NEF NEWS FALL 2023 NORTHAMPTON EDUCATION FOUNDATION P.O. BOX 44 ∙ NORTHAMPTON, MA ∙ 01061 ∙ WWW.NORTHAMPTONEDUCATION.ORG Volunteers at NEF’s annual Plant Sale, which raises money for the NEF Book Fund. Presidents’ message For over 30 years, the Northampton Education Foundation has been committed to saying YES! YES to resources that educators need to enrich and enhance the student experience in our highly-valued Northampton district schools. YES to expanding opportunity for every educator and student. YES to meeting the challenges public education faces. As always, it has been you, the Northampton area community, that has had the vision and generosity to help us award well over $1,500,000 to this end. Our collective efforts have had an absolutely profound effect on not only the quality of Northampton’s educational system but have also been an invaluable boost to the morale and well-being of our dedicated and talented faculty and staff. Thank you! We routinely hear how teachers and students appreciate and benefit from the funding that you have so generously provided. In this newsletter we share the projects we have been able to support this academic year at every school in the district. This year we awarded grants to all the elementary schools and JFK Middle School to work with Tiffany Jewell, a Black biracial writer and anti-racist educator and consultant, to engage in age-appropriate anti-racist dialogue, learning, and practice. At the high school we are funding a tech mentoring program. We are funding inclusive cycling and peer volunteers at JFK and NHS. At Jackson Street School we are supporting work with the fifth-grade students and teaching team to build a foundational understanding of neurodiversity and help the students learn how their brains work. Please read on for a complete description of all our grants. We are also excited to begin the rollout at Northampton High School of our new Endowment Grant process, while continuing to offer the elementary schools and middle school the opportunity to apply for Endowment Grants. Please see a further explanation in our “evolving endowment” article in this newsletter. We could not do this work without your financial support and your volunteer efforts. Please continue to help us say YES to enrichment, excellence and access for our most valuable resources, our children. You can donate online at www.northamptoneducation.org or use the enclosed envelope to make a contribution. And please, do be in touch with us about volunteering on a committee or with one of our signature fundraisers - the Adult Spelling Bee, the online Trivia Bee and the spring Book Fund Plant Sale. As the new co-presidents of the NEF, we personally want to thank you for all you have done and will continue to do! Dale Melcher Martin Wohl Co-Presidents, NEF Northampton Education Foundation funds and supports excellence, innovation, and intellectual creativity in Northampton Public Schools. We are an all volunteer organization that relies on the energy, creativity and support of the community to realize our mission of strengthening our schools by enriching students’ educational experiences. We rely on your help through the donation of your time and ideas as well as financial resources. A Community Investment in Our Public Schools
Page 2 NEF News Fall 2023 THE NEF SPELLING BEE IS BUZZING ALONG! NEF loves to see their grants grow into sustainable projects—like The Viking Runestone, Smith Voke’s gorgeous literary magazine, originally seeded with an NEF grant— and thriving in its fifth year. Student writers and artists, teachers, local writers, NEF board members and community members gathered for a publication celebration at Forbes Library on April 27, 2023. In October of 2022, NEF hosted the 20th Spelling Bee, our first since the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to our generous sponsors, the event raised more than $12,000 for NEF’s Small Grants to Educators program. The Royal Spellys (Sarah Mulvehilll, Claudia Bukzpan Rutherford, and Geraldine Unger) won the Bee by correctly spelling quidnunc. The Compostables feat. BaBEE Got Back Hoe from Grow Food Northampton (Erin Ferrentino, Alisa Klein, and Suna Turgay) took the prize for best costume, and the Serial Spellers (Carolyn Edelstein, Anthony Giardina, and Adin Thayer) took the prize for most humorous team. And now it is almost time for this year’s event… The 21st NEF Spelling Bee will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 25— and for the first time, we’re moving the event to Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity at 130 Pine Street in Florence. As always, doors will open at 5:00 p.m. and Cooper’s Corner/ State Street Fruit Store will be selling dinner and snacks at Le BEEstro until 7:00 p.m. Competition begins at 6:00 p.m. with emcee Kelsey Flynn presiding. Northampton Open Media will live stream the event and Steve Sanderson and Bill Newman of WHMP will broadcast a live play-by-play. The NEF bake sale will provide treats along with ice cream donated by Herrell’s. This family-friendly event is free, but attendees should register in advance at: bombyx.live/events/nef-adult-spelling-bee. Walkup entry is warmly welcome if we haven’t reached capacity. Local businesses, organizations, and individuals are encouraged to sponsor the event and/or enter teams to compete. If you want to sponsor but don’t want to put together a team or if you want to form a team but don’t have the funds to register one, NEF is happy to match teams of spellers with sponsors. Sign up to sponsor and/or register a team at northamptoneducation.org/spelling-bee. CREATING A BUZZ ONLINE: THE (NOW ANNUAL) NEF VIRTUAL TRIVIA BEE Thanks to our wonderful community, the second annual NEF Trivia Bee on May 3 was a great success! We spent a fun evening dancing with friends and family in our living rooms, meeting pets, answering amazing questions, and raising money for inspiring, creative projects in our Northampton public schools! With the community’s help, NEF raised over $7,000 for our Small Grants to Educators program, which will fund educational experiences conceived and executed by teachers in our community. Past grants have been awarded to teach a wide variety of innovative programs including anti-racism education, the publication of a literary journal, and a course on how to code drones. We’d especially like to thank our sponsors: (*indicates SUPERBEE sponsors supporting both NEF’s Trivia Bee and Adult Spelling Bee): BRAINIAC LEVEL: *A2Z *Apex Dental Associates of Florence *Broadside Books Chia Collins & Michael Cohen Daily Hampshire Gazette *Dale Melcher & Bill Newman *Applied Mortgage *Gage-Wiley High Five Books Maple and Main Realty *Marisa Labozzetta & Martin Wohl *Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra Campaign Committee *North Star: Self-Directed Learning for Teens *Northampton Lions Club *River Valley Co-op *Sasson, Turnbull, Ryan & Hoose *Shelly Hardy, Maple and Main Realty *The Community Classroom Tutors The Law Office of Valerie Vignaux Thornes Market *UMass Five *Whalen Insurance *Wohl Family Dentistry We couldn’t have done it without you! MASTERMIND LEVEL: *PixelEdge *The Dadz Talk the Talk on WHMP
Page 3 NEF News Fall 2023 Thank You NEF Annual Fund Donors! The following donors gave to the NEF Annual Fund from Oct. 1, 2022 to Sept. 30, 2023. Annual Fund dollars underwrite the Small Grants to Educators program, as well as our yearly administrative costs. Thank you for your generous support of NEF and our schools! Jordan Abbott and Justin Gianesin Sarah Abel and Chris Waisman Jenny Adams Gwen Agna and Thomas Marantz Norma Akamatsu Margaret Allen Margaret Babbott Matt Bannister Ruth and George Barham Todd and Andrea Barron Catherine and Randy Bartlett Joseph Bartolomeo and Lydia Sarro Scott Barton and Randi Klein Lisa Unger Baskin Pauline Bassett and Alan Katz Jan Bauver Josh Bedell and Sarah Marcus Marguerite and Bob Belkin Judith Bernier Richard Brunswick Scott and Mary Biddle Dennis Bidwell and Mary Ann Kelly Peter and Elizabeth Bigwood Susan Bir Robert and Janet Bissell Barbara Black Barbara and Joseph Blumenthal Margaret C. Bogdan André and Devon Boulay Andrew Bourke and Miriam Krell Bourke Thomas Boyle Robert and Nancy Boynton John and Nancy Brady Robert Brandt and Joan Swedlow-Brandt Caryn Brause and Steven Breslow Tara Brewster Bruce and Deborah Bromberg Seltzer Bill and Heather Brown Sarah Buttenwieser and Hosea Baskin Barton Byg and Jan Whitaker Adena Calden and Garrett Cahill Devin Caughey and Sara Newland Barbara Cavalieri Debbie Charren and Timothy Diehl Nancy Cheevers Deborah and Peter Christakos Lisa Clauson and Bob LaLievre Mary Ann Clawson Elsa Phillippi Cline David and Doris Cohen Joe and Cathy Cohen Chia Collins and Michael Cohen Jo Comerford and Ann Hennessey Ellie Cook and Frank Demaree Bill and Margo Cooley Richard Costello Mary Cowhey and Bill Blatner Sarah Creighton Jane Cross Keith Crowe Mary Curtin and Karen Adelman Matthew Czaplinski and Caryn Brady Molly Daniels Stephen and Carolyn Dashef Jonathan and Linda Daube Aline and Mike Davis Lindsay Davison Kelly and Charles DeRose Thomas Derr and Linda Vincent Elizabeth Detmold Fran Deutsch and Gerald Epstein Jennifer Dierenger and John Frey Patrick Diggins Kathleen Doherty Thomas and Cynthia Dourmashkin Tanya Dragan and Constantine Voyevidka Peter and Stacy Duggan Elaine Dunphy Foster Katie Emerson and Keith McCrae Ann and Steve Esrick Malcolm Everett and Claudia Lefko Robert Fazzi Nancy Felton Louisa Ferree Frederick and Eva Fierst Anne Fine and Jon Liebman Jenny Fleming-Ives and Peter Ives Nicole Gadon Hillary Gardner and Peter LaBrusciano John and Gail Gaustad Penina Glazer Kim and Michael Goggins Norbert Goldfield and Sandra Matthews Kathy Goos and Barry Werth Cleo Gorman and Ron Ackerman Jennifer and Seth Gottlieb Jennifer Gover and Alexander Wolf Joanna Grand and David Marlin Robert and Sheila Greenlaw Andrew and Susan Guswa Jamphel Gyatso Terese Hammerle and Edward Kelly Cathi Hanauer and Daniel Jones James and Portia Henle Shana Hiranandani Marissa Hoechstetter and David Whitehill John Hoops Fred Hooven and Heidi Haas Elizabeth Horn and Shawn Shimpach Pamela and Jefferson Hunter Siyana and Andy Huszar Susan and Angelo Intile Benita Jackson and Samuel Ruhmkorff Jennifer Sanders James and Patrick James Francis Johnson Jenny Joyal Ned and Carol Judd Debra Junnila and Scott Edmands Myla Kabat-Zinn Ricki Kantrowitz and Alex Cohen David and Jodi Kaufman Roger Kaufman William Kenefick Chrissy Kiddy Barbara and Rutherford Kirchner Alisa Klein and Amy Stamm Geri Kleinman and James Katz Deanne Kloepfer Silas and Linda Kopf Ronald and Kathleen Korza Diana and Jeff Krauth George Kriebel Katherin e Kruckemeyer Marianne LaBarge Sallie Deans Lake and Kevin Lake Natasha Latour Mark and Jessica Lentner Amy and Brian Levine Peter Lindenauer and Dorothea von Goeler Claire Lobdell and Jack Loveless Susan Loud Jennifer Luddy and Seth Dunn Paula and Robert Lusardi Bette MacKay Dianne Mackler and David Pascucci Kathy and Greg Malynoski Lynn Marcus Melissa Mattison Joy and Zachary McGaugh Dale Melcher and Bill Newman Marla Michel Terry and Lisa Minnick Joseph and Judith Misterka Jeffrey and Mary Mitchell Sidney and Miriam Moss Richard and Janet Moulding Danny Mulligan and Maureen McMurray David Murphy Michael Murphy and Brigid Glackin Nancy Murphy Cait Murray Betty Musante Merry Nasser Dorothy Nemetz and John Todd Alex and Carol Neubert Ellen and Barry Nigrosh Judianne O’Brien Joy and Hun Ohm Ruthie Oland-Stuckey Edward Orzechowski Stephanie Osiecki and Mark Tidswell Than Tin Paw Elizabeth and Stephen Petegorsky Christina Petersen and Peter Rayton Lou Peugh and Edward Olmstead Melissa Phelan Paul Poklewski John Pucci and Mary Bates Ellen Putnam and Mark Dean Robert Reckman Nancy and Eric Reeves Candice Reffe and Edward Hogan Maureen Ricksgers Linda Rigali Eduardo Robreno Peter and Hedwig Rose Anne and Joel Rosen Henry Rosenberg and Katherine Hicks Lindsay Sabadosa Miriam Sadinsky and Hugh Heisler Laurie Sanders and Frederic Morrison Christine and Jon Sass Jean and Mary Savarese Stan Schapiro and Joan Wiener Deborah Schifter Elizabeth Schoenfeld and Pranay Parikh Leonard Schoenfeld and Gail Shufrin Pamela Schwartz and Joel Feldman Kathryn Pekala Service Edward and Ann Shanahan Elizabeth and John Sheirer Andrew and Lois Siegel Katherine Sigelman and Scott Brown Steve Silverman Jean Simmons Matthew Sosik Dee and Erik Sossa Lee Spector and Rebecca Neimark Hayley Spizz and Tim St. Onge Susan Sprung and Jim Mueller Robert Steinberg Nancy Sternbach Mark Sullivan T. Kate Sullivan Virginia Sullivan Robert Suprenant Sarah Swersey and Jeff Wagenheim Joan Tabachnick and Jane Fleishman Kathleen Tudryn Janet Unger Thomas Wartenberg Christine Wenz Peter Whalen and Janna Ugone Mo Willems and Cheryl Willems Joan Wofford Martin Wohl and Marisa Labozzetta James Wood Matthew Wool Kristina Horn Wright Lesley Yalen and Brian Baldi Jonah Zuckerman and Rebecca Busansky
Page 4 NEF News Fall 2023 Our 26th Annual Plant Sale, held on May 13, 2023, was a smashing success! The weather was beautiful, and we made over $13,000! These funds go to the NEF Book Fund, which helps bring books and media materials to all Northampton public schools. Thanks so much to all our volunteers. Their gift of time and knowledge of plants help make the plant sale possible each year. We’d especially like to thank Lyn Heady and Linda Zeitler for the gorgeous quilt, Smith Vocational Carpentry Shop for our beautiful handmade trellis, all the local farms and nurseries who support the sale with plant donations, and our generous donors Keiter, D.A. Sullivan and Lashway Logging. We look forward to next year’s sale on May 11, 2024 and welcome donations of plants, help with digging, and anyone with the slightest green thumb to come and be part of this wonderful annual event. Please contact [email protected] if you’d like to help us next May or before! Homemade Quilt Created by Lyn Heady Quilted by Linda Zeitler 72” by 80” Wooden Bench with Trellis Built by Smith Vocational Carpentry students Materials sponsored by Lashway Logging D. A. Sullivan & Sons, and Keiter Corporation Thank you to our NEF Book Fund donors! Margaret Allen Rachel An David Arbeitman and Rachael Naismith Stephen Bartlett Joseph Bartolomeo and Lydia Sarro Judith Benzell-Sidney Jennifer Berneche-Stiles and Michael Stiles Karen Beyel and Joe Silverman Peter and Elizabeth Bigwood Theresa Bimbane Mary Lou Bouley Leonard Brakey Denise Callaway Devin Caughey and Sara Newland Barbara Cavalieri Terence Coe Martha Cohen Jo Comerford and Ann Hennessey Martha Coons and Tom Bein Patricia Cowden Mary Daly Kimberly Dawson Diana de Almeida Elizabeth Detmold Peter and Jill DeVilliers Peter and Stacy Duggan Christine and Justin Eck Barbara Elkins and Timothy Brown Nancy Felton Fishman family Mary Fister Jenny Fleming-Ives and Peter Ives Herman Fong Phillippe Galaski Bevlynn Gallant Ellen and Bill Gertzog Penina Glazer Kathy Goos and Barry Werth Cleo Gorman and Ron Ackerman William Hairston Terese Hammerle and Edward Kelly Michael Harrison and Maria D. Gil Wolf Ann Henchey Ann Hennessey and Joanne Comerford Marjorie Hess and Rudolph Talaber Shana Hiranandani Fred Hooven and Heidi Haas Abigail Hoover Mark Horwitz and Julia Moss Robin Hunter Tina Ingmann and Bruce Mandaro Amy Jacobson and Lynn Zashin Jennifer Sanders James and Patrick James Alison Jones Mary and Michael Kasper Jane Katz William Kenefick Phil Korman and Nora Israeloff Howard Lederman Amy and Brian Levine Levy-Gulla family Karen Lombard Lynn Marcus DeWight and Margaret Middleton Jonathan and Rebecca Moldover David and Joan Morse Ellen and Barry Nigrosh Raymond Niquette Judianne O’Brien Katie Olmstead Edward and Susan Osepowicz Abraham Ravett David Reckhow and Catherine Wanat Aven Rennie Julia Riseman and Nicholas Horton George Robinson and Janice Moulton Anne and Joel Rosen Sandra Rossi Eleanor Rothman Lindsay Sabadosa Jean Sadowski Bruce Sajdak and Barbara Wurtzel Robin Salmaggi Barbara Samuels Christine and Jon Sass Leonard Schoenfeld and Gail Shufrin Kathryn Pekala Service Edward and Ann Shanahan Janet and Bill Sharp Connie Shea Robin Silva Elizabeth Silver Ruth Solie Dee and Erik Sossa Mark Sullivan Peter Titelman and Katharine Baker Douglas Wheat and Amy Seldin Mark Wineburg Shoshannah Wineburg and Tom Douglas Martin Wohl and Marisa Labozzetta Plant Sale Keeps GROWING GROWING GROWING
Page 5 NEF News Fall 2023 Small Grants to Educators Awarded The following Small Grants to Educators were awarded in 2022-2023. Empowering Youth: Working to be Anti-Racist: $1,625 School: Bridge Street School Project Lead: Nora DeJasu Students and educators in all grades will work with Tiffany Jewell, a Black biracial writer and anti-racist educator and consultant, to engage in age-appropriate anti-racist dialogue, learning, and practice. Friday Notebook: $1,135 School: Bridge Street School Project Lead: Carrie Foley In this weekly writers’ group, 4th and 5th grade students will complete writing prompts using objects, pictures, and questions. Students will share their writing and offer and receive positive feedback. Stories will be shared in a monthly printed literary magazine and a class blog. Embracing Neurodiversity: $1,800 School: Jackson Street School Project Lead: Heidi Anderson Ms. Anderson will work with 5th grade students and the 5th grade teaching team to create a space where neurodiversity is honored by: 1. Establishing an affinity group to foster belonging and develop self-awareness; 2. Providing instruction to the whole 5th grade and a smaller group of 5th grade students with IEPs to build a foundational understanding of neurodiversity and help the students learn how their brains work; 3. Redesigning spaces to promote neurodivergent students’ best learning. Empowering Youth: How to be Anti-Racist: $1,950 School: Leeds Project Lead: Jessica Schreiber Students and educators in all grades will work with Tiffany Jewell, a Black biracial writer and anti-racist educator and consultant, to engage in age-appropriate anti-racist dialogue, learning, and practice. Student Mural Project: $3,000 School: Leeds Project Lead: Leslie Mactkiewicz This hands-on project will feature the development and creation of an outdoor student community mural at Leeds. Students and community members will collaborate with guest artists from Super-Stories to brainstorm a theme, identify concepts, create imagery and paint on the wall together. Never Again: $1,700 School: Northampton High School Project Lead: Kate Toddhunter NHS students in Ms. Todhunter’s four sections of Genocide Studies and two of AP history, will expand their knowledge of the history of genocides and reconciliation, and then apply their learning to creating and executing community projects. Genocide survivors will visit classes in the fall. This project will culminate in a multi-day workshop. Performance Project Residency: $3,000 School: Northampton High School Project Lead: Dave Grout Students in Mr. Grout’s theater class and ESL students will attend a performance of Mother Tongue, by the First Generation company of the Performance Project. Following the performance, they will engage with the performers and directors in conversations about physical and social justice theater. Two workshops with theater students will focus on learning the craft of devising original theater based on compelling social themes and personal stories. Self-Evident Education: Connecting the Curriculum: $2,500 Schools: JFK Middle School & Northampton High School Project Leads: Daniel Graham, Henry Frechette, Michael Lawrence-Riddell Building on existing relationships and work done to date with NPS, SEE will work with two social studies teachers from JFK and NHS to build a linked experience that progressively builds upon students’ learning as they transition from middle school to high school social studies. Multimedia modules and learning materials from SEE will focus on race and equity in American history. Mr. Frechette and Daniel Graham will work with SEE to build a social studies curriculum that links educational experiences more effectively between the high school and middle school social studies curriculums Music Department District Tour: $4,740 Schools: All NPS schools Project Leads: Paul Kinsman, Claire Williams, Erica Caron This grant will fund bussing for performing ensembles from the high school (NHS Symphony Band, Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Chamber Choir, and the Northamptones) to perform for the district’s middle and elementary school students. The goal of these performances will be to inspire and expand the imagination of our next generation of musicians in Northampton. This will also provide more opportunities for our NHS musicians to perform and to connect with younger members of their community. Leeds Family Reading and Math Collaboration: $3,000 School: Leeds Project Leads: Jo-Anne Intrator, Terry Flynn Year two of this grant expands the collaborative effort between teachers and caregivers in a joint approach to supporting the learning of kindergarten and first grade students at Leeds. Three workshops, one to take place at Leeds Elementary and two to take place at Meadowbrook Apartments, will provide support to caregivers and focus on enriching students’ lives through reading, book discussions, hands-on learning, games, and activities. The creation of a lending library of books and activities will allow access to a variety of reading materials and math activities so students and their caregivers will have multiple opportunities to support learning. College Visit Field Trip: $500 School: Northampton High School Project Leads: Audra Dankwardt, Karen Hidalgo Tenth and eleventh grade students at Northampton High School will visit a local college for a tour and lunch at the dining commons. The trip will consist of students who have historically had less access to college (e.g., first generation, low-income, underrepresented, special education, etc.). This program will benefit many students at NHS who want to continue their education outside of high school, but may feel unwelcome, have caregivers who are not familiar with the college process and experience, or face barriers in connecting with higher education. Bridge Street School hosted their Better World Picnic on June 8, 2023, partially funded by an NEF time-sensitive grant. This annual event celebrates not only the end of the school year but also the rich diversity of the BSS community. Daniel S. Goldstein Concert The 2023 Goldstein Concert will be held on November 21 at Northampton High School and will feature a performance by Tony Vacca, who incorporates percussion instruments from a world of traditions including African, Caribbean, Asian and Middle Eastern, to which he adds spoken word and rhythm poetry. Vacca has recorded and performed with a wide range of musicians including Sting, Senegalese Afro-pop artist Baaba Maal, jazz trumpeter Don Cherry, poet Abiodun Oyewole, Senegalese hip-hop artists Gokh-bi System, and Massamba Diop. This annual collaboration and concert is made possible by an endowment fund established in memory of Daniel Stephen Goldstein, a 1988 graduate of Northampton High School who had a special love for the arts. Each year, income from this endowment provides for a school-wide outstanding arts event at the high school to expose students to the rich world of the arts. (Please note that these performances are for the NHS community and not open to the public).
Page 6 NEF News Fall 2023 The NEF Endowment: Evolving to Meet the Greater Needs in the Schools This is a very exciting time for the Northampton Education Foundation Endowment. After awarding over $800,000 since its first open competitive grant in 2007, the Endowment is now in the process of answering the call of teachers, administrators, donors, and parents, to further respond to the needs of the Northampton education community. Upon the hugely successful completion of our second $1 million Endowment campaign, we are now beginning our long-anticipated plan of providing designated funding for all grade levels of our district schools in perpetuity. Our new Endowment process will allow each grade level - high school, middle school, and elementary schools - to develop a plan to use approximately $100,000 over three years. Every three years! Starting this fall, and having funds available for the 2024-2025 school year, we are rolling out the first of our three-year grant cycles starting with Northampton High School. Working directly with the principal, the elected members of the School Council, and a NEF liaison for guidance, many members of the NHS community will develop a three-year plan of projects for the high school and present them to NEF for review and approval. This plan also allows for the designation of approximately 25% of the funding each year for sustaining valuable, previously NEF-funded projects. We highly encourage all voices to be heard. Next year JFK Middle School will begin their process, followed by the elementary schools the following year. As we roll out this effort, additional Endowment funds will still be available to the middle school and the elementary school through our regular RFP process. When fully in place, every three years each grade level will then follow this new and directly responsive plan. We feel this new structure will enable the education communities to include all voices, focus their vision and do collaborative long-term planning for the use of these additional resources. Our Small Grants to Educators program will continue to fund small projects twice a year, allowing schools to respond to unanticipated needs or new ideas. Our NEF Book Fund will also continue as is. It is our hope that continuity of funding from this local community-based Endowment can be leveraged to secure additional outside funding. We are very excited and grateful to see the enthusiasm and creativity that is being generated as NEF partners with our dedicated and talented educators. Never Again is Now: Panel with Genocide Survivors and Activists On May 18, 2023, Northampton High School history teacher Kate Todhunter organized “Never Again is Now,” funded by NEF. The event brought together experts and genocide survivors who discussed how sharing stories from the past humanizes history and can heal and address issues of polarization and conflict today. Ms. Todhunter teaches courses at Northampton High School in world history and the Holocaust and Modern Genocide. In 2018, she traveled to Rwanda on a NEF grant, “Rwanda: Looking for the Good” to learn more about the genocide that took place there. Todhunter said she organized the “Never Again is Now” event in an attempt to turn the statistics of genocide into the human beings who survived them, by sharing their stories and listening to them to raise awareness and heal divisions in these societies. Panelists included Roeun Chea, who survived the genocide of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia during the 1970s; Arlene Avakian, a UMass professor whose parents survived the Armenian genocide in Turkey; Omar Ndizeye, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide of 1994; and Carl Wilkens, an American who lived in Rwanda during the genocide and who now works as a peace activist. Carl Wilkens and Omar Ndizeye visiting NHS in January 2023 (they returned to NHS, along with panelists Arlene Avakian and Roeun Chea, for the Never Again is Now event in May 2023). JFK MIDDLE SCHOOL LAUNCHES MORNING NEWS, WITH NEF TECHNOLOGY GRANT JFK Middle School’s news station for reading morning announcements launched in December 2022, thanks to a grant from NEF. The broadcasts are shown in classrooms throughout JFK and also live streamed on YouTube. NEF has funded a number of grants for technology at JFK, including drones, VR headphones and a 3D printer. JFK Middle School technology teacher John Crescitelli told The Daily Hampshire Gazette: “My goal for the last 12 years has been to make this the best middle school technology lab in western Mass. And I think I’ve done it.”
Page 7 NEF News Fall 2023 THE NORTHAMPTON EDUCATION FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES THE SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL ENDOWMENT AWARDS FOR THE 2023-24 SCHOOL YEAR Hitchcock Center: Take it Outside: $15,000 All elementary schools Project leads: Billy Spitzer, Dan Butterworth, Colleen Kelley, Katie Koerten For the past two years, the Hitchcock Center has implemented seasonal outdoor STEM and literacy lessons with all K–3 classrooms in the Northampton public schools, Through active movement, games, natural history study, stories, and discussions, students in kindergarten through third grade have made connections with squirrels, birds, beavers, and foxes that live in their neighborhoods, using the schoolyard as their classroom. After a successful two years with grades K–3, the third year of the Take It Outside project will turn its focus to the fourth and fifth grades of all four elementary schools with the goal of increasing capacity for community science. Imagined Worlds at JFK: $15,000 JFK Middle School Project lead: Sharon Leshner “Imagined Worlds” is a year-long therapeutic art initiative for JFK Middle School. This program utilizes an art therapy approach which asks students to imagine and visualize a space where they can feel safe and positive. Beginning in the fall of 2023, JFK art teachers will bring this prompt into their classrooms through an art-therapy-informed abstract art and collage unit, in which students will create their own “safe spaces.” Teachers at JFK Middle School will also be invited to an afterschool workshop to create their own “Imagined World” artwork. The art created throughout the fall and winter will then be collected and transformed into a mural designed collaboratively by muralists Sharon Leshner and Ryan Murray, lead artists and muralists on the project. The mural will be placed at the right-side main entrance of the school. Homesteading Course: $5100 Northampton High School Project leads: Kevin Lucey, Bob Melnik Introduction to Homesteading is a new innovative course that teaches self-reliance and a plethora of skills not traditionally taught in the current public education system. It has broad-based appeal and is an elective that students in any grade at Northampton High School can take. This course will explore skills needed to live a homesteading life, covering a wide variety of topics, including sewing and fiber arts, food preparation and preservation, foraging, gardening, mini farming, starting a craft business online, and basic home and automotive maintenance. Affinity Groups: $10,000 All schools Project lead: Laura Frogameni This program seeks to empower, attract, and retain diverse educators in our district by providing safe spaces for underrepresented and historically marginalized groups to come together to feel less isolated and more connected. Educators will voluntarily participate in facilitated sessions throughout the school year. While race is at the center and the primary lens for the groups, the intersections of gender, class, sexuality, and disability will be considered in the groups offered in the coming year. Early Literacy & Learning: $7,466 Preschools Project leads: Laura Frogameni, Kira Henninger This program builds on the existing partnership between the Northampton public schools and our city’s community-based early education and care centers and family child care programs. Providing quality professional development and consultation for early childhood educators in our city allows us to build more consistency between programs and gives our Northampton students a stronger foundation. Engaging in phonemic awareness instruction and practice develops children’s understanding of sounds, and that knowledge directly impacts their reading, spelling, and writing in later school years. Empowering Youth: How to Be Anti-Racist $22,000 All elementary schools & JFK Middle School Project lead: Sarah King “Empowering Youth: How to Be Anti-Racist” is an opportunity for students and educators at the elementary and middle school levels to engage in anti-racist dialogue, learning, and practice with the support and coaching of an experienced local anti-racist educator and author. Tiffany Jewell, author of This Book Is Anti-Racist and The Anti-Racist Kid, is a Black biracial writer and anti-racist educator and consultant. She has been a teacher/educator for two decades and has worked with schools across the country to provide an introduction to anti-bias/ anti-racist work as well as ongoing consultation and coaching. All Out Adventures: $5,250 JFK Middle School & Northampton High School Project Lead: Karen Foster All Out Adventures will offer inclusive cycling to special education students and peer volunteers at JFK Middle School and Northampton High School. Year 1 of this project was a successful and fulfilling program that will be expanded in Year 2 to include student volunteers from the general school population as well as offering a culminating ride into the community on the final day of the program in the spring. RKFRR Mindfulness Retreat: $5,250 RK Finn Ryan Road Project leads: Karen Albano, Rebecca Connolly The Ryan Road community, including the counseling department, will design and build a Mindfulness and Sensory Retreat space in an unused courtyard to support social emotional programming in an outdoor environment. The Mindfulness Retreat will provide an outdoor space for hands-on social emotional learning (i.e. the Zones of Self-Regulation and Mindfulness), to help students stay focused, reduce stress, and increase proactive coping skills. In small group and whole class counseling sessions, students will be taught grounding techniques through their senses to assuage feelings of anxiety and center themselves. Peer mediation and restorative justice circles will be held in the space as well. “Chrissy D’Agostino’s workshops have been so very well attended and received by both the parents and professionals who live and work with young children. In our third quarter survey, respondents reported they increased their understanding of their child’s development and in gaining new skills at the highest level from attending her programs. Thank you for making these programs possible!!” – Laura Frogameni “In the work Bridge Street students did with me and Tiffany Jewell, students, teachers, and ESPs were asked to self-report in drawings, words, or through dictation, to reflect on their own identity, and what makes themselves them. Also, in self-reported fashion, people were asked to share what is visible to others, and what is inside, or below the surface of their iceberg that is significant to them.” – Nora DeJasu, educator Thank you to our Endowment donors! For more information on our Endowment and to see a recent list of Endowment donors, please see our Endowment campaign celebration newsletter on our website, northamptoneducation.org, under News
Page 8 NEF News Fall 2023 VISIT THE NEF WEBSITE www.northamptoneducation.org A Community Investment in Our Public Schools LEARN MORE ABOUT NEF: LEARN ABOUT UPCOMING EVENTS AND SO MUCH MORE • DONATE ONLINE • CONNECT TO NEF’S FACEBOOK PAGE • DOWNLOAD GRANT APPLICATION FORMS • READ DESCRIPTIONS OF MORE THAN 20 YEARS OF SMALL GRANTS TO EDUCATORS • LEARN ABOUT THE NEF BOOK FUND • LEARN MORE ABOUT EXCITING PLANS FOR THE NEF ENDOWMENT NORTHAMPTON HIGH SCHOOL Class of 1963 which collected MORE THAN $800 IN DONATIONS TO NEF during their 60th class reunion in June 2023! THANK YOU TO THE Comings and Goings on the NEF Board In 2023 NEF bade farewell to several outgoing board members. Our gratitude for their years of board service to: Josh Bedell • Amy Levine • Dorothy Nemetz NEF is delighted to welcome three new board members, Tom Annese, Joy McGaugh and Stephen Platt, as well as longtime board members and new co-presidents Dale Melcher and Martin Wohl NORTHAMPTON EDUCATION FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS CO-PRESIDENTS Dale Melcher Martin Wohl TREASURER Mary Curtin SECRETARY Jennifer Sanders James BOARD MEMBERS Tom Annese Peter Bigwood André Boulay Summer Cable Mandy Gerry Sam Hopper Elizabeth Horn Joy McGaugh Lisa Papademetriou Stephen Platt Dale West Megan Rubiner Zinn SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPRESENTATIVE Gwen Agna EX-OFFICIO Dr. Portia S. Bonner, Superintendent Co-presidents Dale Melcher and Marty Wohl Joy McGaugh (she/her) is a loud and proud native Texan who moved to the Pioneer Valley in September 2020 after a lifetime spent no further north than the city of Houston. She is a program manager at Smith College Executive Education, running leadership development programs for women at all career stages. Joy has two children in the Northampton Public Schools, a 7th grader at JFK Middle School and a 4th grader at Leeds Elementary. She serves on the Leeds School Council, which introduced her to the Endowment Grants subcommittee of NEF, leading directly to her interest in supporting public education through service on the NEF board. In what little spare time she can scrape together, she loves to read, go out dancing, and sing karaoke. Stephen Platt grew up in Northampton and went to school at Florence Grammar, JFK and Northampton High (class of ‘89) before heading out into the world. He moved back to the area in 2004 to teach at UMass Amherst, and has been there ever since as a professor of modern Chinese history. He has two kids in the Northampton schools, and a wife (Francie Lin) who served previously on the NEF board. Tom Annese has two children in the Northampton Public Schools and sees quality public education as the foundation for a just and democratic society. Tom is enthusiastic about joining NEF and supporting the public schools in any way he can. He lives in Florence where he enjoys hiking, botanizing, and playing with his wife, kids, and dog. CONSIDER A PLANNED GIFT Making an outright gift to the NEF Endowment is just one way to support our public schools. Another great option is to make a planned gift. Planned giving isn’t complicated and is not just for the wealthy. You can plan a gift today that will benefit you, your family, and NEF for years to come.