EXETER — For the first time in Wyoming Area School District history, the youngsters will have a chance to make a difference through student council.
It was announced Tuesday at the monthly Wyoming Area School Board meeting the district’s intermediate center installed officers to student council. Superintendent Janet Serino recently installed the officers during a school day.
At the meeting, Vice President Samara Campenni and Secretary Mario Belza, both students at the intermediate center, addressed board members and the public on some of the projects they will be working on this year. President Casey Noone was not able to attend the meeting.
The club will install rubber mulch at the intermediate center and host a Mini-THON with the high school to raise money for child cancer this year. Also, the organization will raise money for a student whose family was recently displaced by a fire. In the next few months, the student council will host food and clothing drives.
“We will be involved in many projects throughout the year,” Campenni said in her speech to the board. “Money raised will support our goals to help the school and community.”
Campenni said the organization is working with West Pittston Borough to try and paint all fire hydrants yellow and green “to show our district pride.”
Belza spoke to the crowd to thank them for the opportunity. He explained the process of being elected. Each homeroom elected one boy and one girl to run for office. Then, the student had to apply for the position and get three recommendations from teachers and write a five-paragraph essay on school leadership and service. The group then voted to elect the three officers.
Both representatives shook hands of board members following their speeches.
“We want you to know how excited we are about the opportunity to serve the student body of our school,” Belza said. “This experience will help us all to become better citizens and live up to the oath we have taken to be a positive role model, leader and voice of the student population.”
Wyoming Area Intermediate Center Principal Joe Long is the moderator of the club.
Dynamic training in January
The board also approved a “dynamic active shooter” training to be held in the Secondary Center this coming January.
The training, which will be done by Exeter Borough Sgt. Leonard Galli, along with four other certified trainers, will be a school shooting response training course for local law enforcement during a weekend in January. Galli, who owns and operates the Firearms Institute of Specialized Training in Exeter, asked the board to donate $1,500 — or half of the cost of materials — which the board approved.
The board will contribute $1,500 for the training, which is open to officers from the Wyoming Area School District Police Department, and member-municipality police departments in the district. Galli said the training will be limited to 25 officers and will be opened up to other departments if the class does not fill.
The offset of the cost, another $1,500, will come from the office of state Rep. Aaron Kauffer, R-Kingston, Galli said. The only cost for the training will be in the materials. All the instructors will be volunteering their time.
There will be one day of practicum and theory, with the following day featuring high-level scenarios.
“It’s going to be some high-intensity training,” Galli said. “We don’t have time to wait anymore. The officers that respond to a situation are going in, and we need to get in there. This will train these officers to do that.”
The training, which will be held on Jan. 14 and Jan. 15, will take place inside the high school. Galli said officers are now trained in active shooter situations to engage the shooter, instead of waiting out the shooter.
The sergeant said for every 15 seconds an average of one student is killed during a school active shooter situation.
“There will obviously other agencies responding if there is something catastrophic,” Galli said. “But we have to be ready to go in when we get there.”
The “intense training” will feature officers going through the halls of Wyoming Area Secondary Center using real firearms and acting out real situations. However, the rounds the officers will be using are less-than-lethal. The rounds, called UTMs (Ultimate Training Munitions), are marked paint and do not explode on contact, but just mark the target. The rounds are also much quieter, so participants do not have to wear glasses or ear plugs.
Galli said role players, such as students and other officers, will be helping out with the class as well.
In other business:
• The board approved the appointment of Kate Menta and Michelle Harden as co-advisors to the Builders Club for the 2016-17 school year.
• Kevin Davenport was appointed as assistant marching band director at a salary of $1,810 for the 2016-17 school year.
• Genevieve Federici was approved as the student representative to serve on the Wyoming Area School Board.
• In the activities report, Jordan Nicholas was appointed as seventh grade girls basketball coach at a salary of $1,677. Kirby Szalkowski’s salary of $2,230 was approved by the board for junior high field hockey. Christopher Murphy was approved as seventh grade boys basketball coach with a salary of $1,677. John Hettes and Kenneth MacLeod were each approved as voluntary elementary wrestling coaches. Jason Speece was approved as assistant junior high wrestling coach at a salary of $2,508.
