www.southingtoncitizen.com
Volume 18, Number 2
Friday, January 8, 2021
Watch groups form
Education program launched Monday By Jessica Simms Special to the Record-Journal
Through its focus on helping area youth, Yes!Academy (Youth Educational Success) will offer students educational support, tutoring, mentoring and youth development programs. The program, which launched Monday, came about as a result of the Make
It Different Foundation, which was founded by Deborah Garner in honor of her late son Taahir “Ty” Harris. Garner, who has always wanted to incorporate mentorship into the foundation’s mission, decided to create the program after looking at educational alternatives for her daughter. “We had made the decision See YES!Academy, A2
By Jesse Buchanan Record-Journal staff
Prompted by continued car thefts and burglaries, thousands of town residents joined online groups as part of neighborhood watch efforts in 27 areas of town.
Alida Fabiano, 16, works on designing a “Think” sign for the multimedia room at the Yes!Academy in Southington on Tuesday, Dec. 29. Aaron Flaum, Record-Journal
Members share home surveillance camera images, watch for suspicious activity and report possible suspects to police.
Gift collection project surpasses family’s wildest dreams (Greg and Lynn Potamis, of Southington, submitted this story about a project their son initiated.) Our son, Ryan, a 7th grader at DePaolo Middle School, decided he wanted to give back to the children at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford as the holiday season approached. CCMC has been a very familiar place for Ryan since a young age. Ryan has a chronic blood disorder, tha-
Michael Leone, a Loper Street resident, suggested forming neighborhood watch groups about a week ago on social media. The group formed in response to that call now has more than 3,400 people.
lassemia, requiring him to receive blood transfusions, every three weeks. As a young child, he always Ryan loved going Potamis into the "Prize Closet" Ryan Potamis, a seventh-grader at DePaolo Middle to pick something after every School, poses with the toys and other gifts he collected appointment.
Auto crimes, both thefts from motor vehicles and car thefts, have jumped in many suburban towns in Connecticut. Southington police report a more than 200 percent increase in car burglaries compared to last year. Leone has been frustrated
for the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.
See Toys, A2
Submitted photo
See Watch, A4
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