Penn Manor JANUARY 5, 2022
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LVIII • NO 36
Christmas Tree Mulching Program Posted
Teacher Of The Year BY COURTNEY MENGEL
lizabeth Raff, a sixth-grade teacher at Pequea Elementary School, was named the Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year for 2022. Elizabeth was selected from 12 finalists who participated in the Pennsylvania Teacher of the Year Conference, which was held in Hershey from Dec. 5 to 7. Two previous Teacher of the Year nominees, Jeff Kuntz of Punxsutawney Area School District and Maria Vita, a Penn Manor High School psychology teacher who was a finalist for the 2019 award, nominated Elizabeth for the state award. As Teacher of the Year, Elizabeth will represent teachers at the state level by speaking at conferences, leading workshops and professional development sessions, as well as visiting school districts, colleges, and universities across Pennsylvania. She also will be a candidate for the National Teacher of the Year Award. As part of her teaching style, Elizabeth encourages movement among her students and leads them through physical exercises that help them understand parts of speech, vocabulary words, and other lessons. “She really helps us to understand everything by answering our questions and she gives us ways to remember things for a test,” said sixth-grader Ashlyn Brenneman. “She’s a great teacher and I think she definitely deserves the award because not everybody knows how great of a teacher she is.” Elizabeth lives in Lancaster Township with her husband, Jeremy, and their son, Owen. They are expecting an addition to their family in March. Prior to teaching at Pequea Elementary School, Elizabeth taught in Philadelphia for two years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Messiah College and her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from Penn State University. She is currently working toward her principal certification through Penn State.
Elizabeth Raff (right) celebrates her award with her husband, Jeremy (left), and Noe Ortega (center), Pennsylvania secretary of education.
County residents can dispose of their Christmas trees in an environmentally friendly way by dropping them at the Lancaster County Central Park mulching site between dawn and dusk through Monday, Jan. 31. The park mulching program is for Christmas trees only. No other yard waste will be accepted. Trees must be free of decorations, lights, plastic bags and hardware, including nails in the trunk. There is a three-tree limit per vehicle. Commercial haulers are strongly advised to contact their local municipalities for their respective Christmas tree recycling locations. There is a suggested nominal donation for each tree. Donations will go toward the operation of the Dr. John Moss Native Tree Nursery in Central Park. Trees from the nursery are utilized throughout the county park system. See Tree Mulching pg 3
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Lancaster And York YMCAs Merge . . . . . . . . .2 “Winter Wonders” Concert Scheduled . . . . . .2 Business Directory . . . . . .7 House Of Worship . . . . . . .8 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . .9
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Elizabeth Raff teaches sixth-grade at Pequea Elementary School.
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“What I love about teaching is to be able see learning come alive in students,” said Elizabeth. “We see those moments where connections are made and new perspectives are brought to the table, and so to be able to witness and to facilitate new ideas that students have never heard of before or dig into a book they’ve never experienced … that’s what really excites me.” Penn Manor School District welcomed back Elizabeth with a marching band, cheerleaders, and speeches from her past students. “It was just overwhelming with so much love and appreciation, and I just really am so grateful for it,” commented Elizabeth. “I also feel like all teachers should have an assembly because they’ve all been through so much over the last two years and so my goal moving forward is to really celebrate all teachers across Pennsylvania and really remind them of the incredible work that they’re doing and to lift them up.”
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