News – Planet Wildcat

Spanish Dancing Fun Annual Experience

Mrs. Jessica McLaughlin, Public Relations Officer

December 6, 2019

Learning rhythms, beats, steps, and choreography isn’t just work for the Rockettes and Broadway stars, Western Wayne High School foreign language students have a yearly tradition of learning Spanish dancing as a part of their curriculum each fall. Local dance instructor and studio owner Vince Brust works with the Western Wayne students to teach a variety of traditional Spanish dances such as tango, merengue, mambo, and salsa among others. The students have a few weeks of sessions with Mr. Brust in the fall leading up to a performance for the community in early November. Some of the students in the classes with Brust have been working with him for four years. Seniors Nicholas Gombita, Kendra Oliver, Samantha Scaduto, and Alyssa Iovacchini feel very excited to be working again on their dancing skills this...

Western Wayne Sophomores Chosen to Attend HOBY Leadership Seminar

October 23, 2019

Western Wayne sophomores Bridget Oppelt and Rachel Tuman have been chosen to present Western Wayne at the 2020 Central Pennsylvania HOBY Leadership Seminar at Shippensburg University in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, from May 14 through May 17. Both young ladies are very accomplished at Western Wayne. Bridget is an honor roll student who enjoys being a part of the Western Wayne Marching Band where she plays the alto saxophone. She also does baton with the Double R Twirlettes and likes to ride horses in her spare time. Like her classmate, Rachel also is highly involved in academics and activities. ...

Western Wayne High School Students THINK ENERGY!

Mrs. Jessica McLaughlin, Public Relations Officer

October 23, 2019

Western Wayne High School students in grade 9 experienced the THINK! ENERGY Innovation Program on Tuesday, October 22. This program is an interactive, hands-on presentation with a take home energy efficiency kit for each participating student and teacher. The program teaches the importance of energy, natural resources and environmental resources, and gives each participating student’s family energy-efficient technologies to install at home. Students and staff in the high school received innovation kits on October 22. The kits included four LED light bulbs, a water conserving shower head as...

Lacawac joins the American Chestnut Research and Restoration Projec

Sinclaire Ogof, Columnist

October 23, 2019

This spring and summer I had the opportunity to participate in a nationwide movement led by the American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) that is taking place right here at Lacawac Sanctuary. The goal of TACF is to restore the American chestnut (Castanea dentata) tree that once dominated and ranged greatly over the Northeastern forests. The tree species was stricken by a fungal blight, Cryphonectria parasitica, and almost vanished completely from the forests. The fungal pathogen was imported accidentally from Asia to the U.S. Once introduced, with no predators in the U.S., the pathogen was able to sprea...

FBLA Students Excel at State Competition

April 16, 2019

Ten WW students have qualified for the organization's national competition to be held in Texas this summer.

Spirit Week Festivities Set for Next Week

April 10, 2019

That’s Right! It’s that time of year again when all the grades compete against one another in a series of events held thorough the week. “I like spending time with my friends.” said junior Sadie Nahman when asked why she is looking forward to next week's events. Spirit week will be from April 15th through the 18th with the games being held on Wednesday and the Academic bowl being held on Thursday. “I like Dodgeball because I like seeing others get hit with balls.” junior Tj Pope said. Students say this is a big deal for the seniors because most colleges and universities don�...

Cats Club Dedicated to Helping Community to Thrive

Maggy Langendoerfer, Staff Reporter

February 11, 2019

Helping people in need: That is what the Western Wayne C.A.T.S Club is all about. The most recent activity that the C.A.T.S club participated in was sending medical kits to kids in Africa. C.A.T.S Club is a club at Western Wayne that stands for community attitude towards success. C.A.T.S Club is all about volunteering and helping the community and that is exactly what they are doing. The club has done many community based volunteer work in the past and in the future. This organization tries to get the students of Western Wayne involved in the community they live in. They also try to get non-members to help the community and other people. Recently they hosted a blood drive in honor of English teacher Mr. James Rebar, who benefited from several blood transfusions before he tragically died of cancer. The club...

Students Host Blood Drive in Honor of Beloved Teacher

January 22, 2019

“Wildcats first down!” was announced for many years at Western Wayne home football games by the late Mr. James Rebar, beloved English teacher in the high school, who also served as the announcer for Wildcat football games. Rebar lost a battle with cancer this past summer and his students decided to honor him with a blood drive on Friday, November 30 hosted at the high school. Senior Taylor Smith ran this event as her senior project. Western Wayne seniors complete service-based projects as a step towards their graduation. Taylor, who is interested in studying nursing next year, says...

Art Students Receive Recognition from Scranton Times

January 21, 2019

Creative pieces in charcoal, colored pencil, pen and ink and many other mediums can be admired in art galleries across the globe or in nearby art classrooms at Western Wayne High School. Many Western Wayne High School artists have been recognized as 2019 Artists of the Month by the Scranton Times. The Times chooses students for this honor from artwork entries of students across Northeast PA. One such student who is being honored as the January artist of the month is senior Maya Black. She created a colored pencil, pen and ink, and water colo...

Veterans Day Opportunity to Honor One of Western Wayne’s Own

Mrs.Jessica McLaughlin, Public Relations Officer

January 21, 2019

As a tradition for many years, Western Wayne administration, faculty, staff, and students joined together on Thursday, November 9 to celebrate veterans in the community with a special in-school event that featured music from the high school band and chorus, wise words from a veteran guest speaker, and this year the event had the added component of a special presentation of a high school diploma to a former student that was 50 years in the making. Mr. Harry Howard Howell, a Navy Seaman from 1964 through 1971, attended the Lake Consolidated School before enlisting. He would have received his diploma in 1966 but life had other plans. Howell went on to earn his GED at sea in 1967. He grew up in Wayne County and returned to the area after his time in the military. He was honorably discharged in 1971 and returned...

Western Wayne Students Teach Science at Elementary School

January 21, 2019

Learning about what types of materials protect against ultraviolet light and figuring out what elements on Mars cause it to not sustain human life sound like topics for college students to tackle in their courses. However, Western Wayne students at the Evergreen Elementary School are getting a head start on understanding scientific questions of this nature through their work with Western Wayne High School chemistry students. The week of October 22 was National Chemistry Week and in honor of this week Ms. Maria Masankay, high school chemistry teacher, and some of her lab technicians came to...

Western Wayne High School Students THINK ENERGY!

January 21, 2019

On October 29th Western Wayne High School Students in grade 9 experienced the THINK! ENERGY Innovation Program. This program is an interactive, hands-on presentation with a take home energy efficiency kit for each participating student and teacher. The program teaches the importance of energy, natural resources and environmental resources, and gives each participating student’s family energy-efficient technologies to install at home. Students and Staff in the high school received innovation kits on October 29th. The kits included four LED light bulbs, shower timer, a water conserving shower hea...