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Accreditation, tradition, innovation stressed at TCMC’s State of the College address

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Video captures knife-wielding, costumed man breaking front porch window in Wilkes-Barre

WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Wilkes-Barre Area school psychologist Jenn Welgosh is on maternity leave, but that didn&#8217;t stop her from touting the school district&#8217;s upcoming Harvest Festival, now in its fifth year.&#8220;We have a few new agencies coming,&#8221; Welgosh said of the community outreach event slated for this Thursday at GAR Memorial High School. &#8220;The state police will be there, the United Way will be there with Dolly Parton Imagination Library.&#8221;That would be the literacy program launched by the country music icon which provides books to children under 5. But it&#8217;s just one of many community agencies that will have representatives at the event, which, as always, features free turkey dinners to the first 300 people, along with snacks, games and music for all.&#8220;This year we&#8217;re trying to emphasize that the Wilkes-Barre health department will be giving out free immunizations&#8221; at the festival, Welgosh said.With considerable district support, Welgosh and fellow school psychologist Beth Anne Owens launched the Harvest Festival in 2011 through a then-new initiative called F.A.C.E.S of Wilkes-Barre, short for Family And Community Enrichment Services.The goal has always been to be more proactive in seeing to the mental health and wellness of students, connecting families with the services or support they may need. The Harvest Festival has become the biggest annual event of F.A.C.E.S. While they don&#8217;t count heads, Welgosh said that &#8220;every year it seems like a thousand people, give or take a few, come.While free food, games and music are the lure, the festival will include representatives from Children&#8217;s Service Center, the Wilkes-Barre Police and Fire Departments, Wyoming Valley Drug and Alcohol, the Commission on Economic Opportunity, the Children&#8217;s Youth Center, Domestic Violence, Victims Resource Center, First Hospital, The Bridge, and Volunteers of America, to name a few.While it is a School District event, the festival is open to all. This year it will run from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Mark Guydishmguydish@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre Area to host fifth annual Harvest Festival