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Dillon Award recipient Shirley Edgerton poses with Berkshire United Way Chair Michael Stoddard, left, and CEO and President Thomas Bernard.
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The event took place at Berkshire Money Management in Dalton.
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Chairman of the board Michael Stoddard.
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President and CEO Thomas Bernard.
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Berkshire United Way Thanks Donors During Live United Community Celebration

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
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Jewish Federation of the Berkshires was presented with Berkshire United way's Robert K. Agar Jr. Volunteerism Award.
DALTON, Mass. — Berkshire United Way held its "Live United Community Celebration" for the first time in person since 2019 last Wednesday at Berkshire Money Management's offices at the former Crane Model Farm.
 
During the event, officials thanked the group's donors and demonstrated how their contribution helped the organization fund initiatives to improve the lives of individuals in the community. 
 
The current CEO and President Thomas Bernard has had the role for just over three months.
 
Berkshire United Way helps fund 38 programs across 25 local organizations that work to improve the quality of life of individuals in trying circumstances. The nonprofit is working with old and newer organizations to fulfill its mission.  
 
Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity CEO Carolyn Valli demonstrated the impact that the donors' contributions have had by sharing inspirational story of a single mother who started to thrive after getting help from the resources that the organization was able to provide.
 
"I would just want to say that yes, this is about homeownership, but it's about what you guys provided when you make a donation, when you are part of the Berkshire United Way family. We are all doing this together," Valli said. 
 
"And I feel like we should all be proud of that together. So I just want to thank from the bottom of my heart for all that you have done to make Berkshire County a place that we can all do good and are here for good."
 
Berkshire United Way awarded the Robert K. Agar Jr. Volunteerism Award to Jewish Family Service of Western Massachusetts for its efforts to empower people to achieve their dreams. 
 
The group's work includes programs to resettle refugee families, providing counseling to young adults, protecting elders from abuse, and much more. 
 
"Their work is animated by a belief that we are stronger when we are all welcome and giving opportunities to thrive, as well as by the ideals of Jewish social justice, which hold that we are all harmed by oppression directed at any group or individual," United Way Board member Lori Gallagher said.
 
The Daniel C. Dillon Helping Hands, Caring Hearts Award was presented to Shirley Edgerton.  
 
Edgerton is the founder and director of the Rites of Passage and Empowerment Program that supports adolescent girls and celebrates their entry into womanhood in an effort to provide the skills and knowledge they need to be successful through mentorships from women come from similar cultures.
 
"Shirley Edgerton truly leads and serves with helping hands and a caring heart and it was nurtured by her grandmother and her aunts who raised her, and she has her abiding faith that guides her through all her steps." Jennifer Connor Shumsky, Greylock Federal Credit Union's manager for community support and events, said when presenting her with the award. 
 
"Your tireless work in the community includes all your board service, just the name a few, it's 18 Degrees, Berkshire Black Economic Council, Berkshire branch of the NAACP, co-founder of Lift Every Voice, which you celebrate with the African American Culture and Heritage Festival. You've also served on the Women's Fund of Western Mass. And a trustee of MCLA."
 
This award was originally introduced in 1999 as the Caring Heart Award but was subsequently renamed following Daniel C. Dillon's retirement from the organization in 2005 in honor of his service.
 
A 2005 press release announcing Dillon's retirement said: "His leadership has been characterized by a positive attitude, creative ideas, insightful thought process, and a tireless work ethic." 
 
Dillon was president of Berkshire United Way for 12 years. He died Jan. 4, 2021, from the effects of COVID-19. 
 
Berkshire United Way adopted the hashtag "Here for Good" in 2019 as the motto to follow. The first Here For Good Volunteer month was in 2021. 
 
In partnership with Northern Berkshire United Way, the organization is hosting a variety of volunteer events from until April 30 to celebrate #HereForGood Volunteer Month. Some future events including South Community Food Pantry Assistance, spring cleanups, and the Letter Carriers' Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. 
 
"We know that we benefit from having incredibly generous donors and partners and sponsors and that in addition to people who donate. There are people looking for opportunities to give them their time," Bernard said. "And during Here For Good Volunteer Month, we really seek and put together some just incredible critical mass around volunteerism, in the Berkshires."

Tags: annual meeting,   recognition event,   

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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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