Mrs. Kitchen, “Superhero Day”
Detail — “Heart” by Lily Jenks
Flow staffer Kylie Lowell
Covering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond
Vol. 2, no. 1 • FEB. 5, 2015 • FREE
The BSE Flow
Student-run newspaper of the buckland-shelburne ELEMENTARY school communitY • Shelburne falls, mass.
A taste of middle school
District Notes
Community forum on district budget Feb. 9 at BSE
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oters are invited to a community forum at BSE on Monday, Feb. 9 from 7 to 8 p.m. The idea, according to Superintendent Michael Buoniconti, is to ask questions, voice concerns, and share priorities for BSE. Buoniconti is to present an $18.1 million level-services spending plan to the public at Mohawk on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. The presentation will be posted to the same location following the Feb. 11 School Committee meeting. The vote on the budget takes place Feb. 25 at Mohawk. To review the draft budget proposal, see News & Announcements at mohawkschools.org/ index.html.
INDEX News .................. A2 Op/Ed .................. A2 Quick chat ............... A2 Advice ................. A3 Woof! .................... A3 Book review ............ A3 Triangle Man ............ A3 Career profile ..... A4 Magazine ............ B1 Sports & Rec ......... B3 Traditions ........... B4 Valentines .............. B4
Red Cross Blood drive to help hundreds
Staff photo
Collection specialist Michelle Boucher puts people at ease while accepting their blood donations for the Red Cross at the Shelburne-Buckland Community Center Jan. 23.
Long Range Planning Committee presents findings, recommendations We’re the largest school district in the state by area, but the least densely populated. Those facts have combined for a higher-than-average per-pupil cost, and for the past two years a Long Range Planning Committee has been looking into solutions short of closing schools. On Jan. 21, that committee presented its findings to the School Committee, dozens of community members, and state representatives Paul Mark and Steve Kulik. The per-pupil cost of education in our towns is approximately $2,700 greater than the state average. Indeed, fve of our nine district towns spend more than half of their annual budgets on education. Left unaddressed, the problem will only get worse, as enrollment in our schools is expected to fall off as the towns age and a large percentage of families send their kids to school outside the district, the committee warned. For a white paper of all research and findings — proposals include going green, revising the regional agreement, and pursuing full state transportation reimbursements — visit mohawkschools.org/index.html. Got an opinion about this? Send your letter to the editor to bseflow@gmail.com. — Staff report
Saving Lives
Top: BSE kids Gavin Crehan and Matthew Herron play “People Bingo.” Above: PBL teacher Samantha Lydiard and ELA teacher Leanne Blaszak serve ice cream. “We’re having a great time,” Blaszak said. Then she corrected herself: “We’re having a ‘sweet’ time.” Center: Carlito Hernandez is considering Mohawk. Right: Sage Spitzer is a yes.
Sixth-grade families get the scoop at Mohawk’s first ice cream social
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amilies flowed in from BSE, Colrain Elementary, Sanderson Academy, Rowe Elementary, and Heath Elementary. One hundred fifty people mingling and on a quest. “Do you like to dance? Do you play a musical instrument? Do you have more than five cousins? Do you speak another language?” The game was “People Bingo,” and there were two versions: One for students and one for parents. Yellow and pink handouts gave 25 “icebreaker” topics each, and they got people talking. (For parents: “Do you still have your Christmas lights up? Have you watched ‘Goonies’ more than five times? Did you attend Mohawk?”) There was ice cream too, and plenty of it — Bart’s — with a rich variety of bring-your-own sundae toppings: sprinkles and Gummi Bears and hot fudge, of course. And so went Mohawk’s first-ever ice cream social Jan. 29, an evening in the cafeteria just for the district’s sixth-graders and their families to meet each other and Mohawk’s family of seventh-grade instructors and students. It was the first in what Mohawk Principal Lynn Dole described as a series of activities meant to show families all the
With five beds arranged in a U, and collection specialists gathering blood from volunteers, the Community Center was busy helping save lives Jan. 23. As staff from the Springfield Red Cross explained, they had 51 appointments for people to come in and give blood. The goal was 65, but walk-ins were expected to increase that number. Each pint collected will serve about two people, the staff said. Donor Marcus Fisher said he likes giving blood. he’s done it two or three times a year since he was 13. Karen Shippee said her donation “is a good thing to do.” — Areia Heilman with John Snyder
Making Space
~ RELATED FEATURE ~ “How to make friends at a new school” Ask Harper, page A3 ways they can be part of the Mohawk community. “On March 3 we’ll have the more formal, ‘This is what you learn in seventh grade’ orientation, with questions and answers. Then ‘Seussical: The Musical,’ our all-school musical that will be staged on March 6, 7, and 8, where a lot of these fifth- and sixth-graders are starring, which is very exciting.” At the end of May, Dole said, is the traditional Step-Up Day, which will be full of activities. The ice cream social, she said, was for that first social connection, “getting to know other families of sixth graders who will become seventh graders; where they’re coming from small schools to what can seem like a big school but just what is really just a bigger community.” Afterward, there were free tickets to the varsity basketball game taking place that night: Mahar visiting. Dole said the social was the vision of Mohawk seventh-grade social studies teacher Sean Conlon, ELA teacher Leanne Blaszak, special educators Julia Lignori and Dianne Cerone, science teacher Jeff Johansmeyer, PBL teacher Samantha Lydiard,
McCusker’s dining room fills a niche
and math teacher Alyson Patch, all of whom, she said, “go above and beyond to build bridges between our elementary schools and our middle school.” And the evening was a hit with families. Many alumni parents said they were delighted with this new effort. Other families said Mohawk had made an amazing first impression and was strongly in the mix. Sage Spitzer, from Sanderson Academy, making her way down the ice cream line with friends, said she’s definitely going to attend Mohawk. “This is fun. I’m looking forward to it,” she said.
What was just a big empty room after the Shelburne Falls Wine Merchant left late last year is now extra dining room space for McCusker’s Market — and so much more. The space, in the Odd Fellows’ building, is also a temporary community event space that hosts art exhibits and receptions, CPR classes, song circles, and whatever else townspeople sign up for. Whether the room stays an event space is up in the air, according to the market’s Emily Gopen. That’s one of the ideas being considered by Franklin Community Co-op. Above, Gopen, Janice Sorensen, and Sarah Pirtle show off decorations Gopen helped organize as a decorating session. Also helping were Amy Murray with daughter Ainsley and son Charlie; Marissa Potter with kids Aida and Jonah; Carol DeLorenzo, and others.
— John Snyder, words and photos
— Staff report
Sean Conlon looks on as Mohawk Principal Lynn Dole introduces the ice cream social event plan at a recent School Committee meeting.