|
 |
For Release
The positions were funded by two federal Americorps grants, which are provided directly to VISTA members to cover living expenses. Nicole Cooper of Centereach, N.Y., will serve as AmeriCorps VISTA Community Garden Coordinator/Green Initiative Liaison. She will develop educational programming (nutritional, environmental, entrepreneurial) and events for the children at McGlynn Learning Center, and build community partner relationships revolving around the Wilkes-Barre Community Garden project located near the South Street Bridge. Cooper also will be working at Boulevard Townhomes in collaboration with the Wilkes-Barre Health Department, Penn State Cooperative Extension, and McGlynn Learning Center. She will assist The Green Initiative committees on campus with a variety of on-going sustainability issues. Cooper earned a master’s degree in teaching from Stony Brook University, and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor’s degree from Boston University Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. She has tutored middle school children in mathematics and the sciences. In 2005, she started her own children’s entertainment business, “Sweet Pea the Clown.” Edili Lopez of Hazleton is AmeriCorps VISTA McGowan Hispanic Outreach Program Community Liaison. Her primary responsibility will be to lead high school seniors through a program entitled, “Walking Through the College Admissions Process.” In addition, high school juniors will have weekly sessions in math and literacy enrichment directed by King’s students (math and education majors.) The latter have been chosen through the Shoval Center for Community Engagement and Learning’s Student Leadership Program. She will also organize and coordinate the work of student volunteers who will provide assistance to adult learners in the College’s Plaza Comunitaria Program and tutors at the Flood Elementary School Program. Lopez graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in finance from King’s AACSB internationally accredited William G. McGowan School of Business. Fluent in Spanish, she was named to the College’s Dean’s List and is a member of the Aquinas Society, King’s honor society. An avid volunteer, Lopez participated in numerous SERVE (Students Engaged In Reflective Volunteer Experiences) trips, including service assignments to Monterrey, Mexico, San Salvador, El Salvador, and Maryland. She also served as a peer mentor in the College’s Act 101 program.
Pictured at a welcoming reception at King’s College (from left) are: Bro. George Schmitz, C.S.C., McGowan Hispanic Outreach Program; VISTA member Edili Lopez; Rev. Thomas O’Hara, C.S.C., president; VISTA member Nicole Cooper; and, Leanne Mazurick, director, Office of Volunteer Services. King's College is a Catholic College sponsored by the Congregation of Holy Cross. |
