Family Connections

As this time of year approaches, many of us struggle with lost family connections this time of year. However, I learned something from this Welding student above, which is to make a product with one's hands to honor the memory of a loved one. This student, for his senior project, created a memorial plaque to place at his brother's resting place. This brother passed away a few years ago. This student was so proud of his work, and it really brought out his talent in the welding trade. It really shows how much one can tap into the love and emotions of our connections with people to bring out the talent they have.

Happy Holidays to all, and my hope for all members of the YCST family is for them to be able to spend time with some given or chosen family during this holiday season, to honor those who remain with us and those who have passed on.

Good Things

Although this holiday season has brought some painful realities to some of our families of origin and families of choice, I try to look at each new day with a positive attitude, remember the gifts that bless my life and the lives of our students. Our Welding and Collision Repair students combined to provide this metal tree to decorate our Man/Tran office for the holidays. Someone else in the academy has provided the lights, and I provided and ornament so far that I received as a gift from our director's secretary, Mrs. Merkert. This sight cheered me up as I strolled into the office this morning.

Then, I heard that our varsity basketball won their game against Littlestown last night by 2 POINTS!!! Awesome!!

Breakfast with Santa!

This past Saturday, many of the class advisors (Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Ms. Ludwig, Mr. Curtis, Mrs. Kessinger, Mrs. Hess, and Mrs. Stiger) worked with several students to put on a wonderful breakfast fundraiser to benefit the class accounts. Ms. Martin arranged for Santa and Mrs. Claus to attend for the many young children to have pictures taken with them (unfortunately, my own 15 month old son was too ready for a nap to have the patience to sit on a lap). It was great to see the turn out of the many faculty and staff members with their own children, grandchildren, parents, etc, plus the other members of the school community in attendance.

Thanks to all involved in the planning of this event.

Frosh Basketball

Picture this at last night's freshman boys' basketball game - 2 minutes left, score tied 26-26. The Spartans had been behind early in the 3rd quarter 18-6. What an amazing comeback! Bermudian did end up winning 30-26, but these guys played a great last couple quarters. Man/Tran student, Argenis Rivera Rodriguez looked great as one of the point guards.

I can't wait for the JV and Varsity games tonight!

Water Based Paints

This picture is not the best, but it show an employee from Dupont in our Collision Repair shop, demonstrating how to use the new water-based paints. The regulations for using water-based paints come into effect in the next couple years, and Dupont has donated product and time very generously to Mr. Heidler and our students. It was really fantastic to see them very interested and learning from these professionals.

Bowling Team Wins!!!

On Friday night, our Bowling team won against Antietam at our first home match of the season. And the best part is that 3 of the 4 students mentioned in the news article linked below are Man/Tran students: Cheyanne Brown - Diesel, Matt Shoemaker - Welding, and Zach Leiphart - Metal Machine.

Great job York Tech Bowling!!!

http://www.gametimepa.com/ci_16831614?IADID=Search-www.gametimepa.com-www.gametimepa.com

Gifts from Welding

I am so blessed to occasionally get to display work from the different shop areas. These two items pictured above were both presented to me this week.

This project on the left is one of those flag holders that one might place in a yard. Students in Mr. Yarrison's class are creating these items to sell at the AWS Car Show in the spring. One of the students who worked on this was Tyler Little.

The second project was a creation of Mr. Seitzer and J.D. Miller yesterday afternoon (after school hours, no less). It's a beautiful metal holiday wreath that's now hanging in my office.

Meet the Team Night for Winter Sports

Last night was Meet the Team night for winter sports. In the top picture, you see Mr. Caruso giving his opening address to the audience. Behind him, the attentive young men sitting there are the members of the boys' basketball teams and the wrestling team.

In the bottom picture, you see coaches organizing their players in their places prior to the start of the event. The teams pictured there are the bowling team (the only PIAA bowling team in York County!!) and the wrestling team.

Some Man/Tran students who are members of winter teams are listed below. These are just the ones I remember seeing last night.

Bowling: Zach Moore (Collision) and Henry Lillich (Power Equip)

Freshman Basketball: Dalmar Dickson (Welding)

Wrestling: Ben Aldinger (Auto), Kurt Lippy (Auto), and Jordan Dehoff (Welding)

I truly look forward to seeing our athletes in action starting over the next several weeks.

Academics

So often, I highlight activities in the technical classrooms or other extracurricular activities. However, one very important (almost the most important) aspect of our students' education here is what happens in the academic classroom. Pictured here is an American Cultures II class, with Ms. Lenz (in the picture) and Ms. Martin. These students are completing a guided reading activity, which not only helps them to learn the content but also helps them improve their reading skills. Thanks to our teachers for providing these structured academic activities to help all students improve!

Students of the Month

Welcome back, M/T crew! Tonight is the monthly Joint Operating Committee meeting, and this means that two students from our academy (and students from the other academies as well) will be honored as our students of the month. Our two students for this month are as follows:

Corey Rexroth - 10th grade - Welding - Red Lion

Timothy Simpson - 10th Grade - Automotive - Eastern


Congrats to these two students, and I am looking forward to presenting these awards at the board meeting this evening, 7:30 pm.

New Faces

For the next couple months, we have two new faces working in the Automotive Program. Mr. Merges is out for surgery, and Mr. Fadely is substituting for him for the morning group. Mr. Fadely has many years of automotive industry experience and currently teaches part-time at the Advanced Skills Center. Mr. Gipson, currently an employee of Diehl Toyota (and a YCST grad from '93), is substituting in the afternoon group for Mr. Merges.

We all wish Mr. Merges a quick recovery and return, but we are so pleased (and thankful) to have two very capable technicians and teachers here to work with our students in his absence.

Open House

Last night was our annual Open House for prospective students and their families to come visit the school to see the amazing programs, technical AND academic, that we offer. It also seems to be an unspoken alumni event as well.... it was great to see some of our alumni to hear about what they are doing now.

The Open House night is an opportunity for the technical teachers and their students to show off what they do in their technical area. Although as the principal, I needed to be posted out in the hallway to answer questions, I DID sneak back into the shops to see what was happening and was able to take a couple pictures in our Automotive and Welding shops.

Thanks to Mrs. Parks for organizing the event, the technical teachers for putting on a great show in the shops, and to all other teachers, staff, and students who helped to make the event successful.

Open House Week!!

Tomorrow night is our annual Open House from 6:30 - 8:30 pm. This event is primarily for the community, prospective students, and their families to come see what students do in each program. This year is going to be amazing.... all of our technical areas are going to be giving demonstrations of the different tasks completed in the the programs. Here is an example below from of the demonstrations that will take place in the Automotive program (thanks Mr. Kessler for providing this list):

1. Engine Rebuilding
2. General Maintenance
3. Computer Diagnostics
4. Wheel Alignment
5. Tire Changing
6. Tire Balancing
7. Brake Lathe Operations
8. Starter and Alternator Testing
9. Electronic Service Procedures

Powder Puff Football

Although I was unable to attend this event, I hear it was fantastic! Four all-female teams, with each team representing a class (frosh, sophomores, juniors, and seniors) played flag football against one another, and the freshmen class won! They were coached by the fantastic Mr. Graham among a few other faculty members.

There was also a male cheerleading squad there to make the game more entertaining. I know that Auto student, Ben Henry, was among the male students who participated on the squad.

Thanks to the many faculty members who coached, played on the faculty team, and/or volunteered/coordinated the event! I know it was a fun time for all who participated.

Diesel Shop

Pictured above are some highlights from Diesel Shop this week:

1) The top picture shows two new students testing the lights on one of the tractors.

2) The second picture demonstrates a few upper classmen brainstorming about how to remove the fan so that they would be able to remove the engine to perform some work on it.

3) On Wed, the PM students had a visit from Mr. Yoder from Central Penn Diesel Institute.

What a great week it's been in the diesel shop so far!

The Busy Bees in Automotive Shop

Now that the rotators are in the shops full time, each shop is a flurry of activity. I visited Auto shop earlier this week to see new students busy with learning some of the basic competencies and the upper classmen working on specific jobs and assisting the new students. It's great to see it all come together!

Power Equipment Shop

Now that our rotation students have been placed into their shps of choice, I've been getting into each technical area to understand their most recent projects. As you can see above, a new student and a more experienced student are working on getting this motorcycle running. Good work, students as good luck

Night Football at Tech

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Last night was York Tech's first ever night football game. Even though the score
could have been better, the afternoon and evening was a wonderful school/community event. From the tailgate party to one of our Man Tran teachers, Ms. Falvey in the top picture, singing the national anthem, to the players getting ready to play (2nd picture down) and to the fantastic crowd (3rd picture), we had a wonderful evening. A special thanks to Kinsely Construction for donating the lights and to Mr. Caruso and Mr. Zortman for organizing the events.

Academic Thoughts

This week, we are wrapping up the PSSA re-tests for 12th grade students whose scores were below proficient on the Reading, Writing, Math and/or Science portion of the PSSA tests last spring. I hope that our students (some of whom were Man/Tran students) took the re-tests seriously.

Along those lines, I was reading some information this morning, and I came across this website: http://www.hippocampus.com. This is a website designed to offer FREE homework help to students in certain Math, Science and Social Studies courses. If we can help students learn to help themselves more academically, maybe they wouldn't be in a position senior year when they have to re-take the PSSAs.

Kindness of Students

There have been two awesome incidents of kindness demonstrated by our students within the past week that I have seen.

1. The picture above shows a project of one of our Welding students, Tyler Kibler. During the rotation, a student was unable to spend time in the Weld shop due to a medical condition. Tyler took it upon himself to pair up with the student and show him the computer work that goes into designing a piece to fabricate. During this, he got to know the student and his interests. Tyler then designed the above project and with the help of a few of his classmates, made this piece for the new student.

2. At the Homecoming Dance on Saturday night, four Health Assisting students found a significant amount of cash on a table and turned it in to one of the chaperones.

Sometimes we educators get frustrated by the poor choices our students make, and I thought that on this Friday morning in particular, it would be a nice time to highlight some acts of kindness from our students.

Welding Fun

One day late last week, I visited the Welding shop and got see great things! The top picture shows Mr. Seitzer demonstrating a technique to the 9th grade rotation students. The second picture shows a project that Jake Watson is currently working on. This is the floor of a sander that disintegrated over years of use. Jake is repairing it and creating a new floor to put the sander back on the road for the winter. Great project!!!

York Country Day Boys' Soccer win!

These two pictures show the celebration as the York Country Day boys' soccer team (with some York Tech students on the team, like Bruce Espinoza -Auto Tech) won against York High. The final goal was scored with 35 seconds left. It was so exciting!

And Homecoming Weekend is now officially over. The team played hard at the game, and the students had a great time at the dance. It was a great Saturday here at Tech. Thanks to all who made it a great weekend.

Great Things At Tech

Wow.... such a great end to the week! We had a fantastic pep rally yesterday afternoon to celebrate our fall athletes (many of whom are M/T students) and our homecoming court. This year, we have 2 students on the homecoming court - Deante Weldon, Auto Tech and Nick Houston, Diesel Tech.

On another note, Mr. Heidler (Collision Repair Instructor) shared with me that Jesse Blair achieved the highest score EVER seen on the Pre-NOCTI exam. The NOCTI exam in the spring will test the students technical abilities and readiness for a career in that area.

Another post to follow tonight or tomorrow, hopefully with pictures from the homecoming football game and dance.

OAC Meetings and Parent/Teacher Conferences

Wow!! What a big day it was at YCST today! All students were dismissed at 12:42 so that all teachers could hold parent/teacher conferences in the afternoon. Then, the technical teachers held their Occupational Advisory Committee (OAC) meetings (which began with a wonderful dinner, pictured above). These committees advise the technical teachers in what's needed in industry, and the teachers talk to the committee members about what the school is doing to prepare our students.

The academic teachers hosted more parent/teacher conferences in the evening. It was awesome to see all the visitors down in the Man/Tran academy today.

Spirit Week and Assembly Line Welding

One project that Mr. Yarrison's morning group worked on recently required an assembly line-type process. Each student had a particular part of the process in order to mass produce rain gauges. The student above was the final inspector of the products.

One reminder to all.... we have now entered Spirit Week! Today is "wear your favorite team" sweatshirt, shirt or jersey. If students choose not to participate, they need to be wearing their regular technical dress for the day. For me, it would be "Go Steelers"! (or York Tech Spartans, of course!). I will try to post pictures this week of some of our Man/Tran students who participate in the Spirit Week days. All this leads to the Homecoming Pep Rally on Friday, the game on Saturday, and the dance on Saturday night. It's an exciting week here at York Tech!

Fixing My Car in Auto Shop

The picture is a little blurry, but what you see here are some part-time students (those who attend their home schools, like Central York, for all classes but come over to Tech to take 1 class in the afternoon) working on my car. The benefit of me having a piece of junk car is that the Automotive students get LOTS of experience working on various types of problems.

We really appreciate our 4 participating districts in sending part-time students. Those districts are: Central, York City, York Suburban and Dallastown. Our school is enhanced by having these additional students in the building, and it's great that we can provide them the opportunity to take courses here.

Cross Country Senior Night

Last night, I had the privilege of participating in the senior night at the cross country meet. Thanks to Coach Snell for inviting me to be a part of it!

The picture above shows Coach meeting with the boy's team getting them inspired to run by asking them who they would run this race for today. Our M/T student on the team is Christian Marks, who said that he would run the race for his father (our very own Graphic Arts teacher, Mr. Marks.... how sweet).

The boys' team ended up winning against York Catholic (by 1 point!) and Biglerville in the meet.

JV Football

Yesterday afternoon, I attended the JV Football game against Hanover. The mighty Spartans fought well, and I saw a couple amazing plays from defensive back, Riquann Williams (A/H). He had a great tackle on a pass reception and an interception in the next offensive series from Hanover. Many Man/Tran students play on this team and showed great effort as well. Aaron Callis and Henry Lillich, both Man/Tran, varsity football team players, also showed up to support the JV's.

Man/Tran Students Do Like Math!!

And they are good at it!! Take a look at 4 of our finest upper classmen working collaboratively on a math assignment in Mrs. Abbott's class on Friday. This school day was only for juniors and seniors. Senior students presented their graduation projects in the technical area if they hadn't done so already, and the academic teachers planned special projects for them to work on in the absence of their peers.

Thanks to Mrs. Abbott for providing a great learning opportunity for our students on Friday (and thanks for providing me with the picture)!

Student-to-Student Learning

Sometimes teachers fall into the trap of thinking that the only way for students to learn is for them to provide all the instruction. The show of a true educator is when you can walk into a classroom area and watch students instructing each other, as in the Collision Repair technical program above. On the right is a 12th grade student demonstrating some of the techniques to a new rotation student. Kudos to Mr. Heidler for preparing his students well enough to teach their peers.

Metal Machine Shop

On Friday, I spent a little time down in the Precision Metal Machine technical area. In the top picture, one of the 12th grade students is working on an individual project. In the bottom picture, Mr. Jamison is demonstrating and allowing rotation students to work with one of the commonly used machines in the technical area. In the academy, we have approximately 3 rotations left. Then, at the end of the marking period, rotation students will complete a culminating project and determine their top 3 choices of shops in the academy. If they have completed all the rotation activities to the best of their ability, it is likely they will get into their technical area of choice.

TGIF

It's been a busy week here at Tech. Yesterday, we had the early dismissal due to flooding. On Wed, our students participated well in the 4Sight testing, and today, students who didn't finish or were absent will be making up the test.

I look forward to spending a lot of time in the shops today, so hopefully, there will be a picture or two for me to upload over the weekend that show student projects.

FYI - on October 8th, all 11th and 12th grade students will attend school for graduation project work. All 9th and 10th graders DO NOT attend school on this day.

Happy 4Sight Testing Day!!

Dear all students and staff,

Happy 4Sight testing day! Today is one of the days that our students have an opportunity to show off their academic skills. I truly hope they take advantage of this time to prove their intelligence and gain in academic skills while I also hope that the faculty and staff provide the necessary support for students to do the best they can.

Celebrating Teacher Learning and Success

Not only is it important to celebrate the successes of our students, but it is also important to celebrate the successes of our teachers, especially when their commitment to lifelong learning serves as an example for our students. Mr. Yarrison (pictured above) just recently earned his Vocational II certification. He put himself on an accelerated track to accomplish this sooner than the 10-12 yrs it often takes. Congrats to Mr. Yarrision! We are so proud!!

Fire Extinguisher Training

Thanks to the York Township Fire Dept and Mr. Seitzer for setting up this awesome training this morning! All the students who had shop class in the morning (including all new students) got to see a demonstration of how to properly handle a fire extinguisher in a shop situation. As you can see by the pictures above, then students were able to practice their skills . What a great educational activity for a Friday morning! It was fantastic! I even got to try it out.....

The Rotator's Experience in Collision Repair

How's this for a rotator's (new student in M/T) experience in Collision Repair shop? You can see that Mr. Heidler and his students are really trying to recruit the best of the rotators to join them. In this task pictured above, two rotation students are working on a car after receiving instruction from Collision Repair students. What a great experience for them!

Power Equipment Shop

One classroom I visited today was the Power Equipment technical program. Above, a student is pictured working with one of the small engines in the shop. Meanwhile, the teacher was working with the rotation students to show them the equipment and other features of the shop. It's great to see the shops up and running again. I really love the early part of the school year!

Welcome Mrs. Hoyle!!

When you walk into the Man/Tran office today or call on the phone, you will see a new face/hear a new voice. Welcome to Mrs. Hoyle (pictured above), our new admin assistant! We are very pleased that she is joining the Man/Tran team, and I am confident that she will be a great addition to it.

Football Under the Lights

Last night, York Tech Football traveled over the hill to York Suburban High School to face off under the lights. At halftime, Tech was ahead 7-0. I got to see some fantastic play by starting center, Aaron Callis (Automotive Tech program). I also saw a great cross-field reception by Deante Weldon (Automotive Tech program) that set up the mighty Spartans to score their touchdown.

It was a well fought game by the Spartans. It was also great to see the spirit from Tech faculty and staff members who attended (Ms. Brooks, Mrs. Waldrop, Mrs. Runkle, Mr. Curtis, Dr. Thomas, Mr. Curtis, Ms. Falvey, Mrs. Stiger, Mrs. Prettyman, Ms. Love, Ms. Ludwig, Mr. and Mrs. Hoyle, and Mr. Troxell). A special thanks to Mrs. Smith, who organized face painting for all who wanted to participate. Many of the alumni, students, and even some staff members allowed Mrs. Smith to paint the spirit of the Spartans on their faces.

Secretary Change Over

Today (Friday) marks the day that we say farewell to Mrs. Reinsfelder, our academy secretary. She will be moving to South Carolina to be with he jusband and son. She will be replaced by Mrs. Hoyle, a former teacher assistant and substitute secretary for the school. She will be a wonderful addition to the Man/Tran academy. Mrs. Hoyle has a son enrolled in our school, and her husband is one of the freshman football coaches.

Rotation Begins

Today began the yearly tradition of Rotation for the first year students. What this means is the first year students get to visit each technical program in the academy for a few days to get a taste of what each shop does on a daily basis. I visited the Power Equipment shop, where Mr. Mark was giving a great explanation of the different types of equipment used in the shop. When I stopped in Mr. Heidler's shop, I saw rotation students in stations with the Collision Repair students as their instructors. That was awesome to see! I look forward to seeing the rotation activities in the other shops over the next few days.

Stay tuned for an announcement about our new secretary who is officially starting next Monday!

First Home Football Game and Back to School Night

Today was a beautiful morning for York Tech's first home football game of the year. We have many Man/Tran students playing on the team and one Man/Tran student on the cheerleading squad. The crowd was great! Lots of parents, alumni, and faculty/staff on hand to support the Spartans in their efforts against Delone.

Thursday night was Back-to-School night, and I was so impressed by the parents and students who attended. The teachers did a great job in showing off their classrooms and curricula that night.

Back to School Night Reminder

Attention all parents: Tomorrow is back to school night. You should have received information in the mail about the evening. You can come in and meet all the teachers and find out what your student will be doing in his or her classes this year. The event will run from 6:30 - 8:30pm with light refreshments in the cafeteria for you when it's your student's lunch time.

I'm looking forward to seein you all.

Meet the Team Night

Last night was Meet the Team night down on the football field. Thanks to the Athletic Director, Assistant Athletic Director, and coaches for organizing the event. It was well attended by the student athletes, their families and friends, faculty/staff of YCST and York Country Day. Man/Tran students were represented on the following teams: Junior High Football, JV and Varsity Football, Cheerleading, Cross Country and Golf. Some of the Man/Tran students I recalled seeing last night on their respective teams were are pictured below: