First Posted: 4/30/2015
PITTSTON — Moms need a few hours to themselves every once in a while, and a few Pittston Area seniors are making sure some will get that time off this Mother’s Day weekend.
A few students from the Pittston Area High School National Honor Society will host a Parents’ Night Out this weekend, giving parents the opportunity for a few kid-free hours.
The event will be held at the Pittston YMCA and kids will take part in various activities such as swimming, basketball, kickball, and crafts, and pizza and snacks will be provided.
Parents will receive discounts on dinner at one of three restaurants — Tony’s Pizzeria, the Tomato Bar and Bistro and Cooper’s Seafood House.
The idea for Parents’ Night Out came from Pittston Area senior, Mia Nardone, 17, as part of a service project required by the National Honor Society to help raise money for the YMCA Aquatics Department.
“I work (at the YMCA) as a lifeguard and I know that we needed supplies and we needed some stuff for the pool,” said Nardone. “It was just a great opportunity to raise the money that we needed for the pool and I know that Susan (Vosik-Pekala) would be glad to have that money donated.”
Vosik-Pekala is the director of the YMCA Aquatics Department and said she’s excited that students are willing to lend a helping hand.
“The whole Y is just thrilled to be able to partner with Pittston High School and these fine young men and women who were interested in getting involved with the Y and the aquatics department, too,” she said.
Nardone is joined by fellow Pittston Area seniors and National Honor Society members Josh Kramer, 19; Cody Holl, 18; Joe Lombardo, 18; and Brandon Winters, 18, to organize the Parents’ Night Out.
Lombardo and Winters are members of the high school swim team and look forward to helping Nardone and the YMCA make money for the pool.
Winters said he hopes more kids will use the pool and eventually take up swimming as a sport in the future.
“Being a swimmer, I thought this would be a really good opportunity to help the aquatics department,” said Winters. “I swim for Pittston Area and we don’t have a farm, like some high schools have middle school swim teams, but at Pittston it’s usually just first-year people. If we get more participation at the Y, maybe teach them to swim a little more here, that’s where most of the kids come from that join the swim team.”
Some of the students were in agreement that one of the reasons they organized the event was because they experienced it themselves.
“The Y used to have (these kinds of events) when we were younger here,” said Nardone. “I know they had a few in the past years and I used to come all the time when I was younger. It was always a great opportunity. My parents would go out, have dinner and I would have fun with my friends here at the Y.”
The high school seniors are not just organizing the event as they will also team up with YMCA staff members to help entertain the kids.
“We’re splitting off and we’re going to separate the kids into groups,” said Lombardo. “There’s going to be five of us here and we’ll do different activities. We’ll have people at the pool at one point while others are helping with the craft and so on.”
Although the night is supposed to be for the parents having a few hours to themselves, the Pittston Area students are looking forward to a fun night entertaining the kids.
“I really enjoy kids,” said Holl. “I love playing with them; they’re always so happy. I love them.”
