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Exeter wins BCIAA’s Sportsmanship Award

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tom legath holds BCIAA trophy photo

Athletic Director Tom Legath was presented with the Berks County Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Sportsmanship Award on Monday, which is voted on by a committee of athletic directors and coaches throughout Berks County. Superintendent Dr. Kimberly Minor made the announcement during this week's Board of School Director's meeting: “I am extremely proud of this trophy,” she said. “During a year that will likely go down in history… where the world struggled with civility and manners and courtesy, our students rose above all of that and time and again at home games and away games they demonstrated to coaches around the county and athletic directors around the county that our Exeter students are the best of the best when it comes to sportsmanship.” Congratulations to all of our coaches, athletes, parents and supporters for this distinguished honor!

“Violins of Hope” brings World War II-era instruments owned by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust to Exeter students

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violins of hope performance photo

The Junior High was surrounded by the sound of string instruments as "Violins of Hope," a traveling project that's part museum, part concert and part history lesson presented a series of instruments, discussion and Holocaust history to students last Friday as part of a traveling exhibit. Students listened and had a chance to get up close with these antique instruments, all of which were originally owned or played by a Jewish musician during the Holocaust and many of which are adorned with hand-painted Stars of David to signify the instrument's and its owner's relationship to the era. According to the organization, which was founded by violin makers Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein, father and son, Violins of Hope is not only a memorial to a lost culture and people, it is also an educational act that reaches young students and adults wherever their concerts are performed. In recent years, some of the best world-celebrated orchestras held Violins of Hope concerts, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cleveland Symphony and many others.

Exeter was one of 16 schools in Berks lucky enough to be a part of the 2-week traveling project, which included concerts, exhibits, film viewing lectures and community events.

Exeter inducts four into Academic Hall of Fame and 50 into National Honor Society

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academic hall of fame inductees photo

The Exeter Township School District's Alumni Association and Academic Hall of Fame Committee along with the Claude W. Dundore Chapter of the National Honor Society celebrated the academic achievements of both current and past students during a moving candlelight ceremony last weekend at the Senior High. During the ceremony, Mr. Harry Koppenberg (in the photo, right), an educator in the district for nearly 40 years; along with alumni Dr. Debra Powell '78 (left), Chief of Infectious Diseases, Medical Director for Infection Prevention, and Vice Chair of Medicine at Tower Health Reading Hospital; the Hon. Richard Adams '59 (second from left), an environmental lawyer and judge of the Connecticut Family Support Court; and his wife, Mrs. Merrill Adams '60 (third from left), a former English and drama professor at Wesleyan University and founder of the Coginchaug Valley Education Foundation in Connecticut, as well as a poet and award-winning pastelist, were all honored for their contributions to society and their impact and credit they've brought to the Exeter Township School District through their achievements, volunteerism and/or work. The Academic Hall of Fame began in 2005 as a project of the Exeter Community Education Foundation and typically sees four to six inductees who are selected each year. This year's class brings the number of honorees to 70, who are then presented with a plaque, as well as their names added to a display in the Senior High's main office.

During the second part of the ceremony, the current members of the National Honor Society presented and inducted 50 new members from the Class of 2022 and 2023 into its chapter through its candle-lighting ceremony that represents the Society's four pillars: character, leadership, scholarship and service. To be considered for membership, students must be sophomores or juniors with a weighted cumulative GPA of at least 92.000, involvement in at least one school activity or club and completion of at least five community service hours. Inductees are:

Dylann Backenstoss
McKenna Barker
Juniper Bauroth-Sherman
Melody Bauroth-Sherman
Victoria Benetz
Isabella Boston
Lena Brown
Sam Brown
Mark "Frankie" Corado
James Creamer
Sean Creamer
Hayley Dietrich
Ava Gates
Deacon Hearing
Rachel Henry
Morgan Herb
Amber Herber
Emily Holliday
Sophie Johnson
Zachary Kleinfelter
Emmet Larson
Nicholas Lountzis
Leilani Martinez
Aliye McDonough
Ryan Menet

Maya Metz
Evan Miller
Nathan Morgan
Abigael Mulhare
Johnathan Newnham
Brynn Patchell
Andrew Posey
Regina Ramirez-Sastre
Lauren Ramsey
Aashveen Randhawa
Katherine Ryan
Claire Scholl
Peyton Seamans
Blake Smith
Jeanna Sottosanti
Malayna Spiller
Kyle Stech
Joseph "JR" Strauss
Anthony Tartaglia, Jr.
Brittany Truong
Summer Turczynski
Julia Weaver
Alex Wittig
Cecelia Wright
Grady Zigner

School messages delivered YOUR way: Get ready for ParentSquare

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As part of Exeter's efforts to enhance communication, in the coming days you'll be receiving more information about a new communications system and app called ParentSquare, which will unify ALL of the messages you receive from your children's teachers, administrators and the district in one safe and secure place with options for you to select how and when you're notified. Parents will be able to keep track of news, activities and events from all of their children’s schools, allowing for easier communication, organization, involvement and awareness of what's happening in your kids' classrooms, clubs and activities and across the district.

With ParentSquare, parents can enjoy photos posted by teachers, fill out forms and permission slips, sign up for parent-teacher conferences and much more. School staff and parents can engage in both one-to-one and group messaging with real-time language translation. We also think that parents will enjoy the built-in calendar that allows parents to set up reminders and download events directly to their phones so that they never miss an important date or event!

With our launch set for Monday, November 15th, please stay tuned as we invite you to join us in the app or online in a few more days!

OH, the places you’ll go with the Junior High’s Production of “Suessical Jr.”

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November 19th and 20th at 7pm
Exeter Junior High School Auditorium

From the planet of Who and the smallest of small, to the Jungle of Nool and the largest of all, we welcome you back to live theater at Exeter JHS as you follow the story of Horton the Elephant and many more of your Seuss friends.

To see a copy of the cast list please click here

Reserved tickets can be purchased at https://exeterjhs.seatyourself.biz

Meet the Junior High’s New Assistant Principal, Jennifer Cooke

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Jennifer Cooke, Assistant Principal | Junior High

Email: jmcooke@nullmyexeter.org

Jennifer started at the Junior High today as the new Assistant Principal, replacing Joe Alcaro, who is moving to Reiffton as their new Assistant Principal. Jennifer previously worked as the Assistant Principal at Reading High School. Prior to her experience at Reading, Jennifer was a math teacher for 14 years at Daniel Boone. She also experienced a variety of teaching positions early in her career, including working in the Philadelphia area. "I truly love middle school because it's such a great time for kids as they're figuring out who they are and discovering what they want from life. I hope to help them with that discovery and guide them in the direction of the futures," she says. She lives in Douglassville with her husband, her son and her three dogs.