WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Health on Monday decided to change its messaging on the use of face coverings in public indoor spaces in response to improving metrics on the spread of COVID-19 in the community.
The board, which never took the step of mandating face masks in town, authorized the health inspector to inform businesses that the board is no longer recommending that otherwise healthy individuals wear face coverings.
"Although the Board of Health has never had a masking mandate, at its March 14 meeting it stated that masking is a personal decision," Jeff Kennedy wrote in a message to local food and lodging establishments. "It is up to each establishment to have its own masking standards (if any), but should not discourage persons who want to wear a mask.
"The incidence of COVID is greatly diminished in Williamstown (and the Berkshires) and there is a high vaccination rate."
Board of Health Chair Ruth Harrison said the panel will continue to closely monitor the numbers for COVID-19 in town, but it is encouraged by the way the community has managed to keep transmission rates down.
"There are certain people who need to wear masks ... high risk people," Harrison said. "And there are still some health care facilities – we’d certainly back those having people wear masks."
And even in the general population, the board recognizes that there are people who might want to choose to take the extra precaution of wearing a face covering in public, Harrison said.
"It wouldn't be an individual thing going into that business," she said. "And people who choose to wear a mask shouldn’t be singled out. … We would hope that people wouldn't be criticized for wearing a mask. They should have that right."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control does recommend using a face covering indoors if you are not vaccinated or have a compromised immune system. Most communities and school district have lifted masking advisories and mandates by this week.
There were 46 positive cases countywide of the novel coronavirus reported over the weekend; Williamstown reported only 15 cases and a 14-day positivity rate of 0.43 percent for the two weeks ending March 5.
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Puppets Teach Resilience at Lanesborough Elementary School
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
The kids learned from puppets Ollie and a hermit crab.
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Vermont Family Network's Puppets in Education visited the elementary school recently to teach kids about being resilient.
Puppets in Education has been engaging with young students with interactive puppets for 45 years.
Classes filtered through the music class Thursday to learn about how to be resilient and kind, deal with change and anxiety, and more.
"This program is this beautiful blending of other programs we have, which is our anxiety program, our bullying prevention and friendship program, but is teaching children the power of yet and how to be able to feel empowered and strong when times are challenging and tough," said program manager Sarah Vogelsang-Card.
The kids got to engage with a "bounce back" song, move around, and listen to a hermit crab deal with the change of needing a new shell.
"A crab that is too small or too big for its shell, so trying to problem solve, having a plan A, B and C, because it's a really tough time," Vogelsang-Card said. "It's like moving, it's like divorce of parents, it's changing schools. It's things that children would be going through, even on a day to day basis, that are just things they need to be resilient, that they feel strong and they feel empowered to be able to make these choices for themselves."
The resiliency program is new and formatted little differently to each of the age groups.
"For the older kids. We age it up a bit, so we talk about harassment and bullying and even setting the scene with the beach is a little bit different kind of language, something that they feel like they can buy into," she said. "For the younger kids, it's a little bit more playful, and we don't touch about harassment. We just talk about making friends and being kind. So that's where we're learning as we're growing this program, is to find the different kinds of messaging that's appropriate for each development level."
This programming affirms themes that are already being discussed in the elementary school, said school psychologist Christy Viall. She thinks this is a fun way for the children to continue learning.
"We have programs here at the school called community building, and that's really good. So they go through all of these strategies already," she said. "But having that repetition is really important, and finding it in a different way, like the puppets coming in and sharing it with them is a fun way that they can really connect to, I think, and it might, get in a little more deeply for them.
Vogelsang-Card said its another space for them to be safe and discuss what's going on in their life. Some children are afraid because maybe their parents are getting divorced, or they're being bullied, but with the puppets, they might open up and disclose what's bothering them because they feel safe, even in a larger crowd.
"When we do sexual abuse awareness that program alone, over five years, we had 87 disclosures of abuse that were followed up and reported," she said. "And children feel safe with the puppets. It makes them feel valued, heard, and we hope that in our short time that we're together, that they at least leave knowing that they're not alone."
Bedard Brothers also gave the school five new puppets to use. Viall said the puppets are a great help for the students in her classroom, especially in the younger grades.
"Every year, I've been giving the puppets to the students. And I also have a few of the puppets in my classroom, and the students use them in small groups to practice out the strategies with each other, which is really helpful," she said. "Sometimes the older students, like sixth graders, will put on a puppet show. They'll come up with a whole theme and a whole little situation, and they'll act it out with the strategies for the younger students. It's really cute, they've done it with kindergarteners, and the kids really like it."
Vogelsang-Card said there are 130 schools in Vermont that are on the waiting list for them to come in. Lanesborough Elementary has been the only Massachusetts school they have visited, thanks to Bedard Brothers.
"These programs are so critical and life-changing for children in such a short amount of time, and we are the only program in the United States that does what we do, which is create this content in this enjoyable, fun, engaging way with oftentimes difficult subjects," she said. "Vermont is our home base, but we would love to be able to bring this to more schools, and we can't do this without the support of community, business funders or donors, and it really makes a difference for children."
The fourth-grade students were the first class to engage with the puppets and a lot of them really connected with the show.
"I learned to never give-up and if you have to move houses, be nervous, but it still helps," said William Larios.
"I learned to always add the word 'yet' at the end," said Sierra Kellogg, because even if she can't do something now, she will be able to at some point.
Samuel Casucci was struck by what one of the puppets talked about. "He said some people make fun of him if he dresses different, come from different place, brings home lunch, it doesn't matter," Samuel continued. "We're all kind of the same. We're all kind of different, like we have different hairstyles, different clothes. We're all the same because we're all human."
"I learned how to be more positive about myself and like, say, I can't do this yet, it's positive and helpful," said Liam Flaherty.
The students got to take home stickers at the end of the day with contact information of the organization.
Students got to showcase their art at the Clark Art Institute depicting their relationship with the Earth in the time of climate change. click for more
The 100th annual meeting will be held on March 10, 2027, the Community Chest's birthday (there will be cake, he promised) and a gala will be held at the Clark Art Institute on Sept. 25, 2027.
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