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s e r v i n g m i d va l l e y & u p pe r l ac k awa n n a va l l e y thevalleyadvantage.com | oct. 7, 2016
The Homecoming court was announced at Lakeland H.S. |PaGe 7
S-P-A Karate in Peckville promoted several black belts. |PaGe 20
The Throop Booster Club completed its first year of reorganization. |PaGe 24
Gifts of LearninG Local church donates school supplies
by Christopher Cornell ADVAntAGe eDitor
Sometimes it’s the little things that mean the most. For example, Scanton-area school students can get to school every day, but they don’t always have the supplies they need to really succeed in the classroom. That’s where a Dickson City church, inspired by a local college, stepped in to make a difference “The ROCKET Project was started seven years ago by the Lackawanna College registrar’s office,” Jason P. Castelli, executive pastor of ministry development at Parker Hill Church, said. ROCKET stands for Registrar’s Office Connecting Kids with Educational Tools. “They wanted to positively impact their community and came up with a plan to supply backpacks to students. In their first year, they delivered 50 backpacks [to George Bancroft Elementary School in Scranton]. Over recent years, they’ve expanded to three schools, supplying a few hundred.” This year officials at Parker Hill heard about the program and wanted to help. “We wanted to help fuel and further their vision,” Castelli said. “We don’t want to reinvent the wheel but, rather, look for good things that are happening and join in. I had the opportunity to meet with Theresa Scopelliti, the Lackawanna College registrar and ask how we could add to their program.” The church committed to supply 1,000 fully
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stocked backpacks. This year, 450 backpacks were delivered to schools including Bancroft, John Adams Elementary School, John F Kennedy Elementary School, NativityMiguel Scranton, South Scranton Intermediate School and in school districts surrounding Lackawanna College’s satellite centers in Bradford, Luzerne, Susquehanna and Wayne counties. “Since we began the ROCKET Project in 2010, we’ve been able to brighten the backto-school season for a growing number of children and families in our region, Lackawanna College president Mark Volk stated. “Parker Hill Church’s incredible donation shares the heart of that mission with their congregation and allows us both to help our neighbors throughout northeastern Pennsylvania for several school years to come.” “Theresa Scopelliti and her team have done a phenomenal job of coming alongside area schools to be a support network,” Castelli said, noting that the actual deliveries of the donated backpacks were done by the college’s people. “In our culture, many people and organizations tend to be suspect of churches,” he said. “Though we seek to break down those barriers, changing the way people think about church, we felt it was more beneficial to aid an organization that was already doing great work in the community.” But though they weren’t there when the deliveries were made, the volumnteers from Parker Hill got to hear about the reaction from the students. “Mrs. Scopelliti has painted an incredible picture of the joy and gratitude expressed by
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Shown during the backpack delivery are, from left, front, Lackawanna College President Mark Volk; Parker Hill administrative assistant Heidi Marion; Lackawanna College registrar Theresa Scopelliti; Parker Hill pastor Brady Funkhouser, registrar’s office employees Cynthia Cimini, Cynde Mellen, Pat Johns, and Jessica Nepa; Parker Hill administrative assistant Jen Nichols, pastor of ministry development Jason Castelli, and Wilkes-Barre campus pastor Steve Brown.
the students and the administration,” Castelli said. “These are students who often lack the most basic necessities. To them, receiving these school supplies is a thrill. They get their brand new backpack stuffed full of fun supplies that many other students would take for granted.” Castelli said this sort of activity is a reflection of the church’s mission. “We at Parker Hill believe that every person matters to God. We want our com-
munity to see this lived out, not simply by what we teach on a weekend, but how we live and interact with our neighbors daily,” he said. “The ROCKET Program is an incredible project and it wasn’t our idea. Lackawanna College has a huge vision and there are many more students who could benefit from others coming alongside of their efforts.” For more information about their program, visit lackawanna.edu/academics/ office-of-the-registrar.