Members of the Leadership Northeast ‘Wizards of Wonder’ team take a break at the United Way of Wyoming Valley offices on Friday after hauling in about 3,000 books they donated for the United Way’s book drive. Seen here are local high school students: Anna Dorofeeva (Dallas), Mackenzie Hall (Greater Nanticoke Area), Abby Chong (Wyoming Seminary), Matt Sklarosky (Crestwood), Liam Hizynski (Wyoming Area), Abby Miller (Holy Reedeemer), Lauren Ivey (Pittston Area), and Hailey Corey (Lake-Lehman).
Roger DuPuis | Times Leader
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WILKES-BARRE — Friday morning was unseasonably hot, but that was no match for a group of dedicated young people.
Amid temperatures that reached into the 80s before noon, eight local high school students were busy hauling thousands of books into the United Way of Wyoming Valley offices on North Pennsylvania Avenue.
Members of the Leadership Northeast’s Junior Leadership “Wizards of Wonder” team, the students collected more than 3,000 books in just three weeks for the United Way’s book drive to help increase literacy among area youth.
“It blew us away,” said United Way President and CEO Bill Jones.
Kathleen Savage, who serves as advisor for the “Wizards of Wonder,” has been involved in the Junior Leadership since 1999, when her second child went through the program “and just stayed with it. It’s always been very fulfilling.”
“The kids came up with the project,” Savage said of the book collection. “A previous group wanted to do this, but COVID shut them down.”
The United Way’s drive collected 10,000 books in total, which will be sorted starting Tuesday, Jones said. Some will go to a book fair for Wilkes-Barre Area elementary students, others will be distributed directly to young people all over the Wyoming Valley.
“It’s amazing, the work that they did,” Jones said of the Junior Leadership students. They are: Anna Dorofeeva (Dallas), Mackenzie Hall (Greater Nanticoke Area), Abby Chong (Wyoming Seminary), Matt Sklarosky (Crestwood), Liam Hizynski (Wyoming Area), Abby Miller (Holy Reedeemer), Lauren Ivey (Pittston Area), and Hailey Corey (Lake-Lehman).
Promoting youth literacy is the United Way’s signature initiative. As Jones Pointed out, reading proficiency scores among local elementary students took a hit during the pandemic: From 58.79% in 2017-2018 to 37.30% in 2021-2022.
That’s why an effort like this is so vital, Jones said.
