The Kindergarten staff at South Street Elementary “delivers” to students in so many ways. Naturally, door-to-door deliveries to students during the current school shut-downs just made sense to this dedicated team of educators. Through careful coordination, the Kindergarten staff delivered goodie bags and marigold plants to their students last Friday, May 22, while maintaining a safe social distance. 

Changemaker Meghan Clancy-Brough

Meghan Clancy-Brough, Special Education KindergartenTeacher at South Street Elementary School, is a Changemaker. She is attending Changemaking Professional Development at Mount Wachusett Community College. She and her team shared this wonderful Changemaking story with me in a Zoom call recently. Through these special deliveries, the Kindergarten staff were able to see their students and share some positivity during this crazy time of school shutdowns and social distancing. 

Changemaker Cindy Clark

According to Kindergarten teacher Cindy Clark, she was able to see 15 out of the 22 students in her classroom. The marigold plants are part of the students’ plant unit, and they will be able to watch those plants grow from their homes. She said that arrangements for their drop-offs and short visits were made by phone calls, Google Meets and announced in their Google Classroom. Cindy has also taken Changemaking professional development, completeing the program in the 2017-18 cohort. 

A Team Effort

These visits were truly a team effort. Along with the classroom teachers and paraprofessionals, Title 1 teacher Mary Kate Buchanan and ESL teacher Nicole Cooper were part of this group effort as well. Nicole explained that the team has a group text aptly called, “Corona Time”, where they connect and support each other. 

During these drop-offs, all staff wore face masks and the majority of students and their parents wore face masks as well. Special Education Kindergarten Teacher Kaylyn Parker explained that some of her students are on the spectrum. In fact, one such student couldn’t come outside because that student was confused, scared and, “literally didn’t recognize us,” she said. 

However, that circumstance was the exception. Generally, students were shocked and delighted to see their teachers. In fact, many wanted to invite them into their homes! In turn, the teachers were just as delighted to see their students. “I enjoyed seeing the kids’ faces. It was awesome – just the best day,” Melanie said. 

The Importance of Community and Collaboration

I asked the group how important community and collaboration is during these weeks of school shutdowns. Here is what they said:   

Kaylyn – It’s important because parents are struggling right now. They need to know that we are here and they are not alone. Kindergarteners are sick of looking at the computer – they just aren’t built to sit at a computer all day.

Lucille Thibodeau Special Ed Paraprofessional  – Kids are lost. It is really important that we connect with them.

Melanie – It is extremely important. Staying in contact is huge. We don’t get to close out the year and parents are struggling. We have a great team and we are all here for each other. 

Noreen Howe, Kindergarten Teacher – It’s important that we are there for students emotionally. Their whole world has been disrupted. It’s the social emotional piece that they need. 

Meghan Clancy-Brough – We have a special connection with the kids. The preschool and Kindergarten years are most important. These relationships with students and their families are what we are focusing on. 

The Kindergarten team is planning on making another drop-off/short visit to students during the last week of school. Lucille mentioned that the whole staff at South Street Elementary are also planning a parade for students. Parents will drive students by the parade of staff. The Kindergarten staff are also in the process of planning a virtual Kindergarten graduation. As you can see, school never really “shut down” for this dedicated team. 

Kindergarten Staff at South Street Elementary

Congratulations to the entire Kindergarten staff at South St Elementary. Your team effort to connect with your students is what Changemaking is all about – and you are all Changemakers! 

Meghan Clancy-Brough, Special Education Kindergarten Teacher 
Kaylyn Parker, Special Education Kindergarten Teacher
Noreen Howe, Kindergarten Teacher
Karen Crowley, Kindergarten Teacher
Melissa Guerard, Kindergarten Teacher
Meghan Basque, Kindergarten Teacher
Cindy Clark, Kindergarten Teacher
Mary Kate Buchanan, Title One Teacher
Nicole Cooper, ESL Teacher
Evelyn Rivera, Kindergarten Paraprofessional
Lisa Goguen,Kindergarten Paraprofessional
Melanie Amico, Special Ed Paraprofessional
Jo-Ann Martino, Kindergarten Paraprofessional
Val Delassandra, Special Ed Paraprofessional
Lucille Thibodeau Special Ed Paraprofessional
Lisa Bentalli, Special Ed Paraprofessional 
Susan Keegan, Kindergarten Paraprofessional
Emily Thibodeau, Kindergarten Paraprofessional  

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The cards are for residents at local nursing homes, hospitals, as well as a boy named Carlos. Carlos is in Boston Children’s Hospital waiting for a heart transplant. He has been there 65 days and counting – and that included spending his Christmas day there as well. Carlos wants Christmas Cards!

Francine Meigs, Special Education Teacher and Samoset’s Youth Venture Champion, knew about his story and shared it with the Samoset students. Samoset students are creating hundreds of cards for Carlos with Christmas and well wishes for the new year. Francine will be driving what she calls “the Samoset sleigh” to all the facilities and right in to Boston Children’s Hospital with her deliveries. She mentioned that in past years students made no sew blankets and ornaments on this “Day of Caring.”

The students made gift boxes for all of the holiday greeting cards. Carlos at the Boston Children’s Hospital, and patients at the Assisted Living Facilities – Sunrise, Manor on the Hill and Village Rest Home and the Life Care Center Nursing Home will recieve handmade cards.

Together We Can

The girls pictured below – Sylvia, Valentina and Zoiey are on the pipeline Youth Venture team called “Together We Can”. This team would like to help children and families who are dealing with cancer.  They are inspired to help because they understand that families go through tough times financially and emotionally. They should launch early in the new year.

I have two teens of my own, so I was curious to know what these young teens would like for Christmas. As they worked on their cards, I asked them. They laughed when they realized I was writing down their responses in my notes. The top items on their list are headphones, a Goggle Home Mini and Vans sneakers.

How do you like Sylvia’s Elf sweater? She is enjoying one of Elf’s major food groups – candy canes. (That’s an Elf reference). Elf is one of my favorite Christmas movies. Fun Fact – Peter Billingsley, who played the Red Ryder-wanting Ralphie in the 1983 holiday classic A Christmas Story, (another one of my favorites) had a cameo in Elf! He played Who knew?

Water for South Sudan

Matthew (shown below) and his friend have a great idea for a Youth Venture that was inspired by one of his classes. They would like to help people in South Sudan by raising money for proper water sanitation.  It is so cool that they connected a country that they are learning about to a cause that they can help.

Class Venture

This is Joezyia and Chris. Joezyia’s dad bought these huge cards for Carlos that all could sign – one for the teachers and the other for the students. They had fun going room to room to get signatures. They are on the Youth Venture Team called CLASS Venture. With Francine’s help, this team hosts school activities and events that promote school and community collaboration. They recently organized and decorated for the Bring a Veteran to lunch event held in November.

Helping Paws

What great holiday spirit this little elf has! This is Emily. She is on the Youth Venture team called Helping Paws. They would like to help animals at local animal shelters and are planning a second fundraiser – a donation drive for items needed at the Sterling Animal Shelter.

Helping Single Parents

These girls are on a pipeline Youth Venture team that would like to help single parents. They plan to partner with Ginny’s Food Pantry in Leominster. We will arrange for a visit from Rob and Sue over at Ginny’s early in the new year. They will talk to the students about Ginny’s, how they serve the Leominster community and how these girls can best partner with the organization.

Francine showed me a nice holiday gift that was given to the teachers at Samoset by the administration. It’s a free pass for a 30 minute break from the classroom with coverage for the teachers.  The card reads “Thank you for all you do!” What a nice way to let the teachers know that they are appreciated.

Toyz for Joy

I have one more thing that I wanted to share. The Youth Venture team Toyz for Joy held their bake sale fundraiser. They will help children in foster care and are partnering with an organization called Fostering Change. Their plan is to put together gift bags and activites for foster kids.  Based on these photos that Francine shared with me, I would say that their bake sale was a big success – just look at that line of students!

Changemaking in Action

Throughout the day, I witnessed Changemaking, teamwork and empathy. It is days like the Samoset “Day of Caring”, along with Samoset implementing a full day of Youth Venture workhops for the second year, which provide a foundation for Samoset students to gain the skills and values necessary to become powerful changemakers!

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Gardner High School’s Youth Venture team Gardner Grows, also known as the GHS Community Garden has come a long way since their launch in 2017! Their vision of a beautiful courtyard garden with a bounty of vegetables to donate to local families-in-need came to fruition over the summer.

Mr. Tata’s Botony class donated $3,000 to the school which gave the project a huge boost! Students were able to use the funds to beautify the courtyard space. The money paid for the soil, paint and powerwashing.

The Gardner Grows team has also partnered with Growing Places. To find out more about Growing Places and their mission here in North Central, MA, check out my last two posts – and part two. Growing places gave a grant that paid stipends to students to water the garden over the summer months. Growing Places has also given the team a grant for six more raised beds.

What Did Gardner Grows, Grow?

Growing places also visited GHS and gave the students the support they needed to grow, harvest and use fresh, healthy produce. So how did their garden grow? The garden exceeded expectations! This list of flowers, herbs and vegetable plants is long and impressive:

• sunflowers
• wildflowers
• green beans
• beets
• radishes
• lettuce
• mint
• tomatoes
• bell pepper
• chili peppers
• swiss chard
• carrots
• cucumbers
• pumpkin
• squash

The students hosted a farmer’s markets at Heywood Hospital and Growing Places hosted a farmer’s markets right here at ��Ԫ���� with their produce on behalf of the students.  The funds raised where used to support Growing Places, who will continue to partner with GHS and Gardner Grows.

Changemaking in Action

So what do the staff of Growing Places, ��Ԫ���� and GHS all have in common? We are all in the process of becoming official changemakers. This is what makes this collaboration and partnership so special. Ayn of Growing Places, Thuy Bui and Jack Jackman of GHS and myself (UWYV) are participating in five full-day professional development sessions called Changemaking.

The Changemaker communities of North Central, MA is a connected, regional eco-system created through intentional partnerships with influential institutions in our region to build support for the next generation of Changemakers. It is our hope that the students we work with feel empowered to take the initiative to create positive change for the greater good. To learn more about Changemaking, visit . I am very excited to be a part of this movement and I am sure I will have more great things to share in upcoming posts.

For now, check out these images of Gardner Grows vegetables courtesy of the team’s champion and science teacher Thuy Bui.

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