Johnson College students donated 154 gifts for children in Scranton’s Headstart programs.

The Radiologic Technology Department held their Fall Clinical Instructor meeting. The members all work for area hospitals. The group meets twice a year to help learn from each other and share the latest news in the field of Radiologic Technology.

PENNDOT RELEASE  – Dec. 4, 2013 (UPDATED 12/5/13 at 1:35PM)

Main Avenue on-ramp to I-81 North IS NOW CLOSED until spring of 2014.  

Normally, PennDOT would avoid closing this area during the Christmas shopping season; however, this traffic switch is weather dependent, due to the painting of the lines and repaving of the ramp.  If the work is not done prior to the freezing temperatures of the winter season, the entire project will be placed on hold until spring.  Essentially, a three week delay on this end, causes a three month delay on the completion date.

This work is part of a two-year, $30 million project that will take place between Exit 188 (Dunmore/Throop) and Exit 194 (Clarks Summit) and will consist of the following:

Rehabilitation of a five-span steel bridge over the Lackawanna River;

• Rehabilitation of a single-span steel bridge over Main Avenue;
• Paving, drainage, guiderail and other safety improvements from Dunmore to Clarks Summit; and
• Removing a portion of the rock slope to increase its distance from the highway just north of Exit 191B (Scranton Expressway).

The work is slated to finish in the fall of 2014.

Johnson College Architectural Drafting and Design Technology students from the class of 2013 came together to design the new facade of a building on Scranton’s Courthouse Square. The Lackawanna Blind Association’s headquarters needed a facelift and asked for designs to be submitted.  “The Board was delighted with the designs the Johnson College students submitted,” said Karl F. Pfeiffenberger, Board Chairman of the Lackawanna Blind Association. Mr. Pfeiffenberger is also a 1987 Johnson College Alumnus and helped create the partnership. He adds, “The project gives the Lackawanna Blind Association building prominence among the improved structures on the court house square.”

Johnson College Architectural Drafting and Design Technology Department Chairperson John DeAngelis explained how the project came together. “The students each created their own design first and submitted them to the association. They came back with what they liked best from each design and we then created one final design using pieces of each one. It was a real team effort.” The Lackawanna Blind Association finished the work over the summer. Alumni from the Class of 2013 came back to see the finished work this past week. “It’s great to see the final project,” says Brittany Hancock ’13.

Johnson College does one drafting project each school year for a community organization. The class of 2014 is currently working on the new redesign for a small public park on Hill Street in Jessup. Mr. DeAngelis adds, “It’s moving to see us improve the look of the neighborhoods that we live in one project at a time.”

Johnson College Carpentry & Cabinetmaking Technology students built tables and chairs for the Children’s Advocacy Center’s new teen center in Scranton. The bright blue adirondack chairs and picnic benches were hand crafted by the students. They hoped the soft color and simple designs would give comfort to visitors. Johnson College students also built and painted the signature pink door that greets visitors at the Children’s Advocacy Center’s main offices on Mulberry Street.

Johnson College students are once again doing what they can to feed those in need this Thanksgiving. Lynn Krushinski of Johnson College says, “Students have been collecting food on campus for United Neighborhood Centers for more than 30 years.”

New for 2013, Johnson College partnered with WNEP-TV’s Feed-a-Friend and kicked off the event with Ryan Leckey live on campus. The response this year was overwhelming because bigger collection boxes were used that accumulated more donations. “Every box on campus was filled to the top,” says Tim Robinson, Marketing Manager, “Not just light boxes of stuffing, but nearly a ton of very heavy canned goods. We had to divide them into smaller boxes so they could be carried.”

A pick-up truck with overflowing boxes was loaded up at the College on Monday and delivered to United Neighborhood Centers in Scranton, a collection point for WNEP-TV’s Feed-a-Friend in Lackawanna County.

The contributed donations come at a time of high unemployment rates and greater demand on area food banks. “People are starving,” says Johnson College student Brian Kavanaugh who is a member of the College’s “Social Force” club that helped organize and manage the event. He adds, “It’s great to know we had such a strong outpouring of generosity from our students who we know are having trouble making ends meet themselves. We know a few fellow classmates that are on the receiving end of these donations. We’re just happy we can help.”

This Thanksgiving more than 800 pounds of medical supplies and equipment are headed to medical relief efforts overseas from Johnson College in Scranton.

The supplies include surgical gowns, shoe covers, latex gloves, mobile blood pressure units and countless bandages and gauze pads. “We put to use all donations we receive, but over the summer we received such an outpouring of generosity from our industry partners that we were overwhelmed,” says Melissa Cencetti, the Department Chair of the Physical Therapist Assistant program at Johnson. The largest part of the donations was valued at nearly $18,000 and came from VaxServe in Scranton, a Sanofi Pasteur company, which is a national healthcare supplier.  The supplies were distributed among Johnson College’s Health Sciences Division including Radiologic Technology, Veterinary Technology, and the Physical Therapist Assistant programs, and are being put to good use. However, there were still hundreds of cases of supplies that the College could not use and decided to donate to another organization that could.

Mr. Tim Robinson, Marketing Manager at the College, made a connection with Samaritan’s Purse in North Carolina, which is an international humanitarian aid organization. Samaritan’s Purse paid to have all the supplies picked up and shipped to their distribution center at their headquarters. There, the supplies will be redistributed to medical clinics and hospitals all around the world wherever there is a need. Their current mission is sending supplies to typhoon victims in the Philippines. Chris Johnston from Samaritan’s Purse says, “Last year more than $10 million of critically needed equipment and supplies were sent to medical facilities in more than 60 nations.”

The surplus supplies filled three pallets, weighed nearly 850 pounds and has a retail value of more than $4,000. “We’re thankful not only for the extreme generosity that we received from our industry partners, but that we could pay it forward,” says Ms. Cencetti, “It’s great to know that every last piece of this generosity will benefit people that truly need it.”

For more information on Samaritan’s Purse visit them at http://www.samaritan.org/

Johnson College Veterinary Technology students are getting lessons on how to teach service dogs new tricks.

Susquehanna Service Dogs trains dogs to assist people with disabilities. The dogs are often raised with their trainers before being placed.

Meg Irizarry is a volunteer dog trainer and shares, “We try and match dogs to individuals based on their needs. We take the dogs to meet their possible new owners and see if that dog can help improve their lives and make them more independent.”

Johnson College students watched as a yellow lab named Freckle was taught how to turn on a light switch through the use of “shaping” –  where a “clicker” noise maker and positive reinforcement of a doggy treat are used together in repetition to slowly teach the dog how to complete the task. “We typically use labs because they respond very well to shaping,” says Mrs. Irizarry, “Also, labs are known to be a stomach on legs!  They love treats and respond very well to this type of training.”

If you’d like more information on Susquehanna Service Dogs, you can read their blog at http://susquehannaservicedogs.blogspot.com/ or contact them through Keystone Human Services at 717-599-5920 or by email at ssd@keystonehumanservices.org.

To learn more about Johnson College’s Veterinary Technology program, go here or see our2013 commercial here.

Johnson College will begin offering compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel systems to its transportation division students, in both the diesel and automotive programs, starting in 2014. Johnson College co-hosted an event with Cabot Oil & Gas about the expanded use of CNG in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Here are highlights from the event, including remarks from George Stark from Cabot Oil & Gas, Dr. Ann L Pipinski, President & CEO of Johnson College, Andy Douglas, National Sales Manager for Kenworth Trucking, Dave Spigelmyer, President of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, Pennsylvania State Senator John Blake, (D) 22^nd District,  and E. Christopher Abruzzo, Acting Secretary of PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

CLICK HERE TO WATCH HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE EVENT