Happy new year! We certainly hope that our students and families were able to enjoy and celebrate time together during our holiday break. As our newsletter shares, we continue to celebrate the many accomplishments and special experiences of our students and staff. As you may recall, we will be ending our first semester at the end of this month, and beginning a new one. Please watch for email communications about this period of time and what students should expect. Best wishes for a healthy, productive, and happy 2023!

Sincerely,

Dr. Matthew Reitz, Principal

Loyalsock Township High School

Mr. Jamie Yonkin, Assistant Principal

Loyalsock Township High School

Please remember to follow us on all of our social media accounts:

Facebook - @lthsprincipals

Twitter - @lths_principals

Instagram - @lths_principals

1/2 - No School - Holiday

1/11 - School Board Meeting

1/12 & 1/13 - PMEA District 8 Chorus Festival, CAC

1/16 - No School - Teacher Professional Education Day

1/19 - PMEA Distirct 8 Modern Band Festival, Shamokin

1/25 - Semester 1 Finals (Blocks 1 & 3)

1/26 - Semester 1 Finals (Blocks 2 & 4)

1/26 - Last day of MP #2

1/26 & 1/27 - PMEA District 8 Orchestra Festival, Berwick HS

1/27 - No School - Clerical Day

1/30 - First Day of MP #3

2/1 - MP #2 Report Cards Posted

Thank you to Mrs. Cozza as she has worked at Loyalsock as our school librarian for 23 years and has decided to retire at the end of the semester. She originally started her career as a stay at home mom and worked in a retail store before beginning her teaching career as a first grade teacher in Virginia. She has loved her job as librarian for both Schick and the middle school/high school campus, having taught many courses in her tenure. “I have loved watching them grow throughout their K-12 experience academically and socially,” reminisced Mrs. Cozza about her years of dedication to our students. Upon retirement, Mrs. Cozza plans to spend time with her family, particularly her grandchildren, and traveling. We wish her all the best as she begins this new chapter in her life!

Mr. VanFleet, has been hired as our new librarian. In the spring semester, in addition to his Library duties, he will be teaching LTMS students. In the previous 12 years at Loyalsock, he has served in the role of social studies curriculum lead and high school social studies teacher.

We had a great week celebrating the upcoming holiday season and winter break. The staff had a lot of fun participating in a spirit week, where Kathleen Popowycz won the Door Decorating competition and Kim Massetti was the winner of the best holiday costume! Mrs. Popowycz gives all the credit to her Creative Writing Class for the decorations.

Mr. Bulgarelli's Guitar class also did a tour of the school playing festive holiday music for all the classrooms.

We finished off the week with another exciting pep-rally to meet and celebrate our winter athletes. Additionally, several students were recognized for exceptional attendance for the 15 days leading up to the pep-rally, by earning gift cards for perfect attendance and/or only missing 1 day of school during the period.

The Boys Basketball team won the free throw shooting competition, but the swimmers & divers put up a solid performance. The teams all participated in a set of relay races, which included a dizzy bat, wheel barrel and balloon race and a Feet First relay. Lastly, the Faculty and Staff remain undefeated in the tug-of-war competition, defeating the Junior Class.

Uptown Music Collective performed a few holiday classics and there was special guest appearance from LTHS Graduate, Dylan Rockoff, who performed two of his original songs. It was great to have him back!

The Community Arts Center together with St. Johns School of the Arts, put on the production of “The Nutcracker” on December 3rd and 4th, 2022. Loyalsock Township High School’s own Maggie Hutchinson, Class of 2024, performed one of the lead roles as the Snow Queen. Maggie has been dancing ballet for many years and says “I’m so grateful that I was chosen to be a lead in this past years Nutcracker. Ballet is an art form that I love.”

Chief Oil and Gas, who previously leased our property at 1720 Sycamore Rd, was purchased by Chesapeake Energy in the Spring of 2022. Upon purchase, Chesapeake chose to donate all the furniture and office equipment that was in the building to the Loyalsock Township School District. This donation amounted to approximately $150,000 and included desks, chairs, conference tables, TV's, computer monitors, keyboards, partitions, cabinets, etc.

The Loyalsock Township School District greatly appreciates this donation from Chesapeake Energy. We have already utilized equipment and furniture in all three of our schools. This donation allows us to focus more of our funds on direct support of our educational programs. We thank Chesapeake for the very generous donation to our District.

Vickey Campman has officially returned to her role as our junior and senior school counselor following her maternity leave! Please reach out to her with any needs and welcome her back if you see her! We also want to extend a thank you to Kendall Watkins for doing a wonderful job filling in to support our students and parents during Vickey’s leave.

On December 6, 2022, LizAnn Barlett, career counselor from Lycoming Career and Technology Center (LycoCTC), presented to freshmen about the program opportunities available to our students there starting in their sophomore year. To learn more, please visit: https://www.lycoctc.org/ and reach out to your student’s school counselor.

Natalie Bower, LTHS junior and second year LycoCTC Criminal Justice/Law Enforcement student, also spoke with our freshmen about her experience.

On December 21, 2022, 46 students who expressed potential interest in building their career knowledge and skills through participation in a career and technical education (CTE) program at LycoCTC visited to learn more. Students visited three program areas and heard from instructors and current students. LycoCTC programs are a great opportunity for students who have future career interests in the offered areas or those who aren’t sure of their future goals, especially if they would prefer engagement in hands-on learning for half of their school day.

On December 13 and 14, 2022, Mrs. Rippey and Mr. Smith, outreach counselor, presented a lesson to freshmen that utilized the Signs of Suicide (SOS) curriculum. SOS is a nationally recognized suicide prevention program offered by The Center for Suicide Prevention and Research (CSPR) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Students were taught possible warning signs of depression and suicide and were encouraged to seek help if they are concerned about themselves or someone else.

Students learned to ACT (Acknowledge, Care, and Tell a trusted adult) if concerned about themselves or a friend. This graphic details the same process for parents.

Education

• Graduated from Berwick Area High School, PA
• Earned a B.S. in Secondary Education, Mathematics, from Penn State University
• Received a Master of Arts in Educational Policy and Leadership/Instructional Design & Technology from the Ohio State University concurrently with earning K-12 Certification as a Library/Media Specialist
• Obtained an Instructional Technology Specialist Certification and a Certificate in Educational Technology Integration from Penn State University

Teaching Career

• Taught 3.5 years in Holidaysburg Area School District, PA
• Taught 7 years in Dublin City Schools, OH
• Currently in her 24th year at Loyalsock Township School District, PA
• Adjunct Faculty Member with the Pennsylvania College of Technology, PA

Other Educational Leadership and Awards

• Evaluation Chairperson for the PETE&C Conference (Pennsylvania Educational Technology Expo & Conference)
• Recording Secretary for PAECT (Pennsylvania Association for Educational Communications and Technology) for 20 years.
• Won various awards such as the Mary C. Renner Achievement Award, Woodson Award, selected as a Keystone Technology Innovator, and was a Semi-Finalist for PA Teacher of the Year 2017

Involvement at LTHS

• NHS Advisor
• HS Mathematics Curriculum Coordinator
• Supports various athletic events by selling tickets, running the FAT (camera) system at track meets and other roles
• Co-Advisor of the Class of 2009
• Additionally, over the past 24 years, she has been involved with the HS Social Committee, Act 48 Committee, Technology Committee, Mentor to New Teachers, an Instructional Coach, Computer Fair Advisor, Cooperating Teacher for several student teachers, served on the Strategic Planning Committee, LTEA Building Representative, help with graduation, provide professional development and numerous other roles

Family

• Married to her high school sweetheart, Jeff, for over 32 years
• 7 year old fur baby (cat) named Abby who really loves her "mom"

Hobbies and Fun Facts

• Loves working out at Planet Fitness
• Collects Antiques
• Enjoys learning
• Loves spending time in the pool in the summer
• A Blue Ribbon winner from the Bloomsburg Fair for her sugar cookies

Congratulations to students in the senior class who successfully completed their mock interviews back in December! Students in the class of 2023 were taught interview skills and then went through an interview process from various professionals within our community.

We would also like to thank the professionals who volunteered their time to facilitate these mock interviews with our students.

Stefanie Allison - Owner/Manager of Don Waltman's Market House Meats & Deli & Studio Owner of Wine & Design

Kris Datres - Retired educator and former student teacher at Lycoming College

Brittany Fischer - Communications & Development Director - YMCA

Suzy Foresman - Supervisor of Curriculum & Instructions at LTSD

Adam Dincher - Relationship Manager at FNB Corporation

Monica McCarty - School Outreach Specialist at Blast IU17

Chip Edmonds - V.P. of Lycoming College

Lynn Frey - Coordinator of Communications, PA CASA

Anne Landon - Lycoming College

Keith Atherholt - President, Lewis Lumber Products

Amber Phillips - Recruiter, Wegmans

Ryan Rooney - Logistics, Chemstream, Inc.

Mike Knight - Retired State Trooper, School Resource Officer at LTSD

Rebecca Hubler - Recruiter, Wegmans

Emily Dietrick - Associate Director for Career Advancement, Bucknell University

Denny Stopper - Retired Educator

Kory Datres - Financial Planner at Roche Financial

Before break, Mrs. Popowycz's English 11 Honors class spent a couple days designing “gingerbread mansions” that depict settings from The Great Gatsby.

Our Lancer Financial Literacy students in Mrs. Pipech's class tested out their investing skills in a fast paced and exciting class competition to see who could grow their wealth and create the biggest STAX in a 20 minute, mock 20 year investing simulation. Students had the opportunity to invest in savings, CDs, index funds, stocks, bonds, gold and commodities to see how their investments could grow over time due to the magic of compounding returns! Congratulations to our first-round top investors - Kamryn, James and Devlin!

Congratulations to to the following FBLA members who placed at Regionals and will compete at the FBLA State Leadership Conference:

Megan Lowe

Cheyanne Tedesco

Mallory Storm

Maggie Hutchinson

Alli Johnson

Meggie Louge

Mia Hornberger

Violet McLaughlin

Zowie Rhinehart

Lilly Belvin

Anayah Main

Jenine Ghayyada

Kendall Cohick

Lucy Tripp

Regan Oaks

Kinjal Bhagat

Anna Patel

Natalie Bower

Maria Blas

Kate Richards

Kiersten Miller

Gabe Danley

Jonathan Shimko

Adam Ghayyada

John Kiehl

Zach Blackwell

Also, congratulations goes out to Jenine Ghayyada and Lucy Tripp for winning their elections to be Regional FBLA Officers. This is the first time in Loyalsock history that members of our chapter have been elected to regional office.

The LTHS Interact Club and Key Club are grateful to everyone who supported their Krispy Kreme fundraiser. With the profits they were able to adopt three Loyalsock families this Christmas Season.

As part of Downtown Williamsports holiday "Catch the Spirit" event, local businesses decorated their window displays for a local contest. LTHS Senior, Serena LaComba painted a beautiful wintery scene on the windows of the local business, WAXED Williamsport.

Winners were announced on December 16th and we are pleased to announce that Serena was the Winner! Congratulations Serena!

December 21st, marked the Winter Solstice and the first day of Winter. If you haven’t gotten the chance to see the Winter Solstice Art Installation in the HS lobby between the double doors, please stop and check it out. Art Club created it for this occasion and is a very aesthetically pleasing way to enter the building. Have a great day and make it a good one! After all, it is the shortest day of the year, make it count!

Digital Photography students were challenged to photograph letters occurring naturally in their daily environments. These found letters were then edited and arranged to spell out the names of each teacher in the High School. High School teachers were surprised to find their assembled name plates hanging outside their classrooms.

Congratulations to the following students for being accepted to the PMEA District 8 Modern Band Festival, which will be held on January 19th at Shamokin High School.

Maria Blas (Vocals)

Isabel Butters (Vocals)

Jake Groch (Guitar)

Jossian Lilley (Guitar)

Modern Band is a new school based music program that utilizes popular music as it's central canon. Modern band teaches students to perform the music they know and love and to compose and improvise. Styles that are studied include rock, pop, reggae, hip-hop, rhythm & blues, electronic dance music, and other contemporary styles as they emerge. Modern Band also utilizes (but is not limited to) the musical instruments that are common to these genres: guitar, bass, drums, piano, voice and technology.

NAfME has already established Regional and National Modern Band honor ensembles. PMEA is currently building the state version. District 8's festival will be the second district festival in Pennsylvania to date.

To read more about Modern Band, click here.

Congratulations to several of our Loyalsock students for being accepted to the following PMEA District 8 Festivals!

PMEA District 8 Choir Festival, January 12-13, 2023 at Lycoming College

Elaina Bartley, alto

Maria Blas, soprano

Simon Uhter, tenor

PMEA District 8 Orchestra Festival, January 26-27 at Berwick High School

Noelle Collins, violin

Ian Hornberger, tuba

Simon Uhter, trombone

PMEA District 8 Band Festival, February 9-10 at Montoursville High School

Gabriel Danley, euphonium

Ian Hornberger, tuba

Kiersten Miller, saxophone

Simon Uhter, trombone

The Winter Sports season is underway...please be sure to check out the Lancers Athletics calendar for upcoming events!

Congratulations to Coach Justin VanFleet and all the young men who earned 2022 Football All-star honors!

Indoor track and field workouts for anyone not in a winter sport will begin on Monday, January 9th. The plan is to go M/W/F from 3:15-4:15. If you are interested, please email or see Coach Hill mhill@loyalsocklancers.org.

Also, signups for the season will be held in early February. Make sure to pay attention for an announcement.

We encourage all Winter sports athletes to reach out to your head coaches for information leading in to next season, open gyms, etc. Coach contact information is below:

Boys Basketball - Ron Insinger - rinsinger@loyalsocklancers.org

Girls Basketball - Curtis Jacobson - cjacobson@loyalsocklancers.org

Wrestling - Ben Hepburn - benjaminhepburn692@gmail.com

Please be sure to check out the LTSD Athletics Website for all your sports information needs, like schedules, rosters, registration and other important information.

Did you know that if you sign up for a Fan Account, you can sign up to get important notifications for game changes, including time, date and facilities updates sent directly to your email, cell or both. You can also download your favorite team calendars and import them in to your personal calendars, so that you never miss another event (these calendars update automatically when schedule changes occur).

You can click here for instructions on how to set up your Fan Account and start getting alerts and notifications today!

General Athletic Questions can be sent to:

Athletic Director – Ben Lorson blorson@loyalsocklancers.org

Athletic Secretary – Shannon Butters sbutters@loyalsocklancers.org

Please click here for transportation routes this upcoming school year! Contact Mr. Bower, LTSD transportation director, with any questions or visit the website for more information.

Are you a future teacher? If so, Loyalsock Township School District can use you NOW! Through Act 86, you are eligible to substitute teach if you have at least 60 credits.

Find out more by calling 570-323-8561 *1088

To apply for as a Substitute for any of the following positions:

Paraprofessional, Secretary, Food Service Worker, Bus Driver, Van Driver, Traffic Control/Crossing Guard, Custodian/Maintenance

Complete the application and upload the following information in order to be considered as a substitute:

• PA Criminal Background Check (date is within last 60 months)
• Pennsylvania Child Abuse Certification (within last 60 months)
• Federal Criminal Background Check (Fingerprinting) (within last 60 months) (Service code: 1KG6XN)
• School Personnel Health Record Form
• T.B. Test Results (within last three months)

Click here to apply.

Seeking two energetic, self-motivated, people-oriented individuals with a desire to work with the district’s custodial department. The applicants must be able to follow both written and verbal directions and must interact effectively with students, staff, and community members. The primary responsibilities include general knowledge of all custodial duties, general building duties and operation of motor vehicles as needed. Additional duties may include grounds keeping, including mowing/trimming grass, preparation of athletic fields, and operation of snow blowers.

This individual shall continually strive toward a relationship with District staff and community that is conducive to the effective implementation of all programs and services. EOE.

All mandated clearances, physical, and TB test results are required prior to employment.

Click here to apply.

School Bus/Van Drivers

(AM and/or PM runs)

Applicants must possess or be willing to acquire Commercial Driver’s License, Class B with S Endorsement.

Rates:

$25.50 per run - two runs per day.

Extra-curricular/van runs hourly rate $12.00.

All mandated clearances, physical, and TB test results are required prior to employment.

EOE

Click here to apply.

Rate of Pay is based on experience

Shifts available are:

7:00 am – 12:30 pm

9:00 am – 2:15 pm

10:30 am – 2:00 pm

Experience preferred, but we are willing to train individuals who have a passion for working
with students and promoting a healthy school food environment.

Excellent customer service skills required.

Physical requirements may include standing for long periods of time; pushing,
pulling and lifting up to and in excess of 40 pounds.

All mandated clearances, TB test results and physical are required prior to employment.

The position(s) will remain open until filled.

EOE

Click here to apply.

Do you have the LTSD School App? It's a great tool to help you keep up to date with everything happening in the LTSD. Just visit the App store, search Loyalsock, download and then in settings, add the schools you want to follow. You can also copy things from the calendar onto your own personal Google Calendar, as well!

Please watch the video below to learn how to create an account. Once you have created an account, you can watch other videos that explain how to do everything you need!

Please contact our technology team if you have questions or need assistance, particularly with accessing the parent portal.

The learning support system is available for parents and students and can be contacted through one of the following methods:

🌐 Submit a Technology Helpdesk Ticket

📧 Send an Email to egee@loyalsocklancers.org

☎️ Phone 570-323-9439 x1217 and leave a message

*Please NOTE this is for parents and student support only.

Staff should continue to use the staff portal for support.

1. Student/parent downloads work permit application from LTSD website: Application for Work Permit download
2. Parent completes application and signs electronically
3. Student/parent emails application as an attachment to: workingpapers@loyalsocklancers.org
4. Once received, the student will be contacted and instructed to come into the office to complete the working permit (parent does not need to be present unless online application could not be filled out and submitted electronically).

Click here for a printable version of the 2022-2023 LTSD School Calendar.

December 2022

November 2022

October 2022

September 2022

While empowering students to uncover their true passion, Loyalsock Township High School prepares, engages, and inspires all students to seek academic and personal excellence.

Email: mreitz@loyalsocklancers.org
Website: www.loyalsocklancers.org
Location: 1801 Loyalsock Drive, Williamsport, PA, USA
Phone: (570) 326-3581
Facebook: facebook.com/ltmsprincipal
Twitter: @lths_principals