The Carbon County Chapter of Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees presented the final educational grant for the 2013-14 year Wednesday to Nan Cressley, a computer paraprofessional at Franklin Elementary School in the Lehighton Area School District.

The organization met for a luncheon at the Harvest Cafe at the Carbon County Technical Insitute in Jim Thorpe.A 24-year employee of the district, Cressley teaches computer skills to all grades and is also in charge of writing and coaching students with the reading of the morning messages presented each day.She did various projects in order to supply the computer lab with new headphones.PASR educational grants are open to all professionals and support personnel, including secretaries, custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers and paraprofessionals.Cressley is the first applicant in the support personnel category that has applied for a grant, and organizers are hoping that many more applications from the support staff will be submitted.Cressley joins the four other recipients: Pauline Davis, seventh-grade reading teacher in the Panther Valley School District; Lori Rodgers, high school science teacher at Weatherly Area School District; Meghan Garrett, school psychologist for Towamensing Elementary School in the Palmerton Area School District; and Sharon Leitzel, high school English teacher in the Lehighton Area School District.New applications for the 2014-2015 educational grants will be available in all school districts in Carbon County in September. All staff are encouraged to apply.At Wedensday's luncheon, the group also noted a recent honor.On April 23 several Carbon County PASR members visited Keystone Soldiers in Leesport.Volunteers Janet Hall, Connie Kistler, Sandra Kokinda and Mary Ann Ashner worked to fill snack packs and boxes of personal care items for our troops here in the U.S. and for those deployed abroad.The volunteers also donated personal care items as well as coupons contributed by other members.Coupons are collected, cut and sorted throughout the year by PASR members.Before leaving, Keystone Soldiers' director Kyle Lord presented the volunteers with "An Award of Excellence" for their efforts.The Carbon chapter of PASR visits Keystone Soldiers twice a year, and were there previously in October with a large group of volunteers who helped to organize the food pantry as well as pack boxes for the holiday season.Keystone Soldiers is a 100 percent volunteer, nonprofit organization, which strives to provide caring support for deployed military members no matter where they are stationed in the world.Keystone Soldiers forwards letters, cards, care packages, special holiday packages and provides a food pantry for military families here in Eastern Pennsylvania.For more information visit KeystoneSoldiers.com.