In the fall, I walked outside around a different school each day, drinking in the morning air and counting this time as a bit of exercise. Now that winter's chill has arrived, I've taken to walking inside and I am certainly glad that I did! Each day I see evidence in the hallways of the work that our students are doing: examples of writing, artwork, history timelines, and evidence of the implementation of our new PeaceBuilders program can be seen everywhere. In the quiet, I get the chance to stop and reflect on the outcomes of our busy classrooms. This week I started taking some pictures that I will be sharing with you here, so you can witness the good things that are happening in our school district every day.
Our teachers and students are making a difference in learning new things and understanding what it means to live and work together in a school that promotes respect, tolerance, and civility. For example, at Swift River Elementary School, I came upon a hallway display by Ms. Tarnawa's third grade, with a twist on the song, "Let There Be Peace on Earth."
A closer examination shows that this was a writing assignment where students were asked to think of what peace means, letter by letter and how they can make a difference, one person at a time.
I see every day, how our students and staff try to make a difference for others, one person at a time. On Friday, January 11th, I had the privilege of attending the BHS Buddies Variety Show. This after-school club was begun by Kyla Madden, a junior at BHS, who has a real heart for special needs children. The purpose in this club is for students who may not be in the same classes and who have different abilities to get together to have fun and enjoy each other's company. The show included songs, comedy, dance routines, and skits written and performed by club members. I was moved to tears by the deep bonds that these students have forged with each other, which was clearly evident throughout the night. I thought about all the things that teenagers can choose to do on Friday nights, yet these students chose to share their friendships and joy with each other and with those gathered in the audience. This vision of Kyla's, that began when she arrived at BHS as a freshman, has truly made a difference in the lives of these students and in the whole school. Ms. Kampe, who teaches in the Transitions Program, and Ms. Kerle, a paraprofessional who works in the program, serve as adult advisors to the group and enthusiastically cheered the students on throughout the night.
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| Kyla Madden (l) performs a song and dance number with the female members of the club. |
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| Best Buddies all on stage for their final number. |
If there was ever a time that our community, our nation, and our world needed to hear and see messages of hope, it is now. I am delighted to bear witness that hope lives everywhere in our schools - in the lives of our students and staff, who are all out there, making a difference each and every day.
You are invited to be part of our journey. We are always in need of volunteers to help out with various groups and activities. Please feel free to contact me or one of our principals to find out how you can make a difference, too. We also hope that you will join us during the last week of January as we collect non-perishable food items in each of our schools as we support the work of Belchertown CAN! - a town-wide volunteer group whose mission it is to help neighbors in need. Food collection boxes will be placed in all of our schools and Belchertown CAN! volunteers will be at Stop and Shop on February 2nd to collect donations.
As always, if you have any questions about this blog post, please feel free to call me at 413.323.0423 or email me at superintendent@belchertown.org.
Best regards, Dr. Judith Houle, Superintendent of Schools
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