Row 1 (l to r): Celeste Orchard, Madison McGlone, Jamie Bryan, Kaeli Romanowski, Skylar Long, Cyrah Bihler, McKenzie Laity, Miranda Montijo, Cassidy Asinski, Angelia Reggie, Trina Barcarola, Landon Firmstone, Zane Janiszewski, and Alex Amorine. Row 2 (l to r): Asia Nichols, Sinclaire Ogof, Brendan Fitzsimmons, Zachary Rovinsky, Jack McAllister, Parker Howell, James Fryzel, Derek Mason. Absent from photo: Lenny Maiocco, Alaina Maiocco, Abby Black, Sinaea Buford, Ashton Fitzsimmons, Morgan Coccodrilli, Sydney Peet, and Ezra Tetreault.
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 students recently collected data on a trip to Lacawac. From left: Courtney Petrilak, Carter Davis, and Cailie Thoman.
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.
Western Wayne students recently collected data on a trip to Lacawac. From left: Richie Reed, Morgan Coccodrilli, Joey Skirpan, and Luke Urian.
“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.”
At the annual engineering competition at Wallenpaupack High
School, students were challenged with building a structure out of simple
materials, that was able to transport a weighted model car across the span of
two points on the wooden foundation students were given. The structure
created by the students also had to move in some way to allow a 9″
obstacle to pass underneath.
The Western Wayne Team
A decided to make their bridge unique and not use the optional pier support in
the middle of the bridge. The team’s ideology behind this was that it
would help make their bridge stand out. Their philosophy worked, the
bridge was the only one in the competition that did not use a pier at
all.
With all of the great
minds working together, they came up with a design plan for a drawbridge that
would lift upward to allow the car to pass under it. Since the team was
only provided a limited selection of materials, they had to be creative with
their design choices. They made this hinge out of cut up pieces of straw
and a piece of spaghetti that passed through the straw allowing it to
pivot.
The team’s design for the other
half of the bridge held stationary. They used a technique of braiding
paper towels to create a cable-like suspension for the static portion. By
giving their bridge these attributes, the team achieved the innovation award at
the competition.
The Western Wayne Team A
consisted of Jacob McCormick, Landon Firmstone, Collin Murray, Matt Rosengrant,
and Max Phillips.
Max discussed his
experience at the competition.
“We used the first 20 to 30 minutes
to brainstorm how we could make a bridge with the given materials. We
first thought of a draw bridge, but we thought it would be too complex.
So, we decided to try to make a half drawbridge, half suspension
bridge,” Max explained. “I personally learned how to work as a
team better and to find different ways to use unique materials.”
Max’s teammate Matt also
enjoyed his experience at the competition and thought he benefited from it.
“At the annual Wallenpaupack
engineering competition, my team and I were faced with an engineering
problem. The problem was that we had to create a bridge which lifted up
on one side in order for a car to pass under it. We ended up winning the
innovation award. I believe this was mainly due to the paper-towel rope
we made for the suspension part of the bridge as well as the pasta noodle and
drinking straw hinge we made for the drawbridge section of the bridge,”
Matt explained. “Overall, this competition challenged my mind
a lot and was very enjoyable. I would definitely recommend anyone
interested to attend.”
From left member of the Western Wayne Team
A: Max Phillips, Collin Murray, Matt Rosengrant, Landon Firmstone, and
Jacob McCormick.
Seven members of the
Western Wayne High School chapter of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)
recently participated in a Business Retreat sponsored by the Wayne County School-to-Work
Committee. In addition to students from Western Wayne, students from
Wallenpaupack, Honesdale, and Forest City were in attendance.
The day began with an
opening session conducted by Thomas Shepstone, Shepstone Management, who
discussed the trends and forecasts of jobs in the Wayne County area.
Next, Laurie Guzda got the students involved with an exciting marketing
activity.
This was followed by a field trip to Moka Origins, a coffee roastery and
bean-to-bar chocolate factory. The owners have established their own farm in
Cameroon, Africa, and are uniting with partner farmers around the world to
strive to generate real social change. Jeff Abella, Director, Himalayan
Institute and CEO of Moka Origins, spoke to the students about social
entrepreneurship and small business strategies.
Representing Western
Wayne were (seated) Lenny Maiocco and Derek Mason. (Standing) Kate
Mattern, Darlene Black, Sydney Peet, Ezra Tetreault, and James Fryzel.
Ms. Theresa Lubash, FBLA Adviser and Business Department Chairperson,
accompanied the students.
Pictured are veterans demonstrating the proper folding of the flag with 13 folds.
As a tradition for many years, Western Wayne
administration, faculty, staff, and students joined together on Wednesday,
November 13, to celebrate veterans in the community with a special in-school event
that featured music from the high school band and chorus, wise words from a
veteran guest speaker, and this year the event had the added component of a special
presentation of the meaning of the 13 folds in the American flag.
Many local veterans attended the presentation at Western Wayne. Some of which had special connections to Western Wayne students. Marty Reingold, Vietnam veteran, attended with his wife Marsha to spend the day honoring veterans with their grandson sophomore Matt Reingold.
Marty Reingold and his wife Marsha shared the Veterans Day assembly at Western Wayne High School with their grandson. From left: Marty Reingold, Vietnam veteran; Matt Reingold, sophomore at Western Wayne; and Marsha Reingold.
Marsha
explained that they have taken part in the Veterans Day assembly at Western
Wayne for the past four years.
“Matt
is very proud of his papa,” Marsha explained.
“We are so happy to be here with our grandson. It is very rewarding to see the school do
things for our service men and to witness the camaraderie.”
Matt
agreed with his grandmother.
“The
best part about today is being able to honor the veterans,” Matt
explained. “Especially my grandfather.”
Another
veteran that felt proud to be at the event with his grandchildren was Roger
O’Brien, a United States Navy veteran. O’Brien explained that it was his first
time at the Veterans Day event at Western Wayne. However, he had heard about it from his
granddaughter Rebeccah King, who is a senior this year, and performed with the
chorus and band at the event.
O’Brien also had a number of other grandchildren at the event who have attended Western Wayne. His grandchildren Johnathan Robbins, 7th grade, and Summer Schaal, granddaughter, were with O’Brien before the presentation to welcome him to the school.
Roger O’Brien shared the Veterans Day assembly at Western Wayne High School with his grandchildren. From left: Johnathan Robbins, 7th grader at Western Wayne; Roger O’Brien, United States Navy veteran; and Summer Schaal.
“I am a
very proud grandfather,” O’Brien said.
“I promised them I would come.”
O’Brien
traveled to Western Wayne from New Jersey for the event, and he was happy to
discuss his time in the service with his grandchildren.
“I
practically traveled around the world as a gunner on a cargo ship,” O’Brien
explained. “I was in Russia twice. I was shipped to the West Coast and was
headed to Okinawa, Japan, but they surrendered before we got there. We saw plenty.”
O’Brien
discussed how he received many honors for his military service.
“I have
a number of medals and ribbons for my time in the service which I have shown to
my grandchildren,” O’Brien explained.
Reingold,
O’Brien, and many other veterans processed into the auditorium to begin the
event.
Highlights of the event include some beautifully performed patriotic pieces by the Western Wayne High School chorus and band. The veterans also were treated to a breakfast and lunch prepared by students in Mrs. Stephanie Zoppi’s culinary classes. In addition, during the assembly, a group of local veterans demonstrated and explained the meaning of the 13 folds in an American Flag when it is presented to a loved one at a military funeral service.
Students in Western Wayne’s FCCLA Club helped to greet Veterans for the event. From left: Paige Bell, Zoey Goldman, Kennedy Mistishin, Jaquelyn Morris, and Jaden Gregory.
The symbolism of each of the folds was explained in a very moving presentation. They represent a variety of meaningful parts of military service, faith in God, and faith in America. For example, the second fold signifies a belief in eternal life; the seventh fold is a tribute to our armed forces; and the final fold, when the stars are uppermost, is a tribute to our national motto, “In God We Trust.”
Pictured are veterans demonstrating the proper folding of the flag with 13 folds.
As a
closing to the assembly, the students, veterans, and faculty in attendance
heard from guest speaker Officer Robert Robbins. Officer Robbins served in the United States
Army in the 101st Airborne Division as a Light Wheel Vehicle
Mechanic at Fort Campbell Kentucky for two years. He earned the Army Achievement Medal, Good
Conduct Medal, and the Air Assault Badge.
Upon the conclusion of his active service, Officer Robbins joined the Pennsylvania National Guard and served in Alpha Co, 1st Battalion of the 109th Infantry Regiment. In this unit, he served as a Squad Leader, Vehicle Commander, was promoted to Sergeant and was awarded the General S. J. Stewart Medal for service and NCO Academy Graduate Ribbon.
Pictured is Guest Speaker Officer Robert Robbins. Officer Robbins serves as a School Resource Officer at Western Wayne since 2013.
In 1991, Officer Robbins
joined the Pennsylvania Air National Guard and served with the Security Police
Flight at Willow Grove Naval Air Station.
He was responsible for base security, Flight Operations Security, and
the protection of aircraft and missile weapons sites. He earned the Rank of Staff Sergeant.
He then attended the
Security Police Academy at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, in which he earned
the title of Honor Graduate and was awarded the Pennsylvania Commendation
Medal. Officer Robbins received an
Honorable Discharge from all three branches he served in.
Officer Robbins is a
retired Pennsylvania State Trooper, who served for 23 years and spent his
entire career in the Patrol Unit. He was
promoted to Corporal in 1999 and was responsible for nearly every facet of daily
operations in a State Police Troop. He
was stationed all over the State from Bucks County to Wayne County.
Today, Officer Robbins
serves as a School Resource Officer here at the Western Wayne School District
and has diligently done so since 2013. Robbins
is beloved by Western Wayne students and faculty alike. He has a very meaningful presence throughout
the school keeping it safe and helping to guide students.
Robbins also has the honor of being the newest
voice of the Western Wayne Wildcats at their football and basketball games
where he has taken over as announcer after the passing of Western Wayne’s beloved
veteran teacher Mr. Jim Rebar.
As
Robbins talked to the students, he discussed his upbringing in Honesdale where
he was one of seven children in what he described as an average family. Robbins went on to marry his high school
sweetheart and have three children. He
then explained his journey through the military. Next, Robbins told the students what the
military had done for him and how it shaped him as a person.
“I
discovered that there were things I never thought I could be capable of doing
from my time in the military,” Robbins explained. “For example, I conquered my
fear of heights. I had to jump out of helicopters in my time in the service. My time in the military really shaped my
life.”
Robbins
quoted “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and discussed how he feels it is very
meaningful to him as a veteran. He then
told the students how important it is for them to be thankful for veterans and,
if possible, for them to try to do service for the community to give back.
“We
should live a life that we have earned from what was sacrificed for us,” he
said. “It important for us to say thank
you to veterans and to provide service to the community if we can.”
His
closing words were very meaningful and memorable.
“God
bless you,” he told all in attendance.
“God bless America.”
Western Wayne Junior Lacey Falloon won second place for
the Carnegie Mellon University Computer Science Academy Creative Task Challenge
for its first unit of study.
Lacey is working through the course as a part of her
computer science class at Western Wayne High School. Lacey explained that the task that won her
the second place certificate was her coding of actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s face
when he played Jack in the blockbuster hit Titanic.
She explained that he is one of her favorite actors, and
she thought it was a unique idea for a coding task. Lacey loves the challenge of coding and has
been spending time both in the classroom and outside of school on perfecting
her coding skills.
“I like beating others to get a task complete,” Lacey
explained. “I’m always trying to finish
first.”
Along with trying to work on her coding speed, Lacey also
constantly tries to come up with new creative ideas for coding.
“For my second unit task for the Carnegie Mellon course,
I made stick figures climbing a ladder,” Lacey said. “For this project, my picture has to keep
changing to different things. It takes
time to create projects like this.”
When Lacey isn’t working on her programming skills, she
enjoys doing projects for Future Business Leaders of America where her primary
focus is accounting. Lacey likes to set
goals to challenge herself in all of the work that she does.
“I like a challenge,” Lacey said. “When I finally figure out something with
coding, I sit there and wonder why I didn’t figure it out from the start.”
Lacey looks forward to working on more coding projects in
her course at Western Wayne. Western
Wayne faculty, administration, and staff are proud of her accomplishments and
can’t wait to see what she does next.
Family,
Career, and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) from Western
Wayne High School learned leadership skills, organizational skills,
and project ideas while attending the FCCLA Regional Leadership Meeting on October 25th at Reading Area Community
College.
Members
attended workshops on Leadership, Statewide Initiatives, Publicizing your Chapter,
Safety, Family Consumer Sciences related topics, and State Officer Candidacy. During the meeting, local chapter members also
learned about the PA FCCLA outreach project and the membership campaign.
Club advisor Lori
Lucchesi, FCS Teacher, Western Wayne High School, explained how this is an exciting
year for her students.
“We have built
our club membership up this year,” Lucchesi explained. “The students felt excited to start the year
off at the Regional Leadership Meeting and are now working on projects for the
FCCLA State Leadership Conference in the spring.”
Western Wayne
members expressed enthusiasm toward returning to their chapter with great ideas
and lots of motivation for a successful year.
Freshman, Ashley
Small Bermudez learned about FCCLA programs and competitions and stated, “The
workshop taught me about a useful planning process that will help me organize
community events and achieve my future career plans.”
Sophomore
Katarina Wood explained, “I attended an FCCLA work session that gave me key
strategies to balance my extracurricular and academic skills.”
Another
sophomore Mackenzie Sheatler found it very interesting to learn about the
safety of children at the conference.
“I like
learning about how kids interact and child development,” MacKenzie, who aspires
to be a social worker, explained.
Sinclaire Ogof,
a senior and vice president of membership for Western Wayne, reported that
“Twenty seven students attended the FCCLA Regional Leadership Meeting and our
Western Wayne Chapter’s membership has tripled this year, totaling 52 students!”
All of Western
Wayne’s FCCLA members are excited to work with this club throughout the year
and some have already begun their projects for the State Leadership Conference
to be held in the spring at Penn State Main Campus.
Sinaea Buford,
FCCLA president who aspires to major in forensic science and minor in criminal
justice, is working with fellow FCCLA member Sadie Nahman on a project for the
category of event management for the State Leadership Conference.
The girls are
working to plan a senior citizen prom for the local community. They wish to work with Wayne Woodlands Manor
and Laurel Place on the event.
“I really like
to work with the elderly,” Sinaea, who has volunteered at Golden Way Personal
Care Home in Waymart, explained. “I like
to make them happy by listening to them and making them feel like they are at
home when they talk to me.”
Fellow FCCLA
member Shailyn Pugh said she also hopes to do a service-based project for FCCLA
this year.
“I like
helping in the community and doing service projects,” Shailyn, who aspires to
be a pharmaceutical technician, said.
Family,
Career, and Community Leaders of America is a dynamic and effective national
student organization that helps young men and women become leaders and
addresses important personal, family, work, and societal issues through Family
& Consumer Sciences Education and Related Occupations.
FCCLA
is unique among youth organizations because its programs are planned and run by
members. It is the only national
in-school organization with the family as its central focus. Participation in national programs and
chapter activities helps members become strong leaders in their families,
careers, and communities.
Twenty-nine members of the Western Wayne chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America recently attended the organization’s annual State Leadership Workshop at the Kalahari Resort and Convention Center in the Poconos. This was the largest workshop in FBLA history bringing together more than 1,500 members and advisers from across the state for leadership development. Senior Ezra Tetreault, PA FBLA’s First Vice President, together with the other eight state officers, conducted the opening and closing sessions. Students were then able to choose from a variety of workshops to attend covering such topics as Entrepreneurship, Leadership Lessons, Communication, Characteristics of Leaders, Business Innovation, FBLA Competition Boot Camp, Officership, and Marketing and Digital Branding. This workshop was also the kickoff of the PA FBLA State Project, which benefits the American Heart Association. With a goal of $67,000, the state chapter has already raised more than $14,000 by holding a charity walk, a charity basket auction of nearly 100 baskets, a t-shirt sale, and several meals at the Great Karoo restaurant with a portion of the profits going to the state project. Attending the workshop were Cassidy Asinski, Jamie Bryan, Julie Bryan, Haley Estus, Rachel Hoch, Sydney Hutchinson, Abby Kapschull, Skylar Long, Emilie McAllister, Madison McGlone, Laynee Nugent, Ella Pavlovich, Sydney Peet, Lena Piccolino, Anya Rusnak, Gabby Tetreault, Lou Azzato, Tommy Gogolski, Parker Howell, Zane Janiszewski, Matt Leslie, Lenny Maiocco, Derek Mason, Jack McAllister, Kiel Rizzi, Carson Rush, Kelton Slifko, Tim Smith, and Ezra Tetreault.
Row 1 (l to r): Jamie Bryan, Cassidy Asinski, Lena Piccolino, Haley Estus, Madison McGlone. Row 2 (l to r): Emilie McAllister, Gabby Tetreault, Sydney Hutchinson, Anya Rusnak, Derek Mason. Row 3 (l to r): Rachel Hoch, Sydney Peet, Abby Kapschull, Tommy Gogolski, Kelton Slifko, Kiel Rizzi, Lou Azzato. Row 4 (l to r): Laynee Nugent, Ella Pavlovich, Skylar Long, Julie Bryan, Matt Leslie, Jack McAllister. Row 5 (l to r): Lenny Maiocco, Carson Rush, Zane Janiszewski, Tim Smith, Parker Howell.
Western Wayne junior Cassidy Asinski is the 2019 ACS
Susquehanna Valley Section National Chemistry Week Poetry Contest 9th-12th
Grade Winner. Cassidy’s poem was judged as being the best out of all 9th-12th
grade entries received by our section.
The poem has successfully been submitted to the national competition for a chance to win up to $300. In addition, Cassidy, her parents, and her science teacher Maria Masankay are invited to the annual Susquehanna Valley ACS Awards Banquet in May. Cassidy will receive a $50 check and a certificate at the banquet.
Cassidy’s poem is titled “Rust.” She explained that she chose this topic after
doing some research. Cassidy, who enjoys
both science and English classes at Western Wayne, said she really wanted to make
her poem stand out by personifying rust throughout it. The poem is told in the first person point of
view of rust itself.
“I wanted to make it really unique,” Cassidy
explained.
Cassidy is highly involved at Western Wayne High
School. She is a triple-sport athlete
who is a member of the soccer, basketball, and track teams. She just made the first team all-stars for
soccer. Cassidy, also, participates in
FBLA and is a member of NHS. She is
keeping her options open for the future, and says she is interested in the
study of forensic science.
She feels excited to have won the poetry contest and
looks forward to representing Western Wayne at the awards banquet for it in
May.
Western Wayne faculty, administration, and staff, are
proud of Cassidy’s accomplishments and wish her the best in her future
endeavors.
ALL NEWS
Special OlympicsApril 23, 2025Thank you to everyone who participated in the Special Olympics. [...]
Dr. Mark Nebzydoski Receives Prestigious Charlie Bright Award from Wayne Pike Trout UnlimitedApril 15, 2025On Saturday, April 12, 2025, during the annual Wayne Pike Trout Unlimited Banquet and Fundraiser, Dr. Mark Nebzydoski—a science teacher at Western Wayne High School and passionate participant in the Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program—was honored with the 2025 Charlie Bright Award.Presented by the members of the Wayne Pike Trout Unlimited Chapter, the Charlie Bright Award recognizes individuals who demonstrate exceptional leadership, dedicated service, and meaningful contributions to cold-water conservation. The award is named in honor of Charlie Bright, a beloved long-time Trout Unlimited member and owner of the Charlie Bright Fly Fishing Shop in Rowland, located on the banks of the Lackawaxen River, which he operated for more than 40 years.“It was truly a humbling experience to be recognized for my work in watershed education and cold-water conservation,” Dr. Nebzydoski said. “I am deeply grateful for this kind gesture.”Dr. Nebzydoski leads the Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program at Western Wayne High School, where students raise rainbow trout from eggs provided by the Pennsylvania Fish Commission. Throughout the school year, students care for the trout and learn about aquatic ecosystems, biology, and the importance of clean, cold water for trout survival. The program culminates in a spring field trip to the Varden Conservation Area, where the trout—now fingerlings—are released into the wild. Wayne Pike Trout Unlimited proudly partners in this annual release, helping to connect students directly with conservation in action.This recognition highlights Dr. Nebzydoski’s commitment not only to science education but also to fostering environmental stewardship in the next generation.
Picture Caption: (Left to Right: Vice President Wayne Pike TU – Tony Capitano; President Wayne Pike TU- Paul Ranello; Western Wayne Science Teacher, Dr. Mark Nebzydoski; Wayne Pike TU Youth Advisor – Don Strathy) [...]
Independent Order of Odd Fellows Freedom Lodge #88 Donates Bench to WWHSApril 15, 2025Western Wayne junior Connor Buchinski is in The Independent Order of Odd Fellows Freedom Lodge #88 in Honesdale. Connor has been a part of this organization for about a year now. Membership in The Independent Order of Odd Fellows is somewhat of a legacy in his family with his grandfather Dennis Buchinski being a member along with his father Doug Buchinski and other family members.
One of the community outreach efforts of Freedom Lodge #88 is collecting soft plastic. There is even a collection bin in the office of the Western Wayne High School. Once 1,000 lbs. of plastic is gathered the organization recycles with the Trex Bench program and donates a Bench to a non-profit organization. It was Connor’s idea to donate one of the benches this year to Western Wayne High School.
“I thought students would enjoy it during their lunch periods,” Connor said. “I really like working with this organization because of the new people I get to meet and the members of the community that I get to help.”
On Monday April 14th Freedom Lodge #88 members donated the Trex Bench to Western Wayne High School.
Freedom Lodge #88 also donated a history book to the Western Wayne High School Library on the Pennsylvania history of The Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
Connor plans to work to collect more plastic and donate another bench to the Western Wayne High School before his senior year is over.
From left, standing: Sarah Rickert, high school teacher; Dennis Hiller, Lodge #88; Mr. Paul B. Gregorski, high school principal; Dennis Buchinski, Lodge #88 member; Maria Phillips, high school teacher; and Forrest Goodenough, Lodge #88 member. From left, seated: Doug Buchinski, Lodge #88 member; and Connor Buchinski, Lodge #88 member and Western Wayne junior. [...]
High School’s Student Council attends Student Council ConferenceApril 4, 2025Western Wayne High School’s Student Council was invited to attend the annual Pennsylvania Association of Student Council’s Region H Conference, hosted by Lakeland Jr./Sr. High School, on Friday, March 28th. Several of our students joined the 535 delegates, presenters, and advisors for a day of networking and learning more about what it means to be an effective leader in school and how to become one! Our students were thrilled with the opportunity to attend and left energized to put much of what they learned into practice here at Western Wayne! Pictured from left to right are Autumn Sawicki, Leah Reeger, Sadie Booths, Dakota Douglas, Madison Forgione, Raegan Fox, Makenzie Chearney, and Madie Kizer. [...]
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.