At the closing tournament of the season, the Spartan Invitational at Southern Lehigh HS on April 28, Elk Lake junior Austin Cohen continued his domination of Lincoln-Douglas Debate fields at Pennsylvania forensics tournaments.

Cohen, in a tournament that included debaters from Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and the State Champion from Virginia, went undefeated on the day and captured the tournament championship.

EL Forensic’s Team Place-winners at the Spartan Invitational Tournament: Austin Cohen - 1st Place in LD Debate.

During the preliminary rounds, Cohen compiled an undefeated 4 win and 0 loss record by defeating debaters from Ridge (NJ), Montville (NJ), and Southern Lehigh HS.

As a result of his record, he advanced to Quarter-Finals, where he faced and defeated Caroline Parrish from Unionville on a unanimous decision and headed to Semi-Finals.

Last year’s tournament champion Deep Dheri from Montville was his opponent in the Semi-Finals. Cohen once again posted a unanimous decision and advanced to Finals.

In Finals, Cohen faced the 4th Montville debater he had seen that day, Rahul Upadhya. Just like all of the previous elimination rounds, Cohen posted another unanimous decision and won the tournament.

“This was a great warm-up tournament for NCFL Nationals for Austin. It really shows that we are on the right track as we get ready for Baltimore,” commented EL Forensics Director Keith Brosious.

Austin Cohen and senior Richard Guiton will travel to Baltimore, MD over Memorial Day Weekend to compete against the top 200 debaters in the country at the National Catholic Forensics League’s Grand National Tournament.

Cohen and Guiton will also travel to Indianapolis, IN on June 10 to compete against the top 250 debaters at the National Forensics League’s National Championship Tournament.

Christian Sprout, 15, a sophomore at Elk Lake High School, recently participated in PMEA District 9 Regional Orchestra, held from March 24-26, 2012 at Williamsport Area High School.

Christian first auditioned for District Orchestra in October, and placed 18th out of 59 violinists, qualifying him to attend District Orchestra in February. Students attending all PMEA District festivals audition for the next level, and Christian placed high, enabling him to attend Regional Orchestra.

Over 60 schools from Eastern Pennsylvania participated in Regional Orchestra, with over 120 students participating. They performed works by Holst, Britten, and Rossini.

Christian began playing the violin at age 3, taking lessons from Patti Lane Schwartz in Scranton, PA. He studied with her for several years, and now studies with Mr. Dezso Vaghy of Binghamton, NY. Mr. Vaghy, originally from Budapest, Hungary, founded the renowned Vaghy String Quartet at the Julliard School of Music in 1965.

In addition to playing violin, Christian also plays trumpet in his high school band, sings in the chorus and also attended District Chorus this year. He plays on the high school soccer and volleyball teams and is a member of the National Honor Society.

Mr. David Cooper, band director at Elk Lake, nominated and accompanied Christian to the festivals.

Mr. Robert Keyes, Principal of Susquehanna Community Elementary School, announces that there will be a make-up day for Pre-Kindergarten (K4) and Kindergarten (K5) Registration on Monday, May 14, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Elementary Health Office.

Any parent who registers a child for Pre-Kindergarten (K4) or Kindergarten (K5) must bring a birth certificate, immunization records and proof of residency. A registration packet will need to be filled out at the time of registration.

A student must be five (5) years of age on or before Sept. 1, 2012 in order to be eligible for Kindergarten (K5), and a student must be four (4) years of age on or before Sept. 1, 2012 in order to be eligible for Pre-Kindergarten (K4).

This is the last scheduled make-up registration scheduled for the 2012/2013 school year. Please make every effort to attend.

Please call 853-4921 with any questions or to receive a registration packet.

Mr. Robert Keyes, Principal of Susquehanna Community Elementary School, announces the “Student of the Month” for April for Grades Kindergarten, First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth.

Pictured Above Grades Kindergarten, First, Second & Third: Row 1: L to R  Courtney Towner, Kambrie Colwell, Ashlee Whritenour, Sophie Mills; Row 2: L to R  Ariana Hilton, Ava Stanford, Tarena Strasburger, Teagan Fissel; Row 3: L to R  Jason Smith, Kimberly Swartz, Willow Franchak, Robert Wolf, Ryan Hall; Absent: Anthony Vinsko, Kyle Spoor, Kevin Tross.

Pictured Above Grades Fourth, Fifth & Sixth: Row 1: L to R Maria Esparza, Jaycie Conklin, Kelsey Treible; Row 2: L to R Mikaela Swank, Devin Mitchell, Canyon Stone, Justin Belvedere; Row 3: L to R Nicholas Wayman, Anthony Ralston, Lucas Marco, Christopher Swanson, Jr.