Good job!
Teens take a beating in the media these days. Many call this generation underachievers and slackers. They are criticized for being obsessed with social media and not concerned about the well-being of others in their communities.
But the reality is much different. Most students are kind, compassionate human beings. Some recent stories in the Mon Valley 蘑菇视频 confirm that observation.
Take students in the Charleroi School District School who recently participated in the borough’s annual cleanup day. The students included Life Skills and National Honor students.
They picked up garbage and planted flowers in concrete flower beds throughout downtown Charleroi.
“The kids were looking forward to it,” said Susie Schaum, an aide in the Life Skills classroom. “It’s a chance for them to spend time outdoors doing something good. They want to make it look good. They’re proud of their accomplishments.”
Team Charleroi member Casey Clark applauded the collaboration between the community and the school district.
“It’s nice that they come down and give the borough a fresh clean summer look, and the kids do a good job,” Clark said.
Then there was the recent Arbor Day gathering at Monessen High School. Kindergarten students along with high school seniors joined together for an ornamental tree planting.
“It was great to bring smiles to the kids’ faces, and bring the two generations together,” MHS senior Dillon Shash said after the tree planting pulled together by the Monessen City School District and Monessen Education Reform Group.
“It’s great,” Monessen High School/Middle School Principal Eric J. Manko said. “We’re trying to build the interaction and connection between the older students and our younger students.”
“We just want to do something nice for the kids,” Monessen senior Justice Rice said. “To try to be role models.”
And finally, there were the 150 students from Bethlehem-Center Middle School who got a chance to help replenish Pennsylvania’s brook trout population and safeguard the state’s environment during a field trip to Ten Mile Creek County Park.
The field trip was part of the Pennsylvania Trout in the Classroom program, a statewide initiative for students in grades 3-12. It helps students learn about cold water conservation while raising brook trout from eggs to fingerlings in a classroom aquarium.
During the outing, state Rep. Bud Cook, R-Coal Center, joined the students at Ten Mile Creek County Park near Clarksville, where they stocked 110 fingerlings into the water, along with more than 100 fully grown fish that were purchased by the Marianna Outdoorsmen Association.
Cook said he was proud of how the area’s young people pulled together to make the field trip such a huge success.
“It’s great to see so many youth taking ownership in cleanup projects such as this one,” he said. “They are helping to pick up litter and trash along roadsides, streams, parks, forests and neighborhoods. That’s a positive reflection on our communities.”
Indeed, the students participating in all these programs are to be commended for their hard work Certainly, this is only a snapshot of such activities which we know are taking place on a frequent basis both here and across the nation.
Criticizing teens is nothing new. It’s probably been going on since civilization started. People always fear anything new or different. But older residents of the Mid-Mon Valley can rest assured that the future is in good hands with the students of today. As shown by these stories, the students are committed to making the Mid-Mon Valley and the world a better place for everyone.