The Women’s Resource Center Great Chefs Event The Women’s Resource Center (WRC) is excited to announce we will host our 30th Annual Great Chefs event on June 3, 2021, at 7 pm. Last year Great Chefs was canceled due to the pandemic, but we couldn’t just let the celebration of our 30th-year slide by. So, in an abundance of caution and safety for our community, the WRC has decided to virtually host the event at no cost to viewers. The evening will feature WNEP-TV 16’s Home & Backyard host Jackie Lewandoski with cooking demonstrations from local chefs. Participants include: Paradise Soulfood & Sweets, Colarusso’s Coal Fire Pizza, Andy Gavin’s Eatery & Pub, The Cabin Bar and Grill, and Lackawanna College’s 409 on Adams Restaurant. There will also be an opportunity to hear from Women’s Resource Center survivors, some special entertainment, and participate in our fabulous online basket raffle. Funds raised at Great Chefs support the WRC Safe Housing Program. The Program prioritizes emergency housing options for adults and children who are in immediate danger, are in a potentially lethal situation due to intimate partner violence, and/or are homeless due to that violence. To become a sponsor, preview basket raffle items, and access to the event, please visit: https://greatchefs21.givesmart.com. This site is continuously being updated, so check back often for exciting things to come! Join us to continue our mission of providing Emergency Housing to adults and children and start them on the path to safety? What: Women’s Resource Center’s 30th Annual Great Chefs: Take Two!When: June 3, 2021 at 7:00pmWhere: https://greatchefs21.givesmart.comHonoree: Lackawanna Insurance Group Participants:Peg Ruddy – Executive Director, Women’s Resource CenterGina Pitoniak – Board Member, Women’s Resource CenterAmy Everetts – Director of Development, Women’s Resource CenterJackie Lewandoski – Host, WNEP-TV 16’s Home & Backyard Featured Restaurants:Paradise Soulfood & SweetsColarusso’s Coal Fire PizzaAndy Gavin’s Eatery & PubThe Cabin Bar and Grill409 on Adams Restaurant Event Production:Sarah Effertz – Owner, Blu Elefante Endeavor Audio
Marywood University to Hold Virtual Master of Fine Arts Information Session Marywood University will hold a virtual Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Information Session on Thursday, June 10, 2021, at 4 p.m. This information session is free and open to anyone who is interested in pursuing a low-residency master of fine arts degree. To register, please visit https://admissions.marywood.edu/register/mfa. Marywood’s “Get Your Master’s with the Masters” MFA program for designers and illustrators is the oldest and best low-residency program in the country, designed for those who are working full time, but who are also interested in earning a terminal degree. For additional information about Marywood University’s MFA Information Session, please contact Steven Brower, MFA, director of the “Get Your Master’s with the Masters” MFA program at Marywood University, at (570) 348-6211, ext. 2569, or email sbrower@marywood.edu.
Geisinger Offers Virtual Support Group for COVID Survivors Geisinger will offer a free, virtual support group for survivors of COVID-19 beginning May 12. Geisinger psychologist Erin Hall, Psy.D., will facilitate the group each Wednesday from 4 to 5 p.m. Sessions will cover common experiences in recovery from COVID-19 including issues with sleep, memory or concentration; physical challenges; depression and anxiety; concerns about health, future medical care or COVID re-infection; trauma related to illness or hospitalization; and changes to family roles, relationships and friendships. The group will focus on coping strategies and building resilience. “Recovering from COVID-19 can be a lengthy process, and each person’s experience is different,” said Dr. Hall. “Having a safe space to talk about your experience and challenges, among others with similar struggles, is important in helping people heal and recover. Recovery from COVID-19 is truly both physical and psychological.” To register, visit geisinger.org/events and search “COVID survivor support group.” Participants can register for each week’s session separately.
Marywood University to Serve as Environmental Justice Community Hub for Virtual Conference Marywood University will serve as an Environmental Justice Community Hub by joining several universities and organizations across the state for the virtual Environmental Justice in Pennsylvania (EJ in PA) conference on Tuesday, April 6th, 2021, from 9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. The virtual conference is free and open to the public. To register, visit summits.harrisburgu.edu/ejp/registration/. The summit is a virtual one-day event that will bring community members to activate local Environmental Justice hubs around Pennsylvania. The event will build on existing EJ work and events, with the focus of supporting ongoing activity through the EJ community following the event. The program will begin at 9:30 a.m., with keynote speaker, Mustafa Santiago Ali, Ph.D., vice president of Environmental Justice, Climate, and Community Revitalization with the National Wildlife Federation. A renowned thought leader, international speaker, policy maker, community liaison, trainer, and facilitator, Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali uses a holistic approach to revitalizing vulnerable communities, and has worked with more than 500 domestic and international communities to secure environmental, health, and economic justice. The conference is a collaboration of The Pennsylvania Environmental Resource Consortium, Harrisburg University, and the Department of Environmental Protection/Office of Environmental Justice (DEP/OEJ). EJ in PA community hubs serve as the convener of local organizations who are interested in environmental justice, community health, and community connection. The EJ community hubs provide a space for local dialogues that will lead to actions that will ensure long-lasting environmental justice within the community. For additional information about the Environmental Justice online conference, please visit summits.harrisburgu.edu/ejp/schedule/. For questions regarding Marywood University’s participation as a community hub, please contact Melinda Krokus, Ph.D., associate professor of Religious Studies at Marywood University, at krokus@marywood.edu.
Boback Announces Virtual Job Fair Available to Service Members and their Families Rep. Karen Boback (R-Lackawanna/Luzerne/Wyoming) announced two upcoming virtual job fairs to help active military members, veterans and their families. The first was held by the Department of Defense Military Spouse Employment Partnership on Wednesday, March 10, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The second will be held by the Pennsylvania National Guard Associations on Wednesday, March 24, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. “These virtual job fairs present an amazing opportunity for those who have served our country and continue to serve, along with their families as well,” said Boback. “I am always honored to help out our veterans and their families in any way I can and sharing this information will hopefully provide individuals with interview and hiring experience.” The Department of Defense Military Spouse Employment Partnership is hosting its fourth virtual hiring fair for military spouses. The department is committed to ensuring military spouses have the access to education and employment resources to help them thrive in their military life. Providing virtual opportunities and empowering military spouses remains a top priority. For more information individuals can call 800-342-9647 to speak with a Spouse Education Career Opportunities career coach or visit www.msephire.vfairs.com to register for the event. The Pennsylvania National Guard Associations (PNGAS) is hosting its virtual job fair for all job seekers, veterans and non-veterans. PNGAS has been helping Guard members, veterans, their spouses, military families, and job seekers get job opportunities. Right now, in the middle of COVID, the PNGAS Job Board has over 2,000 job postings. For more information and to register for the event visit https://pngas.org/mission/jobs-board.
The University of Scranton Virtual HamSCI Workshop The fourth annual HamSCI Workshop 2021 for amateur radio operators and professional scientists will be held in a virtual format on Friday and Saturday, March 19-20. The University of Scranton will serve as host for the Zoom webinar, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), that will include addresses by guest speakers, poster presentations and demonstrations of relevant instrumentation and software. Participation is free through support from the NSF and the University. The theme of this year’s workshop is midlatitude ionospheric science. The workshop will also serve as a team meeting for the HamSCI Personal Space Weather Station project, which is a NSF funded project awarded to University of Scranton physics and electrical engineering professor Nathaniel Frissell, Ph.D. The project seeks to harness the power of a network of licensed amateur radio operators to better understand and measure the effects of weather in the upper levels of Earth’s atmosphere. The workshop’s keynote address on the “History of Radio” will be given by Elizabeth Bruton, Ph.D., curator of technology and engineering at the Science Museum of London. She will discuss the history, science, technology and licensing of radio amateur communities from the early 1900s through to the present day, exploring how individuals and communities contributed to “citizen science” long before the term entered popular usage in the 1990s. Dr. Bruton has been a non-licensed member of Oxford and District Amateur Radio Society since 2014 and their web manager since 2015. J. Michael Ruohoniemi, Ph.D., professor of electrical and computer engineering at Virginia Tech and principal investigator of the Virginia Tech SuperDARN Initiative, will review the physics of the midlatitude ionosphere and discuss ways in which the amateur radio community can contribute to advancing scientific understanding and technical capabilities. Joe Dzekevich K1YOW, an amateur radio citizen scientist who recently published his work in CQ Magazine, will present “Amateur Radio Observations and The Science of Midlatitude Sporadic E.” The event will also include virtual oral presentations by researchers from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, MIT Haystack Observatory, the University of Oslo, the University of Bath, Case Western Reserve University, Dartmouth College. the University of Alabama, Clemson University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and The University of Scranton, among others. University students Veronica Romanek (KD2UHN), Hampton, New Jersey; Cuong Nguyen, Ashley; and M. Shaaf Sarwar (KC3PVF), Lahore, Punjab, are among the iposter presenters. A full schedule of speakers and registration information can be found on the HamSCI Workshop 2021 website.
Marywood University’s School of Social Work to Hold Its Spring 2021 Colloquium Virtually Marywood University’s School of Social Work will hold its Spring 2021 virtual Colloquium titled, “The Culturally ‘Woke’ Social Worker: Addressing Historical and Contemporary Racial Inequities,” on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, from 8:45 a.m. – Noon. This virtual event is free and open to the public. Because space is limited, participants must register in order to attend, at marywood-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcqd-CorzgrEtX0PgW0iXzoAx0XjDKK8B4y. This educational gift to the community will help us stay connected and enable us to work together to make a difference. It is a social worker’s role to address racial justice in proactive practice—to become ‘woke’ to cultural differences and systems of racial oppression. As we all continue to struggle with the uncertainty of a global pandemic, people have taken to the streets and boardrooms to address inequities and their devastating effects. For Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, stories about the impact on health, wealth, and relationships of intergenerational traumatic events in the form of news or social media posts are more than stories—they are examples of experiences enduring trauma, historically and currently, which have led to health and other social disparities. Marywood University’s School of Social Work’s Spring 2021 Colloquium will bravely engage in conversations about work that helps to foster authentic engagement with social work staff, community providers, clients and their families. Participants will learn which facilitation tools to use when faced with a hot button issue, or other challenging situations, and how to bravely lead conversations about race with presence, grace, and intention. By attending this workshop, participants will be able to define intergenerational trauma and complex trauma; explain three trauma-informed, resilience-oriented strategies to address the impact on individuals and communities; explore culture, unconscious bias, micro aggressions, racism, privilege, marginalization, color blindness, and intersectionality; determine ways that cultural differences impact professional relationships; and obtain a culturally relevant skill set with at least two tools to work towards micro and macro level change. Presented by Lia Richards-Palmiter, Ph.D., director of the Office of Diversity Efforts at Marywood University, this session will provide a culturally competent understanding of trauma-informed, resilience-oriented strategies that inequities have had on those we support. This session will also address the impact at the individual and community level to build a future that promotes healing and resilience. This program is approved for three (3) continuing education hours for social workers applicable toward New York and Pennsylvania LSW licensure renewal. To register, please visit marywood-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcqd-CorzgrEtX0PgW0iXzoAx0XjDKK8B4y. For additional questions, please contact Jill Schroth, director of Professional Continuing Education at Marywood University, at jschroth@marywood.edu, or call (570) 340-6061.
Geisinger’s Autism & Developmental Medicine Institute Offers Virtual Training Program Geisinger’s Autism & Developmental Medicine Institute (ADMI), in partnership with the Autism Collaborative Centers of Excellence (ACCE), is offering an online training program for professionals — and family members — who care for people with autism spectrum disorder. The program provides training in evidence-based interventions developed to improve the quality and consistency of services for people with autism and their families. Topics include applied behavior analysis, or the study of how behavior works, which, when paired with therapy, can increase communication skills, focus and social skills. The program also covers speech and language evaluation, genetic testing and transitional, vocational and housing options for people with autism. “We’re thrilled to offer a substantial training program about evidence-based practices to those in our region who work to support people with autism spectrum disorder and their families,” said Barbara Haas-Givler, Geisinger ADMI’s director of education and behavioral outreach. “While the program targets professionals, parents and caregivers are also welcome to take advantage of the curriculum. The webinars can be viewed at your own pace and cover a wide range of topics.” To receive a certificate of completion, participants must register and view five core webinars, complete a brief post-webinar quiz, view and attest to reading consensus documents for each of the core areas, and view four additional webinars. The Professional Training Program was developed in collaboration with ACCE partners from Misericordia University, University of Scranton, Wyoming Valley Children’s Association, and Friendship House. Funding support for the program was provided by the AllOne Foundation. To register or for more information, visit alloneforautism.org/professional-training/ptp-overview.html.
Greater Scranton YMCA Announces Virtual Wellness Platform Through A Regional Collaboration The Greater Scranton YMCA is proud to announce a new online wellness platform to benefit their members and the community. On January 25th, the Greater Scranton YMCA launched Y Wellness 24/7, providing live and on-demand group exercise, and sports and play programs online, free to their members. Over 150 live classes and 100s of new on-demand classes led by over 120 nurturing and motivating YMCA instructors will be available weekly. The platform also provides access to 1000s of additional on-demand classes from leaders in the fitness industry nationwide. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in mandated closures and strict safety protocols, the need for outstanding virtual wellness offerings has been on the rise. Recognizing this need in our communities, Y Wellness 24/7 is the result of a collaboration among 29 YMCA associations from throughout the northeast United States. Involved in the partnership are many Pennsylvania YMCAs including those in Bloomsburg, Bucks County, Lancaster, Lebanon Valley, York and York County as well YMCA of the North Shore and YMCA of the Twin Tiers in Massachusetts and New York, respectively. Y Wellness 24/7 provides live and on-demand classes in training, mindfulness, nutrition, and stress management. With the collaboration, YMCAs are able to serve youth, adults and seniors through a variety of class formats such as strength training, cardio, kickboxing, cycling, Tai Chi, yoga, dance, bootcamp, balance, core and more. “We are so pleased to partner with YMCAs from across the northeast region,” said Trish Fisher, President & CEO, Greater Scranton YMCA. “By working together, we are able to meet the needs of our members across the region by offering more classes and a greater variety of classes.” Since the March pandemic shut down, the Y has made it their mission to meet community needs in new ways. The creation of this virtual wellness platform is another step toward serving YMCA members from across the region.
