Abington Heights
Abington Heights High School recognized senior Maeve Piasecki as a student of the month, an honor awarded through faculty and staff nomination and vote. School officials say she exemplifies the PBIS pillars through her sustained leadership and commitment to Unified Sports.
They say Maeve has made a significant impact in both bocce and track, serving as an athlete and a team manager. She approaches each role with equal intensity and purpose, demonstrating a deep sense of ownership and accountability. Staff consistently note Maeve’s reliability and the trust she builds with coaches and peers.
Her work extends beyond participation. Maeve actively supports coaches and ensures that all students feel included and prepared. She contributes to a culture where every participant is valued, reinforcing a strong sense of community across Unified programs.
School officials say Maeve’s leadership is defined by action. She leads through consistent effort, attention to others and a clear commitment to the success of the entire team. They say Maeve’s contributions strengthen Unified Sports and set a standard for what student leadership should look like at Abington Heights High School.
“It is amazing and grateful to be nominated,” she said. “I enjoy spreading the word about inclusion and getting the all the students’ voices heard.”
Maeve, who plans to attend Commonwealth University-Bloomsburg to study speech and language pathology, also participates in Aevidum, National Honor Society and Transition Team.
Blue Ridge
Bristol Herbert, Blue Ridge (Submitted)
Sixth grader Bristol Herbert won the American Legion Auxiliary essay contest with her writing about Americanism, which was inspired by soldiers and veterans. As a result, she had the honor of laying a wreath at the tomb of George and Martha Washington while visiting Mount Vernon during a recent four-day field trip to Washington, D.C.
The trip, sponsored by Creative Adventures for Education, allows sixth graders in the district to tour monuments, museums and numerous other attractions in the nation’s capital. Participants also got a full tour of the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg and met state Rep. Jonathan Fritz, R-111, Honesdale.
On the experience of reading her essay and laying the wreath, Bristol said, “I was scared at first because I don’t like being in front of people, but when I was done everyone was clapping. I felt like I had the honor to do a lot. It felt good because I have never done something that big before.”
Outside of school, she keeps busy with dance at Shining Lights Dance Studio in New Milford, where she takes tap, acrobatics, lyrical, contemporary, ballet and jazz, performing in solo, duet and group dances. Bristol also helps teach ballet to 4-year-olds. She is a member of Born to Show 4-H, raising and showing lambs, and helping to care for other farm animals. She especially loves her family dogs and cats.
Bristol plays basketball for Blue Ridge Basketball Club, is a member of student council and recently attended the PASC Region H Conference at Wyoming Valley West High School.
After high school, she aspires to be a livestock judge and work at her parents’ store, New Milford Hardware, where she hopes to one day start a greenhouse.
Carbondale Area
Olivia Lawler, Carbondale Area (SUBMITTED)
Senior Olivia Lawler is a Tec Bridge Essay competition finalist and has advanced to the next round of competition. Her essay was on renewable energy and solar panels.
“I am incredibly honored to have received this award, and I am excited to see where this opportunity takes me,” Olivia said.
Her activities include president of student council/class of 2026, president of future teachers club and vice president of National Honor Society.
Olivia will attend the University of Scranton for her undergraduate degree with hopes of becoming a corporate lawyer.
Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County
Noah Marbert, Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County (Submitted)
Zoey Wiktorek, Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County (Submitted)
Caterina Brazen, Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County (Submitted)
Janiya Jones, Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County (Submitted)
Katherina Elston, Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County (Submitted)
Noor Ghazanfar, Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County (Submitted)
Kiara Perez, Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County (Submitted)
Jerelyn Morales, Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County (Submitted)
Brianna Snyder, Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County (Submitted)
The following seniors have all passed the Pennsylvania State Board of Cosmetology exam and are all licensed professional cosmetologists: Caterina Brazen, who attends Valley View High School; Katherina Elston, who attends Western Wayne High School; Noor Ghazanfar, who attends Abington Heights High School; Janiya Jones, Kiara Perez and Zoey Wiktorek, who all attend West Scranton High School; Noah Marbert, who attends Mid Valley Secondary Center; Jerelyn Morales, who attends Scranton High School, and Brianna Snyder, who attends North Pocono High School.
Several students are working in local salons. The senior quote is, “Trust yourself, you know more than you think you do.”
Delaware Valley
Julianna Hopper, Delaware Valley (SUBMITTED)
Senior Julianna Hopper is a member of the National Honor Society, president of drama club and is ranked in the top 25 of her class.
“It has been a positive force that allows me to work on skills such as responsibility, kindness, as well as confidence,” she said.
Julianna’s activities include drama, National Honor Society, Rho Kappa, Reading Olympics and Science Olympiad.
She plans to attend Penn State Main Campus for geology.
Dunmore
Members of the high school’s student council attended the Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils Region H Conference at Wyoming Valley West High School. Region H includes Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties.
The Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils develops and elevates leaders by providing opportunities, training, networking, civic engagement, recognition and resources necessary for students and advisers to engage in their schools, communities and world.
Students included were: Santino Nicastro, Robert Ciccotti, Mya Harrity and Reagan Kearney, grade 12; Will Bonin, Ryan Clark, Tazrian Aronno and Eli Dougherty, grade 11; Saran Joiya, Katelyn Henry and Lizzie Mendola, grade 10; and Aubrey Mizenko, Peyton Ancherani and Will Healey, grade 9.
Elk Lake
Kiara Seiss, Elk Lake (SUBMITTED)
Kiara Seiss is a senior who moved into the district at the beginning of the year, a difficult transition initially. At this point Kiara has made school district an extension of herself. She participates in her art classes and has had several of her pieces displayed throughout the building.
Kiara volunteers in several businesses throughout the community through the High School Transition Program. This experience has helped her develop future goals to continue volunteering and working toward gaining skills to enter the workforce eventually. Kiara willingly helps other students who may need help in the classroom. She also shows pride in accomplishing her goal to graduate and is an example of an Elk Lake Warrior — relentless, school officials said.
“I am proud of succeeding in all my classes and making the honor roll,” she said.
Kiara also volunteers at Lucky Dog Grooming and Pet Supply.
She plans on continuing at Lucky Dog and working her way to getting a job there.
Forest City Regional
Ashley Winans, Forest City Regional (SUBMITTED)
Ashley Winans, grade 12, along with Jeremiah Sosa, worked the school concession stand for girls volleyball in fall 2025 for her senior project. Ashley and Jeremiah sold food and drinks for the athletic program.
“I like talking to little kids at the concession stand,” Ashley said.
Her activities include produce market volunteer, Red Cross blood drive, drama club and the Browndale Fire Department.
Ashley plans to attend a certified nursing assistant course and work as a CNA full time after graduation.
Mid Valley
Archilles Tampang, Mid Valley (SUBMITTED)
Junior Archilles Tampang will be starting a co-op at Hesser Nissan, demonstrating that he has shown a mastery of his automotive coursework at CTC.
“It’s very exciting to be able to go on co-op. I knew that my friends in the program and I would all get this opportunity, but it’s cool to know that I am the first one that it’s worked out for in just my junior year,” he said.
Archilles is a student in the automotive program at CTC and plays steel pans band through Mid Valley
He plans on becoming an aviation maintenance technician to work on airplanes.
North Pocono
Madison Hance, North Pocono (SUBMITTED)
Over the course of four years, Madison Hance has achieved high honors nearly every quarter, taken nine AP classes and has placed in the top 10% of her class.
She took both Latin II and III during her junior year in order to take AP Latin her senior year. She has participated in the Dead Language Society, where she was the first person in the school to earn a perfect score and gold medal on the National Latin Exam in her sophomore year and earned gold medals in her junior and senior years. She is one of the senior leaders in the Dead Language Society as well as an executive officer in the period club. She is also a member of the Friends of Animals club, Mathletes and the National Honor Society.
Outside of school, she took an intro to criminal justice class at the University of Scranton and volunteered at Headstart in the school during study halls in 10th and 11th grades.
Madison will be going to college for psychology and hopes to obtain a doctorate in psychology in the future.
Old Forge
Kali Notari, Old Forge (SUBMITTED)
Fifth grader Kali Notari was one of the students in fifth grade to receive Devil Pride Student for the month of March.
“I felt excited when my name was called to receive the Devil Pride Award,” she said. “My teachers recognized me for being kind to my classmates, helping my teachers when needed and achieving good grades in class. I want to thank my teachers for nominating me. I am going to miss fifth grade but looking forward to going to sixth grade next year.”
Kali believes students should “work hard to receive good grades.”
Her activities include dance, cheer and softball.
Riverside
Liam Bowman, Riverside (SUBMITTED)
Liam Bowman, a third grader, is looking forward to this year’s science fair at his school.
“I’m testing which of my four designed paper airplanes go the farthest,” Liam said.
The annual science fair is scheduled for May 1 from 6-7 p.m. at Riverside Elementary East School. Experiments created by students will be on display and demonstrated for visitors to see. “I can’t wait to demonstrate my experiment, and hope my hypothesis is correct,” Liam added.
Scranton Preparatory School
Dominic Wilson, Scranton Preparatory School (Submitted)
Freshman Dominic Wilson earned a perfect score on the National Latin Exam.
“I am honored to have the privilege at Prep to take the National Latin Exam and incredibly grateful to my friends and teachers, who believed in me and helped me throughout the entire process,” he said.
Dominic, who plans to study and become a classics professor after high school, participates in theater and tennis, and is a member of the creative writing, book and park conservation clubs.
Valley View
Eli Mitchell, Valley View (SUBMITTED)
Eli Mitchell has been selected as senior of the month in computer science.
“I am very grateful for this award as computer science hits close to home for me,” he said. “I’ve always been interested in learning about new technology. I also plan on working with computers in the future so it means a lot and motivates me to continue working hard in this field.”
In addition to working hard in school, Eli works at Texas Roadhouse. In his free time, he enjoys fishing, hiking and expressing his creativity through making music.
After graduation, he plans to attend a four-year college to study cybersecurity or information technology, with hopes of attending Marywood University or the University of Pittsburgh.
Wallenpaupack Area
Ashlie Janowicz, Wallenpaupack Area (Submitted)
Wallenpaupack South Elementary School fifth grader Ashlie Janowicz is in her second year as part of the Youth Volleyball League of NEPA.
When asked what her favorite part about volleyball is, she replied, “It’s very fun and my favorite part is spiking the ball. Also, I love that I’ve made a lot of new friends.”
Ashlie also participates in ballet, cheer, basketball and chorus. She is part of the school’s drama club and news team, and she has participated in the Reading Relay and the Red Ribbon Run. Ashlie was also selected as a Good Citizen for February of this year.
Wayne Highlands
Parker Rubino, Wayne Highlands (Submitted)
Damascus School eighth grader Parker Rubino participated in the Supervisor for a Day program with the Damascus Twp. Supervisors on March 16. Other students invited to attend included Kaylie Diehl, Matthew Spaulding and Michael DeVrieze.
Parker said he enjoyed visiting all of the different businesses in the community, with his favorite stop being Calkins Creamery.
“I would like to visit the creamery again because they were really nice to us and taught us how to make cheese,” he said. “It was genuinely a fun experience.”
Parker also said he was happy to be selected for the program because it is his last year at the school.
He enjoys playing chess, fishing, and helping his grandfather with yard work and jobs around the house. After high school, Parker would like to become a welder or work in a job where he gets to be outside.
Western Wayne
Luke Maldonado, Western Wayne (Submitted)
Robert D. Wilson Elementary School second grader Luke Maldonado was nominated as a top student by his teachers because of his hard work and willingness to help in the classroom.
Asked how he felt about his nomination, Luke said, “Happy!”
When at home, Luke likes to play with his dog, Olivia. When she gives him her paw, he gives her a treat. Luke said he wants to be a firefighter when he grows up.