WESTFIELD – Monday’s School Committee meeting, which began with a pledge of allegiance led by Boy Scout Troop 820, was filled to capacity with parents of fourth and fifth graders in the Munger Hill chorus.
Members of Boy Scout Troop 820 led the School Committee in the Pledge of Allegiance. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Munger Hill principal Salvatore Friere introduced new chorus instructor Taylor Hildack, who led the chorus in a preview of the school’s winter concert, which will be held on December 12 at 6:30 p.m. The students in holiday attire sang “Shalom” and “All you need is love,” to the delight of School Committee members. Hildack replaced elementary music teacher Jeff Gould, who transferred to Belchertown this year after ten years with the district.
Fourth and fifth graders from Munger Hill elementary school sang to the School Committee Monday evening. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Other presenters during the meeting included the art department from Westfield High School, who gave an update on the Empty Bowl fundraiser, which raised $1,550 for the Westfield Food Pantry. 300 students participated, making 200 bowls for sale at the event while they learned about the prevalence of hunger in the community. The teachers said that other departments, including English, health, technology and foreign languages, all taught hunger-related classes to support the effort.
Meeting turns to Opiate Awareness
The art teachers also gave a preview of their next project, which will be painting caps for opiate awareness.
“The opiate crisis really affected the art department, because we lost a student last year,” said one of the teachers. She added that they would love to work more closely with the community in the future.
Later in the meeting, Westfield Public Schools Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski reported that former basketball pro Chris Herren’s presentations to high school students and to the community on his opioid addiction last Tuesday were very moving.
“It was very moving for the students, in terms of his story and everything he’s been through,” Czaporowski said. He said the program was good for the city, and for the ongoing efforts of the Drug Task Force. He also thanked Westfield Bank for their sponsorship of the event.
School Committee member Cynthia Sullivan also spoke about Chris Herren. She said since the program, she has had a lot of questions regarding the district’s health curriculum. She said she would like the school district and School Committee to start looking at it more, and update it to be more relevant.
Czaporowski responded that the curriculum director and the Drug Task Force are currently looking at a curriculum recommended by Dr. Ruth Potee, who spoke at one of the Task Force meetings last year.
“We have been working on it,” Czaporowski said. He said the district has also been seeking funds for the new curriculum, but he said they need more data on the students in order to be eligible for grants.
After the meeting, he said that an anonymous youth-at-risk survey on drug and alcohol use by all eighth, tenth and twelfth graders is needed, in order to get a picture of the prevalence and types of problems in the district. He said the surveys cost on average $3.50 per student to run and collect the data. Currently, the district is speaking with Hampshire Educational Collaborative in Northampton about the process.
Czaporowski said the screening that took place last year was voluntary and filled out in front of a nurse, which he said was difficult for students and only 20% of tenth graders participated. He said a couple of interventions were offered to students during that screening.
“Hopefully, they will be more honest and forthcoming,” he said about an anonymous survey offered to every student. “With that data, we can really pinpoint on intervention,” he added.
Czaporowski also said that once the data is tabulated, the district will invite parents to come in and discuss the results. He said if Hampshire Educational Collaborative were to run it, that agency would also give the presentation on the data. He said he hopes to survey students in the spring.
