Volunteers who have brightened the classrooms of the children of Pathstone Carbon County Head Start with their presence were recognized at the Volunteer Luncheon held Monday at the Lehighton Borough Annex.

Viki DeMarko, family services manager, said that the volunteers help out in many ways. She noted that every month she tallies up the hours of all the volunteers and that only those who have outstanding hours are invited to the luncheon.She said while some help in the classrooms, others are involved in planning activities, such as the Spring Fest, Winter Fest, Sports Day or Circus Day. She added that she also recognized those in the male involvement group and those who help in the kitchen and fix broken toys."We are federally funded so we must have matching funds, which are the in-kind volunteers hours. She said that this year the dollar value of the volunteer hours reached $320,000.Beth Zinkand, senior director, thanked the volunteers for their support of Head Start programs."You did what you did and you didn't get paid," she said. "Thank you for saying yes and doing what we asked of you. We need you to say yes next year, too."Bernetta Frantz, director of family development, said "Thank you for all you do. You add so much to this program. It makes our job so much easier. Thank you for caring. The children love when you come."Also saying thanks were Cerissa Kibler, Cristyn Jones and Tammy Haydt, who work directly with the children. Kibler does home visits and Jones is at the Coaldale Center, while Haydt is at the Lehighton Center.Each of the volunteers were given a certificate that said, "It is through the active participation of devoted parents and guardians like you that your child will continue to grow and learn. You are your child's most important teacher."Coaldale Center volunteers are: Nina Bonetsky, Laura DeMaio, Karalyn Dietrich, Melissa Dietrich, Nancy Doerr, Shea Drulyk, Erica Ferrell, Taylor Gotschall, Amanda Hosier, Maggie Keller, Jennifer Marchorro, Michelle Massicott, Louise McLaughlin, Scott Mouery, Brooke Muffley, Mary Jane Sabol, Beth Shreffler, Roxann Stianchi, Lisa Summers, Ebony Sykes, Johanna Tischler, Judy Vazza and Jennifer Weikel; Pre-kindergarten volunteers were: Keith Krapf and Monica Matula; and Community Volunteer, Wanda Kuntz.Lehighton Center volunteers were: Dorothy Amill, Amy Bollinger, Christina Bravo, Billie Jo Breiner, Marygrace Conarty, Crystal Doncsecz, Donna Easterly, Lamont Easterly, Jermaine Ervine, Lee Ann Evert, Jessica Fahringer, Dezirae Feller, Sara Fink, Anja Friendy, Kristen Fryzol, Michelle Galloway, Lucia Garcia, Luanne George, Melissa George, Basharat Hameed, Kelly Hannon, Tami Hunsicker, Pakeeza Jabeen, Nicole Kibler, Stacy Kirpatrick, Michelle Kurtz, Crystal Lopez, Judith Miller, Shannon Mitchell, Amanda Moyer, Amy Murphy, Deidre Mutchler, Jessica Natividad, Laura Olinger, Tracy Poremba, Domingo Ramos, Amy Rehrig, James Ricketts, Veronica Sakik, Colleen Scherer, Travis Schrantz, Stephanie Schuster, Cara Simmons, Heather Smith, Sara Snyder, Matthew Stahler, Stephanie Schweizer, Danielle Strohl, Doris Swolensky, Amanda Tertel, Eugene Tertel, and Ashley Whitney.Early Head Start volunteers, Lehighton, Mary Jo Allen, Jodi Crowley, Mary Leary, Mary Jane McBride, Christina Murray, Kristen Ohme, Ginger Outlaw, Tony Outlaw, Nancy Rausch, Rebecca Renninger, April Rixford, Ann Marie Rodriguez, Stacy Schott, Jessica Wagner and Marci Warnkin.Lehighton classroom volunteers are: James Haldeman, Jamie Taschler, and Michael Taschler Sr.Coaldale volunteers are: Darragh Baker, Tammy Buscilli, Christina Cabrera, Joyceann DeHart, Kristi Edmonds, Sara Gordon, Shannon Kalfas, Angela Paules, Theresa Perez, Melanie Ramos, Dana Schlier, Kristen Smith, Tasha Vogel, Michelle Vogt and Maggie Weifel.DeMarko said there are 107 children at the Lehighton center and 68 children at the Coaldale center. Another 72 are enrolled in Early Head Start and there are 17 in the Pre-K Counts program.Registration fills quickly, she noted.Registration will open soon for the next year."When this program began, we were serving mostly people on public assistance," she said. "That is not the case anymore. We are serving mostly working parents who are income eligible."Through Head Start, the children receive a variety of free health services, including vision screenings, health screenings, lead screenings, speech therapy, dental van and parents also have access to other information for budgeting help, mental health issues and other information to improve family dynamics. Also available legal advice is also available.