Cheshire Woman Recipient of Downing Award
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| Terri Cooper is presented the Downing Award by District Attorney David E. Capeless. View Slide Show |
The soft-spoken, if not downright self-effacing, Cheshire resident has been responsible for establishing programs ranging from soccer teams to raising funds for playground equipment to Brownie troops to the hugely popular Father/Daughter Dance held annually in North Adams on Valentine's Day that's raised $40,000 for summer camp scholarships since 1995.
In reading about what she's done, said Berkshire District Attorney David E. Capeless, you have to "focus on the words: started, organized, started ... "
That selfless volunteerism and focus on children has made her this year's recipient of the Gerard D. Downing Service to Children Award.
"Terri's not just somebody who joins ... when something needs to be done, she doesn't wait for somebody else," said Capeless to friends, colleagues and officials gathered in the Crane Room at the Berkshire Museum on Monday afternoon. "She is a worthy recipient of the Gerard D. Downing Award."
The award, named for the late district attorney who died in 2003, was established in his memory to recognize his commitment to service and improving the lives of children. Cooper is the sixth recipient; last year's was probation officer Nancy Macauley.
"This award means a tremendous amount to me because helping to improve the lives of children is my life's mission," said Cooper, an art teacher at C.T. Plunkett Elementary School in Adams, adding that her colleagues were equally deserving. "When I see a need, the ideas start to flow and I need to make a difference."
Cooper, a Clarksburg native, began volunteering early in life said husband and childhood friend Jay Cooper, who recalled she "started at 13" working with kids on the playgrounds and never stopped. "When she gets a vision in her head she has to take the next step ... It's not just a couple things it goes on an on."
.jpg) Photos by Tammy Daniels
 Capeless and Cooper pose Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, Mayor James M. Ruberto and Katherine Bierwas. Right, Bierwas holds a new plaque with the names of the first six Downing Award recipients; colleagues from Plunkett School. Top, Cooper and husband Jay, daughters Emily and Megan and son Jaydin. |
That volunteering spirit has been embraced by her family: daughters Emily, 14, and Megan, 17, are members of the Hoosac Valley High School Leo Club. "We're very proud of her," said Megan. "We help out with the Father/Daughter Dance and everything." Even son Jaiden, 6, has pitched in.
"She genuinely cares about each and every student," said Adams-Cheshire Regional School Superintendent Alfred W. Skrocki.
"The most important thing we can do in providing safety for our kids besides being good role models is being involved in their lives," said Capeless. "Give them good positive enriching outlets for all that energy. ... That's why people like Terri are so important to us."
The award presentation has become the centerpiece of the district attorney's office efforts to raise awareness of child abuse locally. Attendees were handed small blue ribbons signifying the problem of child abuse and urged to take more to hand out.
April is Child Abuse Prevention Month and Mayor James Ruberto read an proclamation recognizing it as such in Pittsfield. Downing's son, state Sen. Benjamin B. Downing, D-Pittsfield, and his widow, Pamela Downing, also attended.
The senator said Cooper was a fitting recipient and signified the many people making a difference in Berkshire County who don't get the recognition they deserve. The Senate had approved a citation for Cooper, he said, "but it's in the mail."
Each day, said Capeless, four American children die of child abuse, three-quarters of them under age 4. In Massachusetts, of the 35,000 confirmed cases of abuse and neglect each year, half are under age 7.
Three Berkshire County towns — Adams, North Adams and Pittsfield — are among the top five municipalities in the state with high reporting rates of child abuse. And Massachusetts has the third highest rate for reported cases, twice the national average.
While the numbers are chilling — reported cases are up 47 percent — they're also indicative of a broad awareness of the importance of reporting child neglect, said Capeless and Katherine Bierwas, executive director of Berkshire County Kids' Place and Violence Prevention Center.
"People not only know about it, they're concerned about, and they feel confident that we'll do the right thing," said Capeless.
