BROCKWAY, Pa. (EYT) – The American Legion Post #95 joined posts around the country in celebrating Memorial Day. The event was held in the Brockwayville Depot. However, this year’s celebration has another element to it. FULL ARTICLE

BROCKWAY, Pa. (EYT) - The Brockway Area School Board felt that a tax increase was unavoidable as it looks to its 2019-2020 budget. FULL ARTICLE

BROCKWAY, Pa. (EYT) – Two Brockway Area Junior-Senior High School students missed the National History Day Final Competition by a few points. Shaughny Richardson and Sydney Manno both took top spots for their categories in the National History Day Regional Competition in April. Molly Wise took third in that competition, giving her the chance to go to the regional competition as well. “Only seven percent of competitors make it this far,” said National History Day Pennsylvania President Jeffrey Hawks said at the awards ceremony. “Pennsylvania has one of the toughest competitions. This is my tenth year, and the judges told me that this year was very difficult to judge.” The National History Day website boasts that half a million students from all over the country compete in the event. It is a project-based competition designed to further interest in history as well as work on presentation and critical thinking skills. The event was founded in 1974. Richardson, a junior, took third place in the paper category, meaning that she is an alternate should first or second place need to back out of the competition. “It felt really good to know that all that hard work was appreciated,” Richardson said. “After how well my interview went, I knew I did well.” [caption id="attachment_228994" align="alignleft" width="700"] Brockway's Sydney Manno, Shaughny Richardson, and Molly Wise pose with Carlisle High School mascot Thor at the state competition for National History Day.[/caption] Wise, a senior, felt that the interview experience was the most-important part of the trip to Carlisle. “It feels pretty good to be asked about something you’ve studied and know so much about,” she said. “It’s interview experience. You learn a lot from the process, and you gain confidence because you know what you’re talking about.” Wise wrote about the effects of the Black Death. Richardson’s third-place paper was about Native American relocation. Sophomore Sydney Manno took fifth place in the poster category. Her display board was about the Orphan Trains. Manno went along last year to support Richardson, who took first place in the region then, too. “I had fun being there,” Manno said. “I went from personal assistant to competitor. I felt honored to be surround by such good projects.” All of the students got information detailing the judging process and what they missed. They will be pouring over those notes before tackling next year’s topic, “Breaking Barriers.” Richardson and Manno have a chance to continue their competitions, but all three girls learned something from the experience. “The most important thing I got from this experience is how important history is,” Richardson said. “Not just to us as teenagers but to the judges as well. The many who interviewed me was so proud of our generation caring about history. It furthered my passion in history and historical education.” More about National History Day can be found at its website.

BROCKWAY, Pa. (EYT) – In the first of two May meetings, the Brockway Area School Board accepted four resignations and praised the prom committee’s work. FULL ARTICLE

DuBOIS, Pa. (EYT) – As summer approaches, a young artist in DuBois is preparing to embark on a great artistic adventure: selling his art at comicons. FULL ARTICLE

BROOKVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – Students from Brockway Area Junior-Senior High School dominated an environmental competition Tuesday, sweeping all categories. FULL ARTICLE

BROCKWAY, Pa. (EYT) – With prom coming at the end of the week, juniors and seniors at Brockway Area Junior-Senior High School got a vivid reminder of how bad choices can had consequences. The school district partnered with the police department, ambulance service, and the fire department to put on a mock accident. Brockway Police Chief Terry Young kicked off the event by saying that DUIs lead the crimes in Pennsylvania. He went over different rules related to DUIs and gave students a laminated handout with traffic laws. “Look to your left, look to your right: odds are, someone is going to die sometime due to alcohol,” Young said. “When I was your age, they said the same thing. I looked at my friend, not expecting anything. A year later, he was killed in a DUI.” [caption id="attachment_227959" align="alignnone" width="700"] Brockway students enact a mock accident to warn fellow students about drunk driving.[/caption] The chief made sure students knew the legal limits for them. He said that they need to pay attention because this is something that kills young people every day, with prom coming up, parties can take a really bad turn. “Please take this seriously,” he said. “The odds are, someone in this class will drive drunk one day. Car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens. Drunk driving accounts for a quarter of them.” Young took the students outside where the mock accident was set up. Brockway Ambulance and the fire department assisted in the drill. Two vehicles, a minivan and an SUV, were arranged as though the van cut in front of the other vehicle. Brockway seniors Santino Inzana and Madison Barefield played dead while classmate Garrett McClintick acted as though he were the drunk driver who caused the accident. The fire department responded from around the corner, mimicking an actual call. McClintick was “arrested” for DUI. McClintick, Barefield, and Inzana got high praise from their classmates. The other students were impressed with how realistic the students made the crash scene. “I thought it was eye-opening,” Brockway junior Justice Williams said. “Some people take it as a joke, but seeing that may have convinced them. I hear about that stuff to begin with, but to see it -- to see the sirens, the body bags, that was intense.” “I would be sad to see those kids in a car crash,” Taylor Little, another junior, said. “It gave me chills. It was intense. The actors were really good. I think we need to do things like this more often so people can visualize it. I feel like this and the Reality Tour makes you think twice about parties and what you’re doing.” “It was something we should do again,” classmate Elijah Snell said. “Seeing them cover up Madison’s body, that’s when the seriousness hit me.” Brockway co-principal Mark Dippold said that he hopes that students take this message to heart when prom comes around. “It is a reminder to students of the dangers of drinking and driving,” he said. “This scenario gives them a very realistic look at what could happen if they make bad decisions.”