A 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 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.

The following students were recognized by the Student Council as students of the month for January. 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, Grace Owens is our selected freshman.  Grace is dedicated to all of her studies in school and is looking forward to her honors English class next year.  In addition, Grace is a member of the Wayne County Youth Advisory Committee this year.  She also is a member of the high school CATS Club.  In addition, she plays volleyball and will be playing lacrosse this spring. Grace is also highly involved in her church LCBC in Dickson City. Her faith is a large part of her life.  She has always enjoyed helping others and just completed the Unified Bocce Ball season at Western Wayne in which she participated with special needs and regular education students.

“It is such a cool experience,” Grace said.  “This is because the atmosphere is always positive.”

Grace aspires to be an agricultural engineer and a student pastor in the future. 

 Next, Madelyn McClure is our chosen sophomore this month. Madelyn is highly involved in FBLA having been recently elected as the FBLA regional secretary.  She will go with Western Wayne FBLA students chosen to compete in states this April. Her event is Introduction to Parliamentary Procedure.  In addition, she is an honor roll student involved in many other clubs, sports, and activities at school including:  Envirothon, Science Olympiad, PJAS, tennis team, and Unified Bocce Ball.  She aspires to be a physician’s assistant.

“I think the time management skills learned through FBLA competitions will help me in the future,” she said.  “For one test you get only 40 minutes to answer the questions correctly and this really makes you learn how to think quickly.”

 In addition, Zachary Wilbur is this month’s featured junior.  He is extremely involved in the performing arts at Western Wayne.  He has been in the Pride of Western Wayne Wildcat Marching band since his freshman year playing percussion.  This year he serves as a band librarian.  Zachary also is highly involved in the school’s Drama Club since his freshman year.  This year he serves as the show’s student music director and is an essential part of the club’s creative team that works to create the musical.  

In addition, Zachary is a member of NHS and aspires to be a constructional electrician.  He is currently working to explore the many college degree paths that could lead him to his end career goal.  He is grateful for the many leadership opportunities he has had working in performance arts in high school.

“My leadership roles have taught me a lot about responsibility,” Zachary said.

 Finally,  Nicole Klim is our senior spotlight this month.  Nicole is dedicated to her academic studies and is a member of NHS. She has currently been accepted to three local colleges and wishes to pursue her degree in early childhood education having always enjoyed spending time with children.  

“Their personalities are great and the stories they tell are so entertaining,” Nicole said of her time working with kids and babysitting over the years.  “I love to watch how children develop.”

Nicole is also highly religious and dedicated to Thrive Church in Honesdale. She enjoys being a part of their youth group and has made many great friendships through being a part of it.

The Western Wayne School District congratulates these January students of the month and wishes them the best in their future endeavors.

From left: Grace Owens, Madelyn McClure, Zachary Wilbur, Nicole Klim, and Mr. Paul B. Gregorski, high school principal.

The Western Wayne High School received a 500 dollar 2025 ExxonMobil Educational Alliance Grant to support STEM education.  ExxonMobil and Onvo present these grants to various area schools each year.  The check was awarded to Western Wayne recently.  Western Wayne Administration and staff are excited to use these funds to better the educational experiences of their students. The District intends to use these funds to enhance students’ experiences in STEM related studies.   From left:  Mr. Paul B. Gregorski, high school principal; and Mike Kizis, Onvo District Manager.