17 Palmerton students certified in electronics introduction course

A group of Palmerton Area High School students take the term electricity personified to a whole 'nother level.

That's because a collection of 17 students passed their Introduction to Electronics course and received their certification, school board members learned on Tuesday.

Joe Farkas, Carbon Career & Technical Institute Introduction to Electronics instructor, gave a presentation to the board, and then introduced the six students who were in attendance.

The list of students who passed and their certification include Troy Anewalt, Anthony Romano, Keith Meyers, and Jacob Harris, customer service specialist; Austin Titman, Joseph Tyahla, Cody Barker, Michael Coscio, Blaise Gegeckas, Andrew McReynolds, Kevin Seemiller, and James Troeller, student electronic technician, and Robert Keyser, Michelle Solt, and 2009 graduates Joseph Seemiller, Christopher Altemose and David Semmel, computer service technician.

Farkas thanked the board, as well as Superintendent Carol Boyce, high school Principal Kathy Egan, teachers, and custodians for their assistance.

But, perhaps most importantly, Farkas lauded the students for a job well done.

"I do congratulate this group," Farkas said. "They worked very hard to achieve their certifications."

Also on Tuesday, Boyce announced that 419 injections of the H1N1 inoculation has been given out, along with 59 intranasals [vaccines]."

"The state will supply us with a second shot for those who need them," Boyce said.

The matter was front and center in November after several students were believed to have tested positive for the H1N1 swine flu.

That prompted the board to hold a clinic for inoculations for the swine flu for the entire student body once the vaccine was available.

The vaccines were administered through the state Department of Health at no cost to the district.

In an unrelated matter, senior Brandon Mazepa told the board he was dissatisfied with the condition of the high school parking lot.

Mazepa said he returned to school, only to find the parking lot was a "mess."

"This year is worse than ever," Mazepa said. "This morning, I had to wait three minutes to get in, and another six minutes to find a parking lot."

Mazepa then offered a suggestion to rectify the situation.

"I think we should have assigned parking spots," he said. "It is a mess; complete chaos."

Finally, Director Carl Bieling announced that a pair of Palmerton Area High School students fared well at the recent 2010 Skills USA District Competition.

Bieling said Clint Pickrell placed first in the category of HVAC, while Gabrielle Homlak took second in the category of Health Information Knowledge Bowl.

Also of note, the board announced a Budget and Finance Committee meeting will be held at 3 p.m. March 1.

The meeting will be the first in a series of several in an effort to craft together the 2010-11 budget.