Abington Heights
Three Abington Heights students were selected as semifinalists for the 58th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.
Paul Cheng, Maitri Pancholy and Sarah Parkinson are among the 16,000 students who qualified as semifinalists.
The three now have a chance to compete for the 8,300 National Merit Scholarships handed out in the spring.
An estimated 1.5 million juniors nationwide entered the program by taking he 2011 PSAT, according to the National Merit Scholarship Corp. website.
miorfino@timesshamrock.com
Blue Ridge
During Club Day at Blue Ridge, two seventh-grade students used glue and glitter to decorate their memories.
Emily Haley and Sierah Guzy are part of the school's scrapbooking club. During flex period, the girls creatively organize and decorate their memories with markers, stickers and paste. Emily and Sierah use their scrapbooks as a place to keep their cherished photos.
Sierah says she enjoys the activity because, "There is a lot of space to scrapbook and you can have your own theme. It's also fun to hang out with friends."
Emily says her favorite part of the scrapbooking club is, "That you can do your own kind of things and have the freedom to be creative."
Emily uses her free time outside of school to scrapbook as well. She also likes to play her Wii and enjoys the outdoors.
When Sierah closes her scrapbook, she rides horses, plays softball and participates in Winterguard.
kbolus@timesshamrock.com
Carbondale Area
Madison Algayer is already involved in the Spanish club, drama club and student council, and now she has another organization to add to her high school résumé.
She was selected as a 2012 Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership seminar representative. Each year, the leadership conferences for sophomores are held across the country and in Canada. Two students from each site are selected to then attend the World Leadership conference.
"I'm ecstatic that my teachers selected me to be the HOBY representative for my class," Madison said. "The effort that I put into my classes has paid off, and I would like to be able to bring back to my classmates all that I learn at the conference."
rbrown@timesshamrock.com
Delaware Valley
Junior Jeremy Block is a member of the National Honor Society, chamber choir, computer graphics, drama, Broadcast Delval and student council.
"Being involved in after-school activities has given me a different view on time and how to participate so I can balance the workload," he said.
Jeremy also finds time to volunteer for the local food pantry and is active with the Boy Scouts, working on his Eagle Scout project. In addition, he produced an independent film, which was viewed at the Black Bear Film Festival.
lzaccagnino@ timesshamrock.com
Dunmore
Seventh-grader Lauren Brown devotes lots of her time to projects with the Friends of Rachel club, which challenges students to do random acts of kindness.
Aimed at creating a friendlier environment with hopes of eliminating bullying, the Dunmore Middle School group has welcomed new students to school by decorating their lockers, showing them around the school and making sure they have other students to socialize with during lunch.
Having organized many of the club's events, Lauren said they send a positive message to fellow students.
"It makes me feel good about myself, and I smile seeing other kids in school smile," she said.
Lauren has also worked on a related project of decorating posters with encouraging messages and sending them to other area schools.
rward@timesshamrock.com
Elk Lake
Clark Fuller, a senior, recently attained the rank of Eagle Scout.
He has been active in the Boy Scouts for about seven years and spent five years in the Cub Scouts.
"My little brother and I are caretakers of the Dimock Cemetery. The shed that's been there for more than 50 years needed to be replaced. It was just big enough to keep a push mower. There was also no lock," Clark said. With additional help from his uncle and Nicholson Lumber Co., he designed a new shed at a new location, which is big enough to fit a riding lawnmower.
He plays soccer and plans on being involved in sports again this spring. Clark plans on furthering his education at Pennsylvania College of Technology.
lzaccagnino@ timesshamrock.com
Forest City
Around the holidays, it's nice to send greeting cards to friends and loved ones, an idea that senior Ruth Pauswinski recognized this year.
For her senior project, she made more than 100 cards for residents of local nursing homes to send to others.
"I decided that it would be a nice idea to make greeting cards for them so they could stay in touch with their families," she said.
Her cards were decorated seasonally and for any time of year, so the residents can use them year-round.
"I think it will be really nice to see their faces to see how happy they get when they get the cards," Ruth said.
After graduation, she plans to attend Lackawanna College and study pastry arts.
rbrown@timesshamrock.com
Holy Cross
Holy Cross High School senior Morgan Evans' passion for performing arts may lead to a career in theater.
Dancing since she was 4 years old, Morgan also began singing at a young age. She said she has always enjoyed performing.
In high school, she participates in the drama club, show choir and a cappella club and dances with Ballet Theatre of Scranton.
With a three-way passion for dancing, acting and singing, Morgan plans to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City after graduation.
As for a career path, she hopes to perform in theater.
"I'd really like to be in 'A Chorus Line' and 'West Side Story,'â" she said.
rward@timesshamrock.com
Lackawanna Trail
As a member of her school's Interact club, Nicole Martin has an interest in what's going on in her community.
After hearing of the limited food supply at community shelters, the junior organized a canned-food drive for Dalton United Methodist Church.
"We do fundraisers to help the community, and this one was pretty successful," she said. "I love it because these people really need all the help they can get."
Nicole is also a member of the school's volleyball and track teams.
miorfino@timesshamrock.com
Mid Valley
The day Jessica Kasper was born was pretty notable in her family.
"I'm a triplet, so my mom always used to tell me how exciting it was when me and my two brothers arrived," the eighth-grader explained.
She used the story to inspire a poem that took home top honors at the local level of the PTA Reflections competition for literature. Her family has also helped her prepare in another way.
"I don't really get nervous, because growing up with a family with a lot of people, I compete a lot," she said. "I work really hard in everything I do."
Also at the competition, Noelle Arcaro won a silver medal at council level for literature.
rbrown@timesshamrock.com
Montrose
Ashlynn Cobb put her language skills to the test while on a trip to London and Paris.
Ashlynn and fellow French students toured the two European cities as part of a club trip. The Francophile was able to test out her French language skills in Paris and enjoy the Parisian culture.
"I really like traveling and speaking French, and this was one place I could go to speak the language," Ashlynn said. "It is different when you are here and think you are doing great. When you go there, you realize there is so much to learn."
The Montrose senior has aspirations to dual-major in linguistics and Russian and minor in international relations next year.
kbolus@timesshamrock.com
Mountain View
The gifted class at Mountain View took a field trip to Keystone College to attend Young Authors Day.
One student, Lena Penny, was awarded a book after her "piece of advice" was most enjoyed by featured children's author and Keystone alumna Suzanne Fisher Staples.
Aside from Ms. Staples, children's author and illustrator Robert Bender was on hand to give the children some tips for illustrating. Lena learned how to draw animals with simple figures.
Lena, who is in sixth grade, enjoys drawing, is also a member of Drama Club and plays softball and soccer.
kbolus@timesshamrock.com
North Pocono
Superior spelling skills have earned two North Pocono High School students trips to Washington, D.C.
Blake Bauman and Boleslaw Ruszowski placed third and fifth, respectively, at the National History Bee at Wyoming Valley West High School in November. They were among other North Pocono history club members who participated in the competition.
Blake and Boleslaw will advance in the spring to participate in the national competition held in Washington, D.C.
rward@timesshamrock.com
Scranton
West Scranton Intermediate student Hannah Yarros has been accepted to the Oxford Prep program at the Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford, this summer.
The eighth-grader will spend nearly a month in England, taking courses, meeting students from around the world and going on numerous field trips around the country.
shofius@timesshamrock.com
Scranton Prep
Junior Emily Hanlon helps prepare and serve dinners at Church of the Good Shepherd on two Sundays a month.
The hot meals are free to anyone who needs one.
"You feel rewarded after doing it," she said. "It gives you a different outlook."
Prep music teacher Kathy Elgaway helps run the dinners at the Green Ridge church.
"I thought it would be a good opportunity to help out in my community," Emily said.
At Prep, Emily is also a varsity basketball cheerleader, a softball player and member of the Prep Players.
shofius@timesshamrock.com
Susquehanna Community
Rhiannon Potter was selected as Scholastic News Kids Press Corps' newest journalist.
The sixth-grader was chosen by Scholastic News Kids to cover hard-hitting news for the online and print editions of Scholastic News. The application process was very competitive but Rhiannon was one of 50 students nationwide selected to cover real stories.
She is also involved in Tae Kwan Do and youth soccer and plays the trumpet in the Junior Saber Band.
When Rhiannon isn't penning her latest article, she is a Cadette Girl Scout with Troop 159. She received high honors at school, enjoys math and science, and one day hopes to teach both subjects.
kbolus@timesshamrock.com
Valley View
While many students were thinking about the gifts they would receive, junior Gina Coccetti had another idea.
She and classmate Alexa Feduchak represented the Valley View Leo Club and purchased toys and Christmas gifts to help out the Friends of the Poor.
"I was so happy to help out those in need," Gina said. "It was special to be able to help others have a great Christmas."
Gina is also involved in Art Club, Red Cross, National Honor Society, softball and Vivace choir.
rbrown@timesshamrock.com
Wallenpaupack Area
A tradition at Wallenpaupack North Primary School for years has been the first- and second-grade students writing letters to Santa, which are answered by high school students.
The primary-schoolers love the responses they get from Santa's "elves," with such names as Twinkle, Snowflake, Sparkle, Jingles and Cinnamon. Many of the high-schoolers remember how thrilled they were to receive responses to their letters when they were younger, and now get a chance to relive it.
"I was so excited to receive my letter from Santa in first grade," sophomore John Pillar said. "I couldn't wait to take it home and show my parents. I still have my letter written nine years ago."
Wayne Highlands
Tanner Gillow and his classmates are only in first grade, but Santa Claus may need to tip his hat to them.
He and several other first-graders at Stourbridge Primary Center went on a shopping spree, buying holiday gifts for other area children, thanks to a grant from the Wayne County Community Foundation.
"We had fun and we made somebody happy this Christmas," Tanner said.
In addition to learning the value of giving to others, the first graders also walked away savvier shoppers.
jkohut@timesshamrock.com
Western Wayne
Sixth-grade student and 4-H club member Victoria Petrosky knows her breads, jellies and jams.
Victoria displayed her accomplishments in those categories, along with sewing, at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.
Receiving honors in the competition for the third consecutive year, Victoria placed second for her sewing sampler and her banana bread; won first-place for her potato buns and a Best of Show for the second consecutive year for her display of strawberry, grape, blueberry and plum jam and jellies.
She hopes to eventually run her own business, a "Jam and Dresses" shop where customers can enjoy her homemade jams while they sit and discuss the design of the dress they would like her to make for them.
rward@timesshamrock.com