L Vol. 116 No. 15 The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 April 10 to April 16, 2005 Spring sports finally kick off. ( Post SERVING THE CO MMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS ‘Veteran teacher prepares to call it a career is retiring at the end of this school year. After 33 years, Susan Thomas will retire from kindergarten at Ross Elementary School. By CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Post Correspondent SWEET VALLEY — She calls it “a soft landing.” The kindergarten children come into Susan Thomas’s room at Ross Elementary School and roam over to one of the many learning centers or stations in the class. Some go to break- fast. It’s a relaxed atmosphere that lets kids enjoy the classroom setting while learning. Thomas, a veteran teacher, prides herself on keeping a low-key, easy atmosphere in the class. “Boys and girls will sometimes call me ‘Mommy’ or ‘Grandma,’ but I take this as a com- pliment because it means they are comfortable with me,” she says. Thomas has specialized in class- room learning centers, where kids can make pattern beads, listen to tapes, or build with Legos and Lincoln Logs. All the children find something to occupy themselves and are relatively self- directed. A teacher’s duties have evolved since Thomas graduated from Bloomsburg University and started teaching 33 years ago, with all-day kindergarten the biggest change. Also different is that most children now come to kindergarten well pre- FOR THE POST/CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Emily Carey shows Ross Elementary School kindergarten teacher Susan Thomas her project. Hailey Kubiski is in the background. Thomas pared; many know their letters and can read and write their names, says Thomas. “I used to spend an entire year on learning numbers, but now we do adding and subtracting.” The requirements for kindergarten teachers are changing too. Act 92 requires all lesson plans to be activity coded. “We need to have an objective, a procedure, a test and evaluation included in the lesson plan.” This See RETIRE, Page 3 & Dallas teens tackle cancer WASH CAR, Four Dallas High seniors organize dance marathon, with a $10,000 fundraising goal. By JENNIFER JUDGE YONKOSKI Post Correspondent Dallas High School teacher Michael Cherinka finds it difficult to write letters of recommendation for students like Coral Stredny, Samantha O’Brien, Samantha Decker and Nikki Gelso. It turns out the four high school seniors are just involved with too much. “I honestly don’t know where they get the time,” Cherinka says. “lI thought there were only 24 hours in a day.” The quartet of friends are the co- founders of the THON club, a group that will culminate its can- cer research fundraising activities with Dallas High School's own RAISE MONEY The Dallas THON club will host a car wash at Newell Fuel, Memorial Highway, Shavertown on Sunday, April 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Proceeds will go to The Four Diamonds Fund at Hershey Medical Center, to help cancer patients. “Mini-THON” on April 22. The event is a 12-hour dance marathon modeled after a larger event that is held at Penn State University’s main campus in State College. Student volunteers are either “dancers” or “moralers.” “Dancers can’t sit down for the whole 12 hours,” Stredny explains. “And the moralers just get the dancers pumped up.” Penn State’s THON is the largest student-run philanthropy endeav- or, raising over $4.1 million this year alone for cancer treatment and research. Dallas High School is already off to a good start with their program. Their target goal is $10,000, and right now they've raised $7,000. “I wasn’t sure wed pull it off since this is our first year, but they're that good,” club advisor Cherinka says of the four co- founders. “I don’t need to do much. I just sign paperwork. They do it all.” Doing it all has meant many late hours and much prioritizing. Together the friends have spent an average of 40 to 50 hours a week on the project. Though all four talk about learning time management skills, Decker admits, “A lot of it is late nights.” Stredny has taken to juggling family time and work time, enlist- ing family members to lick See TEENS, Page 2 pnguering Chgdhood Cancer FOR THE POST/JENNIFER JUDGE YONKOSKI Posing in fronr of a banner for the Four Diamonds Fund are, from left foreground, Samantha O'Brien and Nikki Gelso. Back, Samantha Decker and Coral Stredny. Developmen will get its first review Proposed Goodleigh Manor will occupy 485 acres of land, with two entrances. By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff DALLAS TWP. — If you've listened to radio during the last few years, you've probably heard the commer- cials, and remember the phone num- ber: 1-800-THELAND. Soon, those ads may be for a new development, named = Goodleigh Manor, on nearly 500 acres in the town- ship. Developer Jim Comes said recently the project will be a combination of 145 building lots, a conservation area, walking trails and brilliant views. At this point, Comes’ company, Landview Properties, has had to satisfy several agencies’ concerns, including the Department of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Army Corps of See GOODLEIGH, Page 3 Flood study meeting slated for this week By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff KINGSTON TWP. — If the weather cooperates, the public will get a look at recommendations in a study of possi- ble flood protection measures along Toby’s Creek and its tributaries. The presentation, originally scheduled for March 23, was cancelled due to snow. Gannett Fleming Inc., which con- ducted the study, found only two proj- ects that it deemed economically justi- fied according to the study parameters. Those are enlarging the bridge over Lower Demunds Road at Fernbrook and removing a historic stone-arch bridge near Pizza Perfect in Trucksville. The easiest and most economical recommendation is that the three See FLOOD, Page 3 Rug rat racing Kaeli Samuels, Paige Pyskoty and Josh Chamberlain picked up their entries after a race during the Awana Grand Prix, held last weekend at Grace Community Church in Dallas. More photos on page 3. FOR THE POST/ CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Dallas superintendent expected by May's end Staff report DALLAS TWP. — According to a timetable presented at the Dallas School Board’s April 4 work session, a new superintendent should be on board by the end of May. President Russell Bigus said the board wants to have an open selec- tion process, and part of that includes soliciting opinions on what qualifications the new superintend- ent should have. He said the board had received 303 responses giving 56 qualifica- tions, and that they had been rated by how frequently each was men- tioned. The top five were: good commu- nicator, multiple-level experience in the classroom, administration expe- See DALLAS, Page 2 V Inside The Post ——. AN A RL, =o History Day at Penn State. Page 2 12 Pages, 1 Section Calendar... ..o.\wu.5 12 Church ...... 0.3. 10 Crossword ........... 8 Editorials 2. save. 4 Obituaries ...... .... 5 SCNOOL.. ....cvnsinesi 1 SPOILS i voi od viens wis 7-9 V¥ How To Reach Us News: 675-5211 thepost@leader.net 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre PA 18711 Advertising: 829-7101 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000 &]
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