In The Q

April 22, 2019 newsletter

Cam Night at memorial park stadium

ATTENTION: see date change ... Panthers in Cam's corner with special fundraiser

Because of the forecast for rain on April 26, the game has been moved up to April 25 at 7:30 p.m.


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The Quakertown Community High School baseball team is holding a special fundraiser for its April 25 game against Pennridge, 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Park Stadium in Quakertown.


The team is selling T-shirts and collecting donations on behalf of Cameron Wakeley, a 7-year-old baseball player who has been diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma. All money raised will go to defray Cam’s medical costs. Faculty and staff are taking part in a dress down day on April 24 to support the cause. Money will also be collected at the game between two quality teams -- $5 is a suggested donation.


Panthers catcher Justin Butler, who is friends with Cam, helped inspire the idea for Cam Night. “I see what he’s going through,” Justin said. “This is something the team is doing to make him feel special. It’s sad to see someone so young have to go through something like this. We’re trying to build strength around him, so he knows we’re all with him.”


Please click here for full story.

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Record-setting mini-thon

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QCHS doubles last year's effort, 'obliterates' goal


It is an example of student leadership and community service, committed teachers and a caring school community. Together, they achieved great things for a great cause.


We’re talking about Quakertown Community High School’s Mini-THON 2019, which raised a record $31,360.65, more than doubling last year’s achievement of just under $15,000, and topping the students’ goal of $20,000.


The funds go to Four Diamonds at Penn State Children’s Hospital to cover the treatment costs for pediatric cancer patients.


The high school’s Mini-THON executive board includes four seniors: Alex Brandis, Tori Caputo, Jarod Clarke and Hailey Reiss. They were supported at every step by teachers and Mini-THON advisers Rachel Girman and Melissa Ritter, who spent a day with the student leaders at the children’s hospital so they would understand why what they were doing mattered.


Please click here for full story.

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Richland reigns in math 24 tourney

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Captures crown for the fourth time in five years

For the fourth time in the five years Richland Elementary School has won the Quakertown Community School District Math 24 Tournament championship.


Richland won the 2019 competition in “overwhelming” fashion, said Mr. Zach Garger, QCSD Instructional Coach and tournament facilitator. Trumbauersville finished second and Pfaff was third in the tournament, which included 40 students, the top eight from each elementary school.


Owen Richwine, Jackson Connelly and Alexia Lopez, all from Richland, were the top three finishers. Collin Waninger, of Trumbauersville, was fourth.


Please click here for full story.

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QCHS earns silver in U.S. News rankings

With more than 600 high schools in Pennsylvania, U.S. News & World Report has placed Quakertown Community High School 83rd in its latest rankings.


QCHS once again earned a silver medal, one of 102 schools to do so. It's the fourth consecutive year it has received the coveted silver rating. Only five schools earned gold medals, including New Hope-Solebury, the top-rated school in Bucks County. Another 109 school earned bronze medals.


In Bucks County, which has 13 districts and 16 high schools, QCHS finished sixth behind NH-S, Council Rock North, Central Bucks East, CR South and CB South.


QCHS finished ahead of Bensalem, Bristol, CB West, Palisades, Neshaminy, Pennridge, Pennsbury, Truman and William Tennent. QCHS also beat out nearby schools Saucon Valley and Souderton.

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future business leaders of america

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5 qchs students qualify for fbla nationals

The Quakertown Community High School's Future Business Leaders of America had five students compete in the April 8-10 State Conference in Hershey and qualify for nationals.


Jake Lewis and Sam Barndt placed second in Management Decision Making, while Shawn Newswanger and Emelia Graham finished third in Management Information Systems.


Mervyn Brumbach, a freshman, was second in Accounting II.


Each student, by virtue of their outstanding performance, qualified for the national competition.

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Fifth annual college fair

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Approximately 1,200 ninth, 10th and 11 graders had the opportunity to meet with more than 80 colleges, universities and military organizations during the 5th annual College Fair on April 11 at Quakertown Community High School.


The occasion, organized by QCHS counselor Eric Gozzard, gives students the opportunity to speak with admissions officials about college life, expectations, grades, financial aid, scholarships and career opportunities. Several representatives visiting the school described the event as “full of energy.”


Please click here for photo pages.

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joshy j

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QCHS money-making rapper developing his brand

Josh Szabo remembers a time when he had no use for rap. These days, that seems like ages ago for the talented Quakertown Community High School musician, who changed his perspective while attending the Harvey Cedars Bible Conference the summer before his eighth grade year at Strayer Middle School.


“I used to hate rap,” Josh said, shaking his head at the thought. “But at that summer camp there were people playing hip hop and I’m thinking to myself ‘This isn’t that bad.’ Now it’s all I listen to.”


Not only does he listen to it, but he has developed a passion to record it as well. The junior drummer for the QCHS Jazz Band is making money from songs he has written, engineered and placed on YouTube.


“I just love making music,” Josh said. “This is my passion. If I can make this my job, I get to do what I love. I feel God is calling me to do this.”


Please click here for full story.

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Steelstacks jazz champs

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The Quakertown Community High School Jazz Band topped 20 other schools to win the 8th Annual Jazz Showcase at SteelStacks. The victory means QCHS will open for nationally touring jazz artists performing at SteelStacks later this year.


Quakertown was part of an hour-long television special on April 13, on Channel 69-WFMZ. Directed by Frank Parker, the band competed in the finals against Kutztown, North Penn, Phillipsburg, Upper Moreland and William Tennent.

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PA Technology Student Association Conference Results

Eight-one students from the Quakertown Community School District competed in the Pennsylvania Technology Student Association Conference from April 10-13. The students were from the Sixth Grade Center (17), Strayer Middle School (34) and Quakertown Community High School (30). Here are the results:


Sixth Grade Center

Matthew Burger: 6th Junior Solar Sprint

Derek Calvello: 5th Dragster; 6th R/C Off-Road Racing

Viktor Durr: 7th Robotics

Logan Godshall: 1st Dragster

Kieran Hennessy: 6th R/C Off-Road Racing

Evan Mooney: 6th Junior Solar Sprint

Tyler Moyer: 6th Junior Solar Sprint; 7th Robotics; 8th Dragster

Luca Notarianni: 6th R/C Off-Road Racing; 10th Junior Solar Sprint

Ryley Peloquin: 5th Mechanical Engineering

Annabelle Troup: 5th Mechanical Engineering

Aiden Whiteley: 9th Dragster; 10th Junior Solar Sprint


Strayer Middle School

Kaitlin Calvello: 5th, Logo Design

Ryan Dauter: 1st Prepared Speech; 3rd Junior Solar Sprint; 4th Structural Engineering; 8th Flight

Hasan Demirgil: 6th Medical Technology; 6th Robotics

Kayra DeVries: 4th Junior Solar Sprint; 7th Mass Production

Jillian Fiorello: 6th Digital Photography; 9th Promotional Marketing

John Gilley: 7th, Dragster

Lauren Harwick: 4th Structural Engineering

Evan Hilton: 2nd Dragster; 3rd R/C Off-Road Racing; 6th Robotics

Alyssa Klempner: 3rd Construction Challenge; 10th Medical Technology

Kelly Kreuz: 1st Materials Process; 3rd Community Service Video; 6th Medical Technology

Olivia Litvinchuk: 3rd Construction Challenge; 10th Medical Technology

Dylan Lystad: 3rd R/C Off-Road Racing; 6th Dragster

Grace Maceri: 3rd Community Service Video; 6th medical Technology

Madison Mallery: 3rd R/C Off-Road Racing

Zachary Polek: 4th Dragster

Megan Roth: 2nd Delta Dart

Claire Russell: 3rd Community Service Video; 6th Medical Technology

Carter Schwartz: 3rd Dragster; 6th Robotics; 9th CAD Foundations

Kayla Sicher: 1st Flight; 4th Junior Solar Sprint; 7th Mass Production

Ethan Tomlinson: 3rd Junior Solar Sprint; 10th Dragster

Darby Vail: 3rd Construction Challenge; 5th Essays on Technology

Ayden Walsh: 3rd Junior Solar Sprint; 6th Robotics


Quakertown Community High School

Samantha Baker: 9th Logo Design

Cian Brownlee: 6th Digital Video Production

Aidan Halteman; 6th Digital Video Production

Kyle Harwick: 6th Biotechnology Design

Elizabeth Hilton: 6th Biotechnology Design

Kara Kreuz: 6th Biotechnology Design; 7th Materials Processes

Emily Maceri: 6th Biotechnology Design

Dylan Moyer: 3rd Flight Endurance; 8th R/C Off-Road Racing

Adeniyi Onanuga: 1st Computer-Aided Design, Architecture; 10th Architectural Design

Philip Richwine: 8th Dragster Design

Darian Sawadski: 8th R/C Off-Road Racing

Lucas Schwartz: 6th Digital Video Production; 8th R/C Off-Road Racing

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top employee!

Congratulations to Lelaina Ferrell, ASPIRE’s latest Employee of the Month! According to her teacher, Elizabeth Alvino, Lelaina tackles every job with enthusiasm and always does her best!

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Good golly, it's ollie

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Trumbauersville Elementary School recently represented one of their own at the 10th annual Ready, Set GO(LD) 5k walk, 8k run and Kid's Fun Run to benefit the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley.

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Student receives President's Volunteer Service Award

Richland Elementary School fifth grader Riley McGinty recently received the Bronze level President's Volunteer Service Award for her service as a Junior Girl Scout.


In 2018 Riley logged more than 50 hours of volunteer service! This year she has continued to volunteer and has added an additional 26 hours.


Riley is one of the Girl Scouts who spoke at a recent School Board meeting. You can read that story here.

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Welcome SRO hendrzak

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Richland Elementary School students were happy to welcome School Resource Officer Brian Hendrzak. This week, students may see SRO Hendrzak and SRO Bob Lee, in addition to other officers, as they'll be conducting a safety assessment of the school.

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QCSD art show

Friday, May 17th, 6:30-9pm

600 Park Avenue

Quakertown, PA

The show continues Saturday, May 18, from 1-3 pm and 6:30-10 pm. It features student artwork for grades 1-12.

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Elementary string orchestra

Wednesday, May 22nd, 7pm

1200 Ronald Regan Drive

Quakertown, PA

Under the direction of Megan Edinger, each of the string musicians in the district's elementary schools will come together for one exciting performance!

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Two QCHS wrestlers make all-intell team

The Quakertown Community High School had two wrestlers chosen to The Intelligencer's All-Intell wresting team. The outstanding competitors are Kyle Miller and Dom DeFalco.


The information can be found here.

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Reading olympics

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Strayer's 'As the page turns' wins Blue ribbon in county competition

Strayer Middle School’s “As the Page Turns” team won the first place Blue Ribbon at the April 9 Bucks County Reading Olympics.


The team, coached by Mrs. Wignovich, earned an impressive 68 points, highest in the challenging competition!


Each team participated in three rounds of 20 questions, for a total of 60 questions based on a list of 45 books. Teams received one point per correct answer, and for correctly answering a question that their opponent answered incorrectly.


Congratulations to this hardworking team of super readers!

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QE tops all elementary competition

With the support of Mrs. Held and Mrs. Bolks, Quakertown Elementary School students displayed their QE Pride and their First Place Blue Ribbons at the Bucks County Reading Olympics.

Trum, Pfaff and Neidig friends show off their ribbons

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Red ribbons for Richland Speed Readers and Reading Sunshines

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Quakertown Community Education Foundation Seeks Parent Board Members

Founded in 2002, the Quakertown Community Education Foundation (QCEF) is a 501.c.3 foundation independent from the QCSD. The mission of the QCEF is to partner with the QCSD and the community to enhance academic and extracurricular and co-curricular programs provided for the students. The QCEF receives no taxpayer money as it is responsible for its own fundraising.

We accomplish our mission through a variety of programs. We offer teachers mini-grants of up to $500 to support innovative educational programs not in the district budget. The QCEF funds the biennial “Artist in Residence” program and the annual Neamand Memorial Lecture in civics and social studies. A more recent project is purchasing books for every first-grader in the district.

The QCEF has an independent board made up of members of the community and representatives from the QCSD administration, QCEA and QCSD School Board. Our board is missing a voice from an important part of the QCSD community – the parents of our students. We want to add 1-2 parents who are willing to serve. The board meets every other month on the second Wednesday at 7:30 at the QCSD office. In addition to attending board meetings, board members are asked to participate in committee work and various projects. Board terms are three years.

Please contact QCEF Chair Bill Tuszynski at wtuszynski@verizon.net if you are interested to discuss the role in more detail.

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Mr. Murmylo's Neidig guitar club

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QCSD holds safe school training session

On April 10, approximately three dozen QCSD employees volunteered to stay after school to learn how to apply tourniquets and potentially save lives from uncontrolled bleeding in the event of an active shooting.


The training, called "Stop The Bleed," was presented by St. Luke's Trauma. It's part of the district's continuous safe school training, and the session was organized by School Resoirce Officer Bob Lee.

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Health Care career talk

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Quakertown Community High School students had the opportunity to learn about college majors in the health care field this morning. The seminar in the QPAC, organized by counselor Patty Sabol, was given by Temple University.

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richland stem club

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Pre-K Counts information

Pre-K Counts is a free preschool program open to children ages 3 and 4 (by September 1, 2019) who meet the income eligibility guidelines. There are three local locations for this program: Pfaff Elementary, Richland Elementary, and LifeSpan's child care center.


Please click here for more information.

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Youth baseball league for those with special needs

Baseball For Special People, a program for individuals with special needs, is seeking coaches.


Coaches must be at least 14 years old. Student coaches need a letter of recommendation from an adult. Adult coaches must have a background check similar to those of school employees. The league is also looking for players from the age of 5 to 99. Games are played on the Little League fields in Quakertown on Sunday afternoons, starting at 3:30 p.m.


For addition information, contact league president Paul Gerhart Jr., at 267-992-4973.

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Presentations on vaping for parents, guardians

Two important presentations were recently given at Quakertown Community High School that Superintendent Dr. Bill Harner wanted to make parents and guardians aware of.


One involves drug abuse and vaping; the other is about the Pennsylvania Youth Survey.


David Fialko of the Council Of Southeast Pennsylvania, a highly sought after speaker, spoke about drug abuse and vaping. His presentation can be found here.


Carolyn Staffieri, a QCSD Pupil Services Administrative Intern, presented on PAYS data. Her presentation can be found here.

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Custodians needed: Here's how to apply

The Quakertown Community School District is in need of custodians. SSC Services, which services the district, is seeking full and part time permanent and seasonal custodian positions.

Candidates may contact Laird Ihle, director of SSC, at 610-392-1059 or via email at lihle-ssc@qcsd.org.

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School Bus drivers needed

The Levy School Bus Company is seeking drivers.


The position has flexible hours, a positive environment and is conveniently located in the Quakertown area.


Levy offers a competitive wage package, 401(k) benefits with company matched funds, bonus incentives, training and development, career opportunities, extra hours available evenings and weekends (optional), and community involvement.


This is a perfect job for people who love children, stay-at-home parents, college students looking for education experience, former teachers and anyone in need of extra income.

If you’re interested in becoming a school bus driver or want to hear more, please call Len at 215-536-4567 x121 or email len@levybus.com.

Quakertown Community School District

Gary Weckselblatt, QCSD Director of Communications, writes about the people and the programs that impact the Quakertown Community School District. Find more District topics of interest on the qcsd.org website by clicking here.