2009-11-07 10:02:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
Ask Luis Torres about doing good for others and he will tell you that being a good Samaritan is a blessing and a responsibility.High on his list of priorities is to contribute to his community, and he finds contentment in knowing that he is making a difference in the lives of some young pe......
2009-11-06 19:24:00
STAFF REPORT
Students in the third-grade class of Kimberly Stokes want to go to college. They dream of being a teacher, a lawyer, a singer, a writer.To help make their vision a bit more real, Stokes brought her class from the First Philadelphia Charter School for Literacy to Millersville University, he......
2009-11-05 06:24:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
One day after voters rejected a referendum to build a new $47.9 million high school and thereby raise their property taxes, Donegal school board members opted Wednesday to proceed with the project and pay for it within district budget constraints."I clearly understand this will requir......
2009-11-03 08:56:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Warwick School District's new superintendent says she's confident the district is well-equipped to respond to reports of inappropriate contact between students and staff members.April Hershey, who began her tenure July 1, said a recent review of the district's policies and proc......
2009-11-03 07:44:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
Are colleges adequately preparing teachers?Not nearly enough, according to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.Duncan, in a speech last month at Columbia University in New York City, said that most of the nation's colleges and state departments of education are "doing a......
2009-11-03 07:36:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
In a move that took the administration and faculty by surprise, the student senate at Elizabethtown College has voted against endorsing a five-year plan for strengthening campus diversity.But despite the student senate opposition, the plan has been enacted by the college's board of tru......
2009-11-02 09:15:00
TAMAR LEWIN, New York Times
The presidents of the nation's major private research universities were paid a median compensation of $627,750 in the 2007-8 fiscal year — a 5.5 percent increase from the previous year — according to The Chronicle of Higher Education annual executive compensation survey.The......
2009-11-02 08:00:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Anna Harsh, who marks her 100th birthday today, says there is no secret to the long life she has lived."It just happened, and I still can't believe it," Harsh said.Born Nov. 2, 1909, on her grandfather's farm near White Horse in Salisbury Township, Harsh was the se......
2009-10-31 05:51:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School administrators and teachers are scrambling to help students make up work in the wake of widespread absences — many related to swine flu — at Lancaster County schools.Schools are actively encouraging parents to take schoolwork home for their sick children and promoting on......
2009-10-30 06:07:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
Adding to its variety of more than 50 bachelor degrees and professional certifications, Millersville University has opened a College of Graduate and Professional Studies.The announcement was made recently during a special event celebrating 50 years of graduate studies at the university....
2009-10-29 08:21:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Correction Oct. 30, 2009 — The party affiliations of Eastern Lancaster County school board candidates Alexander Sitar and Michael C. Upton were incorrect in the article below. Sitar is a Republican, and Upton is an Independent. Both are list......
2009-10-28 06:18:00
CHAD UMBLE
Elizabethtown Area School District board members signed off on a two-week suspension for a high school student found with marijuana, a reduced sanction that reflects a new punishment philosophy for the school district.Previously, a student found with drugs would have been expelled, but the......
2009-10-28 06:07:00
PATRICK BURNS
The Eastern Lancaster County School Board agreed to add $500,000 to an account established to pay for a coming spike in funding to the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System.The board last week decided on a compromise to district Business Manager Keith Ramsey's sug......
2009-10-26 09:55:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
Financial support and commitment to family hold a place of high priority in the agenda of many Latino youths.But these virtues may be the same ones holding back many young Latinos from getting a college education.A new survey of 2,012 Latinos ages 16 and older by the Pew Hispanic Ce......
2009-10-25 00:15:00
JON RUTTER
The new-and-reduced Donegal School District referendum comes with little rancor or fluff. Voters will be asked Nov. 3 to vote on a new high school only. The school will be "pretty basic," promised Steve Cafrelli, president of the school board. But it will well serve the most u......
2009-10-24 08:41:00
BRIAN WALLACE
For the second time in less than a year, Donegal School District is asking voters to approve a referendum to pay for school construction.But this time, the scope of the project — and the amount the district hopes to borrow — has changed drastically.Also changed, or so it......
2009-10-22 07:47:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Every "dog" has his day.And that makes students and their dads at Dayspring Christian Academy, well, doggone happy.In September, WatchDOGS (Dads of Great Students), a nonprofit father involvement initiative of the Missouri-based National Center for Fathering (...
2009-10-20 21:53:00
PATRICK BURNS
The Eastern Lancaster County School Board is wrangling over how it will pay for an impending $2 million-plus increase in funding to the Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System.At the board's Oct. 12, meeting, Keith Ramsey, district business manager, suggested that the bo......
2009-10-20 10:08:00
BRIAN WALLACE
English teacher Tammy Ficca rewards stellar writing by inviting her students to read their essays from an "author's stool" in front of her Manheim Township High School classroom.Physics teacher Bill McWatters doles out tiny plastic dinosaurs to pupils who excel at the weekly ......
2009-10-20 09:04:00
STAFF and WIRE REPORTS
(AP) - The Pennsylvania Department of Education is investigating whether children in a conservative Amish sect are being educated since their western Pennsylvania school was padlocked in a dispute over the legal use of outhouses. David Beyer, an attorney who represents the Swartzentruber Ami......
2009-10-19 08:30:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Lancaster County students scored higher, on average, on PSSAs in 2009 than they did the previous year, according to statistics released by the state Department of Education.Fourteen of the county's 17 public school districts posted increases in the percentage of students scoring "......
2009-10-19 00:00:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Judy Anttonen didn't want to be bored when she retired from teaching."I get bored easily. I'm not a stay-at-home person," Anttonen said.Anttonen had taught in Intermediate Unit 13's special education program, teaching in nine different schools in 11 years befor......
2009-10-17 06:06:00
ELLEN BORZA, Freestyle
The many diverse cultures of the world have found their way into high school classrooms and teenagers' daily homework.Schools offer languages to prepare students for the future and to expand the mind, but what does taking a language mean to teenagers? Why do students tackle the challen......
2009-10-17 00:02:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Manheim Township School District is considering piloting a full-day kindergarten class next fall that could be expanded to a districtwide program in 2012.School board members reacted favorably Thursday to a proposal by Michael Bromirski, principal of Reidenbaugh Elementary School and chair......
2009-10-14 08:46:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School district officials had to approve their 2009-10 budgets 3˝ months ago, but they found out only this week how much money the state will kick in to help them pay their bills.For some districts, the news is good.They budgeted for less in state education subsidies than the......
2009-10-14 06:23:00
CIVIA KATZ
Manheim Central School District stepped closer to choosing a new superintendent after narrowing the choice to two out of 10 candidates interviewed.The district received 14 completed applications and 19 contacts for the superintendent position."I'm very happy. We had really ......
2009-10-13 08:12:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Erin Rodenberger never felt unsafe at Manheim Township High School, but since Roger Blantz started roaming the halls, she's felt more secure.Blantz is the uniformed Manheim Township police officer who began working his new beat as school resource officer Sept. 21.In the short pe......
2009-10-13 07:40:00
AD CRABLE, Outdoor Trails
After a couple hundred years of abusing the wetlands in its midst, this city has made amends with a a major shout-out to embrace its marsh. The 212-acre Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge and the $11 million DuPont Environmental Education Center that peers into the reclaimed swamp ope......
2009-10-12 00:02:00
JANE HOLAHAN
Their lives were in turmoil, drowning in addiction, anger, depression.Ken Miller, 39, walked away from his wife and three kids, rage taking control of his life."I just left one day. I felt if I left, all my problems would go away," he said.Jose Acosta, 36, kept gett......
2009-10-12 00:01:00
JANE HOLAHAN
When I was growing up in Pittsburgh back in the 1960s, I was more than a student.I was a guinea pig.Our small, public school tried out experimental ideas to see if they worked better than the traditional methods.It began in first grade, when we started to learn to read....
2009-10-07 06:17:00
ROXANNE TODD
To build or not to build? That's a question that is going to plague Solanco School District board members for the next few years.James Lewis of Lewis & Associates Architects presented six options to board members, administrators and about 25 residents at a special feasibility study......
2009-10-03 07:41:00
KELSEY WEITZEL, 18, Freestyle
It seems like summer was only yesterday, but already it's well into a new school year.It's time to trade in those flip-flops for boots and those ice cream cones for new notebooks because fall is here and it brought homework with it.Think of all the fun things we only get to ......
2009-10-03 06:11:00
BRIAN WALLACE
A building leased to School District of Lancaster for special-education and gym classes has been closed because of fire-code violations, forcing the district to transfer 18 students to other sites.The former Steinman Clubhouse, owned by the Boys & Girls Club of Lancaster, was vacated S......
2009-10-02 09:38:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Negotiations are continuing in three Lancaster County school districts that have yet to approve new contracts for more than 650 teachers.But when those labor agreements are likely to be approved is anyone's guess.Officials in Donegal, Elizabethtown Area and Eastern Lancaster Cou......
2009-10-01 08:17:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
The Lancaster campus of Harrisburg Area Community College is kicking off a yearlong celebration of its 20th anniversary.The recognition of that milestone will begin today with a special ceremony.To mark its anniversary, HACC is announcing a major scholarship campaign to help more st......
2009-09-30 08:39:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Before parents can confront their children about drug abuse, they need to recognize the signs their kids are using drugs.But many parents don't know what to look for.That's where "Drugs 101: What Parents Need to Know" comes in.The drug education program seek......
2009-09-30 06:29:00
CIVIA KATZ
After heated debate Manheim Central school board approved allowing the direct hiring of classroom aides by the administration in a 7-3 vote Sept. 22 meeting.The board still must approve the hire, but retroactively, which will decrease the time it takes to get needed personnel to the classr......
2009-09-30 06:29:00
CIVIA KATZ
Manheim Central School District has received an overwhelming response from applicants seeking to fill vacancies, the interim superintendent reported Sept. 22.Jon Rednak told board members, "The search is going well." The applications are noteworthy for "both the quantity and......
2009-09-29 10:34:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
A newborn baby lies crying on a hospital bed.Nurses and specialists peer down at her, monitoring her heart rhythm and her breathing.Her arms and legs move slightly.The baby's breathing becomes shallow. She gasps for breath. Her lips turn blue.The medical workers ne......
2009-09-29 09:48:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Students who care about what they're learning are less likely to drop out of school, conventional wisdom says.But providing kids with compelling courses taught by caring, committed teachers sometimes isn't enough.Schools also need to offer options — night and weekend c......
2009-09-23 00:07:00
JANET KELLEY
A former Columbia High School music teacher and band director pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges stemming from a sexual relationship with a student.Robert E. Richards, 34, of Laurel Drive, West Hempfield Township, pleaded guilty in Lancaster County Court to two counts each of involuntary de......
2009-09-23 00:02:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The state has disciplined a former Hand Middle School special-education teacher over allegations that she helped a student complete a PSSA writing test in 2006.The state Department of Education imposed a five-day suspension on Kimberly Hatfield under a settlement agreement recently approve......
2009-09-22 00:05:00
TOM MURSE
At a Lancaster day-care center, no one is getting paychecks, and the director has convinced some of his own creditors to allow him an extra month to pay personal bills.Parents, meantime, are bringing in food and toiletries for 20 staffers who haven't made a dime in a month and a half....
2009-09-22 00:04:00
AD CRABLE, Outdoor Trails
The Big Dipper is tipped on its end and the dew in the meadow grass refreshingly cool to the touch as we begin strategically planting a spread of about 100 Canada geese decoys. Three young teens move among the group of six adults, using headlamps to assist in the pre-hunt ritual. It i......
2009-09-18 10:16:00
BRIAN WALLACE
When Debby Mitchell took over as principal of Manheim Township High School this past summer, she noticed a familiar pattern.Last school year, the same five Manheim Township students spent eight or more days serving in-school suspensions for violating school rules.Instead of going to......
2009-09-15 08:22:00
BRIAN WALLACE
What goes up must come down.Just ask Lancaster County's high school principals.Last year, their schools' SAT scores surged by an average of 21 points, bucking state and national trends.This year, the scores dropped by 14 points, on average, while state and national sc......
2009-09-12 08:02:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Columbia Borough and Pequea Valley school districts have approved contracts that will boost annual salaries for their teachers by 3.5 percent to 3.8 percent over the next four to six years.Columbia school board, in an 8-0 vote Thursday, approved a fact-finder's recommendation for a new......
2009-09-09 06:09:00
JAMES BUESCHER
One or more new residence halls, the expansion of graduate programs, the renovation of Ganser Library and a switch from electric power to natural gas could be in Millersville University's future.The projects are included in a preliminary campus facilities master plan that MU officials ......
2009-09-09 00:02:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Time and again, Lynette Alvarez has heard from her teachers and parents how important it is to stay in school, study hard and do her best.The Hand Middle School seventh-grader heard that familiar advice again Tuesday, but this time, it came from someone a little more influential — th......
2009-09-08 16:05:00
STAFF
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2009-09-07 23:10:00
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The prepared text of President Barack Obama's back-to-school address scheduled for Tuesday, as released in advance by the White House:OBAMA: Hello, everyone — how's everybody doing today? I'm here with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia. And we'v......
2009-09-07 00:01:00
STAFF
Summaries of local news stories from the pages of the Intelligencer Journal and Lancaster New Era appear in this space each Monday. They are researched and compiled by staff member Tim Buckwalter. Full versions are available on microfilm at the Lancaster County Library, 125 N. Duke St....
2009-09-06 00:08:00
HELEN COLWELL ADAMS
In New Jersey, ex-offenders coming out of prison couldn't find jobs. So Dr. Tony Campolo's Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education started making jobs. The ministry began setting up small businesses and cottage industries that give newly released inmates the chanc......
2009-09-05 10:16:00
BRIAN WALLACE
More Lancaster County students met state academic standards in 2008-09 than in the previous year, according to the state Department of Education, which this week released schools' PSSA scores.About 84 percent of the 130 public schools that enrolled Lancaster County students last year m......
2009-09-05 08:54:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Local school districts are fielding a flurry of calls about a speech President Barack Obama plans to make to students Tuesday.Conservatives are blasting Obama, saying he wants to impose his politics on students, and some local parents are raising concerns about that.In Manheim Towns......
2009-09-04 10:09:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster board members have endorsed a proposal to spend about $70 million to renovate five school buildings, purchase a new school and convert offices into classrooms to free up space at two other schools.The board's facilities committee Wednesday recommended for a......
2009-09-04 10:08:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Thursday could have been a doozy of a day for Wanda Suarez.Not only was she starting a new school year in a new job as principal of Lafayette Elementary School, her building is in the throes of a major construction project.Despite the potential for problems, Day One was "smooth......
2009-09-01 10:38:00
BRIAN WALLACE and CINDY STAUFFER
Michael Hreben was excited about the start of a new school year Monday but was "depressed that summer wasn't longer."When the Martic Elementary School fifth-grader walked into his colorful new school, however, excitement won out.The 10-year-old couldn't stop raving......
2009-09-01 08:57:00
TAYLOR BUNDY
As college students head back to school, campuses prepare for what has proven to be a perennial problem: underage drinking and binge drinking. Local campuses have initiatives in place to combat consumption."The reality of it at F&M, and at campuses across the country, is that ther......
2009-08-31 09:31:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster's 128 administrators are in line for raises averaging 2.4 percent for 2009-10.The school board last week approved a salary-increase plan that will boost staff members' pay by up to 3.5 percent, based on employee performance evaluations. ......
2009-08-31 09:30:00
JANE HOLAHAN
For years, when the school day was over, some students at Lancaster Mennonite School would travel to the Pennsylvania Academy of Music for lessons.Now, through a partnership the two schools have just formed, those music classes can become more than just extracurricular activities. They can......
2009-08-31 08:00:00
TIM MEKEEL
It's better to cooperate than compete.That's the new thinking of ASSETS Lancaster and SCORE Lancaster, two local nonprofits that offer small-business training and mentoring.So starting next month, for the first time, the two groups will jointly present two courses that help aspiring......
2009-08-31 00:03:00
STAFF
Summaries of local news stories from the pages of the Intelligencer Journal and Lancaster New Era appear in this space each Monday. They are researched and compiled by staff member Tim Buckwalter. Full versions are available on microfilm at the Lancaster County Library, 125 N. Duke St....
2009-08-28 10:21:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER and BRIAN WALLACE
For the second year in a row, school districts in Lancaster County are spending about $200 million to upgrade and expand their schools and equip them with modern amenities and new technology.Major construction projects are under way or were recently completed at 13 of the 17 districts that......
2009-08-28 10:18:00
BRIAN WALLACE
About $25 million in state funding that was supposed to arrive at local school districts this week has been delayed by the budget impasse in Harrisburg.That's on top of about $14 million in payments the state failed to make last month.The funding delay — a consequence of t......
2009-08-28 09:43:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
The Community Action Program of Lancaster County was hoping for federal stimulus money that "benefited the most number of people" and "resulted in broad community improvement."And the Lancaster agency was indeed able to secure more than $1 million in new stimulus funds,......
2009-08-27 10:23:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Adrian Horning was enjoying his summer when, out of the blue, the teenager got a letter from the principal's office of Ephrata High School.Adrian, who will start ninth grade at the end of the month, wasn't in trouble.The letter was from Tina Peoples, secretary to principal J......
2009-08-26 09:53:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
Lancaster County is riding the new wave of students who have pushed enrollment at community colleges and technical schools nationwide to record numbers.The Lancaster campus of Harrisburg Area Community College and Stevens College of Technology are kicking off college season here this week ......
2009-08-26 09:42:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Despite malfunctioning clocks and a broken public address system, the first day of school was fairly smooth sailing for Lancaster Mennonite students Tuesday."It went really well," said Lauren Sauder, a sophomore who was so excited about her return to the Lancaster campus she got ......
2009-08-26 06:09:00
JOHN FRIEL
Taxes are going up this year for Cocalico School District residents. Now, district officials fear the cost of collecting them may rise, too.The Cocalico School Board approved a nearly 5 percent tax increase in June. And at its Aug. 17 meeting, the board discussed a new "Tax Collection......
2009-08-26 06:06:00
SARAH V. LUPINACCI
At their meeting Aug. 10, Penn Manor school board members debated the benefits and the costs of joining Solanco's virtual cyber school after the board voted to end Penn Manor's virtual cyber school.James Hoke, of 337 Barbara St., son of Penn Manor Board member Franklin Hoke, is a r......
2009-08-25 10:41:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Cocalico School District has reached a tentative agreement with its 255 teachers on a new contract — just days before the school year begins.Teachers in four other Lancaster County districts are likely to return to school without new contracts when classes start next week.The ......
2009-08-20 00:22:00
BRIAN WALLACE
When Keifer Kemmerly watched reruns of "The Cosby Show" in the living room of his Columbia home, he never imagined he'd someday be standing inches away from the show's star. But Wednesday, Keifer and seven other Columbia Borough School District students were rubbing shoulders ......
2009-08-19 10:34:00
BRIAN WALLACE
For 20 years, the parish house of Trinity Lutheran Church has been a gateway for adults seeking to better their lives by learning English, brushing up on their math skills or earning a GED.Thousands of adults, many of them recent immigrants, have taken free classes at the Adult Enrichment ......
2009-08-19 08:18:00
DEAN LEE EVANS
With a referendum filing deadline a month away, Donegal School District officials will begin to finalize plans Thursday for a new high school.District officials in June unveiled a scaled-back building plan compared to the plan that failed in a January referendum.The new building pla......
2009-08-19 08:04:00
CIVIA KATZ
Manheim Central School District lost 50 percent of its administrative staff since June, and more resignations are expected, board member Nancy Sarley said Aug. 14.High school principal Arlen Mummau makes the ninth administrator to call it quits. His resignation, effective Aug. 5, was appro......
2009-08-19 08:03:00
CIVIA KATZ
The firm conducting the search for new leadership in Manheim Central School District is expected to take over temporary management, according to a recommendation of board members who met in executive session Aug. 11.The board is expected Aug. 25 to approve the recommendation of interim lea......
2009-08-18 10:06:00
AD CRABLE
You don't fool lightly with the steeple of one of the most historic churches in Lancaster County.But the overseers of Lititz Moravian Church have grown weary of having the 89-foot wooden steeple painted every six years or so.And once, in 1956, painters burning off old paint acci......
2009-08-15 10:56:00
ENELLY BETANCOURT
Dealing with older teenagers can be exhausting. If you are a parent, you already know how tough it can be.Now, imagine hundreds of adolescents, all in one place, at one time.In a little more than a week, Kelly Duncan will get to experience that once again, when Millersville Universi......
2009-08-15 08:18:00
TAYLOR BUNDY, 18, Freestyle
www.lecturefox.comThe Point: This site captures college lectures from schools across the country and posts them online for your academic enjoyment.Breaking it down:...
2009-08-15 08:13:00
PATRICK BURNS
For the second straight year, churches in the New Holland area plan to take a bite out of local families' back-to-school budgets.Organizers of today's Back-To-School Carnival said they expect to give out at least 400 backpacks to students from kindergarten through 12th grade. The f......
2009-08-14 10:47:00
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Lancaster County school officials say they support proposed statewide high school competency exams, but they're concerned about the details of the testing program, which won a key approval this week.By a 14-2 vote Thursday, the state Board of Education approved implementation of the Ke......
2009-08-14 09:32:00
AD CRABLE
About 30 Lancaster YWCA preschool children and their parents and overseers took to the streets Thursday morning to draw attention to state funding shortfalls caused by the ongoing state budget impasse.With the continued fiscal stalemate in Harrisburg, various preschool and day-care program......
2009-08-14 00:59:00
JACK ROBERTS and ALEJANDRO RIOS
OK, it's time for R&R with R&R, the place where you find out what's happening on the local music scene. And there's lots. We told you that The Sleeping World (www.myspace.com/thesleeping...) was breaking in a new drummer and t......
2009-08-13 08:00:00
AD CRABLE
Citing mandatory, tougher accrediting standards, Millersville University has temporarily discontinued offering a master's degree in business administration.MU had initiated an MBA program in 2002.The discontinuance will not affect the 35 or so students currently enrolled in the ......
2009-08-12 08:06:00
PATRICK BURNS
Eastern Lancaster County School District took a step closer Monday to regulating how advertising may be disseminated to students in the district.At the Elanco board meeting, district solicitor Jeffrey Litts laid out three proposals that would control how, when and where student notices or ......
2009-08-09 00:06:00
MANDY STOLTZFUS
Where else would fanatical dogs, futuristic glorified stick figures, massive bodybuilders and mini neon-colored heroes all hang out together? This fantasy cartoon action was happening at the first aspiring cartoonist workshop held at Steinman Park, where children and teens met Tuesday to create......
2009-08-06 09:18:00
TOM MURSE
More than 77,000 state workers, some of whom have been relying on food banks to get by during the budget stalemate, will get their first full paychecks in nearly a month beginning next week. Democrats in the state House?They've already paid themselves.The Democrats dipped......
2009-08-06 00:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
Are you angry with Gov. Ed Rendell for wanting to raise your taxes?Apparently, Sen. Dominic Pileggi doesn't think you're angry enough.Pileggi, of Delaware County, is the leader of the majority Republicans in the state Senate and Rendell's chief nemesis in Pennsylvania......
2009-08-05 08:11:00
CIVIA KATZ
Manheim Central Taxpayers Alliance school board nominees asked to be included in selecting the next superintendent at the July 28 board meeting.Candidate Kim Garner, one of five alliance-endorsed candidates running unopposed in November for the five open board seats, said, "I wanted y......
2009-08-01 08:12:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Ask someone to name the academic powerhouses among local high schools, and the usual suspects — Manheim Township, Hempfield and Warwick — will probably come to mind.But when Newsweek magazine ran an article on "America's Top Public High Schools" in June, only Octo......
2009-07-30 08:09:00
BRIAN WALLACE
If a tornado touched down near a school, forcing students to evacuate, how would parents find their children?How would a school handle an outbreak of swine flu? A nearby chemical spill? Food contamination in the cafeteria?To deal with these and other crises that could affect hundred......
2009-07-29 10:31:00
BRIAN WALLACE
A fact-finder has been appointed to resolve an impasse in teacher contract talks in Columbia, and negotiations are continuing in four other Lancaster County school districts this summer.But the likelihood of the 1,000-plus teachers in those five districts starting the 2009-10 school year w......
2009-07-29 10:27:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The weak economy has nearly shuttered an Ephrata Christian school that two years ago enrolled more than 100 students.Grandview Heights Christian Academy this month decided to eliminate eight of its 10 grades for the 2009-10 school year, cutting its enrollment from 78 students to about 16....
2009-07-27 00:05:00
BRIAN WALLACE
For children enjoying the lazy days of summer, there's only about a month left before they'll have to load up their backpacks and head back to school.But the good news — for kids, anyway, if not their parents — is that students will get more vacation time this year than......
2009-07-25 10:00:00
ERIKA GLASS, 15, Freestyle
From Bruce Springsteen belting out his classic anthem "Glory Days" to Troy and Gabriella of "High School Musical" fame prancing around their cafeteria at the closing bell of 12th grade, senior year has often been considered the pinnacle of a young person's life.For ......
2009-07-24 00:01:00
TOM MURSE
Ten thousand corrections officers patrol our prison cell blocks and stand between hardened criminals and the public in Pennsylvania — and those officers are getting only a fraction of their pay during the budget stalemate.The inmates?They're still getting paid in full.......
2009-07-22 10:02:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster has agreed to pay a private company about $1.4 million to run Buehrle Alternative School in 2009-10.SDL board members Tuesday unanimously approved a one-year contract with Camelot Schools LLC to run the school, which serves students who have been expelled or su......
2009-07-17 00:14:00
CINDY STAUFFER
Millersville University students will face a $196-a-year tuition hike this fall. And school officials wish the increase was even higher. Times are going to be tight at the university, officials said, reacting to the increase approved Thursday by the board of governors of the State System o......
2009-07-15 10:08:00
There's no polite way to say this: Our children are fat. According to the report "F as in Fat," released by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, one in three Pennsylvania children is overweight or obese. Just as troubling is the report's fin......
2009-07-15 10:02:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The state Department of Education might revoke the charter of an online school that enrolls more than 100 Lancaster County students.The department alleges that Devon-based Agora Cyber Charter School violated its charter by hiring a for-profit management company to handle its day-to-day ope......
2009-07-14 06:01:00
AD CRABLE
From green roofs to green churches to rain barrels. From riding a bike to working to making compost from dinner leftovers.Community gardens. Teens who pull weeds and find truths about life in the dirt. Residents who brainstorm over drinks about a better way to do things.If you look ......
2009-07-13 09:00:00
KATY HOPKINS
"Officer Ted" is a familiar face in the halls of Lancaster city schools, and he's gaining national recognition, too.Ted Makauskas, the teaching, education and mentoring officer of the Lancaster city police, was recently awarded a 2009 Exceptional Service Award for his efforts......
2009-07-13 00:00:00
STAFF
Summaries of local news stories from the pages of the Intelligencer Journal and Lancaster New Era appear in this space each Monday. They are researched and compiled by staff member Tim Buckwalter. Full versions are available on microfilm at the Lancaster County Library, 125 N. Duke St....
2009-07-08 10:01:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Millersville University hopes to begin building a $26 million visual and performing arts center on its campus in the spring.If everything goes as planned, the center — which would include an art gallery, a concert hall, two classrooms and practice rooms, a recording studio, choral re......
2009-07-07 10:04:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Plans for the first new parochial elementary school in Lancaster County in a half-century cleared a major hurdle in Manheim Township on Monday night.After 85 years at Duke and Liberty streets in downtown Lancaster, St. Anne School officials recognize that "times change, and the school......
2009-07-03 10:05:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Lancaster County's 17 public school districts have kept tax increases for the new fiscal year to near-record lows, a boon to residents struggling to keep afloat in the weak economy.Two districts — Penn Manor and Pequea Valley — aren't raising property taxes at all for 2......
2009-07-03 10:04:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Teacher contract talks in Columbia Borough School District are headed for fact-finding.Negotiators for the teachers' union have asked the state Labor Relations Board to appoint a fact-finder to try to craft an agreement suitable to both sides.The school board and teachers would ......
2009-07-03 10:02:00
DEAN LEE EVANS
A failed referendum, taxpayer backlash and public surveys led Donegal School District officials to scale back a proposed building plan scheduled for a referendum in November.The revised plan discussed by officials June 25 proposes the construction of a high school, while leaving all other ......
2009-07-01 00:03:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster board members Tuesday unanimously approved the takeover of Buehrle Alternative School by a private company next school year.They also approved the district's 2009-10 budget, which includes a 3.52 percent tax hike.That vote was not unanimous, with Mic......
2009-06-30 22:51:00
CIVIA KATZ
The resignation of Manheim Central's superintendent effective Oct. 1 was approved by a divided school board June 23.The 5-3 vote will entitle Carol Saylor to leave the district with a package of vacation and sick days for the entire 2009-10 school year, which starts today.The si......
2009-06-30 19:36:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Once, teachers had only a handful of tools at their disposal to discipline students.They could hand out a detention or send pupils to an in-school suspension. In extreme cases, they could contact the administration for an out-of-school suspension or even an expulsion.But what about ......
2009-06-28 00:02:00
JEANNETTE SCOTT
When I decided last March that I would give hunting a try, there was just one hurdle: a hunter education class. Successful completion of a hunter-trapper education class is required to get a Pennsylvania hunting license. With precious few exceptions, the course is held at sportsmen's c......
2009-06-26 05:00:00
SUSAN JURGELSKI
Seven-year-old Sam Cox kneels on a blanket, opens a book and starts to read. The sentences come slowly at first, and then more confidently. Without saying a word, his audience, Maggie, is all ears, offering warm-eyed acknowledgment — and maybe a tail wag or two. As part of Readi......
2009-06-26 00:21:00
BRIAN WALLACE
A dozen McCaskey East High School students are enjoying a nine-day summer camp at Millersville University.Since Saturday, the students have been frolicking in the Pucillo Gymnasium pool, lounging in the lobbies and halls of their dorms and basking in the sunshine around MU's pond....
2009-06-25 01:01:00
JEFF HAWKES
With inner-city Fulton Elementary School as his backdrop, Gov. Ed Rendell defended his call for higher state taxes as a "moral obligation" to children.Noting that Republican lawmakers have drawn a line in the sand against a tax increase, the governor drew his own line.&quo......
2009-06-25 00:32:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
Gov. Ed Rendell and legislators in Harrisburg, currently wrangling over a budget that could result in hefty cuts to libraries, are about to hear from a lot of upset Lancaster countians.Facing cuts that could lead to fewer hours and reduced programs and services, Library System of Lancaster......
2009-06-25 00:22:00
DIANA MARTIN
Amanda Kieffer had a problem.As the space station commander, she had mere moments to act when a scientist who had narcolepsy collapsed.And that was only one of the disasters on board."The cargo doors wouldn't shut, and when I was flying the space shuttle we landed in......
2009-06-24 00:24:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Gov. Ed Rendell issued a simple warning Tuesday to Republican lawmakers who want to slash millions in public school funding from next year's state budget: "Don't mess with education."Education is too important to the state's future to fall victim to cost-cutting in th......
2009-06-23 23:21:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Due to increased operating expenses and the cost of paying for students to attend charter schools — among other challenges — Columbia Borough school board approved a 5.9 percent tax hike Thursday."This is a tight budget. Costs for things like health insurance are going up ......
2009-06-23 00:56:00
BRIAN WALLACE
John, who has three children attending Manheim Township public schools, is worried that one of his kids could end up like him.John started smoking marijuana at age 9 and moved on to "speed," cocaine, heroin and crystal methamphetamine. He eventually dropped out of school and work......
2009-06-20 00:33:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER
The Elizabethtown Area school board unanimously passed the 2009-10 budget Tuesday, facing no community objections to the 2.5 percent tax hike it includes.George Longridge, district business manager, announced a few changes to the previously passed draft, including a $250,000 increase in th......
2009-06-20 00:26:00
SUSAN E. LINDT
Pennsylvania Academy of Music last week named Robert Schoener and Alan Wyand 2009 Volunteers of the Year.The distinction honors PAM volunteers for outstanding service to the academy, which provides comprehensive music education for children and adults through private and classroom instruct......
2009-06-19 00:52:00
BRIAN WALLACE
If Barack Obama had run his campaign from a public school building, he never would have become president, according to Alan November.Schools routinely ban Internet access to such sites as YouTube and Facebook and restrict the use of iPods and cell phones — all of which Obama used rel......
2009-06-19 00:49:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Manheim Township school board Thursday approved a $74.9 million budget for 2009-10 that will boost property taxes by $98 next year for the average homeowner.The spending plan increases the district's tax rate by 4.1 percent, the maximum permitted by the state, to 16.55 mills.Und......
2009-06-19 00:37:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
The Lancaster YWCA was among three groups or individuals honored Thursday with the first-ever Champions of Diversity Award.Sponsored by the Urban League of Lancaster County and the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the award is presented to those who meet three criteria:......
2009-06-18 00:01:00
Budget battles in Pennsylvania are rarely collegial. Rather than working to bridge the gap between revenue and expenditures, the two parties tend to migrate to their own aisles and throw barbs at each other.Faced with the largest deficit in state history, lawmakers this year have reverted ......
2009-06-17 11:37:00
MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT
Restaurateur Sam Allen spends a lot of time indoors. But when he has a few hours off, he often winds up outside, along the Susquehanna River. Allen, who co-owns Bube's Brewery, Mount Joy, takes full advantage of the vast recreational playground that runs right through our backyard &mda......
2009-06-17 00:53:00
PATRICK BURNS
Homeowners in Eastern Lancaster County School District will finally share property tax relief revenues with residents in the state's 501 other districts.The Elanco school board voted Monday to accept $446,713 being provided this year under the state's 2006 Taxpayer Relief Act....
2009-06-17 00:18:00
BRIAN WALLACE
In a move designed to reduce conflicts and give students a stronger connection with their peers, McCaskey East High School plans to require that its technology students wear uniforms next year.About 400 pupils enrolled in the McCaskey Institute of Technology small learning community would ......
2009-06-16 00:48:00
JEFF HAWKES
Making her first visit to the county's Youth Intervention Center, Cindy Moyer worked on calming her jitters.A Hempfield School District retiree, slender, white-haired and vivacious, Moyer taught art for 35 years and encountered every kind of student.But passing through a metal d......
2009-06-16 00:31:00
CINDY HUMMEL
Lampeter-Strasburg High School students in extracurricular activities this fall will be subject to random drug testing.The L-S school board, in a 6-2 vote Monday night, approved new drug policies for the district, including random drug testing for students in extracurricular activities or ......
2009-06-16 00:27:00
PATRICK BURNS
The strings music program is no longer a core academic subject in Eastern Lancaster County School District.The Elanco school board voted unanimously Monday to follow Superintendent Robert Hollister's recommendation to shift the orchestra program to a co-curriculum, after-school program......
2009-06-16 00:01:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Marelly Guzman liked to play with LEGO® when she was younger, but her dream job was to become a model.The high school junior later realized she was "too shy" for modeling, but still enjoyed "building stuff, creating different stuff."That love of tinkering led......
2009-06-15 11:30:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
Not a lot of educators can list both "head football coach" and "spring musical director" on their resume. Donald Stewart can — and he also can jot in "former English teacher." One of the many cherished letters he has received in recent weeks congratulati......
2009-06-13 00:33:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Kristin Broich is "thrilled" that her daughter, Zoe, will be learning in both English and Spanish when she starts kindergarten in the fall.Broich knows that enrolling Zoe in a dual-language immersion program being piloted at Wharton Elementary School next year isn't without r......
2009-06-12 01:07:00
BRIAN WALLACE
For the second time in two years, School District of Lancaster is considering hiring an outside firm to run one of its alternative-education schools.But this time, school officials say, the company that would run Buehrle Alternative School is well-suited to the task.School board mem......
2009-06-12 00:47:00
MADELYN PENNINO
In the fields of Lancaster County Central Park, student scientists peer into the mysteries of tree swallows.Five students in Franklin & Marshall College biology professor Dan Ardia's life history of evolution course have spent weeks studying the birds' behavior and incubation h......
2009-06-12 00:36:00
LAURA KNOWLES
It hasn't been an easy year for Warwick High School, but the Class of 2009 was ready to move beyond the trials and tribulations with a sense of humor.At Thursday's commencement, which had to be moved indoors because of the threat of thunderstorms, 362 spirited seniors acknowledged ......
2009-06-12 00:18:00
JEFF HAWKES
State Sen. Lloyd Smucker of Lancaster County last week described the Senate Republicans' no-tax-increase budget bill as putting Pennsylvania on "the new road of responsibility."Sen. Jake Corman, the Centre County Republican and Appropriations chair, similarly called the deep ......
2009-06-11 10:12:00
DAN RORABAUGH
Memories both happy and sad flooded the main auditorium of the Lancaster Host Resort on Wednesday at the Pequea Valley High School commencement. From the boys' basketball team's impressive run in the district playoffs to the untimely passing of two teachers in three days, student speakers told ......
2009-06-11 10:00:00
KATY HOPKINS
In a nearly unanimous vote, Donegal school board members opted Tuesday to make extensive repairs and keep Maytown Elementary School, rather than buying a new roof to stop leaks. Although board member Jim Morrisey was absent from the meeting, the other members voted 8-0 to spend up to $212,000 o......
2009-06-11 00:57:00
PATRICK BURNS
A consultant hired just last week to help the Pennsylvania Academy of Music through economic hard times and the man who hired her are no longer associated with the city school.Gone are consultant Sylvia Strobel and Paul W. Ware, the chairman of the academy's board of directors, PAM off......
2009-06-11 00:01:00
CYNTHIA HUMMEL
The close community supporting 160 Pequea Valley High School graduates Wednesday night shared tears and cheers through commencement ceremonies at Lancaster Host Resort and Conference Center.Relatives, educators and even school bus drivers came out to watch the graduation.Before the ......
2009-06-11 10:18:00
DAN RORABAUGH
As fun and educational as living with a German family for three weeks was, the trip wasn't Daniel Russo's most memorable experience abroad. That distinction goes to the two weeks he spent working at a Sunday school in Kenya, where nearly 200 children listened to the Warwick High School senior t......
2009-06-10 12:49:00
CHAD UMBLE
As dark clouds threatened rain outside, family and friends of the 465 members of the McCaskey High School Class of 2009 filled the school auditorium Tuesday night to wish the students goodbye and good luck. For the newest Red Tornado alumni, it was a rousing sendoff. "We heard reports......
2009-06-10 00:51:00
BRIAN WALLACE
Pedro Rivera, presiding over his first commencement as head of School District of Lancaster, declared that McCaskey High School graduates were ready for takeoff Tuesday."Graduates, the diploma you have earned at McCaskey will give you the ability to soar," Rivera, who was named S......
2009-06-10 00:48:00
DIANA MARTIN
Suzanne Hutt has a knack for flight, and she demonstrated it again Tuesday night in the auditorium of Calvary Church.Hutt, who played the title role of Peter Pan in the school musical, was swept off her feet by classmates Trey Draude and Jessica Neuman as the trio performed "Oh, the P......
2009-06-10 00:39:00
ROXANNE TODD
The Solanco Class of 2009 is mighty fine.That sentiment was evident in the words spoken by several of Solanco High School's commencement speakers Tuesday evening.Retiring principal Gerard Rosolie praised the 287 graduating seniors for achieving a higher percentage of proficiency......
2009-06-10 00:37:00
ROXANNE TODD
Reading, writing and arithmetic were part of Toni Rivera's recipe for a successful education. So was a new heart.Rivera, who graduated Tuesday evening from Solanco High School, is looking ahead to a career in nursing.Her past has done a lot to shape her dream of helping others....
2009-06-09 22:09:00
PATRICK BURNS
A popular music program probably will survive budget cuts in Eastern Lancaster County School District, but it will likely operate differently at Garden Spot High School.Elanco superintendent Robert Hollister on Monday offered the school board four alternatives to maintain the district'......
2009-06-09 20:11:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Correction — A Hempfield High School graduate who spoke at Monday's commencement was misidentified in the story below, posted on LancasterOnline Tuesday. The graduate's name is Michael Quay Groff.&b......
2009-06-09 10:30:00
KATY HOPKINS
The fate of Maytown Elementary School will again be at issue at tonight's Donegal school board meeting tonight. In a district plagued with aging buildings and space issues, possibilities for repairs, renovations or rebuilding the school will be considered as the board reviews newest repair esti......
2009-06-06 01:11:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The Diocese of Harrisburg on Friday announced that Dermot Garrett has retired after 13 years as principal of Lancaster Catholic High School, which has been beset in recent weeks by financial woes.The Rev. Edward J. Quinlan, the secretary for education for the diocese, said the financial di......
2009-06-06 01:01:00
CIVIA KATZ
A small miracle, a first and a little bittersweet occurred at commencement for Manheim Central School District's Class of 2009 at Lancaster County Bible Church.The small miracle occurred when graduate Kyle Crist rose from his wheelchair and with the aid of a walker stepped across the s......
2009-06-06 00:56:00
CINDY HUMMEL
One could say the Lampeter-Strasburg Class of 2009 went out with a bang Friday night in the school's performing arts center.Principal Carroll Staub noted the class had the honor of being the largest L-S class ever, with 277 graduates, along with having the highest PSSA scores. The clas......
2009-06-06 00:46:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Ducking out of the rain Friday, 269 graduating seniors from Garden Spot High School in New Holland received their diplomas in the high school gymnasium while friends and family looked on — many via large projection screens set up in the nearby auditorium.The 53rd annual ceremony &mda......
2009-06-06 00:42:00
JOHN FRIEL
When Cocalico moved its high school graduation from its stadium in 2005, some mourned the end of a long-standing tradition.But Friday night would have marked the third rain-soaked ceremony since then, and there were no complaints among the full house of graduates, families and friends at C......
2009-06-06 00:37:00
CHAD UMBLE
The newest Cocalico High School graduates woke up this morning with their secondary school years barely behind them.But as they most likely were told in many different ways, it is not so much the end of one thing as it is the beginning of another.One of their administrators can rela......
2009-06-05 18:11:00
AMANDA KENNEDY, 18, Freestyle
Students who are feeling college's pinch in their pocket may be in luck.In April, Gov. Ed Rendell held a conference call for high school journalists across the state to ask questions concerning the future of public education. Eighty students from 31 of Pennsylvania's 67 counties to......
2009-06-05 10:59:00
KATY HOPKINS
The Donegal High School class of 2009 had spent 2,340 school days together, valedictorian Kristina Shultz calculated. Which is about 15,900 hours, she added. Or, she said, roughly a third of their lives. And in their remaining moments together at graduation Thursday night, Shultz addr......
2009-06-05 01:17:00
DIANA MARTIN
Beach balls the size of tires, a plastic crab and an octopus, bouncy balls, bubbles and even an inflatable monkey wearing a "Seniors: Class of 2009" T-shirt joined in Ephrata High School's commencement Thursday night."It's a circus out there," one faculty member......
2009-06-05 01:09:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER
While high school graduation is a milestone for every graduate, Penn Manor's 2009 commencement marked a huge accomplishment for two young men and the farewell of three prominent faculty and school board members.Graduates Robert Peters II and Ronald Reis have each seen their share of ha......
2009-06-05 01:06:00
MADELYN PENNINO
The sweet memories of high school won't fade for Conestoga Valley High School graduates.More than 300 seniors graduated during the school's 51st commencement Thursday at Calvary Church on Landis Valley Road. While students said they are ready to move on, they will not forget the fr......
2009-06-05 01:02:00
LORI VAN INGEN
Tide Pride is what it's all about, according to Columbia High School commencement speaker Michael G. Gerfin.Gerfin told the 2009 graduates Thursday night that at a 1978 Columbia Chapter Sports Hall of Fame banquet he said there were two kinds of people in this world — people from......
2009-06-05 00:52:00
JAMES BUESCHER
Trading country sunsets and summer breezes for ballroom seating and air conditioning, Octorara Area High School held its 53rd annual commencement ceremony Thursday.The rite celebrated 204 seniors, who received their diplomas at the Host Resort's Expo Center on Lincoln Highway.Th......
2009-06-05 00:47:00
DEAN LEE EVANS
Donegal's 55th annual commencement went smoothly and without delay Thursday night, despite being held indoors for the first time in more than a decade because of wet weather.High school principal John Felix thanked Donegal's maintenance staff for working feverishly to prepare the h......
2009-06-04 10:14:00
DIANE BITTING
When Luis F. Marcelino came to this country from the Dominican Republic nearly two years ago, he spoke little English. "It was kind of difficult because my English was really bad," says Marcelino, who obviously doesn't have that problem now. "It was pretty tough," recalls the Lancaster ......
2009-06-03 14:45:00
STAFF and WIRE REPORTS
The Donegal School District closed its middle school today because of concerns over swine flu and said it would remain closed Thursday, the last day of the school year, as a precaution, The Associated Press reported. The Donegal Middle School in Marietta closed at 11:30 a.m., becoming the first......
2009-06-03 00:28:00
PATRICK BURNS
The Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board will receive $1 million in federal funds to help at-risk young parents obtain education and skills training.The money is part of nearly $10 million in grants, the U.S. Labor Department said Tuesday, that will be made available to help parents......
2009-06-02 11:37:00
TIM MEKEEL, JANE HOLAHAN and TOM MURSE
When the Pennsylvania Academy of Music opened its $25 million building last June, the academy was hailed as a catalyst for downtown revitalization. But just one year later, it's unclear how much the academy will be contributing to city vitality. Citing significant drops in donations an......
2009-06-01 00:00:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Millersville University senior Alex Davies is soaking it up.Davies is among a group of MU students who will be learning about ocean temperature and how to measure currents at Wallops Island, Va., this week –– but he's already getting a head start.Davies is now at NASA's ......
2009-05-31 00:21:00
SUZANNE CASSIDY
Sixteen-year-old Alexandra Poff said her parents already have laid down the law on texting and talking on the cell phone while driving. "They've definitely made it clear that if I'm driving, and they catch me on the phone, I'm done driving," said Alexandra, a sophomore at ......
2009-05-30 00:56:00
BRIAN WALLACE
As work wraps up on an $83 million renovation and expansion at Manheim Township High School, district officials are planning improvements for two areas of the school largely left out of the project — the swimming pool and convocation hall.Renovations totaling an estimated $650,000 ar......
2009-05-30 00:42:00
MADELYN PENNINO
As children, Samuel Deng and Del Akech Del traveled thousands of miles from their home across rivers and deserts and picked fruit off trees to survive.Deng and Akech Del spoke to Conestoga Valley high school and middle school world cultures students Friday about their experiences being par......
2009-05-30 00:01:00
In 2004, as the School District of Lancaster attempted to extricate itself from the Ricardo Curry scandal, the board turned to a trusted friend, retired Warwick superintendent John Bonfield.It was the second time Bonfield had served the district in retirement. The first was in 1998 when he......
2009-05-29 09:59:00
KATY HOPKINS
When this year's Lancaster Catholic seniors were mere freshman in high school, religion teacher Kathy Alton whispered a prayer each time she passed one of them in the hall. "Please don't make me teach them next year." But she did get them, and last night, as Alton address......
2009-05-29 01:13:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER
Thursday's rain arrived on cue to congratulate the Lancaster Catholic High School Class of 2009.The ceremony, which was moved inside to the gymnasium from Rossmere Stadium due to threats of scattered thunderstorms, ended moments before the first drops of rain fell from the sky.T......
2009-05-29 13:55:00
DAN RORABAUGH
When the Lititz Christian School's student council organized a cancer awareness benefit for two of its teachers, Jeremiah Hershberger thought he had the perfect slogan. Another student had one Hershberger thought was "cheesy and kind of corny," but that the rest of the council ......
2009-05-29 13:52:00
DAVID O’CONNOR
Even at a young age, Becca Yoder has already learned how to "do what I am able to do ... while recognizing that I can't do everything."' But the 18-year-old Lancaster Mennonite School senior, who graduates Saturday, has been able to do a great deal, both in school and her c......
2009-05-28 19:59:00
LINDA ESPENSHADE
Count them: Seven, eight, nine worms.Third-grader Davion Abrante holds the mass of wiggling worms in his hand.He watches over his classmates' shoulders as they dig holes, planting green beans, lettuce and pumpkin plants outside Buchanan Elementary School — snatching up the......
2009-05-28 09:57:00
DIANE BITTING
Who knew that a kid could make beautiful music from empty coffee cans, shoeboxes, plastic water bottles and cardboard tubes? The students at Donegal Springs Elementary School in Mount Joy have done just that, thanks to a local composer who recently spent time at the school as an artist-in-resid......
2009-05-28 00:28:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Faculty members and coaches at Millersville University may be able to smoke on campus again, according to a recent ruling by a state labor panel.The panel ruled last week that the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education can't bar faculty members and coaches from smoking outdoors ......
2009-05-27 10:34:00
DAN RORABAUGH
At 8 o'clock on a typical Wednesday morning, Annie Riley, Maria Figueroa and Jade Snook would be in math, science and communication arts classes at McCaskey High School. Today, however, they were picking up trash and planting flowers outside Duke Manor Apartments. The three were among ......
2009-05-27 00:58:00
LAURA KNOWLES
Warwick school board was barraged with questions and complaints about leadership May 19.Several area residents attended the meeting to level criticism at the school board and district administration for a slate of issues, including a racial incident that occurred two years ago, inappropria......
2009-05-27 00:58:00
LORI VAN INGEN
John R. Bonfield, Warwick School District's superintendent for 21 years, died Monday at Moravian Manor, Lititz, after a battle with cancer. He was 72 and lived at 408 E. Second Ave., Lititz.Bonfield served as superintendent of Warwick School District from 1977 until his retirement in 1......
2009-05-26 22:51:00
CINDY HUMMEL
The Lampeter-Strasburg school board last week continued its discussion on proposed random drug testing.The district formed a drug and alcohol task force to study the issue and to make recommendations to the board. Its suggestions included the institution of random drug testing for students......
2009-05-26 00:01:00
BRIAN WALLACE
The top two finishers in the 2009 North Museum Science & Engineering Fair took their projects on the road this month and returned to Lancaster with international awards.Jonathan Rajaseelan of Lancaster Country Day School and Benjamin Meeder of Manheim Township High School both won hono......
2009-05-24 00:21:00
GIL SMART, Associate Editor
The way Matt Przywara sees it, there's a freight train speeding down the tracks. And the School District of Lancaster is tied to the rails. So at Tuesday's budget meeting Przywara, the district's chief financial officer, recommended that the school board hike taxes this year......
2009-05-22 10:28:00
MELANIE HERR
Bill uses a piece of paper to guide some soil into a pile on the table in front of him. Some of the youth resist touching the soil, wondering if, perhaps, something unsavory is in there, say, manure or bugs. Chris wants to know more about pesticides and why some gardeners question their use....
2009-05-22 10:12:00
DAVID O'CONNOR
A Lancaster pastor and his church are now writing letters to President Barack Obama and U.S. Sen. Robert Casey Jr. to save a school for at-risk children from closing. The nearly 300 boys and girls who attend the Scotland School for Veterans' Children "will have no home if it closes," says the R......
2009-05-22 00:29:00
MADELYN PENNINO
After five weeks of studying the history of Venezuela, Fritz Elementary School sixth-grader Brody Hastings has come to the conclusion that Americans are lucky."There are some poor countries in Latin America like Venezuela that are much poorer than this country is," Brody said. &q......
2009-05-21 00:41:00
MADELYN PENNINO
Both public and private schools continue to look for ways to save money in the weak economy, and Lancaster Catholic High School is no exception.On Tuesday, principal Dermot Garrett sent a letter to the parents of students informing them of a reduction in staff: Garrett said he was forced t......
2009-05-20 01:38:00
BRIAN WALLACE
School District of Lancaster expects to limit a tax hike in next year's budget to 3.52 percent — the lowest increase in six years — provided federal stimulus money comes through.The school board Tuesday approved a draft final 2009-10 budget totaling $158.1 million, an incre......
2009-05-20 00:54:00
STEPHANIE WEAVER
Ben Stiles sat motionless as emergency-service teams swarmed around him, removing pieces of his crashed vehicle, bit by bit.The counselor at Lancaster County Career & Technology Center's Willow Street campus soon would be carted out of the vehicle and taken to a SkyFlight Care heli......
2009-05-19 14:16:00
STAFF
Lancaster Catholic High School will cut teaching positions for the 2009-10 school year. The high school, at 650 Juliette Ave., is eliminating four teaching positions and reducing two full-time teachers to part-time hours, Principal Dermot M. Garrett said in a letter addressed today to parents....
2009-05-19 10:15:00
JANET KELLEY
They wouldn't follow rules and didn't always get along with others. Some have emotional issues or social problems. Most came from bad or broken homes. But after a couple months behind the tall fences topped with rolls of razor wire surrounding the State Correctional Institutio......
2009-05-19 00:26:00
LARRY ALEXANDER
When Elanco orchestra teacher Jeff Hackenberger decided to retire after 30 years, he thought it was time to replace old blood with new. He never entertained the idea that the administration might decide to replace him with no blood at all.Yet that could happen.Last month, Elanco sup......
2009-05-18 10:03:00
ROBYN MEADOWS
It took Tyler Hoover months to write and prepare the song "Sunset Rose" for his graduation project at Warwick High School. He rehearsed, recruited musicians and a cameraman to make a video. He conducted "Sunset Rose" at Warwick High School's spring concert. For 16 y......
2009-05-18 09:40:00
CINDY HUMMEL
Composer Michael Story of Houston writes an average of one commissioned piece for a school each year, in addition to his full-time position with Alfred Publishing of Los Angeles. Often when composing for a school, Story works solely with band directors, who sometimes offer little input on the p......
