Solanco townlively.com
MAY 15, 2024
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LXI • NO 4
OWA takes the creek to the streets BY FRANCINE FULTON
A day in the life of a state senator BY ADRIAN ESCHENWALD
were able to have discussions with committees of kids from schools all over the district.” One of the main goals of the Senator for a Day program is to provide students who are taking Advanced Placement government and civics courses with hands-on experience that will come in handy if they choose to pursue a career in politics. The program also includes several discussion topics that are relevant to students of any career interest and their learning environment. Among the legislative topics discussed by student com m i t te e s t hi s ye a r we re disciplinary action for bullying that occurs off campus, seat belt regulations for school buses and drug testing requirements for welfare recipients. Students also discussed the Clean Streams Law, a law written to prevent pollution and regulate me tho ds o f waste dis p os al across Pennsylvania. For more information about Senator for a Day, visit https:// senatorscottmar tinpa .com/ senator-for-a-day.
See OWA pg 7
At North Market, Samaritan Center is opening up to the community BY JEFF FALK
New isn’t necessarily improved; bigger isn’t necessarily better. But when the topic is mental health services, more is almost always desirable. Samaritan Center is expanding its counseling services. It’s a move intended to provide more hope for a healthier, happier and better-adjusted community. “We know that counseling works, that it improves lives,”
said Steve Schedler, executive director of Samaritan Center. “For many, it’s a game-changer. What people come in with is very diverse, but there are some common threads. Counseling can give people a different way of thinking and navigating emotions and how they handle relationships. There are also these positive examples of people growing.” At the beginning of April, Samaritan Center opened a See Samaritan Center pg 2
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f you walk into any school in Pennsylvania, you’ll likely find at least one class in which students are learning about the government, including the state government. Nearly every student in the United States has an opportunity to learn about his or her respective state capitol and the legislative process that occurs within it. Various state politicians, such as Sen. Scott Martin, offer students a real-life look at what happens behind the scenes via interactive educational programs at the Capitol. On April 4, groups of high- schoolers from across Pe n n s y l va n i a S t ate S e n ate District 13 traveled to Harrisburg for Martin’s Senator for a Day program. The program invites juniors and seniors to learn about state senators’ legislative duties from the senators themselves, and it takes place in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Upon students’ arrival, Martin gave a presentation to introduce the program and to provide
an overview of the senatorial process. After the presentation, visitors entered the room where representatives hold their legislative meetings. The students were then divided into various committees and given bills to review before holding a mock session, during which members of the Senate acted as lobbyists and worked with the kids. This year, a group of Solanco High School students joined aspiring senators from across District 13 to participate in hands-on activities with actual state senators, including debate prompts and various discussion topics. During the mock legislative session, the students discussed their respective committee’s goals and wrote amendments as they sought to pass a bill. Each committee assigned one of its members the task of presenting a bill on the Senate floor. “It’s such a valuable experience for students to get to learn in a real-life setting,” said Solanco High School teacher Michael Hammel, who supervised the group’s trip to Harrisburg. “They
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Students participated in mock legislative sessions with state senators during their visit to the Capitol.
Members of the Octoraro Watershed Association (OWA) took the organization’s mission of educating the public about the Octorara Creek on the road by taking part in Oxford’s First Friday program. During the event, OWA members displayed a live touch tank in which Rollo Rossetti displays the identification visitors could view chart of benthic (stream bottom) a sampling of mac- macroinvertebrates. The samples were collected by roinvertebrates that were found in the creek. This year’s display OWA president Chotty Sprenkle included crayfish, crane f ly several days before the event. “I larvae, hellgrammites, caddisfly took a small net and went into cases and dragonfly nymphs. the Octorara Creek and some In addition, attendees were of the feeder streams, lifted up able to make rubbings of raised rocks and collected them,” she paper images of other types of stated. “I like to get a good quantity (to display).” She added that macroinvertebrates.