Area students are writing a weekly column for the Times News. The column is being coordinated by Sue Ann Gerhard from Carbon Career & Technical Institute.

Carbon Career & Technical Institute

Gracie Heintzelman

From everyone at CCTI, we would like to congratulate all of our SkillsUSA competitors who competed in district competition at Luzerne County Community College.

Luzerne SkillsUSA District winners

First Place Gold

Makayla Scott, Lehighton School District, CNC Technician;

Robert Kephart, Weatherly School District, CNC Milling Specialist;

Jada Saldukas, Weatherly School District, CTE Demonstratio;

Bruce McFarland, Jim Thorpe School District, Automotive Maintenance and Light Repair;

Robert Craig, Panther Valley School District, Restaurant Service.

Second Place Silver

Valerie Kruslicky, Panther Valley School District, Advertising Design;

Evan McGowan, Lehighton School District, Culinary Arts;

Michael Bowman, Lehighton School District, Cyber Security;

Landen Thomas, Palmerton School District, Cyber Security;

Nathaniel Mahoney, Jim Thorpe School District, Pin Design;

Trystin Bossard, Palmerton School District, T-Shirt Design.

Third Place Bronze

Damon Eckhart, Palmerton School District, Automotive Service Technology;

Samuel Seachrist, Jim Thorpe School District, Commercial Baking.

Johnson College SkillsUSA District winners

Gold Medal Winners

Ella Sittler, Lehighton School District, Action Skills;

Angelika Gines, Panther Valley School District, Job Interview;

Varick Peiffer, Lehighton School District, Architectural Drafting;

Anthony Muniz, Panther Valley School District, Technical Drafting;

Sophia Sarnowski, Lehighton School District, Job Demo A;

Wyatt Smith, Lehighton School District, Precision Machine;

Silver Medalist

(Quiz Bowl Team) Draven Gery, Lehighton School District; William Trach, Lehighton School District; Owen Rakos, Palmerton School District; Ryan Burkett, Lehighton School District; Jordan Drumbore, Panther Valley School District; Dezarae Ahner, Lehighton School District;

Julius Konafel, Palmerton School District, Industrial Motor Control;

Maxim Simbarskiy, Lehighton School District, Extemporaneous speaking;

Carlos Rodrigues Lopez, Lehightonn School District, Job Demo Open;

Jordon Defuso, Jim Thorpe School District, HVACR;

Sophia Marcozzi, Jim Thorpe School District, Employment application process.

Bronze Medalist

(Teamworks)

Zachary Anthony, Palmerton School District; Blake Barberio, Jim Thorpe School District,

Xaiver Moore, Lehighton School District, Ben Beagle, Lehighton School District;

Louis Sypeck, Weatherly School District, Technical Computer Applications.

CCTI students have also just completed Keystone testing. Great job to all test takers.

There will be a Semi-Formal Dance on Jan. 19 from 6-9 p.m. Admission is $5 and tickets are on sale now until Jan. 17. Students can bring outside guests with signed permission slips. All permission slips are due by Jan. 15. For tickets and permission slips, students can see Mrs. Johannsen.

CCTI will also be hosting a Bag Bingo and Basket raffle on Friday, Feb. 9 from 6-8 p.m. Doors open at 4 p.m. and the game begins at 6 p.m. This will be held in the CCTI cafeteria. Tickets can be purchased for $25 and all proceeds will benefit over 300 CCTI students. For more information call 570.325.3662 ext. 1500.

CCTI will be closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

There will be a senior class meeting will be held on Wednesday during activity period.

The salon will be open to the public on Jan, 18-19.

Call 570-325-3682 ext. 1129 for an appointment.

Jan. 18 - 8:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m., all services;

Jan. 19 - 8:30 a.m., 1:00 p.m., all services.

Seniors and juniors: In good standing with your grades, attendance and discipline record, this is your opportunity to apply for membership into the National Technical Honor Society. The application has been posted to the Junior and Senior Google Classrooms. Questions can be directed to Mrs. Gerhard. Applications must be complete with all appropriate forms before submitting to Mrs. Gerhard. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Any junior or senior who will be applying for National Technical Honor Society can earn community service hours early by assisting with poster distribution for the Bag Bingo in February. Stop by the main office.

Students in Drafting Design Technology will have a presentation on Friday, Jan. 19 from Triangle Tech Presentation.

Lehighton High School

Koy Wentz and Abby Bauder

Hello Everyone. Welcome back to the Times News Student Column. Abby and I wanted to start off by discussing some of the events that have occurred over the week at Lehighton High School.

To start, the Wellness II class visited the Carbon County Courthouse, and had the opportunity to get a firsthand account of criminal sentencings. The students saw individuals with various cases, judges and defendants. This opportunity allowed the students to get an idea of how the judicial system works. Along with that, students also learned of the implications of the judicial system. The court process is one that is typically not known for many students. It is good to have an idea of how this process works.

In other news, the Lehighton Indian Competition Cheer Team scored first place at districts, making them the District XI champions. This is the second consecutive year that the team has garnered the gold metal and champion status. This cheer team is incredibly dedicated and the passion, motivation, and grit is certainly evident. With this win, they qualify for state competition, and will travel to Hershey in the coming weeks.

The Lehighton Future Business Leaders of America club also has multiple students who qualified for state competition. They will also travel to Hershey, Pennsylvania come April.

The entire Lehighton student body is cheering for our groups, who have represented their schools very well.

That’s all for now from Lehighton.

Panther Valley High School

Mikayla Yuricheck

As winter break has come to a close, and we are finally starting to see some winter weather, it is important to be mindful of the things that are going on within our school community. Next week, there will be no school on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The second marking period will also be coming to a close, ending on Jan. 17. Make sure you get all of your work in by that day to ensure your best possible grades. Panther Valley’s National Honor Society looks forward to continuing their volunteer work, such as their Big Brother/Big Sister program with the Lehigh Valley Children’s Center in Coaldale, the food pantry at the Panther Valley Elementary School, and they are hoping to continue sending a group of students to the Maple Shade Nursing Home in Nesquehoning. The Paw Prints Newspaper staff is hoping to present the latest edition of their paper on Friday, Jan. 19. The PV girls and boys varsity basketball programs are both about halfway through their season, and they are hoping to clinch a spot in the District XI playoffs. The PV varsity wrestling program has been having strong performances from Brian Welser, for the boys, and Brenda Banks, for the girls. The wrestlers have been working hard and we hope to see them in districts as well. Michael Williams is an independent swimmer for PV, and he has also had some strong performances this year. He is hoping to make it to districts again this year as well. That’s a wrap on PV’s happenings, and we hope to report back with more good news next week.

Jim Thorpe High School

Gabriella Cerra

• No School: Jan. 15, Martin Luther King Jr. Day

• History Club: Jan. 16, 2:45-4 p.m.; new members are always welcome for those with interests in history and learning new things.

• Mock Trial: Jan. 16, 4-5 p.m.; new members are wanted. Active roles and under study positions in this year’s criminal case are still available to people interested in learning about the ins and outs of trials and legal procedure.

• History Club members will be selling Blow Pops and Tootsie Pops during lunches.

Sports

• Middle School Girls Basketball Game, Jan. 15 4-7 p.m. at Schuylkill Haven

• Middle School Boys Basketball Game Jan. 15 6-9 p.m. home against (1/15 Schuylkill Haven

• Junior High Boys Wrestling home against North Schuylkill, Jan. 17, 6-9 p.m.

• Varsity Boys Wrestling home against. North Schuylkill, Jan. 18 7-10 p.m.

• Varsity Girls Basketball at Lehighton, Jan. 18 5:30-8:30 p.m.

• Varsity Boys Basketball home against Lehighton,Jan. 18 6-9 p.m.

• Varsity Boys Wrestling Coal Cracker Tournament Home Open, Jim Thorpe and Lehighton, Jan. 20 7:30-10:30 a.m.

Weatherly High School

Mellanie Marshman

Weatherly Wreckers are officially one week back into school.

There are seven days left of the second marking period, and the students are cramming in last minute grades.

Last week nine students placed in the FBLA regional competition. The nine students are: Raymond Montz, sixth in Agribusiness; Kiley Holman and Ava, third in Business Management; Mason Gonzalez, sixth in economics; Juliette Bartel, second in journalism; Milana Grier, fourth in Org Leadership; Serenity Stoudt, fourth in personal finance; Jack James, third for Supply Chain Management; and Mellanie Marshman, sixth for UX design.

The Weatherly Wrecker boys and girls basketball teams are doing very well this year. The boys recently secured a win against Shenandoah Valley.

Drama Club meetings have also started, they are doing the play “I Hate Shakespeare,” and it will be performed in April.

That is what’s new from your Weatherly Wreckers.

See you next week.