Sunday, March 25, 2012 THE DALLAS POST PAGE 3 Wo changes are made to calendar By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Despite parents’ requests, the Lake-Lehman School Board will not make changes to this year’s academic schedule. A resolution to change the 2011-12 calendar was printed on the agenda for Monday’s meet- ing, but Superintendent James McGovern said it was removed from the recommended action list because of a lack of board support. The graduation date is set for June 13, seven days after the last day of school. The date is often further from the last day of school in case there is need to add extra days to the calendar for snow and other cancella- tions throughout the year. For example, the 2012-13 cal- endar approved on Monday eve- ning sets June 3 as the last day of school and June 7 as gradua- tion. McGovern said if there aren’t any snow days, the date could be changed next year. Parent Amy Spess said the 2011-12 graduation date should be moved to June 6 to corre- spond with students’ schedules. McGovern said there were several issues at hand, from stu- dents’ families making plans to the cost of transporting kids to and from graduation practices throughout the week. He also said there’s a chance the week- long break in between the dates could affect graduation attend- ae. ®: said he never expected the winter to be as mild as it was af- ter the two tropical storms that delayed the start of school a week in late August and early September. The school calen- dar had enough days scheduled to make up for this occurrence. McGovern said the issue would have to have been voted McGovern said there were several issues at hand, from students’ families making plans to the cost of trans- porting kids to and from grad- uation practices throughout the week. He also said there's a chance the week-long break in between the dates could affect graduation attendance. on Monday because a gradua- tion date change in April would be too short of a notice for stu- dents’ families. McGovern also announced a Vera Bradley bingo event that was set for March 24 at the high school. Vera Bradley handbags were to be chanced off during the event, which benefits the Last Knight Lock-In. McGovern said if $5,000 is raised, he will shave his head. “I want everybody to go, but not really,” he said, laughing. He also acknowledged the fol- lowing students for winning awards in the 31st Rossetti Art Competition at Luzerne County Community College: Kristen Boyle won the Bradford Award for Excellence, Cayle Spencer won the Award for Acrylic, Da- nae Sutliffe won two Bristle Brush Awards for Detail and the Rosemary Engle Memorial Award, Sela Fine won the Award for Excellence in Landscape; Callie Grey won the Triple Blue Society Award for Creativity, the Award for Best Use of Color in Water Media and a $250 Se- nior Art Scholarship, Austin Shultz won the Swetland Insur- ance Agency Award for Excel- lence, Hanna Cross won the Ge- orge Fillman Memorial Award See CALENDAR, Page 12 BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Nancy Wunderlich, of Shavertown, center, greets Lorena Langan, right, of Trucksville, as Joyce Bellas, of Dallas, joins them at the Cross Creek Community Church Friend Day. Ted Healey, of Shavertown, left, chats with Jackie Rinehimer, of West Pittston, as Rinehimer looks over some snacks at the Cross Creek Community Church Friend Day. Friend Day at Cross Creek Church arishioners of the Cross Creek Community Church in Trucksville introduced friends to their religion when the church held its annual Friend Day on March 18. Between the two church services, parishioners and their friends gathered in the fellowship hall of the church for snacks. oh ie [wd] ' 4 | Eighteen-month-old Luke Aulisio, left, and his mom, Susie, both of Old Forge, pay a visit to the Cross Creek Community Church Friend Day in Trucksville. BILL TARUTIS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Dallas High School LifeSmarts advisor Kevin West, left, quizzes, from left, sophomores Sara Hudak, Amber Habib, Samuel Reinert, Decklan Cerza and junior Gates Palissery during a practice session for the Dallas state champion LifeSmarts team Friday afternoon before they enter the national competition in Philadelphia in late April. Lifedmarts program teaches just that By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The LifeSmarts program is true to its name. Students in grades nine through 12 learn tidbits of infor- mation in five different catego- ries related to consumer affairs — personal finance, consumer rights and responsibilities, ealth and safety, technology and environment — that can help em when they want to do things like set up a retirement ac- count or fix a computer. In other words, students don’t gain book smarts or street smarts from the program run by the Na- tional Consumers League — they learn life smarts. But the Dallas High School team might be more prepared than most young people to take on those tasks — the team recent- ly won first place in the state Life- Smarts competition and will compete in nationals for the third time. Five team members — Gates Palissery, Amber Habib, Sara Hu- dak, Samuel Reinert and team captain Decklan Cerza — will at- tend the national competition April 21-24 in Philadelphia. Kevin West, LifeSmarts team coach, said it’s “very exciting” to have the team represent Pennsyl- vania at the national event in their home state. “Two years ago we went to na- tionals in Miami, Florida,” he said. In 2010, the team placed 10th out of 32 teams across the nation. The team also traveled to Orlando, Fla. in 2003 and placed third in the country. West said the team won at the states this year without being able to size up the competition. Although usually held in Harris- burg through the state Office of the Attorney General Bureau of Consumer Protection, this year’s state competition was held on- line this year due to lack of funds for the program, West said. The state competition involves nine of the top-scoring teams from across the state. The stu- dents couldn’t see who their com- petitors were, but managed to still finish on top. West quizzes the students with questions that have been previ- ously asked, but students know the difference between memoriz- ing the questions and learning the principles behind them. “There are questions that are similar, like with the cooling off rule in which you can cancel pur- chases three days after making them if you were under emotion- al distress,” said Palissery, 17, of Dallas. “They’ll ask you how many days do you have to cancel See PROGRAM, Page 12 Gary Booth named to deputy By EILEEN GODIN Dallas Post Correspondent Lake Township supervisors addressed water run-off and junk car problems while ap- pointing a deputy emergency management coordinator at their monthly meeting March 19. Last week, supervisors were notified about storm water run- off crossing county-owned Main Road and flooding a resi- dent’s property and home, as well as flowing into Maple Grove Cemetery. In an effort to resolve the is- sue, a meeting has been sched- uled for April 11 with State Rep- resentative Karen Boback (R- Harveys Lake), the county engi- neer and other officials to deter- mine the best solution for the problem, Supervisor Amy Sa- lansky said. EM post “The area will need some sort of drainage system,” Salansky said. “It is a low spot.” Supervisors authorized Mark McNealis, township attorney, to send a registered letter to property owners of 171 Maple Tree Rd., regarding several junk cars on the property. Salansky said the township ordinance states a property should not have more than two unregistered vehicles at a time. When asked the amount of vehi- cles on the property, Salansky said there are more than two and it is unsightly. In other news, Gary Booth was unanimously appointed Deputy Emergency Manage- ment Coordinator to represent Lake Township in the Back Mountain Emergency Manage- ment Agency. The Back Mountain EMA is See BOOTH, Page 12 KINCSTON TOWNCUHID RNINUDOIVN IUNTNONIYF Move will save $40K By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The board of supervisors ap- proved the outsourcing of the township’s payroll and a motion to combine two administrative positions at a special meeting Tuesday, expecting to save tax- payers more than $40,000. The board voted to outsource payroll duties to Diversified Payroll at a cost of $2,138 per year. The board also approved a motion to amend the adminis- trative code to include a pro- posed combination of the town- ship tax collector and assistant manager, which will be filled by interim assistant manager and current tax collector Karen Rose upon the completion of her training. Chairman James Reino Jr. said the actions will save the township about $40,676 this year, admitting it’s too early to tell how the move will affect the current operating budget. After last year’s number- crunching budget meetings, many of the township’s capital See MOVE, Page 12