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Ed Kozak, Ed Therrien, Michael Kuvent and Tim Schnopp, who were the first four residents of 22 Copley Terrace, the first group home opened in Western Massachusetts in 1971, are recognized Friday at the 60th annual Berkshire County Arc meeting.
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BCARC President and CEO Kenneth Singer welcomes the annual meeting crowd.
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State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier gives remarks on behalf of the area's legislative delegation.
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U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent a staff delegate, Everett Handford, to read a citation honoring BCARC's 60 years in the community.
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The annual Citizen Advocate of the Year Award was presented to staff member Erin Manson for her commitment to her protegee and friend Janet.
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Leo Sarkissian, executive director of The Arc of Massachusetts, called BCARC an 'anchor organization for advocacy' in the state.
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Staff honors.
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Staff honors.
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Staff honors.
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Staff honors.
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Yessenia Salina celebrates winning the Outstanding Residential Employee Award.
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The Berkshire County Arc Employee of the Year Award was presented to Amber Steele.
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Client awards.
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Client awards.

Berkshire County Arc Celebrates 60th Anniversary

By Rebecca DravisiBerkshires Staff
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Kenneth Singer, center, president and CEO of Berkshire County Arc, greets wife Christine, executive director of Berkshire County UCP, on Friday as BCArc honored UCP with the Long-Standing Partnership Award. Board Chairman Joseph Woitkoski looks on.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It's not easy to keep a secret from someone you work with, never mind someone you live with.

But that's exactly what Kenneth Singer, president and CEO of Berkshire County Arc, managed to do leading up to his organization's 60th annual meeting on Friday morning.

Singer was able to surprise his wife, Christine Singer, with BCArc's Long-Standing Partnership Award, given to United Cerebral Palsy of Berkshire County, of which she is executive director. The award honored UCP for its "commitment and continued support to Berkshire County Arc."

In announcing the award, board Chairman Joseph Woitkoski acknowledged the collaboration the agencies have done over the years to support people with disabilities in Berkshire County, including working together on the annual legislative breakfast, family support conference and more.

"We do have a little bit of a relationship with them," he joked. "They're quite a duo."

Upon hearing UCP as the award recipient, Christine Singer, who was sitting in one of the tables near the front of the room, gasped: "I didn't know that!" To which husband Kenneth responded from behind the podium, "Surprise!"

Christine Singer accepted the award after a hug and kiss from her husband.

"I'm rendered speechless," she said. "I'm glad our family business has been supporting the lives of people with all disabilities.

"We love you all," she concluded to the people in the room who use BCArc and UCP services. "You are us. We can't ever thank you for enriching our lives."

That was a theme echoed throughout the breakfast meeting, as other awards were given out both to staff who help enrich their clients' lives and the clients themselves, who also enrich the lives of those around them.

Kenneth Singer, in his greetings to the crowded Itam room, offered a reflection of the 60 years BCArc has been operating, including the nearly 35 he has been with the organization. He recalled the genesis of the organization, which started with a handful individuals.

"It was just a group of families saying, 'My kid deserves what every other kid deserves,' " he said.

The Joan Grant Self-Advocate Award is presented to Brandy Buckingham on Friday at the Berkshire County Arc annual meeting in Pittsfield.

And while those seven have blossomed into more than 650 people being served by the agency, Singer urged the audience to remember that while the awards and accolades BCArc receives are important, that's not the true measure of success.

What is?

"The people that we serve are happy," he said. "When you think about life, isn't that what matters most?"

Singer then recognized Ed Kozak, Ed Therrien, Michael Kuvent and Tim Schnopp, who were the first four residents of 22 Copley Terrace, the first group home opened in Western Massachusetts in 1971.  

"They're doing great still," Singer said as the four men posed for pictures.

That they and the agency are doing so well can be partly attributed to support received from the region's elected officials, many of whom attended Friday's breakfast. Singer thanked them in his opening remarks.

"You have made a huge difference in the lives of many people," he told them.

State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier said helping BCArc in her role as an elected official was an easy transition for her, as she had a personal connection she shared with the meeting. She recalled how as a child growing up in Pittsfield, a neighboring family had a daughter the same age as her who lived in a hospital far away. That seemed odd to a young Farley-Bouvier.

"Why wouldn't Lisa be living with the family?" she recalled asking. But at some point, Lisa was able to come home, with support from agencies like BCArc, and was even able to attend  high school with Farley-Bouvier and go to work in the community.

"Now that's progress," she said, also mentioning the recent passage of the state's Real Lives Bill, which allows individuals qualifying for services to have a voice in plans for their own development. "I just can't wait to see what we can do in the next 60 years."

BCArc also gave awards to other clients served by the organization, including Citizenship Awards presented to Ryan Schwendenmann and Marc Dunn; an Achievement Award presented to Mark Paone and Irene Morrison; an Achievement in Personal Growth Award presented to Alex Pettus; a Work Achievement Award presented to Tom Coutherut; and the Joan Grant Self-Advocate Awards presented to Brandy Buckingham and Lisa Harrington.

In addition to honoring UCP, BCArc gave the 2014 Employer of the Year to The Ponds at Fox Hollow for longtime employment of its clients and the Business Partnership Award to Berkshire Health Systems, which assisted its ongoing connection with Zip N Sort as well as sponsoring regular seminars about topics important to BCArc.

Woitkoski himself was honored with the Board Member Service Award for his 30 years of service.

The annual Citizen Advocate of the Year Award was presented to staff member Erin Manson for her commitment to her protegee and friend Janet, whom she continued to advocate for even when a job promotion brought her to a different house.

Other employees awards included the Carol Craighead Mission Award presented to John Walsh; the Outstanding Vocational Services Employee Award presented to Matt Alibozek; the Outstanding Advocacy & Family Support Employee Award presented to Victoria Vaughan-Carra; the Outstanding Administrative Employee Award presented to Sally Hunt; the Outstanding Day Program Employee Award presented to Virginia Donovan; the Outstanding Residential Employee Award presented to Yessenia Salinas; and the Berkshire County Arc Employee of the Year Award presented to Amber Steele. BCArc also recognized employees who have been with agency for 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years.

Steele, in her remarks to the crowd, said she was honored to receive the Employee of the Year Award in an agency of so many wonderful people.

"We each have the power to change the world, even if you have to do it one person at a time," she said. "We work among the most compassionate and driven people I know. You are all amazing people doing amazing things."


Tags: annual meeting,   bcarc,   breakfast,   disabilities,   

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Crosby/Conte Statement of Interest Gets OK From Council

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Architect Carl Franceschi and Superintendent Joseph Curtis address the City Council on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With the approval of all necessary bodies, the school district will submit a statement of interest for a combined build on the site of Crosby Elementary School.

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously gave Superintendent Joseph Curtis the green light for the SOI to the Massachusetts School Building Authority by April 12.

"The statement I would make is we should have learned by our mistakes in the past," Mayor Peter Marchetti said.

"Twenty years ago, we could have built a wastewater treatment plant a lot cheaper than we could a couple of years ago and we can wait 10 years and get in line to build a new school or we can start now and, hopefully, when we get into that process and be able to do it cheaper then we can do a decade from now."

The proposal rebuilds Conte Community School and Crosby on the West Street site with shared facilities, as both have outdated campuses, insufficient layouts, and need significant repair. A rough timeline shows a feasibility study in 2026 with design and construction ranging from 2027 to 2028.

Following the SOI, the next step would be a feasibility study to determine the specific needs and parameters of the project, costing about $1.5 million and partially covered by the state. There is a potential for 80 percent reimbursement through the MSBA, who will decide on the project by the end of the year.

Earlier this month, city officials took a tour of both schools — some were shocked at the conditions students are learning in.

Silvio O. Conte Community School, built in 1974, is a 69,500 square foot open-concept facility that was popular in the 1960s and 1970s but the quad classroom layout poses educational and security risks.  John C. Crosby Elementary School, built in 1962, is about 69,800 square feet and was built as a junior high school so several aspects had to be adapted for elementary use.

Ward 6 Councilor Dina Lampiasi said the walkthrough was "striking" at points, particularly at Conte, and had her thinking there was no way she would want her child educated there. She recognized that not everyone has the ability to choose where their child goes to school and "we need to do better."

"The two facilities that we are looking at I think are a great place to start," she said.

"As the Ward 6 councilor, this is where my residents and my students are going to school so selfishly yes, I want to see this project happen but looking at how we are educating Pittsfield students, this is going to give us a big bang for our buck and it's going to help improve the educational experience of a vast group of students in our city."

During the tour, Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey, saw where it could be difficult to pay attention in an open classroom with so much going on and imagined the struggle for students.

Councilor at Large Alisa Costa said, "we cannot afford not to do this" because the city needs schools that people want their children to attend.

"I know that every financial decision we make is tough but we have to figure this out. If the roof on your house were crumbling in, you'd have to figure it out and that's where we're at and we can't afford to wait any longer," she said.

"We can't afford for the sake of the children going to our schools, for the sake of our city that we want to see grow so we have to build a city where people want to go."

Councilor at Large Kathy Amuso, who served on the School Building Needs Commission for about 18 years, pointed out that the panel identified a need to address Conte in 2008.

Curtis addressed questions about the fate of Conte if the build were to happen, explaining that it could be kept as an active space for community use, house the Eagle Academy or the Adult Learning Center, or house the central offices.

School attendance zones are a point of discussion for the entire school district and for this project.

"At one time I think we had 36 school buildings and now we have essentially 12 and then it would go down again but in a thoughtful way," Curtis said.

Currently, eight attendance zones designate where a student will go to elementary school. Part of the vision is to collapse those zones into three with hopes of building a plan that incorporates partner schools in each attendance zone.

"I think that going from eight schools to three would be easier to maintain and I think it would make more sense but in order to get there we will have to build these buildings and we will have to spend money," Kavey said, hoping that the city would receive the 80 percent reimbursement it is vying for.

This plan for West Street, which is subject to change, has the potential to house grades pre-kindergarten to first grade in one school and Grades 2 to 4 in another with both having their own identities and administrations. 

The districtwide vision for middle school students is to divide all students into a grade five and six school and a grade seven and eight school to ensure equity.

"The vagueness of what that looks like is worrisome to some folks that I have talked to," Lampiasi said.

Curtis emphasized that these changes would have to be voted on by the School Committee and include public input.

"We've talked about it conceptually just to illustrate a possible grade span allocation," he said. "No decisions have been made at all by the School Committee, even the grade-span proposals."

School Committee Chair William Cameron said it is civic duty of the committee and council to move forward with the SOI.
 
He explained that when seven of the city's schools were renovated in the late 1990s, the community schools were only 25 years old and Crosby was 35 years old.  The commonwealth did not deem them to be sorely in need of renovation or replacement.
 
"Now 25 years later, Crosby is physically decrepit and an eyesore. It houses students ages three to 11 in a facility meant for use by teenagers,"
 
"Conte and Morningside opened in the mid-1970s. They were built as then state-of-the-art schools featuring large elongated rectangles of open instructional space. Over almost half a century, these physical arrangements have proven to be inadequate for teaching core academic skills effectively to students, many of whom need extra services and a distraction-free environment if they are to realize their full academic potential."
 
He said  the proposal addresses a serious problem in the "economically poorest, most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse area" of the city.
 
Cameron added that these facilities have been deemed unsatisfactory and need to be replaced as part of the project to reimagine how the city can best meet the educational needs of its students.  He said it is the local government's job to move this project forward to ensure that children learn in an environment that is conducive to their thriving academically.
 
"The process of meeting this responsibility needs to begin here tonight," he said.
 
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