turned into a book that would be published and the kids jumped on it,” said Courtney Santor of the Rutland Boys and Girls Club in an interview with WCAX in May. These stories depict the diversity of the Rutland community in many ways, including race, ethnicity, ability, language differences, and much more. The youth received training in portrait photography from well-respected local photographers including Donna GoodHale of Expressions by Donna Photography Studio and Karen Kysar, who teaches the Digital Arts course at Stafford. The stories were written by youth from the Boys and Girls Club and ten students in a Vermont Technical College English composition dual enrollment course at Stafford, who received instruction from a professional interviewer.
The book cover, which depicts two people joining hands, was designed by Lily Crowley, a student at Rutland High School and Stafford Technical Center. David Moats, a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writer for the Rutland Herald wrote the book’s foreword, and Board of Aldermen Chairman Will Notte assisted with editing. The project would also not have been made possible without the support from numerous volunteers and the supporting committee. As the project began to grow, the definition of diversity did as well. “They also learned that one outstanding feature of all of the interviews was that each individual had found a means to overcome challenges and obstacles in order to contribute positively and meaningfully to the community,” Headlam wrote. Mount St. Joseph senior Jelani Williams, a standout basketball player at MSJ, is one of the individuals featured in the book. “I think it’s great that people of different races and beliefs are being acknowledged,” said Williams. Other participants include an entire family, business owners, a legally blind artist, and several life-long Rutlanders – just to name a few.
Once the stories were collected, eight students from Stafford’s Digital Arts class went to work laying out the publication, using their own artistic interpretation of diversity with color and graphics, Headlam wrote on the project’s Kickstarter page back in October. The book was funded by a grant through Project VISION, and with the help of local Rotary clubs, the Unitarian Church, the Anne Slade Charitable Trust, NeighborWorks of Western Vermont, and countless individuals through Kickstarter and other donation platforms. All proceeds from the sale of the book benefit the Boys and Girls Club of Rutland County. You can pick up a copy of the book at Phoenix Books in Rutland.
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