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All of the instructors are volunteers, seniors like the students. Thanks to Susquehanna SeniorNet, a program housed in the James V. Brown Library, these seniors are learning basic skills that will allow them to use the internet, email, word processing and other computer programs.

 

Art Kline, Chairman of Susquehanna SeniorNet’s Advisory Board, says that the program is the only one of its kind in the area. To take similar classes, seniors would have to travel to Harrisburg, the closest community that has a SeniorNet program. Kline says that the program’s students prefer this setting, because the volunteer instructors have all been in the same seats as their students, and can relate to their questions and problems. Classes are tailored to be at a pace that is comfortable for each student.

 

The program began in the late 1990’s, and since then, over 600 seniors have graduated from the program. It is entirely volunteer-run, and the small fees passed on to students cover things like printing the manuals that each student may keep.
Kline says that learning about computers helps seniors in countless ways. Using email brings seniors in touch with family that may live out of town, and access to the internet provides information on health issues. Additionally, the classes help keep seniors socially active, and promote friendships.

 

With grant funding provided by the Foundation, the SeniorNet program was able to purchase new workstations for the classroom, keeping its students up-to-date on today’s computing.

There is so much more we’d like you to know

You can make a difference in the life of a senior in your community. If you would like to help fund innovative educational opportunities for students, the First Community Foundation of Pennsylvania can help. For more information, contact the office at fcfpa@fcfpa.org, (570) 321-1500 or toll free, (866) 901-2372.

 

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Other students are cutting pieces of colored glass to the shape of paper patterns and placing them together to form picture frames and mobiles. The classroom is quiet as students concentrate on their work.

 

The students are taking part in a three-day series of workshops made possible by a grant from the South Williamsport Area School District Foundation, a component fund of the Williamsport-Lycoming Community Foundation. The grant program allows teachers to bring visiting artists and authors to classes in the South Williamsport Area School District to share skills and experiences with students.

 

Teacher Betsy Jones invited artist Deb Parsons to her classroom to share her artistry in glass with high school arts students. Parsons taught a workshop that included glass fusion, a technique in which colored glass is cut, layered, and then fired in a kiln. She also shared her lampworking skills, using a torch to heat glass rods and shape them into beads and other shapes.

 

Jones says that students who participated in the workshops are not the only ones who will benefit. She plans to use the skills that Parsons shared with her during the workshops to offer future students the chance to learn glass fusion and lampworking. This is an educational opportunity that would not otherwise be available to students in the district, but is made possible through a grant from the Foundation.

There is so much more we’d like you to know

You can help bring innovative learning opportunities to students in your community, too. If you would like to help provide students and teachers with new skills through support of educational programs in local schools, the First Community Foundation of Pennsylvania can help. For more information, contact the office at fcfpa@fcfpa.org, (570) 321-1500 or toll free, (866) 901-2372.

 

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The staff at the library had been trying for years to balance children’s programming and materials with resources for adults. With limited space, the collections were practically running into each other. Finding space for the children’s collection of books, plus a kid-sized table with chairs, was an exercise in creativity. Faced with the prospect of running out of space, library officials knew they would need to address this problem in order to serve as many children and adults as possible.

 

The solution the staff and volunteers came up with was a plan to build an addition in the back of the building that would house the children’s collection, and provide space for children’s programming. With help from a grant from the Williamsport-Lycoming Community Foundation, founding affiliate of the First Community Foundation of Pennsylvania, construction of the new wing began in late 2004.
The new space will provide a place for the children’s book collection, as well as an area for the popular story hour. The children will have a place of their own to learn and explore the joys of reading, all because someone cared enough to make a gift to their community foundation.

There is so much more we’d like you to know.

You can make a difference in the life of a child in your community, too. If you would like to help fund new opportunities for children, the First Community Foundation of Pennsylvania can help. For more information, contact the office at fcfpa@fcfpa.org , (570) 321-1500 or toll free, (866) 901-2372.

 

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