Owatin Creek

Owatin Students Donate Nearly 800 Pounds of Candy

students stand in front of boxes filled with candy

Students from Mr. Bertolet's class posed around 27 boxes of candy that Owatin Creek students donated. Their combined efforts amounted to 780 pounds of candy to give to other kids in Berks County. 

Last week, students throughout Owatin Creek gave their hearts--and their leftover Halloween candy--to those in need through the school-wide "Got Candy?" campaign, collecting 780 pounds of Kit Kats, M&Ms, Snickers and other treats to donate to kids at Opportunity House, Safe Berks and the Olivet Boys & Girls Club of Reading & Berks County. Organized by Physical Education teacher, Mrs. Diana Bogust, this annual campaign is one of her favorites as she says that parents are usually the ones who donate their time or money, but this campaign allows students to donate something that they own. Of this year's collection, which saw students collect nearly 150 pounds more than last year, she said, "I'm super proud of our students and amazed by their generosity and kindness."

Once all of the donations had been weighed, the classrooms who donated the most were:

  • Mr. Bertolet’s 3rd grade class: 60.2 pounds
  • Mrs. Okonski's kindergarten class: 48.8 pounds
  • Ms. Ibenez's 2nd grade class: 48.2 pounds

Congratulations to all of our sweet students who took part in this year's campaign!

Last week, students throughout Owatin Creek gave their hearts--and their leftover Halloween candy--to those in need through the school-wide "Got Candy?" campaign, collecting 780 pounds of Kit Kats, M&Ms, Snickers and other treats to donate to kids at Opportunity House, the Olivet Boys & Girls Club of Reading & Berks County, and Safe Berks. Organized by Physical Education teacher, Mrs. Diana Bogust, this annual campaign is one of her favorites as she says that parents are usually the ones who donate their time or money, but this campaign allows students to donate something that they own. Of this year's collection, which saw students collect nearly 150 pounds more than last year, she said, "I'm super proud of our students and amazed by their generosity and kindness."

Once all of the donations had been weighed, the classrooms who donated the most were:

  • Mr. Bertolet’s 3rd grade class: 60.2 pounds
  • Mrs. Okonski's kindergarten class: 48.8 pounds
  • Ms. Ibenez's 2nd grade class: 48.2 pounds

Congratulations to all of our sweet students who took part in this year's candy campaign!

Budget Workshops Announced

As the Exeter Township School District begins to shape the budget for the 2023-24 school year, the District will hold a series of workshops to discuss budget topics with the community. Parents, taxpayers and all members of the Exeter community are invited to join us for these meetings. The schedule for the next two upcoming workshops and topics are below. The District will also post a synopsis of each budget workshop on our website shortly after each meeting.

The next two meetings are scheduled for:

October 26th at 6PM
Location: Junior High
Topic: Overview and Purpose of Workshop Meetings/Index Review

November 30th at 6PM
Location: Senior High
Topic: Revenue

Exeter’s New Supervisor of Transportation Earns National Recognition

school bus driver holds magazine

It's National School Bus Safety week, and we're so very proud to announce that Exeter's Kaisha McCulley was recently selected as one of ten "Rising Stars" by School Transportation News, a nationwide trade magazine for school bus drivers and professionals. Ms. McCulley, who was named Exeter's Supervisor of Transportation during last night's board meeting, has been a bus driver for the district for 8 years. Last year, she became the district's permanent route substitute, which meant she had memorized every route in the district without using a GPS, and could substitute for any bus driver–a monumental task, said Ms. McCulley’s supervisor, Benjamin Bernhart, Director of Transportation. Last year, she also earned accreditation as a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation CDL school bus instructor trainer, allowing her to manage the district's training program for new and existing bus drivers.

“We’re so proud that Kaisha earned this distinction,” said Mr. Bernhart. “She is an incredibly dedicated bus driver and bus professional who is committed to safety and always learning more to enable Exeter to have the best school bus drivers. We are so very lucky to have her, and congratulate her for receiving this national recognition.”

Homecoming Parade & Bonfire Brings Fairytales to Life

Featuring dozens of fairytale-themed floats with students dressed as princesses, dragons, witches and more, Exeter's 2022 Homecoming Parade and Bonfire delighted hundreds of community members who came out to enjoy the display of police vehicles, firetrucks and floats. Following the conclusion of the parade, the fire department lit a huge bonfire as a DJ and Exeter's band played and people enjoyed snacks from local food trucks. Many thanks to all of the students and parents who spent hours bringing their favorite fairytales to life, and Exeter police and firefighters for taking part in the parade and bonfire! It was a happily ever after for all!

OC Names Authors of the Month – A New Writing Initiative

OC September authors of the month
Owatin Creek was pleased to announce that fourth grader Nolan Fayewicz and kindergartener Willow Jones were named their inaugural "Authors of the Month" for penning their own original books. Out of more than 100 entries, Nolan was selected for his three-part series on vacations, while Willow was selected for her book about zebras.
Alisse Auchenbach, a reading specialist at OC, said that the team dreamed up the idea of having kids create their own books so that students could see the power of their thoughts on the page. "We also wanted them to be proud of making and achieving goals as writers," she said. The reading team was overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response from OC students, and wound up selecting two students instead of one as Author of the Month. A selection of reading specialists and teachers judged the entries, choosing Willow's book because she focused on one specific topic and used proper capitalization and periods. Nolan's was selected for his use of punctuation and descriptive words and because he organized his writing well with transitions.
Both students received a golden quill as a prize, as well as poster recognition on the "Hall of Writers" at OC. Honorable mentions included:
  • Kindergarten - Averi Reeser
  • First Grade - Grace Clark
  • Second Grade - Abel Myer
  • Third Grade - Christopher Woram
  • Fourth Grade - Avery Manndel
Congratulations to all students!

OC Student Surprised by His Dad’s Homecoming

With patriotic tunes playing from a speaker filling Owatin Creek's outdoor amphitheater, first grader Caleb Landeck was selected from his classmates and asked to stand facing the crowd and hold a "very special" flag. Standing silently at attention, Caleb waited for his next instructions as a man dressed in Army fatigues silently walked up behind him and knelt down. Caleb then felt a tap at his shoulder. Turning around slowly to his confusion and then delight, Caleb found his dad, whom he hadn't seen for almost a year. Throwing his arms his neck, Caleb hugged his dad as he lifted him up into the air to cheers from students, teachers and administrators who had come out for this very special homecoming.

Sergeant First Class Michael Landeck was finally home.

The Exeter dad is a 23-year veteran of the United States Army National Guard, has completed five tours in Bosnia, Iraq (twice) and Kuwait (twice), and received a Meritorious Service Medal during his most recent deployment to Kuwait. He's been gone and away from his family--Samantha, his wife; and his two sons Caleb (6) and Emmett (2)--since he was deployed last November. Humbled by Mike's service and his family's sacrifice, a friend of the Landecks, Lee Pace, wanted to celebrate Mike's homecoming in a "big way," by asking the school district if they'd allow Exeter first responders to escort Mike to Owatin Creek and surprise Caleb at school. Under the guise of a "pink out patriotic" assembly, Pace worked with local first responders, administrators and Principal Charlie Payne to make the surprise happen. 

Happy to have her husband and the father of her sons finally home safely, Samantha said that Mike is looking forward to retirement from a career in the military, catching up with his family and young sons, and perhaps starting a career in woodworking. "I'm so very proud of him for the sacrifices he has made to serve his country and thrilled to have him home safely with our family," she said, adding as her family was surrounded by reporters, "Today was just unforgettable."