Living the Message... Honoring those who show Respect, Dignity,
Respect
In the heart of McKeesport Area High School, students are learning the basics of citizenship through a revived JROTC program.
U. S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt.( retired) Jason DeFelice, a McKeesport native who left the city in 1991 to join the Air Force, has returned to his alma mater to lead daily classes for the McKeesport Area High School Air Force Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps. After 24 years of active duty, DeFelice knew it was time to retire and begin a new career. He was inspired by his grandfather, a decorated World War II Purple Heart veteran, to share with fellow McKeesport Area students the wealth of knowledge and experience he gained in the Air Force.
JROTC students follow Leadership Education 100 curriculum through topics including military uniforms, ethics, respect, study skills, health and nutrition, avoiding drugs and violence, stress management, and citizenship. DeFelice said he also takes time to address topics students want to pursue, such as job readiness and interview skills.
Since returning to McKeesport, DeFelice has promised to create the best program possible for local students. He wants them to become great citizens and community leaders who know their purpose in life.
“ To earn respect, you have to give respect,” DeFelice said.“ This program teaches our students how to respect people – how to respect adults, how to respect their peers, and how to respect themselves. I treat every cadet with respect, and that means a lot to them. I address each one of them as Sir and Ma’ am, and they start to talk to others the same way.” DeFelice said he’ s already seen a change in his students, and he believes it’ s maturity.
Every day, he works on boosting students’ good habits and dissolving their bad ones.
“ They’ re learning leadership and discipline along with community service and life skills,” he said.“ Every one of my students is becoming a better citizen, and that’ s what McKeesport’ s message is all about.”
cKeesport CITY OF MCKEESPORT NEWS
36 McKeesport Area
Dignity
Sharon Soles is a native McKeesporter who does everything one woman can to make her hometown a better place.
“ I’ m a downtown McKeesport girl – born and raised,” she said.“ As a young child, my family lived in the area of Water Street, Tube Works Alley, Strawberry Alley, Vic Street. I went to St. Peters Catholic High School and CCAC when there was a McKeesport campus.”
As a young adult, Soles lived in the heart of McKeesport’ s bustling downtown – immersing herself in the shopping district’ s high-class culture and nightlife. She went on to study business in Monroeville and city planning in Pittsburgh. Soles has fond memories of McKeesport’ s heyday.“ I remember the Palisades as it was back then, and my parents met there,” Soles said of her beloved John“ Scrappy” Dobos and Nellie( Covallo) Dobos.“ I still love the Palisades, and that’ s why I’ m so involved with it.”
Working with GTECH Strategies as a ReClaim McKeesport ambassador in 2015, Soles designed a butterfly garden to complement the existing landscape of the Palisades grounds and gateway into the Great Allegheny Passage via the Marina at McKees Point.
Soles is the president of the Kiwanis Club of McKeesport / White Oak and a board member of the McKeesport Trail Commission. She is active in the McKeesport Lions Club and on the McKeesport International Village Committee. She is a member of the McKeesport Regional History and Heritage Center’ s board of directors and works on the Mon River Fleet Women of Achievement committee.
She accepts each of these roles with grace and dignity as she strives to keep McKeesport poised for growth on the grassroots level.
“ Every person can make a difference,” Soles said.“ McKeesport needs our help, and every one of us should take time to volunteer. We are trying to bring McKeesport back or turn it into something brand new.”
Soles is married to McKeesport Councilman Keith Soles. She has one daughter and four grandchildren.