Schools

Seidenberger: No One is 'Dumbing Down' East Penn Education

East Penn Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger told the school board at Monday night's meeting about a unique Emmaus High School project that demonstrates the strength of an East Penn education.

Emmaus High School has a new ticket booth, courtesy of architecture students and their teacher and East Penn Superintendent of Schools Thomas L. Seidenberger in praising the project, says the booth shows that no one is "dumbing down" education in East Penn.

"Friday was another one of those days when you are proud to be a superintendent," Seidenberger told the East Penn School Board at Monday night's meeting.

The reason for his satisfaction, he said, is because Friday was the day that the new ticket booth was set up on Memorial Field. 

And, Seidenberger explained, this is not just any ticket booth -- it's a ticket booth built by Emmaus High School teacher Scott Didra and his architecture students in the court yard of the high school as part of a year-long project during the 2012-2013 year.

Find out what's happening in Emmauswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"You may have noticed that there was another strange building being constructed," Seidenberger said, referring to the playhouse created for the Child Development students by previous classes. "It was an exercise of physics to figure out how to move that building. You really need to go look at it.

"God knows we needed a ticket booth out there. It is more than a hut, take a look at it and I think you will be pleasantly surprised," he said.

Find out what's happening in Emmauswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Down the road, Seidenberger said, there will be an official dedication of the ticket booth and the students who were involved with the project and since graduated from the high school will be invited back. 

"It's all student design," Seidenberger said. "Scott lends expertise, but it is designed and carried out by students. It is just touching as a superintendent to see a labor of love from a teacher and his students."

And, Seidenberger also offered a sneak peek into what Didra and his students have up their sleeves next --  "The kids are talking about building a new press box for the football stadium," he said, emphasizing that the district will work with the borough of Emmaus every step of the way to make sure such a project would be up to code.

"I don’t think anyone can say we are dumbing down education in this district," he said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Emmaus