Sunday, February 5, 2006 SCHOOL THE POST PAGE3 Ruch is nominated for teaching award Gate of Heaven School fifth grade teach- er Dianne Ruch is being recognized for her creativity and success in the classroom as a Disney Teacher Award nominee. Ruch joins a select group of teachers from across the country that have been recognized by their com- munities. As the next step in the awards proc- ess, Ruch is submitting an application to be con- Ruch sidered for the 2006 Dis- ney Teacher of the Year Award. “I am honored to be nominated for this award,” she said. “I love my students and being part of their lives reminds me each day why I became a teacher. It means so much to be recognized in such a special way.” In addition to letters of recommenda- on, Ruch will submit an application that @ late spring. cludes several professional reflection es- says describing her classroom and ap- proach to teaching, the impact of high stakes testing, how she approaches collab- oration in her school and career and an event that shaped her as a teacher. The winner of the national award, as well as four honorees, will be announced in LOCAL —— faci STUDENT S READ ‘TIME CAPSULE’ M ESSAGES Twenty Back: Mountain resi- dents who are eighth grade stu- dents at Wyoming Seminary Low- er School recently took part in a longtime tradition by receiving Christmas ornaments containing “time capsule” wishes they had written during their earlier years at the school. Students collected their ornaments from dean of middle school Patricia Summerhill following the school’s winter cho- ral concert. Participating in the event, from left, first row are Co- rey Muller, Shavertown; Marco Santarelli, Dallas; George Tsioles, Shavertown; and Michael Kapolka, Dallas. Second row: Matt Kurzweil, Shavertown; Dallas; Christopher Bell, Wyoming; Made- leine Hackett, Shavertown; and Michael Flack, Dallas. Third row: Olivia Lumia, Dallas; John Henry, Shavertown; Shavertown; Dallas; Amanda Reiser, Adam Thalenfeld, Dallas; George Cimochowski, Dallas; and Salva- tore DiPietro, Shavertown. Zara Zaman of Shavertown and Garrett Konecke of Wyoming also took Emily Smallwood, Nick Strzeletz, Dallas; Audrianna Gavin, Jonathan Novak, Dallas; part in the event. Students mvited to engineering test High schools from northeast- ern Pennsylvania, including Dal- las and Lake-Lehman, have been invited to participate in the 2006 Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science com- petition. The event will be held March 6 at the Penn State/ Wilkes-Barre campus in Lehman Township. TEAMS is an academic pro- and competition that intro- uces high school students to the world of engineering. Student teams are in training to get ready for the competition. Teams will spend several hours each week practicing sample test questions, and developing teamwork and problem-solving skills. Teams will compete at the var- sity or junior varsity level in one of nine school-based divisions. Divisions are determined by school size and selectivity of ad- missions. The top-scoring teams in each division from each state will be eligible for a national ing, which will be deter- @®: by performance on Part II of the two-part test. Regional awards are based upon perform- ance on Part I of the test. Approximately 14,000 high school students from across the nation will compete in the annual one-day event. The goal is to get students interested in engineer- ing while in high school, and as- sist them in making informed de- cisions about their future educa- tional pursuits. The local competition is spon- sored by Penn State/Wilkes- Barre and the Luzerne County Chapter of the Pennsylvania So- ciety of Professional Engineers. TEAMS is sponsored nationally by JETS, a national nonprofit or- ganization promoting interest in engineering, science, mathemat- ics and technology. For more information about the event, call John Barnes at 675-9238. Extension is accepting regis- trations for a horticulture short course, which will be held each Thursday from Feb. 9 through March 9 at the Penn State/Wilkes-Barre campus in Lehman Township. The lecture /hands-on series will explore plant science, soils, integrated pest manage- ment, entomology, woody plant biology, pruning woody plants, pesticides and pesticide safety, lawn care, plant pathol- ogy, and herbaceous plants. The registration fee is $200 for the series or $30 per class. Students may register for the entire series or pick and choose classes to attend. For more information about the course, including the time of the classes, call Donna Grey or Mary Pat Appel at 825-1701. Language Institute offers knitting class The Language Institute will hold the class “Knitting in the Andes” - the first of a series of cultural enrichment classes — from 6:30-8:30 p.m. each Mon- day through Feb. 20 at Wilkes University. The 10-hour course will introduce students to the countries that make up the western regions of South America, the indigenous peo- ple who inhabit the area, and the methods, patterns, gar- ments, and history of knitting in this area. Students will complete a knitting project by the end of the course, using native pat- terns and designs. The class is open to knitters of all skill levels. Prior knowledge of Spanish is not required. SCHOOL BRIEFS Local residents receive degrees Six Back Mountain residents were among the more than 200 Wilkes University students to receive degrees during the university’s annual winter commencement. The Back Mountain resi- dents are listed with their respective hometowns and degrees: Kimberly Fowler, Dallas, bachelor of arts, Crimi- nology; Robert Michaels, Dal- las, master of business admin- istration; Cheryl Montross, Dallas, master of science, education; Kristine Pruett, Dallas, master of science, education; Kyrston Strauch, master of science, education and Jennifer Bernick, Shaver- town, master of science, Edu- cation. Writing course set for LCCC Luzerne County Community College is offer a credit-free writing course from 6-8 p.m. each Monday from Feb. 6 through March 13 at the cam- pus The course “Writing for Publication” is designed for anyone who loves to write, anyone who wants to improve their writing skills, and anyone who wants to have a book published. The cost of the course is $60. For more information, or to register, call 740-0495 or visit the Web site www.lu- zerne.edu. For more information, call coordinator Jenny Blanchard N at 408-4240. Horticulture course ~~ * vou may aso e-mail her at blanchar@wilkes.edu. offered at PSU/W-B The Penn State Cooperative VISITATION DAY Presidents Day, February 20 Students in pre-kindergarten through grade seven are invited to visit our Lower School for a day. Attend classes and get to know us! Call 718-6610 to arrange for a visit, a tour or an admission screening! We're waiting for YOU! WYOMING SEMINARY LOWER SCHOOL 1560 WYOMING AVE." FORTY FORT WWW. wyomingseminary.org Gardening, tap dance, wines among class topics College Misericordia is offering non-credit courses that will give students of all ages an opportunity to develop a green thumb for gar- dening, explore the nuances of tap dancing, and learn the subtle dif- ferences of wines. The adult tap dance class will be held from 89 p.m. each Friday from Feb. 10 through March 31 at the Walsh Auditorium. The class is an introduction to the funda- mentals of tap dancing with spe- cial reference to the technique of great American artists. The class uses a three-prong approach to teaching the rhythmic form of dance. Students will receive a car- dio aerobic workout, lessons in technique and terminology. Elisabeth Harris, certified mas- ter instructor from the Joan Harris Center, is the instructor. Cost of the class is $88. The Wines of the World class is an introduction to the wine in- dustry and its production throughout the world. The class- es will be held from 4-6 p.m. each Sunday from March 5 through April 9. Each class will have a lec- ture and an overview of the wine producing region and a sampling of three reds and three whites from each region. During the six- week course, students will sam- ple wines from France, Califor- nia, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and Chili. Dick Murphy, wine consultant for Zachys, an international wine retailer and wine auctioneer in New York City, is the class in- structor. Cost of the class is $75, plus a $20 materials fee for each class. The first class will be held at the Woodlands Inn and Resort, Plains Township. Each subse- quent class will be held at a dif- ferent area restaurant. A Garden of Possibilities course allows students to dis- cover the tools that are needed to build a greener, healthier lawn, plant and maintain color- ful flower beds and how to prop- erly care for various plants. Stu- dents also will learn about fertil- izers and chemicals, soil testing and the lifecycle of root-eating grubs. The six-week will be held from 6-8 p.m. each Wednesday from April 19 through May 24 in the MacDonald Art Gallery. The instructor is Barbara Anderson and the course costs $60. For more information about the non-credit classes being of- fered at College Misericordia or to register, contact the adult education office at 674-6289. Geisinger Wyoming Valley brings transplants to Northeastern Pennsylvania! Geisinger Wyoming Valley in Wilkes-Barre is proud to announce the opening of the first kidney transplant program in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Santosh Potdar, MD, a board-certified specialist, formerly of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, leads the program. Geisinger's internationally recognized transplant program is: ® United Network for Organ Sharing 'UNOS)-approved. ¢ Immediately accepting patients for transplant wait list. ® One of few in the nation using a steroid- free immunosuppressive regime that improves outcomes and limits the use of anti-rejection medications. e Offering living donor transplant program. Transplant team includes: Santosh Potdar, MD (seated) and nurse coordinators Mary ® Also providing pre- and post-pancreas transplant consults and services. Ellen McCormick, Ruth Latsha and Richard Bunton. For more information or to list with Geisinger Wyoming Valley's transplant program, please call 570-819-5590. www.geisinger.org Geisinger
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