BRHS Holds 3rd Annual Club Fair

Advisers and club members showed off their clubs today at BRHS for the student body. Students and advisers at BRHS prepared table displays promoting all of the various clubs offered at Blue Ridge. The student body was given the opportunity to sign up for the clubs and hear what each club has to offer. This is the 3rd year that Blue Ridge has held the Club Fair.

Meet the Sabers

On Thursday, September 2, the Susquehanna Sabers football team held a "Meet the Sabers" night to introduce the football team and their cheerleaders. The team is expected to contend for a league title this year. From Blue Ridge, we have several players participating, including Division I prospect Dan Kempa (waving above). The cheerleader squad is also well represented by Blue Ridge, anchored by senior Emily Guinan (center of photo). Good luck to all.

First Day of School at BRHS!

The 2010-2011 school year got under way at BRHS on August 26. All of the students met in the auditorium for their Back-To-School assembly early in the morning. The highlight of the day was the drawing for senior students that were Proficient or Advanced on the PSSA they took last spring. We gave away 2 Flip UltraHD video cameras and two 8GB iPod Touch. Congratulations to the following students whose names were drawn live in the auditorium:

• Math: Gabrielle Wolfe - Flip UltraHD
• Writing: Steve Ely - Flip UltraHD
• Reading: Ashley Dorunda - iPod Touch
• Science: Sarah Parsons - iPod Touch

New Teacher Induction

Blue Ridge welcomed its new staff members on August 20 in the HS library (above right). Part of their initial training is an induction program, that includes a teacher mentor, that will help them learn and grow into master teachers. Here in BRHS we have two new teachers starting the year; Ms. Kryger (above center) is our new the Learning Support teacher and Mr. Scavone (above left) is our new HS Band Director.

Freshman Orientation

We held our first Freshman Orientation program on Wednesday, August 11 for the Class of 2014. We had about 50% representation of students and parents attend. We presented information following the below schedule:

• 1:00 – 1:15: Welcome/Introduction, R. Scott Jeffery
• 1:15 – 2:00: School Counseling Services/ HS Timeline, R. Scott Jeffery
• 2:00 – 2:30: Steps for Success at BRHS: Student Leaders (Greg Stonier, Theresa Whitehead, Alison Coller, and Jessica Jinghoor)
• 2:30 – 2:45: Break
• 2:45 – 3:30: Behavior Expectations/ BRHS Student Code of Conduct, R. Scott Jeffery & Lynn Parker
• 3:30 – 4:00: Legal Trouble from School Discipline Violations, Jason Legg
• 4:00 – 4:30: SCCTC presentation
• 4:30 – 5:00: Q & A

This was a great experience and the feedback was positive. Next year the presentation will be shorter and later in the evening so we can get more families to attend. In the picture above you can see our four student leaders that participated, present their tips on how to be a success at Blue Ridge.

Fall Coaches/Parents/Students Meeting

We had a good turnout at the Fall parent/coaches meeting! We had about 70 people attend this informational meeting. At this meeting, Mr. Jeffery discussed policies regarding academic eligibility, attendance, transportation, and discipline as well as expectations for professionalism and sportsmanship for both students and parents. After the general meeting, each coach had a breakout session to go over specific expectations. If you missed this meeting, please contact your coach or Mr. Jeffery (ext. 626) for information.

New Look for 2010-2011

There are going to be a few new looks to the high school this year:

• Mr. Parker and Mrs. Kays are going to be across from the main office in a newly constructed office area (left image).
• Mr. Price's classroom is getting a 90 degree rotation to separate the lab area from the lecture area (right image).
• Ms. Pavelski's classroom has been relocated from 238 to room 182.
• Mrs. McCain's classroom has been moved from room 182 to room 190.
• Mrs. Graham's classroom has been moved from room 190 to room 192.
• The parking areas on the campus have been re-paved and re-striped also.

SADD Club Organizes Pre-Prom Activities at BRHS

Today, the SADD Club, advised by Mr. Brian Lewis, organized many pre-Prom activites that were happening at BRHS today. The Prom Promise table was available all day for student to sign up and make the commitment to making good decisions before/after the Prom.

The group simulated the statistic that a teen was killed in a motor-vehicle accident every 33 minutes, by having a student dressed as the Grim Reaper and identify a student that had passed. The student would then wear white face paint the rest of the day and not speak, emulating a "dead" teen.

We had several fire companies, EMS, the PA State Police, the County Coroner arrive on campus to a mock car accident. The "accident" was staged outside the front of the high school where several students participated as "victims". One teen was "arrested" for driving under the influence causing this accident.

The activities concluded in the auditorium, where Valerie Bell from the PA Department of Health gave a short presentation on traumatic brain injury and showed two videos that contained personal stories of teens that were in car accidents that involved the death(s) of their friends.

Thank you to all that participatyed in the organization of thiese activities.

NEIU Awards Ceremony Recognizes BRHS Student and Scholastic Bowl Team

The NEIU Awards Ceremony, sponsored by Community Bank, WVIA, and WUSR was held a tFiorelli's Catering in Peckville. The ceremony recognized each school's Scholar of the Year as well as the Scholastic Bowl and Scholastic Scrimmage place winner from the event earlier in the year.

Blue Ridge senior, Taylor Guinan, was recognized as Blue Ridge High School's Schlar of the Year. Taylor will be attending the University of Rochester in the fall, majoring in Biomedical Engineering.

Along with Taylor, were some of his classmates that were recognized as placing 2nd in the Scholastic Bowl earlier this year. Other members were Meghan Ragard, Anthony Tompkins, Ken Seamans, Debra Barton, Mike Romano, and faculty advisor Ms. Alicia Ross.

Community Service by NHS

As part of the National Honor Society’s community service project this year, the following students cleaned up the New Milford parks this past Saturday (May 1, 2010):

Kaitchen Dearborn, Katie Drake, Rebekah Harris, Amanda Rispoli, Levi Schmidt, Ken Seamans Greg Stonier, Mitch Wages and Ashley Warren. Members weeded the grounds, spread mulch and cleaned and waxed the playground equipment.

Thanks to Mrs. Drake for her help in organizing and supervising the students.

Other members will continue the work on the parks in New Milford, Hallstead, and Great Bend on dates in the future (May 15 and 16).