Art in Bloom Returns to the Everhart Museum The Everhart Museum announced today that Art in Bloom will return to the Museum on Friday, March 26th, and on Saturday, March 27th. Art in Bloom is a celebration of the Museum’s collection as interpreted through fresh flowers created by some of the region’s most talented designers. The event was sidelined last year due to the global pandemic. The phrase “Art in Bloom” was created by Lorriane M. Pitts, a volunteer at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The original exhibition was previewed in 1976. It comprised traditional visual art pieces and flower arrangements done by local professional florists, designers, and garden club members. Art in Bloom is held at museums across the country. Close to a dozen works and objects from the Everhart’s collection will be showcased alongside floral designs creating a visual juxtaposition that speaks to art and nature lovers alike. On Friday the 26th, the event will kick off at 6:00 pm with a Virtual VIP Preview of the art-inspired floral arrangements created by local designers and virtual entertainment coordinated by Scranton Fringe. The community will have an opportunity to vote for their favorite interpretation on Saturday. On March 27th, the Art in Bloom exhibit will be on view from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm. Guests will have the opportunity to participate in mobile tours of the galleries, pick up crafts, and activities to take home or shop at our nature-inspired marketplace. Voting will open for the People’s Choice Award and be announced on Saturday afternoon. The event is pay-as-you-wish and open to all ages. Interested in participating? You can do so from home. The Museum will offer a series of uniquely designed floral-inspired virtual Live and Pre-recorded classes on Saturday, March 20th, between 10:00a and 4:00 pm. Some of the scheduled programs are a Pressed Flower Demo, Watercolor Painting, and Cookie Making Classes. Classes will be announced soon, and registration in advance is required. All scheduled programs will be free to the public, thanks to our generous sponsors, PNC and Toyota of Scranton. Join us for the perfect springtime event: an aesthetic marriage between art and nature.
Lackawanna College Announces Three New Board Members Lackawanna College has announced the recent appointment of three new members to its Board of Trustees, Debra Leftkowitz, Mark DeStefano and Thomas R. DePietro. “We are delighted to welcome these exceptional members to the Board of Trustees,” said Dr. Jill Murray, Lackawanna College President. “They bring experience, talent and passion, which will help guide Lackawanna College as it continues to transform and fulfill its mission as an innovative leader in higher education.” Debra Lefkowitz is the President and CEO of Hocsocx, Inc., a line of bestselling protective shin guard socks for sports. Prior to the creation of Hocsocx, Inc., Lefkowitz owned a private practice working with patients on weight loss and nutrition for disease states. She has served on the board of directors for Temple Israel Wilkes-Barre, Jewish Community Center of Wyoming Valley, Maternal and Family Health Association and the Wyoming Seminary Parent’s Association. Mark DeStefano serves as the CFO of Pagnotti Enterprises, Inc. and for the Latona Group of companies. DeStefano serves as a trustee and was the former President of the Board of the Women’s Resource Center. He also serves as trustee and was the former chair of the Everhart Museum, trustee of Broadway Theater League of Northeast Pennsylvania, and has served on the boards of the United Way of Wyoming Valley, Scranton Cultural Center, Keystone College, and several other local non-profit organizations. Thomas R. DePietro is a pharmacist and owner of DiPietro’s Pharmacy, an independent pharmacy located in Dunmore, Pa. The pharmacy has received numerous awards and recognitions over the past eight years from the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce. DePietro has been recognized for his philanthropy by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, NEPA Chapter. He is actively involved in promoting the pharmacy profession and serves on the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Association Independent Pharmacy Owner Committee and on the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Pharmacists Care Network.
Johnson College Receives Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture Johnson College has been awarded a $490,381 grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as part of the agency’s Telemedicine and Distance Learning Program. This grant will support the College’s goal to implement a distance learning program improving access to higher education opportunities for rural areas in Wayne, Pike and Susquehanna counties. The project will link Johnson College with four rural high schools: Forest City Regional High School, Honesdale High School, Wallenpaupack Area High School, and Western Wayne High School. As well as three libraries: Lakewood Library, Newfoundland Library, and Pleasant Mount Library by high-tech telecommunications equipment. Both high school and adult students will have interactive, two-way access to Johnson College faculty and will participate in remote education, discussions, testing, and skill demonstrations. Laboratories and classrooms at Johnson College will be similarly equipped to enable maximum interaction between faculty and students. In addition, the three rural libraries will be equipped with laptops to give community residents access to career exploration services and information about courses at Johnson College. Students participating in the distance learning program will be able to work towards completing any one of the 15 academic programs Johnson College offers. The project will create a direct route to career technology education (CTE), a college degree, and ultimately a fulfilling career with family-sustaining wages for students in rural Northeastern Pennsylvania. For many families, this will be the first generation empowered to attend college and removes several barriers like transportation to make college possible. We will focus on a distance learning platform using the latest in two-way interactive telecommunications technology to create an environment that is as close to the Johnson College onsite classroom and laboratory experience as possible while being delivered in the high school community. The rural nature of the region presents several barriers to students and community residents in accessing higher education. The high schools collaborating on this project are between 21 and 31 miles from Johnson College. Because of family responsibilities, cultural norms, or factors related to working while enrolled in school, many students stay close to home for college. When there are no institutions of higher education close by, transportation and distance become barriers to upward mobility, fulfilling careers, and financially rewarding positions. This program can change that through distance learning and telecommunications. This strategy has several benefits for the individual student, the community, the industry partners needing more workers, and the state/regional/local economic development efforts. This project also benefits Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education which is integral to the College’s curriculum for all students attending Johnson College, whether through distance learning, online learning, or on-campus learning. The specialized STEM training made possible by this grant funding will give students the opportunity to start their college degree while still in high school and complete earlier for in demand positions throughout the region, as well as provide an opportunity to train non-high school students for new careers due to job loss or the desire for positions with higher family-sustaining wages. “We are thrilled to be partnering with these schools and libraries to bring the Johnson College experience to those who otherwise might not be able to take advantage of it,” said Dr. Katie Leonard, President & CEO of Johnson College. “Everyone should have the opportunity to learn skills that can lead to family-sustaining wages for in-demand careers.” U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright (D-PA-08) congratulated Johnson College and applauded the project. “As the internet fuels more innovative higher learning options, we need to invest to make sure they are accessible,” said Cartwright. “Projects like this open the door to exciting educational opportunities that give more students a shot at a fulfilling career, regardless of their zip code. I want to congratulate Johnson College on this well-deserved federal award.” In addition to the distance learning opportunity this funding provides, students will also have access to Johnson College’s full array of on-campus support services including tutoring, counseling, career advisement, financial aid, internship opportunities, and exposure to industry from day one. Distance learning will help high school and adult students reach their full potential, and connect with the region’s essential careers already in demand. For additional information on Johnson College, please call 1-800-2-WE-WORK, email enroll@johnson.edu, or visit Johnson.edu.
Marywood University to Hold Virtual Master of Fine Arts Information Session Marywood University will hold a virtual Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Information Session on Thursday, April 1, 2021, at 4 p.m. This information session is free and open to anyone who is interested in pursuing a low-residency master of fine arts degree. To register, please visit admissions.marywood.edu/register/mfa. Marywood’s “Get Your Master’s with the Masters” MFA program for designers and illustrators is the oldest and best low-residency program in the country, designed for those who are working full time, but who are also interested in earning a terminal degree. For additional information about Marywood University’s MFA Information Session, please contact Steven Brower, MFA, director of the “Get Your Master’s with the Masters” MFA program at Marywood University, at (570) 348-6211, ext. 2569, or email sbrower@marywood.edu.
The University of Scranton Virtual Talk on Challenges of Educating Youth in Uganda Set The University of Scranton’s Gail and Francis Slattery Center for the Ignatian Humanities will host a virtual presentation titled “Hope and Healing for Ugandan Youth: Educating Amidst Environmental Degradation, Food Insecurity, and Poverty Through the Bethany Land Institute.” Rev. Emmanuel Katongole, professor of theology and peace studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, will present the lecture at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, Mar. 18. The talk, part of the 2020-21 Humanities Forums at Scranton, is open to the public and can be viewed on Zoom at: http://bit.ly/3bApVZU, or on YouTube at http://bit.ly/2Ipj8Hv. Father Katongole holds a joint appointment with the Keough School of Global Affairs, where he serves as a full-time faculty member of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. A member of the Contending Modernities Initiative team, he coordinates an inter-disciplinary research project, which investigates how religious and secular forces compete or collaborate in shaping new modes of authority, community and identity within the context of nation-state modalities in Africa. He is a Catholic priest of Kampala Archdiocese, Uganda, where he was ordained in 1987. His research focuses on politics and violence in Sub-Saharan Africa; political theology; global Catholicism; theology and peace studies and reconciliation His publications include “Born from Lament: the theology and Politics of Hope in Africa” (Eerdmans, 2017); “The Journey of Reconciliation: Groaning for a New Creation in Africa” (Orbis, 2017); and “Reconciling All Things: A Christian vision of Justice, Peace and Healing” (IVP Books, 2018). Before joining the University of Notre Dame in 2013, Father Katongole served as associate professor of theology and world Christianity at Duke University, and as founding co-director of the Duke Center for Reconciliation. He taught at The University of Scranton in the Theology/Religious Studies Department during the 1999-2000 academic year.
Geisinger ADMI Offers Online Training for First Responders Geisinger’s Autism & Developmental Medicine Institute (ADMI) is offering free online training for first responders to help them better assist children with special needs during emergencies. The training is also open to other community members. Up to 15% of children have a developmental or behavioral disorder, including autism, speech and language disorders, intellectual disabilities, or conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and anxiety. The training program provides an overview of these conditions, their related behaviors, and strategies for communicating with children who have these disorders in a variety of situations. The training is facilitated by Barbara Haas Givler, director of education and behavioral outreach at Geisinger’s ADMI, and Cora Taylor, ADMI assistant professor. “This training for first responders provides practical strategies for approaching and supporting children with special needs in emergency situations,” Haas Givler said. “We appreciate all that first responders do for our patients with special needs, including autism, and we’re thrilled to be able to give something back to them.” Interested community members can view the webinar at geisinger.org/ADMIEMStraining. The training was funded in part by the Rite Aid Foundation. ADMI has also created materials to help children with special needs and their families understand what to do in an emergency. For more information, visit geisingeradmi.org/admi-approved-resources.
Lackawanna College Named one of World’s Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company Lackawanna College announced today that it has been included in Fast Company’s prestigious list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in 2021 for its Level Up program. The Level Up program responds to the national crisis surrounding the increasing cost of higher education by providing the opportunity for students to earn an associate degree while in high school. Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies list highlights businesses and organizations that have made an impact and transformed their industry. Lackawanna College ranked No. 9 in the Corporate Social Responsibility category, which recognizes corporate initiatives that meaningfully make a positive contribution to their community and stakeholders. “We are extremely honored to be recognized as one of Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies,” said Dr. Jill Murray, Lackawanna College President and Chief Innovation Officer. “At Lackawanna College, we are constantly seeking innovative ways to bridge the socio-economic gap and help students obtain a degree quickly and at significantly less cost. More than ever, students need alternative pathways to help them succeed and thrive in an ever-changing world.” President Murray has made innovation a priority at Lackawanna College over the years. Programs such as the Falcons Athletic Learning Community and its Developmental Student Model have demonstrated a commitment to student success through innovation while newer projects such as Level Up, a Venture Lab, and e-commerce programs have been included in the college’s curriculum over the last few years. Lackawanna College would like to recognize its partnerships with local organizations like the Sordoni Family Foundation and the Scranton Area Foundation that continue to enhance enrollment capacity, deepen student learning and support resources that are reflective of Lackawanna’s mission and vision of serving as the “communities’ college”.
Providence Engineering Announce Senior Consultant Providence Engineering is pleased to announce that Vaughn Silar has joined the firm as a Senior Consultant. With more than 30 years of experience in the AEC industry, Vaughn has earned a reputation for building successful businesses and delivering exceptional service to many clients throughout the United States. His commitment to the AEC industry, especially in Central PA, has garnered many longstanding relationships. In his role as Senior Consultant, Vaughn will work closely with the Leadership and Project Management teams at Providence. He will provide high-level strategy as well as guidance on day-to-day operations. Vaughn’s hiring comes as Providence continues to implement its strategic growth plan, while staying focused on client satisfaction and operational simplicity. “I’m excited for the opportunity to join Providence” says Silar. “This is a great firm that has contributed to many successful projects throughout the Mid-Atlantic. I believe we are poised to expand market share and I look forward to helping clarify strategic goals and enhance operational efficiency.”
