District leaders held assemblies to teach students about gangs<\/a>, attended meetings<\/a> and sought ways to connect with students.<\/p>\n The MMA program has become one of the most popular options in the district.<\/p>\n \u201cThe best thing is we’re giving them after-school activities that will keep them with us and not on the streets,\u201d said Al O\u2019Donnell, assistant superintendent for student support services and community relations. \u201cIt’s a great thing to help all our kids and give them alternatives than hanging out on street corners and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n The district reminds students that participating is a privilege. If they don\u2019t follow the rules in school, they can\u2019t go to MMA.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the kids are behaving better in school, because this is something they look forward to doing,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said. \u201cIt’s super important for them to belong, to be part of the school community.\u201d<\/p>\n Students also develop relationships with law enforcement volunteers from the district attorney\u2019s office and Pennsylvania State Police. <\/p>\n \n 1 of 2 Members of law enforcement regularly volunteer with the Scranton School District MMA program.<\/p>\n Aimee Dilger \/ WVIA News <\/p>\n \n 2 of 2 A state trooper congratulates one of the competitors after leaving the mat. <\/p>\n Aimee Dilger \/ WVIA News <\/p>\n The district plans to continue the program in the fall, and Gallagher hopes to add new art and music programs to attract more students.<\/p>\n \u201cThe model works for anything. Not everyone wants to get sweaty on a wrestling mat,\u201d he said, laughing.<\/p>\n Friends and sportsmanship<\/p>\n Friends Eden Kania, from South, and Amanda Maldonado, from West, tried to take one another down. Eden won, but their friendship survived. <\/p>\n Eden Kania and Conrad O’Connor clap for other students competing. <\/p>\n Merhon Subba, a seventh grader from South, said having the MMA program makes him want to attend school.<\/p>\n \u201cI got to make new friends while doing this,\u201d he said. \u201cThe best part is being able to compete.\u201d<\/p>\n Conrad O\u2019Connor won his match, but the bout had left his opponent in tears. The fifth grader from South immediately comforted the other student.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to win, but I don’t want to injure someone,\u201d Conrad said. \u201cSo when I saw that he was crying, I was just making sure he was alright.\u201d<\/p>\n He stayed after school each Thursday for MMA practice. He woke up excited to go to school those days.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing part of something for my school… I just appreciate it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The students lined up in the gymnasium, ready to fight their peers. Family members cheered from the bleachers.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-191631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a005122026_MMA024.jpg\n <\/p>\n
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a005122026_MMA009.jpg\n <\/p>\n![\"Eden](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778710629_908_.jpeg\"\/)
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