Pictured are some of the Western Wayne Middle School students involved in the 2019 “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Northeast PA Contest. From left: Trinity Foulds, Alaina Maiocco, Ella Pavlovich, Kailey Tickner, Julie Bryan, Skylar Long, and Evan Peirce. Team members not pictured: Bernie Roedel and Ivan Knecht.
Voting for the second-annual “What’s So Cool About
Manufacturing Contest?” will be open from March 27th through March
29th at https://www.whatssocool.org/contests/northeast-pa/
The public can support Western Wayne Middle School students by going on
and voting for their video submission as many times as they would like.
Western
Wayne Middle School students are part of this unique learning experience for
the second time. Created by the
Manufacturers Resource Center (MRC) in Allentown, PA in 2013, the “What’s So
cool About Manufacturing?” contests draw entries from more than 200 teams
across Pennsylvania. The teams of
students and teacher coaches receive camera equipment, software, and
professional guidance as they learn to script, record, and edit their video
stories of what it’s like to work in the manufacturing industry. Students learn
about the manufacturing career field and complete their projects at various
local manufacturing businesses.
The contest’s objective
is to change students’ perceptions about manufacturing careers by sending them
to local places where manufacturing is done to complete their submissions for
“What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?”. The
“What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” contests are supported regionally by
their sponsors and partners.
The 2019 “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” Contest for Northeast PA
is produced by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Industrial
Resource Center in Hanover Township, PA. Participating schools are from
Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, and Wayne counties. Western Wayne is one of eleven schools
participating in the Northeast PA Contest.
For the second year, Western Wayne Middle
School students had the opportunity to explore Boyce Products Ltd., a
manufacturing facility located in Damascus, for their project. This winter the students toured Boyce to
learn about the manufacturing career field and gather information for their
submission.
The group of Western
Wayne students consisting of Bernie Roedel, Ella Pavlovich, Alaina Maiocco,
Skylar Long, Trinity Foulds, Evan Peirce, Ivan Knecht, Julie Bryan, and Kailey
Tickner felt rewarded and fulfilled after their experiences at Boyce and in
creating their video submission.
The students were
surprised to learn that Boyce makes a variety of products used in the national
spotlight. For example, the students
learned Boyce creates set pieces for CNN News, the tables used for interviews
in the NFL, along with different props used in popular movies, and the call
boxes used in New York City subways.
“It was neat to see how
much work goes into each piece they create,” Evan Peirce, 8th grader
from Western Wayne, said.
Evan’s fellow classmate
Julie Bryan said she was excited to see the different equipment in use at
Boyce.
“We got to see laser
cutters going through metal,” Julie explained.
After their trip, the
students worked on creating their video submission about their experience. Eighth grader Bernie Roedel acted as a
student leader for this effort. The film
is now finalized and can be viewed on the Western Wayne website at https://ww3.westernwayne.org/western-wayne-manufacturing-video-submission/
The Western Wayne School
Community invites the public to vote for Western Wayne Middle School’s video
submission to “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing?” at https://www.whatssocool.org/contests/northeast-pa/
The students have the chance to win for a variety of categories. Your vote can help them win the Northeast PA
Viewer’s Choice Award.
Senior R.J. Clemens has qualified
for the All-State Chorus Festival. The State Festival is in Pittsburgh,
PA, from April 3 through April 6. R.J. is among the top vocalists
in the state of Pennsylvania.
The Western
Wayne Drama Club hosted New York based actor/singer/ dancer/ instructor Darius
Jordan Lee for a Broadway Workshop held Monday, March 18, through the support
and arrangement of the Western Wayne Drama Parent Board.
The students and parents have held
many fundraisers throughout the school year to pay for this and other programs
to support the students learning of performance arts.
This workshop
was funded by our Western Wayne Drama Parents. We are excited to use our
many fundraising efforts to bring more opportunities to our students in the
future.
The students welcomed the opportunity
to learn from a professional who most recently was seen in Clueless the Musical as the role Sean/ Murray Cover at the
Signature Theatre Company. Lee’s credits include: Guthrie Theater: West Side Story (Riff), John W. Engeman Theater: In the Heights (Benny Cover), Mamma Mia! (Eddie), among many
others. He has a B.F.A. in musical
theater with a minor in computer science from Montclair State University.
Lee treated the students to a two and
half hour session of sharing his professional experiences, leading them in
acting exercises, and teaching a dance combination from the musical Clueless.
The students were very engaged with
Lee and enjoyed having the chance to perform and be critiqued by a professional
actor. Lee felt most grateful for being
able to help students get out of their comfort zones and gain confidence in
themselves.
“I’m so glad I was able to get them to
try something new and not be afraid to be themselves,” Lee said.
From left, kneeling: Bailey Quick (Boyce Products Representative), Drew Hazen, Josh Shelly, Ryan Fiorelli, Matt Rosengrant, and Collin Murray. From left, standing: Brian Landry (Western Wayne Mentor), Nick Denoie, Cody Kretschmer, Cal Downey, Cooper Mistishin, Jacob McCormick, Michael Wass (Computer Programming Mentor), Max Phillips, Nathan Taggart, John Gilson, Kristoff Bien-Aime, Joel Landry, Levi Landry, and Joe Mang (Wayne Highlands Mentor).
Western
Wayne and Wayne Highlands students earned the title of District Event Winner at
the FIRST Robotics @ Bridgewater 2019 competition held in March. The team
is called FRC 4285 Camo-Bots and is a partnership between Western Wayne
School District and Wayne Highlands School District to operate a unified
robotics team that resembles the blended post-secondary/workforce that students
will encounter after graduation. Students develop their individual talents to
be utilized as a collaborative team effort though our academic and
business/industry partnerships.
Students involved in the FIRST Robotics competition produce and present
business plan, design plan, machining and production, testing of components,
engineering analysis, networking with students/engineers/business/industry, web
page design, computer programming, advanced
electronics/pneumatic/mechanics/sensor, and intense competition.
The competition has strict rules, limited resources, and an
intense six-week time limit, teams of students are challenged to raise
funds, design a team “brand,” hone teamwork skills, and build and
program industrial-size 125 pound robots to play a difficult field game against
like-minded competitors. It’s as close to real-world engineering as a student
can get.
FIRST Robotics Competition operates during the
school year. Teams form and register in the fall. However, the “official
season” begins early in January when the season’s Challenge is
announced at a Kickoff ceremony to the world. Teams are then given six weeks to
create their robot. District and Regional competition events start in late
February and continue through April. Teams that qualify are invited to FIRST Championship
at the end of April. There are also many off-season events in which teams can
participate, strategize, hone their skills, learn new technology, meet other
teams, and have fun!
FIRST FRC Competition is honored as the highest form of STEM
competition on the planet. Every team is given the same competition
constraints, time format, and open-ended strategy. It is up to the team then to
produce a robot to compete within the 300 page rule book, present, and attain
awards.
This is FRC 4285 Camo-Bots team 3rd “Blue Banner” win.
Only the 1st place winner attains this and it a very highly sought
after recognition and award. Many teams compete for decades and not attain
this, the Camo-Bots have attained this goal in eight years. The FRC 4285
Camo-Bots are always recruiting any student interested in areas of business,
marketing, webpage design, Computer Aided Drafting, CNC machining, electronics,
sensors, computer programming (Java & Python), presentation, engineering
analysis, mechanical, and networking with students/colleges/business/industry.
The team has had five students in their eight years take advantage of the FIRST
scholarship program utilizing over $500,000 in paid college tuition in
engineering related STEM fields.
Western Wayne Team Mentor Mr. Brian Landry is very proud of the
success of the Camo-Bots and is very thankful to Western Wayne administration,
staff, students, their families, and members of the local business community
who have and continue to support the efforts of the team.
From left: Freshmen Ryan Vinton and Richie Reed enjoy learning at Western Wayne’s first Engineering Day held on Tuesday, March 12, at the high school.
Western Wayne Class of 2015 graduate Carly Swingle
wants students at her alma mater to choose fulfilling career paths and not
settle for work they find uninteresting.
On
Tuesday, March 12, Swingle had the unique opportunity to return to Western
Wayne High School as a part of the first Western Wayne Engineering Day for
students in grades 8 through 12. The
program included presentations by employees of Lockheed Martin, where Swingle
has worked for the past three month, a video presentation about the engineering
field, a female panel discussion of engineers and future engineers, and a 3-D
printing activity with Johnson College.
Industrial
arts teacher Mr. Brian Landry worked with high school science teacher Ms. Maria
Masankay and middle school guidance counselor Mr. Joe Totsky to coordinate the
event to give Western Wayne students the chance to learn about opportunities in
the engineering field.
“Sometimes
middle and high school students don’t realize that the engineering field is so
diverse,” Landry explained. “I hope this
event gives them some exposure to it.”
Students
in both the middle and high school were given the option to attend the event,
and about 40 students interested in learning more about the engineering field
attended.
The
attendees believe that their experience at Engineering Day has helped them to
get more information about possible career paths.
Eighth
grader Tarena Strasburger has always felt interested in an engineering
career. She feels her time at Engineering
Day has helped her want to pursue a career in this field.
“When I
was younger I enjoyed building things out of wood or playing with Legos,” she
explained. “I love to build and would
like to develop my skills and someday work in aerospace engineering.”
Tarena’s classmate, fellow eighth grader, Kristin
Hauenstein has also felt she has excelled at working with her hands from a
young age.
“I like
working on cars and am looking forward to taking introduction to auto-technology
in high school,” Kristin said. “I most
enjoyed finding out about mechanical engineering at today’s event.”
The
high school students in attendance also were excited to attend a program
focused on a career field they found of high interest.
Senior
Josh Shelly wishes to attend Johnson College next year to study CNC
Manufacturing. Josh became interested in
engineering through his work with Western Wayne’s Robotics Team.
“I
really want a career where I can work hands on rather than sitting in an office
and was glad to learn about this from a former Western Wayne student,” Josh
said.
Josh
referenced Western Wayne graduate Carly Swingle who spoke to the students about
her work at Lockheed Martin as an engineer.
“My job
is constantly changing,” Swingle, who recently graduated from Robert Morris
University in Pittsburgh, explained.
“Each day is never the same as the last.
I get to design things some days and work with power tools to do
building tests the next.”
Juniors
Jake Shepherd and Cody Aleckna aspire to do engineering work in the
military. Both Jake and Cody wish to
become mechanical engineers in the Air Force.
“I
think it is easier to concentrate on hands on work,” Jake explained. He hopes to follow in his grandfather’s
footsteps in joining the military.
Cody wishes
to follow the path of his father and cousin who each served in the
military.
“It was
good to gain more knowledge on a field that I am going into to know what’s to
come,” Cody explained.
Freshmen
Richie Reed and Ryan Vinton both went into the experience highly interested in
the engineering field and were also thrilled to gain more knowledge on their
future career paths. Richie enjoys
working with cars and welding in his metal shop class at school. Ryan became interested in the civil
engineering field after having the opportunity, through a friend, to visit a
job site where a bridge was being built across the Delaware River last year.
Students
like Richie and Ryan and all of the others in attendance at the first
Engineering Day at Western Wayne are why Mr. Landry hopes to make this a yearly
tradition that grows with time. He
wishes to get other Wayne County schools involved next year and eventually to
work with schools in Lackawanna County on giving students the opportunity to
explore the engineering field.
“I
think it’s worthwhile for our students to learn about such a developing career
field,” Landry said.
Tickets will available to purchase in the Athletic Department located in the high school. Anybody can
pre-purchase tickets from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. Adults $6.00 and Students
$3.00. There will be a fan bus for High School students only, there
are 42 seats, ticket & bus $8.00, first come first serve. When the
bus is filled, it’s filled! See Mrs. Rizzi for more details and the
required paperwork..
Three years……that’s how long it took for Head Boys Basketball coach Al Semenza (career wins of 444) to turn the program around! The kids, the parents, the whole community has bought into it too. Everybody you talk to is all excited about the upcoming State Playoff game, which will be on Friday, March 8th, so mark you calendars! We will post all of the information as soon as it becomes available to us.
The Wildcats played Tunkhannock on Tuesday night at Scranton High school and beat them 53-39 to move on to the next round. They were up the whole game and never looked back.
The support of fans at the games has been amazing, lots of friendly faces both old and new. Our fans have definitely been coming out and supporting the team, that’s for sure!
ALL NEWS
Band Performs at GDS Fair and Meets Kurt AaronAugust 29, 2024Kurt Aaron and Michael Olivo
Band and Color Guard perform at the GDS Fair.
The annual Western Wayne Marching Band and Color Guard performance at the GDS Fair was especially eventful this year because on the day of their performance Wednesday, August 28, WNEP’s Kurt Aaron and his infamous dog Ranger were also there doing live spots. Aaron briefly interviewed Western Wayne band member Michael Olivo, a senior. Michael proudly told the viewing audience about Western Wayne’s upcoming performance at the fair.
“It was really exciting to get to promote our band to a TV audience,” Michael said.
The students were thrilled to perform their 2024-25 Boy Bands themed field show for the audience along with playing some fan favorite stand tunes.
Drum majors this year are seniors Lia Hartman and Kalob Franko. This is Lia’s second season as drum major.
“We are all so grateful to be able to perform for the local community who is so supportive of us,” Lia said.
The Western Wayne Band is under the direction of Mrs. Elaine Ort who is now in her 11th season with the district.
The entire Western Wayne Band and Color Guard invite the local community to attend the first home game of the season for varsity football against Lackawanna Trail on Friday, August, 30, at the Sharkey-Rosetti stadium. Western Wayne will have the pregame show starting at about 6:45 p.m.; kick-off is at 7 p.m. [...]
Western Wayne to Host Annual Car Show Saturday, Sept. 7—NEW RAIN DATE! August 27, 2024The Western Wayne Hot Rod Club and Drama Club will host their 2024 Annual Car Show on Saturday, September 7, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the high school parking lot, 1970A Easton Turnpike, Lake Ariel, PA, near the football stadium. Please note our NEW RAIN DATE is Sunday, September 15.Food to be sold at the concession stand. Registration fee is $10. Spectators are free. The Hot Rod Club will give prizes for best car, truck, tractor, motorcycle, and best in show.In addition, the Drama group will sell a variety of concessions. There will also be a raffle of baskets and gift certificates generously donated by businesses and families in the local community.Drama Club student Robert Scramuzza is excited to partner with the Hot Rod Club for the for the Car Show. He explained how the Drama Club students will be dressed in 50s attire for the event.“We wanted our presence at the event to go along with the variety of cars from the past that surely will be there,” Bobby said. “We hope that the public comes out to enjoy the cars and to have some good food and purchase some chances to win baskets and gift certificates.”Members of the Drama Parents Club are working to obtain a variety of items for the raffle at the Car Show from many very generous businesses and families in our Wildcat community. The students involved in the Hot Rod Club and Drama Club can use the funds raised from this event for their club activities.The Hot Rod Club meets on a regular basis to work on a variety of automotive projects after school and can use the funds for their projects among other activities.The Drama Club meets on a regular basis after school to work on a variety of projects and activities.“Drama Club gives students a place where they can express themselves,” club president Lillian Maros explained. “We are like one big family in our club and really enjoy coming together to work as a team on events such as the Car Show.”All of the members of the Hot Rod Club, Drama Club, and Drama Parents Club cordially invite the public to attend this fun-filled event on Saturday, Sept. 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the High School parking lot near the stadium. Come out and see some great vehicles, take some chances on our basket raffle, enjoy some food, and enjoy some time socializing. Rain date is Sunday, September 15. [...]
Freshman Orientation – Save the Date!August 8, 2024August 22, 2024 – 6:00-7:30pm – Veterans Memorial Auditorium, WWHS
Western Wayne High School welcomes the Class of 2028!
Information on the high school/ 9th Grade Transition
High School Survival Guide
Student’s class schedule
Tours
Refreshments [...]
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.