The 2019-2020 school year was interesting, to say the very least. So much happened this year that it is almost too hard to remember. Take a look at everything that happened this year, including all of the ups, downs, and in-betweens:
June Articles
- Former WB alumni Abe George, Ben George, and Max Wittlinger hiked the Appalachian Trail
- Mr. Jones was hired as the new band director
July Articles
- The Community Arts Programs put on a production of Willy Wonka at WB
- Former teacher/coach Gary Miller donated a haul of baseball equipment to the country of Chile
- WB was announced to add a middle school, starting with the 2019-2020 school year
August Articles
- Meet the Warriors Fall 2019 happened on August 15th
- Some adjustments were made for the 2019-2020 school year
- The Lady Warriors soccer team started their season in their 2nd annual Kickoff Tournament
September Articles
- The nail-biting Warriors vs. Black Knights football game happened on August 30th
- The Lady Warriors volleyball team started their season with the Central Mountain tournament
- The football field house was deemed unusable after recent tests stated that the building had poor air quality
- On September 5th, the Lady Warriors soccer team tied Everett in an intense overtime game
- The Freshmen and Sophomores received new Chromebooks for their 1-on-1 laptops
- The new Multi-Media Room was gifted to the Warrior Watch staff, the yearbook staff, and the gifted department.
- Spirit Week brought school spirit to WB
- The Homecoming Court 2019 was announced
- The Technology Department held an October Wallpaper Contest
- The Lady Warriors volleyball team beat Bellwood-Antis in the four-set game
- The Alumni Watch series was announced
- Volleyball Coach Trude got his 600th win
- The Warriors vs. Vikings football game was on September 13th, 2020
- Eddie Dale was announced as the 2019 Homecoming King
- Taylor Kalke was announced as the 2019 Homecoming Queen
- The 2019 Halloween Pet Contest benefited the SPCA
- The Warriors vs. Trojans football game happened on Homecoming
- Morgan Glace earned her 1,000th assist in volleyball
- The Lady Warriors soccer team defeated Bishop Guilfoyle
October Articles
- The WB football team gained their first victory against the Everett Warriors
- The West Branch Ministerium hosted a Compassion Walk
- County Choir happened on October 11th and 12th
- Mrs. C McGonigal’s biology class dissected fetal pigs
- The Lady Warriors soccer team hosted their 3rd annual Pink Out soccer game
- The Warriors vs. Blue Devils football game happened on October 4th
- Many Warrior football members broke records during a win against the Blue Pirates
- The 2019 Clearfield-Centre-Huntingdon County Band Show was held at Bald Eagle HS
- The sophomore class took a field trip to the CCCTC
- The Lady Warriors soccer team advanced to District 6 Finals
- Trinity Prestash broke the single-season scoring record for soccer
- The Lady Warriors volleyball team won the ICC Championship
- Mr. Wood’s 6th-grade class studied the solar system via augmented reality
- The Warrior Watch staff recorded their first-ever podcast
November Articles
- The Lady Warriors soccer team brought home the first-ever District 6 champion title in WB history
- Election day arrived
- West Branch held its annual Veterans Day breakfast
- Dalton Kristofits and Noah Fry participated in the Macy’s Great American Marching Band
- The Life Skills class hosted a craft sale
- A service dog came to WB
- County Band happened on November 22nd and 23rd
December Articles
- The Boys Basketball Season started
- The 2019 Winter Band Concert was held on December 11th
- The Misfit Mayhem gave students something fun to do before Christmas break
- The Girls Basketball Season started
- The Family Reindeer Games happened on December 10th
- The Warrior basketball team beat Bald Eagle in an overtime thriller
- The first-ever Holiday TikTok Contest was held
- The Spring Play was announced to be Clue: On Stage
- The Warriors vs. Flying Dutch wrestling match was held on December 17th
January Articles
- The WB Athletics were gifted with a new gym floor
- 2020 got off to a rocky start
- Dr. Stowman visited the Warrior Band
- Ayden Gutierrez signed a letter of intent to play college football with Grove City
- Kobe Bryant passed away on January 26th
- The WB physics class completed Rube Goldberg projects
- Many WB CCCTC students won awards in the Skills USA competition
- The Ultimate Warrior Wrestling tournament was held on January 25th
February Articles
- The Warrior basketball team won against Mount Union in an overtime game
- The Lady Warriors cheerleaders placed first at the Mountain League competition
- District Choir was held on January 16th and 17th
- President Trump was acquitted on February 5th
- Dalton Kristofits achieved the rank of Eagle Scout
- District Band was held from February 13th-15th
- Elishea Reed signed a letter of intent to play collegiate softball with Geneva College
- Mrs. P McGonigal was awarded a MAC grant from McDonald’s
March Articles
- The Warrior Bocce Ball team beat Moshannon Valley
- The infamous Coronavirus came to the United States
- The Girls Softball Season (almost) started
- Spencer Folmar recreated the Pi Rap
That’s when things started to get rocky. On March 13th, 2020, Gov. Tom Wolf shut down all schools in Pennsylvania for two weeks. That temporary closure was then extended to three weeks. Eventually, all schools in PA closed for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year.
Due to the unfortunate circumstances, West Branch started remote learning on March 30th, 2020. This virtual learning allowed students to work either from their 1-on-1 laptops or from physical copies of assignments if a student didn’t have access to internet at home.
West Branch also started a free lunch program with the YMCA. Two times a week students could pick up bagged lunches from the school that provided a student with food for the whole week.
The WB administration also worked hard to make sure that the Class of 2020 still got a graduation experience. Some activities include a farewell parade, individual graduations, and group graduation. These are the two videos that were published to the WB website:
High School and Elementary yearbooks will arrive at the end of June. Middle School yearbooks were pushed back to late summer and will be distributed when the 2020-2021 school year starts.
Thank you to everyone who made schooling work through these unprecedented times. With many counties moving to the green phase, this summer should be more stress-free than the past few months. Have a great summer!
