The school based programs ended in the Wilkes-Barre Office last week and what a school year we had. We started the year with about 20 matches left from last year. With so many of the Bigs graduating high school and college, the matches closed. With outstanding teamwork, we ended the school year with approximately 53 matches, what a turn around. This year was what they call in the major leagues, a “rebuilding” year. Now we know how the Philadelphia Eagles feel….. just kidding!
In addition to the turn around with the number of matches we also added two new schools this year. We added Boyd Dodson School on Tuesday’s in the Wilkes-Barre Area School District and Main Street School on Thursday’s in the Wyoming Valley West School District. We now offer programs at four schools, on four different days in two school districts. A special thanks goes out to all the mentors who were patient with us while we worked out the last minute details to get the new programs up and running. With new programs getting kids can be a challenge at first, until our reputation gets out and then we end up with a waiting list.
During the school year, we had a special visit from Ryan Lannon, defenseman with the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins. He was able to sneak away for about an hour on a Monday and meet with the matches at Dan Flood School. He talked about his journey from a youth growing up in Massachusetts playing hockey to being a rising star for our very own Penguins. Thanks Ryan for taking the time to speak with us. You won over quite a few new fans with your presentation!
In closing our thanks goes out to all of the schools who hosted us for the school year, the casework staff, mentors, families and most of all the kids for another awesome year. For those Bigs who are not going to be with us next year because of schedule conflicts or graduations, you know who you are and you will be greatly missed!
Pictures from the school-based programs can be found on the website at http://www.bbbswb.org under Photo Gallery.
