Area students are writing a weekly column for the Times News. The column is being coordinated by Sue Ann Gerhard from Carbon Career & Technical Institute.

Carbon Career & Technical Institute

Gracie Heintzelman

Here is what has been happening at CCTI and what is coming up in the next week.

First off students had the opportunity to get dressed up and participate in the CCTI Winter Semi Formal Dance on Jan. 26. Students had a great time with their friends, danced and took pictures.

I would like to also recognize the clubs/organizations at CCTI that did great things for the community during the holiday season. The National Technical Honor Society signed holiday cards and collected blankets and snacks for Heritage Hill Senior Community in Weatherly.

NTHS members visited the senior living center, distributed blankets and snacks along with singing Christmas carols with the residents.

NTHS also partnered with SkillsUSA and collected toys for Toys For Tots. Over 200 toys were collected for children.

SkillsUSA also collected winter hats, scarves and gloves.

The 2023/2024 yearbook is now available for pre-order. The link to order them can be found on the CCTI website. All yearbooks will be delivered at the end of May. Cost is $25. If you have questions, see Mrs. Johannsen.

Tickets are still on sale for the CCTI Bag Bingo on Feb. 9 from 6-8 p.m. in the CCTI cafeteria. There will also be a basket raffle and food/refreshments for sale. Tickets are $25 and all proceeds benefit over 300 CCTI students, so come out and have a great time and support the students of CCTI. Designer purses are valued at $13,000. Seating is limited. For tickets or information, call 570.325.3662, ext. 1500.

Another thing I would like to add is the Marketing B-day class had a guest speaker on Jan. 25. The guest speaker was Robbie from “Robbie’s Balloons and More” in Lehighton. Robbie talked about his journey of opening his own business, the skills needed, how to have a successful business and the opportunities and friendships he gained. The B-day Marketing class enjoyed the guest speaker, found his presentation extremely informative, and would like to thank Robbie for visiting the Marketing class at CCTI.

The 2024 prom hheme has been chosen. The senior class voted between four choices - The Roaring ’20s, Hollywood, Paris, or Enchanted Garden. The theme that received the most votes was “Enchanted Garden.” Prom will be held at Penn’s Peak on May 10 from 5-10 p.m. Seniors also voted on their senior class trip. The place that received the most votes was Knoebels. The trip date will be posted coming soon.

A team from the Pennsylvania Department of Education/Bureau of Career & Technical Education recently completed an on-site audit/review of our career and technical programs.

No corrections were identified, which according to the team leader is quite an accomplishment. A direct quote from her correspondence “Congratulations! I am thrilled to return your final APTE Report with NO corrective actions (my first APTE with NO Corrections in my 100+ reviews in my eight years at PDE!)” CCTI final APTE reports routinely have no findings of corrective actions.

Lehighton High School

Koy Wentz and Abby Bauder

Students recently had the opportunity to speak with a graduate of Lehighton High School about her college experiences. Abigail Klotz, a student enrolled at Belmont University, returned to the high school to share her experiences with other students. Abby visited the advanced photography class, where she discussed information about Belmont, as well as the pathways offered there. She also displayed her portfolio for the students. This opportunity allowed the students to see what college life is like and to hear about what this particular university has to offer.

Next, seniors involved in basketball, wrestling, and cheer have recently been recognized for their accomplishments. On their respective senior nights, seniors were escorted by their family members. Activities they are involved in, as well as their future plans were read.

Cheerleaders were sent off to states with a hall parade through the school and their own escort out of town. The cheerleaders made it all the way to the semifinals round at the state competition. The group placed 14th in the state in the 2A small varsity division. It was a great year for the cheerleaders. Congratulations.

Moving along, the Project Research Science class has built a vortex cannon. The invention is only one of the many projects that the class has enabled students to build. The Project Research Science class is in its first year of operation. In this class offered at the high school, students incorporate science, engineering, technology, and arts to build different things. This class allows students to think outside of the box and to solve unique problems. Many students are satisfied with what this course has to offer.

Panther Valley High School

Mikayla Yuricheck

Here at Panther Valley things are rolling strong, and we are already starting to think spring. However, before we think of spring, we must focus on what is in front of us with the end of our winter sports season. Our varsity girls wrestlers are absolutely crushing it in their first year as an established program, and the varsity boys are performing pretty well also.

On the basketball front, both teams are looking to make a playoff run, but something really significant is that the girls basketball team is looking to clinch its first Schuylkill League playoff berth in 25 years.

Michael Williams is looking to add a strong finish to his swimming season as well.

Eli Maynard was recently named Panther Valley’s scholar-athlete for the Schuylkill County Football Foundation.

Congratulations, and keep up the great work.

Harmony Scholars practice is now starting after school for the show they will hold in the spring.

An exciting competition took place for our JROTC drill and color guard team on Jan. 27. They placed in the top 5 in both events which is a great accomplishment for a small school like PV. The JROTC cadets are selling Krispy Kreme Donuts until Feb. 12.

The NHS is continuing to sell their sticky buns until Feb. 14. Profits will be going to a great cause, the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation.

Jim Thorpe High School

Gabriella Cerra

At Jim Thorpe, there is much in stock for the month of St. Valentine’s Day. For this week specifically, JTAHS has given notice about sports, upcoming events, important announcements, and after school activities.

Run by seniors Olivia Rosenberger and Harmony Berk, many charitable opportunities for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society have been provided to students at Jim Thorpe. The Krispy Kreme Doughnuts that were previously being sold to benefit LLS are set to arrive Feb. 12, so anyone who ordered should be on the lookout for Monday. LLS received 25% of the proceeds from tickets sold for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins game that took place on Saturday, Feb. 3. On Friday, Jan. 26, Mrs. Thompson and the senior duo hosted a game night at Jokers are Wild Game Café, which also benefited the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Last for recent events Olivia and Harmony worked hard to run to benefit LLS and for which they should be acknowledged is the PODS vs PODS Penny War that ended Jan. 26. Teachers with PODS classes had buckets that benefited from any penny, dollar, or dollar coin contributions and suffered from any silver coin contributions. The top contenders were Mr. Morgans’s tenth grade PODS and Mr. Ward’s eleventh grade PODS. Homerooms at the district’s elementary schools also participated in a Penny War. For what is upcoming to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, a Valentine’s Day Formal Dance will be hosted at the high school on Feb. 17.

Still raising funds for the State Leadership Conference, Jim Thorpe’ FBLA chapter members are still working tirelessly. The Krispy Kreme Doughnuts members sold are set to arrive Monday, Feb. 12, so members who sold many boxes are to be prepared to transport them. For the duration of the month, a new winner from the JT FBLA Lottery tickets that were sold throughout January will be announced every day. Make sure to pay attention to your phone and email inbox if you purchased a ticket and are hoping to strike lucky. Later on in March, these lottery tickets will be sold by members. The exact dates are not yet determined. Lastly for State Leadership Conference related matters, rooming and meal fees to attend are to be paid in full to Mrs. Thompson by Monday, Feb. 12. For the March 1 field trip to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins vs. the Charlotte Checkers game, starting at 7:05 p.m., the $20 attendance fee is due to Mrs. Thompson by Thursday, Feb. 9. Unlike the previous hockey game FBLA attended, which in itself was arguably the most member appreciated event of the year, March 1 attendees will be guided through a behind-the-scenes tour of Mohegan Sun Arena. Members, whether at Penn Kidder Elementary, LB Morris Elementary or the high school, should contact their school’s adviser to receive a permission slip and pay the fee to attend.

From 2:30-3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, Mrs. Maccorkle will be hosting a Scholastic Scrimmage team meeting, in preparation for the meet in Palmerton, which has recently been moved to March 14, with no snow date. Anyone interested in trivia competition, whether a novice or a veteran fact-collector, is encouraged to attend and see if his or her knowledge would land a spot on the main team. History Club will also be hosting its weekly meeting, to which any student is welcome, on Tuesday, Feb. 6 from 2:45-4 p.m. in Mr. Ellison’s classroom.

To bring the past several months of the Mock Trial team’s case planning to the court, the first competition dates are Monday, Feb. 12 and Tuesday, Feb. 13. Encourage and congratulate the members you know that worked hard to plan the case and will be performing in front of the judge, jury of attorneys, and other competitors. For the prosecution team, attorneys are Olivia Rosenberger, Kaylee Tate, and Gabriella Cerra, in addition to witnesses Luke Bosi as detective Jayden Kobayashi, Matthew Pinto as business-owner Sam Chestnut, and Ian Walck as food critic Robin Lesco. Conversely, the defense team consists of attorneys Maura Malaska, Evan Rosenbrook, and Harley Young. This side of the case’s witnesses are Gretchen Cox as crucial employee Phoenix Webb, Alex Plesniarski as well-informed employee Pookey Thomas, and Isaac Oliver as entrepreneur and accused murderer Addison Booker.

The Flame’s staff members are scheduled to meet in Mrs. Maccorkle’s classroom on Wednesday, Feb. 7 from 7:45-8:15 a.m. Following the cancellation of the last meeting, Mrs. Maccorkle sent out a form members were to complete, regarding new ideas for programs, like the Homecoming competition done in September. If there is anyone who has an idea for a program or type of work he or she would like to see published on the Flame’s website, theflamejtasd.com, share with Mrs. Maccorkle (heather.maccorkle@jtasd.org) or a member of the Flame staff you know. Any member of the student body interested in joining the school’s literary and arts magazine is welcome to attend Wednesday, during PODS.

Weatherly High School

Mellanie Marshman

The Weatherly Area High School Alumni Association is awarding a $15,000, four-year scholarship to a worthy Weatherly senior this May. Criteria for the scholarship include, but are not limited to: grades, extracurricular activities, financial need and character. The six runners-up for the scholarship will receive one-time financial awards, including the $4,000 Tim Frable Scholarship and the $1,000 Hugo Paul Family Memorial award.

For seniors planning to attend a two-year degree program or technical school, the $2,500 Harry and Loretta Allison Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to the best candidate.

Those choosing to study medical sciences, especially nursing are encouraged to apply for the $1,000 Anna Raynock Memorial Scholarship.

All eligible seniors are encouraged to apply. All forms have been sent directly to all seniors and must be submitted to Mrs. Minnick by April 5. If you have any questions, see Mrs. Minnick or contact Sue Ann Gerhard, 570-582-0021.

The Weatherly Wreckers chorus and band members have a fundraiser from Otis Spunkmeyer due Feb. 9.

The Kindness Club’s fundraiser to get money for veterans in need ends Feb. 15. Our winter sports are halfway through and spring sports will be starting up on conditioning.