LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Deanna Drako is used to seeing students enrolled in the SHINE afterschool program four days a week.
"SHINE is a STEM-based afterschool program and we're in nine different centers in Luzerne County and six different school districts," Drako said.
The STEM program usually lasts three hours after school, hosts mostly science and math activities, and provides students with a hot meal.
"It's an excellent program because at the school it's like a wind-down that helps them with their homework," said parent Rhamel Lambert. "It takes a lot of stress off the parents, especially if you have jobs that exceed the time limit of schools."
But the COVID-19 crisis caused the normal STEM program to hit the pause button as it regrouped. Now it's back in action. It's first mission is giving students fresh school supplies during their school lunch distribution
"It's nice and I like that they're sending out these packets. It's really helpful," said third grader Ahnylah Lambert.
The packet that SHINE students are getting not only has school supplies, but it also has a lot of information for parents and guardians about resources available for families.
"We've been calling every one of our students' families and we hear that a lot of them don't have the regular supplies, paper, pencils, so we felt that there was a need to get these to our students," said Drako.
SHINE will also continue its programming virtually to keep STEM activities as part of their students' routines.
"We're trying to be creative and find different ways that we can still make a difference in the students' lives during this time," Drako added.