The Tamaqua SHINE program hosted U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser on Thursday afternoon.

“It’s a lot of fun getting to spend the afternoon with some young children,” Meuser said. “Telling some jokes with them; seeing what they’re working on and seeing how happy they are. I also got to talk with the staff and directors of SHINE. SHINE clearly is and has been for many years an important program for our area’s youth and families.”

The SHINE program is an after-school program that consists of a variety of activities for students.

“This year, our enrollment is around 70 students,” said Jolene Barron, Tamaqua’s SHINE coordinator. “We’re currently full. … The kids are always highly engaged, they love the STEM activities. Everybody gets homework help, physical activity and a STEM activity every day, and then they are bused home. All of it is free, thanks to 21st century funding.”

Thursday marked Meuser’s first trip to check out Tamaqua’s SHINE program.

“We’re excited that Congressman Meuser was able to take his first trip here to our SHINE program in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania,” said Rachel Strucko, SHINE director. “It’s a critical time for after-school in general. President Trump recently did bring his budget out, and 21st century funding was cut at the national level. That funding supports programs like SHINE all across the state of Pennsylvania.”

Meuser visited with many students and had a firsthand look at STEM projects in progress, and a family dinner before the afternoon was over.

“It’s absolutely a program that will have support from Republicans and Democrats,” Meuser said. “I look forward to making sure SHINE lasts and continues to do the great work that it does.”