New South Hadley youth group has big ideas

Monday, September 27, 2010

SOUTH HADLEY - At Sunday's inaugural meeting of a new youth group, the turnout was small, but the ideas were big: a mural project at the entrance to town; an annual Youth Day of activities at the schools; a new youth center that would be a spot for weekly dances and movie nights.

The first meeting of South Hadley Heroes, a youth group connected to the town's nascent Youth Commission, produced a flip-chart full of suggestions for how young people can become more connected to the community - and to each other.

"We are here to make a change," said Melanie Demakis, 17, who led Sunday's gathering at the high school library. "We want everyone to join and give ideas for activities that will involve youth of all ages."
About half a dozen young people attended the meeting, along with the same number of adults, including Police Chief David LaBrie and Select Board Vice Chairman Robert Judge. They formed a circle in the center of the library and brainstormed for an hour about activities that could bring young people of varying interests and abilities together.

In addition to the mural project, other suggestions included a cleanup day at Buttery Brook Park, using resources at Mount Holyoke College to benefit local youth, and reviving regular teen dances and other activities that used to be held at various churches and meeting halls in South Hadley.

Town Meeting approved the formation of a Youth Commission last spring in the wake of the bullying-related suicide of 15-year-old Phoebe Prince. Commission members have yet to be appointed. Supporters say they want to solicit ideas from young people before the agency officially starts work.

"We want to have feedback from the youth before we go ahead," said Carol Constant, a Town Meeting member who attended Sunday's session at the high school and who used to be involved in an informal youth center in town. "Our hope is to make it not just recreational, but also about community service and leadership. This is a starting point."

Demakis said she got an email last spring from the high school vice principal about the town's plans to form a Youth Commission. "I went to the first meeting and I was the only teen there," she said. "I was a little overwhelmed but I realized this is something I want to be part of."

She founded South Hadley Heroes as a way to involve fellow students in getting the Youth Commission off the ground. Demakis recruited friends to pass out fliers about the group and to make announcements about Sunday's meeting over the high school's public address system.

Middle-schoolers Grace and Torri Lonergan were the youngest people in attendance on Sunday.

"I think it's great that there is a youth group," said Grace, who is in seventh grade. "I liked the idea of the cleanup day."

Demakis said recruitment efforts for South Hadley Heroes will continue. "I'd like to see a lot of different people join," she said. "We want to plan a lot of events for the youth and to keep the town involved."

Garden plots show success

Wednesday, September 01, 2010
By PAT CAHILL

SOUTH HADLEY - A garden tour, a talk on heirloom seeds, a taste of homegrown fruits and vegetables, and some big plans for the future were all on the agenda when members of South Hadley Community Gardens, also known as GRO South Hadley - Gardening and Resident Outreach, gathered for a meeting recently at the garden site.

The garden is only in its second summer, but it's attracting a lot of attention along Route 47 at the Town Farm this year, thanks to a new border of colorful perennial flowers and an eye-catching sign created by South Hadley High School students.

"The flowers have been a phenomenal success," said Lawrence ("Larry") Dubois, president of the GRO group.

He was giving a tour of the site to a group that included South Hadley Selectman Robert Judge.

The gardens started last year with 10 growers. Cost to each grower is $20 per season for a plot 10 feet wide and 20 feet deep. This year all 24 plots are taken. Growers range from retirees to a teenage girl and her younger sister.

"We put children to work, too!" joked Ron Milkey, of Chicopee, a member of Western Massachusetts Master Gardeners. The master gardeners maintain a "demonstration garden" at the site to educate growers.

Tending the gardens is a learning process, said Linda W. Young, co-founder of the GRO gardeners.

Last year the the yield was disappointing, she said. Then the gardeners tinkered with the dirt, adding manure and sending samples to the UMass Extension Service. "The soil came back perfect!" said Young.

This year string beans, zucchini, eggplants, cucumbers, tomatoes and many other plants are thriving, and carrots and corn are on the way. Some of the gardeners have already harvested their early vegetables and have planted a second crop.

Dubois pointed out Chinese cucumbers and pink okra as examples of veggies that are not readily available around here. Among the issues the group is working on now is making sure that plants with a tendency to sprawl (squash, for example) don't expand into a neighbor's plot....

"Falls gets ice cream shop"

 

The Aspire Project

I contributed to a project by The Daily Hampshire Gazette and WHMP called the Aspire Project.  The Editor wrote, "South Hadley Selectman and native Bob Judge reflects on his immigrant roots, and the unfriendly welcome received by Irish immigrant Phoebe Prince--and why it is so unlike the reality that exists in modern day South Hadley."

"A Wish for a More Welcoming Shore" - Audio

"A Wish for a More Welcoming Shore" - Text

Anti-bullying recommendations hailed in South Hadley

 Wednesday, June 23, 2010

SOUTH HADLEY - South Hadley School Superintendent Gus Sayer believes four months of work by a special school/community task force has given the district "a real big jump" on efforts to prevent bullying in public schools.

In presenting the final report of the town's Anti-Bullying Task Force to the School Committee Wednesday night, Sayer lauded the "extraordinary" efforts of the group, which began meeting in February, following the bullying-related death of South Hadley High School freshman Phoebe Prince.

"I've never worked with such a large group over such a sustained period," said Sayer, who faced criticism in some quarters for the way the district handled bullying incidents that preceded Prince's death. "Over 100 people came out week after week to work on this report. Everybody really wanted to do right by the schools and really put their heart into this effort."

School Committee members will hold a special meeting June 30 to vote on the task force recommendations for bringing district policies into line with the state's new anti-bullying law. The group's final report also proposes new bullying prevention strategies for South Hadley schools.

Key recommendations include:

 · expanding the district's anti-bullying program beyond the ninth grade, where it now ends, and boosting anti-bullying education at all grade levels;

 · establishing a new anonymous reporting system for bullying incidents and a requirement that school administrators investigate such incidents within one school day of being notified;

 · adopting a "Community Code of Conduct" emphasizing respect and tolerance that will be posted in all public buildings in South Hadley;

 · reconvening the task force's 29-member steering committee, made up of teachers, administrators, parents, community leaders and municipal officials, to monitor implementation of new anti-bullying policies.

The report defines bullying as repeated use of "written, verbal or electronic expression," physical acts or "deliberate acts of exclusion" that cause physical or emotional harm. It prohibits bullying that takes place on school grounds or off, if those incidents contribute to a "hostile environment" at school or disrupt the educational process.

School Committee Chairwoman JoAnn Jordan questioned how school leaders can enforce rules about bullying incidents that don't occur on school property.

High school Principal Dan Smith, a member of the task force, responded that the language in the prohibition section comes from the state's new anti-bullying law. "It simply means that if incidents are reported here to us in school, even if they happen outside of school, we can add that together" in deciding how to respond, he said.

Sayer emphasized that the work of the task force - and the school district - on the bullying issue is far from over. Over the summer, school administrators will be developing a specific plan to address bullying, as required by the state's new law - deciding on anti-bullying curricula and developing ways to evaluate the effectiveness of the new anti-bullying policies.

"But we have a real big jump on other communities because of the work of this task force," he added.

South Hadley Selectboard Vice Chairman Bob Judge was one of several task force members who attended Tuesday's School Committee meeting. For him, the most important part of the group's work is its focus on involving the broader community in preventing bullying.

"How does the community of South Hadley take this report and adopt it for the town?" Judge said. "That's what I'm most interested in."

"Localocracy is coming to South Hadley"

Friday, June 11, 2010
 
Localocracy is coming to South Hadley. The online website, which provides a public forum for residents to discuss issues facing their hometown, was recently endorsed by the Selectboard and is in the process of trying to gather enough participants to launch a test site before opening operations to the entire community.

The website, founded by Conor White-Sullivan and Aaron Soules, both students at the University of Massachusetts, was launched earlier this year in Amherst after the pair received a $10,000 Innovation Challenge grant from the university. The group's expansion into South Hadley comes after the duo received a second Innovation Challenge grant - this time totaling $12,500.

"Localocracy is a site where registered voters can vote on real issues and rank the best reasons for supporting their side," White-Sullivan said. "It is a platform for the entire community where everyone can see both sides of the issue."

The organization decided to establish a South Hadley site at the request of the town, which was looking for a way to promote respectful dialogue following the suicide of South Hadley High School freshman Phoebe Prince in January, White-Sullivan said.

"I was attracted to the feature that requires each person to identify themselves by name," Selectboard Vice Chairman Bob Judge said. He argued that websites and blogs where readers can post anonymous comments have poisoned debate in South Hadley.

"Anybody who is going to put their name out there, I would hope, will think about what they say: Do I want to call someone stupid or lay blame, for instance."

Localocracy is looking for 50 members of the community to participate in a test site that will help determine how the South Hadley site will be run, White-Sullivan said. Once that process is complete, a public site will be established for the entire community.

On the organization's Amherst site, a particular subject of debate is posted. Users then write their comments about that issue, and other users rank those comments according to how much they agree with them. The most popular comments appear at the top of the page.

"This is just another vehicle of communication, and the more vehicles the better," said Judge.
Individuals interested in participating in the project can contact contact@localocracy.org or selectboard@southhadley.org. The organization is online at www.localocracy.org.

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Suicide attempts rise on Cape Cod

Suicide attempts rise on Cape Cod - Cape Cod, MA - Wicked Local - Cape Cod

Selectboard Seeks Opinions through "Localocracy”

June, 2, 2010
South Hadley, MA--- The South Hadley Selectboard has endorsed an experiment to obtain opinions from residents.

Selectboard Chair John Hine announced that at its May 18 meeting, the Board endorsed a trial of http://localocracy.org for South Hadley.

According to Vice-Chair Robert Judge, the website drew a story on local public radio and has been endorsed by the Amherst Town Manager and State Senator Stan Rosenberg.

The founders of Localocracy, Conor White-Sullivan and Aaron Soules, presented the idea to the S. Hadley Selectboard at the May meeting.  “There appeared to be a consensus on the Board and in the audience that we should take the next step,” said Hine.  That next step is to get at least 50 S. Hadley residents with an email address to agree to participate in the trial or “beta,” as it is known. 

According to White-Sullivan, "We want to create a way not just to distribute ideas but to allow citizens to find the best ideas and have a voice themselves." The idea is to set up a nonpartisan site that poses questions on local issues and accepts opinions from readers. But unlike some blogs and local Web sites, those responders must use their real names and be residents of the town. Participants will be able to rank others' ideas so that viewers can tell which arguments other readers have found persuasive.

Judge said, “On the internet, most people would prefer a place where they can know they are interacting with people who have a real stake in their community, and not an anonymous screen name representing someone who may not live here.”

The Amherst site can be viewed at http://localocracy.com Any South Hadley resident who would like to participate in the South Hadley trial should send an email to Selectboard@SouthHadley.org.