Park View comes together for their own

April 22, 2010
Cranston Herald
All text and photos by Jen Cowart

With at least 10 families severely impacted by the March floods, and several still displaced from their homes, Park View Middle School rose to action last Thursday with a Field Day for Flood Victims.

They hoped to raise $3,000 that day, but far surpassed that amount and collected almost $5,500.

Staff and students at Park View organized the event within a few days.

“It’s all about the school community here,” said Assistant Principal Chris D’Ambrosio.

The weather was favorable for the field day, and activity stations dotted the lawn. Inside, guests were treated to an ice cream social.

At the same time, 92 Pro-FM took music requests and promoted the event on the air.

According to D’Ambrosio, students were each asked to bring in $3. Some families donated more, however, as well as outside agencies and neighboring businesses who made donations.

Billie-Jo Rossi, parent of three students; one at Park View, one at Chester Barrows and one at Cranston High School East, said it’s been the “regular people” and agencies like CCAP (Cranston Community Action Program,) who have helped out the most.

Rossi and her family lived at 60 Perkins Avenue, one of the worst areas affected by the floods. They have been displaced from their home and lost everything in it.

“We had 71 inches of water in our house,” said Rossi, showing page after page; one more devastating than the next, in the photo album that she is using to document flood damage. She has had to take a leave of absence from work to concentrate on the situation at hand.

Rossi said that her daughter at Park View is having the most difficult time coping, but the faculty and staff there has been wonderful in making accommodations and helping her to get through the days.

“I’ve been here seven years, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Annette Harris, Park View’s social worker. “They’ve lost everything; they can’t function, they can’t do their work, they just sit and cry. The teachers tell me these were the happiest kids. [Now,] the kids feel like life isn’t fair, and they feel selfish. They miss their things but they know their families need things like a hot water heater.”

In response to the devastation, Harris contacted CCAP and together formed a trauma therapy group over April vacation week.

Principal Joseph Rotz was both proud and pleased with the results of the field day fundraiser.

“As a community, as a family, we wanted to do something for our children that had been displaced. The best way to do that was to raise quick funds for them,” he said.

Rotz explained that the money raised was given to the families on Friday, the last day of school before vacation.

“We’re hoping to call these families tomorrow and tell them that we’re praying for them, we’re thinking of them, and we care about them,” he said at the field day.

Rotz was also quick to credit his staff and faculty at Park View as being “completely responsible” for pulling the event together.

“It just goes to show how much our families will pull together when someone is in need,” he said.

He also made mention of the Parents and Teachers at Park View organization.

“They made a very generous donation at last night’s meeting of $500. That was top-notch, very thoughtful,” Rotz said.

Guests from the community visited the field day throughout the day. Mayor Allan Fung and a team of students took part in an intense Tug-A-War game against Rotz and another team of students, and then spoke to all of the students on the field, over the microphone.

“This is why I love this city and why I love all of you,” Fung said. “I’m proud to be here to see you helping each other through this crisis.”

Fung said he’s heard the stories of the students whose homes have been impacted by the floods.

“Each of the kids in the school and their families are helping their classmates, and others, through a very difficult time. Everyone is coming together to help the families in one of the hardest hit areas of Cranston,” he said.

Despite the fun and laughter being had at the field day, the Park View students understood the impact and true importance of what they were doing for each other on that day.

“I know one person who lost a lot in the floods,” said eighth-grader Emma Orton. “I am glad to be helping out.”

Fellow eighth-grader Kaileen Field agreed.

“I feel good about how we’re helping and supporting everybody whether we know them or not,” she said.

West teaches tolerance

Cranston Herald
April 22, 2010
All text and photos by Jen Cowart

Just weeks after nine high school students in Boston were charged with criminal harassment that allegedly prompted the suicide of a classmate, the students at Cranston High School West tackled the difficult and often uncomfortable subject of bullying.

From April 6-9, the school hosted Diversity Awareness Week 2010, with a theme of “Names Can Hurt Us” that addressed bullying and encouraged tolerance for diversity.

The event was no small undertaking.

Last year, students Mirvene Azor and Esther Borgelin approached Principal Steve Knowlton about starting a diversity program at the school. Knowlton agreed, and Assistant Principal Dr. Jackie Striano took the task and ran with it. A new Diversity Team was created, with Azor and Borgelin as the chairpersons.

With the help of Striano, the pair didn’t waste any time coming up with activities, speakers and events that would take place during Diversity Awareness Week.

“We want the students to know that the names you call each other can hurt people. The students and staff from all parts of the curriculum and academic courses will contribute and participate,” Striano said.

Azor added that each ethnic group at West was represented and recognized during the week in a variety of ways. For example, different ethnic foods were sampled throughout the week.

Borgelin noted that this was the first year for such an event, and she had high hopes for being able to repeat the program in future years and at other schools in the Cranston community as well.

“It’s something new and at first people may not buy into it; our goal is to tie in tolerance and respect even if you don’t agree with it,” Borgelin said. “We are lucky to live in a community that is striving for tolerance and respect.”

Despite a monkeywrench being thrown into their plans with the flooding that closed school three days during the week prior to the big event, West’s Diversity Week kicked off on time with a VIP viewing of a multimedia assembly that was presented to every grade on Tuesday.

Guests from within the Cranston community were invited to view the show, which took place in an auditorium decorated with flags from different nations. Guests included the Cranston Public Schools Central Office staff and members of the executive team, members of the Cranston School Committee, faculty and staff from Cranston High School West and other Cranston Schools, Mayor Allan Fung, and the more than 30 Diversity Team student leaders. Both Stephanie Culhane and Andrea Ianozzi from the Cranston School Committee were involved as team leaders and panel speakers for the week.

The assembly featured opening remarks from both Principal Knowlton and Dr. Striano, as well as from Borgelin and Azor. Additionally, there was a film presentation, entitled “I Am Cranston West,” featuring the many faces of the students who attend the school. Bullying scenarios were played out on stage in the drama club’s performance of “The High School Experience.”

Actors asked the audience three questions at the end: “Who are you? Who have you been? Who will you leave this auditorium as?”

As the performance came to a close, the audience rose to its feet for a standing ovation.

Following the presentation, five West students spoke to the audience, telling their stories and experiences about being bullied, witnessing bullying or how they are helping to end the epidemic.

“I’m a kid who used to make fun of people,” said Shane Patrick, the first speaker. “I wish you could look a few years ahead to when these things [differences] don’t matter.”

Patrick then offered out some advice to the rest of the students in the audience.

“Don’t go through your four years here being remembered as the bully,” he said, hoping others could learn from his mistakes. Patrick then apologized to all those he’d bullied in the past, before returning to his seat.

Student speakers were followed up with musical performances from the student band Third Cut, which sang “Be Yourself,” and the CHSW choir singing Douglas Wayne’s “With One Song,” whose signature line was “Together we’ll build a better world.”

The emotional assembly ended with an open forum. At first, audience members were hesitant to speak, but one-by-one people began to come forward.

Mayor Allan Fung was among the first to rise and give the students his praise. “Two words: Fantastic job,” said Fung.

“I’ve gone through [bullying], every adult here has gone through it. We’ve all gone through it, but one student put it best: in a couple of years, it’s not going to matter,” the mayor said, referring to Shane Patrick’s earlier remarks.

Fung was later with panel speakers during one of more than 20 Diversity Week seminars. Fung shared his experiences as a Chinese American and offered the students tips on positive leadership. School Committee member Stephanie Culhane, who was a Diversity Team Leader, stepped forward as well.

“I am so proud to represent all of you on the School Committee,” she said. “I was bullied when I was a kid. People said, ‘Oh it just happens,’ but it doesn’t have to happen.”

Other speakers that evening included Channel 12 reporter Nneka Nwosu and Nancy Kattan, both of who participated in later seminars.

Nwosu is of Nigerian heritage and discussed her personal triumphs in breaking social barriers, while Kattan, who holds a master’s in social work and is also a parent at West, addressed the misconceptions of Islam and her Muslim religion.

“Until I put this on, I look just like all of you,” Kattan said, referencing her Muslim head covering.

She fought back tears as she told the students that she still endures targeting, exclusionary behavior and bullying because of her religious beliefs, even as an adult.

At the conclusion of the assembly, the audience was given the opportunity to view the displays on diversity and bullying that lined the hallways while they listened to an orchestra concert directed by Christine Harrington.

CACTC provided refreshments for the evening’s events.

Dr. Striano said she was pleased with the success of the first annual Diversity Week at Cranston West.

“As a whole, Diversity Week was the result of an incredible initiative that students and teachers at West brought to fruition,” said Striano.

When asked to identify a highlight, Striano struggled. For her, the positive effects of the event will be felt for a long time to come.

“It could be the senior boy who addressed his entire class and apologized to a young woman he routinely harassed, or the teenager who pledged to never call someone ‘retarded’ again. But, moreover, I think that the success of the week was the sense of empowerment that permeated the school,” she said. “In troubled times when such negativity surrounds education, these students and their teachers really set a standard for excellence and made a tremendous impact upon their peers.”

A novel idea for Highland students

April 15, 2010
Cranston Herald
All text and photos by Jen Cowart

For many elementary schools across Cranston, Reading Week often coincides with a school Book Fair. This year, Edgewood Highland Elementary School decided to try something different: a book swap.

“Every student was asked to bring in a gently used book for the swap,” said reading consultant Patricia Almy. “One parent volunteer also went to William Hall Library and got some of their books that were not in circulation anymore.”

All of the books were arranged on tables in the library, separated by reading levels of easy, medium and hard. One at a time, classrooms came down to peruse the tables of books, choosing a book to take home with them that day.

The students arrived in their beachwear, coinciding with the Reading Week theme of “Catch the Waves of Literacy.” The library was converted into a tropical paradise with beach umbrellas, towels and chairs set up around the room, as well as underwater scenes being shown on the large screens.

Soft ocean music could be heard as the students browsed. Reading consultants were on hand throughout the day to help the students narrow down their choices and choose the best book for them. The consultants were responsible for the event, including not only Almy but Jennifer Giuliano and Jennifer Mooney as well.

“The students are encouraged to then exchange these books amongst their friends in a few weeks,” said Almy, explaining that by doing this, the book swap didn’t have to end on Friday and students could keep it going on their own. As an added bonus, every child went home with a bag of activities and information for families, created by Warwick high school senior, Jordan Doughty, who used the book swap as her senior project.

Doughty spent many hours researching the information included in the bags, and then assembled them as well. Her senior project mentor is a staff member at Edgewood Highland.

“She included a lot of great resources,” Almy said. “There was information about how to read with your child, where to find books as well as the hours and locations of all the libraries.”

Each child also received a bookmark, created by a student in the school. In addition to the book swap, Edgewood Highland students were treated to guest readers throughout the week, some from the Cranston community and some from different grade level teachers throughout the school.

A winning opening day for Reading Week at Woodridge School

April 7, 2010
Cranston Herald
All text and photographs by Jen Cowart

In baseball news, the Red Sox beat the Yankees on Opening Day this past Sunday. But both teams were winners in Cranston when two of their biggest fans read aloud to the students at Woodridge Elementary School – a kickoff to Reading Week.

It’s a tradition that dates back many years. Superintendent Peter Nero and Hugh B. Bain Principal, Tom Barbieri arrived at Woodridge carrying their read-alouds and sporting their team jerseys, New York Yankees for Nero and Boston Red Sox for Barbieri.

Because it was also Sports Day on the Reading Week Spirit Week schedule, the students and many of the teachers in each classroom were dressed in their favorite sports team’s colors and clothing as well.

The school’s reading specialist, Karen Marocco along with the help of School Committee Member, Andrea Ianazzi, put the complex schedule of guest readers together.

“Andrea was very instrumental in helping us get our guests this year,” said Marocco, who had the additional complication of three no-school days last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with the floods in Cranston and then the Good Friday holiday leading up to the big week.

“I worked on this schedule at school all day on those flood days last week until the night custodian had to kick me out,” Marocco laughed.

On their way to read, the Nero and Barbieri bantered back and forth about the curse of the bambino, the past and future World Series games, and why their favorite team was the best.

As Barbieri read “The Legend of the Curse of the Bambino,” by Dan Shaunessy to the sixth-graders, Nero was next door reading “Baseball Saved Us,” by Ken Mochizuki and “The Summer my Father was Ten,” by Pat Brisson, to the fifth-graders.

With all kidding aside, however, each gave the students some insight about the value of reading and the lessons it can teach that go beyond the words on the page.

“There are two kinds of reading,” Barbieri told the sixth-graders, many of whom will be attending Bain next fall. “There’s reading for fun and reading to learn. At Bain Middle School, we’re always constantly reading. You never know when a teacher is going to say ‘Drop everything and read,’” he said.

Nero told the fifth-graders about Ted Williams, a Boston Red Sox player, who Nero has a great deal of respect for, despite the fact that he’s a Yankees fan.

“Ted Williams was a great hitter. God had given him a talent, and yet he never took it for granted. He studied baseball and hitting and he wrote a book about it called ‘The Art of Hitting.’ I tell kids all the time, if Ted Williams could study something that he was already so good at, there are no excuses why they can’t study too,” Nero said.

While Nero and Barbieri were reading to the older students, the rest of the school was lucky to have guest readers as well.

Sporting an American sports shirt, Secretary of State, A. Ralph Mollis read aloud to the third graders and took a significant amount of time afterwards to answer questions from the students and to tell them facts about the Rhode Island State House. He left a bookmark for students and made them promise to use them.

“Reading is great,” he told them before he left. “It’s how you practice being smart, just like you practice for sports or other extra-curricular activities. Promise me that you’ll do lots of reading,” Mollis said.

Ianazzi is the School Committee Representative for Woodridge Elementary School, and she followed Mollis. With her choice of team jersey showing her loyalty to the Boston Red Sox, she read “Oh the Places You’ll Go,” by Dr. Suess. After reading the story aloud, she asked the students if they knew what the message was in the story.

“I think it is to face your fears and achieve your goals,” answered one insightful student. Ianazzi agreed. “Although there may be challenges ahead of you, you can make it through,” she said.

Ianazzi said that she tends to read that story to classes every year, because, “It’s a great book.” She also read in kindergarten this year, choosing to read “The Little Engine that Could,” because “It’s what my kindergarten teacher read to me,” she said.

Marocco’s schedule of readers for the rest of the week include school, community, city and state leaders such as Dr. Laura Albanese from the Cranston Schools central office staff, and Attorney General Patrick Lynch.

Each guest reader received a hand-made thank you card from the students, as well as a token of appreciation. Snacks were provided in the foyer, where a school slideshow created by Marocco and art teacher Jean Carmody was on dislplay.

Play time with a mission

April 1, 2010
Cranston Herald
All text and photographs by Jen Cowart

Although the headlines about January’s devastating earthquake in Haiti are starting to fade, two Cranston sisters have not forgotten.

Katie Salisbury, a 14-year-old student at Western Hills Middle School, and her sister Stefanie, an 11-year-old Hope Highlands student, teamed up with Hasbro, Girl Scouts of Rhode Island, and St. Matthew School to host a PLAYATHON for Haiti on Saturday night.

Both girls are scouts, and their mother, Donna, is a scout leader.

“Stef and I had heard about PLAYATHONS and wanted to do one for Haiti, in memory of our grandmother,” said Katie.

Hasbro has been doing PLAYATHONS as a creative way for kids of all ages to raise funds for a cause they care about, through play, for quite some time. According to Hasbro, participants secure pledges for their participation in a PLAYATHON event or pay a flat fee to play.

“It’s a nice way for kids to feel like they’re helping out,” said Karen Davis, vice president of community relations at Hasbro.

Katie and her sister approached their mother with their plan. She readily agreed.

“I got in contact with Hasbro and they sent us all the information we needed,” said Donna. “We had to get clearance from the Girl Scouts of Rhode Island and from the school, since they wanted to do it in memory of their grandmother.”

The girls’ grandmother, Marjorie D. McDonald, worked at St. Matthew School for 25 years, hence the reason they chose that location to host the event.

“There are so many kids in Haiti who are just like us, only right now they are living on the streets without a home because of the earthquake,” said Katie. “Our grandmother worked at St. Matthew School helping children for 25 years and I know we’d be helping her with this PLAYATHON if she were with us today.”

According to Stefanie, the event was a team effort for a great cause.

“Our friends in school and in Girl Scouts all helped us raise money for the PLAYATHON. We wanted to do something to help kids in Haiti who may be out in the rain and have no roof over their head,” she said.

The girls’ friends not only helped to raise the money, but also helped spread the word about the play-a-thon, and also came that night to help supervise the many games available to play during the course of the night.

The Hasbro Children’s Fund will match the total amount of money raised through this and other PLAYATHON for Haiti events held before March 31, 2010 in support of SOS Children’s Villages, up to a total of $500,000. The funds donated will go towards purchasing shelters or “pop-up” houses that will give the children of Haiti dry, secure homes that will help protect them as Haiti rebuilds.

At the night’s end, a final count had not yet been taken, to see what had come in for monetary donations.

In addition to a monetary donation, the girls asked that each person bring a canned good, to be donated to a local soup kitchen. The games themselves would also be donated after being played on Saturday night.

“Hasbro said we could do whatever we wanted with the games, but we chose to donate them, since the whole thing is a fundraiser,” said Katie.

The games will be donated partly to St. Matthew School and then to a local shelter or needy children’s home.