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APRIL 27-MAY 3, 2018 VOLUME 3 ISSUE 17
Your Hometown Newspaper
The official newspaper of the Town of Concord and the Village of Springville, serving Springville, the surrounding communities and Springville-Griffith Institute Central Schools
We The crack of the baseball bat and the cheers from the home crowd were all that was needed on Monday to make a good spring day a great one. Many of the SGI spring sports teams, including the varsity baseball and softball teams, finally got to play home games and they did so under absolutely perfect weather. The temperature hit 70 degrees, the sun was shining and Monday capped off a beautiful weekend. We’ll take more of those, please! It’s a great opportunity for us each week to document the things the SGI school district is doing well, but when officials on the national level take notice, that’s even better. Although Springville didn’t present yet at the U.S. Department of Education, it’s worth celebrating that Kimberly Moritz and two school principals were invited there because of what our district is doing to rethink education. We’ve heard before that there are four seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and construction — and there’s probably no better year to illustrate that than this one. But as a lingering winter gives way to the construction season, we’ll take it because it means road work this year includes Route 240 and HollandGlenwood Road, among others. They definitely need the work, and delays during construction will be welcomed signs of progress.
SGI Officials Visit Washington D.C.
BY RICH PLACE
Three administrators from the SGI School District this week made a quick visit to the U.S. Department of Education to participate in a forum dedicated to exploring the way students learn in classrooms across the country. Superintendent Kimberly Moritz, High School Principal James Bialasik and Middle School Principal Shanda DuClon spent a day in the nation’s capital, attended the forum on Tuesday and flew back home that night. Moritz said they had been invited about a week and a half prior to the event after ED officials took notice of how SGI is challenging the narrative of education and also its plans for the P-TECH center that is up for a district-wide vote in May. Following the conference — which was entitled “Principals at ED: Rethinking the Students’ Instructional Day” — Moritz admitted it wasn’t what she expected but she said it was worthwhile and interesting to hear
from districts of various sizes. “It was a great day filled with presenters from across the nation who were sharing their stories about innovative learning opportunities within their schools,” Moritz said. The conference featured eight speakers from across the country who provided examples of ways they are rethinking education and ended with a series of roundtable discussions among those at the event. In an email to staff late Tuesday night, Bialasik explained the purpose of the event and explained the ongoing struggle of balancing the application of knowledge and skills with the standards, assessments and mandates that go along with being a public school. “I’m moving towards the realization that habits of mind and skills (perseverance, grit, iterative thinking, problem solving, etc.) are becoming more important than content due to the fact that content is everywhere,” Bialasik wrote in the email. He noted initiatives already underway at the SGI district, such as the new See Washington D.C. page 5
UPCOMING EVENTS
Upcoming Events Include Tomahawk Throwing, Mixology, SUP Yoga BY ALICIA DZIAK
... see page 11
New brewery opening in Ellicottville page 3
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May 12 Craft Beer & Wine Festival
If you’re a woman looking to learn something new, make new friends, reconnect with old friends, or just take a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, there are some fabulous events coming up in June. Why not take a cue from Mother Nature, where new life is all around us, and breathe some new life into yourself? Plan now for these female-focused events: Women in the Outdoors June 9 On Saturday, June 9, experience the great outdoors with Women in the Outdoors, presented by Springville Strutters Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation. These events are held across the country using experts and trained professionals to teach outdoor skills to women and girls over 12 years of age in a non-competitive environment. According to Estelle Greene, one of the event organizers, “This will be the 19th year the event has been held, and this year’s courses include some new offerings, such as Canoeing and Camping, Owl Painted Tote Bag and Food Prep and Fire.” Other courses include Tomahawk Throwing, Let’s Talk Turkey, Archery, Emergency Prep, Walk in the Woods and Self Defense. Registration is required, and the $65 fee includes all See Women’s Events page 10
Libraries Through the Ages
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May 19 Pageant of the Bands
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BY JOLENE HAWKINS Looking back into the history of the Town of Concord and Village of Springville— when did the libraries get started and where were they? Well, I’m sure that anyone who had a printed book was likely to share it with others. But what about libraries? From the 1830s (and this one surprised me), one of the many churches we had contained an anti-slavery library. We have several of the books in our collection. They are numbered on the inside and it states that they can be returned on the second Friday of each month at 1 o’clock. So, yes, it was an actual library. In 1867, W R DePuy Stationary Store here also housed the Circulation Library in town and some of the books were Ned Nevins, Red Rover and Old Vauxhall, along with other tip top books. As I read over the newspaper during that year, he seemed to add 3 to 20 books a week. How exciting for the town people to be able to check these books out to read them! In June 1868, there was a fire in our town that destroyed 15 buildings on Main Street. The losses were great to the businessmen, but they were able to save most of the library books. But by August of the same year, all books were being asked to be returned WR DePuy as he was closing his business and moving out of town. It was not until 1870 that I saw ads for a library again.
PAGES 4-5 Sports schedule Baseball, track softball
Emerling
(From left) High School Principal James Bialasik, Superintendent Kimberly Moritz and Middle School Principal Shanda DuClon visited the U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday to attend a conference on rethinking how students learn in classrooms. Submitted photo.
Girl Power:
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195 West Main Street, Springville, NY (716)592-2881 www.emerlingcdjr.com
Griffis Sculpture Park Opens for the Season ... see page 12
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