TOWAMENCIN – There has been a lot of buzz about some new courses coming to NPHS.

Students wandering the school in early spring and fall will encounter senseless buzzing everywhere they may go. Newcomers won’t pay much attention to it, passing it off as buzzing of the overhead lights or someone’s phone going off. Students who have been at North Penn for a while will know of the wasps who return every year, coming from every direction but with seemingly nowhere to return to. 

Their most infamous hiding spots are right in A-Pod. English classrooms throughout that section of the building are often disrupted by a buzzing or scream of a scared student. The administration has noticed a decline in productivity due to the constant fear of being stung while working, with some students even skipping class because of their melissophobia. 

They have been observed to be paper wasps and, given the environment in which they chose to make their home, their nest was made with ease. The constant complaints of teachers losing student’s assignments or lesson plans led faculty to believe that the wasps were using the assignments to build their nests. 

“The bees ate them,” said Mrs. Colleen Felder when her students asked why they haven’t gotten their critical papers back yet.

The chemistry department and biology department has been working together to develop a safe pesticide to use against the wasps. Due to the shrinking population of bees and wasps, the school wanted to be as environmentally conscious as possible. Because of a lack of success in cleansing the school of this problem, North Penn has decided to embrace it.

As of April 1, A-Pod will turn into Bee-Pod and all classes will be moved from that location to third floor K-Pod. With that, the current B-Pod will be the new A-Pod. Teachers have decided that the bee and wasp population in that area of the school made it the prime location for beekeeping and environmental awareness classes. 

Since this change, desks have been removed from the classrooms and replaced with new, state of the art, beekeeping desks fit with jars for honey collection and a small hive fit in the back. In Beekeeping Honors, students will learn about how to properly handle beekeeping equipment and how to ensure that the bees are comfortable while they do their job. In Honey Production 101, students will learn how to take honey from hives and treat it, as well as protect it from predators. With their newfound skills, the Honey Production students will be required to protect an assigned hive from a bear. Given only a fly swatter and a can of febreeze, a proper defense of the hive gives them an A plus on their final exam and a license, as well as a well-paying job right out of high school. 

The school will also be making a “Wasp Week” for next May, in which everyone will be required to dress as a bee or wasp and the cafeteria staff will be making exclusively honey-themed foods. 

North Penn will soon become the epicenter for bees and wasps of every kind to feel safe and protected. With the hard work of students and faculty, there’s no doubt that the bee population in this area will begin to grow again. Just another reason to be North Penn proud!