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15 Exeter Students Qualify for District & Regional Music Festivals

students with musical instruments stand in the corner of a room

Orchestra (from left to right): Jillian Crotty, Amy Ipsen, Lily Jordan, Michael Jordan, Harrison Brumbaugh, Grace Campling, Esteban Ruiz-Velasquez and Dang Nguyen.

students holding instruments stand in front of a PMEA banner on a stage

Band (from left to right): Riley Mazur, Jordan Wolfe and Jillian Crotty

students stand in front of a PMEA banner in a school hallway

Chorus (from left to right): Leoni Choy, Jillian Crotty, Adam Crotty, Alison Applegate, Anthony Greene and Ryan Claudfelter

Congratulations to 15 Exeter music students who auditioned and were selected to represent Exeter at district and regional music festivals hosted by the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA).

The PMEA District 10 Festival, which selects students from Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, Pike and Schuylkill counties, took place in January and February. Exeter students who were selected to perform were:

Orchestra:

  • Esteban Ruiz-Velasquez
  • Amy Ipsen
  • Harrison Brumbaugh
  • Grace Campling
  • Michael Jordan
  • Lily Jordan
  • Dang Nguyen
  • Jillian Crotty

Band:

  • Jillian Crotty
  • Riley Mazur
  • Jordan Wolfe

Chorus:

  • Alison Applegate
  • Jillian Crotty
  • Leoni Choy
  • Ryan Claudfelter
  • Adam Crotty
  • Anthony Greene

Students who participated in Districts re-auditioned for PMEA Regionals, which includes eight additional counties. Orchestra recently played over the weekend, with Band and Chorus scheduled for performances in March. Students who were selected for this honor include:

Orchestra:

  • Esteban Ruiz-Velasquez
  • Amy Ipsen
  • Harrison Brumbaugh
  • Grace Campling
  • Jillian Crotty

Band:

  • Jillian Crotty
  • Riley Mazur

Chorus:

  • Jillian Crotty
  • Adam Crotty

Our warmest congratulations to these talented musicians for this incredible accomplishment!

TSA Earns Six 1st Place Ribbons in Regional Competition

a group of students stands in a classroom holding ribbons from a competition

More than 30 Exeter Township Senior High Technology Student Association (TSA) students attended the Pennsylvania TSA "Tune into Technology" regional competition in Stroudsburg in late January to compete against students from 17 other area schools in individual or team-based categories, including video game design, photographic technology and transportation modeling. This year, students competed in over 25 different individual and team events, with Exeter earning six 1st place ribbons and 18 students qualifying with their technology-based projects to move on to the state competition in April.

Teams and individuals from Exeter who earned ribbons were:

1st Place Winners:

  • Board Game Design Team
  • CAD Engineering, Richter Bogust
  • Flight Endurance, Luke Zawilla
  • Manufacturing Prototype Team
  • Tech. Problem Solving Team
  • STEM Mass Media Team

2nd Place Winners:

  • Music Production Team
  • PA Robotics Team

3rd Place Winners:

  • PA Materials Processing, Dylan Holland
  • PA RC Off Road Team

Congratulations to the whole TSA team, who are:

  • Richter Bogust
  • Zander Bogust
  • Alex Boyer
  • Cooper Devlin
  • Ava Diaz
  • Sterling Elbourne
  • Jonah Gates
  • Dariel Gorre-Ndaiye
  • Julian Greb
  • Dylan Holland
  • Emma Howerter
  • Sirius Hunter
  • Alison Istenes
  • Morgan Kauffman
  • Haley Leal
  • Ella Mackey
  • Cody Manning
  • Tai Morgan
  • Katelyn Nichols
  • Ethan Papich
  • Sarah Patterson
  • Kaitlin Rears
  • Aubrey Ridge
  • Andrew Schwenk
  • Leighton Sharpe
  • Abi Starnes
  • Kal'el Tyler
  • Jocelyn Wert
  • Luke Zawilla

Reiffton and JHS Students Compete in Annual Spelling Bee

spelling bee students line up to compete in school auditorium

Reiffton Spelling Bee contestants from left to right: Mohammad Zahid, Edlyn Sherpa, Aaron Kravetz, Wednesday Merwin, Nolan Fayewicz, Tenley Oldham and Veer Patel (winner). 

spelling bee students line up to compete in school auditorium

JHS Spelling Bee contestants from left to right: Hakim Tounsi, Kevin Speakman (winner), Abigail Kilareski, Rinith Musuku, Timothy Miller, Madeline Bender, Colette Jordan and Chloe Liu. 

Reiffton and Junior High students MUSCLED through an intense competition as they SQUEEZED the spellings of some NEWFANGLED words from their brains several days ago as they competed in this year’s annual Spelling Bee. To become a CHAMPION, contestants had to not LOLLYGAG, be FLABBERGASTED or make a MISTAKE as they SOLDIERED through 30 rounds of words at Reiffton, and 15 at the Junior High. In the end, Veer Patel (5th grade) and Kevin Speakman (8th grade) FENDED off their COHORTS to win the spelling POWWOW to thunderous APPLAUSE from the audience. Their IMPECCABLE spelling and EFFECTUAL performance will allow them both to TREK to the 5th Annual Diamond City Regional Spelling Bee in Wilkes-Barre on March 16th.

Other students competing in this year’s JHS Bee were: Madeline Bender, Colette Jordan, Abigail Kilareski, Chloe Liu, Timothy Miller, Rinith Musuku and Hakim Tounsi. At Reiffton, they were: Mohammad Zahid, Nolan Fayewicz, Edlyn Sherpa, Aaron Kravetz, Tenley Oldham and Wednesday Merwin. Congratulations to all of our SENSATIONAL EAGLES!

Exeter Inducts 3 into its Athletic Hall of Fame

three people hold plaques and stand against a school backdrop

From left to right: John D’Augustine, Jessica Lesagonicz and Terry Pearson (representing David Becker)

The Exeter Township School District inducted John D’Augustine, Jessica Lesagonicz and David Becker into its Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, February 1, 2025. The inductees were honored during a ceremony at halftime of the Exeter Boys Basketball game against Manheim Township at Exeter Township Senior High school. 

John D’Augustine had a standout career on the football field and on the track as a three-year letter winner in each sport. The 1972 graduate helped lead the 1970 football team to a 9-0 record and Inter-County League title. D’Augustine averaged 10 yards a carry and scored 13 touchdowns. He set school records with 831 yards rushing and nine interceptions as a defensive back. His season highlight was a 217-yard rushing, four-touchdown, three-interception game in a 32-18 win over Daniel Boone. D’Augustine was named 1st team All-Inter-County team as an offensive back and defensive back and was All-Berks 1st team offensive back and 2nd team defensive back. As a senior, he earned All-I-C 2nd team honors as a running back and 1st team honors as a defensive back. D’Augustine’s teams went 22-4, finishing second in the I-C his sophomore and senior seasons.

Jessica Lesagonicz, a 2001 graduate, helped bring the Eagles to the forefront of girls bowling in Berks County. A four-year letter winner, she completed her high school career on a high note, capturing the Berks girls tournament title her junior and senior seasons. She claimed All-Berks and All-State honors while leading the Eagles to Berks and state team titles in 2000, and Berks and state runners-up finishes in 2001. She finished first in all events at states both seasons. The Eagles were Berks and state runners-up her freshman season and Berks champs her sophomore year. Her scholastic prominence catapulted her to a successful college, amateur and pro career. She led her Lindenwood University team to an ITC National title in 2006 as a senior, earning a spot on the all-tourney team and All-American honorable mention. Lesagonicz bowled in three U.S. Women’s Opens. She competed at 15 events in two years on the PWBA Tour–11in her first season in 2016, finishing 64th in points.

David Becker was an outstanding athlete and all-around student in the early days of Exeter Township Senior High School. Becker, a member of the school’s graduating class in 1959, lettered in baseball and basketball each for three seasons during a scholastic sports era in Berks County which did not yet recognize all-league or all-county teams in many sports. Becker helped make school history when he became the quarterback on the school’s first football team, which joined the Inter-County League in 1958, his senior year. The Eagles went 2-7 that season. An engineering major at Lafayette College, he was a two-year letterman as a pitcher on the Leopards’ baseball team. Becker went on to become a college football official in the prestigious Pacific-10 Conference (PAC-10) for 26 years on the field and three in the booth on instant replay. During that time, he was honored to have officiated a remarkable 22 bowl games. He was inducted posthumously and was represented by his high school friend and nominator, Terry Pearson. 

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 2023-24 school year, the district inducted 13 members of the 1981 Girls’ Cross Country team along with their coach, Donald Bickel.

Eagles Nest Cafe Wakes Up SHS Lobby

students stand behind a counter with a menu above them
student puts creamer into a coffee cup with teacher's help
student hands a coffee to a staff member
student uses a pos system while a teacher overlooks his work
student hands a bag of cookies to a staff member

Business was booming this morning at the soft opening of the Eagles Nest Cafe, a newly-envisioned space at the Senior High that brought tables, chairs and a coffee bar to wake up a lifeless lobby outside of the gym and cafeteria. Proudly wearing their Eagles Nest Cafe aprons, students in Mrs. Missy Losito’s Crossroads program operated a credit card POS system, prepared specialty coffees and handed out baked treats they had made earlier in the week to staff members, who were stuffing their tip jar with cash and filling their hearts with smiles as they saw the long-awaited cafe stir to life. 

Funded through the Exeter Community Education Foundation (ECEF), the cafe allows Crossroads students, who are transitional students ages 18-21, additional opportunities to learn the world of work while still being supported and guided by teachers and job coaches. The idea to serve coffee began when Mrs. Losito moved to the SHS from the JHS and started rolling around a coffee cart outfitted with carafes, cups, creamers, sweeteners and homemade treats every other Friday on paydays as she and her students went door-to-door to serve teachers in their rooms. Soon, the coffee cart expanded from one, to two, and eventually three, as it grew in popularity among the staff. Looking to provide even further opportunities for her students to learn how to operate POS systems, take and fulfill more complex orders, stock inventory and experience what it’s like to work in a “real life” cafe, Mrs. Losito partnered with ECEF to bring the Eagles Nest Cafe to life this past year as the Foundation bought chairs, tables, equipment, a credit card POS system and all of the supplies needed to transform the previously-empty lobby into an inviting and warm space for staff and students to relax, study and enjoy conversation over a cup of coffee. Seeing it brought to life today, she said “it made her heart happy” to see her students at work as they were high-fived by staff and their peers who congratulated them on their opening day. 

While the cafe will continue to only operate on a limited basis for staff for the near future, if there’s interest and the manpower to support it, Mrs. Losito would love to see the cafe expand its operations to support more frequent service, as well as potentially offering approved food and drink items to students.

ECEF Executive Director, Ang Cooke, attended the soft opening today with a lump in her throat and a whole lot of pride in her heart. “This one is extra special,” she said as she thought of the Foundation’s work to expand their Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program with local businesses, which provided the funds for the cafe. “Working alongside the district and Corbett, Inc. (who furnished the space) to create a new chapter for the Eagle's Nest Cafe and bring real-life work experience to the students in the Crossroads program has been so amazing and a testament to the opportunities the EITC program can bring to Exeter,” she said. “This,” she said as she pointed to the entire lobby, “is only possible thanks to our generous EITC donors who continue to believe in providing opportunities to our Exeter students.”

Internship Spotlight: Ariel Soto at Negron Law

an internship spotlight flyer featuring a high school girl

Ariel Soto is a senior who just completed her fall internship at Negron Law, LLC, a general practice law firm located in Reading. While there, Ariel handled general clerical work while getting a chance to observe first-hand what daily work is like for the firm's owner, Shay Negron. Ms. Negron said that she was pleased to be a part of Exeter's internship program this year, and said it was "refreshing reminder" about how businesses can play a part in helping educate students. "Having an intern at Negron Law benefits the community, clients and students. The additional assistance, informative questions and curious insights interns bring is an enormous benefit," she said.

Q: Ariel, can you tell us a bit about what your plans are for after graduation? Have you selected a college and a major?
A: I decided I want to be a lawyer, so after graduation I will work to save for college. I am a part of early graduation in January to save money for college. I really want to go to West Chester because of their psychology program. I also want to go to the University of Pittsburgh to study psychology as well. Later on I will go to law school.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your internship? What does a typical day look like for you?
A: I help Attorney Shay with paperwork almost everyday like photocopies, paper copies, and organizing electronic files. Even if I am not doing something at the firm I am always learning from Attorney Shay.
Q: How did you select your internship? Did someone help you select it? Did you seek out the opportunity on your own? Were you asked to do the internship? 
A: My civics teacher, Mr. Witkowski helped me find my internship. He also helped me find my passion for law again. I always wanted to be a lawyer but I lost it my sophomore year into my junior year.
Q: Do you think your internship is helping you feel more confident about your decision to go to college and pursue your major?
A: This internship is helping me build confidence in the law world. This is important because you have to have confidence in this field or you are going to get walked over. This is also teaching me what an in-depth day of being a lawyer is like.
Q: What do you like most about your internship? Is there anything you don't like? 
A: I really like making the physical client files she has at the firm. I like everything here that helps me better myself.