The Lehigh Carbon Community College Carbon and Schuylkill SHINE Afterschool program has a new leader.

Rachel Strucko, who oversaw the SHINE Career Academy at Carbon Career & Technical Institute for the past five years, is now the director of the program.The transition has been remarkable," she said, noting that her first day in the new position, which was previously held by her mother, Jeanne Miller, was Dec. 22. "I think SHINE has an unbelievably firm foundation. We have a very high retention rate in our centers and at the career academy. They are dedicated and compassionate, and they believe in SHINE's mission so it's been an easy transition. And Jeanne has provided a program that, at this point, is strong and everyone knows what they need to do. We're a family."Strucko said that after taking over the role, she visited the L.B. Morris center in Jim Thorpe to help familiarize herself with the elementary SHINE centers and how they operate."I watched 40 children excited, engaged and I really saw what education should be," she said. "These children's eyes were bright, they were excited and they were excited about learning, and I could not imagine leading a better program."In addition to learning the foundations of the program from Miller, Strucko's past experiences have also helped her step into her new position easily.Over the past nine years, she has worked in a number of programs at LCCC, and has helped implement science, technology, engineering and mathematics in the classrooms of the middle school career academy, which began in 2011.Before that, she was employed in Carbon County Children and Youth Services, as well as community based jobs training in Allentown making sure children were immunized properly."Everything I learned through my previous employment and at LCCC has helped me with SHINE, and it has given me a strong foundation to take SHINE to the next level," Strucko said.And that next level continues to raise the bar for student learning.The program is currently working with Jim Thorpe Area High School to start a television broadcasting program where each center will shoot a TV show about STEM and the emerging technologies they are learning in the program.Centers are also going to be adopting a police department through the Adopt a Police initiative, which aims to show children that police are there to help."I feel humbled and blessed that I have the opportunity to be the director of SHINE," Strucko said, adding that the SHINE program is creating a brighter future for students and families alike.