Our greenhouse initiative finally has begun taking shape! Special thanks to Mrs. Puderbach for initiating the grant process to fund this fantastic project to be shared and used by our students and staff alike!
At last week's school board meeting, four LTHS students were recognized for their efforts within the community as part of their culminating projects in which they earned the rank of Eagle Scout. From a variety of sources, it is safe to say that, of the thousands of students who choose to begin an experience as a Boy Scout and stick with the program as they grow and actually finish the task of becoming an Eagle Scout, there are few students who actually complete this extensive process. Loyalsock is proud to recognize four young men who were given citations at our recent school board meeting. Special congratulations and thanks to the families of these young men on their efforts as an Eagle Scout, including from left to right: Brian Patel, Giacomo DiNicola, Isaac Hoffman, and Andru McCusker (along with Mr. Grantier, Superintendent).
On Tuesday, November 20, a bus load of students and adults from LTHS boarded a bus and headed to a devastated area of Staten Island, NY: an area hit very hard by Hurricane Sandy. Borne out of an idea by one of our English teachers, Mrs. Kelly June, a quick approval by our school board and fast preparations in order to get there prior to Thanksgiving. It was amazing to see how many of our students quickly rose to the challenge and joining us in a significant volunteer effort to assist thousands in need. We are so proud of our students and adults who chose to go and assist for a single day. The lessons learned with on this relief "field trip" are the pinnacle experiences that students will remember for the rest of their lives. We encourage you watch the brief video below to see what we experienced as a school that day.
Congratulations to senior softball and soccer standout Amanda Daneker, who formally signed a national letter of intent to play softball at Coastal Carolina University earlier in November. Way to go Amanda! Pictured with Amanda are, from left to right, Dr. Reitz, principal, Mr. Daneker, Mr. Insinger, athletic director, Amanda, Mr. Grantier, superintendent, Mrs. Daneker, and Mr. Tom O'Malley, Amanda's hitting coach.
'Sock tennis team have always contended
for league, district and state titles, and this year was no exception. In fact, this year girls' tennis team is arguably
the best in school history. During the regular
season and through District IV playoffs, not one team or individual scored a
point against our Loyalsock girls. In
doing so, they captured the District
IV and PHAC title - a phenomenal year of tennis. Specifically, sisters Emily Niditch (senior)
and Pam (freshman) finished #1 and #2 in the District; interestingly these
siters squared off against each other in the District title match with Pam
ending up the victor! In addition, Kim
Levy and Anna Newcomer placed second in District 4 doubles and earned a right
to play as a team at States recently, ultimately bowing to perennial state
contender Moravian Academy. All in all,
this is the first time ever that a Loyalsock girls tennis team has advanced
that far into states, and we couldn't be more proud of them. Congrats to Coach Zimmerman and our girls'
tennis team in some fantastic individual and team efforts this year!
It's hard to believe that a fall sports
season is literally complete. Once
again, 'Sock had a phenomenal fall season in which all of its team reached post-season
play. It was a solid year for new boys'
soccer coach Andy Zimmerman as the soccer team pursued playoffs this year by
making it to the second round of Districts.
Congrats to the boys and Coach Zimmerman on a fine season. The girls' soccer team had another impressive
year after capturing its third consecutive District 4 title in A soccer as well
as becoming co-champs in the PHAC over perennial foe Southern Columbia. Unfortunately, the girls lost in the first
round of states recently to a school from the Scranton Area. The girls' soccer team has much of which to
be proud, especially after defeating another perennial foe, Warrior Run.
Our golf team also had a productive year,
under coach Jeff Whiteman, especially in girls golf. The lady Lancer golf team secured a
well-fought District
4 team title! Taylor Daskovitch and
Taylor Krout went on to regionals at the state level, and Taylor Krout earned
the right to play at the State Championship, placing very high across the
state. Our young ladies have some bright
futures in golf, and we say congrats to Coach Whiteman and the team!
We had a great time as a school last week in which both homecoming and spirit week were combined. Students participated in a great many activities and events throughout the week, including a well-attended bonfire, pep rally, and homecoming festivities at the football game Friday evening. Our homecoming court looked fabulous in front of a packed stadium! Special congrats to our homecoming princess, Sarah Miller, and our homecoming queen, Taylor Daskovitch! Check out the video below that chronicles the week we had!
I have been traveling my whole
life. I love to travel. I love adventures. I love not knowing what may happen
next. When I was a little kid, I knew I wanted to travel and take what I
learned back to a classroom full of kids. I knew I wanted to teach world history,
because I simply love the world that much. 
While in Obu, we visited schools and I noticed
that lecture was the primary source of information dissemination. I certainly
did not expect to see such teaching styles in Japan, but the lack of technology
and the abundance of lecture seemed to be ever-present. I found this to be
different when we traveled to Arida City in Wakayama Prefecture. The schools seemed more alive and lecture was
not a constant way of teaching. In this small town, the group participated in
another home stay and it was wildly different from the first. The families were
all farmers and I found myself feeling surprisingly at home and relaxed in
comparison to the first. The families were all quite genuine folks and took
each of us farming a few times. The people I stayed with owned an orange grove
and it had been in their family for over one hundred and fifty years. The
entire extended family lived on the same street and seemed to participate in
activities together constantly. I learned to roll sushi with the grandmother,
met their great grandmother, and dressed up in a Yukata with the young children
in order to attend the local shrine festival.
Although it was slightly uncomfortable to live in someone’s home for a
short period of time without any language skills, it was probably the highlight
of my trip to Japan. I learned quite a bit about culture and customs, how to
eat properly, when to serve others and a variety of other things. 
The group traveled to Hiroshima
thereafter. In Hiroshima, we had the pleasure of meeting one of the most
amazing people I have met in my entire life. His name was Mr. Ito and he
survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, even though his brother did not. He
was a child worker during those times and was lucky to not have suffered the
grave fate that so many others did. He described watching his brother get sick
from radiation, and explain how he recovered from such a great loss. In 2001,
Mr. Ito lost his son, who lived in New York City, in the 9/11 terrorist
attacks. He felt he had a relationship with America because of both tragedies,
even though the bombs dropped in Japan were dropped by Americans. By the end of
our session with Mr. Ito, the entire group cried and felt we had a close
relationship with him. 
After spending time in Tokyo, I
had planned to do something wildly different. Japan is a super modern society,
but I was hungry for something a little more difficult and perhaps a little
less convenient. I stopped over in Thailand for a week, met my boyfriend Zach
and my friend Lauren, and we set off to travel around Myanmar for eight days.
Myanmar (Burma) was closed to regular tourism and freedoms in general until
2011. Tourist infrastructure is virtually nonexistent and hot water and
air-conditioning are a luxury. Only 25% of the country has access to electricity. We hired a guide and trekked to four major
sites. We visited pagodas, cities, went to a festival and ate incredible local
food. While in Myanmar, Zach and Lauren were often stopped by locals because
many had never seen a person white lighter skin before. They became like
celebrities everywhere we went. People wanted to take their photo and show it
to their relatives back in the village where they came from.
A pretty cool lesson was experienced late last week in Mr. Davis's Statistics class in which our SRO, Trooper Knight, teamed up with Mr. Davis to demonstrate how statistics are used by law enforcement every day. Trooper Knight shared with the class the project that was undertaken a few years ago in the Route 220 corridor between Williamsport and Jersey Shore. Students used the data presented to them to make predictions for reducing fatalities as was the similar methods used by PSP. Students were able to apply dependent and independent variables, among other statistics, and interact with both Trooper Knight and Mr. Davis in a team teaching atmosphere. Well done Mr. Davis and Trooper Knight!
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Now that the beginning
of the year "dust" has settled, Loyalsock officially has kicked off its 2012-13
school year! We are excited to be back together as a Loyalsock learning
community. So, we will take this opportunity to share some informational items
and news that we have experienced since the end of the 2011-12 school year.
Miss Beck Farming in Japan 
Each summer,
students and faculty experience some pretty extraordinary things - from
traveling, working together as a faculty to find ways to constantly improve our
school, and celebrating the exit of our Class of 2012 while welcoming students
back to school in late August. This summer was no exception, as we had faculty
spend time being trained at AP Summer Institutes, travel abroad, and network
with other educators from across the country. Miss Jennifer Beck, social studies
teacher, spent the good portion of her summer traveling to various Asian
countries, experiencing educational practices in schools there. One of her
trips took her to Japan, where she farmed rice
in Arida, Wakayama, Japan with nine other teachers and a fifth grade class
while wearing her Loyalsock gear. As a token, she also gave her hosts some
Loyalsock gear as well. Overall, Miss Beck stated that she learned a ton of the
similarities and differences between American and Asian-country schools.
Various students completed
volunteer hours through our Silver Cord Program working at various locations
around our community, from our local parks, to homeless soup kitchens, and
being "volunteens" at Susquehanna Health System. One student, junior
Alex Haefner, applied to and was accepted to the University
of Pittsburgh's Health Scholars Academy. Alex spent one month living in a
dorm and spending an average of 10 hours per day in lectures, job shadowing and
participation in various experiences by numerous medical professionals. He even
got a chance to spend a day in the OR. Alex was recognized this past Wednesday
at our school board meeting; there, Alex mentioned how this experience was life-changing and very career-focused. His experience was entirely paid
for by our Lancer Foundation.
Another significant accomplishment
this summer and up until just recently was the addition and now completion of
Loyalsock's new artificial turf multi-sport complex at the Kenneth M. Robbins
stadium. Completely funded by the
Project 400 team of the Lancer Foundation, countless individuals worked
diligently to make this project happen in record time over an approximate
three-week time period. What is resulted
in is a state-of-the-art facility that over 600 students can enjoy each year,
including middle school and high school soccer and football, as well as our
physical education and wellness classes.
More work is to be completed on the new turf, but our student community
is ecstatic to be able to play on such a new surface!
As we welcomed faculty and students
back to school, we shared several new pieces of information and procedures to
bolster our overall climate and culture of our school community. After much research of other schools and
colleges, we facilitated and implemented a new student committee, the Student
Lancer Round Table, and worked with several faculty to implement our new Lancer
Honor Code in our school. The overall
premise was that we must continue to find ways to have students demonstrate
acts of integrity as many times as possible, and provide support mechanisms
that allow students to make good decisions relative to academic integrity
concerns. The Honor Code has been
embraced by both faculty and students, and we are proud of the fact that the
implementation of the Honor Code has been met positively by all. Together we can prepare our students to build
positive relationships with adults and other students as well as foster an
environment more that focused on individual student accountability, integrity
and worth ethic in everything they do.
You can read on our website about our new Honor Code.
Overall, we
believe that we have begun the new year very positively - our extra-curricular
activities and organizations are already working hard, our athletic teams and
Lancer Marching Band are competing very well, and students appear to be excited
to be back in school, as indicated by the over 250 students who came out to our
annual back-to-school bonfire recently. You can check out all the good vibes
this school year has brought by watching the video below.
Loyalsock's 51st Commencement was held on June 8 for our graduates of the Class of 2012. This class was a very special class, marking the beginning of a new era of graduations at Loyalsock. We were proud to welcome back Professor Larry Lessig, Loyalsock alumnus, Class of 1979, and Harvard Law School professor. His message was one of reality and hope. Enjoy a small video chronicling the evening. Congrats Class of 2012!
Through the recently established Lancer Foundation, and in conjunction with this year's senior awards night, Loyalsock's first Distinguished Alumni Program began by honoring Mr. Tom Woodruff. Mr. Woodruff is a highly accomplished producer and special effects artist living in Hollywood and working with some of the most famous actors of our time. He spent the day with our students and was recognized by our student body as well. We are proud to have such a rich tradition of outstanding graduates from Loyalsock!
Earlier this year, we learned that long-time secretary, Mrs. Shirley Remsnyder, and librarian, Mrs. Connie Myers would be retiring along with one of our exceptional paraprofessionals, Mrs. Barb Springman. We will greatly miss these ladies! A dinner and dessert reception was also held in their honor. We are privileged top ahve worked with such fine folks for so many years! Thank you ladies!
Loyalsock's prom was held on a beautiful evening at Williamsport's Park Home. Students enjoyed a great setting, including horse and carriage rides on the grounds. Everyone looked great and had a good time!
Special congratulations are extended to Lindsey Stopper and Alex Bellott for being finalists for the Carl E. Stotz Little League Scholarship Award for 2012! An extensive application process from among multiple area high schools each landed Lindsey and Alex finalist positions. A luncheon was held on May 16 at Little League International recognizing their achievement. Congratulations to Lindsey and Alex on this recognition!
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This week, a number of juniors and seniors were inducted into Loyalsock's chapter of the National Honor Society. Special thanks to our seniors who ran such a wonderful evening for our new inductees. Congratulations to the inductees and their families on this special honor!
For approximately two years, we have been researching our existing GPA and grading system that reports on student progress at LTHS. For more than 30 years, Loyalsock has utilized a 5.0 weighted GPA and grading system. Much research, analysis of other schools' systems (regionally and nationally), and study of some of the most prominent scholars in the country was used to move to this new system. Three school board meetings and discussion between also occurred to apprise everyone of the proposed changes and research as to who and how. More correspondence will be used with students and families as we convert from our old system to the new 4.0 system in the next few months. The following is a synopsis of the changes that will occur:
GPA
• Move to a 4.0 system from a 5.0 system using a GPA multiplier
• Student’s report card and transcript will show the raw numerical grade earned in each course. GPA, by course, will be determined using the following assigned weights/values:
Academic courses: 1.0
Honors courses: 1.04
AP/College: 1.08
• GPA Calculation Method:
1. Raw Grade in Course x Credit x Weight = QUALITY POINTS
2. Sum of Quality Points / Total Credits Attempted = CUMULATIVE AVERAGE
3. Cumulative Average x .04 = GPA (on a 4.0 Scale)
New Letter/Number Grade Range Equivalents
A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 65-69
F 64-below
Process for Conversion of Coursework Completed by Students in Grades 9-11 to a 4.0 System
Students in grades 9-11, representing the graduating classes of 2013, 2014, 2015 who will complete coursework by the end of their 2011-12 school year will have each course taken to date at Loyalsock converted to a 4.0 system. Specifically, coursework taken to date that now will have a different assigned level (i.e. converting to Honors when previously the course was Academic), will be weighted accordingly on each student’s transcript under the new 4.0 system. A new copy of each student’s transcript (academic record to date at LTHS) will be sent home over the summer of 2012 to each parent/guardian to signify the respective changes, including now what each student’s new GPA currently is on a 4.0 system. NOTE: This process will not be utilized with the current Class of 2012. Current LTHS students shall not be reduced in class rank solely as a result of this system conversion. While unlikely, any student whose class rank may be adversely affected shall be "held harmless" regarding class rank until the end of the 2012-2013 school year.
Congrats are again in order to Miss Beck and student leaders of our school's Key Club. A special story about them was shared in a recent Sun-Gazette article. Way to go Dan, Gina, and Jessi!
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This past week, several students interested in graphic design, graphics and animation, and theatrics attended Penn College's recent "Comicon" event. Accompanied by Mrs. Herman students had a fantastic time learning about this very interesting career field and also spending time with Loyalsock alumnus Mr. Tom Woodruff, an academy award winner currently living in Hollywood. Students were able to rub elbows with Mr. Woodruff while eating lunch. What a great experience for this group of Loyalsock students!
