![Adding a tray of canned corn to the pile, junior Michael Collop assists in transporting donations for the Holiday Food Drive. The event, hosted schoolwide from Dec. 10-17, raised over 5,000 food items to deliver to the Parkway Food Pantry, helping several families in need. [The drive] is a great thing for us to do because you're giving to those who are less fortunate, and it helps provide for people who can't provide for themselves. [The] competition is always fun, too. It was fun to be in [social studies teacher Jess] Chazen’s class, because he always gets worked up over [the competition]. He made it exciting, and was always convincing us to turn in cans for the drive,” Collop said.](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/feature-photo-unsung-2.png)
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
“One of the things that I like about VEX is that they have a new problem to solve every year,” she said. ¨Even though the equipment’s the same, they have to analyze the game, and they have to come up with solutions that are unique that year. They are using their knowledge from prior years, but they have to kind of redesign a problem.”
As returning teams were faced a new game, some new teams and members had to adapt to a uncommon playing field and game.
“Three of our four teams were competing for the first time this year, and they had very different experiences match to match, so I think they learned a lot,¨ she said. ¨It’s hard just watching a video online to know how it’s actually going to be in person, so they all learned a lot about what gameplay is like, how to work with an alliance partner [and] how to adapt during the day to changes.”](https://bestofsno.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_9283-1-1200x800.jpg)
While many volunteer fire companies struggle due to a critical shortage of volunteers, one fire company in Tyrone, Pennsylvania, has defied the odds by keeping its ranks full and its response times fast.
According to a recent NPR report, there were 676,9000 volunteer firefighters in the U.S. in 2020, down from 897,750 in 1984, while the number of emergency calls tripled over that same period.
However, the Neptune Fire Company currently has 50 full members and four trucks and responds to 300-400 calls annually.
Neptune Fire police member Lisa Sprankle credits the family atmosphere and tradition at the Neptune for its success.
“My mom and two brothers were firefighters and I saw all the things they did so I wanted to do it as well,” Sprankle said.
Many of Neptune’s 50 members have family who are also volunteer firefighters, and some members boast several generations of volunteer firefighters in their families.
Even if a department finds willing volunteers, another of the major barriers to becoming a firefighter are the many trainings and certifications a volunteer must earn before they are allowed to actually fight a fire.
Neptune’s leaders do their best to help get everyone certified as quickly as possible.
Neptune Firefighter Micheal Maloney said and they are at 75 percent certifications and are only two people away from 100.
One reason they are so successful at getting their members certified is their participation in a program that gives money back to volunteer firefighters for training. Members can get up to $575 a year by filling out an online application and completing a background check.
Many of Neptune’s volunteers have benefited from this program.
Like Sprankle, Maloney’s interest in firefighting was passed down to him from his parent’s generation, and he has already passed the desire to serve on to his son Vinnie.
Vinnie, a freshman at Tyrone Area High School, is already following in his dad’s footsteps as a junior firefighter at Neptune.
“I became a volunteer firefighter so that I could help do things like put out fires, clean up wrecks, and help anyone that needs it. This has affected my life because it has given me a lot more to do. It has also let me meet a lot of new people and make many new friends,” Vinnie said.
Despite battling cancer two times, Spankle’s husband Gary is also a member of the fire police at Neptune, though he is currently not an active member.
“I wanted to help people who were in need because I lost a great uncle in a fire,” Gary said.
It is this dedication to service that makes Neptune a successful volunteer fire department.
“I am fortunate to have been a volunteer firefighter and a career firefighter,” Maloney said, “There are certainly challenges with being a firefighter. I have missed birthdays, holidays, and family events,” Maloney said. “But it’s worth it.”
This story was originally published on Tyrone Eagle Eye News on October 28, 2024.