Schools/Sports

Aces High Are CT Champs

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In this year’s “Power Up” FIRST Robotics Championship, Team 176, Aces High, a Suffield-Windsor Locks cooperative, had an excellent season. Participating in five big tournaments on weekends from March to May against from 24 to 66 teams, they were finalists twice and overall winners twice, including the Waterbury District championship and the Connecticut State Championship. Qualified to attend the world championship event in Detroit in late April with 67 teams from all over the world, they reached the semi-final two-out-of-three-matches round and won the first match. But a broken chain in the second match rendered the Aces High robot’s manipulator mechanism useless, yielding losses in the second and third match. Of the 67 teams, Aces High was ranked fourth overall.

Schools/Sports

Suffield Summer Music Camp

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Suffield band directors Amy Wilson and Corey Killian are excited to announce the dates of the second annual Suffield Summer Music Camp! This summer’s two-week camp session will occur July 9-July 20 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at Suffield High School. Instrumental and/or vocal music students entering grades 5-10 are invited to participate in this exciting, yet educational camp focusing on music making and having fun (no experience necessary)! The camp will also hold a free concert open to the public at 6 p.m. on July 19 in the Suffield High School auditorium. To enroll your child in camp, please fill out an application as soon as possible by visiting the Suffield Music Department website, www.suffieldmusic.org.

Schools/Sports

SHS Teacher Named 2018 Grosvenor Teacher Fellow

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Justin Kaput from Suffield High School has been selected as one of this year’s Lindblad Expeditions and National Geographic Grosvenor Teacher Fellows in recognition of his commitment to geographic education. The 2018 Fellows, a group of 40 highly respected educators from the USA and Canada, will embark on global expeditions on board various Lindblad Expedition and  National Geographic ships for a hands-on professional development experience. This year marks the 12th year of the Grosvenor  Program, established to honor former National Geographic Society (NGS) Chairman Gilbert M. Grosvenor’s lifetime commitment to geographic education. The program began with two Fellows in 2007 and has grown each year. The expeditions were donated in perpetuity by Sven-Olof Lindblad and Lindblad Expeditions to mark Grosvenor’s 75th birthday in 2006 and honor his service to the enhancement of geographic education.

Schools/Sports

Career Day at SMS

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Every year Suffield Middle School gives its eighth-grade students the opportunity to hear about a wide variety of careers. Typically, the invited speakers are Suffield residents, many of them volunteered by their children or nieces and nephews. Students can select from a list of what careers are being described and attend several sessions during the day. On April 20 this year, 22 people were scheduled to speak, representing careers from certified public accountant to several kinds of engineer to financial executive and more. Many careers were in the health or medical fields, others were military, several were town offices.

Schools/Sports

SHS Valedictorian and Salutatorian

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Congratulations to Joseph Longo, son of Lisa Longo, who has been named Valedictorian for the Class of 2018. Joseph has been very active at Suffield High School throughout his four years here. Along with attending Suffield High School, Joseph also attends the Greater Hartford Academy of Mathematics and Science. Joseph has been a member of student council for four years, where he has been the Treasurer for two years and is currently the Student Senate President. Joseph has been a member of the National Honor Society for two years, where he is also the Treasurer.

Schools/Sports

We Know Our Students at McAlister

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Administrators, teachers, and staff at McAlister Intermediate School have been working hard to live and breathe the Suffield Public School District’s mantra this year of “Know Your Students.” My colleagues and I are inspired by the Responsive Classroom philosophy and how many opportunities it provides us with creating a classroom community and getting to know our students. Every single day students are greeted as they enter our classrooms, participate in a community building morning meeting to set the tone for the day, and are provided closure and reflection during Closing Circle at the end of the day. Even specialists and service providers join classrooms for Morning Meeting daily in an effort to connect with the students within our school, even if they don’t have the privilege of working directly with them. Once a month certified staff is participating in a faculty meeting utilizing the Morning Meeting model to help build our own professional community and to improve our school climate by supporting the idea that “it takes a village” and we are all in this together. Various staff members take turns leading this Morning Meeting and sharing ideas that can be immediately implemented in our classrooms.

Staff members K-12 were invited to participate in a book club facilitated by our Director of Special Services Natalie Donais and high school psychologist Kelli Conroy focusing on the book, Lost in School by Dr. Ross Greene.

Schools/Sports

Superintendent’s Update

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On April 24 I was honored to participate as a panelist in the 2018 Special Education in Connecticut Summit sponsored by the Klebanoff Institute and the University of Connecticut Neag School of Education. The keynote speaker, Dr. Renee Bradley, Deputy Division Director, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, presented “Equal Access to Opportunity: Do We Have What It Takes?” She asked questions of us that I often ask. Why are we doing what we are doing? Some of our problems in public education have been here for decades. What are we currently doing to address the problems?

Library

Library Update

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The Observer reported last month that the Permanent Building Commission voted to reject all of the several proposals that had been submitted on April 18, as the lowest offered a contract price of $1.45 M for the necessary PCB remediation work. Facilities Manager Julie Oakes quickly changed the Request for Quotation, allowing a new choice of coating removal method, including grit blasting, and allowing the work start date to slip to the fall, when labor costs would likely be lower. Three bids for the newly defined task were received by May 16 and discussed by the Commission at their May 17 meeting.  The lowest was $1.298 M, from Bestech of Ellington; the next was $1.385 M, from Hazpros, of West Hartford; the highest was $1.498 M, from AAIS, of West Haven. All three are creditable companies in the field, according to consultant Bob May. The Commission decided to invite each of the bidders to separate interviews on May 30.

Library

Library Foundation Receives Generous Donation

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The Suffield Public Library Foundation (SPLF) wishes to acknowledge Ron and Jackie Birmingham for their generous donation of $25,000 for ongoing and future improvements to our town library. Ron and Jackie have lived in Suffield for several decades, having raised their daughters, Wendy and Sarah, here and  who all have participated actively in community life. They are committed to keeping library services supported and want it “home” (asap) at Kent Memorial Library, but more urgently, they want to keep program momentum supported to provide continued quality and accessibility of services. Among the benefits of their substantial gift to our community, the SPLF is commissioning a beautiful handmade Thomas Moser rocking chair that will sit in our newly reopened building once the final work is completed. The SPLF board members express their deep appreciation to the Birmingham family for their generous gift.

People/Business

New Business Coming to South Street

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A Suffield entrepreneur who moved his family from one end of Halladay Avenue to the other recently is now planning to move his business from Southwick to a warehouse he will build on South Street. Jeff Wasilewski intends to move his third-party Amazon retailer business from Southwick, with eight employees now and plans for more. He had hoped to have broken ground by now, but a Suffield administrative snag interfered. He expects the delay to be brief. The planned 14,600-square foot warehouse will also accommodate Wasilewski’s Artisan Owl business, identified in his website as a multi-faceted business specializing in toys, housewares, books, games, jewelry and more.

Library

KML General Programs

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For more information or to register for programs, stop by the library, call 860-668-3896, check suffield-library.org, or follow us on Facebook. All of our programs are free! Most of our programs are funded by The Friends of the Kent Memorial Library. Become a member! Please register for programs.

Continuous Programs

New members welcome

Photo Café: First Tuesday, June 5, 6:30 p.m.

Writer’s Workshop: Fourth Monday, June 25, 7 p.m.

Socrates Café: Last Monday, June 25, 6:30 p.m.

Ask George: Technical questions about your digital devices, computers & gaming.

Library

KML Teen News

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Teen staff are busy generating new ideas and programs after attending the Connecticut Library Conference last month. Can anyone say “Escape Room!”

Last month we hosted a Teen Prom Dance program held at the senior center with Christine from Ballroom Fever in Enfield and made Bath Fizzies with our moms during the May Science Saturday. Teen Tech Fair

Join us Saturday, June 2 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. for the KML Teen Tech Fair. Roller coasters, racing robots, 3D maker pens and electrical experiments that will shock you. Spread the word!

Director’s Corner

Walking the Streets of Dublin

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Recently, I was in Dublin, Ireland with my husband. We walked the same streets that Maeve Binchy, Roddy Doyle and James Joyce walked. One rainy day, we posed for a group photo in front of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where Dean Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels, presided. We visited the quirky Little Museum of Dublin where author John Banville (also known as Benjamin Black) promises to donate his brain.

Organizations

Glenn T. Packard Golf Tourney

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The 27th Annual Glenn T. Packard Golf Tournament has been scheduled for Friday, August 10, at Oak Ridge Golf Course. For over a quarter of a century, this tournament, memorializing Glenn, has benefitted the Town of Suffield and its athletes. Player registration and sponsorship opportunities are available; contact jkozloski@windsorfederal.com, kpascoecpa@aol.com, or gayledemko@gmail.com for tournament information. Please join us and enjoy an outstanding event!!

Organizations

Suffield’s Past in Photographs

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Curator Lester Smith and Trustee Anne Borg will host their annual picture show at the Suffield Historical Society’s June 13 meeting at the Senior Center at 7 p.m.

Come and enjoy photos from Suffield’s rich and varied past.