News & Announcements

       Apples! Apples! Apples! Everyone likes apples and now even more thanks to the Green Apple Project. Dedicated to putting all children in schools where they have clean and healthy air to breathe and where energy and resources are conserved, the Green Apple Project is on a mission to where students can be inspired to dream of a brighter future. As of the summer of 2016, the program has inspired the students of Technical Drafting with a better and brighter classroom that is sure to result in creative outcomes.

       On the 27^th of September, a dedication party was held to celebrate all the hard work that has been put into the room. In addition, the party was held to thank the program for the fact that almost 35,000 dollars has been put into the renovation of the new room and all the furniture that has been given to Technical Drafting for free. With the promise of a local radio station and 6 ABC News attending, the party had a great turn out, and those who attended paid close attention to the amount of detail that was put into the room.

       For those of you who have not seen the old Technical Drafting room, many of the students had come forward to let Mr. Baeriswyl, the Technical Drafting teacher, know that the old room was sort of…boring. Some students had even said that the old room was cramped and dreary. However, ever since the room has been renovated, reviews of the new room have greatly improved and apparently it “smells like a million bucks!” This is also thanks to Mr. Baeriswyl and all the work he has contributed to the room. Up until the day of the party, Mr. Baeriswly had been tearing up the carpet by hand and placing cove base on all the walls singlehandedly. One of the interior designers on the team, Shakira Hunt, a former graduate from Delcastle’s Technical Drafting program in 2008, had a huge role in the designing and planning of the room.

          Now most students cannot even believe their eyes when they walk into the room and compare it to how it looked before; they are immediately impressed by the changes made. Thanks to the Green Apple Project, the Delcastle Technical Drafting room has been completely turned upside down.

Ajah Quawiy, Class of 2019

       Spring is another busy sports season at Delcastle. Coaches and players enjoyed the sunshine at the beginning of the season, but then had to struggle through a very wet and cold May. Every varsity team had successes and obstacles, but in the end, sportsmanship and teamwork prevailed.

Baseball

First on the list is Varsity Baseball. Coaches David Battafarano and Aaron Yammamoto helped guide the Cougars on the winning path. Seniors Francis Forbes, Diangelo Wooding, Roberto Ramos, JaWan Ward, Austin Albright, Bailey Mathews, Wilson Gomez, and Corey Mitchell led the team. Their overall record was 8 wins and 9 losses. Big wins against Concord High School Raiders (11-4) and district-rival St. George’s Technical High School Hawks (5-4) helped end the season on a positive note. Several players were recognized for their strong performances this season. Seniors Wilson Gomez (Honorable Mention, Second Base) and Robbie Ramos (Second Team, Outfield) were both recognized for Blue Hen Flight A All Conference. Sophomore Nick Sensabaugh was recognized for his outstanding performance as a Designated Hitter. He earned First Team All Conference Honors and Second Team All State. Nick is the first Delcastle player since 1998 to be recognized by the All State Selection Committee. Congratulations Cougars for a successful season!

Golf

Next up is the Golf Team. The Cougars were coached by Marty Baeriswyl and led by senior Adolphus Fletcher. Even though the team was young, they earned big wins over Glasgow, McKean, and Brandywine, and ended up with a 3-11 record. Great job Cougars and good luck next year!

Lacrosse

The Cougars Varsity Lacrosse team keeps improving. Coaches Corey Shepherd and Ryan Scott are proud of their team’s season; they finished with 5 wins and 10 losses, which is a 1 win improvement from last year. Seniors William McCloskey, Heddel Cabrera, Chris Newcomer, Bradley Adams, John Foote, Ryan Shaver, and Jerome Henry-Cobb led the team. Some highlights from the season include an 8-5 win over the Green Knights of Mount Pleasant, and a 5-4 loss to the Hodgson Eagles. The Cougars came back in the Hodgson game after being down 4 goals in the 4^th quarter. Several players received special honors. Both Heddel Cabrera (Second Team, Midfield) and Ryan Shaver (Honorable Mention, Defense) earned All Conference recognition. In addition, Ryan Shaver will represent Delcastle in this year’s Blue/Gold game. Congrats Cougars for all of your hard work!

Soccer

Next, we have the Delcastle Varsity Girls Soccer Team who had the school’s first winning season in 20 years! Coach Todd Lehman is proud of his team. Seniors Alondra Lara-Zavala, Nancy Santillan, Jocelin Montes-Bernal, Hilary Gonzales-Acosta, Yashira Ortiz, Danielle Harris, and Rosaura Bernal-Vasquez led the team.
Overall, their record was 8 wins, 5 losses, and 2 ties. Unfortunately, the team missed the state playoffs by .04 points. Two players earned All Conference recognition: Danielle Harris and Melissa Garcia. Great job Lady Cougars and keep up the good work next year!

Softball

Furthermore, the Cougar Softball Team clawed their way to a successful season. Coaches Anthony Webb and Margaret Battafarano provided motivation to keep the team strong. Seniors Michelle Minutola, Alexis Graham, Tara Anthony, Cassidy Hanifee, and Marissa Truman provided key leadership for the team. The Cougars finished the season with 5 wins and 13 losses. Several players earned All Conference Recognition: Tara Anthony (Honorable Mention, Center Field), Alexis Graham (Second Team, First Base), Danni Adams (First Team, Catcher). Congratulations Lady Cougars on a successful season!

Track

Last but not least is Boys and Girls Track. Coaches Carmella Anderson, Jonathan Dickey, and Samantha Kelly are proud of the team’s accomplishments. The Boys’ Team was led seniors Nicholas Cole, Damon Collins, Chukwunonso Ewunonu, Jonathan Henderson, Daekwon Sequira, Brandon Smith, Justin Walls, and Luis Zamora. Zekiah Fountain, Brianna Greenlea, Nia Johnson-Cox, Sherita Lowman, Ahjinae Mitchell, Karen Sackey-Solomon, Siani Sellers, Taylor Truitt, and Tyisha Zeigler, led the Girls’ Team. Both athletes and coaches earned special recognition this year. Sherita Lowman earned All-State for the 100 meter hurdles, and Justin Walls earned All-State for the 55 meter hurdles. Coach Jonathan Dickey was recognized as Delaware’s Assistant Coach of the Year. Great job athletes and coaches!

Overall, the Delcastle Varsity Sports teams learned lessons in perseverance and sportsmanship. The teachers, administrators, and students are proud of your accomplishments this season.

       Delcastle has many interesting career areas; each one is full of its own type of academically advanced students. However, even though each student is extremely hard working, there’s always one student who has improved in skills, personality, and/or maturity, the most. Each career area teacher in the Public Service Cluster was interviewed regarding his or her most improved student. In our Public Service Cluster, we feature many shops such as Business Technology, Digital Media, Graphic Arts, Cosmetology, Culinary Arts and Production & Imaging Technology. After asking each teacher individually, I was able to get insight on why exactly they picked their most improved student.

       Business Technology provides learning experiences in business-related and computer knowledge skills that prepare students for entry into today’s administrative, clerical, and banking fields. When I asked the Business Tech teacher about her most improved student, she took time to think and named her student as James Campbell, a 10^th grader. Apparently when he first arrived in our Business Tech program, he was shy and reserved. She recalled him as one of her most quiet students. However, over time he became assertive, a hard worker and confident in the career area. According to her, he even talks more and is more confident during his shop presentations. Congratulations James Campbell for being the most improved student in Business Technology here at Delcastle.

       Next up is our Digital Media program here at Delcastle, which is broken up into two separate classes. Digital Media 1 deals with creating successful websites and evaluating the basic principles of good web page design and management. Mr. Phillips, one of our Digital Media Instructors, finally was able to name Chris Edge, a senior here at Delcastle, as his most improved student. Mr. Phillips says he remembers Chris as the kid who always used to sleep in his class but certainly ended up surprising him later on. He apparently became one of the most passionate, creative, and responsible students in the class. Congrats Chris!

      Now we move on to the second part of the Digital Media program. Digital Media 2 provides training in TV studios and teaches skills and techniques used by professionals in the field. Ms. Abell, the Digital Media 2 teacher, was asked the same question as the other shop teachers and immediately named Nancy Santillan, a 12^th grader. When Nancy first arrived in Digital Media 2, she was apparently quiet and shy but was always a hard worker. As she started to mature, she became a leader and good example for younger students within the school and is even the executive producer of the Delcastle news program, Cougarcast. Way to go Nancy!

       After Digital Media comes Graphic Arts that is run by Delcastle’s very own Mr. Rykaczewski. He helps prepares students for careers in the printing industry. After thinking it over, he named senior Dante Perkins as the most improved student in Graphic Arts. Mr. Rykaczewski says that when Dante first got into the shop he wasn’t confident about his career area. Now he can see that Dante is a good student and has been working through the co-op program at screen-printing shops since he was a junior. Mr. Rykaczewski says Dante is always willing to help.

       Next we move on to Cosmetology or what we call “Cosmo” here at Delcastle. The Cosmo program is the art and science of beautifying hair, skin, and nails and is run by Ms. Tiberi. Her most improved student was senior Monet Johnson who Ms. Tiberi says has been through a lot. According to Mrs. Tiberi, Monet really didn’t know how to deal nicely with other students. However, now in her senior year she has matured and ignored immaturity, she is the perfect role model for sophomores coming into Cosmo. You certainly have come a long way Monet!

       Culinary is the second to last career area I interviewed but it certainly comes in first for their food. Dealing with educating kids in the fine art of cooking and baking, our chefs send these students out into the world ready to cook almost anything. It was hard getting one of the head chefs to sit down for an interview since culinary runs a fully functioning café open to the public, but I finally was able to get an answer. They picked junior Janyra Culbreath as their most improved student in culinary and seemed very confident in their decision. According to Chef Mullen, Janyra was very shy and mainly kept to herself; she really wasn’t open to being challenged. Presently, however, she is eager to learn and likes to be challenged. She’s become very open and focused in Culinary Arts; she even has a lot of questions. Keep up the good work, Janyra!

       Last but certainly not least is Production & Imaging, which is taught by Delcastle teacher Ms. Wells. Most of the school depends on it for things like school merchandise, banners and even things as simple as school papers. It is vital in running Delcastle as a whole. Now after hyping that shop up the most improved student must be an outstanding worker to shine above the many people doing all the amazing tasks. Ms. Wells picked a junior named Glenn Clayville and said that he was very quiet when she first met him. Now he’s even more of a hard worker than he was before and shows great potential in the world of Production & Imaging. Good luck Glenn!

       Delcastle is full of many constantly improving students. Congratulations to all of the Public Service Clusters students who were nominated by their career area teachers. Keep up the good work, Cougars!

Author: Ajah Quawiy, Class of 2019

       “Skills! Skills! Skills!” These are the words you heard in the Delcastle halls starting December. As students prepared, they practiced every day until the month of February. Once February hit, then students would compete in Dover, at Delcastle, or at another vocational school. Students were anxiously waiting to see where they placed and if they won. Then, the Delaware SkillsUSA Banquet was held in Dover on March 22, where the students who placed received their medals. Students competed in different competitions and the results are in. Delcastle had 68 medalists, and 30 were gold. Here are some of the winners who won gold:

Action Skills

Nick Lauber

De’Shawn Coston

Advertising Design

Sasha Reddy

Architectural Drafting

Jalen Bond

Automotive Refinishing Technology

Jairo Magna

Aviation Technology

Anthony Ashcraft

Building Maintenance

Hunter Brown

Collision Repair Technology

Ulises Tovar-Rangel

Commercial Baking

Carmen Rangel-Cisneros

Employment Application Process

Sairiha Shipley

Framing

De’Shawn Coston

Graphic Communication

Justin Tucker

Photography

Michael Metcalf

Quiz Bowl

Austin Albright

Syheed Booker

Sarah Geho

Noah Hentrick

Ryan Quezon

Screen Printing Technology

Brittany Jennings

Sheet Metal

Kenny Oliver

Technical Drafting

Brian Cannon

TV/Video Production

Angelo Vansant

Ashley Wolski

Welding Fabrication

Franklin Carter

Ismael Valtero

Josiah Hector Ortiz

Welding Sculpture

John Gebhart

The winners will go to Kentucky from June 20 -24 to compete in Nationals. Wish the best of luck to them!

Author:

Juan Quiroz-Rodriguez, Class of 2017

        Winter sport season is a very busy one at Delcastle. Boys and Girls Basketball, Indoor Track, and Wrestling kept our Delcastle student athletes in shape despite the cold weather.

First up, the Varsity Boys Basketball Team had one of the most successful seasons in school history. The team was lead by seniors Sirterrance Simans, Lorenzo Hopkins, Adrian Cropper, Ahmere Dorsey, JaWan Ward, Desmond Gould, Damon Collins, Muhannad Hussein, and Gerrel March. Coach Kenny Avent mentioned that the team’s slogan was “Everyday We Get Better,” and they certainly proved it. The Cougars final record was 16-7, and they finished the regular season ranked #7 in the state. The Cougars had a 9 game winning streak and won 13 of their last 15 games. They had 2 playoff wins over Salesianum and William Penn; the team advanced to the state tournament semifinals (Final 4) where they lost to St. George’s by 3 points. Special awards were given to Desmond Gould (1^st team All State, 1^st Team All Conference), Muhannad Hussein (2^nd Team All Conference, Honorable Mention All-State), and Ahmere Dorsey (Honorable Mention All State and All Conference). Coach Avent received the Blue Hen Flight A Co-Coach of the Year, also. In addition, both Desmond Gould and Muhannad Hussein were selected to play in the prestigious Blue-Gold All Star game. So far, Desmond Gould is planning to play for Chestnut Hill College next year, and JaWan Ward is planning to play for Del Tech. The school is proud of all of your accomplishments!

Next on the list is Varsity Girls Basketball. The team was lead by seniors Yashira Ortiz, Danielle Harris, J’Nea Jenkins, Essence Harmon, Nydera Matthews, Natalie Sierra, Robyn Pritchett, and Francesca Ciccarelli. The Lady Cougars, coached by Aaron Yamamoto, Margaret Battafarano, and Joseph Bolinksi, had 11 wins and 9 losses. Some of their season highlights include a 10 point fourth quarter comeback to beat Tower Hill by 3 points. Also, the team beat A.I. Dupont for the first time in 5 seasons, with a final score of 43-39. Finally, the Lady Cougars beat district rival Howard by 1 point at the beginning of the season, but lost to Howard in an exciting double overtime later in the season. Nydera Mathews was selected to play in the annual Blue-Gold All Star Game. Great job Lady Cougars!

Indoor Track had a very successful season this year. The team was led by seniors Jalen Bond, Nicholas Cole, Daekwon Sequira, Brandon Smith, Justin Walls, Elys Diaz, Zekiah Fountain, Brianna Greenlea, Nia Johnson-Cox, Sherita Lowman, Ahjnae Mitchell, Karen Sackey-Solomon, Siani Sellers, Taylor Truitt, Victoria Williams, and Tyisha Zeigler. Coaches Carmella Anderson, Samantha Kelly, and JJ Dickey are proud of all of their accomplishments. Justin Walls was All-State in the 55 meters hurdles. He will be continuing to pursue his Culinary Arts dream and love for running at Johnson and Wales in Miami. Sherita Lowman was All State for the 2^nd year in the 55 meter hurdles. She will be attending Indiana Tech University on an athletic scholarship. Also, Siani Sellers will be attending Morgan State University on an athletic scholarship. Way to go Indoor Track Athletes!

Finally, the Cougar Wrestling Team had a very successful season. The team was led by seniors Hunter Lamarche, John Foote, Trevor Eveland, Sergio Escobar, and Ryan Shaver. The Cougars finished the season with 6 wins, 6 losses, and ranked 8^th in the conference overall. The coaches Jeff Hughes and Jason Hughes are proud of the team’s accomplishments. The team qualified the following 6 individuals for the DIAA State Championships: Hunter LaMarche (2^nd-120), Liam O’Connor (4^th-126), Doug Markland (6^th-132), Jose Escobar (6^th-160), Shawn Cabalza (6^th-195), Ryan Shaver (6^th-220). In addition, the Cougars had 5 individuals make the Academic All-State Team, which included the following 2 managers and 3 wrestlers: First team-Jeffery Hewes, Jr. Kaitlyn Adams, and Sarah Penland. Honorable Mention was awarded to Ryan Shaver and Liam O’Connor. The Delcastle Wrestling Team will continue to work off-season on strength and conditioning, wrestling, and goal setting. Congratulations to the Cougars for all of their successes and good luck next year!

All in all, it was a busy and successful winter sports season at the “Castle,” Please continue to support our athletic teams in the future by showing your Cougar spirit.