The BSE FlowCovering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

Student-run newspaper of the buckland-shelburne ELEMENTARY school communitY • Shelburne falls, mass.

Vol. 2, no. 1 • FEB. 5, 2015 • FREE

INDEXNews ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A2Op/Ed ...... . . . . . . . . . . . . A2Quick chat ............... A2Advice ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Woof! .................... A3 Book review ............ A3 Triangle Man ............ A3 Career profile . . . . . A4 Magazine .... . . . . . . . . B1 Sports & Rec ......... B3Traditions . . . . . . . . . . . B4Valentines .............. B4

Community forum on district budget

Feb. 9 at BSE

A taste of middle school

Sixth-grade families get the scoop at Mohawk’s first ice cream social

Top: BSE kids Gavin Crehan and Matthew Herron play “People Bingo.” Above: PBL teacher Samantha Lydiard and ELA teacher Leanne Blaszak serve ice cream. “We’re having a great time,” Blaszak said. Then she corrected herself: “We’re having a ‘sweet’ time.” Center: Carlito Hernandez is considering Mohawk. Right: Sage Spitzer is a yes.

Red Cross Blood drive to help hundreds

Saving LivesDistrict Notes

Making Space

~ RELATED FEATURE ~“How to make friends

at a new school” Ask Harper, page A3

Voters are invited to a community forum at BSE on Monday, Feb. 9 from 7 to 8 p.m.

The idea, according to Super-intendent Michael Buoniconti, is to ask questions, voice concerns, and share priorities for BSE.

Buoniconti is to present an $18.1 million level-services spending plan to the public at Mohawk on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m.

The presentation will be post-ed to the same location follow-ing the Feb. 11 School Commit-tee meeting.

The vote on the budget takes place Feb. 25 at Mohawk.

To review the draft budget proposal, see News & Announce-ments at mohawkschools.org/index.html.

Long Range Planning Committee

presents findings, recommendations

We’re the largest school dis-trict in the state by area, but the least densely populated. Those facts have combined for a high-er-than-average per-pupil cost, and for the past two years a Long Range Planning Committee has been looking into solutions short of closing schools.

On Jan. 21, that committee presented its findings to the School Committee, dozens of community members, and state representatives Paul Mark and Steve Kulik.

The per-pupil cost of educa-tion in our towns is approxi-mately $2,700 greater than the state average. Indeed, fve of our nine district towns spend more than half of their annual bud-gets on education.

Left unaddressed, the problem will only get worse, as enroll-ment in our schools is expected to fall off as the towns age and a large percentage of families send their kids to school out-side the district, the committee warned.

For a white paper of all re-search and findings — proposals include going green, revising the regional agreement, and pursuing full state transporta-tion reimbursements — visit mohawkschools.org/index.html.

Got an opinion about this? Send your letter to the editor to bseflow@gmail.com.

— Staff report

Collection specialist Michelle Boucher puts people at ease while accepting their blood donations for the Red Cross at the Shel-burne-Buckland Community Center Jan. 23.

Staff photo

What was just a big empty room after the Shelburne Falls Wine Merchant left late last year is now extra dining room space for McCusker’s Market — and so much more.

The space, in the Odd Fellows’ building, is also a temporary community event space that hosts art exhibits and recep-tions, CPR classes, song circles, and whatever else townspeople sign up for.

Whether the room stays an event space is up in the air, according to the market’s Emily Gopen. That’s one of the ideas being considered by Franklin Community Co-op.

Above, Gopen, Janice So-rensen, and Sarah Pirtle show off decorations Gopen helped organize as a decorating session.

Also helping were Amy Mur-ray with daughter Ainsley and son Charlie; Marissa Potter with kids Aida and Jonah; Carol DeLorenzo, and others.

— Staff report

McCusker’s dining room fills a niche

With five beds arranged in a U, and collection specialists gathering blood from volun-teers, the Community Center was busy helping save lives Jan. 23.

As staff from the Springfield Red Cross explained, they had 51 appointments for people to come in and give blood. The goal was 65, but walk-ins were expected to increase that number.

Each pint collected will serve about two people, the staff said.

Donor Marcus Fisher said he likes giving blood. he’s done it two or three times a year since he was 13.

Karen Shippee said her dona-tion “is a good thing to do.”

— Areia Heilman with John Snyder

Families flowed in from BSE, Colrain Elementa-ry, Sanderson Academy, Rowe Elementary, and

Heath Elementary. One hundred fifty people mingling and on a quest.

“Do you like to dance? Do you play a musical instrument? Do you have more than five cousins? Do you speak another language?”

The game was “People Bin-go,” and there were two ver-sions: One for students and one for parents. Yellow and pink handouts gave 25 “icebreaker” topics each, and they got people talking.

(For parents: “Do you still have your Christmas lights up? Have you watched ‘Goonies’ more than five times? Did you attend Mohawk?”)

There was ice cream too, and plenty of it — Bart’s — with a rich variety of bring-your-own sundae toppings: sprinkles and Gummi Bears and hot fudge, of course.

And so went Mohawk’s first-ever ice cream social Jan. 29, an evening in the cafeteria just for the district’s sixth-grad-ers and their families to meet each other and Mohawk’s family of seventh-grade instructors and students.

It was the first in what Mo-hawk Principal Lynn Dole described as a series of activities meant to show families all the

ways they can be part of the Mohawk community.

“On March 3 we’ll have the more formal, ‘This is what you learn in seventh grade’ ori-entation, with questions and answers. Then ‘Seussical: The Musical,’ our all-school musical that will be staged on March 6, 7, and 8, where a lot of these fifth- and sixth-graders are star-ring, which is very exciting.”

At the end of May, Dole said, is the traditional Step-Up Day, which will be full of activities.

The ice cream social, she said, was for that first social connec-tion, “getting to know other families of sixth graders who will become seventh graders; where they’re coming from small schools to what can seem like a big school but just what is really just a bigger community.”

Afterward, there were free tickets to the varsity basketball game taking place that night: Mahar visiting.

Dole said the social was the vision of Mohawk seventh-grade social studies teacher Sean Conlon, ELA teacher Leanne Blaszak, special educators Julia Lignori and Dianne Cerone, sci-ence teacher Jeff Johansmeyer, PBL teacher Samantha Lydiard,

and math teacher Alyson Patch, all of whom, she said, “go above and beyond to build bridges between our elementary schools and our middle school.”

And the evening was a hit with families. Many alumni parents said they were delight-ed with this new effort. Other families said Mohawk had made an amazing first impression and was strongly in the mix.

Sage Spitzer, from Sander-son Academy, making her way down the ice cream line with friends, said she’s definitely going to attend Mohawk.

“This is fun. I’m looking for-ward to it,” she said.

— John Snyder, words and photos

Det

ail —

“Hea

rt” b

y Li

ly Je

nks

Mrs

. Kit

chen

, “Su

perh

ero

Day

”

Flow

sta

ffer

Kyl

ie L

owel

l

Sean Conlon looks on as Mohawk Principal Lynn Dole introduces the ice cream social event plan at a recent School Committee meeting.

A2 thursday, feb. 5, 2015 • The BSE Flow Covering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

News, opinions, editorialABOUT US

We’re the in-dependent, student-run, and family

friendly newspaper of Shelburne Falls, Mass., based at Buckland-Shel-burne Elementary School. We practice journalism, current events, history, ethics, language arts, and commerce. We’re proud of our paper and community and hope you’ll keep in touch.

CONTACT

For all purposes, including letters to the editor, correc-tions, story tips,

and advertising:

• Call 413-325-6348;• Write bseflow@gmail.

com;• Write The BSE Flow,

30 Church St., Shelburne Falls, MA 01370; or

• Find our box at BSE’s office, 75 Mechanic St., Shelburne Falls, MA.

STAFFTrainees this issue.

Editor-in-ChiefBennett Snyder, grade 4

Assistant EditorsJoy Bohonowicz, grade 5

Ainsley Bogel, grade 4News Editor

Areia Heilman, grade 5Features Editor

Myah Grant, grade 4Op-Ed Page EditorEliza Bogel, grade 4

Sports Editor,Advertising ManagerKylie Lowell, grade 5

Art DirectorKatie Martin, grade 5Circulation Manager

Brooke Looman, grade 5Tracking Manager,

co-AdviserKara Bohonowicz

New York Bureau ChiefHarper Brown, grade 4co-Adviser, Designer,

and PublisherJohn Snyder

ADVERTISE

We welcome your adver-tisements and donations, and

believe they will lead to dramatic success for all concerned. (Great rates!)

• Write The BSE Flow, 30 Church St., Shelburne Falls, MA 01370;

• Call 413-325-6348; or• Write bseflow@gmail.

com.

FINE PRINT

We belong with pride to the National Elementary

Schools Press Association, the Journalism Educa-tion Association, the New England Scholastic Press Association, the New England Newspaper & Press Association, and the Greater Shelburne Falls Area Business Association.

The BSE Flow Vol. 2, No. 1 is © 2015 Advance The Story, Shelburne Falls, MA, 01370. All rights reserved. We are printed at the Daily Hampshire Gazette in Northampton, Mass.

In my opinion, as part of the district’s $18.1 million budget, the school should repair or

replace all of the comput-ers in the computer lab and buy a license for stu-dents to play educational computer games.

Other students have oth-er ideas, but I’ll describe mine first:

“Minecraft,” for exam-ple, is a somewhat educa-tional game. My dad and I were in Foxtown Diner last year and we read a story in the newspaper about how teachers say Minecraft is great for kids. It teaches how to build things, how to multiply, how to use different met-als and stones, and how to get more education in your life.

There is also a survival mode, so it teaches you about survival. And there is a community around “Minecraft” so it’s also about collaboration. Stud-ies show “Minecraft” can make you smarter and it doesn’t hurt your brain. Well, sometimes.

We do have computers in school but some don’t work. We use the ones that do work for look-ing things up — debate topics, for example. My reading breakout group just looked up a debate around the question of whether television is a bad influence.

“Type to Learn 4” (or TTL4) is another activity on the computer. Some kids, myself included, enjoy that.

That’s why, with the school district preparing its budget for 2016, we should include money for better computers and “Minecraft.”

Other budget ideas from our staff:

Kylie Lowell, our sports editor, says she wants to have field hockey and vol-leyball teams at BSE.

“That’s so that the kids will be ready for when they go to Mohawk, and so that they’ll be more ex-perienced at field hockey and volleyball, be more active and have a better time through playing sports.”

She also says the school should install vending machines so that kids can have healthy snacks between classes.

Ainsley Bogel, one of our assistant editors, says she wants the school to provide pizza and ice cream for every lunch.

“Because then they would be giving the kids nice lunches, and the school would get a nice reputation because then everyone would know the school gives the kids awesome lunches,” she explains.

Bennett Snyder is edi-tor-in-chief of this edition of The BSE Flow. Got an opinion about these ideas or anything else in our pages? Write to Editor, The BSE Flow, 75 Mechanic St., Shelburne Falls, MA 01370 or bseflow@gmail.com.

Minecraft, sports, vend-ing machines needed here

Editorial

By Bennett SNYDER

Quick Chat

How about this winter weather?

Before the “blizzard,” Colleen Rauch of Ballet Renversé said, ”It is extra cold. I am not a fan of the weather when it is too cold to snow because I like snow.”

Karen Shulda, also of Ballet Renversé, is staying posi-tive: “I’m not a fan of winter weather but because we get so much of it I’m trying to be cheerful. But I’m happy when it’s sunny.”

SCA member Joshua Oren-dorf from Florida says of his first New England winter, “These past weeks I have experienced the coldest weather ever.”

Reuben Bassett: “I like it. I feel like it’s joyful. A lot of people may not like it because it’s colder and they have to shovel snow. But I like the winter activities like snowmobiling and skiiing.”

By MyahGRANT

Wayne Kermenski named principal at Hawlemont Parent Advisory

Council meetingsParent Advisory Council

is an advisory board to the special education director and the School Commit-tee. A group of parents have met twice and created a schedule for the remainder of the year.

Organizers encourage you to attend and lend your voice. Topics to be discussed: increasing information and commu-niication on the school website, understanding parents’ rights and respon-sibilities in special educa-tion, and parent advocacy.

Meetings are at BSE on Feb. 10 at 6:30 p.m., March 10 at 9 a.m., April 14 at 6:30 p.m., May 12 at 9 a.m., and June 9 at 6:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Leann Loomis, director of Pupil Personnel Services, at 413-625-0192, ext. 1025, or lloomis@mohawkschools.org.

Environmental Day Feb. 27

The Student Conserva-tion Association (SCA), based in Hawley, has been involved with the local school system for close to 20 years. SCA members are in the classrooms each winter for 12 weeks teach-ing environmental edu-cation, exploring nature, and providing classroom teachers with valuable extensions to their science units.

BSE has two SCA mem-bers: Miriam Grill and Joshua Orendorf.

On Friday, Feb. 27, SCA colleagues (as many as 10) will join Miriam and Joshua for a full day of environmental mini courses for students. According to Principal Joanne Guiguere, the up-per grades will participate in the morning and the younger grades will partic-ipate in the afternoon.

Ms. Guiguere writes to thank Jana Standish, who is the BSE coordinator for our SCA students.

Calendar

By John Snyder, Joy Bohonowicz,

and Areia Heilman

He came to BSE in early 2014 from Mohawk, where he had been a

science teacher, to intern with Principal Joanne Guiguere.

While he was here he got experience being a principal, and made lots of friends in the 4-5-6 pod particularly. When he announced to the school assembly on Jan. 14 that his work here was done and he was sad to be leaving, he added that he was going back to teach at Mohawk.

But it turns out Wayne Kermenski has taken on an even bigger job in the district: he’s now the principal at Hawlemont Regional School in Charlemont.

According to Superin-tendent Michael Buoni-conti, the appointment was effective Feb. 2. The former principal at Hawlemont, Travis Yagodzinski, had an-nounced he was leaving Hawlemont due to person-al reasons, Mr. Buoniconti wrote Hawlemont fami-lies, explaning that he had sufficient time to prepare a graceful transition.

“Please be informed that I have appointed Mr. Wayne Kermenski to become the next princi-pal of Hawlemont... Mr. Kermenski has been a member of the Mohawk educational team since 2007. Wayne is a certi-fied science teacher with a strong background in project-based learning, which I believe will be an outstanding match with Hawlemont’s developing agricultural program,” he added.

Mr. Buoniconti noted that Ms. Guiguere, Mo-hawk’s most experienced principal, is a former

longtime principal of Hawlemont.

“It has been a pleasure having him as an intern. I saw him less as a learner and more as a co-princi-pal. I’ll miss him and look forward to seeing him as a principal,” Ms. Giguere said.

Meanwhile, Jacqui Goodman, fifth-grade teacher, said she looked forward to having Mr. Kermenski stay involved in a wind turbine project he initiated, and which will see many of our students compete at the KidWind Challenge at the Science and Sustainability Expo March 7 at Green-field Community College.

‘He’ll be missed...’In part because of his

easy nature and clear dedication, BSE’s staff and

students say they’ll miss seeing Mr. Kermenski day to day.

Here are a sampling of quotes from other folks who said he’d made a big difference here:

— Trish Perlman, sixth-grade teacher: “Any school that has him as a principal is very lucky.”

— Clayton McCloud, sixth-grade student: “Learning he was leaving was very upsetting be-cause he was a very nice person.”

— Reuben Bassett, sixth-grade student: “He was a very good teacher for the short time he was here.”

Wayne Kermenski interned as a principal at BSE this year.BSE Flow

SEE RELATED FEATURE:

“Teaching the Teachers” Magazine, page B1

Critters!

At a recent open house the pre-K kids showed off what they’ve been

learning about hibernation and dormancy: which an-imals go into these states and why.

The kids were asked to come dressed as their favorite dormant or hiber-nating animal and explain the projects they’ve been working on.

To help set the scene, pre-K parent Joe Reagan brought in a 300-pound bruin he’d bagged hunting in Ashfield.

When reptiles and amphibians are dormant, they’re in a part of their life cycle when they temporarily stop growth, development, and physical activity. When mammals hibernate, they spend the winter sleeping or resting.

— Staff report

Left to right: Charlie Helen Bishop (skunk), Isabella Boehmer, Liliana Green, and Madeline Finn (bears).

Submitted photo

They don’t look dormant to us

Got a topic for roving reporter Myah Grant to

investigate? Write bseflow@gmail.com

or 75 Mechanic St., Shelburne

Falls, MA 01370.

COVER ART

This lovely heart painting is by Lily Jenks, third-grader. For valentines stu-

dents made for area Meals on Wheels recipients, please turn to Page B4. :)

Thursday, feb. 5, 2015 • The BSE Flow A3Covering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

Features‘Divergent,’

Veronica Roth, HarperCollins

Children’s Books (2011)

Must-ReadDear Harper

Dear Name Withheld,When I first came to

Jefferson Avenue Elemen-tary School from a private school, I was really ner-vous myself because I only knew one person. Over the years, I’ve gotten to know more people and I’ve made a lot of friends. I did this just by being friendly and introducing myself to people I didn’t know and by starting to play with them at recess.

You probably won’t have all of the same friends in your class but there’s a high chance there will be someone you know. If you want to know a lot of kids, you should probably go up to someone you don’t know and introduce yourself. See if there is something you have in common. If you join a club you’re in-terested in, you can meet other kids who might be interested in the same thing.

I can understand why you might be sad to not see your friends anymore, but you can always try to find ways to hang out outside of school. You can email and call your friends or maybe set up a club outside of school for the people who aren’t in your new school.

There will probably be an orientation for new students where you get to learn where everything is in your school. I bet if you go to orientation you’ll feel more confident. Remember that you’re not the only one who’s new to the school.

You’re not alone. There will be other kids who might be looking for friends. Be friendly! Be open! Show your best smile! Remember the saying “Fake it till you make it?” (If you don’t remember this saying, ask a grown up!) Sometimes the more confident you act, the more confident you’ll feel.

I’d love to hear if you have more questions after you go to your new school. Write again please!

Harper Brown is The BSE Flow’s advice columnist and New York bureau chief. Got a question? Write Dear Harper, The BSE Flow, 75 Mechanic St., Shelburne Falls, MA 01370 or bseflow@gmail.com. Include your name and contact information.

Dear Harper: I am in sixth grade this year and I am going

to go to Mohawk [Mid-dle School] next year. I don’t know who is going to be in my class and I want to be in class with all my same friends. Some people are probably going different places. This isn’t really a question but do you have advice for me?

— Name withheld by request

How to make friends

at a new school

I got the “Divergent” series and movie of the first book for Christmas.

When I started reading the first book, “Divergent,” I knew right away I would love the series.

The main character is named Beatrice but is mostly called Tris. She lives in a city that is divided into five factions: Abnega-tion, Amity, Dauntless, Erudite, and Candor. Each faction has different char-acteristics and beliefs.

Dauntless are the dare-devils, Erudite is really smart, Candor always tells the truth, Abnegation is very strict, and Amity is very peaceful.

Each faction has one enemy faction. Dauntless is enemies with Erudite; Abnegation is enemies with Erudite; Candor is enemies with Amity.

The adventures start when Tris’ test results show that she is “diver-gent,” which puts her in danger:

She is good for more than one faction — she’s good for three (Abne-gation, Dauntless, and Candor), which is very unusual.

From then on the book tells about Tris’ adven-tures getting through Dauntless initiation tests and the fight against Erudite.

Tris is very brave and takes a lot of risks. When-ever there’s a battle she wants to be in it. She risks her life a lot.

I recommend this series for older kids, above age 8, because there are some scary scenes with shoot-ing but it always ends up being happy.

I really like “Divergent” so I am happy that it is a series. I’m happy about that because I get to look forward to more books. If a book I like is not part of this series I will read that book over and over.

So far I’ve read the first two books: “Divergent” and “Insurgent,” and I am starting the third book in the series, “Allegient.” The last book in the series is called “Four.”

I love to eread books be-fore I watch movies made on the book but I have requirements to watching these movies: I must read the whole series before I watch the movie. I think movies of books should include the best parts even if they don’t think they can fit those parts in, they should try.

There aren’t any other books that the “Divergent” series reminds me of but it’s cool that there are no other books like them I like the books because they keep me interested in the story doesn’t drag on.

If people like adventure books these books are for them.

What books do you like to read, and why? Tell us at bseflow@gmail.com.

“Divergent” by Veronica Roth

Woof!

Pants is on the case to help kids read

By Ainsley BOGEL

Jamie LaRue, owner and marketing direc-tor of Pioneer Valley Gear Exchange, is

and does so much more.She’s a popular substi-

tute teacher. She’s a trained social

worker. She teaches and certifies

kids and adults in Amer-ican Red Cross First Aid and CPR.

She’s worked in Ap-plied Behavioral Analysis for kids on the autism spectrum.

She’s active in Cub Scouts and on the PTO.

She sells Jamberry nail wrap.

And she has the cutest therapy dog, Pants, which, among other things, helps kids read.

“Pants is pretty cute and awesome. He’s a 12-year-old Pomeranian, and I’ve had him longer than I’ve had my children [Charlie and Grayson] and hus-band,” LaRue explains.

Pants, whose real name is Ralphie Willard Hamm LaRue, became known by a friend as Mr. Love Pants, and that got shortned to Pants.

“He was certified as a therapy dog when I be-came certified in therapy work. He works in foster care. He was just more of a comfort dog; I’d take him with me on home visits,” La Rue says.

“Kids would work to-ward spending time with him. Now he’s kind of retired; he’s more cat-like, and basks in the sun on the back of the couch. We also have a golden retriev-er and a Chesapeake Bay retriever.”

LaRue says she believes that animals in general are therapeutic, “and I would definitely say that therapy dogs are a huge tool for kids, from reading dogs to comfort dogs.”

Reading dogs, she says, are dogs that are trained to go to the library and just sit there and relax, so kids who have difficulty reading can read out loud to the dogs.

“And because it’s non-judgmental — they don’t correct you, they don’t care if you’re right or wrong. You’re still doing what you need to do, and it’s comforting. It builds

Alumni Spotlight

By Harper BROWN

Dear Sibling vs. Sibling,

My younger brother is just

plain rude. What should I do?

— Annoyed in Fifth Grade

Dear Annoyed,I think you should just

ignore him. If you do that he will eventually get bored and leave you alone.

By Ainsley BOGEL

Sibling vs. Sibling

Tried and true advice works against the rudeAre you having problems with a brother or a sister?

Are you, yourself, a problem child and need advice? Do you want to share a tip or trick you’ve picked up to make having a brother or sister more bearable? Or hey, do you have a story to share about how wonder-ful it can be to have a brother or sister?

Tell us: Write Sibling vs. Sibling, The BSE Flow, 75 Mechanic St., Shelburne Falls, MA 01370 or bseflow@gmail.com, or leave a note for Ainsley Bogel, our siblings expert (she’s a twin), in the Flow’s mailbox in the school’s office. Include your name and a way to reach you in case we have questions. We will not use anyone’s name in print. (To protect the innocent.)

Deadline Feb. 13!

Hi, friends! Advertise! (Pays for itself, plus.)

The Flow bseflow@gmail.com

kids’ confidence by leaps and bounds,” LaRue says.

Service dogs can be trained in different areas There are seeing-eye dogs, hearing dogs, seizure dogs, and dogs that can sniff out low blood sugar.

LaRue says she would like to train her golden retriever as a service dog “but he’s the world’s worst dog.”

Pants gets his hair cut at Maplewood Hair Groom-ing in Shelburne Center, LaRue told The Flow’s reporters.

LaRue is scheduled to teach First Aid to our local Boy Scouts. First Aid is general care for

wounds and breathing emergencies.

She says she contracts for this work with a lot of foster care agencies and adult day health facilities, and certifies their staffs.

The work saves lives.“A woman took my class

and she was very nervous and said she didn’t think she’d remember how to do it, and the very next day her dad had a heart attack and she knew what to do and she saved him,” LaRue explains.

Pants certainly gets around.

“My father-in-law does a lot of elder and estate law, so Pants has done nursing homes; he goes

to the Sheffield Elemen-tary School once a year for a reading group. His a visiting resource. He’s so much fun.”

According to LaRue, anybody can use a therapy dog:

“It’s been shown the dogs are soothing, but they also teach responsi-bility, so my kids on my caseload they had tasks they had to complete ev-ery week. If they did then there was a whole thing was they got to take the dog for a walk and brush him. It gave them some-thing to work toward.”

— BSE Flow staff

Ruby March poses with a very helpful, if now “cat-like,” Pants the Pomeranian. Therapy dog Pants, whose given name is Ralphie Willard Hamm LaRue, became known by a friend as Mr. Love Pants, and that got shortned. Inset: Jamie Bishop LaRue, who wears many hats.

Jamie Bishop LaRue

A4 thursday, feb. 5, 2015 • The BSE Flow Covering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

Cool Careers

The Buckland Historical Society offers a beauti-ful, full-color, 2015 cal-endar of Robert Strong

Woodward’s paintings, entitled “New England Heritage.”

Woodward was a New En-gland artist from Buckland and sold his work to such celebrities as Jack Benny, George Burns, and Robert Frost.

The calendars are $20 and the proceeds benefit the Buckland Historical Society.

They can be purchased at:• Andy’s & The Oak Shoppe,

352 Deerfield St., Greenfield;• Boswell’s Books and Saw-

yer News, Bridge St., Shelburne Falls; and

• Buckland Public Library, Upper St., Buckland.

They can also be ordered at store.bucklandmasshistory.org.

The 2015 calendars are in

About Robert Strong Woodward

Woodward was born in Northampton in 1885. At 21, he suffered an accidental gunshot wound and was paralyzed from the waist down.

He settled in Buckland on his uncle’s farm and turned to painting. During his career, he lost three studios to fire.

In his lifetime, Woodward painted around 600 oils and 285 known chalks.

Through his landscapes, barn paintings and window pictures, Woodward documented a pass-ing New England.

His Southwick studio in Buckland remains lovingly maintained, virtually un-changed from how he left it.

See more of our local artist at robertstrongwoodward.com.

Dateline: Shelburne

Emily and Dylan Schoelzel build and repair canoes and small wood-

en boats. Their business, Salmon Falls Canoe, is located in the barn at their home, which is brightly lit and smells like freshly cut wood.

“I grew up as a little girl going to a canoe camp in the summer and wanted to try it out,” Emily says. “I learned woodworking from Dylan, who had been doing it for three years, but I had done art for college so I already had the basic idea. I have been building and fixing canoes for about 16 years now.”

The couple use ma-chines, such as a table saw, and hand tools, such as a hammer and sandpaper.

A lot of the canoes have a canvas shell that keeps the water out.

Here’s how it works:“We fill the canvas on

the canvas canoes with a paint filler that looks like paint but is made of differ-

ent things, then we let it dry so the water doesn’t soften the boat. The can-vas can rip if you scrape it across a sharp rock. If the rip is small, you can attach a piece of bandana to it with special glue; if

the rip is really big, you have to get a new piece of canvas,” Emily says.

All of their boats are handmade, and it takes a long time to repair or build them. According to Emily, it takes 60 to 100

hours to repair a boat and 80 to 120 hours to build one, which for both is about four to six months when spread out.

Emily and Dylan deliver the boats as they finish them. They work on the

boats year-round, except in the summer, when they work at Keewaydin Canoe Camp in Ontario, Canada.

Emily says her favorite parts of her job are the beginning building process “and when the customer

By Eliza BOGEL

‘All of our boats are handmade...’

Emily starts taking apart a Brodbeck canoe. Brodbeck was a Boston builder. On their website, Emily and Dylan say, “This canoe, along with other Brodbecks we have worked on, are about the best built canoes we have ever seen.”

Handout photo

comes to see the finished canoe.”

The most difficult part, she says, is doing a good job on every part of the boat.

You can learn how to build boats like theirs. Emily and Dylan teach classes on it.

“Anybody can come to the classes we teach,” Em-ily told The BSE Flow. “All you have to do is be able to follow directions. You come for 10 days and we help you build a canoe. We send you home with an almost-finished canoe; you have to paint and varnish it at home.”

For more information, visit www.wood-canoe.com.

Schoelzels’ Salmon Falls Canoe going strong

Do you know someone with an awesome job the Flow

should write about? Let us know at bseflow@gmail.com.

“We keep very busy year-round but

winter is usually one of our busiest times of the year. Come spring and early summer is when everyone

wants their canoes and boats.”

— Emily Schoelzel

A Shelburne Falls Tradition Since 1863

one convenient source for:Newspapers and Magazines; Greeting Cards and Gift Wrap; Toys, Gifts, and Novelties; School and Office

Supplies; Gazetteers and Topo Maps; Sweets and Snacks; Photocopier and Fax Service, Too!

Sawyer News Co.

Open daily from 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (3 p.m. Sunday)61 Bridge St., Shelburne Falls • (413) 625-6686

Local mom Pamela Snow works for Harvard Forest coordinating a program called Schoolyard Ecolo-

gy. Established in 1907, Harvard Forest is Harvard University’s 3,500-acre laboratory and class-room. It’s been conducting long-term ecological research onsite since 1988.

In December 2014, The BSE Flow’s Katie Martin caught up with Snow — and her daughter, Ursula — to talk about Snow’s work training science teachers in the Mohawk Trail School District and statewide, and what Ursula makes of her mother’s career.

* * * KATIE: How did you get your

start in this career?PAM: I had been a park rang-

er for a long time and led tours and did educational programs and then decided to go back and get a master’s degree in

education, and I taught in the classroom for a couple of years. l’ve combined the work I did as a park ranger and the work I did as a classroom teacher.

For about 10 years I’ve been working as a team with ecol-ogists — scientists who focus on nature and are interested in how different organisms relate with one another. In my case, because I’m in a forest environ-ment, I study certain kinds of trees, plants, and animals in the forest.

KATIE: Where do you work, mostly?

PAM: My main office is at Harvard Forest in Petersham, Mass., but sometimes I work remotely, by computer, from my desk at the Bridge of Flowers Business Center, above McCusk-er’s Market.

KATIE: Do you teach kids?PAM: A lot of kids are the

classroom ecologists for me.

They work at their schoolyard. So they go out and study trees or vernal pools in walking dis-tance of their schools. We have locations all over Massachusetts and a little in New Hampshire and Vermont.

KATIE: Did you start this program?

PAM: I was hired to do this job and there wasn’t really a program in place, so I kind of started it with the ecologists I

work with. And the data manag-er, he’s an important person on my team also.

KATIE [to Ursula]: What is it like for you, knowing your mom’s work.

URSULA: Sometimes I help her sort certain equipment into bags that she takes to work-shops to take to teachers and kids so they can measure the trees. And I get to go to all the parties they have.

KATIE: Do you like plant life and trees and stuff?

URSULA: Yeah. But not as much as she does.

PAM: She hasn’t come on fieldwork with me.

URSULA: I want to go out and try it though!

KATIE [to Pam]: Did you want to do this as a kid?

PAM: I had no idea about any of this as a kid. I never had

very good science classes in my school. We never did anything real: it was all in textbooks and on slideshows, and I never was inspired by that; I had no inter-est in science. And somehow, miraculously, I became a park ranger and I learned about trees and became very interested in that. This is a really great job for me because I love nature now and I want to share that with other people and get them excited about it, and I want kids to be able to learn about science in a much more fun way and get outside and do real science.

KATIE: Did you inspire someone?

PAM: I certainly hope so. I train the teachers, and the teachers work with their stu-dents directly, and they they have said their students really get attached to the trees that they’re studying. They also say

BMagazine

Section

More science — Page B2

Sports and Rec — Page B3

Valentines — Page B4

Last Word — Page B4

FEB. 5, 2015

Teaching the teachers

Pam Snow helps bring science

education to life

By Katie MARTIN

Schoolyard ecology program coordinator Pam Snow works with a high school teacher during a tour of the Harvard Forest natural history trail. John O’Keefe/Harvard Forest

> Continues next page

B2 thursday, feb. 5, 2015 • The BSE Flow Covering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

Lead Story

McCusker’s Market3 State St, Shelburne Falls

Open Daily 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (413) 625-9411

Green Fields Market144 Main St, Greenfield

Mon-Sat 8-8 Sun 9-6(413) 773-9567

Serving your communitywith deliciously healthyfoods for over 35 years!

www.franklincommunity.coop

The co-op is committedto having healthy food

within everyone’s reach----check out our Food For All program

where SNAP & WIC recipients can recieve 10%

off their purchases.

Two co-op store locations, everyone welcome, every day.

Stop in for an application.

Pam Snow: Teaching the teachers

Advertise in The BSE FlowWe’d love to do business with you.

To connect with our readers at a great rate, call 413-325-6348

or write bseflow@gmail.com

they’ve become the more popular teachers in the school because then the kids know that they’re the ones who take the kids out. [Laughs.] So then the kids say, Oh, you’re the teacher who takes kids out! I want to be in your class.

[Wayne Kermenski, at Mohawk, who is at BSE now, works with Pam’s program.]

Play and exploration make nature real for kids. Teachers verify this all the time: that the program helps kids connect with nature and value the nat-ural world, and therefore end up wanting to protect the natural world. I want people in general to build a connection with the natural world.

For teachers it’s great because their kids want to do it, so it’s something that’s exciting and inter-esting for them, and they can still build up all the skills they need in science.

And it does relate to the science frameworks that are current in Mas-

sachusetts, based on the next-generation science standards from the feder-al government. So it fits what science teachers are supposed to be doing and covering. It’s better for the older kids [grades 4-6] in the elementary level.

KATIE: How much does it cost?

PAM: All we charge is $50 for the first year that the teacher enters the program. That gives the teacher all the materials they need and training and year-round support. They can send data to us, and questions to us.

It’s a time issue more than anything. Teachers and administrators are un-der a lot of pressure right now to perform on the MCAS, and at the elemen-tary level right now the

big focus is on language arts and math.

And it is easier to teach from a book and do really set activities when you know what the answers are going to be. With real science we wouldn’t know the answer in advance or it wouldn’t be science. In real science we’re investi-gating something that we don’t know the answer to. In our project we think we know, we have a hypoth-eses — what we think we know — but we need the data to prove it. And the students learn how that works: when you have a question you don’t know everything about and then a lot of unexpected things can happen.

And then they can collect the data and track it over time. It’s like a relay: Students collect the

> Continued from Page B1

Wayne Kermenski, in August 2014, when he was new as principal-intern at BSE. Here he stands with an elm tree he’d planted years earlier as part of a project he and some friends undertook. He has since involved many of his Mohawk environmental science students in a project, with support from Pam Snow and Harvard Forest, to measure trees’ growth in the area and thereby figure out how much carbon dioxide they’re removing from the air.

“It is easier to teach from a book and do really set activities when you know what

the answers are going to be. With real science we wouldn’t know the answer in advance or it wouldn’t be science.”

data in one grade level, and then they move on to the next grade level, and another grade comes up and takes the baton, so to speak, and add the data to

collect to that project over time.

That all adds to the data set: Is there a long-term pattern here or not? What is the data telling us? It’s

sort of solving the answer to the question.

For more information on Harvard Forest, visit har-vardforest.fas.harvard.edu.

John Snyder photo

Thursday, feb. 5, 2015 • The BSE Flow B3Covering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

Sports & Recreation

The Berkshire East lodge bustled one recent Friday after-noon with elemen-

tary school students and their families. Happy chat-ter filled the two-story, open-ceilinged building. The district-wide school ski program offers children the opportunity to learn a winter sport that, accord-ing to parent Seth McCabe, is exhilarating.

Swoosh now to a sunny Saturday on the slopes, the day brimming with families from as far as New Jersey. The scent of fried onion rings fills the air inside and out. Par-ents pull toddlers along on straps; families cheer youth racers at finish lines to times booming over loudspeakers; groups of young adults learn snow-boarding from instructors distinctive in their official jackets.

Overall, the energy is joy-filled. Whether it was the weather, the sun, the fun of flying down snow-packed hills, or all of the above, one thing is obvi-ous: Berkshire East offers families a great time.

Back to Friday night: Seth’s son Nathan has

taken a quick break from skiing to talk with us about his family’s skiing heritage. Three genera-tions, he says, go back to three different local ski locations. His grandfather Stephen McCabe skied since he was a kid. Ste-phen started Seth skiing as a boy. Seth in turn started Nathan skiing as a small child.

Seth grew up skiing at Mount Mohawk, then took on Berkshire East, where he won state cham-pionships through Mo-hawk Trail Regional High School. He says he likes being outside and de-scribes skiing as an exhila-rating smoothness. It is ex-citing for him, he says, to watch his fifth-grade son “overcome apprehension and gain confidence to do things he never knew he could.”

For his part, Nathan says, he likes the feel of the wind against his face as he navigates the differ-ent hills, woods, and trails. He loves the decisions he gets to make in his descent down the mountain.

— Words and pictures Kara Bohonowicz

Never a Doubt

At Super Bowl XLIX on Feb. 1, the New England Patriots edged the Seattle Seahawks, 28-24, for the fourth title in the team’s history. Can any fan have been happier with Pats quarterback Tom Brady than fifth-grade teacher Jacqui Goodman, above, who has been decorating the hall outside her classroom with all things Patriots? Her class wins big too: no homework for a week!

New England Patriots ground Seattle Seahawks for Super Bowl win; Ms. Goodman’s class scores on homework

Cowell Calendar

Berkshire East brings families out for funSkiing ‘The Beast’

Advertise in The Flow,definitely! bseflow@gmail.com

If you’ve visited BSE in the past weeks you’ve likely noticed the 4-5-6 pod hallway is a

veritable parade of Patriot memorabilia. Fifth-grade teacher Jacqui Goodman, who’s been curating this display, might just be the team’s biggest fan — or is it quarterbak Tom Brady who keeps her tuning in?

The Pats’ coach, Bill Belichick, needs to know that among the many, many thrilled fans of his team are Ms. Goodman and her class, who were promised that if the team won the Super Bowl they’d get no homework for a whole week.

Well, the Pats pulled it off, landing their fourth NFL title in 14 years, beat-ing the Seattle Seahawks, 28-24, when Malcolm But-ler pulled down Seahawk Russell Wilson’s pass in the end zone with 26 sec-onds left on the clock.

It would have been the Seahawks’ second Super Bowl win.

“I’m very happy! And yes: no homework for my students this week,” Ms. Goodman confirmed the next day — which was also a snow day, so no

homework for any stu-dents regardless.

“I watched the game with a group of Buck-land-Shelburne retirees. We've been watching together for a long time. It used to be that I wasn’t the only BSE teacher obsessed with the Patriots; there was a group of us.”

Ms. Goodman explained that after the team's 1-15 season in the early 1990s she and her friends wrote a letter to the Patriots, telling them that they had a group of devot-ed teachers in Western Massachusetts.

And the letter set wheels in motion:

“We were invited to have lunch with Sam Jankovich, who was the president of the Patriots at that time. We had a great time meeting play-ers, touring the facilities, and having lunch with the leader of the team. I'm thinking it would be im-possible to have that kind of experience, now that the team is so successful,” she explained.

The Cowell ice rink is open (while temps stay above freezing), and Friday, Feb. 6, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., a free playgroup runs inside the gym for families with kids from birth to 5 — and older

siblings. There is no drop-in basketball during February break,

notes manager Emily Crehan, but there is an all-day draw-a-thon on Saturday, Feb. 28, from noon on.

That rink is a thing of beauty. Volunteers flood it (mostly Frank Field with approval from the Water Commission) and volunteers — including the Shelburne Highway Department — shovel it. Young and adult hockey and figure skaters alike both enjoy the ice, Crehan says.

For more information on the draw-a-thon, contact Jane Wegscheider at the Art Garden: Call 413-625-2782, write csartgarden@gmail.com or visit theart-garden.wordpress.com.

For more information on Cowell Gym, on Maple Street, visit www.facebook.com/CowellGym.

Cowell’s ice rink is ready for action.Emily Crehan

Seth McCabe, left, and Nathan Leger are part of a multigenerational skiing heritage.

Davin Ojala and family Davin Z. Ojala (in green) and Nolin McCloud (in red) enjoy a day at Berkshire East.

Skiers make their way — one the easy way, the other not so much — on a January day at Berkshire East.

As for Super Bowl XLIX — that’s 49 in the Arabic numerals most of us are most familiar with — Ms. Goodman has an expert analysis:

“I love that a rookie made the play of the game and I love that every player interviewed credited their win to hard work, preparation, mental toughness, and a belief in the value of every player on the team, regardless of individual fame or statis-tics. Those are great les-sons for students at BSE.”

— John Snyder

Bennett Snyder photos

The Flow doesn’t know who, if anyone, tampered with this football.

Angela Dodge, owner/stylistRachel Ainsworth, stylistJodi Chaplin, nails

XLIX

B4 thursday, feb. 5, 2015 • The BSE Flow Covering Buckland, Shelburne, and Beyond

Traditions

Both of my parents are Jewish, and immigrated to the United States as young children escaping

the Holocaust. I have celebrated Hanukkah, and other Jewish holidays, my whole life. My sister and I were the only Jewish children in our school growing up and it was really hard to be the only kids who were dif-ferent, mostly because no one understood what our culture was about or took the time to ask. Even when we made the effort to educate and explain, we were always a minority.

When I grew up, I married a man who isn't Jewish. Neither of us is religious but we have always honored both of our family traditions by incorpo-rating Hanukkah, Christmas, as well as Solstice, into our winter celebrations. We teach our chil-dren that different cultures and religious traditions find different

For light and hope; for all of us

BY Marissa Tenenbaum

POTTER

Aida and Jonah Potter with their family’s menorah this Hannukah. “For us,” Marissa Potter says, “Christmas lights, Hanukkah candles, and Solstice bonfires are all different expressions of our shared need to be together and celebrate light and hope in the midst of the cold and the darkness.”

ways of bringing light into the darkest time of the year. For us, Christmas lights, Hanukkah candles, and Solstice bonfires are all different expressions of our shared need to be together and celebrate light and hope in the midst of the cold and the darkness.

Just like when I was a child, my family lights the candles in the menorah at sundown, one more each night for eight days. We say the prayer in Hebrew and teach it to our children so they can pass it on to their children someday. We place the menorah in our window so ev-

eryone can see the light growing night by night. Some nights we give small gifts, other nights we do a craft or cook potato latkes and other traditional Hanukkah foods.

Hanukkah is not Jewish Christmas. It is a celebration of religious freedom. It is a living

ritual that reminds us that even though Jewish people have experienced prejudice, persecu-tion, and genocide over thou-sands of years and still today, we live on.

The origin of Hanukkah dates back over 2,200 years to a time when Jewish people were being forced to assimilate and renounce their beliefs. But they didn't give up; they fought for their freedom and shone their light into the darkness. And so our tradition survives.

For me, celebrating Hanukkah is a time to remember where my people come from and to teach about the importance of fighting for justice, equality, and free-dom for all people all over the world.

The BSE Flow thanks Marissa Tenenbaum Potter for her thought-ful views, which we sought for our December 2014 issue and with great regret, at the last minute, cut for space. We feel these views are too important not to share with you as our spotlight essay in this issue, our first for what we hope will be a very warm, safe, and loving 2015 all around.

The Last Word

We place the menorah in our window so everyone

can see the light growing night by night.

After-School Valentines for Meals on Wheels recipients

We saw these lovely cards in the after-school room recently and had to know more.

According to Raelene Lemoine, who directs the before- and after-school pro-gram, these are a sampling of the work her kids in grades K-6 have been working on as “Love Letters” destined for local elders who receive home-delivered meals through Franklin County Home Care Corporation’s Meals on Wheels program.

“The opportunity came up and we went for it. I’m always looking for community service options our kids can get into. We love it,” Raelene told us.

Once all kids who want to have made cards, they’ll be delivered to FCHCC’s Turn-ers Falls office by Feb. 14 so that they can

be distributed to the organization’s Meals on Wheels recipients.

Your family can get involved too. Ac-cording to Jessica Riel, media and commu-nications manager for FCHCC, those under 26 who participate are eligible to receive a $10,000 scholarship if they register online and send in proof of participation. For more information, visit www.DoSomething.org/loveletters.

Love Letters is a campaign hosted by the Meals on Wheels Association of America, AARP Foundation’s Mentor Up program, and DoSomething.org.

— The BSE Flow wishes you and yours a happy, hearty Valentine’s Day. We’re awfully fond of you!

Potter family photo