LEHIGH VALLEY AREA PEOPLE WATCH
• Judith’s Reading Room has awarded a Board Option Award to
Kathleen Kapila, librarian, Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center, “LGBT Children’s Literacy: Drag Queen Story Hour” based in Allentown. Drag Queen story hours, in which drag performers read books to children, encouraging a love of reading and freedom of gender expression, speaks to the heart of the Freedom Through Literacy Award and to the life-work of Judith Krug, in whose memory Judith’s Reading Room was created. Kapila is awarded a 2019 Board Option prize valued at $300. • Nicole Belick of Souderton was presented with a certificate by Rick Roush, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences, Penn State University, at commencement ceremonies in Sate College recently for the Pennsylvania Rural-Urban Leadership Program, RULE, of Penn State Extension. Belick is one of 23 commonwealth residents to complete the two-year RULE Program, a leadership development course based at the Penn State Extension. Through a series of study institutes held across the commonwealth, RULE allows scholars representing a broad cross-section of Pennsylvania to blend their diverse backgrounds and experiences while exploring leadership theory, communications, economics, public issues, government affairs and other related areas.
• Trinity Packard, a Lehigh County 4-Her has been elected for the third time as a national Director of the American Quarter Horse Youth Association. Packard is president of the Lehigh County 4-H equine club, secretary of the Lehigh County 4-H Dairy Goat club, and secretary of the Pennsylvania and Maryland Quarter Horse Associations. For the past eight years, Packard has been an active 4-Her who uses her leadership skills to help and inspire other youths.
• The Lehigh Valley IronPigs announced that four gameday employees will each receive $500 toward their college education in the first season of the team’s scholarship program. To be eligible, gameday employees must work at least one full year with the team. This year’s winners are: Avita DeMieri, Leah Fastenau, Samantha Ganser, and Andrew Malozzi.
• The 2018-2019 co-president of Moravian Academy’s Operation Smile Club, Valentina Lopez has received the Francine Peterson Award for her global service, leadership and determination to make a change. Lopez was surprised to hear that she won the award. Extremely modest, she did not expect her efforts in her small community to be recognized the way it did. “My school’s pretty small,” Lopez said. “It’s a private school in the Valley. My grade only had like 80 kids,” she added. Through fundraising events including Spikeball tournaments, dances, waffle bars and a flag football tournament, her Operation Smile student club has raised more than $18,000 since she’s been involved, enough to perform about 74 free cleft lip and palate surgeries.