News

Senior Joanna Knepper’s Art to be Displayed in Carnegie Hall

photo of Joanna Knepper with Carnegie Hall artwork

Exeter Township Senior High student, Joanna Knepper, will have her glass artwork displayed this June in New York City's Carnegie Hall. Knepper, a senior, received this incredible honor by receiving a National Award in the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, which is considered the nation's longest running and most prestigious program for creative teens in grades 7-12, according to Scholastic. More than 260,000 works of art and writing were submitted by teens in every US state, as well as US territories and Canada. From these, 2,000 works were then selected as National Award recipients--including Knepper's glass piece, "She's Lost Her Marbles." Knepper created the glass piece at the GoggleWorks over the summer during a fellowship with glass artist Maggie Gallen. Knepper said that when she began working with Gallen, Gallen asked her if she wanted to create out-of-the-box glass art. "I told her I wanted to do something non-traditional," she said. "So she helped me come up with different ways to create glass art, and in the beginning, I was very inside the box, but by the end, I felt like I had stretched my creativity," which is apropos to the stretched and frozen-in-time drips of colorful glass that emanate from her winning piece.

Knepper felt that her unusual medium definitely gave her an advantage over some of the more traditional media pieces that were submitted; an opportunity that she had thanks to her art teacher, Ms. Christina Pinkerton, who encouraged her to apply for an 8-week summer fellowship to the GoggleWorks during her junior year. Ms. Pinkerton said she was in tears when she found out that her piece had been selected. "We've been entering this competition for years, but Exeter's never had a national winner," she said proudly.

Scholastic says these awards allow students to build confidence as creative individuals; they noted that earlier winners include Andy Warhol, Joyce Carol Oates and Stephen King, among others. Knepper is one of 7 students in our region to earn the national award, and the only Berks County resident to receive it. National Award winners are also considered for scholarship awards of $10,000, an honor that Knepper said may encourage her to pursue art formally in college if chosen. Congratulations to her on this amazing honor and achievement!

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.

March Madness Comes to Jacksonwald

Karlee Schmidt's 3rd grade class
march madness book bracket

The end of March is traditionally known for its crazy weather (check!), anticipation of spring (check!), and for sports lovers everywhere, the last few games of the NCAA "March Madness" basketball tournament and surprise bracket-busting upsets. In looking for new ways to engage her students and encourage their love of reading, Miss Karlee Schmidt, a third grade teacher at Jacksonwald (and sports aficionado herself who makes a bracket every year), thought that her students would love a similar-style bracket competition with a twist--instead of guessing which basketball team was favored to win, they'd select 16 books to read out loud in March and line them up in a head-to-head competition to find everyone's ultimate favorite book by the end of the month. Last week, just as Villanova was getting ready to beat Michigan for a berth in the Final Four, Miss Schmidt's class was in a nail-biting and heated vote to find out if "Baby Rattlesnake" or "Button Up!: Wrinkled Rhymes," their final two bracket books, would prove victorious. After a drum roll by students pounding their hands on their desks, "Button Up!," Alice Shertle and Petra Mathers' poems about animals wearing clothes, became Miss Schmidt's final winner!

"This was a great opportunity to use a current event in my classroom while incorporating the Fountas and Pinnell curriculum," said Miss Schmidt. "It was a great way to compare and discuss the new interactive read alouds," she said. In fact, word spread quickly around the third grade classes at Jacksonwald that Miss Schmidt's class was making book brackets, which inspired all of the third grade classes to participate. "All of third grade decided to use the same books, and now my class can't wait to see what the other classes pick." Miss Schmidt says that even though no one in her class had a perfect bracket, this year's bracket was the most successful and gratifying March Madness she's ever participated in just by seeing the love of reading that the friendly competition fostered in her students. "My class was so excited about this. I definitely plan to do it again next year!"

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!

Berks Nature Provides Hands-On Lesson on Pollutants in Waterways

exeter students take part in berks nature project

Using powdered cocoa, lemonade, fruit punch, sprinkles, oats and generously-filled water spray bottles, Reiffton students modeled the effects of animal poop to pollution in our waterways during a fun-filled, hands-on demonstration by Berks Nature, a non-profit dedicated to environmental conservation. Students gathered around a molded landscape model, delicately placing ingredients to simulate dirt, pollutants, trash, and their favorite–poop. Afterwards, the fun began when they started taking turns making it “rain” by spraying their models with water and creating mock thunderstorms to see how the ingredients mixed together and washed down into their model’s lake. “This is where your drinking water comes from,” said Michael Griffith, Berks Nature’s Education & Watershed Specialist. “Ewww!!” said 5th graders collectively as they saw their fake pollutants and poop collect in their lakes. Mr. Griffith looked pleased as he saw the look of disgust on their faces as if he knew he had succeeded in landing the point of his lesson: When you keep our environment clean, you keep our water clean. 

Berks Nature provided the learning experience to both 5th and 6th graders as part of a grant and through the support of Reiffton’s APT. Thanks to both for providing an unforgettable lesson to our middle schoolers!

Kira Marr Named National Merit Scholarship Finalist

exeter's kira marr named national merit scholarship finalist

Our warmest congratulations to senior Kira Marr who was named a National Merit Scholarship Finalist--an honor achieved by fewer than 1% of US high school seniors.

Kira, the daughter of Drs. Paul and Kathryn Marr, earned this distinction by earning an exemplary score on the PSAT and SAT, achieving academic excellence in her schoolwork, receiving the endorsement of Principal Tom Campbell, and completing an application and essay. Kira, who plans to attend college for mechanical engineering to focus on environmental and climate change issues, has involved herself in technology-based extracurriculars throughout high school, including Science Olympiad, PA Governor's STEM Team and TSA. She's also involved in orchestra, Mini-THON and National Honor Society, and recently began a college essay peer-editing service for high school students through NHS. An accomplished runner, Kira's also been a member of the cross county, track and winter track teams and has qualified for district and state competitions in relay events. She's also volunteered her time during summers at Teachers in the Parks and Exeter Elite Track Club.

Kira said her involvement in academics and sports and her dedication to both have helped her become more confident and overcome insecurity as she's grown up, a theme that she wrote about in her National Merit essay. "Self-esteem and image issues have kept me, and many other people I am sure, from doing the things I wanted to do. I want people to know that we are given one chance to grow up and live our lives. I don't want to live my life pretending to be someone I am not, so I think it's important for people to be true to themselves and to be proud of who they are."

"Kira's a remarkable student. She's humble and such a support and giving to others around her," said Tom Campbell, principal of the senior high. "She's deserving of this honor, and we are so proud to have her represent Exeter in this national competition." Kira's advancement to the finalist round of the prestigious National Merit Scholarship Program will have her compete against 15,000 finalists to be selected for one of 7,500 scholarships, which will be announced later this spring and early summer. The academic competition launched in 1995 with approximately 1.5 million high school students entering the program each year.

Related: https://exetersd.org/blog/news/senior-high-national-merit-scholarship-students-recognized