FNCB Donates to Lake Lehman School District FNCB Bank, locally based since 1910, is pleased to announce their latest project supporting the community with the donation of two multi-sport scoreboards at the brand-new Lake Lehman School District athletic fields. The new scoreboards can be used for baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse and field hockey. “The new athletic fields are a great asset to the Lake Lehman school district and community,” said Jerry Champi, FNCB Bank President and CEO. “The multi-sport scoreboards will not only benefit the Lake Lehman student athletes but will also help the district attract regional tournaments and tourism dollars to our area.” The scoreboard donations represent part of FNCB’s larger Community Caring initiative. Through outreach programs, donations and an employee volunteer network, FNCB is committed to helping the communities they serve.
PennState Scranton Offers Free Course Environmental Science (3 credit course BISC 003) In this course, we will explore the root causes of today’s environmental crisis and, in so doing, consider scientific, technological, sociological, psychological, and personal responses to what is, arguable, the most significant crisis in the history of our species. If you commit to fully engaging with this course, you can expect to:(1) Discover how questions can be powerful catalysts for learning; (2) Grow in your ability to see both yourself and Planet Earth from new and liberating perspectives; (3) Appreciate the power of critical thinking and personal reflection as a means to both personal and global transformation; and (4) Realize that you, should you choose, can play a significant role in the healing of our world. (Plans are to have at least one meeting be a field trip). This course is held on Tuesday evenings 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm on the Penn State Scranton campus from 1/17/2023 to 5/2/2023 plus an online component. Full Scholarships are available through the generosity of the DeNaples Family and the Keystone Sanitary Landfill Contact our Center for Business Development and Community Outreach for more information: scrantonoutreach@psu.edu or 570-963-2600
Johnson College Innovation and Creation Stem Program Scranton Intermediate and NativityMiguel School of Scranton students from Johnson College’s Innovation and Creation STEM afterschool programming joined a national celebration of afterschool programs called Lights On Afterschool on October 20, 2022. The sixth through eighth-grade students showed their support of the National Afterschool Alliance’s Lights On Afterschool event by participating in challenges that used littleBits electrical circuits to illuminate their projects. The first set of students used the littleBits to demonstrate Morse Code through lights. The second set of students participated in an architectural design and drafting challenge using Legos and littlBits circuitry to create structures that incorporated a lighting component. The projects encouraged them to communicate with each other while expanding their knowledge in both STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and history. Through Johnson College’s Innovation and Creation STEM program, students are exposed to careers and fields they might not have previously known about. They are given the opportunity to engage in STEM-related learning in a way that promotes innovation, creation, problem-solving, and many other essential skills. Students complete projects using a variety of modern robotic, electronic, and engineering equipment that is provided to them by the College. Additionally, students learn about the steps they can take to expand their STEM education, including Johnson College’s Dual Enrollment and Industry Fast Track programs. Through these programs, students are eligible to earn college credits while they are attending high school. To learn more about Johnson College’s Innovation and Creation STEM programming, contact Tim Frank at (570) 702-8963 or tfrank@johnson.edu.
Scranton Cultural Center Receives Grant from SACF The Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple received a $5,000 Critical Needs Grant from the Scranton Area Community Foundation to assist with restroom upgrades. The Scranton Cultural Center houses 26 restrooms, eight of which were in great need of repair and refurbishment. To safely and efficiently serve the community, corrective measures were needed to ensure that bathrooms are accessible, safe and clean to both the public and the organization’s staff. Hosting hundreds of events per year and approximately 80,000 visitors, the SCCMT is highly utilized. The continued success of the SCCMT and its services depends heavily on the ongoing preservation and modernization of the building. That, along with challenges presented by COVID-19, it was vital to undertake hygiene upgrades for the protection of the public and staff.
Treasurer Garrity Announces Auction of Unclaimed Property Treasurer Stacy Garrity today announced that the next online auction of unclaimed property items from Treasury’s vault will take place tomorrow, October 26, and Friday, October 28. This auction includes fine jewelry, coins, currency and more. “This is a unique opportunity to highlight our unclaimed property program and get more people interested in finding what is theirs,” Garrity said. “We work diligently to locate the rightful owners of every piece of property that comes into our vault – and I encourage everyone to search for themselves at patreasury.gov/unclaimed-property. But, even though we have the largest working vault in the United States, there is limited space. So, from time to time, we have to auction some of the physical items we receive.” Pook & Pook, Inc., of Downingtown handles item appraisal and auctioneer services. Auction items can be previewed at pookandpook.com, which is also where interested bidders can register. More than 3,900 items from Treasury’s vault will be on the auction block over the two days, including: Multiple 1 ozt. fine gold South African Krugerrands;A Liberty Eagle 1 ozt. gold coin;Three U.S. $500 notes featuring President William McKinley;A 14K gold, diamond, and gemstone bracelet;A 10K gold necklace with a 14K University of North Carolina diamond-studded pendant;An Omega 18K gold wristwatch; andA custom Breitling stainless steel and black diamond wristwatch. Some items will be combined into Treasury-only lots. Items from other consignors will also be featured in the auctions but are never comingled with Treasury items. Items are kept in Treasury’s vault for at least three years before they head to auction. Those sold at auction are carefully tracked and documented. Treasury updates its unclaimed property records to reflect the proceeds from an item’s sale, so if a rightful owner one day comes forward the proceeds of the sale are available for them to claim. Treasury employees and immediate family members are prohibited from bidding in the auctions. Unclaimed property comes to Treasury in accordance with state law. Tangible property, like the items being auctioned, most often comes from abandoned safe deposit boxes, with other items coming from college dorms, nursing homes, or police evidence rooms. Unclaimed property also includes balances of forgotten bank accounts, uncashed checks, stocks, insurance policies and more. About one in ten Pennsylvanians is owed some of the more than $4 billion in unclaimed property being safeguarded by Treasury. The average value of a claim is $1,500.
Marywood University Presents “The Magic Flute” Marywood University’s Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance is collaborating with the School of Architecture in creating a full-scale production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute. The production marks only the second time in Marywood’s history that its students will perform a complete opera with orchestra. The stage director for The Magic Flute is A. Scott Parry, who is on the faculties of Manhattan School of Music and New York University and has directed productions at professional opera companies across the country, including New York City Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Dallas Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre, Indianapolis Opera, and Pittsburgh Opera. The Music Director and Conductor is Rick Hoffenberg, D.M.A., co-chair of Marywood’s Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance. Marywood’s production of The Magic Flute is made possible in part by a grant from the Community Events Fund of the Scranton Area Community Foundation, which supports non-profit organizations hosting community events which add value to the overall community and enrich the lives of those in our area. Performances are free and open to the public and will be held in the Munley Theatre of the Sette LaVerghetta Center for Performing Arts on Saturday, November 12, at 7 p.m., and on Sunday, November 13, at 2 p.m. Additionally, there will be a compressed version of the opera performed for local middle school and high school students on Thursday, November 10, at 10 a.m.
Marywood University Ranks as Best Value Among Northeast PA Colleges Marywood University continues to offer the “Best Value” among Northeast Pennsylvania Universities, according to the 2022-2023 U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges ranking. Marywood also remains the highest ranked of only two local institutions included in U.S. News “Best Colleges for Veterans” category, along with repeating and advancing its strong showing in the “Top Performers in Social Media” category. Moving up two places from last year to #23 of the regional universities (North) ranked for “Best Value,” Marywood continues to demonstrate its affordability as the highest ranked of the three local four-year private colleges included in this category. According to U.S. News, the “Best Value” ranking considers a school’s academic quality. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal. Only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included, because U.S. News considers the most significant values to be among colleges that are above average academically. At #44, Marywood was the highest ranked of only two local universities on the “Best Colleges for Veterans” (Regional Universities North). According to U.S. News, these are the top-ranked schools in the 2023 Best Colleges rankings that participate in federal initiatives helping veterans and active-duty service members pay for their degrees. Marywood University ranked #48 overall on the “Best Regional Universities North” list, which includes institutions from 11 states, and continued to exhibit its strong digital presence in the “Top Performers in Social Media” category, advancing to #59, up 13 places from last year’s rankings.
Geisinger College of Health Sciences Launched Opening a Geisinger blue umbrella and holding it aloft, newly installed president and dean, Julie Byerley, M.D., MPH, announced the formation of Geisinger College of Health Sciences. The college will serve as the “umbrella” institution uniting Geisinger’s School of Medicine, School of Nursing and School of Graduate Education under a single entity. In addition, the new entity will oversee the expansion of the Geisinger School of Nursing from a diploma-granting to a degree-granting institution that will bestow an associate degree in nursing. The new organizational structure also paves the way for future health professions programs needed to serve our region. “Geisinger Commonwealth Day is a celebration we created to honor our past and embrace our future,” Dr. Byerley said. “There was no better forum than a setting uniting our founders, our community and our health system leadership to celebrate this next step in the life of local medical and health education.” “The evolution of our current nursing program has been a goal for some time, and we’re thrilled to see it come to life — especially now, when nurses are needed most,” said Janet Tomcavage, executive vice president and chief nursing executive at Geisinger. “This step forward will help even more individuals begin a rewarding career in nursing.” Dr. Byerley noted that Geisinger Commonwealth remains the name of the School of Medicine — and the school’s commitment to its founding mission hasn’t changed. “Our school will remain focused on serving our community, providing opportunity and advancement for local learners and leveraging the discoveries of our research team to improve health and well-being.” The new structure, Dr. Byerley said, will create more synergy and opportunities for interprofessional learning experiences and greater collaboration with Geisinger’s Research Institute. “It’s a win for our learners and our scientists,” she said. “Our community will reap the benefits of our integrated, cooperative approach to educating the healthcare teams of the future.”
