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Exeter Seniors to Compete Nationally with Virtual Company

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Cody Morgan (left) and Braden McCraw (right)

Seniors Cody Morgan and Braden McCraw are headed to New York City in April to showcase their work with “Naturally Threaded,” a virtual sustainable, environmentally-friendly capsule-clothing company. The students manage the virtual company as COO and Co-CEO, respectively, with other students from area schools as part of their work in the Business Management and Entrepreneurship program at Berks Career and Technology Center’s (BCTC) West Campus. In this program, students do not actually create or sell any tangible products. Instead, they create immersive virtual enterprises by conducting market research and developing business plans and products. They then select different career roles in leadership, marketing, human resources, manufacturing and more to manage the day-to-day operations of their business. Once their virtual enterprise is established, they then compete against other students’ virtual enterprises in virtual economies as well as in local, regional and national events where they’re judged by business leaders and professionals to gain insight and feedback into their company's real-world feasibility and potential success.

Describing Naturally Threaded as a capsule closet concept where “your shirt or sweatshirt will never go out of style,” Braden said that the concept of the company is to provide environmentally-conscious clothing using sustainable manufacturing processes. “We’re fighting against fast fashion–like things from Shein or Amazon. (Our clothing) is a little bit more expensive, but it’s not made from plastic or polyester.” 

Cody said that the creation of the company really allowed him to tap into his love of the outdoors by exploring styles and manufacturing processes that are environmentally-friendly: “We want to save the environment while providing quality clothes.” To this extent, Braden said that the company’s newest focus is manufacturing with zero waste by taking manufacturing scraps and turning those into new products in a line called Rethreaded. “This has proven to be very successful in competition,” he said. During the most recent competition, which was the Virtual Enterprises International (VEI) regional event, Cody and Braden were required with their team to submit executive summaries and deliver a compelling ten-minute presentation to a judging panel of industry experts. They then engaged in a five-minute Q&A session, demonstrating their in-depth understanding of their respective business plans. Following the competition, which attracted participants from schools across New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, Naturally Threaded placed first, allowing their executive board of students to move onto the national competition in NYC in April. 

Although the virtual company doesn’t actually exist, the immersive experience of creating and running Naturally Threaded inspired them to pursue real-world goals: Both seniors now plan to pursue business degrees following graduation. Expressing their initial surprise at the “white collar” educational opportunities at BCTC, Cody laughed and admitted that he thought the center was just for “greasy gearheads who wanted to be mechanics–even though I love that stuff.” Braden agreed and recalled how his dad, who went to vo-tech and now holds a job as an engineer, really encouraged him to explore his options at BCTC. “Honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to do this if I didn’t go to Tech,” he said. “(My education and these competitions) allowed me to discover that I have a niche for marketing and sales.”

Congratulations to these Eagles and their teammates on this prestigious honor, and best wishes to them in the VEI national competition in April!

18 Eagles Commit to Collegiate Athletics on National Signing Day

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From left to right: Esteban Schodowski, Gavin Reiking, Lucas Newell, Slater Von Stetten, Jason Nester, Payton Wagner, Gavin Marr, Katelyn Stanley, Nigel Meekins, Natalie Schwenk, Riley Mack, Gabrielle Keith, Gaige Gabriel, Trent Jordan, Alex Kelsey, Edwell Gwitira and Miles Brant. (Not pictured: Zachary Zandier)

They're soon to be Nittany Lions, Flying Dutchmen,  Golden Wolves and more, but today, we celebrated these 18 seniors as Eagles as they signed their commitments to continue their athletic and academic careers at the collegiate level on National Signing Day.

Here's where these talented athletes will be playing next year:

  • Miles Brant - Widener University - Lacrosse 
  • Gaige Gabriel - Penn State University - Volleyball 
  • Edwell Gwitira - Arcadia University - Track and Field 
  • Trent Jordan - Penn State Berks -Cross Country
  • Gabrielle Keith - University of Pittsburgh - Cross Country, Track and Field 
  • Alex Kelsey - St. Joseph’s University - Baseball 
  • Riley Mack - Lebanon Valley College - Volleyball 
  • Gavin Marr - Dickinson College - Soccer 
  • Nigel Meekins - Millersville University - Football 
  • Lucas Newell - Lebanon Valley College - Cross Country, Track and Field
  • Jason Nester- Lebanon Valley College - Cross Country, Track and Field
  • Gavin Reiking - Thaddeus Steven College of Technology - Football  
  • Esteban Schodowski - Alvernia University - Cross Country, Track and Field
  • Natalie Schwenk - State College of Florida - Volleyball
  • Katelyn Stanley - Clarion University - Volleyball
  • Slater Von Stetten - Quinnipiac University - Cross Country 
  • Payton Wagner - California University of Pennsylvania - Swimming
  • Zachary Zandier - Coastal Carolina University - Football

Congratulations to them all!

Lorane Kindergarteners (Virtually) Meet Punxsutawney Phil

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Collectively, Lorane Kindergarteners let out squeals and sighs of delight as a big, furry rodent was projected onto Mrs. Firestone's Smartboard via Zoom. "He's so cute," erupted several of the kindergarteners all at once, to enthusiastic nods of agreement from their classmates, all of whom were wearing handcrafted hats they had colored with crayons earlier in the day.

Lorane Kindergarten, meet Punxsutawney Phil, a 138-year-old groundhog.

Or so legend says.

Cuddled up in his keeper's arms, Phil spent most of the Zoom session with Lorane (and more than 250 other schools) not realizing he was the center of attention as he slept through facts and folklore about him and his famous holiday, Groundhog Day. For instance, Phil, who is Pennsylvania's most famous groundhog, is a herbivore and loves to eat bananas most of all. He's about 10 pounds, and, if provoked, he will bite. He's "married" to another groundhog named Phyllis, and when he's not predicting how many weeks of winter we have left, he lives with her in a viewable burrow at the Punxsutawney Library where he can be visited year-round by patrons. His handlers, who are called the "Inner Circle" and wear top hats and tuxedos, delighted in sharing folklore with the students as much as facts, and shared that Phil's so-called 138-year longevity is possible because of a special elixir that's been handed down through the generations that he drinks at annual picnic. They also taught students the history of Groundhog Day, which started as a tradition from German settlers who had conducted a similar event in their homeland with hedgehogs at the halfway point of the winter solstice. When they came to Pennsylvania, they couldn't find a hedgehog, so a groundhog was the next best thing. Today, they claim that Phil has 100% accuracy with predicting whether we'll have six more weeks of winter or an early spring depending on whether or not he sees his shadow.

Inspired by Phil, kindergarteners then made their own prognostications in advance of tomorrow's big event at Gobbler's Knob in western Pennsylvania.

Their prediction? Count on an early spring!

Students Named as Commended Scholars

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Left to right: Jason Nester and Alex Nerney

We’re so proud to announce that Alex Nerney and Jason Nester were recognized as Commended Scholars in the National Merit Scholarship Program. Each year, approximately 1.3 million high school students take the PSAT, but only 2.6% of these students are named Commended Scholars based upon their exceptional performance on the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. 

Both seniors, Jason plans to attend Lebanon Valley College to study actuarial science and Alex Nerney plans to study chemical engineering at a college or university yet to be decided. Our warmest congratulations to both for this exceptional achievement!

Exeter to Induct 1981 Girls Cross Country Team into its Athletic Hall of Fame

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The Exeter Township School District will induct 13 members and the coach of the 1981 Girls’ Cross Country team into its Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday, January 26, 2024. The induction will take place at approximately 6:30PM in the main gymnasium of Exeter Township School District during the Exeter Boys’ Basketball game against Wilson. Prior to the game, a reception will be held in the high school cafeteria at 5:30PM to honor the members, who will be joined by their coach, Donald Bickel. 

During their 1981 season, the team was the PIAA state runner-up following their first place District III and Berks County championships. During their dual meets that season, they had a 10-0 record and placed in local, regional and state invitationals, including Twin Valley (1st place); Conrad Weiser (2nd place); Steel City (3rd place); and State College (5th place). Rebecca Lucey was named a District III champion. At the time, Bickel said that the season was a “dream come true” following the cross country league’s creation just four years prior to the 1981 season when Exeter only won one meet and lost the remaining nine. Today, Bickel remembers fondly his time coaching the team: “They were a pleasure to coach and I enjoyed coaching them; they were great girls,” When asked what led his team to achieve success, he said, “You need two things to make it a successful team, you need to have fun and every runner has to give 100 percent; all the girls on this team definitely did this.” 

The team members to be inducted are: Rose (Kane) Cooley, Rochelle (Graffius) Frebel, Michelle (Barron) Gaul, Kathy (Barron) Evans, Stephanie (Klonis) Sarge, Rebecca Lucey, Sue (Enoch) Yatron, Gloria (Garber) Anyan, Selena (Hand) Ehert, Audrey Faber, Rhonda (Johnson) Berry, Steph Butcher and Denise DeRenzo.

The Exeter Township School District has inducted athletes into its Athletic Hall of Fame since 1990, honoring athletes and teams who achieve significant and memorable athletic accomplishments during their time at Exeter Township Senior High school, collegiately, and/or professionally. During the 2022-23 school year, the district inducted the 1971-72 Men’s Basketball team, as well as Michal Menet, a 2016 graduate; Michael Troutman, a 2002 graduate; and Kyle Yocum, a 2013 graduate. 

Engineering Students Present Capstone Projects to Local Professors

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From left to right: Tai Morgan, Luke Zawilla, Alex Nerney, Connor Stoltzfus, Noah Gates, Trent Jordan, Benjamin Seeberger, Richter Bogust, Sophia Jones and Mr. Zachary Potter. 

Electricity–and a bit of nerves–filled the lobby of the Senior High last night as nine juniors and seniors in Mr. Zachary Potter’s Engineering Design course showcased and presented a semester’s worth of work to a panel of Exeter teachers and local professors from area colleges. Using items such as semiconductors and small, single-board computers, students spent this last semester engineering prototypes (or proof of concept) to solve a real-world societal, health or mental health problem. Their semester’s worth of research, data and built prototypes were then presented last night to the panel of educators, all of whom offered feedback and improvements–as well as praise–for each capstone project. 

In small groups or pairs, students identified real-world problems at the beginning of the semester to solve through their research, design, ingenuity and creativity. To help prevent distracted driving, Trent Jordan, Benjamin Seeberger and Noah Gates engineered a tracker that could be installed into any car to record where a driver’s eyes are in the car. To help identify and prevent panic disorders, Luke Zawilla and Tai Morgan engineered a device to detect the onset of an attack through body temperature and perspiration levels. If the device detects a certain threshold for the onset of an attack, it then offers breathing and mindful exercises to help people calm themselves. To help prevent running injuries such as shin splints, Sophia Jones and Richter Bogust, who both compete on the track and field and cross country teams, engineered a biomechanical shoe insert that would help a person better understand their gait while running–such as if their foot was hitting the ground too far forward or backward or with too much force. To help people sleep better, Alex Nerney and Connor Stoltzfus engineered a sensor that detects and records light levels and temperatures. 

Mr. Zachary Potter, who teaches the students in Engineering Design, believes that the course is a unique offering at the Senior High. “This is an experience that I believe is second-to-none at Exeter,” he said, expressing pride in his students’ capstone projects and presentations. “This course gives students the opportunity to experience the entire process of identifying a problem, and working through the design process to create a potential solution, and then an opportunity to present their work to the judges.” Further, he says that the semester-long capstone project, as well as other STEM courses at the Senior High truly allow students to prepare for the pursuit of an engineering or technical degree after graduation. “I have been doing this long enough now to have lots of alumni from our program come back and tell me how much this experience, and the others we provide as part of our STEM Pathway, have benefited them,” he said. “I have definitely had a lot of positive feedback from alumni in the last few years about the benefits of our program and how much the experiences we offer help our students at the next level. So many of our students are shocked to learn that the vast majority of their peers at the next level have not had the same experiences that we offer at Exeter.”