Latest news with #Peduto
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Yahoo
Pinwheels prompting awareness in Luzerne County
LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. One local organization continues to help kids in need and raise awareness. Hundreds of pinwheels are being placed across Luzerne County to raise awareness for child abuse. It's something officials say is happening in our own backyards. Planting pinwheels for prevention. Ahead of national child abuse prevention month, the Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center is getting the word out about child abuse. It's an issue center leaders say continues to grow. 'In Luzerne County alone there were over 3,000 reports to ChildLine of abuse cases in Luzerne County and out of that we saw almost 500 of them. So each year the numbers are going up for the children who need our help,' explained Shannon Peduto, executive director, Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center. The pinwheels planted at the Luzerne County Courthouse and Hazleton City Hall serve as a reminder of these children. 'We ask that when you're driving by the courthouse in Wilkes-Barre or City Hall in Hazleton, that you picture one child standing in the place of every pinwheel, and that's how many children in our county need help because of child abuse each year,' said Peduto. Community organizations, leaders, and local law enforcement who work with the center joined the initiative. 'Events like this are so important in raising awareness within the community for everyone to be vigilant and to give child victims a voice in order to protect children and protect our community,' stated Tony Ross, first assistant district attorney, Luzerne County The Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center is a standalone nonprofit, and they provide services for families free of charge. This means support from the community is crucial in helping them keep their doors open. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Teachers Ascend Program: Drop into W.Va., stay a while -- teach a while
Mar. 27—For years, the mantra of attracting people to the Mountain State for work went along the following lines. It's a script, as it turns out, hasn't really changed much — even over years of stereotypes, stagnant economy, and other particulars of perception. Just come here. Pay us a visit. Check us out. Once you actually meet us, you'll love us (trust us). In Monongalia County Schools these days, all of the above is currently playing out this school year. Multiplied by five. During its regular meeting of the Board of Education on Tuesday, the district formally introduced a quintet of teachers who have decided to live in the Mountain State and work in Mon's school district. Say hello to Andrew Calandrelli, Andrea Mulligan, Nicole Radick, Maria Vito and Jessica Willis. The five are participants in "Teachers Ascend into West Virginia, " a program created in 2022 by WVU, the West Virginia Public Education Collaborative and the West Virginia Department of Education as a way to answer teacher shortages across the state. Across the Mountain State's 55 public school districts that year, there were 1, 200 job openings in classrooms — that weren't filled. When it came time for the pilot program, the collaborative's executive director Donna Hoylman Peduto, who grew up in neighboring Marion County and began her career in education as a teacher and reading specialist in her native Fairmont, knew right where to look, she said. That would be north-central West Virginia, she said. With one county and one district, in particular, she said. "This is a program that was taking a chance, " she told the BOE. "Mon County is the home of innovation. Whenever there's something innovative, a little risk-taking, always go to Mon County first." The program offers a $6, 000 stipend and additional support of up to $4, 050 in additional tuition opportunities through WVU's College of Applied Human Sciences, the university reported earlier. There's also a wealth of outdoor recreation opportunities, Peduto said, and the program will even line up summer employment to help beginning teachers with young families to support. Peduto appreciates the geography encompassed by the program so far, she added. Calandrelli, who is on the math faculty at Morgantown High School, moved from St. Louis for his position. Mulligan hails from Ebensburg, Pa., and landed at South Middle, to teach music. Radick got to her fifth-grade classroom at Skyview Elementary by way of Richmond, Va. Vito motored down Interstate 79 from Bentleyville, Pa., to Morgantown for her physical education teaching appointment at North Elementary. Willis left a teaching job in the Pittsburgh area to join the special education faculty at Cheat Lake Elementary. There's also the boomerang, ex-pat factor. Calandrelli and Radick are WVU graduates. Eddie Campbell Jr., the Mon Schools superintendent, knows all about that. Campbell, who came back to his native West Virginia after teaching and serving in administrative posts in northern Virginia, Alaska and China, gave the five As for initiative and advancement. "You've chosen a wonderful district and a wonderful state to teach in, and we'll work real hard to make sure you stay here, " he said. Mulligan, the South Middle music teacher, quickly picked up on West Virginia's welcoming song, she told board members. Her kids were grown and out of the house, she said. Her husband had a job opportunity, and they moved here not really knowing anyone, she said. "Everything was new, " she said. "My school has been very welcoming, and it has been a wonderful way to get to know the people."
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Yahoo
Sponsor a pinwheel for child abuse prevention awareness
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Child abuse is an alarming issue happening across our nation and one non-profit is working toward raising awareness about it happening in our area. A pinwheel signifies childhood joy and playfulness but the blue one being held by Shannon Peduto represents child abuse prevention. 'Every year in Luzerne County, there are over 3,000 reports of child abuse happening in our community, so it's very important that we keep our doors open so we are here to help these children and these families.' Peduto is the Executive Director of the Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center in Wilkes-Barre. The non-profit has held a 'pinwheels for prevention' event annually – placing hundreds of pinwheels in the county to show the upward trend of child abuse. Paper plant alerts 100+ employees of closure '500 of these pinwheels will be planted at City Hall Hazleton and at the Luzerne County courthouse lawn next month, signifying 500 children who disclosed abuse.' . . . 'The sooner that we can get in and help the intervention early, we can turn a child's life around from what they experienced. Abuse is usually happening over years, not just one incident.' Operating for more than a decade, the non-profit gets called in to conduct forensic interviews and medical examinations if necessary to identify abuse. Work that's at no cost for families. That's why Peduto says they're in need of sponsors and community donors to keep its doors open. 'We want to make sure that we're here 10 years from now, 20 years from now because child abuse has only been increasing and we're trying to stop that. That is the mission of our center to help these children, but to stop generational abuse.' As April marks child abuse prevention month she says the most important thing the community can do is address the issue that's happening in our own backyard. 'It is very important, we tell people all the time, if you see something happening, please say something because you could save the life of a child.' The Luzerne County Child Advocacy Center's Pinwheels for Prevention event will take place on March 28th in Hazleton and Wilkes-Barre. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
