Progress

Sports shine at Sugar Valley Rural Charter School

LOGANTON -- Over the past year, Sugar Valley Rural Charter School students and faculty have been extremely active in athletics, school functions and the community.

The school currently enrolls 475 students with 100 staff members -- 50 teachers and 20 paraprofessionals. With smaller classroom sizes, students are able to create relationships with faculty members.

One of the many activities students at SVRCS took part in this year was the PennDOT Paint the Plow contest.

Statewide, more than 80 schools participated in Paint the Plow and nearly 29,000 votes were cast by the general public between Jan. 8 and 15.

Students have plenty of opportunities at SVRCS to showcase their talents and interests.

SVRCS has a long standing tradition of "drive your tractor to school day" and in 2023 there were 29 tractors of all kinds -- from International, to Farmhall, to John Deere and many in between.

SVRCS won the "Judge's Pick" award for their mural depicting the North American continent buckled in a seat belt and invokes imagery of the winter, spring, summer and fall seasons.

This category winner was determined through judging by PennDOT representatives.

In the SVRCS chapter of the FFA, students have blown away the competition at events throughout the year.

Madisyn "Maddy" Garcia, vice president of the Sugar Valley Rural Charter School FFA, has recently earned her Keystone Degree at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Winter Convention. On top of that major accomplishment, she was also recognized by Senator Cris Dush, representing the 25th Senatorial District at the Farm Show, and was given a Senate Certificate of Achievement.

Garcia was also among four FFA students also took the initiative to attend Governor Josh Shapiro's inauguration. Garcia, Dakotah Holdren, Thayne Jeffries and Olivia Clester were the only FFA students at the ceremony in Harrisburg.

An SVRCS alumni, Blaine Walizer, also achieved the American degree at the 96th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis. Less than 1 percent of FFA members go on to complete their American Degree -- Walizer is one of seven in the county to receive the award. He's the first in nearly 50 years to achieve the degree, and is the first student at SVRCS to achieve it.

Dawn Jeffries, Community Liaison for SVRCS' Community Engagement Program, has been organizing events to bring the community together. From cooking classes and festivals to ASL instruction and more, Jeffries pushes for community involvement.

In 2023, the Community Engagement Program partnered with the SVRCS Life Skills class to host a Senior Social where senior members of the community could socialize with the local school-aged population.

Life Skill students cook food, put together snack bags, make party favors and design games for these special afternoons.

"Both the students and the senior citizens seem to really enjoy playing games like tic-tac-toe together," said Life Skills and Learning Support teacher, Justine Shady previously, "We are able to incorporate math, science and art as we shop for, and prepare the snacks and decorations. The students are proud of their hard work."

The purpose of these socials is for senior members of the community to have a safe space to gather for socialization, fellowship and an enjoyable afternoon.

Students and seniors alike had a great time at the socials every month, fostering new friendships throughout the crowd.

On the athletics side, 152-pounder Cameron Quick was recognized in front of a home crowd for achieving 50 pins -- accomplished in just the three years he's been at SVRCS. He became Sugar Valley's "winningest wrestler" in history, currently sitting at a career record of 61-17.

For girls' wrestling, Sugar Valley has seven wrestlers, freshman Evie Andrus, freshman Marrin Clester, junior Olivia Clester, senior Emma Downing, junior Olivia Johnson, freshman Kayleigh Showers and sophomore Cheyenne Weaver. The team has competed in five tournaments this year and has finished in the top 10 in two, placing seventh at the Williamsport Showcase on Feb. 2 and ninth place on January 13 at the Juanita Girls Tournament. Marrin Clester has a 12-8 overall record this season with 10 pins; Downing is 10-11 on the year with eight pins; Johnson is 13-12 with 11 pins.

Student achievements don't stop at sports -- the student-led yearbook staff received the Josten's 2023 National Yearbook Program of Excellence Gold Award. The National Yearbook Program of Excellence Award is given based on the extraordinary efforts that go into creating a yearbook and making it accessible to every student -- striving to be sure every student is included in the memories of that school year. The 2022-2023 Yearbook staff was composed of eight students working under the direction of teacher and Yearbook Advisor, Morgan Rager.

The Sugar Valley Rural Charter School is located at 236 E. Main St., Loganton, PA.

For more information, or to arrange a tour, visit their website at www.svrcs.org, or phone 570-725-7822.