News

Science Olympiad to Compete in State Tournament

science olympiad team poses together

Congratulations to our Senior High's Science Olympiad team who qualified for states during the regional tournament yesterday at Kutztown University! During the competition, students, who are advised by Mrs. Amber Bollinger and Mr. William Lasky, test their knowledge in many different areas of science, including earth science, biology, chemistry, physics or engineering by competing in events against other schools, such as building structures, creating design logs and data tables, and completing lab practicals or exams. During yesterday's competition, Gillian Foster and Zak Kauffman placed first in Forestry; Katie Hoover, Hansika Kunduru, and Alex Nerney placed second in Experimental Design; Chase Cupitt and Anthony Tartaglia placed third in Astronomy; Gillian Foster and Audrey Gielrich placed third in Rocks and Minerals; and Ella Lynch and Aubrey Ridge placed first in Cyber Security. Congratulations to all of our members who participate in this extracurricular after-school club, and best wishes to all of them at the state tournament, which will be held in State College in April!

Seniors Earn National African American Recognition Award from the College Board

seniors earn college board award

Seniors Justin Lee and Malayna Spiller received the National African American Recognition Award from the College Board due to their outstanding academic achievements in school and performance on College Board assessments. More than 180,000 students from all 50 states were eligible to apply for the College Board National Recognition Programs, which grant students with academic honors that can be included on college and scholarship applications. These National Recognition Programs grant underrepresented students with academic honors that can be included on college and scholarship applications and connect students with universities across the country, helping them meaningfully connect to colleges and stand out during the admissions process. 

Justin is the son of Rafaela Lopez and Freddy Lee and plans to attend Penn State University to major in electrical engineering. He is a member of the Technology Student Association, Spanish Club and played football and tennis during high school. Malayna is the daughter of Mylissa and Marcus Spiller and also plans to attend Penn State University to major in finance. She is a member of the National Honor Society and the Spanish Club, a Mini-THON leader and participated in dance throughout high school.

Students were eligible to apply for this national recognition if they had a GPA of 3.5 or higher, excelled on the PSAT/NMSQT or PSAT 10 or earned a score of three or higher on two or more AP Exams; and are African American or black, Hispanic American or Latino, indigenous and/or attend school in a rural area or small town. Congratulations to both Justin and Malayna for earning this national award!

Josie Whitney Sets Goal to Collect 12,000 Cans of PlayDoh

mrs whitney holds cans of playdoh

In 2014, third grade teacher Mrs. Josie Whitney had a modest goal to collect 2,000 cans of PlayDoh in March to help honor the late brother of a Lorane student she taught the year before. His name was Jason Heckman, and through his battle with brain cancer, she discovered that the four year old loved to play with PlayDoh during the time he was being treated at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 

Although Jason never had a chance to be a student at Lorane like his sister and brothers, he’s left an indelible impression on the school and community as he’s remembered each year and honored through Mrs. Whitney’s annual PlayDoh drive, which she holds every March. Last year, her collection netted a record-high 12,338 cans of the colorful doh, which she personally delivers to CHOP to help other children who can only use one can one time since it can’t be sanitized between uses. 

This year, with the community's help, Mrs. Whitney hopes to collect another 12,000 cans of PlayDoh to help honor Jason. If you’d like to help her reach her goal and donate to her drive, you may drop off PlayDoh donations at Lorane anytime during school hours, or you may send donations directly to the school, which is located at 699 Rittenhouse Drive, Reading, PA 19606. To learn more about Mrs. Whitney’s annual collection, please see our story from last year, or WFMZ’s story here: https://bit.ly/403LoSF. 

27 Technology Student Association (TSA) Students Move onto State Competition

The senior high's Technology Student Association (TSA) has been at work since September to compete in this year’s regional competition, where they placed in the top five in 25 different events–including eight 1st place, five 2nd place and six 3rd place finishers. Even more impressively, 27 students were selected to present their work in the state competition next month--an Exeter record! TSA is a voluntary after-school STEM club where students work to create technology-based projects for specific events ranging from everything from biotechnology to fashion, board game design to debating, and robotics to writing extemporaneous essays. The club is overseen by Mr. Zachary Potter and Mr. Terry Lorah and meets weekly. We’re pleased to present a selection of students and their winning work and wish them all of the best in mid April when they travel to western PA to present their projects for the state-level competition!

Senior High to Present “Matilda the Musical”

the cast of matilda

Left to right: Allison Applegate, Daniel Pack, Summer Turczynski, Regina Ramirez-Sastre and Ryan Claudfelter

Inspired by the twisted genius of Roald Dahl, Exeter Township Senior High School will present, "Matilda the Musical," the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, dares to take a stand and change her own destiny. The musical will be performed at 7pm on March 30, March 31 and April 1 with a 2pm matinee on April 2 in the auditorium at the high school, located at 201 East 37th Street in Reiffton. 

The musical stars senior Summer Turczynski as Matilda, a girl with astonishing wit, intelligence and psychokinetic powers who becomes her school's saving grace. Junior Daniel Pack and sophomore Allison Applegate star as Matilda's cruel parents; senior Regina Ramirez-Sastre plays Matilda's teacher, the lovable Miss Honey; and sophomore Ryan Claudfelter plays Miss Agatha Trunchbull, the school's mean headmistress who hates children and loves punishing schoolchildren. 

Tickets for the performances are $12 and can be pre-purchased online at https://seatyourself.biz/exeterhsmusical.

There will also be a free senior citizens' performance on Wednesday, March 29 at 6:30pm. To obtain tickets for the senior citizens' performance, please contact Caroline McRobbie at clmcrobbie@nullexetersd.org.

The musical is produced by Caroline McRobbie, with direction from Scott Didyoung. Kaleigh Stewart assists with both the production and direction. Jill Haley and Elizabeth Combs are musical directors with Lorraine Selke directing the orchestra. Jon Rugg designed the set and Kristine Schmidt choreographed the actors' performances.

Junior Gaige Gabriel Selected for National Volleyball Team

gaige gabriel stands with volleyball

Junior Gaige Gabriel was selected as one of 18 players nationally to make the roster for USA Volleyball for the 2023 NORCECA Continental USA U19 National Team. He'll head to California this weekend to train at USA Volleyball's Anaheim National Team Training Center, where, at the end of next week, he'll find out if he's been selected to make the traveling 12-man roster to represent the United States. If selected, he'll compete with players from around the world as the US team travels to Guatemala City to compete on March 11-19 in the 2023 NORCECA Boys U19 Continental Championship. The NORCECA is a required event prior to the World Championships being held in Argentina in August.

Gabriel, who announced his commitment to play volleyball at Penn State in December, plays for Exeter as well as the Yorktowne Volleyball Club, and was selected for the 2021 and 2022 BCIAA boys' volleyball all-star team as well as the 2022 District III All States. Standing at an impressive 6'8," Gabriel's been playing the sport since seventh grade when he was recruited to play thanks to his height. In a short amount of time, however, he's proven he's more than just a tall kid, rising from a locally-known to national player with more than ten Division I offers to play volleyball after he graduates from Exeter in 2024. Humble about his success, Gaige said he was honored to have been selected: "I was so excited when I found out. Nothing could kill my mood for the next week."

Gabriel is the second player in Exeter history have been chosen for this national honor with the last player, Pieter Olree, being selected in the late 90s. Orlee went on to play volleyball professionally after his graduation from Ohio State.