Residence Life Office Honors Noteworthy RAs, Outstanding Programs

The Residence Life Office has announced recent honors, including the selections of LaNae J. Firster as "Resident Assistant of the Month" and Ashley L. Snyder as "Rising Star RA."

Firster, a data communications and networking major from Franklin, is in her third year as a Resident Assistant at the Rose Street Apartments.

"She has truly shone in her outstanding leadership of her subcommittee, where her organization and creative ideas are proving to be all the right tools needed," said Timothy J. Mallery, assistant director of residence life/coordinator of housing operations. "She has been the right arm of her staff, guiding the new RA's and helping the coordinator get the years started well. She has been extremely helpful and ready to go above and beyond the call of duty since the day she moved in."

Snyder, a nursing student from Shamokin, is a first-year RA at Rose Street who "has brought enthusiasm and creativity to the position since Day One.

"Recently, she demonstrated some fast thinking and good fact-finding while on duty, addressing some problematic resident behavior," Mallery said, adding that more than 40 people attended a recent program that Snyder hosted for her building.

The "Educational Program of the Month" was a semesterlong "Behind the Scenes" look at all eight of Penn College 's academic schools (including areas that some students typically never see). The program is being offered by Dusty J. Brooks and Rachel S. Hall, RAs at The Village at Penn College, who already have programmed the Morgan Valley Retreat Center, the Lumley Aviation Center and the ceramics lab in the Bush Campus Center .

"After several years, most RAs may burn out or lose focus, but these two have proven to go above and beyond the programming scale (in) providing another opportunity for an educational program for residents that may take the entire semester to complete," Mallery said.

"Social Program of the Month" honors were bestowed upon the Resident Assistants at The Village for their recent "Fall Fun Fest," which included a watermelon-eating contest, dunk tank, cotton candy-making machine, volleyball tournament, hot-dog grill, tie-dying and making "stress balls."

"The RAs started the core planning during their training to assure true success. The returning RAs took the lead and the new RAs were ï¿bf½eager to learn and add fresh ideas," Mallery said. "Each RA had (his or her) own 'mini' program inside one huge idea. This program exceeded the expectation of what a 'group effort' really should be."