Look on youtube.com for all the live streamed recordings of the music concerts for the High School, Middle School and the Elementary School. The recordings are available to watch on the Oley Valley School District YouTube channel at any time. We have some very talented students in Oley Valley!

The following letter was sent by The Reading Musical Foundation:

April 25, 2023

Dr. Tracy Shank, Superintendent

Oley Valley School District

17 Jefferson Street

Oley, PA 19547

Dear Dr. Shank,

The Reading Musical Foundation would like to recognize you and your extraordinary team of music educators for being named as one of NAMM’s 2023 Best Communities for Music Education! This prestigious designation is determined by surveying funding of the program, participation in music education, standards for your program, community, and other factors that affect access to comprehensive music education.

Oley Valley’s music educators continuously strive for excellence and advocate for your students. From elementary to high school, your music teachers work with RMF to ensure students have access to instruments through Operation Replay, as well as recommend them for awards and recognition, going over and beyond to ensure your student musicians can succeed.

Your investment in Oley Valley’s music program can be found in more places than your music classroom, stages, and sporting events. As found in Doing Well by Doing Art, a 12-year study published by James Catterall, intensive involvement in the arts during middle and high school associates with higher levels of achievement and college attainment, and also with many indications of pro-social behavior such as voluntarism and political participation. Even more impactful, students designated as having a low socio-economic status benefited significantly from attending schools characterized as arts-rich (i.e., possessing a rich and complete arts curriculum) compared to peers attending arts-poor schools with regard to college attendance, grades, employment, and level of terminal degree.

RMF is a regional resource for scholarships, music advocacy, and ensuring musical access for Berks County students. Please reach out any time we can be of use to your district.

Our congratulations to you, your administrative team, and your entire music community!

Sincerely,

Keri M. Shultz

President

Michael Buterbaugh

Music Education Advisor

Cc: Mr. David R. Pollock, Jr., School Board President

Facebook: http://facebook.com/OleyValleyES/
Twitter: @ElemOley

Facebook: http://facebook.com/OleyValleyMS/
Twitter: @OleyMS

The Oley Valley Middle School - 7th Grade Video Club got a unique opportunity to tour the Pepperidge Farm plant in Denver, Lancaster County. The Denver plant bakes many of Pepperidge's rolls, breads, cookies, and everyone's favorite, Goldfish crackers. The Club got a detailed tour showing how food manufacturing happens on a grand scale. They watched how millions of Goldfish are processed as well as over 200 high-speed robots making quick work of packaging Milano cookies. This tour was a terrific chance to get some practice in before next year's "What's So Cool About Manufacturing?" video contest. The video team seen here from left to right: Emerson Hinrichs, Jillian Rogers, Lucia Glick, Emma Byers, Lindsey Howard, Emma DeBalko, Julianna Gourley, Reese DeBalko, and Sarah Kring.

Congratulations to Emma Byers of the Oley Valley Middle School. Emma, a 7th grader, took 1st Place in the 2023 Law Day Multimedia Competition. Sponsored by the Berks County Bar Association, elementary and middle schools of Berks County were challenged to provide either a written story, or a short video, explaining a personal conflict in their lives and how they solved the conflict with civility. Emma created a video depicting how personality conflicts in the world can be managed like her field hockey hockey team. In her words, "Conflict, like a game, should have a start time, a stop time, both sides get a chance with the ball, and the referees are there to keep everything fair." Good luck to Emma as she continues to learn from her field hockey team and maybe advancing into a career in law.

Oley Valley Middle School entered two teams in the Jr. Envirothon competition held at Nolde Forest on May 15, 2023. Each team competed in four environmental categories: aquatics, forestry, soils, and wildlife. The competition ranges from paper and pencil questions involving calculations, to hands on identifications of pelts and skulls. There are experts in each field conducting the evaluations. One of our teams placed first in the wildlife category. That team also brought a trophy home for overall 2nd place. The eleven students that participated also enjoyed a wildlife presentation by the Venom Institute. The Venom Institute is a reptile rescue that does presentations to help educate students; including up close interactions. Students were able to learn about various reptiles and their impact on the environment locally and abroad. The students will have the opportunity to have one more field experience before the end of the school year. A trip to Sweet Arrow Lake in Pine Grove will involve macro invertebrate sampling and wetland exploration. The team was coached by Heather Jagielski and Maribeth Hawkins. Students on the team are Ariana Micheweicz, Emma Ott, Paisley Borga, Ella Fatkin, Elayna Wetherhold, Alexis Rose, Atiana Allen, Bevanne Fischer, Mason Gill, Aspen Freed, Carly Schaffer.

Facebook: http://facebook.com/oleyvalleyHS/
Twitter: @OleyValleyHS

On April 14th, Oley Valley FFA and students taking an agricultural course took a field trip to Case New Holland Industrial and Kreider Farms. CNH was founded in 1865 and since then has developed many incredible advancements in agriculture such as the self-tying automatic pick-up baler in 1940 and today, they produce thirty different models of hay and forage equipment. After meeting their tour guides, students geared up with their PPE and headsets and began the tour of CNH. Students walked through the manufacturing plant and had the opportunity to see many different pieces of equipment in various stages of production. The CNH trip came to a close as students took off their PPE and traveled back to the bus.

After visiting Case New Holland Industrial, the bus then headed towards Kreider Farms where the tour guide joined the group on the bus and began the tour by driving in the countryside with a bit of Kreider history. With over seventy-five years of business, Kreider farms is deeply embedded into Lancaster history. After seeing some historical landmarks and a student favorite -a dairy cow painted onto the side of a barn- the second step of the tour landed students driving though the Maternity Barn where newly born calves and very pregnant cows ready to give birth are kept. The next stop the students were able to get off the bus and see what they call their “milking merry-go-round” where they milk 1,700 cows three times a day. The final stop of the trip was the Silo Observation Tower. At one-hundred feet high, the silo oversees all of Kreider Farms. Students on this trip had the opportunity to see many different jobs and learn about new fields of agriculture!

- Leah Walters

Public Speaking CP Class Visits Alvernia University This semester’s Public Speaking CP class had a terrific opportunity to visit Alvernia University and participate in a public speaking class taught by Professor Sue Guay. Oley Valley students enrolled in Public Speaking CP have the opportunity to earn dual enrollment credits through Alvernia University. Touring the university’s campus, attending a college class, and interacting with the university students were all incredibly valuable educational experiences for the high school students.

The visit began with a tour of the campus. OVHS students were impressed not only by the campus but also by the numerous opportunities provided for the students enrolled at Alvernia University. Next, Mrs. Kallis and her students were escorted to Professor Guay’s class. The professor had given her students the task of presenting ways in which artificial intelligence will impact the future in specific areas - including medical and academic. After the presentations, OVHS students were able to pose questions to Professor Guay and her students. Some of the questions pertained to detecting plagiarism when students use AI to construct essays, the consequences of plagiarizing at the college level, life in the dorms, and activities provided for the college students. The visit concluded with a buffet lunch compliments of the university.

Thank you to Professor Guay, her students, and the tour guides for providing a day of education and fun for OVHS students!

OVHS Students Win Boyertown Optimist Club’s Oratorical Contest This year, students in Mrs. Kallis’s Public Speaking CP classes were presented with a special opportunity provided by the Boyertown Optimist Club. For a class project, each student wrote and presented a speech that addressed the topic “Discovering the Optimism within Me.” Following the presentations, students could choose to participate at the next level and present their speeches to the Boyertown Optimist Club. Three OVHS students competed at this level: Allison Riley, Jonas Smith, and Leah Walters. Each speech was expertly delivered in front of a panel of judges who determined Leah Walters won first place and Jonas Smith won second.

After achieving success at the local level, Leah and Jonas both advanced to the district level contest held at the Wyomissing Courtyard. With eighteen accomplished contestants hailing from several states, the competition was impressive. Although Leah and Jonas performed admirably well, they did not advance to the next level this year, but they should absolutely be pleased by their performances, their desire to challenge themselves by stepping outside of their comfort zones, and the manner in which they proudly represented Oley Valley High School.

OVHS students gathered in the courtyard on Thursday, May 18th for the Celebration of the Arts. This event is hosted annually by Mrs. Kallis and her students enrolled in Public Speaking CP, English II CP, and English II. With almost one hundred people in attendance, students were

invited to share their extraordinary talents.

Throughout the year, each class held a poetry slam, and the twelve best performances

advanced to the finals. Every poem presented during the final round was unique and

memorable. The panel of judges – Mrs. Bruecks, Mrs. Ewing, Mr. Kriebel, Mrs. Lynch, Mr. Mast, and Mr. Mills – had the difficult task of determining the top three performances. Maeve Freed earned first place with her poem “To Her I Owe an Apology.” Dylan Kauffman placed second with his poem “Gifted Problems,” and Tayla Batchelder earned third with her poem “Hot Wings and Hot Tongues.”

Additionally, Leah Walters and Jonas Smith shared their award-winning speeches with the

crowd. Leah and Jonas won first and second place respectively at this year’s Boyertown

Optimist Club Oratorical Contest. As a result, they advanced to the district level that was held in Wyomissing. Both students courageously and confidently presented their speeches to the large audience of peers at the Celebration of the Arts.

Cheyenne Endy, winner of OVHS’s Poetry Out Loud (POL) competition, expertly recited two

memorized poems selected from the POL anthology for the crowd. Also, Public Speaking CP

student Kaylee DeLong beautifully presented two of her original poems.

With an abundance of creative poetry presentations, several inspirational speeches, a display of imaginative student-created artwork, a multitude of absolutely amazing musical performances, and plenty of delicious food, this year’s Celebration of the Arts was a huge success for everyone involved! The immense talent possessed by OVHS students is astonishing and illimitable!

In the 2022-2023 school year, more Oley Valley creative writing students than ever have achieved the difficult task of getting traditionally published. For the duration of the semester-long course, students learned about industry and submission etiquette along with how to critique and write in all four genres of creative expression. Poetry was a big favorite this year, as evidenced by the accolades listed below.

Jaela Mulholland, 11th grade

Jaela’s piece “Every Light I See” has been accepted for publication in the American Library of Poetry’s 2023 anthology. When the anthology is released, you can read it there! In the meantime, Jaela is working on compiling as much poetry as she can with her remaining time in high school. Next year, she will be completing an independent study with Ms. Russell during which she intends to finalize a poetry chapbook and begin submitting it to agents and publishers.

Jayna Bitler, 12th grade

Jayna is no stranger to publication, but this year, she earned the distinguished honor of runner-up in Messiah University’s writing competition for prospective students. Her piece “<CODE> OUTLIE R” will appear in the upcoming anthology in late 2023, in the poetry category. Jayna is planning to attend Messiah in the fall, where she will be studying Art Therapy and continuing her creative endeavors. She plans to finalize a novel and compile a poetry book or two with her impressive body of work.

Liz Jones, 12th grade

Liz Jones spent the better part of this year doggedly submitting and hunting down opportunities for publication as any good author must. Her determination paid off when she was accepted into the prestigious Adroit Journal Writing Workshop Series for 2023. The journal has worked with poets the likes of Ocean Vuong, NoViolet Bulawayo, Terrance Hayes, Franny Choi, Alex Dimitrov, and many more. Liz’s piece, “Contellar,” impressed judges so much that she received an email from the editor-in-chief himself, inviting her to attend the workshop series this summer. Liz has a bright future ahead of her, and while she pursues her plan to become a vet technician, Liz intends to continue writing in all four genres.

Rin Singer, 10th grade

As our youngest published student-author of the year, Rin Singer has shown incredible tenacity in getting her work out there. Rin’s piece, “wolfing winds and springtime flowers” was selected as the fourth place winner in the Queer Writers of America Writing Competition. It can be read here, at the QWA website. Rin has two more years to hone the craft of writing, and along the way, she intends to put together a collection of sapphic love poems.

Even those who didn’t pursue publication completed amazing feats. Take Ceili Guy, for instance, who broke the all-time record for word-count in our novel unit at over 100,000 words and counting! Her work is incredible, and it’s clear that her time in the publishing world is close at hand.

We are so proud of our Oley Valley writers! Their talent and perseverance is a testament to their character.

The Oley Valley track team enjoyed unprecedented success this season, boasting more district-qualifying athletes than we’ve had in the past several years. The team came home with nearly 20 medals--more than the number of athletes that attended the District III Track and Field Championships May 19th and 20th, 2023.

The first medal of the weekend went to Charlotte Prout in discus. Prout won 8th place with a throw of 90-10. Prout was the only freshman in the entire district to place in the top eight.

Friday night, the next medal was won by Meghan Higgins-Haas. Higgins-Haas scooped up a 6th place prize in the 3200 meter, running a challenging race.

Saturday morning, the medals kept rolling in with the girls 4x800 meter relay. The team consisted of Catilynn Fegely, Hanna Houp, Meghan Higgins-Haas, and Taylor Vaccaro. Despite being newcomers to the district championship, the girls got 6th place.

Boys 4x800 came next, and in a hard-fought race with Greenwood, they came home with a second-place medal. The team--consisting of Jakob Bolig, Keith Neal, Ryan Gourley, and Josh Wagner--ran a new personal best time of 8:13.79, earning them a coveted spot in the State Championships this coming weekend, May 26th and 27th, 2023.

Individual events were just as successful. Enyer Llovera took 5th in the 400 meter and 8th in the 200 meter, Ryan Gourley took third in the 1600 meter, and Meghan Higgins-Haas grabbed her third medal of the weekend in the 1600 meter at fourth place. Josh Wagner continued his streak of success in the 800 meter by taking second place, which secures him another spot at the upcoming State Championship.

This follows Wagner breaking the school record for the 800 meter, bringing the time down to a brisk 1:57.93. Ethan Hack joined the state qualifiers in an exciting conclusion to the pole vault with a vault of 12-6 and second place medal, qualifying him for the state championships this coming weekend.

Last but not least, the 4x400 meter relay provided what was one of the day's most exciting moments when the team won the event with a time of 3:30.61. This added another to the list of state qualifying events, and the team--Enyder Llovera, Keith Neal, Jakob Bolig, and Josh Wagner--are contenders to medal at the state level with some grit and determination. This team also broke the school record this season, and now the record stands at 3:29.21.

All in all, a great season and more than any coach could ask for! We're proud of our athletes and can't wait to see what they can accomplish at states!

The Oley Valley H.S. Chess Team sponsored a chess tournament on Friday, May 19th. Fourteen students participated in what is hoped to become an annual tradition that will continue to grow.1st place went to senior Daniel Laudenslayer, 2nd place went to junior Sean Hoffman, and 3rd place went to freshman Brandon Wertz. Congratulations to all of the participants.

On Monday, May 22nd, students in Mr. Kallis’s 9th grade Civics & Government class had an opportunity to listen and learn from Joshua Steingraber of the Central Berks Regional Police Department. Officer Steingraber spoke about the 4th (unlawful searches), 5th (right to remain silent), and 6th (right to legal counsel) Amendments of the Constitution. At the conclusion of his presentation, students were able to ask him questions and thanked him for his service to our community.

Grade 12

Jacob Bolig

Kyra Dragan

Joelle Glick

Allison Hassler

Bethany Hauck

Lillian Hetrick

Meghan Higgins Haas

Siera Pekuri

Laila Rothermel

Wyatt Ulsh

Tetje Williamson

Grade 11

Cheyenne Endy

Griffen Freed

Victoria Grim

Sean Hoffman

Ethan Johnson

Eliana Kopicki

Faith Meals

Brooks Muir

Molly Shueman

Jonathan Turchi

Taylor Vaccaro

Ryanne Wheeler

Grade 10

Dylan Kauffman

Caleb Teeters

Grade 9

Jessica Cielecki

Cathryn Fegley

Hailey Firek

Hannah Houp

Lindsay Jones

Ian Snyder

Elijah Wagner

Ava Walters

Grade 12

Jayna Bitler

Mary Carl

Issabella Farah

Dean Fisher

Emma Karas

Katie Kowalski

Samantha Malone

Isaiah Meals

Jaiden Nase

Isaac Nye

Carli Ronco

Chase Rubendall

Abigail Thompson

Olivia Thompson

Ty Wamsher

Jeron Zimmerman

Grade 11

Bode Brewer

Kenneth Derr

Vincent Dick

Charlie Donoff

John Groves

Lauren Habakus

Robert Kowalski

Enyer Llovera Henriquez

Jessica Howard

Michael Kummerer

Dana Messner

Jacob Mowry

Jaela Mullholland

Zachary Reinert

Hayden Rhodes

Korra Sanders

Hunter Schlegel

Emily Seidel

Carter Smith

Morgan Snyder

David Turchi

Joshua Wagner

Mahlon Weidner

Alivia Witt

Mia Woodard

Grade 10

Elizabeth Bronson

Benjamin DeBalko

Adam Eshbach

Eva Glick

Laura Kelly

Brady Kemp

Ammoni Lockhart

Dezahyni Melendez Perez

Jamie Rogers

Grade 9

Ava Beveridge

Colin Brown

Jimmy Chen

Erica Colantuono

Charlotte Prout

Aidan Richard

Danika Santana

Jacob Schultz

Janna Tellez Mendez

Megan Schaeffer

Luke Turchi

Julia Wagner

Katelyn Wagner

Luke Williamson

Grade 12

Edward Cielecki

Zoe Dick

Tyler Drobek

Rylee Eck

Ethan Gallardo

Makayla Geist

Ethan Hack

Lawrence Houp

Karlee Howard

Ayden Kunkel

Hannah Lanphear

Jordan Miles

Isaiah Salen

Lauren Schaeffer

Valeria Sebia

Mayven Small

Jacob Touti

Jack Williams

Grade 11

Erin Day

Kaylee DeLong

Spencer Haines

Noah Kelly

Alexis Keppel

Kayla Lanphear

Lucas Pleva

Arabella Reinert

Allison Riley

Molly Rothenberger

Tom Skora

Jonas Smith

Katelyn Weaver

Grade 10

Natalie Baum

Nora Biehn

Kylee Brown

Lucas Clark

Maeve Freed

Wesley Hoffman

Dominique Hoover

Jacob Keller

Olivia Kozak

Patrick Latch

Chase Parisan

Emmanuel Stancea

Molly Stroupe

Samantha Wagner

Kayla Weller

Victoria Wolf

Grade 9

Natalie Boyd

Evelyn Brewer

Kyleigh Burkhart

Gryffin Cappellano

Nicholas DeBalko

Ryan Gourley

Makenzi Hess

Emma Liskey

Morgan Melcher

Aaron Nye

Jackson Pawling

Ronald Pina-Molina

Koryn Reinstein

Fynntan Robertson

Alessandra Saponaro

Mazzy Schell

Karlie Simchick

Genevieve Turgeon

Shelby Stoudt

Cheyenne Walsh

Andrew Zook

For families and students who may experience homelessness, information on the McKinney-Vento Act is available on the Oley Valley School District Website or see below.

OVSD Homeless Liaison and Unaccompanied Youth Contact:

Mia K. Pietsch, M.Ed

Director of Student Services

Oley Valley School District

17 Jefferson Street Oley, PA 19547

610. 987.4100 ext. 1187 or ext. 1188

mpietsch@ovsdpa.org

Please Visit the Sites below for information:

David R. Pollock Jr., President

Robert A. Heckman, Vice President

Dawn Zackon, Treasurer

Maria Bogdanova-Peifer, Member

Zachary D. Fatkin, Member

Nancy Jackson, Member

Aaron Keller, Member

Darrell L. Markley, Ed.D., Member

Benjamin Pratt, Esquire, Board Solicitor

The Oley Valley School District is an Equal Opportunity Employer and Educator who fully and actively supports equal access for all people regardless of Race, Color, Religion, Gender, Age, National Origin, Veteran Status, Disability, Genetic Information or Testing, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression and prohibits Retaliation against individuals who bring forth any complaint, orally or in writing, to the employer or the government, or against any individuals who assist or practice in the investigation of any complaint, or otherwise oppose discrimination. Compliance issues/questions should be directed to the Office of the Superintendent.