Twin Valley School Board honored outstanding academic and athletic achievements of high school students during its meeting April 20.
Parents, students and teachers gathered in the Robeson Elementary Center, where the board celebrated the athletic and academic achievements of several of the high school’s football players, swimmers and internship and mentor program participants.
Football players who received a 3.0 or higher grade point average during the season were given recognition for their excellence on the field as well as in the classroom.
Representative Mark Gillen also issued special recognition certificates that were handed out during the meeting.
“I just want to say I’m very proud of the guys for working hard on and off the field,” said Twin Valley High School Coach Steve Gaunt.
Several girls from the swim team were also recognized for having qualified and competed in both the district meet and the state meet.
The girls recognized finished fifth at districts and ninth at the state level.
“I couldn’t be more proud,” said Twin Valley Swim Coach Brian Emerich. “I can’t talk enough about their athletic accomplishments. All of these girls are also very good in school.”
Following athletic recognitions, the board handed the meeting over to Gwen Warner, the coordinator of the high school’s Educational Field Expereience (EFE) program and Angela Morgan, the coordinator of the high school’s internship program.
The following students were called to the front and given the chance to speak on their experiences: Sarah Wilt and mentor Lisa Duncan, Jack Trego and mentor Susan DeFaber, Cassie Blickley and Kendra Fix.
Wilt and Mrs. Duncan, along with Trego and Mrs. DeFaber take part in the EFE program.
“What these students do is they go into a classroom with a mentoring teacher,” said Warner. “They work just like a student teacher. They get to delve into a subject area that they’re a little more interested in. I think what’s neat about this program is one of the highest levels of learning is when you can learn something so well and then teach it to someone else, and that’s what these students do.”
Trego helps Mrs. DeFaber, creating lesson plans and helping to teach history to his peers.
“I’d like to thank Mrs. DeFaber,” he said. “She’s made it so easy for me to integrate myself into the classroom. Going into this year, I wasn’t sure how I was going to fit into the classroom.”
Mrs. DeFaber shared that Trego “has grown as a student and a person” and said that she is proud of him.
Mrs. Duncan, Wilt’s mentor, also thanked the board for having helped to start the mentor program eight years ago.
“One of the greatest things about the Twin Valley School District is that we had the courage to go after this type of program,” she said.
Blickley and Fix take part in the internship program at the high school.
Fix, who interns at the Robeson Elementary Center library, said that her experience has been “phenomenal.”
“I love coming in here everyday,” she said. “I have been able to dive into everything.”
Blickley, who interns at the Berks Animal Emergency and Referral Center, said that her experience has given her the drive to pursue small animal veterinarian school, and she hopes to go the University of Pennsylvania.
In other news, six mothers of Robeson Elementary Center students showed up at the Monday meeting to ask the board to create another classroom for first-grade students.
As of right now, first-graders are in classrooms of up to 26 students, where the mothers feel they are not receiving the attention and guidance they need to create a sustainable foundation for their education.
“I am a parent of one of the first-graders,” said Lisa Kwiatkowski. “My daughter is in the class that has 26 kids, and her teacher is wonderful, but one thing she can’t do, she can’t create time, and she can’t create space. She just can’t take the time that is needed with each child.”
Kwiatkowski also shared that her son, a second-grader, receives adequate attention is a classroom of 19 and comes home sharing good experiences, which causes her daughter to become discouraged.
Lindsey Hahn, a mother who sometimes helps in the first-grade classroom, shared that the environment is stressful.
“I can see the teacher is just overwhelmed, there’s no control,” she said. “I appreciate what she does, but I can’t imagine on a daily basis what she’s dealing with.”
Hahn said that even on days when it is supposed to be relaxed and fun, the classroom is crazy, and the kids cannot pay attention.
The mothers rallied together, requesting that the board bring in another teacher to provide the students with another classroom and a better learning environment.
Board President Thomas Legel said that they must also take into account the other elementary schools in the area, but they will look into it.
No concrete answers were given, and there was no further discussion of the issue.
The next Twin Valley School Board meeting will be held on May 18 at 6:30 p.m. A location has not yet been determined.
