L Vol. 122 No. 2 THE BACK MOUNTAIN'S NEWSPAPER SINCE 1889 SUNDAY, MARCH 17, 2013 ALLAS 50¢ ® ¢ SUPPORT WILKES-BARRE, PA. www.mydallaspost.com AN EDITION OF THE TIMES LEADER Wyecallis Elementary fourth-grader Shelby Pocono, 10, left, celebrates with her mom Diane, both of Shavertown, after her contruction paper and masking tape structure supported 39 books. ing. BILL TARUTIS PHOTOS/FOR THE DALLAS POST The Cummings’ family construction paper and masking tape structure that won the Wycallis Elementary Family Science Challenge. The structure supported 57 text- books, equivalent to about 103 pounds, before collaps- Misaki Inoue 4, left, Wakana Inoue, 6, and their dad Mitsuo Inoue, all of Dallas, watch their structure support a stack of 31 textbooks, equivalent to about 56 pounds. STEM The Gordon family, of Shavertown, works on making a ‘structure’ out of construction paper and masking tape to support a stack of textbooks during the Wycallis Elementary School Family Science Challenge Night. From left, are Sophis, 6, Diane, Bob and Derek, 11. Building stronger families through science By SUSAN DENNEY /Dallas Post Correspondent & ccording to Wycallis Elemen- tary School Principal Paul Reinert, who introduced the econd annual Family Science Challenge Night, the cafeteria was even noisier than during a busy lunch period. Thanks to elementary science coordinator Nicole Valkenburg, who also teaches fourth grade at Wycallis, the huge space was filled Over 70 families, including more than 250 people, signed up for the PTO-sponsored event. Valkenburg explained that she dreamed up the Family Science Challenge “to get kids excited about science.” She also said, “It’s hard to get families together.” The excitement and noise were due in part to the mystery of the event. Each family had been given a stapled brown paper lunch bag. No one, not even the other teachers, knew what was in the bags prior to the event. The bags contained a sheet of brown con- struction paper, a list of instructions and a 30-millimeter strip of masking tape. The challenge? To build a structure that would hold up as many textbooks as possible. textbooks weighing 1.8 pounds each. Once the challenge began, the noise level dropped as families conferred about how to use the paper to build their structure. Many families opted to fold the paper and create a ring with tape. But other families folded their paper into a triangle shape or even built a platform with feet. Andy and Chrissy Popielarz, of Dallas, participated in the event with their children, second-grader Mary, first grader Marie and 5-year-old Andrew. Mary said she was there “to have fun.” The family also competed in the event last year and Chrissy Popielarz said they decided with excited families set for the challenge. The judging table held stacks of identical Scouts go all out for the Back Mountain Food Pantry & CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK llas Post Correspondent Dylan Pilger arrived at the Dallas United Methodist Church basement with his right arm in a sling. “It’s okay,” he joked, “I can always work with one hand.” The soon-to-be 18-year-old Boy Scout had jammed his arm at hockey practice the day before, ending up in the emergency room. On this day, his fellow Scouts from Boy Scout Troop 281 of Dallas were finishing up the collection of over 3,300 food items they had solicited from 17 neighborhoods for the Back Mountain Food Pantry and Pilger wasn’t missing any of it. “I know there are people in need out there and I'm going to help out and give as much as I can,” he said The annual project started the weekend before when small bands of Scouts assigned to various neighbor- hoods distributed 3,400 door hang- ers. Running from door-to-door was hard enough in the wind and coldest weather yet this year. Drake Dettore had another per- spective. See PANTRY, Page 7A See SCIENCE, Page 7A Dallas students place at Science Olympiad Approximately 1,000 students from 50 schools in northeastern and central Pennsylvania competed in in- dividual and team events at the Penn- sylvania Northeast Regional Science Olympiad on March 6 at Penn State Wilkes-Barre. The Science Olympiad is devoted to increasing student interest in science, recognizing outstanding achievement and improving the qual- ity of science education. Winners of this regional contest will advance to state competition at See OLYMPIAD, Page 7A BILL TARUTIS/FOR THE DALLAS POST Third-grader Morgan McAndrew, left, pets ‘Pepper,’ a Chihuahua owned by fifth-grader Bailey McCafferty at her table on ‘Behavioral Differences in Dogs.’ CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK/ FOR THE DALLAS POST Kingston Twp. EMS Fire and Res- cue volunteer responder Lieuten- ant Jason Rose worked to rescue four people who fell through the ice on March 6 at Frances Slocum State Park. BMT rescuer saves two from drowning By CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK Dallas Post Correspondent While driving on Carverton Road past the Frances Slocum State Park boat launch on March 6, Peter Swa- boski, of Dallas, saw two girls on the ice. Seconds later, he saw only one. Swaboski pulled a U-turn, stopped and called 911. The 911 dispatcher told Swaboski to stay off the ice and on the phone. The girls cried for help. He threw them a “tie down” from his trunk, but it was too short. Five or six miles away at his home on Dug Road, Jason Rose drank cof- fee and watched afternoon TV before his graveyard shift at Cargill in Wy- alusing. “I got the call on my pager that there was a water incident at Frances Slocum,” Rose said. As a trained EMS responder, his mind went into water rescue mode. “I kept my sneakers on - boots would be too heavy - grabbed my life jacket and 100 feet of rope. I knew I had minutes to get down there and figured they would have been in the water 10 to 15 minutes before I got there.” Time, Rose knows, is critical in a water rescue. The three-year veteran volunteer from the Kingston-Trucksville EMS Fire and Rescue threw his truck into overdrive, his body pumped with adrenalin. Swaboski was only too happy to see Rose about three minutes after he made the 911 call. “He knew just what to do,” Swaboski said of Rose. But by then, another passerby, while trying to help, had gone out on the ice and fallen in. Now, there were three people in the water who needed to be rescued. Thoughtfully, Rose went for the girl who had been in the water the longest and who was screaming “Help me, help me.” The other girl had gotten herself out but now Rose had another ice victim to help. * Keeping in mind that he needed to leave 10 to 15 feet between every- body he was trying to save (so that the ice wouldn’t give out), Rose was surprised when Kingston Twp. Of- ficer Michael Huntzinger came up behind him. While trying to lift one of the girls, Huntzinger fell in the water, too, put- ting four people in the water. Methodically working the scene, Rose kept his focus on the girl, got her to shore then went back for the other passerby. The girl was numb, had no feeling and was pre-hypother- mic was Rose’s evaluation. Meanwhile, Kingston Township Police Chief Jim Balavage, rope in hand, arrived at the scene and fol- lowed his own officer onto the ice. The rescuers made sure all were safe and on shore before they helped Officer Huntzinger out. “He said he was fine and that the water wasn’t all that cold anyway,” said Balavage, See RESCUER, Page 7A 6 | 815120079 g
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