Owatin Creek

ETSD Board of School Directors Looks to Fill Open Seat

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The Exeter Township School Board has a vacancy for a school board director. The term of this vacancy runs through the December 2023 Reorganization Meeting of the School Board. Interviews for this position will be held on Tuesday, March 29th starting at 6PM in the Lausch Administration Building. The selected candidate will be appointed by the board by a majority vote as outlined in Policy #004.
Interested candidates should send a letter of interest and resume to Board President, Dr. Ann Hearing, at amhearing@nullexetersd.org by Friday, March 25th.

Exeter Celebrates National School Social Work Week

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When we found out that the theme for this year's National School Social Work Week was "Time to Shine," we immediately thought there was no more perfect time to put a spotlight on our district's own social worker and ray of sunshine, Mrs. Ashley Rinehart. Ashley dedicates her professional life to helping our most vulnerable students and their families by providing a link to school and community resources during times of crises. When you first meet Ashley, you immediately sense her inner calmness, gentleness and peace--a trait that immediately puts so many of the students and their families at ease who are going through periods of instability, such as homelessness. Even though schools have been employing social workers for decades, many people don't know that the services that Ashley provides are here--until they may need her. We hope you'll take a moment to get to know more about her, her work, and what makes her shine:

Q: For someone who doesn't know, what does your job encompass? What does a typical day look like for you?

A: A typical day can be organized chaos most of the time and it varies day to day based on the needs of the district. Often it's filling out homeless status intakes, taking out resources to students/families, referring students to various community programs, and working on distributing mental health surveys.

Q: How long have you been a social worker? How long have you worked at Exeter?

A: I have been a social worker since January of 2015, so seven total years. This is my third year at Exeter. Prior to Exeter I worked in schools, in mental health, at children & youth services, and in case management.

Q: Did you do anything prior to becoming a social worker? If so, what? Why did you change your career?
A: I had part time jobs in college as a tour guide. As soon as I graduated from college I started my social work career. I have always known though that I wanted to be a school social worker.

Q: What's your favorite part of your job?

A: My favorite part of my job is getting to know the students and families in our community. I love helping people and this job allows me to do that.

Q: What's the most challenging part of your job?

A: The most challenging part of my job is finding the appropriate resources for families and students when COVID has caused a lot of agencies to downsize or close. There are so many great services in our community but they have struggled through the pandemic as well. It can be really difficult to address specific needs when there aren't as many resources as there usually are.

Q: If you were talking to someone who knew nothing about your work, how would you complete this sentence? “People are surprised to learn that I….”

A: They may be surprised to learn that there are a lot of stressful and very hard days that come with school social work. However there are good days too, like when you have helped someone and those days make all the difficult days worth it.

Q: The theme for this year’s National School Social Workers Week is "Time to Shine.” What does that mean to you?
A: Time to Shine to me means making the best out of something and shining through the hard times. This year has been tough for everyone and if it has taught me anything it's how resilient people are and how resilient our students are. They are truly growing and learning from the pandemic and trying to shine themselves.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to share?
A: I appreciate the staff in Exeter so much. I am so grateful to work with such amazing people.

Pair of Exeter Bus Transportation Professionals Earn Recognition

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Benjamin Bernhart, Director of Transportation for the Exeter Township School District, has been approved for initial status as a Pennsylvania Certified School Transportation Professional by the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials (PASBO). Mr. Bernhart has been employed by the district since 2018, initially as the Assistant Transportation Supervisor, and then taking over as the Director of Transportation in August of 2021. 

In order to be granted the professional certification status by PASBO, a school business official must meet high personal, ethical and professional standards established for the certification program. These include formal education, experience and continuing education. Once attained, the certification must be renewed every four years through a program of professional development. 

A published author of more than 75 publications and magazine articles about transportation and railroads, including the training manual, "The Complex Relationship between School Buses and Highway-Railroad Grade Crossing," Mr. Bernhart’s truly inspired by both the history and modern-day methods of getting people from point A to point B. Moreover, he's a true advocate for his drivers, mechanics and staff, and driven by a desire to always learn more and become better at his career, which is evident by the numerous certifications and awards he's received, including being one of the top four contestants in the Berks County School Bus Safety Competition in 2017 and 2019 and earning a Special Needs Transportation certificate from the National Association for Pupil Transportation that only 32 people in the US have been so honored to have earned. 

During their meeting earlier this month, the Exeter Township School District Board of Directors recognized Mr. Bernhart by saying, “We are grateful for Ben's commitment to the students of the district. His training and experience go well above what’s required by the state because of his passion to provide the absolute best, safest transportation for them as they are transported to and from school, and because he deeply believes that parents deserve peace of mind that their children are in the best possible hands as they are on their way to learn.” 

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Kaisha D.J. McCulley, a permanent substitute bus driver for the Exeter Township School District, recently completed the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation CDL school bus instructor training course. Those who complete this course are able to instruct and teach all aspects of CDL B licenses for school buses and trucks. Through this certification, Ms. McCulley is also able to provide training that meets the new extensive United Stated Department of Transportation/Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's CDL training guidelines. To be accepted to the program, Ms. McCulley had to be recommended by a school administration and have a spotless driver's license record for the past three years. 

Ms. McCulley’s supervisor, Benjamin Bernhart, Director of Transportation, said that she’s an invaluable asset to the district. “As a substitute driver, she has to know every road within the entire district and all 207 different run routes Exeter operates on a daily basis. This is an extremely difficult challenge and can be very nerve racking; however, she approaches this matter with a cheerful positive attitude. Parents love her as she always had the best interest of students at heart.” Mr. Bernhart added, “She is an exceptional school bus driver and should be recognized as such.” 

Elementary Students Collect Over $2k in Coins For Local Organizations

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A penny saved may be a penny earned, but when students from Jacksonwald and Owatin Creek gave away their pennies (nickels, dimes and quarters, too) they earned a lot of thanks from area organizations who benefitted from their big hearts!

During the 100th day of school celebrations in late February, both elementary schools upped the ante on the spirit week by seeing which class could raise the most amount of money by donating coins and choosing a local organization to donate their collection to. Besides having fun with the friendly competition, students enjoyed practicing their money counting skills and tallying up their donations at the end of the week. After the final counts were in, Jacksonwald collected an astonishing $1,520.53 to donate to the Exeter Township Fire Department, and Owatin Creek collected an incredible $729.78 to donate to Mostly Muttz, a local animal rescue.

Recently, the classes who raised the most presented their donations to representatives at each organization: They are Mrs. Conrow's 3rd grade class at Jacksonwald and Mrs. Daniel's 1st grade class at Owatin Creek. Thanks to students and their families at both schools for participating; they say money may not buy happiness, but your donations certainly earned lots of smiles!

Students Showcase Artwork at Exeter Community Library

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Maddy Mell, 4th (Owatin Creek)
Sophie Sowers, 9th
Gavin Moser, 6th
Logan Alkons, Kindergarten (Owatin Creek)
Joel Aponte, 8th (top)

From portraits to paintings to sculptures and more, a variety of selected artwork from the talented students in K-12 is now on display at the Exeter Community Library in celebration of Youth Art Month. Youth Art Month is an annual observance to encourage support for quality school art programs and provides a forum for supporting skills that are fostered through classroom experiences in the visual arts. The free exhibit, which is showcased in the library's lobby, is open during library hours, which are 9AM to 7PM on Monday and Tuesday, 9AM-6PM on Wednesday, 9AM to 4PM on Thursday and Friday, and 8AM to 3PM on Saturday. The library is closed on Sunday. The exhibit runs through the end of March.

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Students celebrate Read Across America week with a special guest reader

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As part of Read Across America Week, Interim Superintendent Dr. Cynthia Mierzejewski dropped in as a guest reader and surprised Mrs. Schmidt's first grade class at Jacksonwald today when she read "The Most Magnificent Thing," by Ashley Spires. A story about imagination and perseverance when things don't go your way, the charming book was selected by Jacksonwald's Reading Specialist, Mrs. Becky Bush, according to the theme of "Positive Leadership," which is one of the school's daily reading themes for the week that highlight virtues such as "Glorious Kindness," "Selfless Courage," "Invincible Grit," and "Brainy Creativity."

Enjoyed throughout the District and beyond, Read Across America is the nation's largest celebration of reading that aims to motivate students to become lifelong and devoted readers every single day of the year. To bring books easily to students, Mrs. Bush curated a virtual bookshelf based upon the school's themes and shared it digitally with both students and their families to inspire Jacksonwald students' blossoming love of literacy--which was certainly on full display as Mrs. Schmidt's students delighted in being read to by Dr. Mierzejewski today.

Look for more reading celebrations in the District this week as we honor our love of literacy!