Part II reflects on news at Seneca High School and Indian Mills School.
Seneca High School names its 2018–2019 Teacher of the Year and Educational Services Professional of the Year
Seneca High School’s 2018–2019 Teacher of the Year is science teacher Dusty Carroll.
After graduating from The College of New Jersey with a bachelor’s of science degree in chemistry, Carroll worked in a physical therapy office before she became a teacher. As a track coach at Cherry Hill High School West, Carroll said, “The student-athletes convinced me of my true calling.”
While teaching, Carroll went on to earn her master’s degree in chemistry education from The University of Pennsylvania.
Carroll worked at Cherry Hill West for five years before joining the Lenape Regional High School District at Seneca in 2004. During her tenure at Seneca, Carroll has taught chemistry, physical science, AP Chemistry, environmental sustainability, and engineering design and development — a capstone course that is part of the Project Lead the Way program.
In addition to teaching, Carroll coached gymnastics both as the head and assistant coach, and spring track. She is also the STEM club advisor. As an active member in several state and national science education organizations, Carroll has been published in “The Science Teacher” and “Chemistry Solutions,” both of which are educator’s journals.
“I have a great relationship with my students and I work very hard to develop new ways of making them think,” Carroll said. “My entire focus is on making sure that the students are constantly challenged and everything that I do relates to that goal. I’ve not really spent any time thinking about awards, so to find out that I was being given the Teacher of the Year award was a total surprise for me.”
Seneca’s 2018–2019 Educational Services Professional of the Year is Media Specialist Amy Rominiecki. After graduating from Temple University with a bachelor’s of science degree in sociology and women’s studies, Rominiecki pursued her master’s degree in library and information science from Drexel University. Her venture into the world of education came from a former teacher who mentioned that she would be a great educator. Rominiecki chose to be a media specialist because she “gets to work with all types of teachers and students in all subjects.”
Before coming to the Lenape Regional High School District at Seneca in 2004, Rominiecki worked at MAST Community Charter School in Philadelphia as the school’s librarian. In addition to her role as a media specialist, Rominiecki is also Seneca’s Literary Magazine advisor, Knowledge Bowl team coach, Amnesty International advisor, and the business manager for the fall drama and spring musical.
When asked about receiving the Educational Services Professional of the Year honor, Rominiecki said, “I was shocked. The outpouring of love and support I’ve received from the staff has been overwhelming. And to be honored alongside Dusty Carroll is special because she’s helped me grow my educational practice.”
Inspirational staff members were recognized by LRHSD
Lenape Regional High School District officials shined a spotlight on staff members who stand as inspirations to others.
The Sept. 12 meeting began with a presentation honoring the district Teacher of the Year, Seneca High School science teacher Dusty Carroll.
“Through conversations and observations through my six years as her supervisor, she has proven herself willing to go the extra mile to raise student achievement in her classroom. She demonstrates the highest level of content mastery and ability to make that knowledge accessible to students,” assistant principal Dave Maier said. “She identifies where students struggle, and her lessons help students push through those struggles and correct prior misconceptions.”
Cherokee High School principal Donna Charlesworth recognized two school resource officers and two security staff members, who worked together to use security technology and the established protocol to identify an individual who tried to enter the high school during the first week of school.
Jammie Clements, Bob Hansbury, Bruce LaCarte and Ben Kozarski were recognized for their efforts. Charlesworth thanked the resource officers and security members involved, stating she is grateful for their expertise and their relationships with the students. She followed by thanking the families in attendance at the meeting.
“To our family members, our spouses in the audience as well as the children, thank you, because I know every day these people make a difference in your life, but every day they come to work they make a difference in our lives and the lives of our students,” Charlesworth said.
Seneca staff honors students for making a positive impact in their lives
Seneca High School held its Fifteenth Annual People’s Choice Awards ceremony on May 17, giving the staff an opportunity to honor students who have had a positive impact on them.
The honorees ranged from freshmen to seniors, and were recognized by the staff for a variety of reasons, whether for a random act of kindness or through years of bonding in the classroom. The staff member remains anonymous to the student until they are called up by them to receive their medal on stage.
The ceremony was coordinated by Seneca’s Renaissance Club, which was created to recognize positive accomplishments by students and faculty throughout the entire high school community.
“From a pool of over 1,100 students, just 44 tonight will receive a medal based on their strength of character,” master of ceremonies Sean Cassel said. “It’s you, the students on stage, and it’s who you are that makes you special. It’s been said that the truth of your character is expressed through the choice of your actions. Tonight your actions have been recognized.”
Students awarded at the People’s Choice Awards ceremony were:
Ninth-grade winners: Sharon Feinlab, Ava Grashorn, Matthew Miller, Kayla Sinclair and Aiden Wells.
Tenth-grade winners: Madison Marshall, Chris Miller, Madison Miller and Karra Wozniak.
Eleventh-grade winners: Tori Bowman, Cody Gordon, Dominic Lubrano, Lola Marian, Abbey Miskiewicz, Claudia Parzyck and Emma Thompson.
Twelfth-grade winners: Marcus Artistone, Evylese Bratten, Shannon Briggs, Tiffany Briscoe, Tyler Brockson, Bronte Castro, Hailey Chapman, Jenna Daunoras, Nicholas Decker, Taylor Fisher, Rachel Green, Madison Groody, Kevin Gsell, Maxwell Heatter, Grayce Heinemann, Luke Hoey, Emma King, Ryan Lopez, Zachary Malcolm, Samantha McCloskey, Natalie Mileszko, Steven Ott, Jake Peters, John Lee-Pesotski, Abigail Regn, Tommy Scarpello, Melanie Weaver and Nick Yannessa.
Seneca High School valedictorian and salutatorian reflect on the past four years
Seneca High School valedictorian Alexis Tierney and salutatorian Kayla Pfeffer reflected on their academic accomplishments and cherished memories as their high school careers came to a close.
The road to success varied slightly for the two. Tierney kept the mindset of consistently trying her best while achieving personal goals as far as academics, which led her to being valedictorian.
Tierney hopes all her classmates can take something positive away from their experiences at Seneca High School as they embark on their individual journeys.
“I hope that, looking back, we can, one, all have positive memories of this place, and two, be proud that we’re all connected as Seneca grads,” Tierney said.
Pfeffer entered high school determined to rank in the top of her class, and used the competitive nature of her classmates as motivation to excel and eventually secure the honor of salutatorian.
Pfeffer looked back on her time at Seneca and said, “I’m going to remember the friends that I have and the friends that helped me get through everything and the new connections I’ve made with people.”
IMS students thanked veterans for their service at the annual Veterans Breakfast
Multiple generations came together to share a meal and their stories at the Veterans Breakfast hosted by Indian Mills School on Nov. 7.
The third annual event to honor local veterans, coordinated by Karen Clementi and Kerry Haines, marked the year with the highest attendance rate to date, welcoming more than 200 veterans into the school.
“I’m overwhelmed by the turnout of this, it really is a great way to honor our community members, especially the veterans within our community,” IMS Principal Nicole Moore said. “It’s a way to bring people to the school that wouldn’t necessarily have an opportunity to come otherwise.”
That rang especially true for Vietnam veteran Joe Beldonza, who heard about the event through The Sun and decided to attend the event solo.
Beldonza dusted off his U.S. Army jacket and wore it for the occasion for the first time in 30 years.
He said after moving to Shamong about three months ago, he figured this would be a nice way to meet new people and get to know his new community better.
“There’s not too many [Vietnam veterans] left anymore and all the younger kids are seeing on TV are war stories and it’s much more than that,” Beldonza said. “It’s about the service and what the service can do to build your character. Understanding what the service really does, to me, is more important for people to know.”
