Hits & Misses

It was great to see McKeesport firefighters coming together with students in McKeesport Area High School’s new Protective Services Class. The fire department donated several pieces of used equipment to the new program and met with the staff and students to talk about careers as first responders. The Protective Services program falls under the McKeesport Area Career and Technology Center, taught by Dr. Shannon Wintruba. Wintruba noted that their main goal is to make sure that students can obtain certifications through the program, so they have a head start on a career when they graduate from high school. School board Director Matthew Holtzman said, “We want students from our high school and from our community to patrol our streets. Creating a civil service pathway for people from our school district or from our area to become police officers and firefighters and EMTs, I think, is great for the community.” We couldn’t agree more. Our next generation of firefighters, police officers and other first responders are getting a head start and learning from the best. We’d love to see this kind of collaboration in our school districts. It’s been over a week, and we’re still missing the Winter Olympics. But, it’s never too late to congratulate those who brought home the gold. This year, the hardware came even closer to home. Goalie Ava McNaughton of Seven Fields, Butler County, was one of four Pittsburgh Penguins Elite Girls Hockey program participants on the gold-winning women’s hockey team. The New York Rangers’ J.T. Miller, an East Palestine, Ohio, native and former Coraopolis resident, and Pittsburgh-born Vincent Trocheck took the top of the podium with the men’s team. There was a bronze for Hempfield graduate Jasmine Jones in the two-woman bobsled. But perhaps the most unexpected piece of gold-medal action comes back to North Hills with a kid who was just watching. High school sophomore Joseph “Trip” Cillo attended the women’s finals in Italy with his family. He caught a puck when Canadian defender Ella Shelton hit it over the glass. Medals were awarded, memories were cemented and Southwestern Pennsylvania ended up in the Olympic story again.