Each month, Center for Schools and Communities (CSC) releases a short 10-minute video interview titled “Discussions with the Director” during which CSC Director Shileste Overton Morris and a colleague or partner discuss ways that CSC is living its core values of Service to Others, Equity in Action, Passion for Excellence, and Innovation for Growth. The videos elevate CSC’s content expertise and variety of products and services offered. Each discusion focuses on a topic of interest to CSC’s external audiences and highlights how CSC and its affiliated programs are positively impacting the field.
Last month, Shileste met with Maurice Elias, Director of the Social-Emotional and Character Development Lab at Rutgers University. Previous episodes can be viewed on the YouTube channel playlist. The videos are added to the monthly CSC Professional Opportunities Update and promoted on social media
Student Competitions
The second annual E-sports league district championship games were played March 7 at the CSIU bringing together eight teams from Berwick, Bloomsburg, Danville, Montgomery, Selinsgrove, Shamokin, Southern Columbia and Warrior Run. The game is a high-powered hybrid of arcade-style soccer and vehicular mayhem, with easy-to-understand controls and fluid, physics-driven competition played on Playstation, Nintendo Switch, GeForce Now, Xbox One, Mac operating systems, Linux and Microsoft Windows platforms. Two teams of students played five games against each other. Each game lasts about 5 minutes, and the team that scored the best out of five games took the win and moved on as the games were single-elimination events. Check out highlights from the event. Hosted by CSIU and sponsored by Thermo Fisher Scientific, regional elementary and middle school students participated in the K’Nex STEM Challenge on March 30. Eight teams of students participated in the competition where they designed, developed, and implemented a solution to an engineering problem with an environmental challenge. The students were challenged to solve current major environmental issues. The winners in the elementary division were: 1. Danville Area School District; 2. River Valley Nature School; 3. River Valley Nature School. The winners in the Middle School Division were: 1. Midd-West Area School District; 2. River Valley Nature School; 3. Danville Area School District. The first place teams from Danville and Midd-West will advance to the state competition. Winning teams received a trophy representing solar powered recharging stations for electric powered helicopters designed by CMAVTS students.
(Courtesy Matt Jones, The Standard Journal)
CENTRAL SUSQUEHANNA LPN CAREER CENTER OPEN HOUSE
The Standard Journal ran an article highlighting healthcare career pathways offered by the CSIU. The article also discusses the CSIU’s ability to partner with healthcare agencies to provide the 125 hours of instruction and clinical experience required prior to taking the test to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). It explains that the CSIU has become an approved, Credentia Testing site, drawing participants from across the state to the LPN Center for the skills portion of the Nurse Aid Competency Exam. Finally, it reviewed opportunities available through the Supporting Your Needs in Community Healthcare Grant (SYNCH) and invited the community to learn more about programs at the Central Susquehanna LPN Career Center Open House, April 20, 2 - 6 p.m. Staff members would love to see you there!
CSIU Northumberland Area Head Start
Head Start is a free, comprehensive child development program for families with children ages three to five, who are not enrolled in kindergarten, and live in Northumberland County.
Designed to give children a "head start" in school and life, the program promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children.
Children with disabilities are welcome and included in all aspects of the program. In collaboration with CSIU Preschool Early Intervention, identification and specialized services are available.
