Wallenpaupack aids St. Francis
Wallenpaupack Area National Junior Honor Society Sandy relief committee members brought school supplies to St. Francis de Sales Catholic School. The teens traveled to Rockaway, N.Y., to deliver the items that had been collected at their middle school to St. Francis, which was flooded and damaged during Superstorm Sandy.
"While in Rockaway, the committee members were given a small tour by Marianne Caruso, a teacher at St. Francis de Sales, whom the committee had been in contact with prior to the trip," Steven Coutts said. "The committee members were shown damage, such as destroyed houses and empty lots where houses once stood, as well as houses along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean that had holes in them because of the storm."
Steven reports that "the collected supplies were able to fill the back of Marianne's car and were a big help to getting the school back on its feet."
The trip gave students a new perspective on storm cleanup, particularly after a destructive storm like Sandy, he added.
"My view on cleaning changed significantly. I thought it wasn't very hard, but when I saw Rockaway, I realized how difficult it really is," Tanner Badoud said.
Along with Tanner and Steven, trip members included Jamie Brunette, Hailey DeMarinis, Kristen Denniston, Jessica Nistad and Sheila Whitman.
Super students
Christopher Canyon Donnelly, a chemistry major in the class of 2015 at Colgate University, has been named a Dana Scholar in recognition of superior academic achievement as well as demonstrated leadership in the campus community. Christopher, from West Pittston, is a graduate of Scranton Preparatory School. ... Elizabeth Heness of Pittston was among the Kutztown University students honored at an annual Academic Achievement Awards ceremony. Elizabeth, a senior geology and environmental science major, received a Gold Chambliss Student Academic Achievement Award 2013 for successfully completed research projects on Salton Sea fish taxonomy. In 2012, Elizabeth received one of four best poster awards at the national meeting of the Geological Society of America in Charlotte, N.C. She plans to attend graduate school to earn a master's degree in geology.
High notes
Austin Burke, president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, was presented with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree from Keystone College President Dr. Edward G. Boehm Jr. after he served as speaker during the 2013 All-College Honors Convocation at the Theatre in Brooks.