FFA Week Fun

By Lesliann Boucher and Stephanie Castillo

February 22 to February 26, William Penn’s Future Farmers of America hosted an FFA week, where students went down to the FFA room, on February 26th and walked around the room, interacted with the animals, and played games to see what they knew about animals. Students were welcomed by Tyson the dog, Mrs. Ferruccis pet. In addition to her pet, Mrs. Ferrucci also had different varieties of animal including a mouse named Shadow, bunnies, and a chinchilla.

Photo by Lesliann Boucher One of the animals in Mrs. Ferrucci’s class sits in his open cage for students to interact with. 

FFA Week was all about showcasing the agriculture class to students who were about to do class scheduling. A junior student of Ms. Ferrucci’s Nicole Webb said  “It gives the students outside of agriculture a chance to really experience our class.”

Another of Mrs. Ferruccis students, sophomore Jessica Knowles stated, “I love animals, I always wanted to be a vet and this is the only course that lets me get a hands-on experience with those animals while still learning. I love the interaction I get with the animals.” In FFA, the career pathways can range from groomer to Veterinarian to raising dairy/beef cattle.

Photo by Lesliann Boucher Students in Mrs. Ferruci’s class pose with animals in W108. Students from other classes were given the opportunity to meet all of the animals Friday, Feb. 26. 

FFA week was a huge success for the class; the classroom was packed and excitement was in the air to learn about what FFA had to offer.

Let’s Get Moving!

By Satara King, Derioushe Johnson, and Nahja Fassett

At William Penn High school, the staff has come together to raise awareness of healthy leaving.

Mrs.Rideout, HealthCorps Coordinator, is the creator of this movement. She says her motive is to, “Get our staff and faculty focused on health in an simple way to help us together as a community goal. The goal to achieve is 10,000 steps a day which is an active adult.”

Photo by Tiffany Kannengieszer Two teachers, Mrs. Lindo and Ms. Coulter, show off their pedometers March 14. Participants in the contest used the pedometers to keep track of their daily steps. 

“It’s not normally promoted  in a school environment.” she added.

To keep track of the teachers, she has weekly scorecards, and some secret spies to prevent cheating. Staff members that are participating have to agree to walk around with a pedometer to track their every step in order to win the prize money for the most steps taken.

At the end of the contest the teacher that wins will receive a  $200 cash prize. There will also be awards given out such as “most improved” and “most weekly steps.”

Mr.Griffin, a credit recovery  teacher at William Penn High School, felt confident for this wellness challenge.

Griffin stated, “I will step all day and night – do everything possible to increase my steps and walk further distances.”

He also exclaimed that his name will go from Calvin to “Calwin” after he wins.

Mr.Griffin said that although he may gain a  prize from this challenge another intention is to lose weight. Griffin states,” It’s not what I will gain from this experience but what I will lose. I want to get rid of this belly so I can have a pool body.”

Griffin stated if he receives the prize money  he would give back to his students. “[I want to] give back to the kids and buy things for the gentlemen club.”

After the first week of competition, Mr.Griffin led the staff as one of the top steppers. The rest of the participants will work until March 21 to catch up and be victorious.

Colonials and Social Media

By Tyler Clemens and Chase Chandler

At William Penn, technology is a big part in most of the students’ lives. They use apps many different apps for entertainment and socializing.

After surveying 100 students, the results show that the students at William Penn prefer Twitter and Instagram for their social media needs. we are not surprised by these results are not surprising because these are 2 of the major 3 social media sites.

When asked how many times they check their accounts during the day, most responded that they checked it at least 40 to 50 times a day. This just shows how much society is now evolved around social media.

William Penn even features its own social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter. The district is using #powerofwecsd across all social media sites to show off everything great happening at Colonial’s schools.

Colonials Rally for Relay for Life

By Cairo Chambers and Kevin Martinez

On May 21 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.,  members from all around the community will come together to honor cancer survivors, remember loved ones lost, and fight against a disease that has taken a lot of people’s life. The event, Relay for Life, is an activity where small teams come up with a bunch of fundraisers for the event.

A Chemistry teacher at William Penn, Mr. McKenzie, came up with the idea to have the first Relay for Life event at Colonial. His goal for this event is to raise about $10,000 and every cent that he collects will go directly to the American Cancer Society, which go towards research, education, transportation, and also to those who are in need of getting back and forth for treatment and medication.

Mr. McKenzie said the reason why he came up with this event is his personal connection to cancer. His wife was diagnosed three years ago. Although she is now cancer free, she still has to go through the process of chemotherapy. He added that a lot of cases of cancer that doctors are diagnosing today are not necessarily hereditary. They are mainly environmental and also contributed to your diet.

With the event, he wants to send a message that there are people who go undiagnosed and who are untreated. If they can get the word out to the communities about things that they can do, for example, getting a medical exam having the right vitamins, making sure they have a balance diet, and educating them about what containers they should use and what they shouldn’t use, they can minimize a lot of cases that are diagnose.

Mr. McKenzie said, “Students at Colonial can participate in this event by forming teams, volunteering, posting information on their website. They can form their teams and send the information out through social media saying that ‘I want to raise $500 can you help me.’ There is a link that would actually post directly to your Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. All you have to do is update it weekly. We are looking for people to help us with fundraiser activities, the more people the better it is.”

Mr. McKenzie is promoting this event by coming up with a parent kickoff, making announcements on a daily basis, sending emails throughout the entire district, posting information on the William Penn Facebook website, the Colonial School District website and Instagram, sending information out to local businesses, reaching out to the local politicians, and reaching out to the law Enforcement, fire department, and all the family.
“We are getting the parents involved and by doing this, I can definitely say that this event is going to be a success,”  Mr. Mckenzie said

Colonials Pick Up the Fight On Drugs

By Kimberly Cushwa

Saturday, March 12 the William Penn Colonials joined the war on drugs. This year’s Community Health Fair, led by the William Penn Health Corps, focused on informing WP and the surrounding community on the toxic effects of modern drug culture.

Photo by Kimberly Cushwa Attendees of the Community Health Fair gather in Gym 1 at William Penn to speak with vendors March 12. 

The health fair also welcomed first year Health Corp. leader Ms. Rideout who released that, “The decision to focus on drugs was made by the [Health Corp.] planning committee. Their reasoning was because of an influx in drug usage surrounding the New Castle and Wilmington community.” With Zumba sessions, cooking demos, and over 53 community vendors offering free health screenings and massages, the fair made sure to offer information on general health and well being instead of just drugs.

Jennie McCarthy, a mother of 3 who brought her children to the health fair, said, “My favorite thing today was definitely the Kid’s Corner! It was great seeing my kids being able to interact with their favourite characters as they are much more likely to listen to Winnie the Pooh or Doc McStuffins than me about what is healthy.”

Jackson Bennett also commented on the event stating he enjoyed “the welcoming atmosphere and how nice everyone working this event appeared to be.”

WP Culinary Cooks Their Way to Championship

By Jaden Reed and Geman Browne

With two burners and one hour, seven teams created one appetizer, one entree, and one dessert at Delaware’s Prostart competition. Chef Poole, a William Penn culinary teacher, trained, mentored, and guided the WP team to victory. William Penn’s culinary team took first place in the event held at Dover Hotel and Convention Center on March 1st.

Chef Poole stated, “My students made a salmon tartare appetizer, a quail over polenta and a goat cheese cheesecake with different sauces.“

The management team was made up of sophomores Jolie Noel and Branden Fletcher and juniors Kiara Roach, Denisse Cruz, and Joey Kucharski.The culinary team members were juniors Jadaya Hayden, Monserrat Martin Del Campo, and Beatriz Balderas and seniors Brent Hillard and Luis Angel Ortiz.

Ortiz said, “We all contributed to make the dishes, to design the plates and stuff. I focused more on the entree. The judges were friendly and they loved our dishes. Our cheesecake didn’t come out how we wanted and it was broken and the cream cheese wasn’t smooth because we had 60 minutes. We had to rush it.“

With the win, William Penn’s culinary team will be attending nationals in Dallas, TX  April 29-30.

 

Humanities Students Explore D.C.

By Aleaha Cubbage

On March 1, William Penn’s Humanities class, a class that combines English and U.S. History, went on a trip to Washington D.C.

Photo by Aleaha Cubbage The humanities students make their first stop at the Lincoln Memorial March 1. The 112 students visited numerous monuments on their trip to D.C. 

The Humanities teachers Mrs. Greenstein and Mrs. Zerbato planned for their kids to walk through the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and also arranged for them to meet a 90-year-old survivor.

Photo by Aleaha Cubbage The Tower of Faces was one of the exhibits at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The images featured members of the Jewish community that has existed for more than 900 years. 

The students also visited and saw places such as the National Mall, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial.

Nyasia Scales, a junior at William Penn said, “The 90 year old survivor talked about the terrible experience during the holocaust, about the camps, and how she lost all of her friends. She also met a man there who she later married.”

Zerbato added, “I like being able to see the students in a different environment learning outside of the classroom. It’s nice to see your students smiling and laughing, while at the same time learning.”
Not only was this trip enjoyable for the students, but it was also educational due to the students lesson. The students were learning about WWII and the Holocaust previously before the trip. This trip will continue to expand and there will be more to see over the years due to the construction of new museums.