Board honors student athletes, volunteers
Swim, track, wrestling teams recognized by school officials
Dozens of students and a handful of volunteers were recognized at a recent school board meeting.
Dozens of students and a handful of special volunteers were recognized by the North Penn School Board for their service to their community Thursday night.
“I think we can all agree that without the generous volunteers in our schools, we would not be as successful as we are,” said district Superintendent Curt Dietrich. North Penn High School senior Ben Dogonniuck was recognized as president of the high school’s Key Club, which Dietrich said will log close to 4,000 hours of public service during the current school year.
“We picked Ben because he represents the tens of thousands of hours that our students, kindergarten through 12th grade, devote to service in our community,” he said.
“We’re thrilled to be instilling this commitment to helping others into our future generations,” Dietrich said.
Ted and Bonnie Knauss were recognized by the board for their 40 years
heading the district’s International Friendship Committee, which brings international students to North Penn from overseas and vice-versa.
“They work extremely hard, raising the tens of thousands of dollars needed each year for student travel, ensuring our program is one of the best in the country, if not the world,” Dietrich said.
Volunteer Jeanie Sinz was honored for her work with North Penn’s chapter of the “Art Goes to School” program, which has brought artwork and art education into district classrooms since the late 1970s.
“When Jeanie, or any of the other AGTS volunteers, visit our classrooms with artwork in tow, our students beam with excitement, and a love of art is the result for many of our students. This program would not be possible without people like Jeanie,” Dietrich said.
Sandy Linberger, a special education teacher at Gwynedd Square Elementary, was honored for her trip in October 2016 to Haiti to help establish a classroom for students with disabilities, and similar trips to Haiti in the summer of 2014 and 2015 to work with students there.
“Sandy is recognized as an example of volunteering beyond our borders,” Dietrich said.
District Judge Andrea Duffy was also honored by the board, for her efforts since 2012 in teaching civics to students in five North Penn elementary schools through her “Law and Liberty” educational program.
“Judge Duffy teaches grade school students on a variety of topics, including choosing government leaders, what makes a good law, the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment and cyber bullying, juvenile court, and mock trials,” Dietrich said.
Also recognized by the board for recent victories at regional and state competitions were the following:
North Penn High School Boys Swimming and Diving team: Ben Ahlmark, Ian Boland-Bintner, Greyson Campbell, Aidan Daly, Eric Degodny, Sean Faikish, Ryley Fein, Derek Friday, Ryan Hartmann, Bryce Hoch, Noah Jamieson, William Klein, Nico Kountroubis, Matthew Krise, Evan Mancini, Shane Marcus, Evan Meiers, Andrew Patterson, Luke Schwar. Coaches: Jeff Faikish, Brian Faikish, Selma Robinson, Kyle Goldbacher and Kyle Kushner.
North Penn High School Girls Swimming and Diving team: Maddy Baker, Mareen Boland-Bintner, Paige Burrell, Juli Davis, Caroline Dunigan, Kailyn Evans, Madalyn Freece, Abbey Greene, Katelyn Harkrader, Heather Hartmann, Maddy Koerper, Alison McLaughlin, Haley Muth, Abby Peters, Rosalinda Rivera, Parker Schulz, Callie Smith, Claudia Thamm, Olivia Toussaint, Maddy Voss, Meghan Wenzel, Megan Zartman. Coaches: Jeff Faikish, Brian Faikish, Selma Robinson, Kyle Goldbacher and Kyle Kushner.
North Penn High School Girls Indoor Track team: Natalie Kwortnik, Kathleen Stevenson, Uchechi Nwogwugwu, Mikaela Vlasic, Jessica Brenfleck, Ariana Gardizy, Sophia Broadhurst, Olivia Dyer, Jenna Webb, Lauren Follis. Coach: Dick Swanker.
North Penn High School Wrestling: Colin Shannon, Ryan Cody; coach: Robert Shettsline.