and friends. Starting at 5:30 through 6:30 p.m., there will be a concession stand open. Then at 6:30 p.m. The Addams Family cast members will put on a performance. Senior Drama Club President Nate Conway is excited to welcome the audience playing the role of Gomez Addams. “This is a role I never imagined having when I started out in the Drama Club in 8th grade,” Nate, who also serves as a student director, said. “I have always wanted to play a really humorous and dark lead role and now for my senior year I have that chance.” The entire cast of The Addams Family are excited to entertain the audience at RDW. “I love going out into the community and sharing what we have been working to create,” Colette Schmitt, who is the secretary of the Drama Club, and plays Pugsley this year, said. “ I can’t wait to see all of the students in attendance enjoy it.” The Western Wayne community cordially invites the public to come and enjoy Read Across America Night on Thursday, February 29, at the RDW Elementary School, a free evening of entertainment and events perfect for kids of all ages. In addition, you can also mark your calendar with the dates for our performances of The Addams Family School Edition at Western Wayne High School’s Veterans Memorial Auditorium on Friday, April 12, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, April 13 at 7 p.m.; and Sunday, April 14 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults, $3 for senior citizens and students, and Western Wayne students are free with a student ID. Pictured are some of the cast of Western Wayne Drama Club’s production of The Addams Family School edition with Owen Obloshny who plays Uncle Fester center dancing with Madison Forgione who plays the moon.
Western Wayne High School has six students who are state finalists in a Prevent Suicide Contest. We are asking the local community to help make them winners!
During the month of February, Art students from all four Western Wayne schools are participating in the 1st Wayne County Arts Alliance Student Art Exhibition! The opening for the show was well attended on Friday February 2nd, where students, their teachers and families enjoyed light refreshments and viewing the art from other participating Wayne County School Districts. Student work was selected based on a variety of criteria. Hopefully this show will become an annual event in the future! The show will be on display at the Wayne County Arts Alliance Gallery at 959 Main Street Honesdale through February 24, 2024. Congratulations to the participating artists; From Robert D. Wilson Elementary: Reaghan Sheehan, Nathan Klimczak, Felix Klimczak, Andie Trapper, Billie Joe Burnham, Orson Farley, Alice O’hora, Jameson Constantine, Luca Ferraro, Keira Marcel, Paige Weist, Zoe Borzek, and Caleb Tedesco. From the High School: Peyton Cook, Lila Rusin, Carly Schott, Kiersten McDonald, Aurora Morris, Cassidy Zeiler, Leo West and from the Middle School Teena Zotynia, Mackenzie Warnock, Abigail Wasman, Ava Borzek, Jailah McRae, Isabella Jason, Kenna Steinmetz, Jasmine Yamamoto, Makayla Franckowiak. EverGreen: Brooklyn Gill, Rayven Ford-Hetzel, Leiana Vetrano, Jereni Strocchia, Khloe Elias Lucy Olszyk, Mia Padula Emma Dougher, Nathanial Huff, Tucker Bell , Lillian Elders, Aria Takacs.
The Kindness Club at RDW recently performed a play for students in grades K-2. The play was called A Day in the Life of an RDW Student and included five different scenarios that a typical student might encounter. In each scene, one or more of the characters chose to demonstrate kindness in a challenging situation. The club members had questions for students to discuss between acts. At the conclusion of the play, Kindness Club members encouraged students to practice acts of kindness throughout their day and to consider joining the Kindness Club when they are in fifth grade.
Members, left to right from first photo: Ryan Nixon, Paxton Shiner-Lewis, Caden Reeger, Saga Bryden, Lillian Sorrentino, and Kelly Talarico
Guiding Good Choices for 4th-6th grade parents and caregivers. Attend this FREE VIRTUAL five-session program to help your youth navigate the pressures and expectations of life during their teen years to succeed and achieve a brighter future. Parents and caregivers can enhance their parenting skills by learning how to:
Promote health and well-being during the teen years.
Develop health beliefs and clear standards for behavior.
Deal with anger in a positive way and manage family conflict to strengthen bonds with youth.
Protect their children from substance abuse and other problematic behaviors.
Strengthen family bonds and increase youth’s involvement in the family through the teen years.
Youth attend session 4 with their parents and caregivers. The program will be held on five Tuesdays: February 6, 13, 20, 27 and March 6 from 6 to 8 PM via Zoom. For more information or to register, e-mail or call Karen Thomas at kat1@psu.edu or 570-878-2385
On January 12th, Jay Amore from the Universal Technical Institute met with fourth and fifth grade students at RDW. Mr. Amore shared the different training programs that are offered at UTI and why many of these are in high-demand. He discussed the cost of technical school versus a traditional college and explained the difference between these two endeavors. He also shared his personal career journey to demonstrate the potential for success and happiness when pursuing a career in the trades.
Mr. Amore’s engaging presentation helped to expand students’ understanding of their post-secondary options, which is an important goal of the K-12 College and Career Readiness program here at Western Wayne.
“ Such a joyful time at the RDW Elementary School! Thank you to the RDW PTA for putting on a week long Santa shop and gifting books and the love of reading to all of our RDW students! We even had a very special visit from Santa and Mrs. Clause! “ All of the students LOVED the Christmas Fun and Spirit!”
Mrs. Maria Miller has been chosen to receive the 2023 Administrator Appreciation Award from the Pennsylvania School Counselors Association (PSCA). This rare distinction “acknowledges administrators who demonstrate an understanding and support of, commitment to and belief in the role of school counselors and comprehensive, developmental school counseling programs.” Miller will be formally recognized at the PSCA annual conference on December 7th at Kalahari Resorts and Conference Center. She has been an avid supporter of the school counseling program at RDW since they started working together in June of 2012. She is the reason the program has received national and state recognition; and she is a true champion of the school’s comprehensive school counseling program. Miller was born and raised in Waymart and has lived there her whole life. She graduated from Western Wayne School District in 1986. She then attended Marywood University where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Early Childhood (1990) and Master’s Degree in Early Childhood (1992). Later, she received her Principal Certification in 1997 from The University of Scranton. Miller has worked at R.D. Wilson for the past 33 years. She was a classroom teacher for 10 years, serving students in Pre-K, Kindergarten, and Fourth Grade before entering her current role as principal. Miller is a champion of her community and has devoted her career to bettering the lives of the students and families in this area that she calls home.
Mrs. Miller spear-headed the efforts to bring the PROSPER Program to the Western Wayne School District. Based out of Penn State, this program trains local teams to lead family-based and school-based prevention program efforts on the ground in their communities. In addition to her many roles at school, Miller is Waymart Historical Society: Vice President; has her RAMP-Certification: Principal of a RAMP-Certified school (2019-2024), currently supporting the counselor in applying for Re-RAMP and the PA Black Diamond Program award. Also, R.D. Wilson received the Adequate Yearly Progress PDE achievement recognition every year from 2002 until 2011 (when PA stopped awarding this to schools) under Miller’s leadership. Miller is thrilled to represent Western Wayne at the awards ceremony to receive her great honor in early December.
ALL NEWS
Western Wayne and Honesdale High Schools Robotics Team FRC 4285 Places 8th at Hatboro-Horsham District EventMarch 11, 2025The robotics team FRC 4285 Camobots (composed of Honesdale HS and Western Wayne HS students) competed at the Hatboro-Horsham District Event and placed 8th. We are very proud of the performance for the team took on a tough engineering challenge of designing, building, testing, and competing in 6 weeks a 140lb robot to autonomously and human driven the task to pick up and place a 12” long piece of Sch40 4” pvc and 16” diameter rubber ball in specific locations. The team chose to design, build, and compete utilizing a 3 piece telescoping crane arm with manipulator, this took all of their time up and had minimal drive and interaction time with the robot prior to the event. The team learned, adapted, problem-solved, presented to CEO’s and engineers of major companies, and persevered to compete in the playoff round and place 8th. Congratulations to the robotics and engineering members.
Western Wayne team members are: Ethan Gillott, Grace Owens, Kyle Matthews, Aiden Matthews, Paul Borowski, Logan Pauler, Liam Pauler, Jake Obloshny, and Alexis Bartels.
Pictures are from the Hatboro-Horsham District Event. [...]
Local Students Explore Real-World Environmental SolutionsMarch 11, 2025Local Students Explore Real-World Environmental Solutions
Students from several local schools are participating in an educational program focused on environmental science and collaboration throughout the 2024-25 school year.
Each school has a team of five students and a teacher-advisor. The program includes hands-on field trips and investigations, allowing students to explore real-world environmental issues.
Participating Schools
Lackawanna County: Carbondale, Forest City, Lackawanna Trail, Lakeland, Mountain View, Old Forge, Riverside, Western Wayne, and Wayne Highlands.
Luzerne County: Crestwood, Hanover, HAAS, HACC, Hazleton, Northwest, Tunkhannock, and Wyoming Area.
Western Wayne High School students have already taken part in trips to Lackawanna State Park, Keystone College, the Old Forge borehole, and the Alliance Landfill. These experiences helped them learn about healthy watersheds, how to monitor their conditions, and ways to maintain water quality. The program is supported by Pennsylvania American Water Company, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), and DCNR’s Watershed Education Program.
March Field Trip: Water Treatment in Action
In March, students visited Pennsylvania American Water’s Lake Scranton Water Treatment Plant and its Sewage Treatment Plant.
At the Lake Scranton Water Treatment Facility, Sr. Superintendent Daniel Baratta led a tour, explaining how the system provides clean drinking water to about 160,000 people in 14 communities. The facility draws water from Lake Scranton and other reservoirs, processing an average of 19.5 million gallons daily.
Students also toured the sewage treatment plant, where they learned how wastewater is treated before being safely returned to the Lackawanna River.
Looking Ahead
The program will conclude on May 6, 2025, with a student presentation banquet at Montage Mountain. Western Wayne students will showcase their project: planning an ecology-based field trip for fourth graders at the Varden Conservation Area. Inspired by their own experiences, they designed activities to teach younger students about the environment in a fun and engaging way.
Through these hands-on experiences, students are gaining valuable knowledge about environmental conservation while working together to find real-world solutions.
“I really enjoy learning about the science field through these hands-on real-world experiences,” Western Wayne sophomore Dakota Douglas said.
Picture One, from left : Dakota Douglas, Giuliana Velazquez, Aliyah Gregory, Kyleigh Turner, and Jerrah-Ann DeBree.
Picture Two, from left : Kyleigh Turner, , Jerrah-Ann DeBree, Dakota Douglas, Aliyah Gregory, Giuliana Velazquez, and Water Treatment Facility, Sr. Superintendent Daniel Baratta. [...]
Students Take Top Three Places in Rotary Essay ContestMarch 11, 2025The Hamlin Lake Ariel Rotary Club recently had their Rotary District 7410 Essay Contest giving students the prompt: Rotary’s Four Way Test, which guides all Rotary projects, including this question: “Is it fair to all concerned?”. Students were asked to write about the statement, “we use empathy to see other points of view, in the context of problems to be solved.” How can we use teamwork, inclusion, empathy, acceptance, belonging, and accountability to solve problems or achieve goals we set?
Rotary District 7410 offers this Essay Contest as an incentive for young people to develop their skills of self-expression, and as evidence of a sincere desire to demonstrate service above self, which is Rotary’s consistent motto.
Western Wayne High School students placed in the competition. Mercedes Pedersen, senior, took first place; Kennedy Scott, senior, placed second; and Anthony Redmond, senior, placed third.
Mercedes along with writing is involved in a variety of activities at Western Wayne including: color guard, stage crew, and Spanish Club. She is also the president of Western Wayne’s Chapter of the National Honor Society. She plans to study veterinary medicine with an emphasis on exotic and domestic animals.
Mercedes discussed how she focussed on how a problem can be solved using the pillars named by the Rotary Club.
“I discussed how the different aspects work together when solving a problem,” she said. “This was a rich topic, and I was able to get four pages out of it.”
Her work earned her a club-level first prize of 100 dollars in the contest, and she is excited to see her essay move on the district level where she will be in competition to win a 1,000 dollar prize for her excellent writing.
The second prize winner was Kennedy Scott. Her essay focussed on solving conflict through the use of the Rotary pillars.
Kennedy feels she will use the strong pillar qualities in her daily life more than ever next year when she takes on the unique opportunity of doing a gap year abroad through Colorado State University. She will earn twelve credits and get to travel the world going to destinations such as France, Spain, the Netherlands, Ghana, Japan, Thailand, and many other locations. She first learned of this academic opportunity through TikTok in her sophomore year, and she chose to pursue it and gained acceptance into the program. She will study media marketing at Colorado State University and aspires to do promotions for businesses after she graduates.
Finally our third prize winner is Anthony Redmond. He is a four year member of the Western Wayne High School Marching Band serving as the percussion section leader for two years. He also participated in Pep Band and Pit Band. He wishes to pursue a degree in music education to be a high school band director. Anthony focussed on the aspects of teamwork, inclusion, empathy, acceptance, and accountability in his essay all of which he knows make for a good working team in a high school marching band.
“I discussed both how these aspects can help make people work as a good team and how they can bring people apart as well at times,” he explained.
The Western Wayne School District and especially their English teacher Mrs. Carrie Wittenbrader congratulates these students on their award-winning efforts and wishes them the best in their bright futures.
From left: Mercedes Pedersen, Kennedy Scott, Anthony Redmond, and Mrs. Carrie Wittenbrader. [...]
Students Attend World Language Day at The University of ScrantonMarch 7, 2025On Tuesday, March 4th, The University of Scranton held their second World Language Day in which they hosted over 100 high school students to experience lessons in Spanish, French, Chinese, Japanese, German, and Arabic. Some Western Wayne High School students were in attendance and loved their experience.
“It was very interesting to be immersed in so many different languages,” Kallie Wehrmann, Western Wayne senior, said. “I really loved making new friends and learning about different cultures. I am so excited to go to college next year and feel this experience makes me even more prepared for the future.”
From left: Mrs. Sara Orloski, Jack Sepelyak, Lance Hauenstein, Kaitlin Wargo, Leah Reeger, Loucy Allen, Julia Wehrmann, Katie Skirpan, Lily Kieva, Kallie Wehrmann, Chloe Gilpin, Maria Gadoua, and Mrs. Sandrowicz. [...]
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. [...]
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.
