Spotlighting the many student achievements of 2016-17

Each year I enjoy sharing the many accomplishments of our students. These accomplishments range from excellence in academics and vocational skills to excellence in fine arts and athletics.

In academic subjects, noteworthy accomplishments were achieved at both middle and high school levels. The high school Science Olympiad team won first place in the county (for the tenth year in a row), and seventh place in the regional competition. The middle school team won seventh place in the regional competition, earning two medals for a third and fourth place. One student on the middle school MathCounts team placed in the top twenty percent in this Berks County mathematics competition. In another county competition, Envirothon assesses students’ knowledge of our natural environment. The competition is held at the Nolde Environmental Education Center here in Berks County. The two middle school teams earned fifth and seventh place respectively.

Many students were recognized for their achievement through their induction in honor societies. Twenty-five juniors and ten additional seniors were honored through their induction into the National Honor Society this year. This recognizes excellence in academic achievement, character, leadership, and service. They joined twenty-five seniors who were inducted last year. Twenty-four students were inducted into Quill and Scroll (an international honorary society for high school journalists). Seven Fleetwood students were inducted into the National Technical Honor Society through the Berks Career and Technology Center. Jordan Reaser was named school-wide senior of the year for the east campus.

Thirty-three students from our chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) competed in the state leadership conference. One of our students (Sebastian Kukielka) earned first place in the Public Service Announcement category. Alexis Schoener and Michael Wojciechowski were accepted into the National Business Honor Society. Our FBLA chapter received 4th place for their Annual Business Report, 5th place for their community service, and 7th place in the Outstanding Chapter rating. Two of our students (Sebastian Kukielka and Carter Miller) will be competing in the national FBLA competition in Anaheim, California.

In music, many of our students were selected to participate, through auditions, in ensembles from the county up to the state level. Two students, Marisalley George and Leah Conrad, were selected for All-State Orchestra. Three students participated in Regional Chorus (Erin Bogacki, Shane Burt, Aubree Kilp), two in Regional Orchestra (Leah Conrad, Marisalley George), and two in Regional Band (Ronald Tomko, Nicole Powers). At the district level (consisting of seven counties), we had nine students participate in District Chorus, four in District Band, and two in District Orchestra. Twenty-seven of our high school students participated in Senior County ensembles, including seven in Orchestra, ten in Chorus, and ten in Band. Thirty-seven students participated in Junior County ensembles, including four students in Junior County Chorus, eighteen in Junior County Band, and fifteen in Junior County Orchestra. Eleven students participated in the Sixth Grade County String Fest and nine students in the Sixth Grade Band Fest. Five students participated in the Intermediate (grades 5-6) District Band and two students in the Intermediate District Orchestra. We also had four students accepted into the Lebanon Valley College Honors Band and six students received a Reading Musical Foundation Merit Scholarship.

In fine arts, the high school’s literary magazine (Artifact) won a silver medal in the state from the Pennsylvania School Press Association. Thirty-two students were inducted into the National Art Honor Society this year. We also had twentythree students complete senior art projects that were publicly displayed last month.

Our students also earned recognition in athletics. Our girls’ soccer team were the county champions and were state semi-finalists, and our boys’ soccer team were state qualifiers. Alexis Schoener earned recognition as an All-State and All Region– All American in soccer and Devon Carroll earned recognition as an All-State Honorable Mention in field hockey. Six of our field hockey students earned a place on the 2016 NFHCA/Keith Waldman-Optimal Performance Association High School National Academic Squad and four field hockey players were placed on the Pennsylvania High School Field Hockey Coaches Association Academic All-State Team. Thirteen of our students were state and national qualifiers for cheerleading. Quinten Collinge placed 162nd in the state in cross country. In Boys’ Tennis, Zachary Schukraft and Adam Cook were Berks County Champions of Flight II Doubles. In Track and Field, Sarah Crissman placed 5th in the 800 at the PA State Indoor Track and Field Meet and qualified for the New Balance Indoor National Meet in the 800. Also in Track & Field, Sarah was county champion and state qualifier in the 800 and Trevor Koenig was county champion in the javelin.

The Fleetwood Area School District is very proud of all of our students and is pleased to recognize those students who have excelled through numerous end-ofyear awards programs.

This is my last article as Superintendent. It has been my honor and pleasure serving the Fleetwood School Community these past fifteen years.

Upcoming Events in the Fleetwood Area School District

June 4 – Baccalaureate 6 p.m. high school auditorium

June 6 – Graduation 7 p.m. Keystone Hall on the campus of Kutztown University

The Board of School Directors will hold meetings on June 13 and 20, both at 7 p.m.