Wilkes University President Greg Cant, right, crouches next to SHINE after school students to watch a video they made thanking those who help the after school program succeed. State Rep. Alec Ryncavage stands to to the left. They joined others at Lee Park Elementary in Hanover Township Tuesday to announce that AT&T was donating 100 laptop computers and $30,000 to SHINE.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
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SHINE after school program Executive Director Carol Nichols holds a novelty check representing $30,000 donated by AT&T, along with 100 laptop computers, during an announcement at Hanover Area School District’s Lee Park Elementary Sunday. Left of her is Wilkes University President Greg Cant, right is AT&T Pennsylvania President David Kerr. Students Amaya Holmes, left, and Journee Booker hold laptops while Lylah Rivera holds a poster.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
SHINE after school students Kyara Lopez and Anastasia Bryant smile while waiting at Lee Park Elementary School in Hanover Township for an announcement that will benefit them and fellow students in the program: AT&T donated $30,000 and 100 laptops to make a learning program accessible to more of them.
Mark Guydish | Times Leader
HANOVER TWP. — It may have been an opportunity for politicians and educators to tout the SHINE after-school program, but the grins of happy students gathered in a classroom at Hanover Area’s Lee Elementary school stole the show Tuesday.
They all gathered to announce a gift to the program from AT&T: $30,000 and 100 laptop computers. Some of the students got to demonstrate one of the main programs being used in SHINE: Dream Box, a “game-based, intuitive” computer program that, according to a Harvard study, substantially increases student academic success in math and reading. SHINE executive Director Carol Nicholas said the program has worked well but not enough students have had access because “we didn’t have enough computers.”
The donation will give more students access to Dream Box and other programs — including AT&T’s own online program, The Achievery — both when they are in one of the nine Luzerne County schools hosting SHINE and when they are at home. “We work in what I call the third learning space,” Nicholas said, “after school but before they go home.”
AT&T Pennsylvania Director David Kerr noted the company is building a state-of-the-art fiber network in Northeast Pennsylvania, and the company’s goal for 140 years has always been connecting people. The donations will help the students learn how to succeed in a world of rapidly changing technology, he said. “It’s about future jobs.”
Wilkes University President Greg Cant praised the donations and said “the reason you’re here is that you are going to change the world.” Wilkes has been the academic home of SHINE since it was brought to Luzerne County through a mix of public and private funding.
When “a bunch of you come to Wilkes University someday,” Cant added, evoking chuckles, “this is the beginning.”
State Sen. Lisa Baker, R-Lehman Township, and State Rep. Alec Ryncavage, R-Plymouth, also offered comments.
Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish
