Two Amazing Canton Graduates

By Lynn K. McMullin

This week’s BLOG is a follow-up to last week’s look at the altruism of our classrooms and clubs.  I want to celebrate with you the success two amazing CHS graduates, Ryan Abraham and Chris Robitaille, who exemplify the epitome of civic-minded initiative and problem solving.  For over three years, these two young men have impressed us with their creativity and verve in their efforts to support the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  It began with their Senior Project.  In March 2009, following their first cross-county bike race, which raised over $20,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, they were recognized by Jodi Rell and each received a Red Cross ‘Local Hero’ award.

Now, three years later, they (along with several of their peers Peter Leung, Brian Beaulieu, Miranda J. Conary, and Mark-John Clifford) have organized a foundation of their own called R.F.A.R. (Riding for a Reason).  Check out this foundation’s extensive website at http://www.rfarchallenge.org/index.php?CID=11.  I can guarantee you will feel both astounded and proud!

Click on the link above and check out the RFAR Foundation's website.

Clicking on the Foundation’s history lets you know that R.F.A.R. was “founded in 2008 by Canton High School seniors Ryan Abraham and Chris Robitaille in an effort to combine their passion for an active lifestyle and supporting cancer victims.  RFAR’s first event raised over $20,000 and the second event nearly tripled the revenue and raised almost $60,000!  Riding for a Reason has now expanded its organizational leaders to help create a unique and exciting event each and every year.  Riding for a Reason will also be expanding across the nation, adding new states each year!”

Recently, Ryan Abraham sent an email to Gary Gula, principal at Canton High School to share with him the latest accomplishments of their foundation.  Ryan wrote, “After creating a new partnership with Robin Williams and creating 'The Power of Laughter Gala: An Evening with Robin Williams' to be held in October 2011 at New York City’s Gotham Hall, Mr. Williams has graciously offered up the idea and his list of contacts and we have created 'The Power of Laughter Tour.'

We will be sending celebrity comedians including Ellen Degeneres, Jimmy Fallon, Jerry Seinfield, Ray Ramano, Dennis Leary, and Jeff Dunham across the 50 states to top cancer centers!  While everything is still very much in the works, we will be coming out with a press release and a website page for this new addition to the Riding for a Reason Foundation shortly!

We will be hosting 50 events across the 50 states up until October 2011. These events will lead up to the main event - the Gala, where we will bring in all the comedians to honor and thank them for their support as well as 500-1000 other guests.

We are incredibly excited to have live entertainment provided by Robin Williams, himself, and Robert Holden as a keynote speaker - the leader in the true power of laughter, and the top researcher on how leading a happy life can help cure cancer.”

In a rather humble closing to his email, Ryan wrote, “I just thought I would let you all know of this great new addition!”

Both young men are currently college students!

The Value of Empathy

By

Lynn K. Mcmullin

At every grade level, involving students in community service projects makes sense.  Not only do students learn empathy, (which adds value in every potential future endeavor), but they learn a little bit about the responsibilities of citizenship in our democratic society.  Community service projects are particularly meaningful when students design and carry them out themselves.  In those instances, they learn skills such as problem solving and participating in groups, both as leaders and followers.

Our Senior Project course at the high school includes a community service component.  In this course, students identify a significant need and design and implement their own community service project to meet this need.  The most meaningful projects involve developing new initiatives, rather than supporting one that already exists.  The Grade 6 community outreach projects and Grade 8 Odyssey Projects incorporate this same kind of civic responsibility learning.

In addition, many of the clubs and activities Canton offers have community service components to them, thus helping students to understand why people volunteer.   As adults we are likely to have experienced many kinds of civic volunteerism and service which have helped us build a sense of belonging in our wider community.  And, let’s face it… helping out others makes us feel good about ourselves -- we feel worthy, energized, capable, and connected to others.  

There’s no better time to tell you about some of the community-minded projects that our students are fulfilling.  I hope you feel as proud as I do of their accomplishments:

Canton Middle School



Students sent packages of snacks and hygiene
items to our soldiers overseas
through http://www.anysoldier.com/

 On November 12, the Middle School sent 94 packages off to Afghanistan and Iraq.  This was, by a good margin, more packages than the school had ever sent before.  First, the students visited http://www.anysoldier.com/ to find a soldier, who makes a single request on behalf of his or her whole group, (watch “Tango Mike” on this website if you’d like to learn more about the value of this outreach program).  The students then spent several weeks collecting and boxing necessities (such as body wash or Chapstick), snacks, and some items just for fun.  In the Collinsville PO, Barbara worked 90 minutes off the clock to get the packages out and donated $20 to cover a little postage.  The rest of the postage was covered by the Community of Concern, the Student Council, and the PTO.  Within days the students got their first correspondence:

 Canton Middle School Students,

On behalf of Delta Company, 3rd Battalion, 10th Aviation Brigade I would like to sincerely thank you for supporting the "Dukes", as we call ourselves!  The fantastic Christmas decorations and cards have all found homes in the hangar where our Soldiers work.  Our job here is to provide 24 hour maintenance support to the many AH-64 Apache, UH-60 Blackhawk, CH-47 Chinook and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters throughout Afghanistan.  The soldiers work very long hours, both day and night, to ensure the helicopters are ready to fly at a moment's notice.   



Everyone stops to read the cards and smiles when they see the decorations.  We definitely feel the love and support you have sent! Thank you again for being a part of the Any Soldier program and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Respectfully,

1LT Sarah M. Brisson



Middle School students packed a police trailer with
donations for the Canton Food Bank.



This month the Middle School has undertaken a canned food war with the competitive goal of filling a police cruiser which came to the school last Friday and was packed with over 1000 non-perishable food items for the Canton Food Bank.

Cherry Brook Primary School

At Halloween, students collected donations for UNICEF, (which you and I also may remember doing when we were children).  After Halloween, CBPS collected and took donations of candy to share with the Food Bank and the troops overseas.

 Then, on December 6th, a collection began for new, unwrapped toys for Canton’s Gifts of Love.  The following week, they set up their annual “Mitten Tree” display in the hallway by the library.  Students have been bringing in children's hats, gloves, and mittens to decorate the tree.  On December 17^th, the items will be collected and given to the Canton Food Bank, who will help distribute the items to local families. 

Canton Intermediate School

Just before Thanksgiving, students and teachers participated in their annual “Jack Bannon Turkey Trot” collecting canned goods to help our neighbors in need.  Grades 4, 5, and 6 competed in a spirited rivalry that brought together more than 2,100 lbs. of non-perishable food items.

This month, CIS is busy with a number of projects.  Students are putting the final touches on their annual Holiday Gift and Toy Drive of books, toys, cash donations, and gift cards which will be given to Canton neighbors in need.   The “Kids Care Club” is making ornaments for the senior citizens and Cherry Brook Health Center.   The “Kids Care Club” is a nationally-recognized, student-driven community service group that generates projects and activities to benefit the community and is facilitated through the school’s Quality Council.

Another group, the CIS “Circle of Friends” in collaboration with the Boy Scouts is collecting crayons to send to the “Crayons for Cancer Center” to be melted, recycled into different shapes, and sold.  They are asking CIS students to contribute old crayons to this very exciting project. The money they raise will help families stay with their kids while they are getting treatment at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. 



In one example of the Grade 6 outreach projects mentioned above, a Grade 6 student in Mrs. Perry’s class decided to ‘reach out’ globally.  In order to bring supplies and food along with her and her family on a mission to the Dominican Republic, she and other students held car washes, raked leaves, and collected $107 towards her project. 

One of CIS’s major service initiatives took place on Thursday, December 16, when the “CIS Flying V's" met the "Cherry Brook Spikers" on the CIS volleyball court for the third annual staff match.  All proceeds from the game, attended by families from both schools, will be donated to the Kilimanjaro Education Foundation, which is an excellent example of a school community making a long-term commitment to help others.  Proceeds from many previous fundraisers funded the building of a classroom in Tanzania; proceeds from this year's volleyball match will be targeted specifically to purchase lesson plan books.   If you’d like to read more about the Kilimanjaro Foundation click here http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/kef/47544/.

Canton High School

The student members of the high school’s ‘Substance Free Students’ found the idea for a very different kind of service project on the Nike website at http://www.nikereuseashoe.com/.  In an effort to promote “green” thinking, they are collecting 200 pairs of used sneakers which will be recycled into indoor tracks, basketball courts, and gym floors.  Approximately 30 students are involved in this project which required publicity, (including writing promotional articles for the newspapers), collecting and counting the sneakers, and finally, transporting the very large collection to the Nike store at West Farms. 

CATA (Canton Adolescents Taking Action)
meets regularly to plan community
service and civic-minded projects.



Students involved in CATA, “Canton Adolescents Taking Action,” recently baked Thanksgiving cookies for the Canton Food Bank and delivered in them in time for the holiday. Now, and through the beginning of January, CATA is holding a winter clothing drive for people in need. 

CATA cookies were packaged with this message:
"Happy Thanksgiving from CATA!...Baked with love at
Canton High School just for you!"

Another civically-minded group, the FCCLA Club (Family, Career, & Community Leaders of America) spent an afternoon putting together cookie-making kits for the Canton Food Bank -- the kind that you see beautifully layered in decorative jars.  These “cookie jars” are available to families at the Canton Food Bank (which despite the efforts of the schools and other local civic groups will continue to need support throughout the year.)



Hopefully, by learning empathy and experiencing the positive rewards of helping others, our students will become more responsible, less self-centered citizens.

Student members of the FCCLA Club made cookie mixes
for the Canton Food Bank.

Extended Day Kindergarten Family Event

By Lynn K. McMullin


Every day, the news coming from our 'Extended Day Kindergarten Pilot' gets better and better. Our teacher, Jessica Papp, is a real find!  She is inventing the structures and curriculum as she goes – observing the children in their morning classes, and then incorporating what she learns about their strengths and weaknesses into the afternoon lessons. We can see that the children are making great strides in both the academic and social arenas, but it’s too soon for me to report any data.

I would, however, like to report on the recent family event hosted by the Bushnell in Hartford and attended by 80% of our extended day kindergarten families… about 55 people in all!  As you may recall, our families agreed (when they applied for the pilot program) to help out in the afternoon classroom occasionally and to attend the planned social events designed to build community among the students and their families. The first of these events was held Tuesday, November 30, at 5:30 in the Seavers Room of the Bushnell, where our Choice and Canton resident kindergarten families -- moms, dads, brothers, and sisters -- joined for an evening of friendship, education, and fun.

The Bushnell, thanks to the kind and meticulous attention of Yolande Spears and her staff, treated us to a beautiful hall complete with linen covered tables and a stage with a grand piano -- where a charismatic professional storyteller engaged the students in a funny and interactive performance.  Then, Max’s provided a delicious (kid-friendly) meal of macaroni-and-cheese (comfort food to die for!), chicken fingers, (roasted chicken for the adults), salad, and desserts.  It didn't end there, as the kindergarteners were then invited to take home a book to add to their family library. The books, all mainstays of the Bushnell’s Education Department, featured diverse characters, settings, and themes.

Amanda Potrya, with whom we have been working to ensure the quality of our program, shared her thoughts with us the next morning. She wrote, “I'd really like to highlight the efforts of the Cherry Brook Primary School's Extended Day Program to welcome in our [Choice] families, and create a welcoming school/family partnership. Tonight was priceless. I know I walked away with great memories, and a lot to look forward to. Thanks a million for making a difference in our young student's lives!”

So what’s up next?

Amanda, Margaret Miller of Canton’s CPAT, and I met this past week to see if we can extend our CPAT program to Choice families of two- and three-year-olds who already have siblings in the Canton Schools, (but perhaps not until the weather changes again in late March). Meanwhile, Andy Robbin and I are working on a proposal to offer the kindergarten extended day to additional Canton families next year. It’s important to remember that we have accomplished everything thus far without spending any local Board of Education money.