Junior Leadership Wilkes-Barre honors Class of 2021

WILKES-BARRE — In front of a group of students who she referred to as a “small but mighty team,” Junior Leadership Wilkes-Barre executive director Lori Nocito congratulated and honored the Junior Leadership Class of 2021 to kick off Wednesday evening’s graduation ceremony, held at the F.M. Kirby Center.

“Tonight, we celebrate our newest stars,” Nocito said. “And we couldn’t be prouder of the work you’ve all accomplished.”

This year’s Junior Leadership class, numbering 63 students from 17 different area high schools, managed to complete a number of Community Impact Projects despite all of the past year’s challenges and hardships.

A theme among the students who spoke during Wednesday’s ceremony was clear: the experience turned total strangers into lifelong friends — even if, for some students, it wasn’t an easy start.

“I was so nervous the morning of orientation that I decided I wasn’t going,” said Avery McNulty, a Scranton Prep student who, along with fellow Prep student William Vinsko and Wyoming Area student Kayla Barber, were tasked with explaining the Junior Leadership experience to the crowd, consisting of friends and family. “But I’m so glad I did, because this was a wonderful program.”

Each community project was introduced by master of ceremonies Katie Fitzgerald, a Holy Redeemer student and fellow member of the Junior Leadership Class of 2021.

For each project, the students who worked and completed the project were invited onstage to discuss what their project was about, who it benefited and what they learned along the way.

The projects included:

• High Schoolers vs. Hunger, which benefited the Weinberg Northeast Regional Food Bank;

• Friends for Adoption, benefiting Luzerne County Children and Youth;

• Crafting Chronicles, benefiting local libraries;

• Fueled By Food, benefiting the Food Dignity Project;

• Head Start Heroes; benefiting Luzerne County Head Start;

• Flower Power, benefiting the Greater Pittston YMCA;

• Operation Duffle Bag, benefiting Brandon’s Forever Home;

• Raising For Ronald, benefiting the Ronald McDonald House; and

• Team Jared, benefiting the Janet Weis Pediatric Unit at Geisinger Wyoming Valley.

The two-hour ceremony concluded with the presenting of graduation certificates by program director Jessica Cronauer, allowing each graduate to walk across the Kirby stage and be recognized for the incredible amount of hard work they put in over the year.

Wednesday’s guest speaker was Dr. Lauren Hazzouri of Hazzouri Psychology, renowned in her field and also the proud parent of Ava Hazzouri, a member of the Class of 2021.

Hazzouri touched a lot on the idea of social responsibility vs. charity, the idea that this year’s graduating class felt compelled to join Junior Leadership not for the boost on their college applications, but for the good of the community.

“We don’t want to be a second-rate version of somebody else,” Hazzouri said.

“This is all about being 100% authentically you.”