Vol. 122 No. 10 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 May 6 - 12, 2012 ® The 50¢ WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER How will Lehman schools survive? “If | fail, | fail, but I'm not going to back off this and leave $1 million on the table just because someone said | can't, or it's too hard.” By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Though it wouldn’t solve all budgetary concerns, making changes to the district employee health care plan would save about $1 million annually Lake-Lehman School District Superintendent James McGovern told an audito- rium packed with residents at a town hall meeting Wednesday evening. McGovern called the meeting to promote transparency, as he felt there were concerns and con- fusion about what the board was proposing in order to balance the James McGovern Lake-Lehman Superintendent budget. The district is proposing to re- move itself from the Northeast Pennsylvania Health Trust, a con- sortium of 11 districts formed to keep insurance costs low, in favor of a self-funded plan that could save about $1 million a year. The district was recently de- nied removal from the trust, as it requires at least one year notice before a district can leave the group. McGovern proposed a mo- tion for the trust to change its by- laws so the district could leave more quickly. Despite the denial, the district plans to continue to fight for the health care changes McGovern told residents, employees and parents. “If 1 fail, I fail, but I'm not going to back off this and leave $1 mil- lion on the table just because someone said I can’t, or it’s too hard,” he said. The district is facing a $1.8 mil- lion deficit for the 2012-13 school See SURVIVE, Page 12 AT RIGHT: Lake Lehman School District Superintendent Jim McGovern moderates a town hall meeting with parents and teach- ers at the high school auditorium on Wednesday to discuss fund- ing the school budget for next year and beyond. FUNDING oi 3 CE A. C0. PETE G. WILCOX/ THE TIMES LEADER Sign will track progress of sign By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com The Dallas Foundation re- cently installed a sign in front of Dallas Elementary School off Hildebrandt Road to track the progress of its first major pro- ject — the installation of another sign. The group hopes to raise enough funds to install a state- of-the-art electronic sign on State Route 309 to replace the current sign that dates back to he 1960s. 0 sign in front of Dallas ¥.lementary will be used to cre- ate public awareness of the pro- ject and to track its progress. It was created with the help of Dallas High School students and technology education teacher Marty O’Hora. “My children created the Mountaineer design,” said Chad Lojewski, a foundation board member. Lojewski gave the design to O’Hora, and the students worked on the project between class assignments on a volun- teer basis. “We can only do so much as a foundation, and to have this kind of engagement so quickly was great,” said Lojewski. Lojewski said Gerard Geise, owner of Dallas Center Hard- ware, donated paint for the pro- ject and school officials, such as middle school principal Tho- mas Duffy, even helped in the sign’s creation. “We had complete support from administration,” he said. “There were a lot of people in- volved.” MORE INFORMATION For more information about the Dallas Foundation, to make a donation or to suggest a project, visit www.ourdallasfoundation.org. Additional photo, page 13 Geise said the sign ties the Dallas Foundation and the dis- trict in with the community. “The idea of the Dallas Moun- taineer has been around since the 1960s, and now here he is brought to life,” said Geise. Lojewski said the goal of the foundation is to support stu- dents within the district, whether it be by providing sup- plies or creating scholarships, and he hopes the community will see it as a worthy cause. “People get cautious during this kind of economy, and hope- fully we can bridge the gap and help with budgetary concerns,” said Lojewski. David Simpson, vice presi- dent of the foundation, said the tracking sign will spur more fundraising projects and he hopes the community will be- come more vocal about what projects are needed within the district. “They can come and ask us and bring forth ideas for pro- jects,” he said. “Our goal is to have the electronic sign up by this summer.” One of the several upcoming events in support of the founda- tion is a golf tournament to be held on June 22 at the Mill Race Golf Course in Benton. 3 3 + YH pr BILL TARUTIS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST The Dallas Foundation placed this sign in front of Dallas Elemen- tary School to display its progress in raising funds for a new Dal- las High School digital sign to be placed along state route 309. student body during a Trashion Show at the school. Is huge By SARAH HITE shite@mydallaspost.com Tammy Keller of Fair- mount Springs was the epi- tome of a bag lady at the first-ever Trashion Show at Ross Elementary School on April 27, but then again, she wasn’t alone. Her ensemble was created using various bags — crochet- ed plastic grocery bags made a mini skirt and a fancifully cut “feeder” bag was fash- ioned into a chic top. Keller’s tote bag was one of the only things not made of bags — it was created by sewing empty juice pouches together. “I had seen a similar bag at the store and it’s very expen- sive,” said Keller, whose niece and nephew, Sarah and Nathan Stanski, attend Ross Elementary. “I work at a pre- school and my friends drink these so I just had them save them for me.” The Trashion Show was held in conjunction with Ross Elementary’s daylong Earth Day celebration, a school-wide tradition for nearly 10 years. Several other teachers and family members made cos- tumes out of grocery bags, but found fashionable uses for other recyclable materi- als, too. Trashion show SUCCESS “This is fantastic. The kids are just so excit- ed.” Megan Nice Teacher assistant Ellen Boyer, of Ross Town- ship, and her granddaughter Megan Hogan developed the idea for the woven magazine strip dress Boyer donned for the event. The dress was accentuated with a foil bracelet, a neck- lace made out of a CD and drapery hooks, and a plastic container-turned-purse. “When I was in college, I read a book called, ‘Future Shock,” said Boyer. “It talk- ed about a throwaway socie- ty, and eventually people be- came things, and they were disposable, too. I want kids to learn there are other uses for things.” Kids participated in other environmentally-conscious activities throughout the day, including a scavenger hunt, face painting and a mo- vie about Planet Earth. Second-grade teacher Shannon Kreidler, of Pikes Creek, said a committee of teachers found the idea on the Internet as a way to up- date the celebration. Kreidler, who adorned her- CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Melissa Jarnot, a teacher at Ross Elementary School, dresses in newspaper and buttons as she walks the runway to the adoring Karen Raspen, a parent at Ross Elementary School, wrapped herself in plastic and paper to walk the runway dur- ing a Trashion Show at the school. self in multi-colored bubble wrap for the occasion, said the event creates a visual re- minder for kids to learn about reducing waste. Teachers, parents and fam- ily members created -cos- tumes to model at the fash- ion show, which featured a green-themed runway, strobe lights, a DJ and Ross Ele- mentary student Jacob Prest as master of ceremonies. It was one of those times that young children were en- couraged to scream their lungs out — teachers and par- ents paraded down the cat- walk as youngsters hooted and hollered while extending their tiny hands for a high- five from the strutting mod- els. “This is fantastic,” teacher assistant Megan Nice, of Sweet Valley, said after she sashayed down the runway wearing an outfit made of duct tape and coffee filters. “The kids are just so excit- Ellen Boyer, grandmother and former Dallas Middle School teacher, created her own trash outfit for the first Ross Ele- mentary School Trashion Show. ed.” Nikki Kowalski, of Sweet Valley, dreamed up her Trashion Show debut the night before the event. She outfitted herself in a black garbage bag, but cinched her waist with a broken rainbow- colored Slinky. Kowalski even made a fas- cinator the royals of England would envy — the show-stop- ping factor was a cardboard paper towel roll protruding above her head. “It gets kids thinking about recycling,” said Kowal- ski, whose two grandchil- dren, Faith and Patrick De- Piero, attend Ross Elemen- tary. 680981512007 90g a
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