In The Q
April 22, 2023 Newsletter
Cooking up gold medal in SkillsUSA
Culinary student Eric Fosbenner first in state, headed to nationals
Eric Fosbenner, a junior at Quakertown Community High School and Upper Bucks County Technical School, won the Gold Medal at the SkillsUSA state competition in Culinary Arts.
Eric and three other UBCTS first-place finishers - Taylor Diehl of Palisades (Commercial Banking), and two Pennridge students, Jules Strouse (Action Skills) and Sage Szumski (Related Technical Math) - will travel to Atlanta for the SkillsUSA national competition June 19-23.
“I’m feeling really really good, not only for me but for the other three students as well,” Eric said. “That’s really cool. It’s just amazing to see all of the other skills in the competition. It feels great to represent Pennsylvania.”
Though only Gold Medal winners qualify for nationals, five other QCHS students medaled in the state competition. Junior Georgina Martinez took second place in Job Interview Skills, senior Marley Guise was third in Crime Scene Investigation, and juniors Isabel McCarty, Madison Nelson, and Jessica Wu were third in the Health Knowledge Bowl.
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QCHS grad receives Fulbright, CLS scholarships
Robert Bryant, a 2019 graduate of Quakertown Community High School, has been awarded two distinguished scholarships as a soon-to-be graduate of Temple University.
The first, as a CLS (Critical Language Scholarship) Scholar, will have him participate in an extensive three-month Mandarin course in Taiwan. That will be followed up by a 12-month Fulbright Scholarship, regarded as one of the most prestigious international education exchange programs, where he’ll be teaching English to students in Taiwan.
“I would have been happy to get one,” Robbie said in a recent telephone interview. “To get both, I’m ecstatic and very surprised.”
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Strayer student vaults into gymnastic nationals
Strayer seventh-grader Alyssa Housten, a level 9 gymnast, has qualified for the Eastern National Championships as one of the top 7 gymnasts at the regional championships in Virginia Beach.
Competing against girls from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia, Alyssa won first place in vault, and was second in beam to place sixth overall and advance to nationals next month in Florida.
Congratulations Alyssa and best of luck at nationals!
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Media takes note of QCHS athletes' accomplishments
Max Arkans becomes the first Quakertown tennis player to win a Suburban One League championship.
Zach Borzio named Athlete of the Week.
Abbey Wagner has softball team off to fast start.
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Eagle Project: Job Well Done
Austin drew plans to make new picnic tables and a reflection bench. He knew from the start he wanted to use his knowledge and skills learned at Upper Bucks County Technical School in his Eagle project.
Great job Austin!
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QCHS grad comes home to talk forensic science in pathways presentation
Jessica Braeunle, part of Cedar Crest’s Delta Delta Epsilon International Forensic Science Honor Society, and an employee of the Lehigh Valley Health Networks HNL Labs, returned to the school she attended, which had been a goal of hers.
“It’s been an amazing experience,” she said. “I wanted to come back here and show everyone my love for the field.”
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QCHS College and Career fair
Students explore college, career opportunities
“We wanted to have something for everybody,” said Eric Gozzard, the school counselor who organized Wednesday’s event. “It’s important for students to start engaging in the process of what they’ll be doing for the rest of their lives. Maybe today put something on the radar that they haven’t thought of before."
Mr. Gozzard said the feedback he received from visiting representatives was very positive in regard to the questions students were asking. He credited teachers for helping students prepare. "Their participation was huge," he said.
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Multicultural Day a student-led effort
Social Studies classes visited throughout the day, and students had the opportunity to learn about the diverse cultures represented by our student body through clothing, food, music, games, and crafts.
“It was a great opportunity for minorities within our school to have a voice, and for students to learn about other cultures for the sake of learning, to educate themselves, and to share parts of themselves with others,” Nina said. “It went really well. I’ve been getting consistently positive feedback.”
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Drug Take Back Day
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Spanish trip receives great reviews
“It really helped students open their eyes to another culture,” said Brooke Reed, Spanish teacher at the Sixth Grade Campus, who chaperoned the trip with QCHS assistant principal Kim Finnerty. “I certainly learned a lot. It was sort of a vacation but a lot of learning took place.”
Students practiced ordering food in the native language, explored Roman ruins, open-air plazas and parks, and learned about the history of bullfights, royal weddings and public executions. They even got to see the beautiful Sagrada Familia, the world’s largest unfinished Catholic church.
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Madness Challenge winners
Students in Brittany Bamford's and Melissa Bratina's Movement Exercise Science classes have been competing in a grueling Madness challenge. Congratulations to the students, who are left to right in the photo, Jaxon Torres, Otani Ekpe, Taralynn Timer and Jillian Storey. Otani and Jillian won the competition.
The students performed a 7-minute AMRAP consisting of 10 front squats with 25- or 15-pound kettlebells, 200-foot farmer's carry with the kettlebells and then 10 situps. The students completed as many rounds as possible in 7 minutes.
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Strayer volleyball hits court for 1st time
Strayer Middle School has its first boys' volleyball team! The squad is made up of Oaklyn Kuntz, Eli Lowre, Will Morgan, Connor Sparwasser, Holden Tomlinson, Jaden Velazquez, Noah Herd, Alex Petridis, Ethan Smith, Matt Wysocki, Adam Yerger, and Avery Ziegler.
The coach is Lisa Cravener.
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Richland holds annual color run
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Neidig's Dimes To Dollars a huge success
Amazing job 5th grade!
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QCHS seeks businesses for 1st career fair
Quakertown Community High School is inviting local businesses seeking both full- and part-time employees to participate in the school's first Career Fair, first for students and then for the general public.
The event is scheduled for Monday, May 15. The Career Fair for students is scheduled for noon to 2:15 p.m. The general public will follow from 3:15 to 5:15 p.m.
“The focal point is getting job opportunities for all of our students,” said Pathways Administrator Jason Magditch. “Plus, it’s a good opportunity for us to give back to our community and help local businesses and residents of Quakertown.”
The event is a resume-building experience for students, who will need to have one to attend the job fair. “They’ll learn the importance of making a good first impression,” Mr. Magditch said.
For more information, please contact George Banas (gbanas@qcsd.org) or Rachelle Quinter (rquinter@qcsd.org).
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AP boot camp returns August 15-17
Quakertown Community High School is again offering the highly popular AP Boot Camp for incoming ninth-graders who plan to take AP Human Geography.
The three-day session, scheduled for August 15-17 from 9 AM to noon at QCHS, will strengthen their academic foundations and refine their advanced learning skills. The focus is on team building, time management, AP-level reading, and note-taking skills. By performing the work to pass this college-level course, students learn the habits necessary to succeed in high school. Students will have time to ask questions and work on their Summer Assignments. In addition, students who have previously taken the course will also be attending to discuss their experiences in the class.
The Boot Camp will be taught by Sean Burke (sburke@qcsd.org) and Kevin Laboski (klaboski@qcsd.org). Here is the RSVP link.
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QCSD Special Education Plan 2023-2026
Here is QCSD’s Special Education plan for 2023-26.
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IEP Facilitated Professional Development Series, May 10, 1-4 PM
This half-day virtual workshop will prepare IEP team stakeholders and parents for full and valuable participation in a facilitated IEP meeting. Participants will leave with a clear understanding of their role in the meeting as well as how to prepare for active participation, ensuring the meeting process stays focused on the needs of the student. Participants strengthen their understanding of the power of a collaborative, non-adversarial, and compliant IEP meeting process. Additionally, participants will build skills to broker more effective and efficient communication among all team members.
Click here to register for this virtual workshop.
The Zoom meeting information will be sent prior to the start of the event.
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Free prom dresses available; see your school counselor
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PA Game Commission Student Art Contest
The Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) invites Pennsylvania students in middle school, grades 6 through 8 and high school, grades 9 through 12, to participate in the American Marten Reintroduction and Management Plan Art Contest.
The American Marten was last seen in the state of Pennsylvania around 120 years ago. Now, the PGC is considering reintroducing it to the state. The PGC is looking for artist representations of the American marten on suitable Pennsylvania landscapes to be featured in the American Marten Reintroduction and Management Plan.
Through this art contest, the PGC hopes to:
• Promote wildlife art among young artists.
• Enhance students’ knowledge of the American marten, a native species to Pennsylvania which hasn’t been seen in the state in 120 years.
• Recognize and support the talents of young artists.
Learn more about the Contest Rules and Registration Procedures
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Tickets on sale now
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Quakertown Community School District
Email: gweckselblatt@qcsd.org
Website: www.qcsd.org
Location: 100 Commerce Drive, Quakertown, PA, USA
Phone: 215-529-2028
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