ROTC training set

ROTC training set

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University ROTC cadets will be using Wick Park for training purposes 8:30 to 10 a.m. Feb. 22 and 28, March 4 and April 18. The cadets will use rubber-molded props that look like M-16 rifles.

K-8 registration

POLAND — Byzantine Catholic Central School is accepting registrations for pupils in kindergarten through the eighth grade for the 2008-09 school year. Parents or guardians must apply in person and applications can be picked up between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays at the school, 5512 Youngstown-Poland Road. The school accepts state EdChoice vouchers. For more information, call the school at (330) 757-9185.

Now an American citizen

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — Gabriel Ajang, a May graduate of Slippery Rock University and a “Lost Boys of Sudan” survivor, has become an American citizen. He took the oath of allegiance during a naturalization ceremony recently in Pittsburgh. Ajang, who came to the United States seven years ago, earned a degree in community health from Slippery Rock and works at Community Passage, a transitional housing facility for the mentally ill in suburban Pittsburgh. The Lost Boys of Sudan is a group of refugees who walked across Sudan to Ethiopia in the 1980s to escape the violence of a civil war. Ajang lost his parents and a number of friends during the ethnic conflict but still has brothers and sisters there.

Students’ dance lessons

WARREN — USA DANCE and John F. Kennedy and Boardman high schools have combined their efforts to launch this year’s “March Ballroom Madness,” which offers free dance lessons for students. Lessons will be led by volunteers from USA DANCE’s Youngstown Warren Chapter. Students will learn the cha cha, rumba, salsa, East Coast swing, waltz and tango. “March Ballroom Madness” is offered free to all current high school students from Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. Class sizes will be limited to the first 100 students who mail in their signed registration form. Forms are available at the high school offices or on the Web at http://usabda215.tripod.com. The dates are March 1, 8 and 15 at both schools.

Brooks heads board

BOARDMAN — The Mahoning County Educational Service Center Governing Board has elected Joyce Brooks as its president for 2008. David Engler was elected vice president. Brooks has served on the MCESC Governing Board since 1997 and Atty. Engler since 2002. Marie Dockry, Richard S. Scarsella and Atty. Kathi McNabb Welsh also serve on the MCESC board.

Parenting classes

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — The Lawrence County Cooperative extension office of The Pennsylvania State University will offer a five-part series on “The Challenges of Being a Parent.” The cost is $15 and registration is required and can be made by calling (724) 654-8370. Sessions will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the extension office at 430 Court St. Topics and dates are: March 11 — What Parenting Style Area You?; March 18 — Understanding Your Child’s Growth and Development; March 25 — Communicating With Love; April 1 — Your Children: Sibling Conflict; and April 8 — Disciplining With Smiles, Not Tears.

Honoring black educators

YOUNGSTOWN — Six local retired black educators will be honored at the annual “Salute To Black Educators Luncheon” at 11 a.m. Feb. 23 at the McGuffey Center, 1649 Jacobs Road. Those being recognized for their service to the Youngstown and Warren schools are: Laverne Brown, Cliff Johnson, Mary Moody, Hattie Rhodes, Alice Washington and P. Mae White. The event is sponsored by the Youngstown Area Alliance of Black School Educators and the Associated Neighborhood centers and coincides with Black History Month. For information, call the center at (330) 744-4377.

Relay for Life funds

HUBBARD — Pupils at St. Patrick School raised $1,876.40 in a Relay for Life walk and a Chinese auction at the school in late January, kicking off the school’s Catholic Schools Week celebration. The money will go to the American Cancer Society. Each grade level — preschool through ninth — walked for 15 minutes.

MCCTC board elections

CANFIELD — Richard Scarsella has been elected president of the Mahoning County Career & Technical Center Board of Education. He also serves on the Governing Board of the Mahoning County Educational Service Center (MCESC). Sheri Noble, a member of the Struthers Board of Education, was elected vice president of the MCCTC board. Other board members are: Dominic Medina (Campbell Board of Education); Marie Dockry, immediate past president of the MCCTC Board and also a member of the MCESC Board; Joyce Brooks (MCESC board); Atty. Kathi McNabb-Welsh (MCESC board); and Atty. David Engler (MCESC board).

Funds for St. Jude’s

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. recently raised nearly $1,100 to benefit care given to young patients at the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn. During January, the participating churches of Holy Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, New Bethel Baptist Church and Price Memorial AME Zion held a designated offering to support the research and charitable works of the hospital. Nationwide, the international fraternity is committed to raising more than $500,000 over the next five years. St. Jude has been treating children battling sickle cell, cancers and other catastrophic diseases since its founding in 1962. St. Jude’s is the first institution established for the sole purpose of conducting basic and clinical research into catastrophic childhood diseases, mainly cancer.