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Donations for the Sanbornton Town Office and the food pantry made by
students in Life Skills classes
Periods 4 and 6 Life
Skills classes are busy at work, baking cookies and goodies to donate to
the Sanbornton Town Office and the food pantry.
Melanie Van Tassel, Overseer
of Public Welfare in conjunction with Katherine Robertson the Director
of the First Fruits Food Pantry agreed to accept our donations for the
second year in a row. Last year the students created cookies and a gift
bag of crayons, pencils, and pictures for children to color and a
package of homemade cookies to enjoy. The students took great pride in
helping someone else in need and giving back to their community. This
project also serves Tilton and Northfield as well. |
Letters to
Soldiers
The students at the Winnisquam Regional Middle School have
just completed a letter-writing project for service men and women
serving in Iraq. With the help of Sgt. Baros of the New Hampshire Army
National Guard and residents of the New Hampshire Veterans Home all the
letters were placed in envelopes and sent to the 34th RAOC
stationed in Iraq.
Throughout
the program students learned from various groups how lonely a soldier
can be while on active duty in a foreign land. From Sgt. Charlie
Stafford, a resident of the Veterans Home in Tilton, they heard how he
looked forward to receiving mail while serving his country during World
War II. Said Stafford, ”Not only did I get the pleasure of the news from
home but others in my platoon got to read the latest. Just hearing about
what was going on at home was uplifting.” Bob, also a resident at the
Veterans Home, added that while he was in the South Pacific during World
War II, “mail call was the highlight of the week for us. Sometimes we
would go months on end without getting anything from our loved ones and
when we finally received some mail, even a postcard, it brightened our
day.”
Trevor Chapin an 8th grade student was asked
by Mrs. Szczepkowski why he got involved in the project, answered, “
when I first heard about the project I wasn’t sure what I thought but I
figured it must get pretty lonely serving far away form home”. Added 6th
grader Spencer Pevine, ”We all need to care about those serving in Iraq
and Afghanistan. Clarissa McDonald thought that people in the service
don’t get to hear a lot of the news from back home and it would be great
for them to know what was going on.
Students from Mr. Hampe’s, Mrs. Hewey’s, MS. Sanders,
Mrs. Berry’s, Mrs. Morse and Mrs. Pietroniro class wrote the letters.
Once they were finished and ready for mailing a group of students folded
and put them in envelopes. Principal Tom Croteau then took the package
to the Concord, NH Post Office for mailing to the unit in Iraq in order
that they would be delivered in time for the holidays. “As Principal I
am so proud of these kids and the effort they have made to make this
program a meaningful experience.”
The students are eager to hear from the soldiers and
their response from the letters. Said one student this could be the
start of developing a pen pal. My dad told me how he had one when he was
a student. |
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Staff Recognition Committee
Goal 2 of the Winnisquam Regional School District’s
strategic plan relates to improving community and family engagement. One
of the objectives to reach this goal is to increase teacher satisfaction
in the work place. One district effort to meet this objective was the
formation of the Staff Recognition Committee. Representatives of
various positions from each school have been meeting monthly since
October to develop functions and events designed to make people feel
better about the work that they do, and to be recognized for their work.
One vision that has already come to fruition has been the development of
a staff “Thank You Board” at each school, and at the SAU office. Staff
members are able to qu ickly and publicly thank each other for doing a
good job, or simply spreading good cheer. Jessie
Gannett, special education teacher at Southwick School, worked to put
together these boards at six locations. They look fantastic, and staff
members have been filling them with kind words daily. We thank her for
all of her hard work, and all staff members for going the extra mile to
make the school day safe, happy, and productive for our students. |