Special to Emmaus Patch By Chrissy Cilento, Emmaus High School Senior The Emmaus High School Drama Department has made the announcement that EHS will be presenting "Beauty and the Beast" next year as its spring musical. Director Jill Kuebler posted on the Emmaus High School website that the show will run March 19-22, 2014 and auditions will be in November of the 2013-2014 school year.  The announcement has caused much buzz among the theater students at EHS, who are already anticipating auditions and beginning to prepare for the roles they want. Students are wary, however, since this year …

After a lengthy discussion and two failed attempts to table the decision, the East Penn Board of School Directors Monday night approved a financing plan that could bring the Lehigh Valley its first Costco as soon as fall of 2014 and ultimately put an estimated $1.5 million per year into the school district's bank account. The plan approved by the board to help fund the proposed $140 million Hamilton Crossings shopping mall in Lower Macungie Township is what is known as Tax Increment Financing or TIF. Basically, a TIF is an economic tool to help develop a site that requires a large amount of …

With surprisingly little discussion on the matter, the East Penn Board of School Directors Monday night unanimously approved the proposed final 2013-14 school district budget. The $130 million budget will not raise property taxes, calling for a property tax rate of 16.129 mills. However, Board President Charles Ballard acknowledged that even though the East Penn budget does not increase property taxes, in the end things could still be confusing for East Penn taxpayers whose property tax bills may increase as a result of a Lehigh County reassessment. “I want to make sure that this goes out …

Did you go to Emmaus High School's senior ball? It's not late to share your photos with the East Penn community on Patch. We'd love to see what you wore and get a glimpse of all the fun. You can add your pictures to a photo gallery here by clicking on the button below the pictures that says "Upload Photos and Videos." Or you can email them to jennifer.marangos@patch.com.

Special to Patch by Nina Rowan, Emmaus High School sophomore By now, most of America is all too familiar with the gritty details of the tragic Boston Marathon Bombing that occurred on April 15th of this year. Well, it’s less than month later, and already Emmaus High School is doing something to help. The high school’s efforts to help the victims of the tragedy began few weeks ago, when the EHS student government started selling “Boston Strong” t-shirts to students and faculty. When they realized what a success the t-shirt fundraiser was, they knew they needed to do something bigger to …

Special to Patch by Emmaus High School Senior Chrissy Cilento Three Emmaus High School seniors were awarded a Regional Emmy on Tuesday by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Megan Famularo, Christina Cilento and Isaiah Zukowski created a video about the dangers of distracted teen driving for a class project in Communications 2, then decided to enter the video into the Writing category of the NATAS Mid-Atlantic Regional Emmy Awards. Juniors Bryce Haines and Sawyer Long also worked in collaboration on the project. Many other video projects from the Communications 2 class were …

The 2013 Emmaus High School Junior Prom was held on Saturday at the Rodeway Inn and Conference Center, Route 22 and 309 in South Whitehall Township. Periodic Patch contributor Chrissy Cilento, an EHS senior, has scanned her classmates' photo albums and pulled together a collection of prom photos for Patch readers to enjoy. And, Patch readers have been posting and emailing their junior prom photos, which means this photo gallery is growing all the time! If you have photos from the EHS junior prom you'd like to share with the East Penn community, you can add your pictures this photo gallery by …

A month-long project undertaken by fourth-grade students in Mr. Shreck’s art class at Shoemaker Elementary School recently reached an exiting conclusion when representatives from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms hockey team came to Shoemaker to “grade” the students’ final presentations.  The students, working in groups of four or five, were charged with coming up with a 3D computer-generated design of the PPL Center Arena now being built in Allentown to serve as the Phantoms’ future home. Rob Avitabile, the lead designer/contractor of the arena, along with Erik Hansen, head of ticket sales for the …

What Better Way to Celebrate Spring? The Eyer Middle School Orchestra Spring Concert is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday. Hug a Teacher in Alburtis. Or at least say thank you. It’s Teacher Appreciation Week all week long at Alburtis Elementary School. Buy a book in Lower Macungie. It’s the Lower Macungie Middle School Book Fair this week. Shhhh….Testing in progress. There will be Advanced Placement exams going on all week at Emmaus High School. Let’s Blind Them With Science. Or excite them, at least. Lincoln Elementary School third-graders will be heading to the DaVinci Center on Friday for a field …

When the Emmaus High School Track and Field team was gearing up for its third St. Baldrick’s Foundation kids' cancer fundraiser, it was still very proud of the $39,921 it raised in 2011—as well it should have been. But the hope was to raise even more at its March 22 event, held at Emmaus High School, which it did. With 120 people shaved, a grand total of $47,700 was raised for the St. Baldrick's Foundation, a California-based group that funds childhood cancer research.  Shannon Petrunak, EHS Track & Field coach, thanked the honorees for their inspiration, the selfless shavees, hardworking …

The East Penn School Board approved several personnel changes at its meeting Monday night. There were six retirement/resignations: Ellen Held, special education teacher at Lower Macungie Middle School, effective June 12. Mena Venesky, elementary guidance counselor, effective June 12. Tracy Antonioli, English teacher at Eyer Middle School, effective June 12. Payal Bhowmick, English teacher at Lower Macungie Middle School, effective June 12. Nicole Polanski, instructional assistant at Shoemaker Elementary School, effective April 8. Joseph Schmoyer, custodian, second shift, at Emmaus High School…

Willow Lane Principal Anthony Moyer will populate the long-awaited parent committee at a public drawing at noon Friday at the school. In a letter to parents who expressed interest in being a part of the committee, he sent an open invitation to join him for the drawing. Ten parents will be chosen, two each from five developments that surround the school: Beaumont at Brookside, Brandywine Village I and II, Brookside Farms, and Graymoor. Moyer's letter also said that he plans to send another letter confirming participation on the committee along with the first meeting date. Twenty-three parents …

Restrictive bathroom policies at Emmaus High School may be “normalized” now that a second student has been arrested in relation to one of the four separate bomb threats made against Emmaus High School between Dec. 20 and March 12, East Penn Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger says. A 16-year-old sophomore boy, accused in connected with a March 12 bomb hoax, was charged with making terroristic threats in juvenile court on March 20, according to Emmaus Police. A ninth-grade girl, accused of making the Dec. 20 bomb threat, was charged previously. Police are still investigating bomb …

After several meetings at which East Penn School Director Julian Stolz was the topic of several public comments, Monday night's school board meeting was surprisingly Stolz-free until he spoke up just before it was adjourned. Over the past month or so, some associations and posts that Stolz wrote on Twitter were deemed vulgar and extremely insulting to the students of the East Penn School District.  Some parents called for his resignation. Other parents wanted the board to censure him, a move that Stolz called "a slap on the wrist." "I'd like to take a moment to thank my fellow board members…

Even the most conservative spenders on the East Penn Board of School Supervisors could not argue with the hopeful news Superintendent Thomas Seidenberger delivered at Monday's school board meeting. "Our goal, unless something dramatic happens, is for no tax increase" in the 2013-14 school year budget, he said. Seidenberger said the proposed final budget will be presented and voted on at the May 13 meeting. If it is approved, it will be on display for the required 30 days before the final vote on it in June. "I'm entering this with degree of uncertainty," he said, since there are still …

Special to Emmaus Patch By Chrissy Cilento, Emmaus High School Senior Bob Swaim the Bike Guy has become an annual staple at Emmaus High School! Last year he visited the environmental science classes and presented about the impact that bicycles can have on the environment and our community. This year he returned, but he incorporated an important addition into his presentation: slinkies.Sure it sounds strange, but slinkies represent more than just the classic stair toy. To Bob, slinkies are an environmentally friendly option for children. Instead of being glued to the TV or PlayStation all day…

The latest movie—"The Place Beyond the Pines"—featuring Zionsville native Dane DeHaan is now in theaters. DeHaan, a graduate of Emmaus High School, talks about the film in a YouTube video interview. He describes the movie's "gritty realism" and calls it an "epic journey" depicting 17 years of how intertwining lives unfold. "You're going to go along for a ride and you have to be ready for that ride," DeHaan said. DeHaan, a native of Zionsville, graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts in 2008. DeHaan plays Harry Osborn in "Spiderman 2," which is currently in production. The movie is …

East Penn School Board member Lynn Donches will be the featured speaker at the April meeting of the Concerned East Penn Taxpayers Association (CEPTA). The program titled “East Penn School Budget Talks,” will focus on the East Penn School District preliminary budget for the 2013-14 school year. With the 2013-14 budget, the East Penn administration has decided to not seek exceptions that would allow the district to go above the Pennsylvania state-mandated maximum tax increase of 1.7 percent, according to a CEPTA flier about the program. That means the administration’s preliminary budget has set…

During the superintendent's report at Monday night's meeting of the East Penn Board of School Directors, Thomas Seidenberger said the district's buildings are in good shape. He credits regular maintenance as the foundation for their good condition. To that end, Seidenberger announced that the roof on Lincoln Elementary School may be replaced over the summer. Also, the school's playground may be resurfaced. Both projects are subject to the board's approval. The total cost for the two projects would be about $675,000. The money would come from the district's capital reserve fund into which, …

The East Penn School Board approved several personnel changes at its meeting Monday night. There were two retirements: Michael Seip, Health/Physical Education Teacher, effective June 16 Patrice Helfrich, ESL teacher, effective June 12 Superintendent Thomas Seidenberger said he would miss Seip, who "embraced change" and was excellent throughout the phys ed, drivers ed and swimming programs with which he was associated. There were three resignations: John Stabinger, web/application specialist, effective May 3 Melissa Klingenberg, instructional assistant at Jefferson Elementary, effective April …