The event included a panel with President and CEO Tim Mulligan, local representatives and community members.

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (December 17, 2024) – Communities In Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania (CIS of Eastern PA) presented its State of the Student (SOS) report during an event at the Greater Shiloh Church in Easton on Thursday, Dec. 12. The event included remarks from the Mayor of The City of Easton Sal Panto and a panel discussion with community representatives.

“Someone said to me, “What would you like your city’s legacy to be”; I would like to leave [the children in] my city a childhood like I had,” said Mayor Panto. “I had a great childhood — but it doesn’t exist anymore. It’s a totally different childhood [experience], and we need to understand that it is different, and how can we make [children] adaptable to the new environments they deal with.”

CIS of Eastern PA collaborated with the Easton Area School District for the pilot SOS project focusing on the Easton Area Middle School (EAMS). It was implemented to gather information from parents and guardians on their perceptions of their children’s performance and well-being at school. CIS of Eastern PA partnered with CIS leaders, school board members and faculty from local universities for the pilot project, and formed an SOS Committee responsible for designing the survey and overseeing its execution. The committee includes professors Karen Beck Pooley, Cathy Coyne, Christine Carpino and Hollie Gibbons, Lehigh University Community fellow Sonjit Kanti Dey, and CIS of Eastern PA team members Jon Irons and Mike Raymond.

The event included a panel discussion with CIS of Eastern PA President and CEO Tim Mulligan, committee members Carpino, a professor at Cedar Crest College, Coyne, associate professor of practice in public health at Moravian University, and fellow panelists:

‒ Frank Pintabone, city council member, The City of Easton

‒ Keela Vincent, executive director, Family Connection of Easton

‒ Sal Panto, Mayor, City of Easton

‒ Alfredean Jones Jr., Assistant Principal, Easton Area Middle School

“The State of the Student survey was the result of an incredible amount of thoughtful consideration and effort by a collaborative group of committed individuals,” said Carpino. “While we recognize that the findings presented tonight reflect just a portion of the broader EAMS student population, we hope this information can guide conversations and policy discussions about how best to support our kids.”

The goal of the SOS project is to raise awareness of the challenges and struggles faced by students in the regions served by CIS of Eastern PA. The findings included in the report are intended to ignite conversations between school districts and community members, leading to effective strategies for addressing these challenges.

Learn more about CIS of Eastern PA’s impact by visiting https://www.ciseasternpa.org/results.

About Communities In Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania

Started in 1983, Communities In Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania is part of the Communities In Schools national network, which consists of independent 501(c)(3) organizations serving over 2 million students in 25 states and the District of Columbia. With caring adults serving over 41,000 students in 46 schools throughout Berks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Monroe and Northampton counties. The CIS mission is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. We ensure students, regardless of race, zip code, or socioeconomic background, have what they need to succeed in school and beyond.

For more information, visit www.ciseasternpa.org.

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