Vol. 121 No. 37 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 November 18 - 23, 2012 ® The EEAS POST. WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER from military duty. Come to my school, By MEGAN SCHNEIDER mschneider @mydallaspost.com One area school is helping to encourage fathers to be active participants in their children’s education. Ross Elementary School in Sweet Valley hosted a Dad’s Day on Nov. 6, a day for fathers to volunteer part of their day to participate in fun activities with their children’s class. Fifty-three fathers took part in the day, some of them multiple times for multiple children. Nick Raczkowski, father to Kalee, Alyssya and Lilian, was in an event for each of his daugh- ters. He played Turkey Tag in the gym with Kaylee’s second- grade class. The children laughed and pointed as Racz- kowski slid under leg bridges Daddy “I think it's awesome to be able to spend time with the kids. It's a dif- ferent dynamic. You get to see your kids hanging out with their friends. It's great.” Nick Raczkowski Father of three elementary students and crawled on his hands and knees to unfreeze teammates Tim Vogan, of Hunlock Creek, and Frank Prest, of Sweet Val- ley, other fathers who volun- teered that day. “I think it’s awesome to be able to spend time with the kids,” Raczkowski said. “It’s a different dynamic. You get to see your kids hanging out with BC ia ates CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK PHOTOS/ FOR THE DALLAS POST cial Dads in School program. their friends. It’s great.” David Harris and Rob Olson helped children make colored paper acorns in Janna Kabosky’s kindergarten class. For Harris, a military man on leave from Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, the day was a welcomed oppor- tunity to spend time with his i 3 an 3] Ik 1S vid Harris visits his daughter Jennifer's kindergarten class at Ross Elementary School as part of a special Dads in School program. Harris recently returned home daughter, Jennifer. Ross Elementary Principal Donald James said, “The goal is to get the fathers here and get them comfortable so they come back and volunteer more.” This is the second time the school has held this event and, according to James, it seems to Rob Olson went to his son Jared's kindergarten class at Ross Elementary School as part of a spe- help as more fathers are getting involved and attending events and PTO meetings. Dads’ Day was organized by teachers Jeremy Williams, Re- becca Keefe, Janna Kabosky, Ray Podskoch and Stacey Pelle- See DADDY, Page 10 Sanctuary gets new walking paths The proposed Woodland Springs Wildlife Sanctuary in Dallas Borough took a step forward on Saturday, Oct. 20 when volunteer stu- dents from Misericordia Uni- versity helped create treated walking paths through the property. Kathryn Heffner, Jenna Strobhar, Joshwa Papp, Paul McClintock, Ryan Evans, Caithlin Day and Conor Brennan from the Misericor- dia Outreach Program 68098 1512007989 tromped through the grounds of the almost 3-acre Pineview Road property, pre- paring the grounds for pub- lic visitors. Landowner Andrew Duda hopes to run several fun- draisers over the winter months to gain support of lo- cal businesses. Duda is planning to install a five or six car parking area near the property entrance on Maplewood Avenue and is hoping to install a gazebo and benches along the paths for visitors. He is seeking volunteers to help with the long-term maintenance of the property. Duda hopes to have the sanctuary open to the public in the early spring. - Megan Schneid pr BORTON FAMILY HOLDS PUMPKIN PARTY The Borton family of Dallas recently held its annual pumpkin party recently. Shown with their creations are, from left, first row, Ty Federici, Matt Dolan, Zach Holthaus, Sean Dolan, Emma Berger, Alison Francis, Megan Borton, Sydney Strickland, Julia Kocher, Andrew Francis. Second row, Ryan Borton, Jacob Chesonis, Madison Federici, Brody Strickland, Hollie Holth- aus, Nick Kocher and Adam Borton. Board honors veterans By MEGAN SCHNEIDER mschneider@mydallaspost.com Dr. Richard Coslett opened the Nov. 12 Dallas School Board meeting with a brief speech hon- oring veterans, including a video montage, a song entitled “Chick- en Fried” by Zac Brown Band and a moment of silence for those lost. Following the presentation, Scott Vencil of Crabtree, Rohr- baugh & Associates Architects presented the board with the ini- tial assessment on the structural and engineering aspects of Dal- las schools. In his proposal, he in- cluded a projection of future stu- dent populations up to the year 2020, indicating that CRA has found that, historically, Dallas School District has exceeded population projections of the De- partment of Education by as much as 6% a year. Vencil presented the analysis, possible problem areas and pos- sible solutions, including the idea of renovating or demolish- ing the current modular con- structions from 1972 at the Dal- las Elementary School, provid- ing rough sketches of what the new construction would look like should the district choose to demolish the existing building. Several members of the audi- ence spoke out when Vencil asked if there were any ques- tions, expressing concerns that the proposal sounded expensive and not enough specific informa- tion has been provided to the public. Board members indicat- ed they had just received the booklet themselves and would review the information thor- oughly and share it with the pub- lic in detail at the December meeting. Dallas High School Principal Jeffrey Shaffer then presented new scheduling arrangements he hopes will be in place by January. The schedule will change classes from 72 minutes to 44-minute blocks and the school day from five periods to eight. The Parent Advisory Committee was in- formed of the changes last week and the information will now be placed online for parent review. Shaffer explained that this scheduling structure, combined with the new cyber program through Seneca Valley, will allow students to take more classes, strengthen their core learning and allow for hybrid schedules. Students can attend the campus for part of the day and take other classes online, such as additional language classes, that may not be offered at the school. Denise DeLuca asked if chil- dren would be permitted to take extra classes or additional cred- its online after attending a full school day. Board member Karen Kyle said that scenario might be possible for advanced students. The board took a 15-minute in- termission when President Cath- erine Wega suddenly became ill . Wega did not rejoin the meeting. According to Superintendent Frank Galicki, Wega experienced issues with low blood sugar, but ws feeling better the next day. The board heard from John Delamater on the status of the school’s lacrosse teams. Delama- ter asked the board to help with fields and transportation for the upcoming season. He told the See BOARD, Page 10
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers