Monongahela Valley Hospital will hold the following programs:

• Understanding Your Diabetes Meal Plan, 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at the Mon-Vale HealthPLEX, Rostraver. Must have attended the Manage Your Diabetes education program, advance registration required. Call 724-258-1483.

• Auxiliary Harvest Luncheon, noon Wednesday, Anthony M. Lombardi Education Conference Center. Tickets are $20 in advance at the hospital gift shop or call Dorothy Paterline at 724-483-7797.

• Breast Cancer Support Group, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Anthony M. Lombardi Education Conference Center. The support group is free and open to all breast cancer patients and their families. For more information call 724-258-1455.

• Childbirth Preparation Classes, 7 to 9 p.m., Nov. 4, 11, 18 and 25, Mon-Vale HealthPLEX, Rostraver. A four-week series of prenatal education classes. For more information call 724-258-2229.

• Advance Carbohydrate Counting, Anthony M. Lombardi Education Conference Center, 9 a.m. Nov. 11, diabetes self-management class focuses on carb counting. Three-day Diabetes Self Management Training must be completed prior to attending. Advance registration required, call 724-258-1148.

• Prostate Cancer Support Group, 6 p.m. Nov. 11, Anthony M. Lombardi Education Conference Center, for more information call 724-292-9404.

• Diabetes Support group, Anthony M. Lombardi Education Conference Center, Annual Holiday Dinner, 5:30 p.m. Nov 12, $7.50. Call 724-258-1148 to register.

Friends and family of the late Matthew J. Stockdill are hosting a spaghetti dinner Nov. 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the main pavilion in Renziehausen Park to raise money for his memorial fund.

Mr. Stockdill was 27 when he died last month from complications of epilepsy, leaving his wife, who had recently lost her job, and the couple's two young children.

He had no life insurance policy and his family is struggling to pay his funeral expenses and hospital bills.

Organizers are asking for a $5 donation for the spaghetti dinner. Additional donations can be made through Huntington National Bank at any branch. For more, e-mail matthewjstockdillmemorial@gmail.com.

A new commercial, "Penn State Greater Allegheny ... The Start of Something Great," has been produced by the university's public broadcasting station WPSU-TV and is on the air. The 30-second commercial highlights the campus, students and activities. The phrase "We Are ..." is completed by each student with one word or a short description.

The commercial airs on Comcast channels in the Pittsburgh market this week, then during the Thanksgiving break in November and the winter break in December.

All Aboard to Kindergarten, Family Fun nights for children and their families who will go to kindergarten next year, 2010. Parents attend workshops with California University students as facilitators, while children meet with their teachers for fun activities. Free books, supplies and refreshments provided by PTO. Sponsored by Ringgold Pre-K Transition Team. For information and to register, call the guidance counselors at each school by Nov. 13.

All events from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

• Nov. 17, Gastonville Elementary Center, call Mrs. Hodge at 724-348-7205.

• Nov. 18, Donora Elementary Center, call Mrs. Gaffey at 724-379-7600.

• Nov. 19, Monongahela Elementary Center, call Mrs. Dvorchak at 724-258-2912.

Students in the Harmony Habitat Garden Club at South Allegheny Elementary School will plant a Journey North Tulip Test Garden at 3:15 p.m. Monday. Journey North is a global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change.

For the project, students plant and observe tulip gardens to track the arrival of spring. They observe and record when their own plants bloom as well as those in other school gardens across North America. The idea is to set the stage for better understanding of changing climate.

Board members Tuesday made eight new appointments for the district. The hires were for full-time, substitute and instructional aid positions.

A motion to appoint Brian Keesecker as a long-term substitute kindergarten teacher with benefits at Franklin Primary Center drew complaints from director Sharon Ford because she believed the appointment was unfair and unnecessary.

Mr. Keesecker has been teaching kindergarten as a substitute teacher since the beginning of the year. He will continue to teach this year and be replaced next September by a full-time hire.

Superintendent William Kinavey insisted that only one person had applied to fill the position next year. That person, who was not identified, had been offered the position in writing.

Not enough effort had been taken to circulate the job opening to interested candidates in the district, Ms. Ford said.

"I spoke with an elementary teacher who was very interested in the position and she applied," Ms. Ford said. "She was neither considered nor was there an interview."

Dr. Kinavey said that was not true.

"When I post a position, 165 teachers are eligible to apply," he said. "I was shocked also that only one teacher in this district applied."

A group of Native American performers called The Fast Horses will perform in honor of Native American History Month from noon to 1 p.m. Monday in the auditorium of the South campus of the Community College of Allegheny County, 1750 Clairton Road (Route 885).

The performance is free.

The Fast Horses is a family of members of the Lakota Nation from Minnesota. Their act has been described as high-energy, funny, fast-paced and guaranteed to fire up people's imaginations.

For more, visit www.thefasthorses.com or call 412-469-6244.

• The school board has awarded a $94,100 contract to Swede Construction Corp., of Elizabeth Township, for step and ramp repair at the high school.

The board also approved work to be done by Murin & Murn, of Glassport, on the teacher parking area and road paving project at New England Elementary.

Two change orders called for additional funds, one for $4,099 on a $268,981 contract and another for $13,720 on a $273,080 contract. The third change order reduced the cost of a $286,800 contract by $2,800.

School director Richard Fialkovich had questioned the need for the change orders at the board's workshop session. Assistant Superintendent Janet Sardon said the additional work was for items that were unforeseen at the time the original contracts were awarded.

The board also approved an amended travel policy that requires reimbursement for lodging, meals and incidental expenses to be based on an index published annually by the federal Department of General Services that sets rates for individual cities.

Previously, the policy allowed for actual expenses that were considered reasonable.

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