NANTICOKE — Luzerne County Community College’s new Career & Technology Academy dispels the myth that students gifted in skilled trades don’t have a path to college, LCCC President John Yudichak said Wednesday.

LCCC officially launched the LCCC Career & Technology Academy — an unprecedented educational partnership between the college and the region’s three Career and Technical Centers (CTCs) — Hazleton Area Career Center, Wilkes-Barre Area Career & Technical Center and West Side Career & Technical Center.

Yudichak said the new academy was made possible through a $1 million Dual Credit Innovation Grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education and $150,000 in private scholarship support.

“The Academy allows high school students to earn college credits — free of charge — while completing their CTC programs,” Yudichak said. “The initiative aims to transform workforce development in Northeastern Pennsylvania by creating accessible, affordable and high-impact educational pathways for students pursuing skilled trades.”

Yudichak said the Career & Technology Academy will empower more than 2,000 CTC students across Luzerne County to earn post-secondary credentials while still in high school.

“It’s a bold, necessary innovation that will transform our regional economy and individual lives,” Yudichak said.

The Academy’s first class includes 27 students who attended LCCC this spring at no cost, thanks to the generous $100,000 William Rinaldi Career & Technology Academy Scholarship and the $50,000 Joseph Yudichak Career Pathway Scholarship provided through the Luzerne Foundation.

Local entrepreneur William Rinaldi, who Yudichak called “a key donor and visionary partner,” was honored for his contributions.

“Bill recognized the value of LCCC as a workforce development epicenter,” Yudichak said. “His generosity ensures that our students have every opportunity to succeed.”

Rinaldi said, “The best way to help someone is to assist them in finding the right path to success. And I am always willing to help them.”

A regional partnership with statewide implications

Dr. Thomas Duffy, chief administrator of West Side CTC, praised the collaborative model.

“This is a first-of-its-kind partnership,” Duffy said. “By centralizing resources and leveraging the strengths of all three CTCs with LCCC, we’re creating unprecedented opportunities for our students.”

Dr. Anthony Guariglia, administrative director at Wilkes-Barre Area CTC, highlighted the real-world confidence this model provides.

“Students get to transition to college-level courses with their peers and build on skills they’ve already mastered,” Guariglia said. “It gives them the confidence to succeed in college and beyond.”

Dr. Brian Uplinger, Hazleton Area superintendent, pointed out how the program relieves capacity issues at overcrowded CTCs.

“We have limited seats,” Uplinger said. “This program opens up opportunities for more students to participate in CTC training by moving some students to LCCC.”

Dr. Graceann Platukus, LCCC vice president of enrollment management, underscored the rising demand.

“Parents and students are looking for affordable, fast-tracked routes into trades,” Platukus said. “This program answers that call.”

LCCC’s academic affairs vice president, Dr. Russ Bigus, emphasized the broader impact.

“This program gives high schoolers the chance to gain experience, confidence, and even meet future employers while still in high school,” Bigus said.

Jocelyn Sterenchock, CAN DO’s Director of Economic Development, added, “To be 18 years old and graduate with a diploma in one hand and a job offer in the other is exactly what we should be striving for.”

State support for a new model of workforce education

The $1 million state grant will fund tuition, upgrade LCCC’s Advanced Technology Center, and expand lab space for high-demand programs like welding, HVAC, and electrical technology.

“Pennsylvania needs more skilled workers with college credentials,” Yudichak said. “Thanks to Gov. Josh Shapiro, the Department of Education, and our legislators, we’re ready to deliver.

“At LCCC, community is in our name, in our mission, and in our heart. The Career & Technology Academy is a model of what higher education and workforce development should be — accessible, innovative and focused on student success.”

In his welcoming address on Wednesday, Yudichak said LCCC’s Career & Technology Academy will deliver a first-of-its-kind opportunity for students in the region’s career and technical high schools to earn a post-secondary credential or college degree while they are still in high school.

“Empowering local CTC students to earn a post-secondary credential or a college degree will change the financial trajectory of individual lives, and it will transform our regional economy by meeting the growing workforce demands for skilled workers in the high-demand career fields of technology, energy and the construction trades,” Yudichak said.

“The Pennsylvania Department of Education has identified a workforce credential gap of more than 12,500 workers in the skilled trades and called on institutions of higher education to partner with CTC high schools to develop a 21st-century skilled, educated workforce.”

John Naldony, training director for IBEW Local 163, and Bill Feist, president of J&E Sheetmetal, spoke in support of the new program

“With the insight of business leaders like Bill Feist and leaders in organized labor, like John Naldony, it is clear to me that the creation of LCCC Career & Technology is a necessary and essential innovation in higher education. Pennsylvania needs more skilled trade workers,” Yudichak said.

The U.S. U-20 Women’s National Team dominated host Costa Rica in a 4-0 win, taking first place in its third and final Group A match at the 2025 Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship.

The USA qualified for the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup by winning its first two games in Group A, and this match was just for semifinal seeding. With the win, the USA takes the top spot in the group and will play Group B runner-up Canada on June 6 for a berth to the title game (11:30 a.m. ET on FS2). Group B winner Mexico will face Costa Rica in the other semifinal.

The match was played in steady rain on a somewhat sloppy field, but the young Americans still kept the pressure on Las Ticas for the entire match. U.S. head coach Carrie Kveton made eight changes to the starting XI from the USA’s 3-1 victory over Puerto Rico on June 1 in the second match of the tournament, after making nine changes between the first two matches. Forward Chloe Ricketts and defenders Abby Mills and team captain Katie Scott were the holdovers in today’s starting lineup from the second game.

It took the USA 23 minutes to breach the Costa Rica back line. The game-winning goal came when Angel City FC midfielder Kennedy Fuller played UNC midfielder Linda Ullmark behind the defense with a well-weighted pass into the penalty box. Ullmark held off her defender and slotted it home into the left corner from eight yards out for her second goal of the tournament. It marked Fuller’s fourth assist of the tournament, a team-high.

A physical Costa Rica side, playing in front of the home crowd, was definitely up for the fight, but the USA outshot the Central Americans, 19-4, for the match and 8-1 in shots on goal.

The USA doubled the lead in the 60th minute off a goal from halftime substitute Mary Long, her third of the tournament. Ullmark played a nice pass to Dallas Trinity midfielder Sealy Strawn into the right side of the box, drawing the goalkeeper and a defender. Strawn then dished an entirely unselfish pass across the goal mouth on the ground for an easy tap-in for Long. It was the Kansas City Current forward’s third goal of the tournament after scoring twice in the last game against Puerto Rico. 

The USA made it 3-0 in the 65th minute off a corner kick from the left side that was taken by Fuller. Long rose to head the ball on frame, but it was blocked on the goal line by Costa Rica’s Sheika Scott. Notre Dame midfielder Grace Restovitch then crashed the goal and blocked the attempted clearance with her midsection before smashing the ball into the net from the one-inch line for her first goal of the tournament.

Costa Rica just needed to avoid a 5-0 defeat to finish second in the group, qualify for the World Cup and advance to the semifinals, so the remainder of the game featured a home side content to not take too many chances in the attack while defending their hearts out.

Fuller surely drew cheers from the Puerto Rican team watching from their hotel when she scored a fourth in the 87th minute, blasting her shot off the hands of Costa Rica goalkeeper Alondra Iriarte and into the left side of the net from just outside the penalty area. It was Fuller’s second score of the tournament.

Fortunately for Las Ticas, who had to sweat out seven minutes of stoppage time, the game ended 4-0 and Costa Rica qualified for the World Cup by the slimmest of margins. Costa Rica tied Group A third-place finisher Puerto Rico on points (4) and goal difference (+5), while only slightly ahead on the next tie-breaker, goals scored, besting the islanders nine goals to eight. The final whistle sparked wild celebrations for the home team despite the loss.

The 2026 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will be held from September 5–27 next year in Poland.

Additional Notes: 

• In group play, the USA outscored its three opponents 15-1.
• Every player on the U.S. roster earned their first U-20 cap or caps in this tournament, except for defender Avan Alvarez, who had two previous U-20 caps coming into the competition.
• Alverez, who got the start, earned her team-leading fifth U-20 international cap.
• The USA played three different goalkeepers in each group match with Notre Dame’s Sonoma Kasica handling the netminding duties in the first game, Penn State’s Kealy Titmuss in the second, and Stanford’s Caroline Birkel earning the shutout today.
• Kansas City Current defender Katie Scott, who hails from Pennsylvania, captained the U.S. U-20s for the second time in this tournament.
• Izzy Engle still leads the USA in scoring in this tournament after pounding in four goals in the first match against Guyana.

-U.S. UNDER-20 WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM MATCH REPORT-

Match: U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team vs. Costa Rica U-20 WNT

Date: June 3, 2025

Competition: Concacaf Women’s U-20 Championship

Venue: Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto; Alajuela, Costa Rica 

Attendance: 369

Kickoff: 2 p.m. local (4 p.m. ET)

Weather: 72 degrees and raining

Lineups:

USA: 1-Caroline Birkel; 2-Katie Scott (15-Leena Powell, 64), 17-Edra Bello, 4-Abby Mills (5-Bella Ayscue, 46), 3-Aven Alvarez; 6-Grace Restovich, 8-Kennedy Fuller, 10-Linda Ullmark (16-Kennedy Ring, 64); 11-Sealey Strawn, 9-Izzy Engle (19-Mary Long, 46), 7-Chloe Ricketts (18-Ashlyn Puerta, 77)

Substitutes Not Used: 12-Kealey Titmuss, 13-Peyton McGovern, 14-Emma Johnson, 20-Mya Townes, 21-Sonoma Kasica

Head Coach: Carrie Kveton

CRC: 1-Valeria Fernandez; 2-Brittany Vasquez, 3-Josselyn Briceńo,14-Brittany Castrillo; 4-Fabiana Alfaro (5-Tiara Ruiz, 29), 8-Daniela Ocampo, 12-Alondra Gonzalez (16-Alisha Lindo, 79), 15-Jimena Jimenez (Capt.) , 20-Lucia Paniagua (7-Emma Azofeifa, 79); 10-Sheika Scott, 11-Stacy Thomas

Substitutes Not Used: 6-Valeria Vargas, 9-Keisy Taylor, 13-Genesis Cespedes, 17-Yeslim Alvarado, 18-Ashley Quesada, 19-Odette Pitty, 21-Raquel Recio

Head Coach: Patricia Aguilar

Pennsauken, N.J.- The Men’s Crew team recently capped off a strong season with a great showing at the IRA National Championship that took place recently in New Jersey on Friday, May 30th and Saturday, May 31st. Where their varsity eight and second varsity eight boats both qualified for their respective grand finals securing sixth and third places respectively. 

The three crews representing the Mules at IRA National Championships were the first varsity eight of: Curtis Adams-Beyea ’28; Dallas Watson ’28; Charlie Anderson ’25; Jack Childress ’26; Theo Grossman ’27; Danny Sullivan ’26; Andy Li ’28; Cole Christensen ’27; Ian Ucko ’28; the second varsity eight of: Alyssa West ’25; Jed Swan ’28; Brendan Barrett ’27; Robbie Trowbridge ’28; Jackson Harrington ’28; Jack Weinberg ’26; Nolan Roche ’28; Ian Zhou ’28; Jack AbuHaidar ’27, and the varsity four of: Nate Dunn ’27; Henry Evans ’28, Elliot Do ’25, Josh Bradshaw ’27, Charlie Pantelick ’27

Coaches Stewart Stokes and Tilghman Moyer indicated that the team was able to put in a productive three-week training block ahead of IRA’s and as the semester concluded and the Commencement ceremony wrapped up, the team was able to sharpen their focus on the task ahead of them for a really effective preparation leading into the Championships. The poor weather during that stretch served them well as they felt prepared for the crazy conditions they saw during Saturday’s races. Coach Stokes mentioned “Saturday’s weather was bad for the JV, but it turned biblical for the varsity in the eight to ten minute period between races. Then it left really strong winds and whitecaps in the water afterward.”

Coaches Stokes and Moyer also noted that the team thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere at IRA’s as they got to share space with numerous other high-level programs from across the country, some of which have athletes with Olympic experience. It gave them confidence to know that they earned their place there to not just participate in the Championships, but to compete with some of these strong programs, which they certainly did.

A big reason why both varsity eights were able to race as well as they did was due to their composure and their ability to stay loose off the water. They knew they had to upset some strong teams to make their way into the grand finals, and they didn’t let it phase them and stepped up to the occasion. 

The performance of the Championships was most certainly the second varsity eight’s bronze medal performance in the grand final. They were in lane one with Trinity right beside them and Wesleyan on the far side of the course. Both Trinity and Wesleyan had beat them in the heats the day before. They were able to keep their boat in the mix with Trinity in the early portion of the race, and then were able to move past them to beat them handily, and then were battling with Wesleyan on the other side of the course coming into the finish, and just nudged past them at the line. This was the second varsity eight’s first time beating both Trinity and Wesleyan, and by beating Trinity were able to prevent them from winning the points score trophy.

The men’s varsity four rowed in the G final and were able to end their season with a wire to wire win over Massachusetts Maritime and RIT. 

This championship highlighted the competitveness and parity among Division III programs as 15 different programs have qualified for IRA Nationals over the short four years that it has been run. Also, the strength of the NESCAC division was on display as there was heavy representation from NESCAC programs and they were also concentrated near the top of the results sheet as well.

It was a great Nationals for our Colby Mules, and they got to celebrate their season with a dinner with Alumni, board members, and family members, which also included Colby’s only Olympian in program history, Hilary Gehman in attendance, the evening after racing completed on Saturday. 

Congrats on a great season Colby Crew!