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WHAT: Luzerne County Head Start Hosts Summer Farmers Markets
WHEN: Wednesdays in July of 2021 from 12:15PM – 1:15PM
WHERE: 23 Beekman St., Wilkes-Barre (parking lot area)
WHY: Expand access to fresh local produce for Head Start & Early Head Start families
Luzerne County Head Start, Inc. (LCHS) will hold a series of outdoor summer farmers markets every Wednesday in July. The markets have been made possible by a “Farm to Early Childhood Education” grant secured from the Pennsylvania Head Start Association. The first event will be held on July 7, 2021 from 12:15pm – 1:15pm in the parking lot of LCHS’s central office location, 23 Beekman St., Wilkes-Barre.
Fresh fruits and vegetables from Rowland’s Pennsylvania Produce will be provided free of charge to families. The produce is available on a first-come-first-serve basis to any family at LCHS’s Wilkes-Barre/Beekman St. Center receiving summer services as part of the Head Start or Early Head Start program. The markets will be held at the same time and location on July 14, 21 and 28, weather permitting. Several community agencies will also be in attendance to provide information about services available to families.
Farm to ECE is a group of activities and strategies that offers increased access to healthy, local foods, gardening opportunities and food-based learning activities. The funding is meant to increase early learning programs’ ability to implement farm to ECE strategies that help meet the needs of children and families during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The United Way of Wyoming Valley recently distributed its literacy kits to preschool-aged children, including those at Luzerne County Head Start (LCHS). Classroom #14 at LCHS’s Beekman Street center in Wilkes-Barre was one of several preschool classrooms to receive the literacy bags.
The literacy kits contain age-appropriate books as well as a variety of fun literacy activities and helpful information for parents to keep children learning throughout the summer as they prepare to enter kindergarten. The contents inside of the bags are donations from PNC’s Grow Up Great® initiative, which helps prepare children from birth to age five for success in school and in life.
Children from classroom #14 at LCHS’s Beekman Street center show off their literacy kits from the United Way of Wyoming Valley (UWWV) & PNC’s Grow Up Great ®. From left to right: Sofia, Amanda, Makaio and Jayden
Contents inside of the UWWV’s literacy kits that are distributed to preschool-aged children in the Wyoming Valley.
The Junior Leadership Wilkes-Barre (JLWB) Class of 2021 raised money to purchase books for children at Luzerne County Head Start (LCHS) as part of their “Head Start Heroes” community impact project.
Students from JLWB took part in several virtual book readings to Head Start children in March and April. On May 8th, the group hosted a drive-in movie theater night at the Garden Drive Inn in Hunlock Creek. Admission was $7 per person and the movies shown were “Spiderman Homecoming” and “Wonder Woman.”
The group raised approximately $1,300 from raffle basket ticket sales and donation jars. The money was used to purchase approximately 300 children’s books for boys and girls at LCHS.
JLWB is a transformative personal and professional leadership development program that is made up of students who are juniors in high school from various school districts.
From Left to Right: Michelle Oropeza, Center Assistant, LCHS; Abby Lazecki, Holy Cross High School, Pittston; Nia Cruz, James M. Coughlin High School, Plains; Nick Nocito, Dallas Area High School, Dallas; Samantha Casey, Wyoming Seminary, Pittston; Carissa Benderavich, Holy Redeemer High School, Laflin; Julia Ide, Northwest Area High School, Hunlock Creek, Chris Kopiak, WBASD STEM Academy, Wilkes-Barre; Kelly Chamberlain, Director of Education, LCHS
Luzerne County Head Start, Inc. held its second annual “Walk for Wellness” on May 18, 2021. Staff were encouraged to walk 56 minutes for the 56th anniversary of Head Start.
Here are some pictures of our staff enjoying time spent outdoors.
To view the slideshow, CLICK HERE. Be sure to turn the volume up!
Hazleton Carson St. & Vine West Head Start staff take part in LCHS’s second annual Walk for Wellness event.
Fourteen Luzerne County Head Start (LCHS) alumni from 8 school districts in Luzerne County who will continue their education after high school were honored during LCHS’s 56th anniversary celebration. Scholarship recipients are usually recognized at the agency’s annual luncheon, which was canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to celebrate their accomplishments, the agency sponsored an outdoor “meet and greet” at its Beekman Street location in Wilkes-Barre. Recipients were invited to attend the celebration, where they met with their scholarship sponsors.
The Luzerne County Head Start Alumni Scholarship program was established in 1987 to honor the achievements of former Head Start students graduating from high school and continuing their education. This year, 14 scholarships totaling $18,000 were presented to students who will pursue higher education. From 1987 through 2021, scholarships totaling $293,250 have been awarded to outstanding students who began their educational journey at a Head Start program. Recipients must submit an application and are selected based on academic performance, personal achievements, leadership, motivation and school and community involvement. The scholarship fund is supported in total by community organizations, individuals and businesses.
In addition to the scholarship awards, LCHS employees were honored at a virtual ceremony earlier in the day for their years of service and dedication to the nonprofit organization. Awards were also presented to the agency’s 2020-2021 “Outstanding Community Partners,” including Stacey Kile, Luzerne County Head Start Board of Directors; Christine Kiesinger, Ph.D., owner and founder of CEK Communication; Alan Klapat, Deputy Chief, City of Wilkes-Bare Fire Department and Lorna Veglia, Drums Lioness/Lions Club. LCHS’s Outstanding Community Partner award recognizes area businesses, organizations and individuals in the community who have made significant contributions to the Head Start program and who have made a difference in the lives of the children and families the agency serves.
Ariel Mitkowski from Hanover Township, who is a former Head Start student and senior at Hanover Area High School, receives the Fran Williams Scholarship in the amount of $4,000. Ariel is pictured with her scholarship sponsor, Gary Williams, who is a member of the Luzerne County Head Start Board of Directors.
St. Raphael Mosley-Boncy from Jenkins Township, who is a former Head Start student and senior at Pittston Area High School, receives the Benco Family Foundation scholarship in the amount of $2,000. St. Raphael is pictured with George Rable, who is the VP of Culture & People at Benco Dental and the president of the Luzerne County Head Start Board of Directors.
Faith Wargo from West Pittston, who is a former Head Start student and senior at Wyoming Area High School receives the Church of Christ Uniting Scholarship and the Coombs Family Memorial Scholarship for a total of $1,000. Faith is pictured with her scholarship sponsors, Pastor Jane Pykus from Church of Christ Uniting in Kingston and Michelle Coombs.
Each year in March Luzerne County Head Start, Inc. (LCHS) holds its annual March Mayhem competition. The 4-week team-based wellness challenge is sponsored by Geisinger and encourages healthy competition, while also supporting LCHS employees in achieving physical activity goals and improving overall well-being.
Seven teams from LCHS with six members on each team took part in this year’s event. For the second year in a row, team “Slimalicious Babes: The Girls are Back!” won the competition. Team members included Justin Temperine, Irma Rosado, Fran Scarantino, Julia Scott, Lucia Walkowiak and Christine Fritz. Each member of the team received a $20 gift card from Wegmans as their prize.
The competition began on March 1st and wrapped up on March 28th. Every week, each member of the team kept track of and then submitted their weekly step totals and overtime challenges to their team captain. Statewide, 162 teams participated in Geisinger’s March Mayhem wellness challenge.
Congratulations to our winners and all those who participated!
The 2021 LCHS March Mayhem teams included:
Slimalicious Babes: The Girls are Back!
Step Sisters
The Masked HomeGirlz
Lost in Space
Zoom, Email, Walk, Repeat!
Holy Walkamolies
Team Synergy
The winners of this year’s March Mayhem competition included, from left to right, Justin Temperine, teacher, LCHS; Christine Fritz, team captain & lead family worker, LCHS; Julia Scott, data entry operator, LCHS; Lucia Walkowiak, family worker, LCHS; Fran Scarantino, family worker, LCHS
Absent from photo: Irma Rosado, family worker, LCHS
Luzerne County Head Start, Inc. recently received a generous donation of PPE and sanitation supplies from the Moses Taylor Foundation and AllOne Foundation & Charities. The donation was part of a larger effort to provide school nurses throughout the Foundation’s 11-county region with these materials.
The kit included 20 KN 95 masks, 10 face shields, 750 disinfectant wipes, 250 adult 3 ply masks, 50 pediatric 3 ply masks, 20 gowns, 1,000 nitrile gloves and four hand sanitizer pumps.
Luzerne County Head Start re-opened several of its Head Start Pre-K/Counts classrooms on March 15th, nearly one year after the agency suspended in-person learning. The supplies will be used to help clean the facilities and to keep children and staff safe while they are in the classroom.
Filing a tax return for 2020 is the only way to prove to the IRS that your child is eligible to receive the credit, meaning that all Americans with children should file a return regardless of income. This will ensure you receive the child tax credit. The deadline to file taxes is Monday, May 17th.
Please note the Commission for Economic Opportunity (CEO) located at 165 Amber Ln, Wilkes-Barre or 570-826-0510 is providing the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VIDA) program to help families prepare their taxes at no cost.
Please click HERE to read more from the IRS on the child tax credit.
Luzerne County Head Start, Inc. will be hosting a Covid-19 vaccination clinic, in conjunction with the Wilkes-Barre Health Department. The clinic will take place at our Beekman Street Center on Friday, May 14th from 10am – 12pm. It will be open to any LCHS families, any staff who are interested in being vaccinated, and/or anyone’s family members who are over 18. The Wilkes-Barre Health Department will be using Moderna, therefore the second dose will be administered at our Beekman Street center on June 11th.
If you or a family member over the age of 18 would like to receive the vaccine, please contact your child’s teacher, family worker or family educator to sign up. If you are a staff member, please contact Dawn Smith. You must register by Monday, May 10th.
Head Start children and their families at LCHS’s Nanticoke center painted rocks at home together as part of the center’s Parent Committee project. Each rock has a QR code taped to its backside, which will take you directly to LCHS’s website. The rocks were placed in locations throughout the community.
The children and their families encourage you to spend some time outdoors searching for their painted rocks. If you find one, post it on your Facebook or Instagram page with #LCHSROCKS. You can find more information on this special project by CLICKING HERE.
