Marywood University’s School of Architecture will offer its Design your Future pre-college summer workshop for high school students virtually. The two-week program will take place from Monday, July 27 – Friday, August 7, 2020. The registration fee is $200 and is non-refundable after July 15, 2020. To register, visit marywood.edu/architecture/design-your-future/. The DyF program cost is $1,350 and includes tuition and program kit and materials, which will be mailed to students prior to the start of the program.

“Design your Future (DyF)” students will design projects through digital and tactile methods and will have an exceptional opportunity to work with a different industry professional daily, addressing topics such as sustainability, socially responsible design, biomimicry, digital design methods, and adaptive reuse. Design exercises and lectures expose students to the unique blend of visual orientation, creative process, academic investigation, and professional training that forms an architectural education. Students will explore the ideas, methods, and current issues of architecture and interior architecture with top professors and practicing professionals in their field.

The “DyF” program at Marywood University was established seven years ago to offer high school students a significant first experience in architectural education. The program gives students an opportunity to participate in the process of design and to develop the basic tools of imagination and expression. “DyF” emphasizes that architecture and interior architecture combine the practical concerns of building with the artistic freedom of design.

Students who have completed their sophomore year at high school have the option to take the course for three college credits through Marywood University’s Momentum Program, which provides high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to get a head start on college by enrolling in college-level courses. Students can choose from a variety of courses during the fall, spring, or summer semesters through to the student’s high school graduation.

In addition to earning credits, “DyF” students are exposed to design processes and innovative applications in diverse studio projects, as well as preparing for the creative exploration of architecture school and with campus life at the university level. Tuition for the three-credit college Momentum program is $1,950.

For additional information about the “Design your Future” workshop at Marywood University, contact Kate O’Connor, assistant professor in the School of Architecture and director of the “Design your Future” workshop at the University, at kateoconnor@marywood.edu.

Effective Monday, June 29, the Dime Bank’s Carbondale branch will be open with the following new hours:

Lobby:

Monday-Thursday – 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Friday – 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM

Saturday – 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Drive-Through:

Monday-Thursday – 8:00 AM – 5:30 PM

Friday – 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Saturday – 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Our Wayne and Pike County branches are also open.

For branch locations and hours, please visit our website’s Locations & Hours page.

We ask that you please:

• Wear a mask. If you don’t have one, we will provide you with one.
• Maintain social distance of six feet.
• Prior to entering, remove hats, sunglasses, and hoodies.

Thank you for your understanding as we keep everyone safe and healthy.

English Survey: https://geisingeredu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5suhqEqLUOMsYaF

Spanish Survey: https://geisingeredu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3fQelmwkItIcYKh

Spherion has announced the hiring of Gareth Reese as Business Development Executive.

As a member of the Spherion team, Reese’s position will involve building long term relationships with businesses in the communities we serve as well as creating solutions to assist with their hiring and flexibility initiatives.

Reese spent the last eight years at ADP, beginning as a district manager and then rising to a major accounts district manager.

“We are excited about Gareth’s addition to our team. His energy and high level of integrity will undoubtedly fit with our strong Spherion team. He will be an integral part in our relationship building moving forward and we look forward to seeing him out and about in the communities we serve,” said Phil Frassinelli, one of the owners of Spherion.

The Frassinelli family owns seven Pennsylvania Spherion branches with locations in Bethlehem, Carlisle, Harrisburg, Hazleton, Reading, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre.

You can reach Gareth Reese at (631)379-5287 and by email at garethreese@spherion.com.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) today announced that all driver license and photo centers, including its Riverfront Office Center in Harrisburg, will be closed Saturday, July 4, in observance of Independence Day. Motor vehicle counter services at the Harrisburg Riverfront Office Center will also be closed Friday, July 3.

Customers may still obtain a variety of driver and vehicle products and services, including all forms, publications and driver training manuals, online through PennDOT’s Driver and Vehicle Services website, www.dmv.pa.gov.

Customers may continue to complete various transactions and access multiple resources online at www.dmv.pa.gov. Driver and vehicle online services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and include driver’s license, photo ID and vehicle registration renewals; driver-history services; changes of address; driver license and vehicle registration restoration letters; ability to pay driver license or vehicle insurance restoration fee; driver license and photo ID duplicates; and driver exam scheduling. There are no additional fees for using online services.

Motorists can check conditions on major roadway by visiting www.511PA.com. 511PA, which is free and available 24 hours a day, provides traffic delay warnings, weather forecasts, traffic speed information, and access to more than 950 traffic cameras

511PA is also available through a smartphone application for iPhone and Android devices, by calling 5-1-1, or by following regional twitter alerts accessible on the 511PA website.

Follow PennDOT on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PennDOTNews and like the department on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PennsylvaniaDepartmentofTransportation and Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/pennsylvaniadot/.

Additionally, COVID-19 information is available at www.health.pa.gov. For more information, visit www.dmv.pa.gov or www.PennDOT.gov.

Building on its ongoing efforts to support racial justice and inclusion initiatives, Marywood University recently displayed a Black Lives Matter (BLM) banner from the overlook at the Learning Commons. The banner’s location, in a prominent place central to campus, serves to remind all of Marywood’s commitment to racial healing through education and action, including support of the BLM movement.

Sister Mary Persico, IHM, Ed.D., president of Marywood University, said, “We have a perfect opportunity before us to make a difference in the lives of our students in general, and our Black students in particular, by living the tenets of our mission and core values, as they so aptly pertain to the injustice of racism.”

“The Black Lives Matter banner, prominently displayed on the Learning Commons overlook, is a visual representation of our solidarity with the Black community and of the ongoing work that we have been doing to promote racial healing and to dismantle, through education and action, the notion of a hierarchy of human value,” stated Yerodin Lucas, Ph.D., Director of the Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI) at Marywood University.

That ongoing work includes, most recently, Marywood’s selection earlier this year to host a Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Center. Chosen through a competitive process by The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), Marywood was among a second national cohort of thirteen institutions selected to establish a TRHT campus center. There are now 24 TRHT Campus Centers across the country, including Marywood’s.

As a result of the destructive ramifications of racism and discrimination in our country, Marywood’s OEI recently hosted a virtual conversation: Talk of the University: A Community Conversation for Dialogue, Understanding, and Healing. The conversation took place over Zoom and was open to all students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Marywood. An interactive conversation, this event enabled participants to share their experiences, what they were feeling in the wake of recent events, reflecting and contributing to the conversation in a supportive and compassionate manner.

Additionally, Marywood’s OEI has guided efforts to train more than 60 faculty and staff members through the nationally-recognized Racial Equity Institute (REI), which featured a two-day workshop series on campus, with two different cohorts, which took place in August 2019 and January 2020.

By partnering with many others in the Marywood University community, OEI is working to develop additional plans to facilitate racial healing, including:

• The Core Action Team – Members of this group are taking a concerted look at the Core Curriculum for ways to embed the contributions of scholars of color and equity and inclusion throughout each discipline.
• The OEI is currently working to create an African American Students course to run in the spring 2021 semester in the Social Science Department. In addition, Dr. Lucas is developing a comprehensive Africana Studies Program to be presented to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee for consideration.
• Marywood is partnering with the Black Scranton project to collaborate on ways to bring awareness and racial healing to our community.
• The OEI is partnering with Lackawanna College and Wilkes University to speak with their students of color, in particular the Black and LatinX male student populations, to provide a safe space for authentic dialogue and resources to support them.

“Part of the journey to racial healing begins with gaining a better perspective and understanding of how racism is perpetuated in our institutions and our society as a whole, and what role each of us can play in dismantling this system of oppression,” said Dr. Lucas. “Marywood has been doing this important and necessary work for several years, undertaking a number of initiatives to identify issues that exist within the Marywood community around racism and discrimination (curriculum, policies, faculty/student interactions, microaggressions, biases, etc.) and how to bring about solutions at the systemic level.”

The Marywood University community continues to work toward the dismantling of systemic racism, on our campus and everywhere we are. For additional information about the Office of Equity and Inclusion, please visit marywood.edu/equity/index.html. To learn more about Maywood University’s Truth and Racial Health Campus Center, please visit marywood.edu/article/2020-Truth-Racial-Healing-Transformation-Campus-Center.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today that expiration dates for driver licenses, identification cards, and learner’s permits, will be extended for Pennsylvania residents in response to statewide COVID-19 mitigation efforts.

Effective June 23, 2020, expiration dates for driver licenses, photo ID cards and learner’s permits scheduled to expire from March 16, 2020 through July 31, 2020, have been extended until July 31, 2020. These extensions are in addition to those announced on May 27, 2020.

A camera card is considered a driver’s license, so it is covered by the same terms and conditions extending other driver’s license products. Camera cards with expiration dates within this timeframe are also extended through July 31, 2020.

The following products were previously extended until June 30,2020, and will not be extended:

• Vehicle registrations of all classes which includes, but not limited to, mass transit vehicle registrations, apportioned vehicle registrations, fleet vehicle registrations, dealer plate registrations, temporary registrations and biennial farm exemption certificates scheduled to expire from March 16 through June 30, 2020.

• Safety inspections and emissions inspections scheduled to expire from March 16 through June 30, 2020.
• Persons with Disabilities parking placards scheduled to expire from March 16 through June 30, 2020.

Customers may continue to complete various transactions and access multiple resources online at www.dmv.pa.gov. Driver and vehicle online services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and include driver’s license, photo ID and vehicle registration renewals; driver-history services; changes of address; driver license and vehicle registration restoration letters; ability to pay driver license or vehicle insurance restoration fee; and driver license and photo ID duplicates; and driver exam scheduling. There are no additional fees for using online services.

PennDOT will continue to evaluate these processes and will communicate any changes with the public.

More COVID-19 information is available at www.health.pa.gov. For more information, visit www.dmv.pa.gov or www.PennDOT.gov.

Marywood University was recently ranked in the top tier one colleges for those that have systems required to deliver full curriculum online and in-classroom by Educate To Career (ETC), the leader in FinTech for college and career planning.

Marywood is one of only three local colleges to be ranked in the top tier one category. Michael R. Havis, ETC president and founder states. “Transparency and value in higher education is paramount—parents are telling us. Accordingly, we rank colleges by the outcomes of their graduates—including jobs and salaries, graduation rates, student loan payback rates, and other factors.”

The College Rankings by ETC addresses college planning right now in the time of Covid-19. Schools are ranked in 4 tiers based on criteria including: in-classroom instruction; online learning; location; and reasonable tuitions and fees on a relative basis. These new college rankings are designed to help students navigate this crisis and uncertainty in a cost effective and practical manner. According to ETC’s release, “These rankings are provided for the purpose of getting students into the right college in September and through the next year.”

ETC is a nonprofit formed in 2013 by retired businessman, Mike Havis. ETC is used by parents, students, career counselors, employers, and recruiters, with the ultimate goal of providing an environment that provides each constituency with a centralized place to meet and to work toward the same common goal—that of a young person gainfully employed in the area of their study.

For additional information about Marywood University, please visit www.marywood.edu, or call the Office of Admissions, at (570) 348-6234. For additional information about Educate to Career and its rankings, please visit educatetocareer.org.

Geisinger has received a $3.8 million funding award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study the effectiveness of enhanced well-child visits in preventing obesity in preschool-age children.

Researchers will compare two enhancements to standard well-child visits (WCVs) that are designed to prevent obesity in rural, low-income preschool-age children who receive care at Geisinger. These enhancements include a patient-reported outcomes model, in which providers can quickly assess a child’s risk of obesity and provide family-centered, behaviorally anchored counseling; and a model in which families are referred to community-based programs to improve food security, like Geisinger’s Fresh Food Farmacy.

“Primary care providers are on the front lines of obesity prevention, yet clinical preventive care has had limited success in preventing childhood obesity,” said Lisa Bailey-Davis, D.Ed., associate professor of population health sciences and associate director of the Obesity Institute at Geisinger, and the study’s principal investigator. “Multilevel approaches for obesity prevention have been developed for school-age children, but the current evidence is insufficient to provide direction for younger children.”

In 2018, more than 2 million children in the United States began kindergarten with obesity. The prevalence of obesity among preschool-age children has increased over the past decade, especially among those from lower income families living in rural communities. The preschool years are a critical period for preventive interventions, as rapid gains in body mass index (BMI) during this period lead to early-life obesity that is likely to persist for a lifetime.

“Nearly all preschool-age children attend well-child visits in primary care clinics, making this a sustainable model for intervention delivery, especially since parents and caregivers value and trust feedback from pediatricians,” Dr. Bailey-Davis said.

The 3-year study will be conducted in Geisinger pediatric and community medicine clinics in collaboration with Geisinger Wellness. PCORI’s board has approved this award pending completion of a business and programmatic review by PCORI staff and issuance of a formal award contract.