Blue & White Newsletter - 5/17/24

In our May 3rd issue, we shared that our WY Legacy Group, under the direction of Mr. Robert Titus, would be performing with select groups from Central York and Red Lion school districts. The Three Choirs Festival took place on May 5th at St. Paul's Lutheran Church and featured individual songs from each group as well as several combined numbers.

The choirs did an amazing job, and our Legacy Group was AWESOME!! Pictured below, on the steps, the top row is Kaylee Haas, Meghan Clauser, Jackson Janasek, and Cody Kohler; the middle row is Camryn Patrizio, Cariliann Matias-Torres, Lizzelyn Agravante, Leah Bazzle, Landon Royer, and Adam Coe, and the front row is Moraingelee Ramos Jimenez and Caroline Pritts. The three directors from left to right, our own Mr. Titus, Mr. Ben Watson from Central York, and Ms. Shana Casey from Red Lion.

Thank you to the following 15 retirees for a combined 350 years of service to the District and students of West York! Years of service* below are those served at West York and may not represent the retirees full career years of service.

The West York Area School District Board of Directors and Leadership Team hosted our annual Staff Appreciation and Retiree Celebration last Friday. While the weather wasn't the best, our "indoor picnic" was a delicious and fun success!

Thank you to the MANY individuals who planned, prepped, set up, cooked, served, and cleaned up.

Over the last two weeks, students have been surprised when they entered their cafeteria food lines and saw a few different faces. Dr. Todd Davies, Superintendent of Schools, was a guest server at the High School, Mrs. Erin Holman, Assistant Superintendent, was a guest server at the High School, Mrs. Sheri Schlemmer, Chief Finance & Operations Manager, was a guest server at the High School, Mr. Jesse Roth, MS Acting Principal, was a guest server at the Middle School, and Dr. Matthew Minacci, Trimmer Elementary Principal, was a guest server at Trimmer Elementary.

HOPE Day is the name of the club at the High School that started years ago for the purposes of reducing the stigma of talking about mental health issues and promoting suicide prevention and is run by the National Honor Society students.

The club runs different awareness events and PSAs (public service announcements) throughout the year, but of course the big event is HOPE Day, which is intended to provide a mental health day for students and staff with activities and things to promote community, support, and positive interaction. The entire week leading up to HOPE Day there are PSA mental health announcements every morning. On the morning of HOPE Day, a student and/or teacher speaks on the morning announcements about their own struggles with mental health and managing them.

This year's HOPE Day include such activities as crafts, music, TED-style talks, games, friendly competitions, and more. Free inspirational stickers were given out, t-shirts were sold, and there were seven food trucks for the day. Once all of the proceeds are finalized, it will be donated to a local mental health organization.

On Monday evening, the High School hosted their annual Awards Recognition Ceremony. During this event, students were recognized in the following areas:

• Scholarships and Award Certificates
• WYAHS Awards (Academics & Athletics)
• Academic Achievement Top 20 Certificates
• Superintendent's Summa Cum Laude Honor Roll
• Academic Excellence Awards
• NJROTC Awards

Congratulations to all students for a successful 2023-2024 year at West York Area High School!

Wednesday evening, 11 of our seniors, along with their parents, guest teachers, members of the leadership team and the Board of Directors, gathered at the Country Club of York for the annual Superintendent's Summa Cum Laude Banquet.

Becoming a member of this distinguished group, seniors must have earned a cumulative weighted GPA of 98% (no rounding) or higher by the end of the second marking period of their senior year. The 2024 Summa Cum Laude honorees are:

Amelia J. Myers, Valedictorian

Kayla A. Laird, Salutatorian

Roen K. Quickel

Brendan W. Kern

Randelle M. Agravante

Ian M. Thomson

Josie A. Jury

Justyce N. Firestone

Madison M. Ackerman

Christopher H. Urranaga

Sherrod J. Anderson

Earlier this month, the Middle School hosted their annual Awards Ceremony. During this event, students were recognized in the following areas: American Legion & VFW Awards, Spelling Bee Award, various club awards, various local/state academic competition awards, subject specific achievement awards, the Presidential Academic Awards, and the Top 15 Academic Awards.

Congratulations to all students for a successful 2023-2024 year at West York Area Middle School!

On May 9th, the top 15 8th grade students, along with their parents, teachers, and members of the leadership team, gathered at the Wyndham Garden York for the annual Top 15 Academic Awards Banquet.

Ms. Shanda Goodwin's English Learners at Trimmer Elementary showcased their cultural pride in a variety of ways on Friday, May 10. Students shared facts about their countries, while the others took notes on what they learned. Then, the students coded the Sphero robots to create a parade of "floats" that featured a visual element of each country. Lastly, the students enjoyed a sampling of a variety of food from three families: Arepas from Venezuela, empanadas from Nicaragua, and spaghetti salad from Puerto Rico.

Ms. Taylor Schlemmer's kindergarten class at Wallace Elementary had an End-of-Year Celebration with their parents on Wednesday. They enjoyed playing games, receiving their special awards!

CARE Awards took a break this week.

We will finish out the 2023-2024 CARE Awards next week!

Wednesday, May 22nd is our last award winning music department concert for the 2023-2024 school year! The program will focus on Queen songs with a splash of Taylor Swift! Our aspiring musicians at the Middle School would love to see you there!

• Wednesday, May 22 - 6:30 p.m. @ MS - MS Spring Band Concert
  

If you missed the text/email communication that went out Thursday evening, please click the bar below. This communication is to let you know that student Chromebooks will be collected next week and will spend the summer in the loving hands our our Tech Department.

We are happy to share that again this summer, we will be offering our Summer Activities Program in conjunction with the Summer Bulldog Bistro Free Lunch Program!

Join us for a lot of fun activities! Each day will have a specific topic, theme, or activity facilitated by a West York teacher or employee. One day of each week will be the always popular Bingo Day, complete with prizes! We are also excited to confirm that Reptile Invasion will again fill our MS auditorium with their amazing little, and not so little, creatures on one of our days!

Each week, the District website's home page will provide the upcoming week's activities/themes. See the image below for more details. If you have any questions, please email Ginny Carter at vrcarter@wyasd.org.

Come join us at West York Area High School for a fun-filled day of running and getting splattered with vibrant colors all for a great cause! We are running to support the children and families who are fighting against childhood cancer. All monies raised will go toward our Four Diamonds fund. This will add to other money raised and will be revealed with our final total in March of 2025 at our mini-THON. This in-person event is perfect for all ages and fitness levels. Lace up your shoes and get ready to dash through the colorful course which will lead to the completion of a 5K. The event will take place at the High School at 1800 Bannister Street, with the food trucks in the athletic parking lot and registration and start and finish down below. Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to get active and have a blast with friends and family while helping West York Area High School raise funds for Four Diamonds. See you there!

To see route details and to register, click the image to the left.

All questions can be sent to arhedgcock@wyasd.org

Be sure to Like/Follow us so you don't experience FOMO - Fear of Missing Out!

Click each social media image below to Like and Follow us!

At the February 20th Board Meeting, the 2024-2025 District Calendar was approved and you can access it from our website by clicking the bar below.

• Tuesday, May 21, EPC Meeting (5:30 p.m.)
• Tuesday, May 21, Board Voting Meeting (6:30 p.m.)
  
• Wednesday, May 22, Bulldog Pantry Distribution (5:00 p.m.)
• Wednesday, May 22, MS Spring Band Concert (6:30 p.m.)
• Thursday, May 23, Early Dismissal
• Thursday, May 23, Commencement
• Friday, May 24, Early Dismissal

• Monday, May 27, Memorial Day - Offices and Schools Closed

• Monday, June 3, Summer Lunch Program Begins (11:00 a.m.)
• Tuesday, June 11, Cocurricular Committee Meeting (5:30 p.m.)
• Tuesday, June 11, Board Work Session (7:00 p.m.)
• Friday, June 14, All Buildings & Grounds Closed
• Tuesday, June 18, Board Voting Meeting (6:30 p.m.)
• Friday, June 21, All Buildings & Grounds Closed
• Friday, June 28, All Buildings & Grounds Closed

Check out this week's issue of the Bulldog Breakdown, a weekly recap of the prior week's athletic accomplishments and lists the upcoming sporting events.

Don't miss important information on the PIAA postseason events, brackets, schedules, and how to purchase tickets! Simply click the Bulldog image to view the latest issue!

Kindergarten registration for the 2024-2025 school year is now open. We encourage families to register early. Simply click the image to the right and click on Create A New Account. Even if you already have students in West York, you will use the Create A New Account to begin the registration process for your incoming kindergarten student. Children need to be five years of age by September 1, 2024, to be eligible for kindergarten.

If you have any questions, please contact our Registration Office at 717-792-2796 extension 1216.

Next Wednesday is our final Bulldog Pantry distribution for the 2023-2024 school year. Thank you to everyone who helped support our Pantry and our community members.

Each year, the number of families appreciative of our Bulldog Pantry grows. As we close out this school year and look toward the 2024-2025 school year, know that we are appreciative of those who keep our shelves full; we couldn't do it without you.

If you would like to support our pantry over the summer, please reach out to Ms. Amanda Burt at amburt@wyasd.org.

The Class of 2025 is holding a Commencement Bouquets fundraiser for the 2024 graduation! This is a great opportunity to have a beautiful bouquet of roses conveniently ready for you just outside the ceremony entrance! If you would like to pre-purchase a bouquet, please scan the QR Code below or click the picture to be directed to the vendor website.

Check out the Kids Bowl Free Program! This program is designed by bowling centers to give back to the community. We have three bowling centers in our area that are participating:

• Colony Park Lanes
• Laser Alleys
• Suburban Bowlerama

Step 1: Go to https://www.kidsbowlfree.com/all_centers.php#PA and find a center near you.

Step 2: Create an account for your family.

Step 3: Enjoy an entire summer of bowling FUN!

The Community Corner of our website offers families many helpful links to organizations or flyers about upcoming or ongoing community activities, clubs, and events. The information on this webpage changes frequently and those changes will be highlighted here as they occur. The latest updates are pictured below.

From our Home webpage, click on Community to access links to various organizations/community events.

Newly Added:

• Belmont Summer Academy - Theatre Summer Camps
• YWCA FREE Synchronize Swimming Clinic - June 22nd

Here are just some examples:

• Cub Scouts (Boys & Girls ages 5-12)
• Girl Scouts
• West York Boys Club
• YMCA of York
  
• YWCA of York

Community Resources such as:

• United Way
• Community Progress Council
• Dream Wrights Center for Community Arts
• Belmont Summer Academy - Theatre Summer Camps