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“Violins of Hope” brings World War II-era instruments owned by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust to Exeter students

violins of hope performance photo

The Junior High was surrounded by the sound of string instruments as "Violins of Hope," a traveling project that's part museum, part concert and part history lesson presented a series of instruments, discussion and Holocaust history to students last Friday as part of a traveling exhibit. Students listened and had a chance to get up close with these antique instruments, all of which were originally owned or played by a Jewish musician during the Holocaust and many of which are adorned with hand-painted Stars of David to signify the instrument's and its owner's relationship to the era. According to the organization, which was founded by violin makers Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein, father and son, Violins of Hope is not only a memorial to a lost culture and people, it is also an educational act that reaches young students and adults wherever their concerts are performed. In recent years, some of the best world-celebrated orchestras held Violins of Hope concerts, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cleveland Symphony and many others.

Exeter was one of 16 schools in Berks lucky enough to be a part of the 2-week traveling project, which included concerts, exhibits, film viewing lectures and community events.

Exeter inducts four into Academic Hall of Fame and 50 into National Honor Society

academic hall of fame inductees photo

The Exeter Township School District's Alumni Association and Academic Hall of Fame Committee along with the Claude W. Dundore Chapter of the National Honor Society celebrated the academic achievements of both current and past students during a moving candlelight ceremony last weekend at the Senior High. During the ceremony, Mr. Harry Koppenberg (in the photo, right), an educator in the district for nearly 40 years; along with alumni Dr. Debra Powell '78 (left), Chief of Infectious Diseases, Medical Director for Infection Prevention, and Vice Chair of Medicine at Tower Health Reading Hospital; the Hon. Richard Adams '59 (second from left), an environmental lawyer and judge of the Connecticut Family Support Court; and his wife, Mrs. Merrill Adams '60 (third from left), a former English and drama professor at Wesleyan University and founder of the Coginchaug Valley Education Foundation in Connecticut, as well as a poet and award-winning pastelist, were all honored for their contributions to society and their impact and credit they've brought to the Exeter Township School District through their achievements, volunteerism and/or work. The Academic Hall of Fame began in 2005 as a project of the Exeter Community Education Foundation and typically sees four to six inductees who are selected each year. This year's class brings the number of honorees to 70, who are then presented with a plaque, as well as their names added to a display in the Senior High's main office.

During the second part of the ceremony, the current members of the National Honor Society presented and inducted 50 new members from the Class of 2022 and 2023 into its chapter through its candle-lighting ceremony that represents the Society's four pillars: character, leadership, scholarship and service. To be considered for membership, students must be sophomores or juniors with a weighted cumulative GPA of at least 92.000, involvement in at least one school activity or club and completion of at least five community service hours. Inductees are:

Dylann Backenstoss
McKenna Barker
Juniper Bauroth-Sherman
Melody Bauroth-Sherman
Victoria Benetz
Isabella Boston
Lena Brown
Sam Brown
Mark "Frankie" Corado
James Creamer
Sean Creamer
Hayley Dietrich
Ava Gates
Deacon Hearing
Rachel Henry
Morgan Herb
Amber Herber
Emily Holliday
Sophie Johnson
Zachary Kleinfelter
Emmet Larson
Nicholas Lountzis
Leilani Martinez
Aliye McDonough
Ryan Menet

Maya Metz
Evan Miller
Nathan Morgan
Abigael Mulhare
Johnathan Newnham
Brynn Patchell
Andrew Posey
Regina Ramirez-Sastre
Lauren Ramsey
Aashveen Randhawa
Katherine Ryan
Claire Scholl
Peyton Seamans
Blake Smith
Jeanna Sottosanti
Malayna Spiller
Kyle Stech
Joseph "JR" Strauss
Anthony Tartaglia, Jr.
Brittany Truong
Summer Turczynski
Julia Weaver
Alex Wittig
Cecelia Wright
Grady Zigner

Mini-THON raises more than $19,000 for pediatric cancer

mini thon photo

Last year, students, their parents and the community paid good money to have teachers wear wedding dresses to work, agree to get duct taped to a wall and see Principal Tom Campbell dress as the Exeter Eagle for a day all in the fun and philanthropic spirit of Mini-THON, the Senior High's after-school club that raises thousands of dollars to fight pediatric cancer through creative fundraising challenges, such as collecting loose change and dumping it on first-period teachers' desks to race to count before they can begin class. Earlier this month, the club received their official fundraising total from the Four Diamonds, which is the non-profit that oversees Penn State's famed THON and dozens of other high school's Mini-THONs, and learned that they had collectively raised an astounding $19,081.25 during a year that was anything but normal and saw many of the club's usual events shortened or canceled entirely.

In addition to the fundraising events that involved teachers, students also created and planned their own activities to raise money, such as creating ornaments, hosting bake sales, selling t-shirts and sweatshirts, and organizing athletic tournaments. In May, they hosted their Mini-THON outside in the stadium, which was shortened from their normal 12 hours to 6, but was just as much fun for the students as they played volleyball, four-square, pickleball, giant yard games, cornhole, dodgeball and more. "Last year was not a normal year by any stretch of the imagination, but we could not have been more proud of our students for continuing to work so hard to support this worthwhile cause," said Ms. Courtney Harper, who advises Mini-THON along with Mrs. Amber Bollinger, who added a heartfelt, "Thank you to all students, teachers, volunteers, and businesses that helped make this event such a great success!"

Jacksonwald families donate coats, hats and gloves to new clothing bank

jacksonwald students collect coats for donation drive
Today, Jacksonwald APT Co-Secretary Amber Elliott, along with
Bella Elliott, Emma Elliott and Hudson Lutz, delivered the first round of donated winter coats, jackets, hats and gloves that the APT collected to the Exeter clothing closet, which is a central resource at the Administration Building for school counselors to pull items for students in need. Amber said that the response to the coat drive has been incredible so far as she thanked all of the Jacksonwald parents and students who had donated. "It was a huge collection and we are so grateful," she said.
She also mentioned that parents throughout the district could donate any gently used winter coats, jackets, hats or gloves by dropping off their items outside of the entrance to Jacksonwald. The donation box will be set up now through next Tuesday for their final collection of items for students in need.

School messages delivered YOUR way: Get ready for ParentSquare

photo of parentsquare logo

As part of Exeter's efforts to enhance communication, in the coming days you'll be receiving more information about a new communications system and app called ParentSquare, which will unify ALL of the messages you receive from your children's teachers, administrators and the district in one safe and secure place with options for you to select how and when you're notified. Parents will be able to keep track of news, activities and events from all of their children’s schools, allowing for easier communication, organization, involvement and awareness of what's happening in your kids' classrooms, clubs and activities and across the district.

With ParentSquare, parents can enjoy photos posted by teachers, fill out forms and permission slips, sign up for parent-teacher conferences and much more. School staff and parents can engage in both one-to-one and group messaging with real-time language translation. We also think that parents will enjoy the built-in calendar that allows parents to set up reminders and download events directly to their phones so that they never miss an important date or event!

With our launch set for Monday, November 15th, please stay tuned as we invite you to join us in the app or online in a few more days!

Freshmen experience behind-the-scenes peek at area businesses

photo of students at newcastle watching arborist

On Thursday, the Class of 2025 spent the morning getting a behind-the-scenes peek and specialized tours of select Berks businesses as part of a program sponsored by the Berks Business Education Coalition. These tours offered students an opportunity to think about their post-secondary plans, ask questions and learn first-hand from employees what types of skills and training go into making their work successful. At New Castle Lawn and Landscape in Birdsboro, students received a tour throughout their facility to learn all of the different careers available to them in a full-service landscaping business, including office support, design, construction, lawn care and tree care--including a demo of how their arborist safely climbs trees to care for them, much to the students' delight! Our thanks to New Castle and the following businesses for hosting and inspiring our students:

  • Arkema
  • Brenntag Northeast
  • East Penn Manufacturing
  • Good Life Companies
  • Met-Ed
  • Viwinco Windows