Don’t miss the
annual Craft Fair at the First Congregational Church, 24 Main Street,
Pittsfield, Saturday, Dec. 4, 9 am - 2 pm. Over a dozen local artisans
feature fine seasonal crafts of all types including knits, decorative items,
fresh greenery, gourmet selections and more.
The First
Congregational Church, 24 Main St., Pittsfield is pleased to present, “The
Light Shines On,” a concert of Advent and Christmas music, Saturday,
December 11, 7-9 pm. Light refreshments will be served during a brief
intermission. Be sure to include this joyous concert in your holiday plans.
Gilmanton
School News
Gilmanton School Administrators were invited to attend
November’s State Board of Education Meeting to present the School
Improvement Plan that helped bring the school one step closer to being
removed from the State’s list of Schools in Need of Improvement.
The Gilmanton School made Annual Yearly Progress during the last testing
cycle, and the goal is to make AYP again this year. Superintendent
Fauci, Principal Carol Locke, and Director of Student Services Emily Reese
credited the hard work and dedication of the Gilmanton School Staff for
working to improve curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
To assist in
their efforts, Gilmanton School has received assistance from the State of NH
through grants and support personnel. Improvements in school climate,
curriculum consistency, course work, data analysis, and scheduling have all
contributed to better teaching and learning. Finally, the entire
Gilmanton School Staff appreciates the hard work of the students and the
support of their families.
Gilmanton
Student Meets Teacher - 70 Years Later!
Gilmanton resident
Daniel Webster recently traveled to Manchester to meet his elementary school
teacher – whom he had not seen since the end of the 1940 school year.
His teacher was Helen Tsiotas, who was hired by the Gilmanton School Board
to teach in the one room Kelley’s Corner School for the 1938 – 1939 school
year.
The reunion came about when Miss Tsiotas sent some personal
photographs of her class to the new Gilmanton Year-Round Library last fall.
She had seen a newspaper story about the opening of the Library and thought
that the photographs should go back to Gilmanton. From that
communication, Dan was able to locate Miss Tsiotas and arrange for a
meeting.
Helen Tsiotas graduated from Keene State College in 1938 and the
teaching position in Gilmanton was her first. At that time, near
the end of the Depression, she was unable to locate a job in Manchester, her
home town, and several friends suggested that she try Gilmanton. She
was hired for the job at the Kelley’s Corner School and boarded with the
Kelley family within walking distance of the school house.
She had
a class of 9 students. She taught there for two years, only leaving because
the one room school was closed by the School Board at the end of the 1939 –
1940 school year. At that time, Gilmanton’s schools were consolidated
into just two: one at the Corners and one at the Iron Works.
She returned
to Manchester and, unable to locate a teaching position, worked for the
Manchester Public Welfare Department as a social worker during the war
years. She was a valuable asset in that job since she spoke Greek and
Manchester had (and still has) a large Greek population.
Following
the war, she moved to New Jersey and taught there for many years. She
fondly recalls that one of her elementary students in New Jersey was Craig
Benson, who later became Governor of New Hampshire. While teaching in
New Jersey she earned her Masters degree from NYU in 1968.
After she
retired, Helen Tsiotas returned to live in Manchester and still lives there
today. Soon to turn 95, she was very pleased to see one of her former
students and share stories of her time in Gilmanton.
Helen Tsiotas
in 1939
Class at
Kelley’s Corner School, last day of school, 1939: First row: Ruth Mardin,
Barbara Mardin, Eleanor Webster. Second row: Albert Mardin, Ruth
Mardin, Rolland Hawkins, Mary Kelley, Daniel Webster, Maeve Dutton.
Note on Kelley School: The Kelley schoolhouse, located off NH Route 129 in
the section of town known as Lower Gilmanton, is the last of the historic
one-room school buildings to be owned by the town’s school district.
It has been leased from the district and maintained for several
decades by a group of local residents known as the Lower Gilmanton Community
Club. It is on the New Hampshire Register of Historic Places.
