|
The Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center · 201 North Findley Street · Punxsutawney, PA 15767 · (814) 938-1000 · info@weatherdiscovery.org
Recent News from the Weather CenterCommunity reps show students, families that Punxsy's a good summer hangoutThursday, May 24, 2007http://Marsha Lavelle of the Punxsutawney Spirit PUNXSUTAWNEY - So you think there's not much for kids to do in Punxsutawney during the summer? Active residents have been showing elementary students that there are a lot of interesting and fun things to do when school is out. This week, teachers, parents, students and several representatives from area recreational and educational facilities got together for "Summer In Our Community and Lunch with Your Child," an event geared toward pointing out the many opportunities for children in Punxsutawney while school is out. Parents also get the chance to eat lunch with their kids. The program, which continues throughout this week, begins with a tour of the Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center (PWDC), which eventually includes all of the Punxsutawney elementary-level students, after which they return to their respective schools and meet guest speakers who discuss various summertime activities. After the speakers' presentations, students have lunch with their parents. "It's a Title I parent involvement program," Joyce Cooper, elementary principal, said. "We thought this was a good way to have parents spend time with their children and have lunch with them." Tuesday at Jenks Hill in a program coordinated by head teacher Diann Monoskey, kindergarten and first-grade students returned from their field trip at the Weather Center to listen to Betty Highlands of the Punxsutawney Area Historical and Genealogical Society, who discussed what the organization offers children through the summer months. "Basically, we just want them to know about all that we do for children," she said. The Society offers children's workshops; fine arts classes; tours of the Bennis House and Lattimer House by appointment; marionette workshops; and tours and workshops, also by appointment, for Boy and Girl Scouts. "We're also doing field trips," such as one recently presented for a group of DuBois students who toured the museum and the Lattimer House and saw various points of interest about Woodland Indians; leather-working; antiques and vintage clothing and more, Highlands said. Near the end of Highlands' presentation, one student raised his hand to say, "This sounds great." The students then heard from representatives from both of Punxsutawney's community swimming pools. Kathy Curtis-Blose of the Punxsutawney Area Middle School Pool, and Adam Smelko, co-manager of the George C. Brown Community Pool, informed students about the schedules and the cost of swimming at their respective pools. Curtis-Blose said there will be swimming lessons for children five and older, and a district swim league is in the works. Smelko added that the George C. Brown Community Pool will do a lot of fun things this year, such as noodle races and water melon races. "We're going to try to do them at least once a week," he said. Monoskey also discussed the summer reading program at the Punxsutawney Memorial Library. "It's a wonderful program for summer," she said. "My kids were involved in it when they were young." Kindergarten teacher Mary Kay Fedigan added that the summer reading program includes summer activities that help prepare students for first grade. |