Fourth graders from the Dunmore Elementary Center are shown on board the Heritage Express for their exciting ride to Carbondale. 
Historical interpreters Julie Esty, left, and Karl Barbee, right, Julia Gallick Vorozilchak, immigrant wife of a miner from Dunmore, an aboard the Heritage Express with fourth grade students of the Dunmore Elementary Center. 
Dunmore Elementary Center fourth grade students are shown preparing to board the Steamtown Heritage Express in May. 
By Julie Etsy
On Friday, May 17, the fourth grade students of Dunmore Elementary Center spent the day learning the history and heritage of the Lackawanna Valley at Steamtown National Historic Site. Grant funding and a collaboration between Steamtown and the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority allowed local students to visit the National Park in the month of May.
On arrival at the park, the Dunmore students were greeted by park rangers and viewed the Steamtown Turntable and Roundhouse. The pupils then boarded the Heritage Express for a two-hour rail excursion from Scranton to Carbondale. Along the route, the young passengers were visited by historical interpreters portraying a silk mill worker, railroad executive,and immigrant wife of a coal miner. These interpreters explained life in the Lackawanna Valley over 100 years ago to the travelers.
On arrival in Carbondale Mayor Michele Bannon and Carbondale Historical Society President Dr. S. Robert Powell were on hand to welcome the visitors, who then boarded their buses and returned home after a very exciting, educational school day.