JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley School Board introduced a new externship program at Monday night’s board meeting.

The Architecture Construction Engineering (A.C.E.) Externship Program will be available to 10th and 11th grade students who are interested in careers in those areas.

“So far, in advertising, we have 55 students interested,” said Superintendent Tracy Vitale; although she jokingly added that much of the interest was gauged through parents’ interest, and may vary.

Because there is more interest in the program than availability, students will be asked to write a brief essay about why they are interested in the externship before they are accepted.

Students in the program will be able to sit with CannonDesign, the architectural firm in charge of the plans for the new school on Ehrman Road, and work through that process in the externship experience, including learning about everything from groundbreaking to electrical engineering involved in creating a new building.

Vitale said it was an important point to choose a “diverse group of students, not just those interested in architecture only,” for this opportunity and to expand it across all students’ genders, locations and backgrounds.

Athletic Director Heather Lewis spent part of the meeting recapping the success of Seneca Valley’s fall sports teams, which included conference wins and state championship appearances in almost every sport.

Board member Kathy Whittle offered “culture” as the “buzz word” that best described Seneca’s successes and their positive attitudes regarding wins, losses and emotions in sports.

Jeffrey James, supervisor of safety and security, announced to the board that the district received $25,000 from the School Safety and Security Grant Program offered by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, which James previously presented to the board. The money will be used for more surveillance cameras on school district properties.

The board approved the all-school musical ticket prices to be increased from $8-$10 to $10-$12 and renewed the district’s agreement with First National Insurance for cyber risk insurance with a premium amount of $7,878 for coverage from Dec. 18, 2018, until July 1, 2019.

In other district news, Vitale announced that the senior high school will host a Pennsylvania School Boards Association training at 6 p.m. Dec. 11, which Seneca Valley members would be allowed to attend at a discounted price.

The board approved meeting dates for January through June 2019, to be held at 7 p.m. in the Intermediate High School auditorium, and two group trips and one individual student trip all to be held in the spring and summer.