Wyoming Valley West is a place where successors have been manifested and created ever since the opening in July of 1966. 

People of all backgrounds have used their high school experience at WyomingValley West as a boost to begin their successful journeys. 

Karen Aqua was a student at WVWHS and graduated in 1972. After high school, she went on to be a filmmaker and animator, and often animated for “Sesame Street” as well as many others. Unfortunately, in May of 2011, Aqua passed with cancer but left many amazing and imprinting pieces for everyone to remember her by. 

Jeffrey J. Selingo is an author and journalist, graduating in 1991. Selingo has been writing about higher education for two decades and has published three New York Times’ best sellers. While in highschool, he achieved many great things that make him a notable “Spartan Success Story.” 

Selingo has been interested in journalism since highschool and was the editor of the school newspaper, The West Side Story. “We worked through the best of times, and the worst of times, but we came out of it with the best year for the newspaper in a good many years. The staff and Graphic Arts undoubtedly worked their hardest to produce such fine publications,” Jeffrey Selingo stated in an insert in the 1991 yearbook on The West Side Story as he sat reading the last newspaper of the year .

Kathleen Kerrigan, graduated in 1999, is a playwright, lyricist and book writer. 

Kerrigan, in high school, was granted five awards like the “Presidential Award for Academic Excellence,” “Citizenship Award,” and others. While she received many honors in highschool, she went on to be a recipient of many others such as the “Jonathan Larson Award.” Kerrigan was awarded “Most Promising Musical Theatre Librettist” in 2009. 

Aaron Kaufer graduated in 2009 and is currently a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. In the 2021 to 2022 school year, Kaufer came to WVWHS to speak on behalf of his succession due to his career at Wyoming Valley West. He shared his journey and how it affected his life moving forward. 

 Along with Kaufer, Alec Ryncavage, graduated in 2019, is also now a part of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

While having a career like these is what makes these people successful, it is the life inside of them that makes them truly indelible and makes them remarkable “Spartan Success Stories.”