To view a photo gallery of the pep rally, click on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
YARDLEY – “I touched him. I touched him.”That was the response of one wildly enthusiastic youngster after slapping hands with Pennsbury star Dalton Pepper at Tuesday’s Literacy Pep Rally at Edgewood Elementary School.
But this pep rally was about a whole lot more than shaking hands with a star. This was an opportunity for the students to see a different side of the larger-than-life basketball players they idolize.
“It’s the excitement of our students seeing kids who walked through these hallways, who sat in these pep rallies who are now up there not just sharing their athletic experience but also those things that made a difference early on,” Edgewood Principal Michele Spack said. “That’s a fabulous connection. It’s wonderful to be able to bring them back and do that.” 
The Edgewood students – wearing Pennsbury Falcon headdresses and carrying posters - were already at a fever pitch before the pep rally even began in earnest – drowning out the music blasting over the sound system with chants of “Let’s go Falcons. Let’s go Falcons.”
“My students were so excited to make posters and root on their school team,” fifth grade teacher Bronwyn Drotar said. “Many of my students idolize the players.”
Although it seemed impossible, the noise level actually increased several decibels with the entrance of the Pennsbury boys’ basketball team and coach Frank Sciolla. The youngsters were wide-eyed as their basketball heroes took center stage.
“It’s real interesting to see these kids and just how much they look to us as role models,” senior Eddie DiRugeris said. “I think maybe we lose sight of that because we’re in high school."
The students cheered the every move of Sciolla and his players.
“We’re not here to show you how to shoot,” Sciolla said. “These boys would like to talk to you a little bit and tell you something about themselves. They have a great opportunity to come back to the school they went to and say thank you.”
The Falcons’ coach – every bit as popular as his players – spoke about some of the teachers who had made a difference in his life.
“I had a second grade teacher, who told my mom I was hyperactive,” Sciolla said. “She told my mom I used to make a Woody Woodpecker sound in class while she was teaching, and for that, I had to sit in the timeout chair. To be honest, that helped me.”
Then there was Sciolla’s third grade teacher who showed slides of a family vacation in Israel.
“I still remember looking at the slides and thinking, ‘I’d love to go to Israel someday,” he said.
Sciolla evoked laughter when he talked about his fourth grade teacher.
“I think I might have had a little crush on her,” he said. “I used to go in early to clap the erasers.”
It was his fifth grade teacher who instilled in Sciolla a passion for reading.
“She used to give me books that I read over the weekend that had nothing to do with school,” he recalled. “She would say, ‘Frank, why don’t you take this home. You might like it,’ and I did like it.”
Sciolla – an English teacher - has never lost his love for books, and it was books that were the point of emphasis on this afternoon. Each Falcon player brought a book they are reading and also gave a glimpse into their past by sharing their favorite book when they were youngsters. They also spoke about a teacher who made a difference in their lives.
“Academics if our number one priority,” said senior Tom Marcinkowski, who attended Edgewood. “I remember sitting out here watching the basketball team and just looking up to them. It was just as exciting back then as it is now.
“It was fun seeing all my teachers again.”
Marcinkowski is reading Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and his favorite book growing up was The Magic Treehouse. 
For Dalton Pepper, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch was his most recent read while Clifford the Big Red Dog was the book he enjoyed most as a youngster.
“This is important, and it’s good for the kids,” Pepper said. “I remember being where they are. I remember all the players.
“It’s good to see your old teachers and just all the memories from younger years.”
Pepper, who became Pennsbury’s all-time leading boys’ scorer later that night, found himself in a high pressure situation during the pep rally when – during a contest for tickets to a Pennsbury basketball game – he was asked to shoot for a youngster who could not reach the basket.
He misfired on four straight shots from the outside before slamming home a dunk.
“He might not miss that many shots all night tonight,” Sciolla said. “But he won’t have that kind of pressure.”
On Pepper’s behalf, the basket was not at regulation height. Still, there was a different feel taking the shot with hundreds of screaming youngsters looking on.
“It was a lot of pressure,” Pepper said with a laugh. “A lot more than in a game.”
One person who didn’t show any ill effects from the pressure was Drotar, who hit nothing but net on her first attempt. She accepted the high fives of Paul Caravello, her student who won a ticket to a Pennsbury game not only because she buried the shot but because he had answered Sciolla’s question that was also a part of the contest.
“The pep rally was inspiring for everyone,” Drotar said. “It’s very refreshing to see a coach value not only the athleticism of his players but also the academic portion.
“By bringing the basketball players to our school and focusing on how dedicated the players are to their academics and their sport hopefully motivated my students, who relate to the players’ favorite books.”
The day was capped off with second grade teacher Phyllis Wiegand serving as a faculty coach on the bench at Tuesday night’s opener against Council Rock North.
“She is someone who has always been a big basketball supporter,” Sciolla said. “She’s taught many of my players over the years, and the students were talking in my classes today about what a positive experience it was.”
Wiegand was chosen by former Edgewood student and current Falcon standout Jesse Krasna.
“I remember coming to Edgewood , and Jesse came out and jumped rope, and I said, ‘My god, I can’t wait until I get to coach this kid,’” Sciolla said. “He’s always smiling, always listening to what I say. He’s a tremendous young man.”
Somewhere in the eager throng of students was perhaps the next Jesse Krasna, the next Dalton Pepper, the next Pennsbury Falcon to make a difference on more than just the basketball court.
“The kids walked back to my classroom still talking about the players’ (book) choices and how one day they could be them up there,” Drotar said. “The event makes everyone feel special.”
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