Blue & White Newsletter - 12/15/23
Week of December 11, 2023
2023 District Holiday Card Designers Acknowledged at the School Board Meeting
Each year, we offer students the opportunity to design our District Holiday cards. From the submissions, we select two designs for the cards that are sent from the WYASD Board of Directors and Leadership Team to all of the employees.
At Tuesday night's Board meeting, this year's card designers, Sophia Garcia (2nd grade) and Arya Swancer (3rd grade), were celebrated along with their art teacher at Lincolnway Elementary, Ms. Jacquelyn Sengia!
Thank you to all of the students who submitted their designs! And thank you to Mr. Todd Lewis, Tech Ed teacher at the High School, for his creativity on matching the inside of the cards to the students' cover designs!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!
5th & 6th Grade - PMEA District 7 Youth Honors Band
Fifth and sixth grade students from York, Adams, and Lancaster Counties participated in the PMEA District 7 Youth Honors Band on November 18th, 2023. This was the first year that West York was represented in the group. Students who participated worked with guest conductor, Mr. Matt Ceresini from Hempfield High School, and presented a concert at the end of the day.
Students who participated are:
- Tristan St. Jacques - flute
- April Blain - Clarinet
- Zander McGurk - Baritone Sax
- Ian Grigas - trumpet (not pictured)
- Kaleb Lewis - trombone
- Margaret Lutz - tuba
- Paige Richardson - French Horn
Combining Dance Moves and Coding Skills!
Ms. Shanda Goodwin's fourth and fifth grade English learners at Trimmer Elementary continued their journey into the language of coding this week with some dancing! With the help of Ms. Diane Savatt, K-12 Technology Integrator, and her intern, WY senior Gage Weatherby, the kids learned that events cause something to happen. They practiced changing dance moves based on certain events. Then, they were able to code a dance party using code.org. They had a great time building their coding skills and communicating with each other!
Student Prepared Culinary Sweets at the High School
The FACS Department at the High School provided lots of treats for Joseph “Spike” Bahn’s memorial service. Several of Ms. Katie Stoops' and Ms. Anne Hedgcock’s classes came together to make over 1,000 treats for the event.
Also spending time in the kitchen, Ms. Stoops’ and Ms. Hedgcock’s Baking and Pastry 1 classes have been learning all about meringues. They made meringue cookies and macarons. They tasted as fabulous as they look in the picture below!
Developing Student Council Leadership Skills Through Team Building
Our Student Council members at the High School participated in a team building day where they had to build a bridge to hold a stuffed friend. The students teamed up and had to use only the given supplies to work together to build their bridges. Ms. Madelyn Myers and Ms. Anne Hedgcock, Student Council Advisors, saw great leadership, teamwork, and laughter throughout the team building experience. Through their continued development as leaders, WYAHS's Student Council members lead a variety of events/activities that impact their fellow students, our district, and our community at large.
Using Technology to Create Holiday Graphics
In Ms. Gabriell Enoff's Creative Technology class at the Middle School, 8th graders are working with python coding to create images. Students were given the challenge to create a seasonal or holiday scene with the shapes and colors technique they have learned so far! Many students went above what was expected of them and created unique holiday images. Students will soon be moving on to adding animation into their creations!
Half-Day - Piles of Tiles
High School ESL students enjoyed hands-on collaboration while exploring word parts with Ms. Bethany Rodriguez, ESL Teacher. Roots, prefixes, and suffixes are color coded to pump up student knowledge transfer and retention. And colors are fun!
Artists at Work!
Students in Ms. Bridget Toren's Drawing and Painting 1 classes at the High School are hard at work on their final drawings! These animal drawings will encapsulate the elements of art that they have been studying all semester. We can't wait to see the final products!
Art and World Cultures Come Together!
Ms. Emily Corcoran's and Ms. Yvette Ganoe’s World Cultures classes at the High School learned about the meaning and symbolism of origami during their Asia unit. Students were then tasked with creating origami of their own! We had students make cranes, frogs, butterflies, cubes, and much more. We owe a big thanks to our wonderful art teacher, Ms. Taylor Bemisderfer, for helping plan this amazing lesson! Check out our origami on display in the windows of the High School!
You've Been Elfed!
Students in Ms. Marsha Yanick's 4th grade classroom at Trimmer Elementary have been celebrating the holidays by committing random acts of kindness. The first kindness elves were voted on by the whole class. They were chosen because of the kind deeds they regularly performed. The kindness elf of the day then got to choose the next day's elf, and in doing so needed to indicate an act of kindness that they observed their friend doing.
2023 Shop With A Cop - Another Huge Success!
Shop With a Cop is a national program that pairs local Police Officers with children and their families in an effort to provide support during the Holiday Season, supported by local fundraising and donations.
This year, our WYASD team, consisting of school counselors, principals, assistant principals, and social workers, collaborated with Chief Laughman of the WY Fire Department, Chief Snyder of the West Manchester Township PD, Chief Millsaps and Brie Mundy of the WY Borough PD, and Lorie Bevans from Reliance Transportation to support our West York families.
The Target shopping event was held on 12/5/23 and included members of the WY Borough PD, York County Sheriff's Office, WY Borough Fire Dept, and York County Probation Services. Our Walmart shopping experience was held on 12/13/23 and included Officers from the West Manchester Township Police Department. This year, our volunteers and officers shopped with 30 students and their families.
In addition to the in-person shopping experience, the NorthShore Organization is able to support an additional 60 students from West York. This group of volunteers goes shopping for students based on a wish list they provide, and work with our West York Borough and West Manchester Township Police Departments to deliver wrapped gifts to our families.
Our Reliance Bus Company supported 6 families, for a total of 10 students, in providing gifts based on wish lists. Reliance will work with West York to deliver the gifts and coordinate pick up with our families before the schools break for this holiday season.
Junior Achievement is Coming to the High School!
Volunteers Needed!
We need your help! On Thursday, March 14th, Junior Achievement of South Central PA will be at the High School with their STEM Summit Program. Students will be participating in the day-long event designed to explore careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
The goal of the STEM Summit is to inspire students to pursue an academic STEM focus in the remainder of their high school courses. After the completion of the STEM Summit, guidance counselors have a foundation to work with students on appropriate course work.
For this day to be a success, we will need volunteers to facilitate ONE of the STEM activities for the day as students rotate through various stations. You do not need to have a STEM background to be a GREAT volunteer! You also do not have to be an approved school volunteer to help with this day. Please feel free to share this opportunity with friends, neighbors, and colleagues who may be interested in helping the students of our school.
Junior Achievement will provide online training as well as on-site support to all volunteers. A light breakfast and lunch will also be available for volunteers. Please consider volunteering and join us as we spend the day empowering and inspiring our students. This opportunity is only possible with the support of wonderful volunteers like you.
You can check out the Q&A here for questions you may have.
You can click on the flyer below to register as a volunteer.
DECEMBER 15, 2023
9th/10th Grade:
Alissa Lawson
For your patience and tenacity!
11th/12th Grade:
Fariya Bushra
For your extra work/effort to help host the SV Model UN Conference!
Faculty/Staff:
Ms. Mary Freed
For for all the hard work you do with locker swag, and
for supporting students to learn to be accountable for their learning!
December Important Dates
- Wednesday, Dec. 20, 5:00 PM, Bulldog Pantry Distribution Night
- Friday, Dec. 22, Early Dismissal
- December 25-January 1, Holiday/Winter Break
- Tuesday, Jan. 2, Students return from Holiday/Winter Break
FOR YOUR INFORMATION
IN AND AROUND THE DISTRICT
Time to Order Your Middle School Yearbook
Calling all Middle School students - don't miss out on ordering your 2023-2024 Yearbook!
The yearbook captures today's memories to enjoy for a lifetime!
The $35 price is only good through January 26th! Don't delay and possibly miss this low pricing! Click the image below to order your yearbook today.
- Complimentary admission to all home athletic events (excludes playoff events)
- Complimentary admission to all District concerts (most do not charge admission)
If you have any questions, please feel free to email
BulldogMail@wyasd.org or call 717-792-2796 ext. 1003 or 1004
Spring events will be announced in early January,
and will include the High School musical dinner and a show event!
Community Corner - Be Sure To Check It Out Often!
The Community Corner of our website offers families many helpful links to organizations or flyers about upcoming or ongoing community activities, clubs, and events. The information on this webpage changes frequently and those changes will be highlighted here as they occur. The latest updates are pictured below.
From our Home webpage, click on Community to access links to various organizations/community events.
Here are just some examples:
- Cub Scouts (Boys & Girls ages 5-12)
- Girl Scouts
- West York Boys Club
- York JCC
- YMCA of York
- YWCA of York
Community Resources such as:
- United Way
- Community Progress Council
- Dream Wrights Center for Community Arts
Fundraisers Benefiting WYASD Students, Teams, and Clubs
Class of 2025 Gardners Candies Fundraiser
TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO PLACE YOUR ORDER!!
Help support the Class of 2025 by purchasing delicious Gardners candy! With the holidays right around the corner, it is the perfect gift, snack, or stocking stuffers! All proceeds will benefit the class of 2025. Please visit GTardnersCandiesFundraising.com or scan the QR Code.
Our Organization Name when ordering is: West York Area HS-Class of 2025
Our Group ID Number is: 10-1564
Thank you in advance for supporting the Class of 2025!