BRISTOL — Presentations at the start of the March 25 meeting of the Newfound Area School Board highlighted some of the initiatives taking place within the district.
Principal Dana Andrews introduced teachers and students involved in the “growth mindset” at Bridgewater-Hebron Village School, saying the focus on the Power of Possibilities is teaching students at the school to overcome caution to take risks in pursuing a greater depth of knowledge.
The school was one of 10 in the Twin-State area to receive a $25,000 Year of the Book grant from the Children’s Literacy Foundation. The grant allows the school to bring in programming, including visits by New Hampshire and Vermont authors, illustrators, poets, graphic novelists, and storytellers.
The Year of the Book grant also provides funds for classroom projects and new books for classrooms, the school library, and the local public library, as well as 10 new books for each child.
The grant is intended to provide low-income, at-risk, and rural children access to high-quality reading materials of their choice, and to get students excited about reading and writing.
Andrews said the focus of the POP program is on “operationalizing” some of the work students have done in the past.
The Power of Possibilities has students focusing on their interests and base of knowledge to move to the next level. Students take those ideas and come up with a project that they eventually will present to all of the students in grades 3, 4, and 5.
“Kids at the lunch table are talking about their projects,” Andrews said, pointing to it as an indication that they are excited about what they are doing.
Danbury Elementary School Principal Alison Roberts was accompanied by the five champions in the school’s annual poetry contest, in which students from grade 1 through 5 memorize and recite poems. Twenty students participated in an evening presentation in which the final winners were chosen.
It is a longstanding tradition in Danbury, and a parent attending the school board meeting noted that she had participated as a child and was glad to see the program continue.
Finally, senior Madison Paige presented a program about Bleu the Therapy Dog, a “shelter dog” that she took through training to “cheer up Newfound on ruff days.” Supervised by Amy Yeakel (named ELO Coordinator of the Year) and Kali Dore, Paige brings the dog to the high school where it interacts with students and, in the process, helps to relieve some of the stress students are facing.
“There are natural stressors in the school environment, and outside pressures that affect your course work,” Paige said.
“When I first brought Bleu in, he was petrified,” she recalled. “He was trained to act a certain way, but people wanted him to jump up and they approached him quickly, so I made a video, ‘How to Bleu.’”
She showed the short feature to the school board, saying it has helped Bleu to gain confidence in being around students, and showing them how to approach the dog.
The school board also accepted a $1,000 donation by the Friends of Newfound Drama to support that program at the middle school. The group raised the money through last fall’s Festival of Trees at the Old Town Hall in Bristol.
