High notes
Lackawanna County 4-H food and nutrition members recently competed in the regional 4-H Food Challenge Contest in Carbon County.
Junior team members include Emily Bartell, Lindsey Bartell, Lauren Bartell and Erin Bartell, all of Clarks Summit.
Members who competed in the Senior Division include Anna Flowers, Abby Adamsky and Emma Adamsky, all Clarks Summit; and Charlotte Rozenburg, Factoryville.
The junior team placed second and the senior team placed first in their region among 53 4-H members from across the state who competed in the new contest.
The challenge is modeled after the television show “Chopped.” The members cooked a dish from designated products and a limited pantry and had to have nutrition and cost comparison knowledge for their presentation.
4-H food and nutrition program is sponsored by Penn State Extension. For more details, about the 4-H program or to volunteer, contact the extension office at 570-963-6842.
Super students
Senior Ian Gratkowski is taking on the lead role in the Dunmore High School Crimson Company production of “The Great Cell Phone Catastrophe” beginning Thursday.
The play is a funny drama about a group of friends who have to make do without their cellphones, discovering their relationships with themselves, each other and the world, according to Dunmore. Ian is playing Lenny, a funny and always hungry nerd who adds comedic relief to the production.
“I would encourage the community to come out and see it as it serves as a night out with the family for enjoyment and laughter,” he said.
Ian has been a member of the drama club and an actor in the plays for the past four years. He is the club’s vice president.
Ian enjoys acting because “you get to share the stage with some amazing people and explore a talent that you otherwise never would have experienced.”
Ian, who hopes to become a forensic scientist in the future, is also president of the Book Club, a member of the soccer team, French club and National Honor Society.
The Crimson Company will perform “The Great Cell Phone Catastrophe” Thursday to Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Dunmore High School Auditorium. Tickets are $10 for adults; $8 for students/seniors; and $5 for children under five.
Pen pals
Fifth graders in Melissa Raniella’s Language Arts class at Lakeland’s Mayfield Elementary were overjoyed when they received responses from their pen pals from Maryville, Tennessee.
The students: Mason Christopher, Christian Miller, Olivia Wade, William Kucharski, TJ Kopa, Talia Depoti, Kyle Lorenzetti, Tori Wormuth, Kaitlyn McAllister, Eliana Rogari, Rileigh McGowan, Gabriella Nelson, Cameron Gomes, Riley Bevan, Shawn Markey, Shea Smith, Jake McHale, Hunter Smallcombe and Elijah Boguski, practiced writing personal letters and also discussed what they were learning in their mutual reading series: “Wit and Wisdom.”