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High achievers awarded at State Street Elementarty School

Trevor Woodruff resigns from Misericordia University, taking over at University of Scranton

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Like the great migrations of birds, butterflies and salmon, college students return each year to their campuses.</p><p>That process began Thursday with college students at King&#8217;s College, Wilkes University and Misericordia University all lugging furniture, clothes and other necessities into new living quarters on campus.</p><p>All three local private institutions are reporting high numbers for enrollment and they are sporting new buildings, programs and features.</p><p>A main part of the process is orientation, when students learn about their campus and their new town. Upper class members are there to guide new students and to help them learn where the good place are to go and where to shy away from.</p><p>For instance, Luis Cruz and Carlos Lebron, employees of Norms Kutt-N-Up at North and North Main streets, were passing out cards to students with the hope of landing some business.</p><p><strong>Scene at King&#8217;s</strong></p><p>Biji George of the Washington, D.C. area, had just finished getting her daughter, Celyna Jackson, an 18-year-old psychology major at King&#8217;s, moved into her dorm in Essef Hall. Biji&#8217;s mom, Mary George, also helped out.</p><p>George was happy to hear that there is a mayoral candidate with the same last name &#8212; former city police chief Tony George &#8212; is the Democratic candidate in November.</p><p>Celyna chose King&#8217;s based on her visit to the campus.</p><p>&#8220;I found the community here to be great,&#8221; Celyna said. &#8220;Everybody was very friendly and welcoming.&#8221;</p><p>Celyna said she doesn&#8217;t know any other students at King&#8217;s, but she is looking forward to making new friends.</p><p>Orientation is not just for dormitory students. Incoming freshman commuters need to familiarize themselves with their new school.</p><p>Francesca Trottini and Madison Hindmarsh, both 18 and residents of Wyoming Borough, said they were on campus to find their classrooms and to get a feel for the college.</p><p>&#8220;This will be our home away from home for the next four years,&#8221; Hindmarsh said. &#8220;Even though we live close by, we&#8217;re not really familiar with the King&#8217;s campus or downtown Wilkes-Barre.&#8221;</p><p>Hindmarsh will major in biology and Trottini will major in criminal justice.</p><p>&#8220;I chose King&#8217;s for its programs and because it&#8217;s close to home,&#8221; Trottini said.</p><p>John McAndrew, spokesman for King;s, said the college is welcoming 515 first-year students &#8212; the highest amount since 2011. Overall full-time undergraduate enrollment is 1,800 students &#8212; approximately equal to last year.</p><p>There are no new buildings to open this year, but last year King&#8217;s on the Square debuted and O&#8217;Hara Hall was also a recent addition.</p><p>&#8220;King&#8217;s is excited to welcome one of its largest and also one of its most academically gifted classes in recent memory,&#8221; said Corry Unis, Vice President for Enrollment Management. &#8220;In addition to students from Northeastern Pennsylvania, King&#8217;s also welcomed students from a dozen other states.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Marking 83rd year</strong></p><p>New students will begin moving into the Wilkes campus Friday, marking the 83rd academic year for the university.</p><p>Wilkes University Provost and Executive Vice President Anne Skleder said, &#8220;We are excited to welcome our new and returning students through our new campus Gateway and into the classroom. This talented and diverse first-year class includes students from around the corner and across the globe, including students from our new honors program and 24 new international students. Wilkes&#8217; faculty and staff are energized by the opportunity to educate the largest undergraduate student body in campus history.&#8221;</p><p>According to Wilkes spokeswoman Vicki Mayk, when classes start on Monday, an estimated 2,240 full- and part-time undergraduate students will be enrolled.</p><p>Wilkes students and faculty returning for the new academic year also will find the largest number of residential students to live on-campus in university history, with 1,083 in residence halls. The number puts the Wilkes at 98 percent of the 1,097-student capacity in on-campus housing.</p><p>Students are returning to a campus that has been transformed by the new Campus Gateway. The $1 million project has created a 14-foot-wide, well-lit pedestrian walkway from South Main Street, across South Franklin Street and into the center of the Wilkes campus on the Fenner Quadrangle.</p><p>Other new additions to campus include updated and new dining options under a university food service contract with new provider Aramark.</p><p>These include a Which Wich sandwich shop in the Henry Student Center &#8212; the first of its kind in Pennsylvania &#8212; and Greens to Go and a P.O.D. convenience store added to Stark Learning Center. The addition of a full Starbucks store in the University Center on Main is planned for the spring semester.</p><p><strong>Misericordia</strong></p><p>Mackenzie Wise, of Montoursville, and Taylor Harnish, of Lancaster, had plenty of support from their families and the campus community during First-Year Student Move-In Day on Thursday at Misericordia University in Dallas Township.</p><p>Harnish, a student in the six-and-a-half-year Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, and Wise, a psychology major, are two of 440 first-year students who were welcomed to the campus as part of the second largest first-year class in the 91-year history of the institution of higher education.</p><p>With the new first-year students, Misericordia will have about 3,100 undergraduate and graduate students in full- and part-time academic programs for the fall semester.</p><p>&#8220;I visited the campus and really liked the design of the PT program, knowing that I could finish in six-and-a-half years without having to reapply,&#8221; Harnish said. &#8220;I know some graduates and only heard good things about the program.&#8221;</p><p>Wise said she had been to Misericordia to visit a cousin who was a student on campus and really liked the look and feel of it.</p><p>&#8220;I love the fact that it is a small campus and everyone is so friendly. It also has a great reputation for its academic programs,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Misericordia University received 1,955 applications for the first-year class, which hails from 12 states including Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and Pennsylvania. The university has 980 students living in residence halls and town homes on the upper and lower campuses.</p><p>&#8220;This is an exciting time for our first-year students and their families, as they enter another important phase in their lives,&#8217;&#8217; said President Thomas J. Botzman. &#8220;At Misericordia, we also are on a mission as our academic community fosters intellectual curiosity, critical thinking and respect for people in an environment where all are welcome.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">King&#8217;s College students wait for the elevators inside one of the dorm as students started moving back in Thursday morning. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL082815collegestudents1.jpg</photo0><caption0>King&#8217;s College students wait for the elevators inside one of the dorm as students started moving back in Thursday morning. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL082815collegestudents2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">King&#8217;s College students started moving back into their dorms Thursday morning in anticipation of a new academic year. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_TTL082815collegestudents2.jpg</photo1><caption1>King&#8217;s College students started moving back into their dorms Thursday morning in anticipation of a new academic year. </caption1><photoCredit1>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Bill O&#8217;Boyle</p><p>boboyle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Bill O&#8217;Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Move-in day marks the return of students to Luzerne County’s 3 private colleges