A staff member from the office of U.S. Senator Kelly
Ayotte will be in Northwood on Thursday, November 17 from 10:30 to
11:30 am at the Northwood Town Hall, 818 First NH Turnpike, to speak
with residents who are seeking assistance with any matters of the
federal government. You may also contact her office at (603)
622-7979 or at her website
www.ayotte.senate.gov
Join us at the Chesley Memorial Library on Saturday,
November 19, from 10:30 am - 12:30 pm for a make-and-take
Thanksgiving Craft Session! No registration required; all ages
welcome.
CBNA FFA Chapter Participates In National
Communications Event
CBNA FFA Communications Team Chapter Members at
Recent National Convention: Left to Right: Katie Soiett, Savannah
Reed, Samantha Emond, Kelsey Brown, Jenna Brown, and Mrs. Sarah
Ward.
Members of the Coe Brown Northwood Academy’s FFA
Chapter in New Hampshire were one of 31 teams participating in the
National FFA Agricultural Communications Career Development Event
(CDE). The event was held in conjunction with the 84th National FFA
Convention in Indianapolis, Ind. The team, led by advisor Sarah
Ward, was awarded a Bronze emblem.
Members also competed for individual awards with 150
other participants. Sam Emond received a Silver emblem, Jenna Brown
received a Silver emblem, Kelsey Brown received a Bronze emblem,
Savannah Reed received a Bronze emblem, and Kate Soiett received a
Bronze emblem.
The top six individuals and the national winning
team members received scholarships to further their education at a
post-secondary institution of their choice. The scholarships and the
agricultural communications event are sponsored by the National FFA
Foundation.
The National FFA Agricultural Communications CDE is
a competitive activity that tests students’ skills in all areas of
the agricultural communications field and evaluates how well they
can apply classroom knowledge to real-life situations. Participants
attend a simulated news conference and use the information gathered
to complete individual practicums in news story writing, press
release writing, radio broadcasting, web design, and graphic design.
Prior to the event, students compile communication project proposals
related to innovative agricultural practices, management techniques
and marketing tools. Each team then creates a 15 minute presentation
based on their proposal. Members also compete in an editing exercise
and a general communications quiz. The event, held at the University
Place Hotel in Indianapolis, Ind., is one of many educational
activities at the national FFA convention in which FFA members
practice the lessons learned in agricultural education classes.
The National FFA Organization, formerly known as the
Future Farmers of America, is a national youth organization of
523,309 student members – all preparing for leadership and careers
in the science, business and technology of agriculture – as part of
7,487 local FFA chapters in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the
Virgin Islands. The National FFA Organization changed to its present
name in 1988, in recognition of the growth and diversity of
agriculture and agricultural education.
The 84th National FFA Convention was held October
19-22, 2011 in Indianapolis, Ind., and drew 50,000 plus FFA members,
advisors and guests from across the country. The FFA mission is to
make a positive difference in the lives of students by developing
their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career
success through agricultural education. Visit
www.ffa.org for more information
and follow us on Facebook, and Twitter and FFA Nation.
Northwood Fire/Rescue Kickoff Fundraiser For LUCAS™2
The Northwood Fire/Rescue Association is kicking off
a major fundraising effort to raise $6,500. This money will be used
as matching funds through Concord Hospital’s "Get the Beat"
community initiative to purchase a LUCAS™ 2 Automatic Chest
Compression (CPR) Device for Northwood’s ambulance.
This device provides continuous chest compressions,
at the required pressure and interval, for extended periods of time,
even while a cardiac arrest victim is carried down stairs on a
stretcher. The device does this more consistently and without the
fatigue that professional rescuers experience, and allows EMTs to
provide other necessary care. Further, ambulance personnel are much
safer traveling to the emergency department.
In the coming weeks and months, we will be providing
more information on these fundraising efforts, including a limited
number of raffle tickets for some great offerings (think baseball!).
In addition, anyone wishing to help may do so by sending their tax
deductible donation to the Northwood Fire/Rescue Association, 499
1st NH Turnpike, Northwood, NH 03261. Please designate your donation
for LUCAS2.
If you have any questions or would like to help in
the fundraising effort, please contact Kevin Madison or Dave Wakeman
at the Northwood Fire/Rescue, 942-9103.
Thank you in advance for your support.
To watch the LUCAS™ device in action go to
http://tinyurl.com/3sdpzqs.
Letter
I was troubled by a recent letter published
regarding the role of special needs children in our schools. In this
letter, special education was blamed for drawing funds away from
gifted children. What is most unfortunate about this letter is it
was written by a member of the school board and budget committee. It
is disappointing that an elected official does not feel the need to
identify themselves when making controversial statements to the
public regarding issues that they have been elected to deal with.
Scapegoating special education children for the
systemic problems in our schools shows a disappointing grasp of the
issues. With enough time and money anyone can do just about
anything, but it should not cost just as much to run a school as it
does to run the entire town. I feel as though we have lost site of
the fact that knowledge is free.
Money allocated to special needs children is not the
reason that gifted children are not pushed by teachers who have no
incentive to engage these children, it is not the reason that
trouble makers receive more attention than those who behave well, it
is not the reason that those who excel cannot be proud of their
achievements for fear of offending those who don’t.
We cannot lose sight that those with special needs
are part of our society. The joy a special needs child receives
through what we would see as minor accomplishments may indeed cost a
lot, but so does not pushing for these accomplishments and ending up
with wards of the state.
In conclusion, I have committed to memory the name
of the author of the article to which I am responding in order to
avoid his name when voting for school board members.
Richard Clark
Else Cilley Chapter NSDAR News
The Else Cilley Chapter, NSDAR recently met at the
home of member Nancy Gervino in East Hampstead. Mrs. Gervino gave an
informative and tasty talk on the history of wine in the United
States. Members sampled wines served during the signing of the
Declaration of Independence and other historical events. The
business meeting followed and included the reading of the President
General’s message and her blog about her recent visit to New
Hampshire. The secretary, treasurer and officer reports were given.
Regent Jan Gilman shared interesting facts on the Constitution,
conservation, the American flag and the War of 1812.
The Else Cilley Chapter is an organization of women
who can trace their heritage to a patriot who helped the cause
during the American Revolution. We meet monthly from April through
November with a historic, educational and patriotic focus. The
chapter’s historic preservation project includes fundraising to
repair tree and squirrel damage to the Nottingham Square
Schoolhouse. Our current educational project is to encourage the
participation of local schoolchildren in grades 5-8 to participate
in the DAR American History essay contest. One of our patriotic
goals includes giving phone cards to service men and women in
overseas hospitals.
Women over the age of 18 interested in becoming a
member may contact Regent Jan Gilman, at
[email protected].
Last Chance For Holiday Shopping At The Northwood
Farmers Market
The Northwood Farmers Market will wind up its 2011
Indoor Market season on Saturday, November 19, 2011, from 9:00 am to
1:00 pm, at the Masonic Hall on Route 4 in Northwood. Come shop for
holiday decorations, gifts of soaps, pottery, maple syrup and jam,
as well as your Thanksgiving vegetables and other local offerings.
Shopping local is fun, and supporting the local economy benefits us
all.
Just because we are taking a break doesn’t mean that
you can’t find a farmers market this winter. Check out Seacoast Eat
Local’s listings
http://seacoasteatlocal.org/find-local-food/our-winter-farmers-market/
or the State of New Hampshire Department of Agriculture, Markets and
Food http://www.nh.gov/agric/.
See you in the spring!
Congratulations to Bill Lounsbury on his induction
into the Norwich University Athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the
university’s 1961 ski team. The ski team, coached by Robert Axtell,
was part of a strong two year run in which the Cadets maintained
NCAA Division I status and defeated such powerhouse programs as
Middlebury, Dartmouth, Williams, the University of Vermont and
several western colleges. Bill and his wife Judy reside at Drake’s
Hill Farm on Rt. 202A in Northwood. Bill is still an avid skier
today and has used his skiing talent to raise money for charitable
causes over the years.
Letter To The Editor
Because of an ignorant and incorrect statement made
Monday night, I would like to say that I am the proud father of 3
adopted children that required some special help in school. They
work, and pay taxes as almost all special needs students do.
So what is Special Education? It starts much sooner,
but I want to start with the IEP. An Individual Education Plan is a
plan put together at a wonderful meeting between parents, special
educators and teachers to determine the course of education for a
special needs students. That course could be from a few extra hours
of a specialist to an out of district residential placement costing
hundreds of thousands a year.
While I am no expert, I have been to many IEP
meetings. They are "subjective". One school district, either
subconsciously or by design, could write IEPs so that more kids were
bused out of district than necessary while another district with
better management and foresight could have begun an in-house program
designed to give those students the help they need while keeping
them in town.
We are way behind. That very lack of foresight has
literally taken up to $600 thousand from regular education students
and resulted in an additional $528 thousand overspend in Special
Education last year. It is wrong.
I didn’t just say to shoot all special needs
students. I said poor management and lack of foresight has resulted
in an imbalance that has hurt regular education students. Where we
go from here, and how, is my issue.
Tim Jandebeur
Father/taxpayer
Letter To The Editor
According to their outlined goals, it is the role of
a Northwood School Board member to "foster a sense of belonging
through effective communication with students, staff, parents and
town residents." Mr. Jandebeur, I would give you an "F" on this
assignment. As the concerned mother of a special needs student, I
take personal offense to your illegitimate accusations and
reactionary rhetoric. There is already a very serious alienation of
special needs children and their parents in this community, which
you as a School Board member should be trying to narrow not broaden.
You fail to mention in your editorials that your own
adopted children and wife have greatly benefited from the special
education program at Northwood School. You also fail to mention that
the 3 million dollar special education budget is largely
supplemented by mandated federal and state funds. You continue to
sway the truth by throwing out numbers like $528,000 over budget,
when a large majority of that over budgeting was due to a handful of
out of district placements within the high school system, some of
which can cost up to $200,000 per year. Those are the children you
refer to in your first article that will "never ever have a job."
It has been one of the greatest challenges of my
life to navigate the system of special education within the public
school system. I am painfully aware of the cost it takes to educate
one special needs child within this system. I am also forever
grateful to live in a country where these services are available to
us if needed. I grew up getting straight As, was in the gifted
program and graduated college with honors. I didn’t expect this and
anyone with a child needs to understand that this too, could have
happened to you.
Andrea Tomlinson
Proud mother and taxpayer
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