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Exeter’s Hills are Alive with the “Sound of Music”

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EXETER TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT PRESENTS (Label) (1)

One of the most beloved musicals of all time will bring Exeter Township Senior High School's auditorium alive with the "Sound of Music" in March! Starring Alison Applegate (left) as Maria and Ryan Claudfelter as Captain Von Trapp (right), this year's Senior High School production will feature a talented cast of students from elementary through the high school to perform Rodgers & Hammerstein's inspirational true story, which earned five Tony Awards and five Oscars when it debuted on the stage and screen in the 1960s. Rounding out the multi-school ensemble are (from left, after Alison): Adam Crotty as Friedrich, Ella Mackey as Louisa, Gavin Isselmann as Kurt, Kaylen Reynolds as Brigitta, Summer Douglas as Marta and Scarlet Jordan as Gretl. (Not pictured is Zoe Banks as Liesl.)

Sure to be one of your favorite things, catch the "Sound of Music" on March 14th, 15th and 16th at 7PM and March 17th at 2PM before the cast says "So long, farewell." All tickets are $12 and can be reserved online at https://exeterhsmusical.seatyourself.biz/ or at the door before the performance. 

Exeter Schools & Police to Hold Parent Presentation

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Tuesday, December 12th at 6PM in the LGI in Exeter Township Senior High School
PRESENTED BY:
Mrs. Alycia Lenart, Exeter Township School District K-12 Student Support Coordinator
Sergeant Detective Rocco DeCamillo, Exeter Township Police Department

Please RSVP in ParentSquare

“Make no mistake, this is an eye-opening, worldwide problem affecting our students here in Exeter,” said Sergeant Detective Rocco DeCamillo to the faculty of the Exeter Township School District during a professional development session held at the Senior High last Tuesday. “To make things worse, we know there are a lot of cases here that are not being reported because it takes a lot of courage to go to a parent, a friend or to the police. This is why I think it’s important for you to be aware of this issue in case you have a student who considers you a role model and decides to confide in you.”

The issue is called sexting, and it can often lead to an even more serious issue called sextortion. “One can lead to the other one, but they are two very different things,” said DeCamillo, who was joined during the presentation by his colleague, Exeter Township Police Detective Anthony Pendell.

In short, DeCamillo explained that sexting is sending sexually-explicit messages, images or videos to another person. Sextortion, however, is a form of cyber blackmail where a perpetrator often demands money to refrain from publicly releasing sexually-explicit messages, images or videos of the victim. These issues, said DeCamillo, are ones that affect adults–as well as minors, too. “You might think of this as a high school problem, but we’re seeing sexting more frequently at the junior high level,” he said. “But what’s even scarier is that we’re starting to see it more frequently in preteens, too, which is scary. The victims–and their offenders–are becoming younger.”

To complicate matters, minors are very savvy with finding ways to hide explicit content and conversations from their parents–and perpetrators are just as savvy at finding their victims. Rather than using traditional texting methods, DeCamillo said that minors and offenders alike use social media, texting or gaming platforms to send or receive content, such as WhatsApp, XBox, Instagram, Playstation, Roblox and Snapchat. On these platforms, adults often pose as minors, cultivating trust and a following by requesting mutual friends. Once a relationship and trust has been established, DeCamillo said that perpetrators will often start by requesting selfies of the minor victim. “Younger kids–those who are 11 or 12–almost can’t help but send these selfies of themselves out naked. They think they’re talking to a 15 year old, but it’s really a 43 year old who is harvesting child pornography.”

Currently, the most frequently used platform is Snapchat. “Snap is the devil,” DeCamillo said as he discussed the app’s encrypted feature called “My Eyes Only,” which is a hidden vault that erases all content as soon as a user asks for a password reset. This, he said, even prevents law enforcement from finding and recovering those photos once a report’s been filed, giving kids a false sense of security about hiding–or sending–naked selfies on the platform. “Kids often don’t think of the ramifications of when they hit that send button there’s a whole lot of things that can come out of it,” he said.

Minors who send sexually-explicit photographs lack the understanding that this is a crime under PA law; however, DeCamillo stressed that the focus of Exeter PD is more on education rather than on the arrests of minors. “This is not a situation where we can arrest our way out of it. It’s not that simple, and arrest isn’t always the answer.” Instead, he said that the department works to educate minors about the pitfalls of sending sexts and how repeated or more serious offenses can get them in serious trouble. Beyond criminal or legal issues, he also warned that sexting can lead to other problems, such as, grooming, destroying a person’s reputation, sextortion or mental health problems. The latter, he said, is unfortunately common, and is something that profoundly worries him and his department. “If the messages wind up in the wrong hands, it can be so mentally damaging to an adolescent teen.” Reflecting on cases outside of Exeter, he said solemnly, “Sometimes, it’s so extreme that children have taken their lives over it,” he said. “Sometimes therapy doesn’t quite work out, their reputation is destroyed and they feel they have no other option other than suicide,” he said with a pause, “It’s heartbreaking.”

Superintendent Dr. Christy Haller and Assistant Superintendent Mrs. Dawn Harris organized the session with Detective Sergeant DeCamillo and Detective Pendell to bring a greater awareness to teachers of this issue, which is only growing, according to the figures the detectives presented. Between 2019 and 2021, the number of reports involving sextortion doubled, according to their report, wth 45% of sextortion perpetrators actually carrying out threats, and 25% of victims seeking mental health help following an incident.

Like last year’s edibles presentation, the professional development session proved to be so popular with educators that Detective Sergeant DeCamillo and Detective Pendell, along with the district’s K-12 Student Supports Coordinator, Mrs. Alycia Lenart, have decided to offer a similar session to parents and families so that they, too, could learn what police are seeing in the local community, as well as how to talk to their kids about sexting and sextortion. The parent and family session will be held on Tuesday, December 12, 2023 at 6PM in Exeter Township Senior High School’s Large Group Instruction (LGI) room.

Former NFL Player Devin Wyman Bends Bars–and Minds–at Assemblies

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Former NFL player Devin Wyman opened his assembly at Exeter Township Junior High this morning by asking students a thought-provoking question: "What size dream did you wake up with today?" And for the next 45 minutes, he showed students how small choices they make each day--with their friends, their efforts at school and their attitude--ultimately makes a huge impact on the achievement of their dreams.

Wyman is no stranger to having big dreams when he was a student and dreamt of becoming a professional football player. By high school, Division I colleges and universities came knocking on his door, offering him scholarships to play football or basketball. But he blew it all when he fell in with the wrong group of friends and decided to sell drugs, which ultimately led to his arrest before he graduated high school. "One $20 piece of cocaine cost me a quarter-million dollar scholarship," he said to the suddenly hushed group of students. "I made one wrong choice listening to the wrong voice. My mom said your friends are not your friends. What you do in the dark, will come to the light."

Wyman then held up a steel bar he brought with him and held it vertically to illustrate what it was like to live behind it as a prisoner. But he then told students the bar could also represent what it's like to be lifted to achieve your dreams when you are with friends who care just as much about your aspirations. Asking for two volunteers, eighth graders Nyla Salaam (left) and Jacinda Motley, were instructed by Wyman to grab the now-horizontal bar and hold onto as if it were their dreams. "If you let go of it, she's going to fall," he said to Nyla in reference to Jacinda. "And if you let go of it, she's going to fall," he said in reverse, illustrating how friendships can make all the difference. And with that, he lifted the girls to the stunned audience.

Continuing to use the bar as a metaphor, Wyman then further shocked the group of students by placing a towel around the center of the bar, placing it in his mouth, and then bending it--impossibly--into half. "I love football because it has two halves," he said as he traced his finger around the now u-shaped bar. "This," he said as he pointed to the curve at the bottom of the bar, "was when I was arrested. I was at my lowest point. It was the end of my first half." But he then said that each and every person has the capacity to ask for forgiveness, the power to change and the ability to latch back onto their dreams and work hard to achieve them. "This," he said as he traced his finger up the bar, "was my second half when I didn't give up on myself and I prayed for forgiveness." He then paused and told the students emphatically, "Don't you ever--ever--give up on yourself," as he told students about his release from prison and re-entry back onto the football field at a community college, eventually earning a spot on the football field at Kentucky State University. From there, Wyman was drafted in the sixth round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, where he earned two Super Bowl rings.

Wyman will bring his message about effort, education and excellence to students throughout the district during assemblies on Monday and Tuesday, with a final free and open-to-the-public presentation on Tuesday, September 26th at 6PM in the auditorium at the Exeter Township Senior High school. Wyman's presentation was brought to Exeter schools thanks to a grant from the Exeter Community Education Foundation.

A Message to the ETSD Community Regarding Escaped Inmate Danelo Cavalcante

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Dear Exeter Families,

In our partnership with the Exeter Township Police Department, we have been actively monitoring the situation in northern Chester County and the search for the escaped inmate, Danelo Cavalcante. As many of you may be aware, in consultation with law enforcement, the Owen J. Roberts school district closed today following a reported sighting of a man believed to be Cavalcante in an area near their schools last night. Law enforcement also believes that he now has a firearm.

At this time, we have been assured there is no direct threat to the Exeter community and the search area for Cavalcante has not moved into Berks County. In our steadfast commitment to the safety and security of our school community, we want to assure you that our district’s Safety & Security Coordinator, Eric Seidel, as well as central office administrators, are in constant contact with the Exeter Township Police Department to receive the latest information and developments in the search for Cavalcante.

In consultation with the Exeter Police, we have been informed that there is no reason to change or disrupt the normal operations of our schools at this time. Unless otherwise advised, we will continue to hold outdoor athletics and activities (recess, physical education classes) for our students while we remain vigilant and watchful.

The PA State Police would like to reinforce the following security measures for community members to increase your awareness and caution:
Residents in the area are asked to continue to lock all external doors and windows, secure vehicles, and remain indoors. Please review your surveillance cameras and contact police if you observe anything suspicious. If you see him, do not approach. Call 911 immediately. Please call (717) 562-2987 with general tips and information.

Cavalcante is described as a male of Hispanic descent, approximately 5’0” in height and clean shaven. We’ve attached police-released photos of him. If you believe you have seen Cavalcante, please call 911 immediately.

The Exeter Township Police Department will continue to be a presence around our schools and our schools will continue to implement our universal safety procedures and protocols that are designed to keep our students and our staff in one of the safest and securest locations in the area.

Thank you.

Exeter to Host Help Center for those Affected by Berks Flooding

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The Berks County Department of Emergency Services (Berks DES), the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), and other state and county agencies and departments will open a Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) tomorrow at noon at the Exeter Township Lausch Administration Building to serve county residents with needs related to the catastrophic rainstorm and flooding that occurred on Sunday, July 9. The Exeter Township Administration Building is located in Exeter at 200 Elm Street, Reading, PA 19606 (to avoid arriving at the wrong address, please ensure you use the 19606 zip code in your GPS as there are several Elm Streets in the Reading area). The MARC is open to all Berks County residents and will be open Thursday from noon to 7PM, Friday from 10AM to 7PM and on Saturday from 10AM to 4PM.

A MARC is a temporary, quick-response center where a variety of state and county agencies collect in a central location to provide direct support to community members affected by a disaster event.

The following information was provided by the County of Berks regarding the local and state agencies who will be present at the MARC (as well as the services they can provide):

  • Berks Department of Emergency Services - referrals to proper resources for individuals who have not yet reported their damage to local government
  • Berks County Area Agency on Aging – assist older affected population;
  • Office of the Attorney General – information on contractor fraud, scams, etc.
  • Department of Environmental Protection – safety advice and questions with respect to waterway management and private wells
  • Department of Human Services – document replacement assistance (i.e. birth/death certificates, etc.), disability assistance services, new benefit applicants, etc.
  • Berks County MH/DD office – crisis counseling services
  • Department of Insurance – address questions and information on conflict issues with insurance carriers
  • Department of Military and Veterans Affairs – assist with replacement of documents, info on veteran -specific programs available
  • PEMA – general MARC support, disaster recovery information, National Flood Insurance Program information
  • Penn DOT – info on their online driver services, driver’s license replacement, etc.
  • Department of Health – safety information

Berks DES would like to remind all Berks County property owners, renters, and businesses who suffered property damage in relation to the rain and flooding in the past several days to report their damage to their local municipality as quickly as possible. Your local municipality is the city, borough or township to which you pay your local taxes. Complete and accurate collection of this information could help Berks County residents and businesses qualify for additional disaster recovery programs.

For more information, please contact the County of Berks.

Exeter Again Named a Best Community for Music Education

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The Exeter Township School District was grateful and humbled to have been chosen once again as a Best Community for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation--an honor bestowed upon fewer than 800 schools throughout the nation who demonstrate outstanding efforts by teachers, administrators, parents, students and community leaders who have made music education part of a well-rounded education. This is the 11th year that Exeter's received this honor, which is something that the Exeter's music department is especially proud to have received. "The recognition that we received is about the community. It's not just about our music department. It's all of the teachers, all of the parents, all of the students, all of the administrators and everybody who lives and works in Exeter," said Mrs. Melissa Crotty, the Junior High's music teacher and Exeter's music department chair.

Throughout local, regional and state events and performances, Exeter musicians won numerous accolades and ratings--proving yet again they were worthy of NAMM's awards. Below, our music department is thrilled to present the following highlights of this year's accomplishments by our musicians:

Senior High Marching Band

  • The marching band enjoyed an active season performing our field show, “Finding Joy.” The music utilized themes from Beethoven and Dvorak’s 9th symphonies as well as other motives of musical joy. We are proud of the progress we made over the fall season. We are looking forward to the upcoming Memorial Day parade and honoring military families during the Exeter Township ceremony at Forest Hills. We are thrilled and looking forward to marching in Disney’s Magic Kingdom in December. Be sure to look out for our new uniforms later this fall!

Senior High Concert Band

  • Since December, members of the concert band have enjoyed a more active winter and spring. The band was represented by Rob Tufariello (percussion), Nathan Bayer (French horn), Marissa Millar (trumpet), Faith Feldman (bass clarinet), Riley Mazur (trumpet), Ryan Cherry (trombone), and Ava Diaz (clarinet) in various MEBC and PMEA honors band festivals. In the month of March, the band traveled to Temple University to participate in the school of music’s Festival of Winds where we performed in the Temple Performing Arts Center and received clinics from world class musicians and conductors. This year’s spring concert culminated with a side by side performance with the historic Ringgold Band. It was an honor to perform with them in concert and also receive valuable feedback from respected community musicians.

Senior High Jazz Band

  • The jazz band enjoyed great success this past winter and spring having performed at the Reading Royals, the Kuztown High School Jazz Festival, the Twin Valley High School Festival and the inaugural Get JazzED scholastic jazz show at the internationally known Berks Jazz Fest in March. The band had the honor of performing at the DoubleTree Hotel, receiving valuable feedback from world class musicians and getting an amazing experience performing on a professional, world class stage. The band is definitely looking forward to returning to the Berks Jazz Fest next year and making it a tradition for the Exeter program. Several band members were also recognized at our jazz shows for outstanding solo performances with the band: Ryan Cherry, Esteban Ruiz-Velazquez, and Rob Tufariello. We will conclude the school year with a Summer Send-Off Concert on Thursday, June 1st. This concert will be an outdoor performance at Owatin Creek’s amphitheater beginning at 6:30pm. Bring chairs, blankets, and your own food as we play into the evening with other Exeter musical acts.

Senior High Orchestra

  • Orchestra has had a very good year for the 2022-2023 school year. We had a very successful Winter Concert. String Jam was a hit this year featuring all grade levels in the main gym, culminating in a performance of William Tell. In addition to our three major concerts, the Orchestra was thrilled to play for the Reiffton School. This year we had 14 students make Senior County Orchestra, 17 students make Junior County Orchestra, 2 students make District Orchestra, and 1 student make Region Orchestra. We are very proud of the achievements of these students.
  • For our Chamber Strings students we enjoyed playing this year for the National Honors Society Induction Ceremony, and playing for the Reading Royals Exeter night along with our Junior High School chamber strings friends.
  • We are excited to begin preparing for our trip to Disney World next school year.

Senior High Chorus & Concert Choirs

  • The Senior High Chorus and Concert Choirs adjusted to having a long term sub while their chorale teacher was on sabbatical. They spent classroom time learning some basic music theory as well as preparing music for 2 concerts in December and May. The following students participated in the Berks County Music Festival for grades 10-12: Rob Tuffariello, Tyler Casiano, Collin Warner, Ryan Claudfelter, Rebecca Cherry, Sarah McCarthy and Raelin Tufariello. The following freshmen were selected and participated in the Berks Junior County Music Festival: Kaelyn Reynolds, Leoni Choy, Ava Diaz and Gavin Isselmann. Four students were selected and participated in the District 10 music festival: Rebecca Cherry, Ryan Claudfelter, Rob Tuffariello, and Tyler Casiano. Rebecca Cherry also was selected for the Regional Choral Festival. 

Senior High Eaglaires

  • The EagleAires performed for the Exeter senior citizens’ annual spring meeting in March, as well as in the school concerts and pep rallies throughout the year.   

Junior High Chorus 

  • We had a very busy year performing at the Reading Royals, PA Renaissance Fair, the PA State Capitol as part of Music in our Schools Month, and the Fightin Phils. We competed in Hershey’s Music in the Parks where we placed 1st and earned the rating of Excellent. We also had nine students selected to participate in District 10 Intermediate Songfest and 14 students selected to perform with Berks County JHS County Chorus.

Junior High Orchestra

  • Junior High School Orchestra has had another successful year. Our Winter Concerts were highly successful, and String Jam was a thrill. During String Jam, both the 7th and 8th grade students enjoyed combining to play together. We enjoyed playing for the Reading Royals Exeter Night along with our SHS Chamber Orchestra friends. We also competed in Hershey;s Music in the Parks where we placed 1st in our division, 1st overall, and earned the rating of Superior. We had 17 students participate in Junior County Orchestra and one of our Bass players was chosen to participate in District Band on String Bass. We wish the 8th graders a great Senior High School musical experience.

Junior High Band

  • The Exeter Junior High School bands had an enjoyable and successful year. The 7th and 8th grade band members started the year by performing with the high school marching band at a football game. We have had two successful concerts and the year ended with the 8th grade band competing in Music in the Parks and Hershey and we placed in 2nd and received an excellent rating. Four of our band members represented our school at the Junior County Band festival and two members participated in PMEA District 10 band.

Elementary Schools

  • Reiffton Chorus performed in the Winter and Spring concerts. Eight students participated in the first ever Elementary Choral Festival in March at Oley Valley Middle School.
  • Elementary Strings and Band performed in their Winter and Spring concerts.

Individual Recognitions:

Senior High Orchestra:

  1. Frank Conte - MEBC Senior County Orchestra, PMEA District Orchestra, PMEA Regional Orchestra
  2. Emily Holliday - MEBC Senior County Orchestra, PMEA District Orchestra
  3. Nathan Bayer - MEBC Senior County Orchestra
  4. Esteban Ruiz - MEBC Senior County Orchestra
  5. Macy Feather - MEBC Senior County Orchestra
  6. Tyler Casiano - MEBC Senior County Orchestra
  7. George Hajj - MEBC Senior County Orchestra
  8. Carson Frederick - MEBC Senior County Orchestra
  9. Jordan Wolfe - MEBC Senior County Orchestra
  10. Zach Kauffman - MEBC Senior County Orchestra
  11. Charlotte Rismiller - MEBC Senior County Orchestra
  12. Katie Hoover - MEBC Senior County Orchestra
  13. Dylann Backenstoss - MEBC Senior County Orchestra
  14. Kendall Druzba, MEBC JHS County Orchestra
  15. Simon Bolich, MEBC JHS County Orchestra
  16. Evan Harvey, MEBC JHS County Orchestra
  17. Peyton Klein, MEBC JHS County Orchestra
  18. Ava Diaz, MEBC JHS County Orchestra
  19. Andrew Schwenck, MEBC JHS County Orchestra

Senior High Band: 

  1. Nathan Bayer - MEBC Senior County Band, PMEA District Band, PMEA Regional Band
  2. Robbie Tufariello - MEBC Senior County Band, PMEA District Band
  3. Faith Feldman - MEBC Senior County Band
  4. Riley Mazur - MEBC Senior County Band
  5. Ryan Cherry - MEBC Senior County Band
  6. Ava Diaz - MEBC JHS County Band
  7. Marissa Millar - MEBC JHS County Band

Senior High Choir:

  1. Becky Cherry - MEBC Senior County Chorus, PMEA District Chorus, PMEA Regional Chorus
  2. Robbie Tufariello - MEBC Senior County Chorus, PMEA District Chorus,
  3. Tyler Casiano - MEBC Senior County Chorus, PMEA District Chorus
  4. Ryan Claudfelter - MEBC SHS County Chorus, PMEA District Chorus
  5. Sarah McCarthy - MEBC SHS County Chorus
  6. Raelin Tufariello - MEBC SHS County Chorus
  7. Collin Warner - MEBC SHS County Chorus
  8. Daniel Pack - MEBC SHS County Chorus
  9. Ava Diaz, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  10. Leoni Choy, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  11. Kaelyn Reynolds, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  12. Gavin Isselmann, MEBC JHS County Chorus

Junior High Orchestra: 

  1. Logan Davis, 8th grade, Violin 1
  2. Dang Nguyen, 8th grade, Violin 1
  3. Aubrey Pallet, 8th grade, Violin 1
  4. Callista Schlappich, 8th grade, Violin 2
  5. Samantha Shipley, 8th grade, Viola,
  6. Morgan Kauffman, 8th grade Viola
  7. Gavin Skimski, 8th grade, Viola
  8.  Grace Campling, 8th grade, Bass 1st chair
  9. Michael Jordan, 7th grade, Bass
  10. Lilly Jordan, 7th grade, Bass
  11. Edward Farrar, 8th grade, Bass
  12. Jillian Crotty, 8th grade, French Horn, 1st chair
  13. Adam Crotty, 8th grade, Trombone

Junior High Band:

  1. Jillian Crotty - MEBC JHS County Band, PMEA District Band
  2. Adam Crotty - MEBC JHS County Band
  3. Michael Jordan, MEBC JHS County Band
  4. Grace Campling, MEBC JHS County Band, PMEA District Band

Junior High Chorus:

  1. Evianna Jones, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  2. Jacinda Motley, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  3. Samantha Shipley, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  4. Julianna McCarthy, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  5. Jillian Crotty, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  6. Callista Schlappich, MEBC JHS County Chorus, PMEA Intermediate Songfest
  7. Grace Campling, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  8. Logan Willauer, MEBC JHS County Chorus, PMEA Intermediate Songfest
  9. Kaleb Schlappich, MEBC JHS County Chorus, PMEA Intermediate Songfest
  10.  Tanner Garrett, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  11. Eddie Farrar, MEBC JHS County Chorus, PMEA Intermediate Songfest
  12. Ajus Singh, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  13. Adam Crotty, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  14.  Logan Hellwig, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  15. Yuvraj Singh, MEBC JHS County Chorus
  16. Taylor Mack - PMEA Intermediate Songfest
  17. Modallys Martinez - PMEA Intermediate Songfest
  18. Giulia Weisser - PMEA Intermediate Songfest
  19. Kiana Whetzel - PMEA Intermediate Songfest

6th Grade Songfest

  1. Matthew Bardi,  
  2. Ava Burkhart, 
  3. Claire Delewski, 
  4. Aurora Elias, 
  5. Mason Foster, 
  6. Colette Jordan, 
  7. Melanie Karasek, 
  8. Joelle Stoltzfus

Reading Music Foundation Merit Scholars: 

  1. Harrison Brumbaugh, cello, 9th grade
  2. Scarlet Jordan, violin, 3rd grade
  3. Ryan Li, violin, 6th grade
  4. Michael Jordan, bass, 7th grade
  5. Grace Campling, bass, 8th grade
  6. Colette Jordan, flute, 6th grade
  7. Molly Nemirow, Exeter Alum
  8. Robert Tufariello, percussion, 12th grade
  9. Esteban Ruiz-Velazquez, jazz, 10th grade