News

19 Exeter Swimmers Compete in this Weekend’s PIAA District III Championship

swimmers pose together before race
With 19 swimmers, the most in the history of the program, Exeter Township School District's swimming team will compete at the PIAA District III AAA Championships this Friday and Saturday at Cumberland Valley School District in Mechanicsburg. The team, which is led by coach Ms. Ashley Rosa, is "ready and excited to set some personal records, bring home some medals and have fun!"
Exeter's team is a blend of swimmers from Exeter, Antietam, Wyomissing and Oley Valley school districts who swim under the Exeter Township name. When remarking on the strength of the blended team, booster parent Kimberly Egloff-Boehm, parent of Aiden Boehm, said "It has been nothing short of amazing to see these athletes work together to make a successful team."
Please help us wish the following swimmers much luck as they compete this weekend:
Aiden Boehm (Ex), Evan Carl (OV), Mary Carl (OV), Amelia Fanning (Wyo), William Fanning (Wyo), June Grim (OV), Victoria Grim (OV), Kaiden Hughes (A), Gabrielle Istenes (Ex), Alison Keim (Ex), Jonah Matteo (Wyo), Alexis Nonnemacher (Ex), Lauren Ramsey (Ex), Vivian Rogers (Wyo), Jack Sahaida (Ex), James Stratton-Brown (Wyo), Olivia Tipton (Wyo), Megan Unruh (Ex), Payton Wagner (Wyo).
Competition will begin with girls' races at 5PM today and boys' races at 7:30PM. Tomorrow, the girls will start at 3PM and the boys will start at 5:30PM. You can watch the races live online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRQoaXpcNyo.

Students learn lessons from therapy dog

students pet therapy dog
students pet therapy dog
student hugs therapy dog

The newest "teacher" at Exeter Township Junior High is five years old, named after a fashion designer icon, walks on four legs and needs regular trips to the grooming salon. We're pleased to introduce you to Coco Chanel, an Italian truffle dog who, despite only being able to wag her tail and "woof," is teaching special needs students at the Junior High about how to better socialize with each other as they bond over their common love of animals. Having seen the power of therapy dogs in helping students at previous schools where he worked, Principal Alex Brown was excited to invite Coco and her handler, Mrs. Carol Goodhart, into the Junior High on a regular basis earlier this year soon after Coco received her therapy dog certification from the Alliance for Therapy Dogs. "From day one, she's been really great for our kids, but also our staff. Students and teachers see Coco in the hallways and they immediately light up."

Coco was adopted by retired educators Carol and her husband, James, soon after Coco retired from the show dog circuit. Seeing how well behaved and socialized she was from her previous experience as a show dog, Carol decided to have her officially trained as a therapy dog in the hopes that she could bring her into schools to help students with emotional or social needs. "As an elementary principal, I hired a guidance counselor who had a therapy dog and I just fell in love with the whole concept. At the time, I had all of the emotional support students in my building, so it was a godsend to our students to have his dog in our school," she said. Mr. Brown agreed. "For kids who may not necessarily be very social, we're seeing them really light up and become social when Coco enters the classroom."

Mrs. Alyssa Raab, who teaches Life Skills, said that her students look forward to Coco's weekly visit, which lasts approximately half an hour in her class and half an hour in Mrs. Robyn Shaffer's autistic support class. She said that Coco and Carol's visits have directly impacted her students by teaching them how to better emotionally regulate while also increasing their social skills. "Most of us have pets and love animals, so having Coco come in is a catalyst for us to have more conversations, and has been so great for our classroom," she said. In Mrs. Shaffer's classroom, students presented Carol and Coco with cards expressing their happiness with having them visit each week. On the outside of seventh grader Mya's card, she drew a blue face with a frown that she labeled, "Before Coco's visit." On the inside, she drew a happy and bright face with a smile that she labeled, "After Coco's visit," and then hugged Coco, who clearly relished in all of the attention and pets she was getting from students and staff.

Although Coco and Carol are only visiting two classrooms a week, Mr. Brown said that he hopes that he can expand Coco's visits to other classrooms that may benefit from her calming and happy presence in the near future. "I mean, who doesn't love seeing and petting a great puppy?" he asks.

18 Students Exhibit Artwork in County-Wide Exhibit

students stand with their artwork in a school hallway

Eighteen Exeter Township Senior High art students had their work juried into the Wyomissing Art Institute's Yocum Gallery during a county-wide exhibit that ran from the end of January through February. A special congratulations to McKenna Barker who won the Fred and Deb Gurman award, and Destiny Stoltz, Liz Curry, Morgan Herb and Katie Ryan who won honorable mentions during the county-wide exhibit, as well as the rest of our artists, including:

  • Dylan Backenstoss
  • Makenzie Powell
  • Ariana Cambria
  • Nicolette Gavrilovici
  • Marli Herner
  • Gabi Istenes
  • Jenny Nguyen
  • Kat Patchell
  • Katelyn Rears
  • Madelyn Reismiller
  • Kai Shay-Taylor
  • Emily Miller
  • Lilliana Magazzu

Each year, the Yocum Institute for Arts Education welcomes aspiring young artists from Berks County to submit their work for a juried exhibit to be held at the Yocum Institute. This provides students with an opportunity to present their original works of art to the public in a professional gallery setting as well as compete for cash prizes and tuition to Yocum Institute classes.

The competition is open to all full-time junior and senior high school students that reside in or attend school in Berks County. The original work presented features oil, watercolor, ceramics, mixed media, acrylic paint, sculpture and 3D art.

History Teachers Have Their Own History in Exeter

the burkhart family stands above the stadium

Matt & Dena Burkhart stand with their children, Cole, Ava and Logan, above Don Thomas Stadium at the Exeter Township Senior High school. 

couple stands in front of lockers

Matt & Dena Burkhart stand by the lockers where they initially met at the Junior High. 

In the fall of 1995 at Exeter Township Junior High, seventh graders Matthew Burkhart and Dena Caldwell met on the first day of school when their alphabetically-ordered last names caused their lockers to be placed opportunely next to each other. Over the course of the next few days, a young Matt and Dena became friends. And soon afterwards, a couple. And despite the lack of longevity in young romances, Matt and Dena defied all odds as they continued to date through junior high, and then high school. By the time they reached their senior year, they were selected to be on prom court together, and their classmates bestowed the adorable title of “cutest couple” to them in their yearbook (incidentally, it’s a title that we’re sure they’d still earn today). 

After their 2001 graduation from Exeter, Matt chose to pursue a baseball scholarship at Tusculum University in Tennessee. Dena stayed closer to home to study at Lebanon Valley College. After a year, Matt decided to move closer to home to study education and play baseball at DeSales University. As Dena was finishing up her post-baccalaureate work and student teaching, Matt proposed, presenting Dena with a ring and a desk plaque that said “Mrs. Burkhart” that still sits on the corner of her desk today. They married a year and a half later.

Today, 28 years after the day they met in the hallway of Exeter Township Junior High, it seems no accident that Matt and Dena both love to teach history. After all, they share so much of it together in the same buildings and the same classrooms where they now inspire the next generation of Eagles. The Exeter community is so much a part of their love story, too: Despite initially getting teaching jobs in other districts, both Matt and Dena jumped on teaching opportunities to return to Exeter where they once met and dated. And despite buying their “forever” home in Douglassville, Dena says that when it came time for her three kids–Ava (grade 6), Logan (grade 4) and Cole (kindergarten)–to attend school, she couldn’t envision them not attending the same schools where their young relationship first began. “Matt looked at me one night in our old house and was like, ‘We can stay in Daniel Boone, or you can put a for sale sign out.’ So we put our house on the market and sold it in six days and moved to Exeter.”

Dena continues, “There are just so many opportunities here in Exeter that we couldn’t imagine not raising our kids here. The teachers that are here–yes, we know them since we work with them–but we see that dedication and the special connections they have with students and we know they'll go that extra distance for students here. It’s the extracurricular clubs, the sports, the educational opportunities such as AP and Honors programs… What we have here and what opportunities we had ourselves as kids was a huge reason we decided we wanted to raise our family here,” she says. “We love Exeter–we really do.”

Alysabeth Rivera Selected as U.S. Presidential Scholar Candidate

photo of alysabeth rivera standing in front of eagle statue at the senior high school

We are exceptionally proud to announce that Exeter senior and Berks Career & Technology Center (BCTC) student Alysabeth Rivera has been selected as a U.S. Presidential Scholar candidate in Career & Technical Education (CTE) by the U.S. Department of Education. Alysabeth is the only U.S. Presidential Scholar candidate in Berks County, and one of only two CTE candidates in Pennsylvania. Mr. Roger Voit, who is a Business Management and Entrepreneurship Instructor at BCTC, nominated Alysabeth for this prestigious award to Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Education, who selected Alysabeth as a U.S. Presidential Scholar candidate for meeting the exceptionally stringent criteria, which includes her academic success, artistic and technical excellence, essays, school evaluations and transcripts, as well as evidence of community service, leadership and demonstrated commitment to high ideals. Alysabeth will now go through further evaluation to be hopefully selected as a semifinalist in April. If she advances, the White House Commission on Presidential Scholars will select up to 161 finalists, who will then be honored and recognized at a ceremony at the White House in June. According to the U.S. Department of Education, being selected as a scholar is one of the nation's highest honors for high school students, who represent excellence in education and the promise of greatness in young people. 

Mr. Voit said that the moment he found out that Alysabeth had been selected as a candidate was a “wow!” moment that he couldn’t wait to share with her, her family and the BCTC community. “This is the first student that I have nominated for this prestigious award. Because of the rigorous requirements for being selected, it takes a very special student and mindset to even be nominated let alone selected,” said Mr. Voit. “Alysabeth not only fulfills all the requirements for the selection criteria, she also models the leadership traits necessary to hold this position, which is one of the highest honors our nation’s high school students may receive… I’m a very proud teacher right now.”

Alysabeth, who is the daughter of Iris and Harry Rivera, is a National Technical Honors Society Student, Student Ambassador and SkillsUSA National and Pennsylvania winner in the field of entrepreneurship. At BCTC, she’s won a variety of local, state and national virtual enterprise competitions in which she serves as the CEO of an e-commerce virtual company. At Exeter, she’s a co-founder of the Aevidum Club and a Gold and Silver Eagle Award winner. She’s also almost completed her associate’s degree at Reading Area Community College in Business Administration through dual enrollment courses. Alysabeth, who studies Business Management Entrepreneurship at BCTC, hopes to study business at Syracuse University or the University of Notre Dame in the fall, with the goal of working in international business following graduation. 

Alysabeth said she was shocked to hear that she had been nominated and selected as a candidate. “I can’t honestly put it into words,” she said. “I don't know if I'll make it past any other stage, but it's still such a significant honor.”

Established in 1964, the U.S. Presidential Scholars Program serves to recognize and honor distinguished graduating high school seniors each year. In 1979, the program was extended to recognize students who demonstrate exceptional talent in the visual, creative, and performing arts. In 2015, the program was again extended to recognize students who demonstrate ability and accomplishment in career and technical education fields, such as Alysabeth.

Exeter is exceptionally proud of Alysabeth, and we hope you’ll join us in congratulating her for this extremely high honor! We wish her all the best as she continues through the application process in the hopes of being named a finalist in June! Congratulations! 

23 Eagles Commit to Collegiate Athletics on National Signing Day

students stand in front of step and repeat to pose for a photo

They're soon to be Blue Hens, Golden Bears and Wolves, Cougars and more, but today, we celebrated these 23 seniors as Eagles as they signed their commitments to continue their athletic and academic careers at the collegiate level on National Signing Day.

Here's where these talented athletes will be playing next year:

  • Anthony Caccese - University of Delaware - Football 
  • Joseph Schlaffer - Penn State University - Football 
  • Megan Unruh - University of Houston - Swimming 
  • Teddy Snyder - Ursinus College - Tennis 
  • Richie Karstien - Iona University - Lacrosse
  • Mason Rotelli - Eastern University - Football
  • Ty Yonas - Virginia Military Institute - Lacrosse 
  • Rosa Laverty - York College  - Field Hockey 
  • Lauren Ramsey - Marshall University - Swimming 
  • Deven Sheerin - Mount St. Mary’s University - Baseball
  • Jordyn Jarrett - Misercordia University - Lacrosse
  • Libby Swoyer - Penn State Berks - Volleyball
  • Keith Lerch - William Paterson University - Bowling
  • Andrew Bauer - Alvernia University - Golf 
  • Joey Reedy -  Lycoming University - Football 
  • Morgan Herb - Kutztown University - Softball 
  • Ashton Fasig - Elizabethtown College - Track and Field
  • Matthew Skipper - Immaculata College - Soccer 
  • Jaredis Flores - Eastern University - Softball 
  • Nathan Wentling - Robert Morris University- Cross Country
  • Kyle Stech - Lebanon Valley College - Golf
  • William Fanning - Binghamton University - Swimming
  • Mary Carl - Niagara University - Swimming

Congratulations to them all!