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M-A Service Flourishes with New Service Class and Seal

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M-A’s Service Learning Center is introducing a new civic engagement class and the California State Seal of Civic Engagement this coming fall. 

The new Community Service Leadership class is designed to strengthen service at M-A by devoting class time to develop service projects. The seal will be awarded to students who show exemplary commitment to service for their community. 

“We think that more schools could have service learning,” SLC advisor and future Community Service Leadership teacher Andrew Stuart said. “It can do a lot of good for resilience, wellness, and connection—things that teenagers are struggling with.” 

Currently, the SLC organizes service events at M-A. These events are often held outside of school and coordinated through weekly lunchtime meetings between Stuart and participating students, which can be limiting. 

Some of the events put on this year include service days for water polo, football, basketball, and flag football, as well as Belle Haven community garden volunteering.

Courtesy Andrew Stuart M-A flag football team organizes food to be distributed at Ecumenical Hunger.

Stuart hopes that creating a new service class will help further the SLC’s current programs. “The class gives us the space and the time to really think through what we’re doing,” Stuart said. 

“We realized that a 30 minute lunchtime meeting every week isn’t enough,” junior Audrey Majzun, who is taking the class next year, said.

“It’s hard to have field trips off-campus to do service. This class will give us the resources to get creative about how to get more kids involved,” Stuart said. 

Mazjun hopes that the class will provide a solid foundation for expanding service learning in the future. “If we have a class and people can get credit for their participation, it gives us more time for organizing events, formal education, and working on specific service learning projects,” Mazjun said. 

Many students joining the class next year have already been heavily involved in service learning at M-A and will play an influential role in shaping the direction of the class. “I will guide the class, but there will be a student-led aspect of the class, just like Leadership,” Stuart said. 

Stuart also hopes the class will improve outreach to other M-A students. “This class will integrate us into the school more,” Stuart said. “More and more kids are going to come up with projects that need assistance, so we need to meet the structure.”

In addition to hands-on planning time, the class will include discussion and research on ethics to help students make a more mindful impact. “To ‘do good well,’ you have to analyze what you’re doing, and make sure you’re doing it right and not causing harm,” Stuart said. 

Courtesy Andrew Stuart Student volunteers reflect after a day of helping out at the Belle Haven community garden.

Students who take Community Service Leadership will be provided with support for obtaining the Civic Engagement Seal, though it is not limited to students in the class.

To receive the seal, students must meet a list of requirements—currently being finalized by the school board—including creating a meaningful service project. 

Many students already have exciting ideas. “I’m really interested in education,” Mazjun said. “Something we had talked about this year is doing a service learning project with a local middle school.”

“My idea would be to have the middle schoolers do a project, educate them on their impact, and then connect it to the principles of ethical service learning, which is one of our core tenets,” Mazjun added. “It’s planting that seed.” 

“I’ve made so many close relationships through service,” junior Brealyn Trujillo, who is taking the class next year, said. “I just want to continue that. It has a big impact on your life.”

Stuart hopes the seal will help bring service learning more recognition and create an incentive for students to participate. “Service learning is very underestimated,” Stuart said. “Colleges understand the power of service learning. Why can’t we deliver that curriculum in high school?”

Unlike many other local schools, M-A does not directly track service hours or provide awards for it. The Civic Engagement Seal will help bring more recognition to students who dedicate time and effort to service. 

“With service, people sometimes don’t want to see a reward attached to doing this type of work. They want it to be all from the heart. But there can be some combination of both,” Stuart said.  

“Connecting with people and doing something positive is what kids are really craving,” Stuart said. “And that’s why we get so many kids that want to do service.”



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ADM’s Coghlan Shares Advice For Younger Girls Taking Over Volleyball Program | Raccoon Valley Radio

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December 26, 2025

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Adel-DeSoto-Minburn senior Elise Coghlan recently played in her final volleyball season of her high school career, hitting many achievements, but is leaving an encouraging message for the younger girls who will be carrying the program from here on out.

Coghlan is leaving a legacy behind for Tigers volleyball, as she is now sixth all-time in school history with 601 Assists in a season, and has a total of 1,273 assists over her four-year career. In addition, Coghlan concluded the season with 57 kills, 181 digs, and 32 blocks. As she’ll be graduating in the spring, Coghlan wants to remind the girls to never forget who they are.

“Just being yourself and showing your actual personality, and just being friends with everyone honestly.”

ADM finished the season with a 23-9 overall record (7-1; 2nd inside the Raccoon River Conference) and fell to Dallas Center-Grimes in the Class 4A Region 4 Championship on October 28th.





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Onaway’s Boughner, Janusky, Pellston’s Irwin earn volleyball all-state

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December 26, 2025

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Updated Dec. 26, 2025, 11:45 a.m. ET

The Cheboygan area saw several volleyball players earn nods on the Michigan Interscholastic Volleyball Coaches Association teams, including three all-state honorable mentions.  

Leading the way were Onaway’s Amya Janusky and Brooklyn Boughner, who secured spots on the MIVCA Division 4 all-state team as honorable mentions. Joining the two Onaway stars was Pellston’s Lanie Irwin, who earned honorable mention accolades. 



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Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority uses new technology to restore interceptor beneath levee

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December 26, 2025

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The Wyoming Valley Sanitary Authority faced a challenge rehabilitating a major interceptor line in Wilkes-Barre because it is beneath the Wyoming Valley Levee.

This aging reinforced concrete line, known as the authority’s East Side Interceptor, had to be addressed because it was installed in the 1960s and had reached the end of its service life. It carries wastewater from approximately 100,000 residents in 19 municipalities to the authority’s treatment plant in Hanover Township.

The traditional approach — excavating to remove and replace the line — would have cost an estimated $75 million or more and required extensive permitting and protective measures to ensure the flood control system along the Susquehanna River was not compromised, authority officials said.

Instead, the authority recently deployed a new engineering technology to restore the one-mile line for $14 million.

Authority Chief Technical Officer Samantha Albert said the solution involved steel-reinforced PVC that interlocks as it is fed through manholes into the pipe, creating a new standalone pipe within the existing line.

A machine was used to wind the large spools of PVC through the line, she said. The diameter of the line ranges from 4 to 6 feet, allowing crews to get inside during the installation, Albert said.

The authority could not use a different type of liner that requires a “curing” process with heat to dry and harden because the interceptor line would have to be completely dry for that option, Albert said.

The interceptor line could not be deactivated to dry because it handles a high volume of both wastewater and stormwater when it rains, she said.

“That was a huge advantage of the solution we chose because it still has to flow during the installation,” Albert said.

For the safety of crews, the contractor set up a temporary sewage bypass system — a large black pipe on the ground — to reduce the load passing through the line during installation, she said.

The section of line tackled in this project runs from the area of the Luzerne County Courthouse south to Riverside Drive, Albert said.

Albert said the line is “critical infrastructure” that must remain functioning to service residents and also protect the levee.

“We did not want this line to ever become compromised and impact the integrity of the levee,” Albert said. “It’s all about protecting the environment and the public.”

Georgia-based Ruby-Collins Inc. completed the project. The company has a specialized “trenchless division” to rehabilitate underground lines, its site says.

Luzerne County Council allocated $2 million of its federal American Rescue Plan Act funds toward the project. The authority also received a federal STAG Clean Water Community Project Funding Grant and secured a Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, or PENNVEST, loan.

Albert said the authority will continue seeking grants to help fund work on other segments of the interceptor.

Christopher Belleman, executive director of the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority that oversees the Wyoming Valley Levee, said his authority allowed access to land at the site to complete the project.

“They got us involved at the very start. They were a good partner,” Belleman said of the sanitary authority.

Belleman spoke favorably of the sanitary authority’s solution, saying the flood authority has used a lining to address damaged piping — an option available if the original pipe still has structural integrity.

“Fortunately, technology has advanced over the years so this type of work can be done in a way that saves costs without having to excavate,” Belleman said.

Approximately 170 pipes of varying dimensions run through the levee system, officials have said.

Belleman said the flood authority must inspect these pipes every five years in compliance with a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers mandate to keep the levee certified.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.



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G-R to host open volleyball camp featuring UNI players | News, Sports, Jobs

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December 26, 2025

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REINBECK – The Gladbrook-Reinbeck PTO is partnering with eight current members of the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Panthers volleyball team in an effort to raise funds for a new, inclusive elementary school playground.

“We were trying to think of (fundraising) ideas. We’re pretty fortunate that [UNI] is so close to us and we knew that there were some girls from the area that play on the team. … We did some virtual meetings and here we are,” G-R elementary principal Shaun Lehmann told the newspaper about the inaugural three-day camp’s origins.

The all-skills camp is open to any girl – no matter the school district – in grades 3-8. Camp will take place on three consecutive Saturdays this coming January, including Jan. 17, Jan. 24, and Jan. 31, at the secondary building located at 600 Blackhawk St. in Reinbeck. Campers may register for a single session or multiple sessions at a discounted rate. Each session will be capped at 48 players. Grade groupings are as follows: grades 3-4 from noon to 1 p.m.; grades 5-6 from 1:30-2:30 p.m; and grades 7-8 from 3-4:30 p.m.

While G-R is hosting the camp, UNI volleyball players are running the show, Lehmann said, including freshman defensive specialist/libero Payton Askelsen; sophomore setter Reese Booth; redshirt freshman middle blocker Maryn Bixby – a Dike-New Hartford alumna; freshman defensive specialist/libero Sophie Buysse; senior opposite hitter Calia Clubb – a Clear Creek Amana alumna; freshman defensive specialist/libero Jadyn Petersen – a Dike-New Hartford alumna; redshirt sophomore middle blocker Kaitlyn Sellner; and redshirt freshman opposite hitter/middle blocker Kamryn Vogt.

The registration deadline for the volleyball camp is Dec. 31, 2025. More information, including cost and registration, can be found by visiting https://tinyurl.com/GRvbcamp. A spring camp for girls in grades K-2 is also in the works.

Profits from the camp will be split between G-R’s playground fund and the UNI volleyball players.

A playground for every child

G-R’s new, inclusive playground will be located on the south side of the elementary building in Reinbeck.

“There’s not really much there right now,” Lehmann said before adding that both the existing zip line and climbing apparatus will be removed to make way for the new equipment which will all be ADA-compliant. While Lehmann declined to disclose how much had been raised so far for the new playground, he did tell the newspaper the district will be contributing some funding and that they have “a ways to go” to meet the fundraising goal. But his hope is to have the new playground ready for the 2026-27 school year.

“Our playgrounds are used throughout the year by the community. We don’t have a fence. [An ADA-compliant] playground will be beneficial to all kids.”

To donate directly to the playground fund, contact Lehmann at 319-345-2822 or email shaun.lehmann@gr-rebels.net.





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All-Area Volleyball First Team | Winchester Star

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5 hours ago

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December 26, 2025

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Aaliyah Green

Millbrook — Junior 

Outside hitter

Green ranked first in the area in kills per set (5.40), sixth in digs per set (2.95) and eighth in aces per set (0.68). Class 4 State, Region 4D and Northwestern District First Team selection. Northwestern District and Winchester Star Player of the Year. 

Brenna Corbin

James Wood — Senior

Outside hitter

Corbin led the area in total aces (96) and tied for first in aces per set (0.99). Ranked third in digs per set (3.69) and fifth in kills per set (2.94). Class 4 State, Region 4D and Northwestern District First Team selection. 

Kennedy Spaid

James Wood — Senior

Outside hitter

Spaid ranked first in the area in total kills (458) and third in kills per set (4.87). Ranked seventh in digs per set and aces per set. Class 4 State, Region 4D and Northwestern District First Team selection. 

Isabel Aliveto

Clarke County — Junior

Outside hitter

Aliveto ranked second in area in total kills (428) and kills per set (5.16). She ranked ninth in aces per set (0.66) and tied for 12th in digs per set (2.37). Class 2, Region 2B and Bull Run District First Team selection. Bull Run District Player of the Year. 

Breeze Johnson

Handley — Sophomore 

Outside hitter

Johnson ranked 4th in the area in kills per set (3.73) and digs per set (3.65) and placed 3rd in aces per set (0.82). Class 4 State Second Team and Region 4D and Northwestern District First Team selection. 

McKenna Homans

Millbrook — Freshman

Setter/hitter

Homans ranked 14th in kills per set (1.62), sixth in assists (4.32), seventh in blocks (0.57), 11th in digs (2.42) and 12th in aces (0.61). Only area player to rank top 15 in all five major statistical categories. Region 4D and Northwestern District First Team selection.

Bryn Franzen

Clarke County — Senior

Middle hitter

Franzen ranked 5th in area in blocks per set (0.65) and 11th in kills per set (1.89). Class 2 State Second Team. Region 2B and Bull Run District First Team selection. 

Avery Curtis

Sherando — Freshman

Middle hitter

Curtis led the area in total blocks (78) and blocks per set (1.05) and ranked 6th in kills per set (2.45). Region 4D and Northwestern District First Team selection.

Kate Madden

Millbrook — Junior

Libero

Madden led the area in total digs (368) and digs per set (4.91). Ranked 13th in  aces per set (0.60). Region 4D and Northwestern District First Team selection.

Jillian Emmart

Clarke County — Senior

Setter

Emmart led area in total assists (596) and assists per set (7.64) and averaged 1.94 digs per set.

 



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Best Gainesville-area Big School Volleyball Player for the 2025 season

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5 hours ago

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December 26, 2025

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Dec. 26, 2025, 4:00 a.m. ET





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