News

Pair of Exeter Bus Transportation Professionals Earn Recognition

by

IMG_E0146

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.” 

*****

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.” 

Mrs. Whitney Collects 10,000 Cans of Play-Doh to Honor Student She Never Taught

by

IMG_1457s

Mrs. Whitney's 3rd grade class poses with the 2,000 cans of Play-Doh they've collected so far this year.

For nearly a decade, Lorane Elementary’s third-grade teacher Josie Whitney has spent the month of March honoring a little boy who she never knew and never had a chance to attend the school where she teaches.

When school started in the fall of 2012, she found out that Jason Heckman, the 3-year-old brother of her third-grade student, Sherry Heckman, was diagnosed with cancer. Then, just a few months later, Mrs. Whitney lost her own father when he passed away in January of 2013. Heartbreakingly, Jason then passed away from his illness in May–coincidentally, on Mrs. Whitney’s father’s birthday. “Having just lost my dad a few months before we lost Jason, I was a mess. I immediately reached out to his parents and walked over to their house during my planning period and asked what I could do to help. Jason’s mom mentioned that Jason loved fishing–and so did my dad, so my connection to his family felt even stronger–and that he loved playing with Play-Doh when he was receiving treatment at CHOP.” Jason’s mom explained that the children’s hospital was always in need of new cans of Play-Doh since the toy cannot be sanitized in between uses and has to be tossed after a single use. “That’s when I decided to have a Play-Doh drive to honor Jason and keep his name alive for his family,” said Mrs. Whitney.

In the following school year of 2014, Mrs. Whitney began organizing a school-wide Play-Doh collection annually every March to honor and remember Jason. To date, she’s collected over 10,000 cans of Play-Doh to donate to CHOP, even when she had to pause the collection in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. She hopes her collection this year may prove to be the best year yet–she said she’s collected just over 2,000 cans since the month-long drive began on March 1st. 

Although the drive was borne out of an excruciatingly sad event, Mrs. Whitney said that she sees joy in the students who choose to participate and her own students who get excited when the donations roll in by helping her count the donated cans each day as a math exercise. “Students love seeing me in the hallways at school and shouting, ‘I have Play-Doh for you, Mrs. Whitney!’” She also said her heart’s filled with gratitude when she sees her social media posts shared and donations come in from beyond the Lorane Elementary community, too. “The parents of a student this year have also promised to match the Play-Doh donations that their son receives. It’s truly blossomed into a community event.”

Mrs. Whitney also feels fortunate to continue to be connected to the Heckman family, even though it’s been a long time since Sherry, who’s now a senior, has walked the halls of Lorane Elementary. “I currently have their son Neo in my class,” she says, also mentioning that she also taught Brody, who’s now in 8th grade. “This drive is all about Jason and what donations can do for children in need. Even small donations add up to help,” she says, “And it all helps their families, too.” 

If you’d be interested in contributing to Mrs. Whitney’s Play-Doh drive, you can drop donations of new cans of Play-Doh off at Lorane Elementary between the hours of 9AM to 4PM or deliver new cans of Play-Doh through Amazon, WalMart, Target or other online retailers to the school:  

Lorane Elementary
Attention: Josie Whitney
699 Rittenhouse Drive
Reading, PA 19606

Lorane Elementary’s Play-Doh drive runs through the end of March, just in time to celebrate Jason’s birthday; he would have turned 13 on April 10, 2022. 

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

by

IMG_1360

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

by

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.

3ef822c8-c1db-dc86-4488-911d2d40f5a1

Please Be Our Guest at ETSH’s “Beauty and the Beast”

by

beautybeast copy

Starring Regina Ramirez as Belle and Jeremy Weaver as the Beast, please "Be Our Guest" as Exeter Township Senior High proudly presents Disney's classic musical, Beauty and the Beast. To tell this "Tale as Old as Time," join Jacob Weaver as Maurice, Serenity Zawilla as Chip, Danielle Russell as Babette, Collin Warner as Lumiere, Ian Lubenow as Cogsworth, Julia Weaver as Mrs. Potts, Ashton Lewars as Gaston, Nate Morgan as Lefou, Deacon Hearing as Monsieur D'Arque, Samantha Piniero as the Wardrobe and our whole cast and crew as they take audience members on an adventure in the great, wide somewhere!

Showtimes are March 10th, 11th and 12th at 7PM with a Saturday matinee at 2PM. All tickets are $10 and are available online at exeterhs.seatyourself.biz.

Senior citizens are also welcome to join us on Wednesday, March 9th at 7PM during our dress rehearsal - no tickets necessary.

PLUS! New this year, we'll have a special Meet & Greet with the characters for photos, crafts and more on Saturday, March 12th at noon. Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at exeterhs.seatyourself.biz.

Students celebrate Read Across America week with a special guest reader

by

IE8A0178
IE8A0211

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!