Blue & White Newsletter - 5/10/24

Manufacturing Enterprise course is the 3rd level wood production class at the High School and is taught by Mr. Jared Runk. Students in the class have completed and passed the Introductory Materials Technology course and the 2nd level course, Wood Technologies. This 3rd level course is run as a business and each student has a role in the company. This semester, the West York Woodworks Manufacturing Company is producing 15 sets of Cornhole boards. The company began by researching the High School needs for the boards, the design and planning of the boards, and materials needed. We then went through the purchasing process, and finally the production process. We are producing sets for the High School's Lunch and Learn program and the Physical Education Program. Each employee of the company will also receive a set to take home and enjoy.

The student-employees of the WY Woodworks Manufacturing Company include: Lincoln Ambrose, William Baker, Kheidan Cayenne, Araujo Marco Cifuentes, Anthony King, Cody Mason, Adam Radoui, and Ethan Strine.

On Monday, May 6th, Ms. Jill Striebig's eighth grade seminar students at the Middle School walked to the High School to join Mrs. Melissa Carl’s Model UN students for a mini-MUN session. Students each represented countries and debated current topics. They used their research of their country to represent their country’s viewpoints. Students used parliamentary procedure, gained an understanding of international relations, and learned how the United Nations works. The high school students provided awards at the end of the session.

Professor Scott Bastedo from Kutztown University's Cinema, Television & Media Production department, came and spoke to Ms. Emma Geiger's classroom at Trimmer Elementary about script writing. The students are currently working in groups to write their own scripts for a play. Professor Bastedo shared the importance of showing and not telling character's thoughts and the five types of stories. He then helped students start brainstorming their ideas in their groups.

You might be wondering, so what are the five types of stories?

• Person in a Hole - Things start out good, the character faces a problem/bad luck, then at the end the person solves their problem and things are better.
• Cinderella - Things start out bad, the character gets a little happier and slowly builds up to a big happy event, and then something bad happens again, but at the end of the story the character is better and living their best life.
• Meeting Someone New - The character meets someone, the character upsets/agers the new person, the character has to make things right and does by the end of the story.
• From Bad to Worse - Things start out bad and keep getting worse and worse. There is no resolution/happy ending.
• Which Way is Up? - Many things happen and you/the characters do not know if it is good or bad (this is the hardest type of story to write).

On Tuesday evening, K-5 students and their families joined us for our annual Remake Learning Night. The night was hosted by the West York technology and engineering teachers, with the help of some student volunteers. Attendees were able to experience learning in a variety of unique ways. They built electromagnets, straw rockets, paper airplanes, and claw grabbers. Families also explored K’NEX, Ozobots, Code and Go Mouse, and block coding. They engaged their artistic side with algorithm-based drawing and pixel art. It was an amazing night of hands-on learning for all!

In our March 1st issue, we shared with you that students from the Middle School participated in the LIU12 K'Nex STEM Design Challenge and that one of our teams won first place and would advance to the State competition.

Last Friday, our team, representing all of LIU12, participated in the State K'Nex Competition at the Farmshow Complex. The team consisted of 7th graders, Cami Plappert, Alexis Weaver, Peyton Ream and Avery Appnel.

Out of 378 total teams that participated in the K'Nex Competition statewide, our AWESOME team earned Honorable Mention, or as the girls like to say, 4th place. This was the first West York team to make it to the State Competition! Congratulations Cami, Alexis, Peyton, Avery, and Ms. Jill Striebig.

The Middle School participated in a Mix-It-Up Day where students from all grade levels were combined to work on team building activities to strengthen our school community! Students were divided and placed into small groups where teachers facilitated various STEM and team building exercises for students to get to know others outside of their specific grade level. A big shout out to the Middle School Student Lighthouse Team for planning activities to help make this day a success!!!

Mrs. Kelly Lurz and Mrs. Lorrie Rodriguez’s Kindergarten classes at Wallace Elementary walked to Shetter Park on Monday for a field trip! Students went on a nature hunt, played on the equipment, and had a picnic together! Everyone had a great time!

Some of Ms. Shanda Goodwin's English Learners at Wallace Elementary participated in activities about pollination. They watched a video, talked about bees and flowers, and completed an experiment to see how bees pollinate flowers.

Congratulations to the following 2nd-5th grade students who placed 1st through 3rd in this year's VFW Loyalty Day Coloring Contest and were presented with their awards at the Auxiliary VFW's May 5th awards program:

Lincolnway 2nd graders: Westin Reeser - 1st Place (pictured here), Naomy Martinez Aguillon - 2nd Place, and Zahyri Davis Green - 3rd Place.

Trimmer 4th graders: Emiliano Aponte Vega - 1st Place, Aiva Freshwater - 2nd Place, and Kira Bair - 3rd Place.

Trimmer 5th graders: Rylen Price - 1st Place, Glorianny Lora-Santos - 2nd Place, and Ava Casey - 3rd Place.

Last Friday, Mr. Rod Meckley, WY Band Director and Music teacher, accompanied by his student teacher, Mr. Jacob Waddell, from Messiah University, and our AWESOME WY band members shared their musical talents with guests of the WY Spring Band Concert.

Mr. Meckley shared that it has been a fun school year filled with challenging and rewarding repertoire that ranged from the light-hearted holiday tunes, to stirring marches, and to movie soundtracks. Some pieces we prepared to share with you; some we did not. Some pieces were very difficult, while some just allowed us to play without technical demands and just make beautiful music together. This year's Spring Band Concert, “A Spring Medley,” is the culmination of these experiences. Just like a spring medley represents an assortment of flowers or garden vegetables, our Spring Medley represents an assortment of pieces that are recognized as “Chestnuts," or, the work-horses of the repertoire.

A Spring Medley included the following pieces:

• "Red Rock Mountain"
• "Chorale and Shaker Dance"
• "Homeward Bound"
• "Emperata Overture"
• "Bayou Breakdown"
• "Galop from Genevieve de Brabant"

We are also proud that for the third year in a row, the West York Music Program has been recognized by the National Association of Music Merchants as one the Best Communities for Music Education.

Check out our two remaining award winning music department concerts that will finish out the 2023-2024 school year's concerts! Attend one or both to show your support of our aspiring musicians!

• Thursday, May 16 - 6:30 p.m. @ MS - MS/HS Pops Concert
• Wednesday, May 22 - 6:30 p.m. @ MS - MS Spring Band Concert

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.

This month's Awesome Facilities Staff who are highlighted on our website are Mr. Bob Grothey, Mr. Matt Hoke, Mr. Roy Waddel, and Mr. John Wanner. Be sure to click on the image below to visit the Facilities page of our website to learn more about these four AWESOME staff members!

May 10, 2024

9th/10th Grade:

Ava Soyke

For your hard work and dedication to your success!

11th/12th Grade:

Jeremy Russell

For being you!

Faculty/Staff:

Mrs. Anne Hedgcock

For planning awesome teacher appreciation days!

Recently, we created fresh Facebook and Instagram accounts, as shared in our March 1st newsletter. Be sure to Like/Follow us so you don't experience FOMO - Fear of Missing Out!

Click 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.

• Monday, May 13, HS Awards Ceremony (6:00 p.m.)
  
• Tuesday, May 14, EPC Meeting (5:30 p.m.)
• Tuesday, May 14, Work Session of the Board (7:00 p.m.)
• Thursday, May 16, MS/HS Pops Concert (6:30 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

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.

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

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