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C O N N E C T E D
D O L G E V I L L E
N E W S L E T T E R
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Connected District Bulletin
Connected Partners
Collaborations & Contributions
Training Highlights
Initiative Wide Highlights Staff
This year at our open House, the Dolgeville Connected Team welcomed several amazing community partners to share valuable information and opportunities with our district families!
Ms. Amanda Cowan from The Kelberman Center and Ms. Marina Bridgham from Cornell Cooperative Oneida County, joined us to provide parent support and share the importance of schedules, routines, and structure for children.
Mr. DuWayne Engram and Kevin Morales from the YWCA were also in attendance to chat with families about the new adaptation of the AMEND program—The Circle—bringing powerful education and support to our young men at DCS.
And thanks to our amazing local stylist, Ms. Lucinda Martyniuk-Davis, we had TWENTY free haircuts for our students!
A huge THANK YOU to all of our wonderful partners for making this event possible. It’s great to be Connected!
We kicked o y g p g g September 19 . We had a full nine periods of programming with Ms. Lisa Mang and Nicole Wilson from Herkimer Working Solutions. They guided our students through career assessments and brought in VR headsets for them to literally try on some different career opportunities! th
This year at our Dolgeville Connected School, we began our year long financial literacy programming with First Source Credit Union. Ms. Deb and Ms. Rachel kicked off our programming with a lesson on "What is a Budget?". Students worked through the basics of monthly income vs. outgoing expenses, and had the opportunity to problem solve and ask questions to better understand how to balance a monthly budget.
We were so excited to welcome Ms. Brittany and Xena, from Oneida County Cornell Cooperative Extension, back to Dolgeville to hang with our students and staff members in the highschool HUB. Xena is so calm and kind, and our students love to visit with her!
This September, we had our very first visit from Ms. Kimberly Dean from Job Corps! Job Corps is the nation’s largest residential career training and education program for income eligible 16-24 year olds. They offer career readiness/hands on training for more than 100-plus careers. Student and staff were able to sign up to get a great overview of the program and all their questions answered! Aiming to bring all of these amazing resources directly to our Dolgeville Central students! It’s great to be connected!
The Herkimer County System of Care hosted Chalk the Walk in August, giving children and families the chance to connect with local resources and support services. The event featured fun, engaging activities to get kids excited for the new school year. Thanks to Katie Baker, Joanne from Stella Salon was on hand to provide free haircuts to children, adding an extra special touch to the day!
The Out of the Darkness Walk for suicide awareness and prevention was recently hosted by Catholic Charities, providing a meaningful opportunity for Youth Ambassador Coordinators to engage with young people affected by suicide, either directly or indirectly Attendees were able to access important mental health resources and referrals from Herkimer County System of Care, as well as information about the Mother Daughter Circle and the Youth Advisory Council.
Exciting news! Katie is now trained to facilitate Mother-Daughter Circle and Girls Circle Groups. These programs give girls and their mothers—or female-identifying caregivers —opportunities to connect, build strong relationships, and support positive growth. The Mother-Daughter Circle (ages 11–18) strengthens bonds during the transition to young womanhood, while the Girls Circle (ages 9–18) fosters self-expression, resiliency, and healthy relationships in a trauma-informed setting. Opportunities to join will be launching soon—stay tuned for details!
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Our leading concern in our Dolgeville Connected District continues to be food scarcity, followed closely by mental health concerns. These issues are complicated by the lack of transportation by many of our families in the area and lack of providers in the immediate area.
We regularly supply our district families with food boxes and tangible items as well as connect them to our local community resources including the Dolgeville Food Pantry, King’s Provisions (fresh food giveaway), and the Food Sense Program. We also help families connect to SNAP and WIC support as appropriate.
our area depending on their availability to Neighborhood Center satellite clinic, where there
TRAINING TRAINING
Monthly Connected Partner Highlights are held virtually throughout the school year for staff to discover and build connections with various community partners. September kicked off the presentations for the '25-'26 school year. Melinda Robinson, a research coordinator at Bassett's Research Institute, presented to our staff on her role in cancer awareness, prevention, and education, noting her work with youth tobacco prevention using pigs' lungs as an educational tool. This tobacco prevention education is available for any of our Connected Districts, so our Site Coordinators can work with her to schedule her interactive presentation to schools, at no cost! The presentation, featuring healthy and damaged pigs' lungs, aims to deeply resonate with students about the consequences of tobacco use. For more information or if you are interested in bringing Melinda into your school, please connect with your Site Coordinator!
Learn how to support the mental health of young people in your community! This 6-hour interactive training is designed for anyone who wants to better understand youth mental health, recognize signs of concern, and connect youth with the right resources and supports. Gain practical skills, increase your confidence, and make a positive difference in the lives of young people.
In August, we held our initiative-wide Back to School Bash in partnership with National Grid. 1,300 students from our Connected Districts were able to receive the school supplies needed according to their teachers’ lists. About 3,000 individuals were in attendance to learn about the Community Partner resources, have a meal, and enjoy a variety of activities alongside the school supply giveaway! Thanks to our
Our first annual Connected Visionary Awards: Not a School Night Celebration was a huge success! The award recipients included Colleen Fahy-Box, Jessica Lattimore, Jason Mitchell, Julia Thet, Karen Belcher on behalf of the Food Bank of CNY, Anne Lansing on behalf of Safe Schools Mohawk Valley, and Richelle Singer on behalf of Cornell Cooperative Extension. The Beeches was a fabulous location with amazing food. There was a silent auction, locker giveaway, painting, and more! We greatly appreciate our Connected Partners and are glad to give them the acknowledgement they deserve for supporting our Intiative.
g ero Awards ero Awards
OurCo-Leader,MelissaRoys,wastherecipientoftheHunger HeroAwardshostedbytheFoodBankofCentralNewYork duetotheworkdoneintheTheConnectedInitiativethrough back-to-backnaturaldisastersinCentralNewYork TheConnectedInitiativeishonoredtocelebrateMelissa Roys,2025HungerHero,whilealsorecognizingthesteadfast leadershipofDanielleMartinandtheentireConnectedTeam fortheirtirelesscommitmenttofightinghunger,
CoordinatorAppreciationWeekwasheldnationallySeptember 14th-20th Ourteamcelebratedtheonlywaythatmadesense–bycelebratingeachofourstaffandhighlightingthestrengths theybringtotheConnectedInitiative! Eachstaffmemberreceivedapersonalizedawardfortheunique contributionstheyoffer.
Connected F3 Block Party Connected F3 Block Party
OurCo-Leader,MelissaRoys,wastherecipientoftheHunger HeroAwardshostedbytheFoodBankofCentralNewYork duetotheworkdoneintheTheConnectedInitiativethrough back-to-backnaturaldisastersinCentralNewYork.
TheConnectedInitiativeishonoredtocelebrateMelissa Roys,2025HungerHero,whilealsorecognizingthesteadfast leadershipofDanielleMartinandtheentireConnectedTeam fortheirtirelesscommitmenttofightinghunger,
UPCOMING UPCOMINGEvents Events
Elementary Programs and Events in October:
10/1/2025-YWCA The Council-Kevin Morales Tabling Outside Lunch Room (Will meet every Wednesday in HS HUB with interested students) 10/9-Ms. Wendy from Cornell
3rd Grade-Pumpkin Not Just for Halloween 9am 45 students
4th Grade-Cheese Making from 10-11am 60 students Bowen 12.1.1-Pumpkin Not Just for Halloween 11:40AM 10 students
MS/HS Programs and Events in October: Starting October 1st-every Wednesday Kevin M will be here (YWCA)
3rd-MVHS Hygiene Presentation for 7th and 8th 7th-Cornell Nutrition Education Programming for 3 classes (repeating every Tuesday for at least six weeks)
10/21-10/23-3 Day Working Solutions Intensive 10/27-Job Corps Presentation for Juniors and Seniors in Auditorium
