Wayne Highlands School Scene 2015

SCHOOL SCENE A Special Supplement to the Sullivan County Democrat

A look at activities in the Wayne Highlands School District Honesdale, PA

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SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT

SEPTEMBER, 2015

Out of the ‘50s and into the ‘10s: Honesdale High gets makeover J

udy Kich was hard at work but smiling broadly as she unpacked Honesdale High School's book collection. She shelved the volumes into a blissfully bright and open space – the renovated school library.

“Before, we were an old library trying to keep pace,” said the school librarian. “Now we're a state-of-theart facility.”

The library features two computer labs for student small group discussion as well as for research, test preparation and composing papers.

“Colleges want students who are able to work collaboratively,” explained High School Principal Diane Scarfalloto, “because that's what they will face in the workplace.”

Training an eye on the future while living in the present is a balancing act that Wayne Highlands has come to master.

This spring and summer, the District gently escorted the high school out of the 1950s, when most of the school was built. Refinancing an existing bond at a lower interest rate allowed for a $6.5 million building project that overhauled the main entrance, main corridor and music suite of band and choral rooms along with the library.

The funds also helped reconfigure the school's main office, installing the special security vestibule that today's world demands.

The need to welcome students back

The new entrance to Honesdale High School awaits finishing touches and a sign.

after the summer without any serious electronic or technological hitches required a week-long delay of school's opening this September.

“The scope of work done was huge,” said Superintendent of Schools Gregory Frigoletto. “Opening when we did was a much better plan.

Our Information Technology team, our administrators and staff at the high school were incredible. I couldn't be more proud of them.”

In practice, “we try to stay on top of

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needed repairs over time,” said the superintendent. “Piece by piece, we have renovated the high school over three years – the electrical system, [asbestos] abatement, technology upgrades, painting, plastering.

“We try to be fiscally responsible and progressive, both,” he said.

Smart and thrifty Over the last five years, Wayne Highlands has consistently won recognition as a high-achieving, lowspending school district. This year

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was no different.

Taking into account a district's standardized test scores and its proportion of economically disadvantaged students, the Pittsburgh Business Times ranks school districts annually. Its highest honor, the Overachiever, went for the second year in a row to Wayne Highlands.

“For the second year, we are fifth in the state in overachieving based on our demographics,” said Frigoletto.

He stressed, however, that the

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SEPTEMBER, 2015

Honesdale High School Librarian Judy Kich shelves books in part of the new school library. The old room was constructed when the school was – in 1958.

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District views its poverty rate, which hovers around 40 percent, as a nonfactor in academic success. “We don't recognize it as a reason or an excuse for why kids don't achieve.�

Rather, the District works hard to build a culture of success in its five school buildings, from establishing

respect for teachers to demanding big things from students.

Quoting from the firm belief of a prior superintendent, Frigoletto reminded teachers this year: “Every parent is sending us the best they've got.�

The issue for the faculty to ask themselves, he said, is, “Do I care about my students?�

That care was expressly manifested this past June, when on the 15th, school closed for the summer, and on the 16th, elementary school teachers were expected to attend a four-day educational workshop – and all 41 showed up.

So do they care? “Absolutely,� said the superintendent.

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SEPTEMBER, 2015

‘All together now, build that cell tower!’

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dyssey of the Mind tryouts will begin next month, and Hannah Holbert and Taylor Maxson can't wait.

“We can do a lot better this year,” said Hannah. “After seeing what other kids did, we want to step it up and do new things, like gymnastics and music.”

Hannah and Taylor are eighth graders at Wayne Highlands' Preston Area School, and their Odyssey of the Mind team, performing last year for the first time, beat out 11 other schools to win the regional tournament at Pocono Mountain in March. The Preston students went on to take fourth place out of 12 schools in a later statewide competition in Berwick, Pa. “Odyssey of the Mind is based on problem-solving,” explained Don Burchell, a Preston educational technology teacher who is one of two coaches for the Odyssey program.

The other coach is Greg Adams, who

teaches technology and engineering education at the K-8 school.

An international educational program that welcomes students from kindergarten through college, Odyssey of the Mind enlists seven students per team from each of its participating schools.

Meeting after school – and when competition time nears, even on Saturdays – the teams work on solving problems ranging from the construction of mechanical devices to the interpretation of literary classics.

The coaches support their students in developing collaborative and teamwork skills and, as Taylor Maxson said, “in thinking outside the box.”

But the adults cannot do the work for the kids.

“We are not allowed to tell them anything – the students have to discover things on their own,” said Adams.

“Each time they fail, they learn something,” added Burchell. “Each

Preston Area School eighth graders Hannah Holbert and Taylor Maxson, with coaches Don Burchell and Greg Adams, show off their Odyssey of the Mind team trophy, which rests on top of their award-winning project: a balsa wood structure that successfully supported 1,000 pounds in weight. Their team also includes students Grace Maxson, Breanna Gleim, Emily Bialecki, Dominic Thompson and Andrew Cantu.

time they succeed, they learn too.”

Teams work during the school year on one long-term problem. Last year, students were required to build a structure out of balsa wood that would support a tremendous amount of weight. The structure had to be at least eight inches high and weigh only 16 grams, or the weight of seven pennies.

To advance their design plan for what looked like a miniature weight-

bearing cell tower, the Preston students researched tall structures. In some cases, kids enlisted their parents to drive them around to look at actual cell tower construction.

At the competitions, students typically present the structure they've built but also must perform an original skit that relates to that piece. Teams arrive at the tournaments with their own sets, costumes, music and dialogue

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ative and theatrical a niche,� said Burchell. “To see the students take the regular STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Math] classroom education and extend that into a diverse competition such as Odyssey of the Mind is rewarding,� added Adams.

Odyssey pushes students to think, work and enjoy themselves. “I like it that it's practical, more practical than classes,� said Taylor. “You are building stuff and working as a team.� “And,� said Hannah, “we really do have a lot of fun.�

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The Preston students won regionals with their balsa cell tower that, amazingly, supported 1,000 pounds in gymnasium-style weights. Their skit won raves as well. “Seeing other teams' work [at the competitions] was really fun,� said Taylor, reflecting the Odyssey emphasis on a healthy respect among all the students competing.

The Odyssey coaches and kids say the program serves many purposes. “It creates a sense of community for the team, and it gives kids who are scientifically-minded but are also cre-

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SEPTEMBER, 2015

It’s ‘Mission Possible’ time at the Middle School W

hen inventor and cartoonist Rube Goldberg began drawing his whimsical machines with dozens of moving wheels, gears and handles, he wasn't thinking of the Wayne Highlands Middle School students who would one day build something just like his contraptions.

But this year, that's what’s happening. The middle school's Science Olympiad team – and hundreds of other kids across the nation – will compete in a contest to build a Goldbergtype device that features springs, motors, switches and wheels all moving at once.

“The event is called ‘Mission Possible’,” said Middle School teacher Chris Roos, who coaches the team along with teacher Kelly O'Neill. “You push a trigger, and a bunch of things are happening all at the same time.”

Science Olympiad is a national competition to increase student interest in science. Olympiad tournaments are rigorous academic meets in biology, earth science, chemistry, engineering, physics and computers.

Teams compete in 23 events that range from building structures like a thermodynamic box or a working robot to coming up with the solution to a crime, which involves testing for fingerprints and fibers as real detectives do.

Each year, events crop up that reflect the ever-changing nature of science, so students might work on a project on invasive plant species or on genetic research.

“We compete in groups of either two or three, depending upon the event,” according to student Camille Stanton,

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Backed by their coaches Chris Roos and Kelly O'Neill, both Wayne Highlands Middle School science teachers, is the school's award-winning Science Olympiad team: front row, Abby Panza, Stephanie Matlaga, Camille Stanton, Alexa Yatwa; second row, Dan Langroudi, Dominic Maglione, Zoie Meyer, Megan O'Neill, Jason Demers, Natalie Zeglen; back row, Andrew Latourette, Nate Mansfield, Liam Carmody, Kayla Taninies, Arjun Fulp. An important partner is the fundraising group Friends of Science Olympiad Middle School.

who delivered a report at the end of last school year to the Wayne Highlands school board. “All rankings are used to determine the team standing, so everyone must work hard at their events. Some events are very content-oriented, and others require us to build devices or perform lab skills.”

The middle school launched its first

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Science Olympiad team 13 years ago and has met with significant success.

“Over the years, our teams have consistently finished first place in the category of Experimental Design,” noted Middle School Principal Chris Pietraszewski.

Furthermore, in the past four years the team has placed in the top six at

the regional competition – held last year at Penn State's Wilkes-Barre campus – allowing them to go on to the state tournament.

Last year, the team took a fourth place medal in one event and scored in the top 50 percent in an additional 10 events, all at the state tournament held at Juniata College.

The team, which meets at school from 3-5:30 p.m. twice each week, typically has attracted the academic and non-athletic students. But in the last few years, Wayne Highlands has witnessed a broader interest in Science Olympiad.

“We've got B-students, kids who are athletes, kids who love an aspect of science, kids from the band and soccer,” said O'Neill.

Because Science Olympiad allows students to develop the kind of projects they want within the parameter of loose rules, the program encourages process and growth.

“It challenges kids in subject areas that they might not otherwise have access to,” said Roos. “Kids have to build their knowledge base every year.”

The rewards of Science Olympiad are many.

“When our kids go to high school,” said O'Neill, “they are very well-prepared for the rigors of advanced-level science class. They know how to work collaboratively, how to read additional materials, they're used to gathering information on their own.”

“The program develops in kids a strong work ethic,” said Roos. “They're used to the pressure, they learn how to manage stress and improvise when something goes ‘south’.

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SEPTEMBER, 2015

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How to grab student attention: Boot up the technology

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aptivated, absorbed, enthralled.

That's how Wayne Highlands School District wants its students to feel about learning.

And so the District is ramping up its emphasis on technology.

For example, science teacher Mike Jurkowski filmed a 15-minute segment of himself lecturing and demonstrating a dissection of a cow's eye. He then “sent” it to his students so that they could watch it at home, as their homework.

The next day, Jurkowski's students got right to work on dissection, with the teacher serving as facilitator, able to give individual attention rather than standing up lecturing.

The technique, called “flipping the classroom,” is one creative measure teachers are using this year to keep their digitally-aware students involved to the max.

“Technology is allowing multiple avenues for students to successfully get the material,” says Assistant Superintendent Timothy Morgan. “It lets us tailor education to every style of learning – visual, oral, kinesthetic.”

Last year, Wayne Highlands secured a Rural and Low Income Schools federal grant to purchase iPad Minis for the high school sophomore class as a pilot. This year, the grant is funding

the first year of a four-year agreement to purchase over 800 iPad Minis that are now in the hands of every high school student and teacher.

That means adults and teenagers are introduced to exciting software applications like Quizlet, which allows students to make their own electronic flashcards to help study. Or the notetaking and archiving software Evernote, which also permits students to film a teacher's classroom lecture or lab experiment so that they can rewatch the lesson at home or in study hall.

This school year, “we want to reach a broader scope of students and on a deeper level,” Morgan said. “When our kids leave us for college, jobs or the military, they go into a world where the use of technology is part of what they experience every day.”

Technology also helps teachers

Credits: All photographs and stories for this special School Scene are by Sullivan County Democrat Photographer/Reporter Kathy Daley.

The Democrat would also like to thank the Wayne Highlands School District for all its cooperation in this project.

dents benefit this year, too – with the introduction of last year's 260 high school iPads on mobile carts, going from classroom to classroom along with laptops.

Morgan also noted that this year will usher in special professional development in the new technologies for faculty members.

All these high-tech goings-on are possible by a complete overhaul of the District's wireless infrastructure, a huge effort spearheaded by District Director of Technology and Information Services Scott Miller.

Miller applied for and received a $400,000 grant from the E-Rate program of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The funds paid for upgrading the existing wireless infrastructure and installing new wireless.

The work is all geared towards sparking kids' interest in learning.

“We've heard now and then from parents who say, ‘I have a child who's usually not into the work but is excited about doing this with the iPad,’” said Morgan. “Interest is sparked when the level of curiosity is engaged.”

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Teacher Jamie Brown works with Brianna Cawley on an iPad during a Spanish lesson. Brown, chosen by the District to attend an intensive summer workshop as a Keystone Technology Innovator, will work on this year's push to assist teachers with new educational technologies.

gauge instantly how students are grasping a lesson and which student needs extra help. At Wayne Highlands, a device called Socrative provides immediate feedback for students, which then motivates them to quickly improve performance.

For teachers, the real-time understanding that, for example, 40 percent of the students have not understood the lesson, allows the teacher to reteach.

“It changes the dynamic in the classroom when a student having trouble with a lesson sees immediately that others don't understand it and that ‘it's not just me,’” said Morgan.

IPads are issued like textbooks, one to each student, with the device returned at the end of the year. But updating software and educational content is not as expensive or cumbersome as updating textbooks.

Last year, the District spent $36,000 for textbooks; this year, that amount is slashed to $12,000. Savings also show up in the District's paper and ink costs as teachers and students work electronically together.

Wayne Highlands' younger stu-

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