Wayne Highlands School Scene 2013

SCHOOLA S p e c i a l S u p p l e m e n t t o t h e S u l l i v a n C o u n t y D e m o c r a t

S E C T I O N H • S E P T E M B E R , 2 0 1 3 • C A L L I C O O N , N Y

A look at activities in the Wayne Highlands

School DistrictHonesdale, PA.SCENE

2H HONESDALE ED TAB SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT SEPTEMBER, 2013

Facing down jitters, new teacher does what he lovesShawn Knash could have

sought a teaching job any-where, but the way he sees it,

there’s no place like home.In August, the graduate of

Honesdale High School andKutztown University began hisvery first week at the front of theclass, teaching social studies andEnglish Language Arts to eighthgraders at Wayne HighlandsMiddle School.

“I love it here – the kids, the par-ents, the staff, the culture,” saidKnash. “There’s no place like it.”

Approaching that first day, Knashsaid, he felt a combination of bothexcitement and fear.

“You want to make sure that kidsknow what’s expected,” he said.“The first time they meet you, youwant to make sure you set thetone.”

So at 9:30 a.m. on the first day ofschool, he awaited the studentswho began flooding into his socialstudies class.

“I focused on what the rules andexpectations were going to be,

New Wayne Highlands Middle Schoolteacher Shawn Knash works witheighth grader Kailyn Carrick.

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‘A Look at Activities in theHonesdale School District’

SEPTEMBER, 2013 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT HONESDALE ED TAB 3H

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what my goals for them were,” hesaid. “I told them that social studiesis more than facts and dates andpeople – it’s about learning skills.For example, if you think like an his-torian – looking at a problem, for-mulating an opinion and then find-ing facts that back up that opinion –you can be a successful adult.”

For anyone who might argue thatteachers, whose workday supposed-ly ends at 3 p.m., have it easy, here’sKnash’s take on the matter: “I don’tbelieve there’s been five minutes inthe past few weeks where educationand my work here have not been onmy mind.”

Knash, who substitute-taught forWayne Highlands and has alsoserved for three years as the Dis-trict’s JV and varsity soccer coach,finds himself polishing up lessonplans while he and the team are rid-ing the bus to away games.

“I spend a lot of time making sureI’m organized,” said Knash, whoarrives at school at 7 a.m. eventhough his first class isn’t until after 9.

He’s the first in hisfamily to study teach-ing. His mother worksas assistant to a specialeducation teacher atWayne Highlands HighSchool, and his fatheris the county engineer.

Teaching firstopened up to him as apossibility when hewas a high schoolfreshman volunteer-ing at the YMCA inHonesdale.

“I really enjoyedworking with kids and thought I’d begood at it,” Knash said.

Eventually, he studied at Kutz-town, where he earned his B.A. insecondary education.

“Teaching eighth grade is great sofar,” he said with a smile. “They’restill kids, but they know enough thatyou can treat them like adults. Theystill want to learn, and you can stillhave an influence on them. And Ilove their enthusiasm. They come

in; they’re ready to go.They rise to the occa-sion every day.”

In social studies, hisclasses are working onthe five themes of geog-raphy, which comprisethe organizationalapproach to teachingthe subject: location,place, human-environ-ment interaction,movement and region.

“I like to lecture, but Ilike to get the kidsinvolved too, up and

moving. Working together and col-laborating and sharing ideas isimportant.”

His English Language arts classesare studying a novel and also work-ing on a unit called “Argument,” asin the ability to debate and con-vince.

“When you grow up, people willask your opinion on things,” he tellshis students. “And they’ll ask youwhy you have that opinion. If you

can’t answer, they might not acceptyour opinion.”

New teacher Knash takes his jobseriously.

“This is their education,” he says.“While they’re here, they have tolearn skills to help them go on andbe successful, not just in terms ofmoney, but in terms of happiness.”

And he delights in his work.“There hasn’t been a day yet where

I ask myself, ‘What was I thinking?’Every day I leave and feel this iswhere I’m supposed to be.”

‘You want to makesure that kids knowwhat’s expected. The first time theymeet you, you want to make sure you setthe tone.’

Shawn KnashTeacher |

Credits:All photographs and stories for this

special School Scene are by Sul livanCounty Demo crat Photo grapher/

Reporter Kathy Daley. The Democrat would also like tothank the Wayne Highlands School

District for all its cooperation in this project.

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When the chance to serve asprincipal of WayneHighlands Middle School

presented itself, ChristopherPietraszewski leapt at the opportuni-ty.

“For me, it was very appealing,”Pietraszewski said, noting he hastaken over the post vacated byMaralyn Nalesnik, who retired. “I lovethe adolescent grade levels and thechallenges the kids face. I love to helpthem navigate through those chal-lenges and assist staff in helpingthem.”

He’s also enjoying the ability tofocus on three grade levels – sixth,

seventh and eighth – rather than onthe kindergarten-through-eighthgrade schools he’s just come from.

“I want to dig into educational ini-tiatives, like reviewing standardizedtest data to come up with strategies tomake kids more successful. I want tolook at ways to expand after-schoolacademic assistance for students,” hesaid.

The seasoned school executive hashis own way of explaining his fascina-tion with public education.

“The process of education is ahuman endeavor,” he said. “We allhave a story. It’s important to hearand learn everyone's story – students,

faculty, staff, parents. In sharing ourstories, we can work together to moveforward to meet our goals.”

Pietraszewski’s path to supervisingthe middle school’s 540 students and70 teachers and staff might be consid-ered a story in itself.

Raised in Indiana, he graduatedfrom the University of Notre Dameand taught science for six years at St.Bonaventure Indian Mission Schoolon a Navajo Indian reservation inNew Mexico. He then taught at LoyolaHigh School in Detroit, a Jesuit schoolfor inner-city African-American malestudents.

After moving to Pennsylvania, he

taught and then became an assistantprincipal at Delaware Valley HighSchool. Finally, Wayne Highlandshired him as principal of the K-8Preston Area School from 2008 to2013, with the K-8 Damascus AreaSchool added to his duties in 2011.

The role of principal typically coversmany areas – school leader, teacherevaluator, the individual who’s thelast word when it comes to develop-ing and implementing programs, cre-ating schedules and dealing with par-ent and community relations.

For Pietraszewski, the joy comes ininteracting with kids.

“Getting to spend time talking withstudents,” said the principal, “is oneof the most important and rewardingaspects of the job.”

He gets to know students byencountering them in a variety of set-tings: in the classrooms and hallways,at sports and musical events, in thecafeteria and at community gather-ings, where he himself plays an activerole.

“I serve as a lector at St. John's andSt. Mary's churches in Honesdale,” hesaid. “I coach youth soccer in the fallwith the Honesdale Soccer Club, and,in the spring, I coach baseball at theHonesdale Little BaseballAssociation.”

His wife, Kathleen, is a teacher atthe First Presbyterian ChurchPreschool in Honesdale. The couple’schildren, Noah, 17, Liam, 14, Aidan,12, and Kalin, 9, all attend schools inWayne Highlands.

The District is known for its aca-demic excellence and structuredenvironment, but it’s not withoutchallenges, said Pietraszewski. At thesame time, as school finances shrinkand expenses rise, Wayne Highlandssees more students whose familiesstruggle with poverty.

Projects such as the StudentAssistance Program link parents withthe help available in the communityfor their “at risk” kids, whose prob-lems might interfere with achievingsuccess in school, he said.

“We must continue to be availablefor them, let them know it’s okay totalk to adults and to ask for help,” theprincipal said.

“I’m honored to be a part of theteam at Wayne Highlands MiddleSchool,” he said. “We are all impor-tant parts of the team, and we eachhave a crucial role to play in our stu-dents’ success.”


A seasoned but ‘new’ middle school principal tells his story

After serving as principal at both Damascus Area School and Preston Area School, Christopher Pietraszewski now focuses on the excitingeducational world of adolescents at Wayne Highlands Middle School.


Connecting with studentsand teachers on ‘a powerful level’

Positivity. That’s how the WayneHighlands School Districtjumpstarted its new school

year this August.“What’s my passion?” the District’s

new teachers pondered as Superin-tendent of Schools Gregory Frigolet-to posed the question at the annualstaff convocation.

“If you have passion for what youdo,” the superintendent stressed, “ifyou’re dynamic and have high expec-tations in the classroom, you willinspire your students.”

This year, teacher orientationincluded an emphasis on the historyand culture of the high-achievingDistrict, an especially importantmove as Wayne Highlands welcomeda bumper crop of new hires.

Twenty-six teachers, administra-tors and support staff are replacingseasoned employees, all of whomretired in June.

Some of the newcomers are“green,” enjoying their first job ineducation. One of them is ShawnKnash, now teaching Middle Schoolsocial studies and English LanguageArts (see story elsewhere in this sec-tion).

Others, like David Jagger, arrived atWayne Highlands from other schooldistricts. Jagger is the new principalof the Damascus and Preston Area K-8 schools and hails from the Abing-ton Heights School District in ClarksSummit.

Some new staff members are newto the area, while others are born andbred in the Honesdale region. One ofthem is former Honesdale policechief Joe LoBasso, who is the Dis-trict’s new Director of School Safety.

Nevertheless, all got a strong doseof just what makes Wayne Highlandstick.

Superintendent Frigoletto said theDistrict’s success as one of the high-est-scoring school districts in north-eastern Pennsylvania is due in nosmall measure to its structured learn-ing environment and sense of family.

“Professional camaraderie and car-ing for each other, a sense of family,working together, and giving back to

the community are what we are allabout,” said Frigoletto.

The Superintendent calls it “thehuman element,” and, for the assem-bled staff, aired a series of tapedinterviews with past superintendentsand teachers. Each advanced opin-ions on what makes Wayne High-lands unique and how its traditionsand values must continue to sift intoclassrooms and hallways.

Former Superintendent of SchoolsDaniel J. O’Neill, a retired Major Gen-eral, said expert leadership was key,along with respect and appreciation

for “our customers – students, par-ents and the community itself.”

Wayne Highlands “sets the bar highand then tries to find the resources tomeet those expectations,” saidO’Neill. His daughter, Sandy Rickard,serves as principal at Lakeside Ele-mentary School in Wayne Highlands.

Maralyn Nalesnik, newly retired asprincipal at Wayne Highlands MiddleSchool, pointed out, “It takes all of usto build a learning environment.”

She added that the District’s strongsense of pride sets it apart.

“When people ask, ‘What do you

do?’ and you say, ‘I work for WayneHighlands,’ that means something,”Nalesnik said.

Another staffer commended theDistrict for promoting the longstand-ing values of loyalty and good schoolcitizenship.

“It’s so important to retrace our his-tory,” Frigoletto said later. “We havethe responsibility to make sure wekeep those traditions going. There isa lot at stake.”

As school opens this year, WayneHighlands is far from alone in facingdifficult challenges on the federal,state and local levels.

“There are also challenges econom-ically and increasing challenges withregard to student needs,” the Super-intendent said.

“But,” he added, “we will embracethese challenges with perspective. Anew school year offers new goals andnew opportunities.”

This year, the District will focus oncontinued student success in mathand literacy and will reinvestigate theeffectiveness of the curricula it uses,Everyday Math and America’sChoice, respectively

Transitioning the District’s curricu-lum standards – what students mustknow and be able to do in each sub-ject – into those of the PennsylvaniaCommon Core will continue as well.

This year, the District is employinga new student information system(SIS) to compile data on each stu-dent. As the Commonwealth of Penn-sylvania unveils its new School Per-formance Profile program on howschool districts performs in variouscategories, it will draw data fromeach district’s SIS.

Frigoletto said, however, that thecontinued concentration at WayneHighlands will be on the student as awhole and not simply as a test-taker.

“What we want to focus on here,”said the Superintendent, “is studentachievement, not only on the PSSA[Pennsylvania System of SchoolAssessment] tests, but about growingour students in multiple ways, andabout connecting with them on apowerful level.”

This year, Superintendent of Schools Gregory Frigoletto called for teachers to provide richacademic experiences in the classroom, as they also honor history and traditions.


Encouraging kids and adults toreach out to those they don’t know

Sandy Rickard never forgot a tipgiven her years ago about thetangible power of a smile or kind

word.“It was that the first three people

you encounter in a day actuallydecide what kind of day you’ll have,”said the principal of Lakeside

Elementary School, “so that smilingand saying, ‘Hi, how are you?’ canchange everything.”

Rickard is one of the WayneHighland administrators involved inthe rollout this year of Rachel’sChallenge, a campaign to encouragekindness, compassion and under-

standing in schools and beyond.Wayne Memorial Hospital is joining

the school district in the initiative,along with the Wayne CountyBehavioral and DevelopmentProgram and three other school dis-tricts: Western Wayne, WallenpaupackArea and Forest City Regional.

After Rachel Joy Scott was shot todeath in the 1999 Columbine schoolmassacre in Littleton, Colo., her griev-ing family learned from her friendsthat Rachel, age 17, was an unofficialambassador of kindness to studentswho were different, picked on or newat school.

“I have this theory that if one personcan go out of their way and showcompassion, it will start a chain reac-tion of the same,” Rachel wrote.“People will never know how far a lit-tle kindness will go.”

Rachel’s diary spelled out her codeof conduct: treat others the way youwant to be treated; dream big andbelieve in yourself; appreciate every-one and mock no one; use the powerof positive gossip; forgive and be for-given.

“Our kids have the same societalpressures of kids elsewhere,” notedWayne Highlands Superintendent ofSchools Gregory Frigoletto. “Rachel’sChallenge is an attempt to help withthis. We’re excited about bringing theprogram in.”

Donna Decker, an RN and Managerof Community Health at WayneMemorial, said Rachel’s Challenge ismuch needed.

“Last February, we held a brain-storming session on the emotionalstability of the Honesdale communi-ty,” Decker said. “We found the num-ber one issue to be the emotionalproblems – the behavioral healthissues – of our community.”

Young people have reported feelingunder emotional stress, being isolatedand alone, and having seriously con-sidered suicide. Adults report con-flicts in their workplace and a sense ofdisengagement from the community.

“We live in such a negative society,”said Decker. “Rachel’s Challenge givespeople something to be able to holdonto.”

Rachel’s Challenge is a series ofempowering programs and strategiesto replace bullying, negativity and

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7H


violence with acts of respect inschools and communities.Presentations given by members ofRachel Scott’s family are taking placethis month.

The program consists of at leastthree formal components: an adultconference for community and busi-ness leaders so that kindness andcompassion can reach into all arenas;age-appropriate assemblies for stu-dents from kindergarten though 12thgrade; and community programs forparents, grandparents and any othersinterested in making a positiveimpact.

Rachel’s Challenge, which hasimpacted millions of students andfamilies across the U.S., inspiresyoung people to serve as mentors totheir peers and to younger students.Ongoing activities often include tak-ing Rachel’s pledge and reading thepledge aloud on each day and estab-lishing Friends of Rachel clubs. In

some schools, “act of kindness” bul-letin boards or school-wide displayscelebrate those students who helpothers.

Superintendent Frigoletto pointedout the necessity for a program likeRachel’s Challenge, given the way thetechnological age has changed howkids communicate.

“Facebook, YouTube, texting – thereis the constant pressure for instantgratification, and the human elementgets lost,” he said. “Because commu-nication is not face-to-face, oftenthere is a lack of sensitivity in dealingwith one another.”

Principal Rickard says she looks for-ward to implementing Rachel’sChallenge at Lakeside, which edu-cates third, fourth and fifth graders.

“We’ll focus on positive interactionsduring the day,” she said. “I’m hopingkids will make the effort to reach outto those they don’t know.”

She added that it’s thrilling toengage adults as well.

“I’m so happy that the whole com-

munity is involved,” the principalsaid. “It’s great to have everybody onthe same page at the same time. I

hope I can go into Wal-Mart and feelthe difference we’ve created.”

Rachel’s Challenge posters are tailored to the age group of the students. Here are thepledges suggested for middle school students.

FROM PAGE 6H

ENCOURAGING KIDS...


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