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 Kelly J. Cope
Kelly Cope was hired as Children and Technology Coordinator in 2003. This position was newly designed by the Staff Parish Relations Committee. Originally this position was Children and Youth. As God would have it, Kelly took the Children part of "Children and Youth" and has added Technology to the title to cover all the technological needs in our church.
Kelly (John) Cope was born in 1971 and had lived in Nanticoke. During this time she went to the Kosciuszko building for elementary school in Nanticoke, PA. Teachers were hard on students during this time and corporal punishment was allowed. Teachers would often give her the paddle (and Mom would give permission to the teachers) for misbehaving in class. This behavior could have been a result of spending time with her two younger brothers (Jon and Sam) growing as a bit of a tomboy. During the Jr. High School years she began to grow out of being a tomboy as she joined the Girl Scouts of America. In 1985 she moved with her mom and two brothers to the Bloomsburg Area, and soon after that the Jr. High School building she went to school was torn down and turned into a CVS Pharmacy Store.
Kelly went to the Central Columbia Middle School in January of 1985. Life was great there. She no longer was getting into any trouble and found teachers that really cared about educating students. In the Fall of 1985 began her freshman year of high school. Through out high school she was a member of the FHA, participated for 2 years on Softball with Mr. Ford as her coach, participated in bowling for 4 years with Mr. Spaid as her coach, spent 4 years with the choir with the late Deborah Hunter, and was able to earn her life guarding certificate from Bloomsburg University.
After graduation Kelly new that college wouldn't work out for her because her grade scores in high school were below a B - average and her highest SAT score was a 660 total (not enough to go into any college). Her mother had a job at the university and knew of a program called Act 101 which allowed for students with low SAT scores and low grades to be given an opportunity to enter college with a specially designed program. Kelly thought that her career would be at the local McDonalds, but her mother encouraged her to try college out, because tuition would be taken care of and knew that there was nothing to lose. While attending Bloomsburg University she worked at Giant Food Store as a cashier, and various jobs assigned.
Kelly graduated in 1993 with a degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. The job market for teachers in the local area is very few and hundreds of applicants apply for just one job. While trying to get a job as a teacher Kelly would substitute in the local school districts, work at Giant, and in the summer work at Camp Lavigne as an aquatics director and an archery director. After 3 years of no calls for an interview in any teaching position Kelly decided to go back to school. This time she entered into the Institute of Interactive Technologies. In 2000 she graduated with a Masters in Instruction Technology. The field for working in a team environment in creating education software was slim to none around this area. With no money to travel across the country for a job, she continued to work at Giant full-time as a Customer Service Manager.
In 2001 Kelly found a job opportunity that incorporated both her degrees, teaching software classes at New Horizons Computer Learning Center in Wilkes-Barre. In the 2 years she worked there she had been feeling the need to work at her local church.
In 2003, the position to work at Wesley became available and is the position she is currently working in today. Now she can use her skills in both her degrees for what God has in mind for her. She works hard on keeping the website maintained with her team of web servants. Besides the website, there are other technology needs in our church. We project our worship service every Sunday, have a soundboard to hear our pastor, videotape the worship service for our LAMs, and broad cast over the radio. Duties in the children's ministry is to oversea Sunday school for Infants thorough grade 5 (All Year), Mother's Day Out (June), Wacky Wednesdays (July), Vacation Bible School (August), Nursery volunteers for Infant, Toddler, and Preschool during worship services, and children's worship service. For both children and adults we have a computer lab. Our children rotate into the lab to use interactive games that coincide with their Bible teachings, and there are computer classes for Adults that are held once a month.
If you should have any questions about this ministry and how it may work for you don't hesitate to contact Kelly at the church.
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