Western Wayne High School Students attended the Wayne
County Collaborative Transition Expo. held on Oct. 22 at Ladore Lodge in
Waymart. At the event, they learned
about college and career opportunities.
The event is designed to assist transitioning students with disabilities
and their families.
Senior
Rebeccah King enjoyed the knowledge she gained from the event.
“Representatives
from different schools help you with your questions about college,” King, who
aspires to study welding after graduation, explained. “They offered scholarship help, and I also
learned about opportunities for employment available to me now. I learned that Woodloch Pines is hiring.”
Rebeccah’s
classmate Becca Boots also thought she gained some valuable insights from the
expo.
“I am
very interested in culinary studies in college,” Becca explained. “I spoke to someone representing Lackawanna
College’s culinary program, and I learned that they have a separate building on
campus for that major. That made me even
more interested in attending that school.”
All of
the students who attended the transition expo. were happy to gain more
knowledge about fields they can pursue after their time in high school.
Pictured
are some of the Western Wayne High School students who recently attended the
Wayne County Collaborative Transition Expo. held on Oct. 22 at Ladore Lodge in
Waymart. Front row, from left: Jamie Newman, Mya Lukas, Amy Newman, Caleb
Burns, Jordan Diaz, Braydon Christian, and Rebecca Weist. Back row, from left: Jack Klikus, Caleb Swingle, Becca Boots, and
Rebeccah King.
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.
Western
Wayne members expressed enthusiasm toward returning to their chapter with great
ideas and lots of motivation for a successful year.
WW
Freshman, Ashley Small 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.”
WW Sophomore Katarina Wood explained “I attended an FCCLA work
session that gave me key strategies to balance my extracurricular and academic skills.”
Sinclaire Ogof, a WW Senior and Vice President of Membership,
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!”
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.
The Western Wayne Marching Band visited local nursing
homes on Wednesday, Oct. 30. They spread
some cheer for the fall season while playing music and wearing costumes at
Ellen Memorial, Wayne Woodlands, and Julia Ribaudo nursing homes. The band is under the direction of Mrs.
Elaine Ort.
From left are some of the students who have qualified for District Chorus: Alex Taylor, Rhonda Fenkner, Lily Visceglia, Joanna Regalbuto, and Trinity Williams.
Western Wayne High School will send seven of their high school chorus students to the PMEA District 9 Chorus Festival to be held from January 15 through January 17 at Marywood University. The following Western Wayne students have all been accepted to District Chorus as either qualified or as an alternate. The students pre- auditioned to qualify for districts at Tunkhannock Area High School in October. These students include: Alexandra Solimine, 1st place, alto 2; Joanna Regalbuto, 2nd place, soprano 2; Dakota Beavers, 7th place, tenor 2; Trinity Williams, 14th place, alto 2; Brad Wood, 16th place, tenor 2; Alex Taylor, 16th place, bass 1; Rhonda Fenkner, 19th place, soprano 1; John Nichols , 22nd , 1st alternate; and Lily Visceglia, 23rd , 2nd alternate.
All
of the students involved are excited to represent Western Wayne at District
Chorus in January. The students will get
their audition music sometime in November.
Western Wayne junior Rhonda Fenkner explained that the students will
have at least seven songs to prepare.
“It
is exciting and stressful at the same time,” Rhonda explained. “Last year we had both a South African and
Korean piece to prepare for the audition.
Those pieces, of course, are more challenging because, along with
learning notes and lyrics, you also have to learn all of the correct
pronunciations.”
Western Wayne Administration, faculty, and staff all wish these students
the best at the District Chorus Festival in January.
Congratulations to Coach Darren Thorpe and the entire Girls Volleyball Team on the perfect season! Starters for the Lady Cats are Rebecca Klemovitch, Sydney Krompasky, Trina Barcarola, Sabrina Swoyer, Kaeli Romanowski, and Katherine Shepherd. The girls beat Crestwood in Round 1 of the play-offs and moved to the Semi-Final round where they will play Nanticoke at Berwick High School on 10/28/19.
Western Wayne High School students perform the “double hand turn” which they learned in Spanish dance class this fall from local dance instructor Mr. Vince Brust. Left to right: Kristin Hauenstein, Elizabeth Wasylyk, Kailey Tickner, and Alyson Buchinski.
From left: Julia Phillips and Ashley Small Bermudez practice their Spanish dance steps at Western Wayne High School.
From left: Julia Phillips, Ashley Small Bermudez, and Cassia Sheehan learn Spanish dancing at Western Wayne High School.
Freshmen Nate Irvine and Jaden Gregory practice the steps they have learned in their Spanish dancing class at Western Wayne High School.
From left: Samantha Scaduto, Alyssa Iovacchini, Kendra Oliver, and Nick Gombita learn Spanish dancing at Western Wayne High School.
Learning
rhythms, beats, steps, and choreography isn’t just work for the Rockettes and
Broadway stars, Western Wayne High School foreign language students have a
yearly tradition of learning Spanish dancing as a part of their curriculum each
fall.
Local dance instructor and studio
owner Vince Brust works with the Western Wayne students to teach a variety of
traditional Spanish dances such as tango, merengue, mambo, and salsa among others.
The students have a few weeks of
sessions with Mr. Brust in the fall
leading up to a performance for the community in early November.
Some of the students in the classes
with Brust have been working with him for four years. Seniors Nicholas Gombita, Kendra Oliver,
Samantha Scaduto, and Alyssa Iovacchini feel very excited to be working again
on their dancing skills this school year.
“The experience helps to immerse us in
both the culture of Spanish and dance,” Nick explained. “I have been learning
more this year about how to count different music when I dance. Some dances are counted in threes and others
in fours. Each dance is different.”
Another experienced dancer Kendra, who
helped to choreograph one of the dances performed for the community last year
in the annual Spanish dance performance, said she loves going to the classes
each year to learn more and more.
“The salsa and cha-cha are my
favorites,” Kendra said. “The steps are
faster and more challenging than some of the other dances.”
Students of all ability and experience
levels take Spanish dancing as a part of their Western Wayne foreign language
curriculum.
Two freshmen Jaden Gregory and Nate
Irvine have been enjoying learning this type of dance for the first time.
“It was hard at first to get
accustomed to dancing with each other,” Nate said. “But it got easier the more we learned.”
“My favorite part are the cross-body
leads,” Jaden explained. “They are a
very smooth part of the dances.”
Jaden’s classmates freshmen Julia
Phillips, Cassia Sheehan, and Ashley Small-Bermudez also have been enjoying
their first experience in Spanish dance with Mr. Brust.
All of the girls have a lot of fun
learning new steps each day. Julia likes
the spins and turning in dance. Cassia
thinks the cross-body leads are the most fun steps, and Ashley likes the
expression she gets to put into the hairbrush step.
“This connects really well with what
we are learning in the classroom,” Cassia explained. “It gives us a taste of what real Spanish
culture is like.”
Western Wayne High School students
in grade 9 experienced the THINK! ENERGY Innovation Program on Tuesday, October
22. This program is an interactive, hands-on presentation with a take home
energy efficiency kit for each participating student and teacher. The program
teaches the importance of energy, natural resources and environmental
resources, and gives each participating student’s family energy-efficient
technologies to install at home. Students and staff in the high school received
innovation kits on October 22. The kits included four LED light bulbs, a
water conserving shower head as well an advanced smart energy power
strip. Overall, 225 innovation kits were distributed. This comes to
4,632 new LED bulbs distributed to the Western Wayne School District since the
program’s launch in 2015. This program will also result in a number of
mini-grants for the teachers in the high school as well. The Think Energy
Innovation Program has been brought to the schools by the National Energy
Foundation, PPL Electric Utilities, and the Pennsylvania Department of
Education. For more information or questions, please contact National
Energy Foundation at 1-855-494-2942 or email stephanie.dorman@nef1.org.
From left: Dr. Mark
Nebzydoski, science teacher; Eugene Shultz and Robert Penkala, presenters; and
Paul Gregorski, principal.
ALL NEWS
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. [...]
Western Wayne Students Shine in Energy Efficiency Competition!April 4, 2025A group of ninth-grade students from Western Wayne High School earned a prestigious Honorable Mention in PPL Electric Utilities’ THINK! ENERGY Innovation Challenge—a competition that challenged students to create interactive presentations on energy conservation, natural resources, and environmental issues.Aidyn Graci and Mitchell Ferraro, students in Dr. Mark Nebzydoski’s General Science class, took home the Honorable Mention award for their creative and engaging video on energy efficiency. Their project, which can be viewed on the Western Wayne website, used humor and storytelling to highlight the importance of saving energy. Throughout the video, the students repeatedly urged their teacher with the catchphrase, “Come on, Mr. Nebz!”, reminding him to be mindful of energy consumption in the classroom. https://youtu.be/EDmCGFHw4Lk“I really enjoyed making the video and getting to boss Mr. Nebz around a little!” said Mitchell Ferraro, who aspires to become a social studies teacher. Fellow creator Aidyn Graci, who hopes to pursue a career in business, added, “It was a relief to see our hard work pay off.”As part of the competition, Dr. Nebzydoski registered all Western Wayne students for free energy conservation kits, which included compact fluorescent light bulbs, a smart energy power strip, a shower timer, a faucet aerator, and a water-saving showerhead. Students installed the devices in their homes and measured their energy savings—applying science in a real-world, hands-on way.“The creativity and enthusiasm in these projects were incredible,” said Dr. Nebzydoski. “Seeing students learn about energy efficiency and apply it to their daily lives is exactly what education should be about. These high school students are tomorrow’s homeowners, so reinforcing energy conservation now is essential.”For their outstanding work, Aidyn and Mitchell were each awarded Beats wireless earbuds, and Dr. Nebzydoski received $250 for classroom supplies.PPL Electric Utilities, in partnership with the National Energy Foundation (NEF) and the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), sponsors the THINK! ENERGY program to promote energy education among students. This initiative provides free resources to help young people develop a deeper understanding of energy conservation and efficiency.For more information on the THINK! ENERGY Innovation Challenge, visit THINK! ENERGY. https://thinkenergy.org/ppl-innovation/teachers/Caption: (LtoR) Mike Touey, PPL Electricity; Paul Gregorski, High School Principal; Aidyn Graci, Student; Mitchell Ferraro, Student; and Dr. Mark Nebzydoski, Science Teacher. [...]
Scholarships & Career Opportunities – April EditionApril 1, 2025The April 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/2025/04/Scholarships-and-Career-Opportunities-April-2025.pdf [...]
Kindness is keyMarch 31, 2025The kindness club at R.D. Wilson aims to spread kindness for both students and staff. The winter kindness club completed two important projects. First was the Coffee Cart which provided staff members with free coffee and hot cocoa. Each cup had an uplifting message written on it. Next, they designed a bulletin board in the cafeteria. Their goal was to motivate kids to be friends and include others. The kindness club members hope their projects made a lasting impact.
Kindness Club Members (Bulletin board photo, left to right): Elisabeth Burry, Keagan Quinn, Mrs. Germani, Veronica Miller, Ben Vinton, and Colby Doud [...]
Western Wayne 9th Graders Dive into Trout Conservation with FUDRMarch 31, 2025Western Wayne High School’s 9th-grade students recently had a unique opportunity to learn about trout, stream ecology, and watershed conservation through an engaging presentation by Taline Almasian and Ciara Gunderson, outreach coordinators for the Friends of the Upper Delaware River (FUDR). The non-profit, based in Hancock, NY, is dedicated to protecting and restoring the Upper Delaware River watershed for the benefit of local communities.
The presentation covered the biology and ecology of trout, including their role in aquatic ecosystems, economic significance, and the importance of conservation efforts. Students learned about habitat restoration, sustainable fishing regulations, and ways to become stewards of local waterways. Almasian and Gunderson also shared insights into FUDR’s mission and projects, demonstrating the impact of their conservation work.
This experience also deepened students’ understanding of Dr. Mark Nebzydoski’s Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program, where students raise rainbow trout eggs provided by the Pennsylvania Fish Commission. These trout will grow into fingerlings before being released during a field trip this spring to the Varden Conservation Area. The presentation reinforced the importance of trout conservation and gave students a broader perspective on how their classroom efforts connect to real-world ecological preservation.
To reinforce their understanding, students participated in a Jeopardy-style quiz, testing their knowledge on topics covered in the presentation. The interactive format made learning fun and encouraged deeper engagement with the subject matter.
“This was an excellent opportunity for our students to connect classroom learning to real-world environmental issues,” said Dr. Mark Nebzydoski, Western Wayne High School science teacher. “FUDR’s work is essential in protecting our waterways, and our students now have a better understanding of how they can contribute to conservation efforts.”
The event highlighted the importance of preserving healthy aquatic ecosystems and inspired students to take an active role in environmental stewardship. To learn more about FUDR and its conservation efforts, visit www.fudr.org. [...]
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.