Wyoming Valley West was once home to Alec Ryncavage, a Pennsylvania State Representative that graduated from Wyoming Valley West High School in 2019. 

Ryncavage has been one of Pennsylvania’s state representatives since December of 2022 and will continue in office until November of 2024. Ryncavage, relative to his hometown, serves parts of Luzerne County. Ryncavage believes that the opportunities that were offered to him throughout high school helped mold him to the man he is today.

 “I was a tennis player, I ran cross country for a little, I was big into Mrs. Gordon’s [Wyoming Valley West engineering teacher] engineering and robotics,” Ryncavage said. “But overall I was pretty well rounded. I did everything from computer programming to everything.”  

Ryncavage is an advocate for trying new things and making the most out of his opportunities. Any program that was offered and available, he would take advantage of.

As a charismatic person, Ryncavage believes that the school environment should include elements that have learning and joking capabilities. “The English department just doesn’t know how to have fun in this school,” said Ryncavage. Due to this, he claims that his least favorite memories of high school was reading “The Crucible” and the 12th grade research paper. 

Ryncavage also has a hidden talent for acting and took part in theater productions outside of high school. “I stopped that really quick,” Ryncavage said. “But I do think that that is what made me the public speaker I am today.”

Ryncavage says what might have got him interested in law and politics was his shadowing day for a judge at the Luzerne county Courthouse for Mr. Diction’s [once a Wyoming Valley West history teacher] law class.

 “Stay curious,” Ryncavage stated. “Do not let anybody say that you need to know what you want to do when you graduate from this building.”