Owatin Creek

It’s An Exeter Karaoke Throw-Down!

photo of Alex Brown and Saishree Mupparaju
It’s an Exeter Karaoke throw-down! Exeter Township Junior High Principal Alex Brown and Exeter Township Senior High student Saishree Mupparaju are among local “celebrities” looking for your vote to see who will perform their chosen Karaoke song live in the 1st Annual Raise Your VOiCE Celebrity Karaoke Contest. To vote for Brown or Mupparaju (as part of a trio called the “Girl Gang”) to perform, you can donate an amount of your choosing at https://secure.givelively.org/donate/berks-county-community-foundation-inc/1st-annual-raise-your-voice-celebrity-karaoke. The top three contestants who raise the most amount of money will perform live on Friday, April 29th at the GoggleWorks (or you can view the performances live via Zoom).
Mupparaju and Brown are competing against five other local Berks County “celebrities,” including Dr. Kevin Terefenko, Dr. Denny Mauro, Stephanie Delozier, Rick Perez and Rob Flowers. All proceeds from vote donations benefit VOiCEup Berks and the Youth Volunteer Corps of Reading.

ETSD Names New Member During Special Voting Meeting

The Exeter Township Board of School Directors unanimously selected Robert Quinter to fill the vacated seat left by Michael Jupina’s resignation during a special voting meeting held at the Exeter Township Administration Building on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. During the meeting, the Board interviewed three candidates–Brad Fox, John Scaccia and Mr. Quinter–who applied for the unpaid seat and selected one through a vote according to Board Policy #004. Mr. Quinter will serve the rest of Mr. Jupina’s term, which expires in December 2023. 

Mr. Quinter is a 1964 graduate of Exeter, a decorated and retired Marine, and has worked in medical operations and as a Realtor as a civilian. He previously served on the ETSD Board of School Directors from 2001-2017.

To view a video of the interviews and selection process, please click HERE.

Students Earn Reading Musical Foundation Scholarships

exeter reading musical foundation scholarship winners
March is Music in our Schools month; to celebrate, we hope you'll help us congratulate the following students for receiving scholarships through the Reading Music Foundation. They are (from top left, clockwise):

  • Xadiel Benejan-Rodriguez, 12th grade, alto saxophone
  • Jillian Crotty, 7th grade, French horn
  • Grace Campling, 7th grade, double bass
  • Scarlet Jordan, 2nd grade, violin
  • Michael Jordan, 6th grade, double bass
  • Colette Jordan 5th grade, cello
  • Lily Jordan, 6th grade, double bass
Congratulations to these outstanding musicians!

School Community Survey & Superintendent Application Now Open

exeter township school district fancy header with logo

The Exeter Township Board of School Directors is seeking a dynamic individual with integrity, visionary leadership, superior communication skills and outstanding administrative ability to lead a district of over 3,900 students and is seeking your opinion on the qualities you'd like to see in the next Superintendent of the Exeter Township School District. The desired candidate must possess experience in achieving high academic performance, creating academic equity, and sound school finance and business management; excellent verbal and written communication and leadership skills; a proven track record of staff accountability; experience with development and implementation of curriculum; knowledge of educational and technological best practices; and success in community engagement and involvement. Minimum of 10 years in education; building administrative or central office experience required. Superintendent experience preferred.

Your opinion matters and is an important part of the Board's selection process! Members of the community are invited and encouraged to participate in a survey to share their thoughts about qualities that are important to them in the next superintendent. Please click on the button below to complete an anonymous school community survey by April 11, 2022. We hope to hear from you!

To take the survey or apply for the Superintendent position, please visit https://exetersd.org/search.

ETSD Board of School Directors Looks to Fill Open Seat

exeter township school district fancy header with logo
The Exeter Township School Board has a vacancy for a school board director. The term of this vacancy runs through the December 2023 Reorganization Meeting of the School Board. Interviews for this position will be held on Tuesday, March 29th starting at 6PM in the Lausch Administration Building. The selected candidate will be appointed by the board by a majority vote as outlined in Policy #004.
Interested candidates should send a letter of interest and resume to Board President, Dr. Ann Hearing, at amhearing@nullexetersd.org by Friday, March 25th.

Exeter Celebrates National School Social Work Week

photo of exeter's social worker

When we found out that the theme for this year's National School Social Work Week was "Time to Shine," we immediately thought there was no more perfect time to put a spotlight on our district's own social worker and ray of sunshine, Mrs. Ashley Rinehart. Ashley dedicates her professional life to helping our most vulnerable students and their families by providing a link to school and community resources during times of crises. When you first meet Ashley, you immediately sense her inner calmness, gentleness and peace--a trait that immediately puts so many of the students and their families at ease who are going through periods of instability, such as homelessness. Even though schools have been employing social workers for decades, many people don't know that the services that Ashley provides are here--until they may need her. We hope you'll take a moment to get to know more about her, her work, and what makes her shine:

Q: For someone who doesn't know, what does your job encompass? What does a typical day look like for you?

A: A typical day can be organized chaos most of the time and it varies day to day based on the needs of the district. Often it's filling out homeless status intakes, taking out resources to students/families, referring students to various community programs, and working on distributing mental health surveys.

Q: How long have you been a social worker? How long have you worked at Exeter?

A: I have been a social worker since January of 2015, so seven total years. This is my third year at Exeter. Prior to Exeter I worked in schools, in mental health, at children & youth services, and in case management.

Q: Did you do anything prior to becoming a social worker? If so, what? Why did you change your career?
A: I had part time jobs in college as a tour guide. As soon as I graduated from college I started my social work career. I have always known though that I wanted to be a school social worker.

Q: What's your favorite part of your job?

A: My favorite part of my job is getting to know the students and families in our community. I love helping people and this job allows me to do that.

Q: What's the most challenging part of your job?

A: The most challenging part of my job is finding the appropriate resources for families and students when COVID has caused a lot of agencies to downsize or close. There are so many great services in our community but they have struggled through the pandemic as well. It can be really difficult to address specific needs when there aren't as many resources as there usually are.

Q: If you were talking to someone who knew nothing about your work, how would you complete this sentence? “People are surprised to learn that I….”

A: They may be surprised to learn that there are a lot of stressful and very hard days that come with school social work. However there are good days too, like when you have helped someone and those days make all the difficult days worth it.

Q: The theme for this year’s National School Social Workers Week is "Time to Shine.” What does that mean to you?
A: Time to Shine to me means making the best out of something and shining through the hard times. This year has been tough for everyone and if it has taught me anything it's how resilient people are and how resilient our students are. They are truly growing and learning from the pandemic and trying to shine themselves.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to share?
A: I appreciate the staff in Exeter so much. I am so grateful to work with such amazing people.