From left, Mr. Walker and Dave Brown, Brown’s Orchards VP.

York, PA : Brown’s Orchards and Farm Market surprised Dallastown Intermediate school teacher, Mr. Brandon Walker, with a Brown’s gift basket and apples for his 100 students on Wednesday, Feb. 15. Mr. Walker is Brown’s January Teacher of the Month.

Fifth-graders, Cole Shaffer, Srishti Singh, Meghan Williams, Emily Girouard and Haley Smith all nominated Mr. Walker by writing into Brown’s Orchards. The students described Mr. Walker as “funny, nice and respectful.” Meghan and Haley both wrote that “he inspires and pushes us to do our best.” Emily added that “he makes class fun and exciting and is not mean.”

Each month Brown’s receives nominations from students throughout York County for their Teacher of the Month promotion. One name is pulled in a random drawing at the end of the month. Brown’s surprises a teacher each month with a visit to the classroom and presents them with a Brown’s gift basket as well as apples for everyone in the class.

To nominate your teacher, email linda@brownsorchards.com with your name, teacher’s name, school and one sentence to explain why your teacher is the best.

More information about Brown’s Orchards and Farm Market, Inc. can be found by visiting www.brownsorchards.com.

The Rockin’ Raccoons scored third place overall at the Envirothon. They are, from left, coach Kelly Pepper, Mary Price, Savannah Frankovitch, Gabriella Pollak, Eva Wolfe and Benja Tatafasa.

The first fourth-grade Envirothon teams from Dallastown Area Intermediate School had the opportunity to compete at the third-and fourth-grade Envirothon held at John Rudy Park.

The Envirothon is an interactive, hands-on competition designed to test a student’s knowledge of Pennsylvania natural resources, including aquatics, current issues, forestry, soils, and wildlife. This standards-based environmental science program emphasizes environmental sensitivity with social, ecological, and economic balance. The goal is to provide students with the tools they need to become responsible stewards of York County’s agricultural and natural ecosystems.

The intermediate school students designed their own hats to represent their teams and wore them to the competition.

Representing Dallastown were:

– Rockin’ Raccoons team members Mary Price, Savannah Frankovitch, Gabriella Pollak, Eva Wolfe, and Benja Tatafasa coached by teacher Kelly Pepper.
– Cheeky Chipmunks team members Gretchen Sell, David Bell, Ian Laughlin, Samuel Betz, and Vignya Dontu coached by paraprofessional Pam Lesher.
– Mega Minds team members Emma Lerch, Nautica Shortlidge, Kallie Abramson, Aaron Merriel, and Tatiana Matuszewski coached by teacher Michele Shaffer.

All three teams received Gold at the competition, scoring overall third, fourth, and sixth place, respectively.