February Board of Ed: awards and recognitions

 Colin Moge of West Springfield High School is being recognized as School Counselor of the Year
introduced by noting need for counselors in schools: mental health, bullying, college admission and financial aid

establishment and oversight of Renaissance program, Terrier closet
Moge: "going to try to take spotlight off myself as much as possible"
"as a high school student, I struggled in ways I never anticipated"
candid conversations with counselor, crawled way to graduation
took two years off between high school and college
advice from many along the way
student: "I can't let my mom down"
"he never gave up on himself, and I never gave up on him"
"put their faith in me, knowing that the trust came later"
all school counselors deal with situations on a daily basis that involve basic needs of students
344 students to 1 counselor statewide
"we are the points of contact for re-entry and retention" of students
"the conduit of holistic support"
"too often are only a fraction of these needs met"
comprehensive school counselor programs, increasing school counselors, PD, securing wraparound services for students and families
here not only "AS a school counselor, but as the PRODUCT of a school counselor"

Gardiner notes her own experience especially this senior year

West: how to draw line between what is appropriate and inappropriate?
president of association: counselor teaching math, covering office, sometimes hours at a time of duties
coordinating testing programs but no one else is covering 
ratios are still a problem
Moge: supported by administration, is a shared responsibility
counselors have a flexibility to their role that classroom educators don't
when used in inappropriate ways, it can become a problem

Rocha: "really felt seen" by counselor who wrote letter of recommendation for her
important to get it right with the ratio
"feel seen and believe that they can achieve the things that they are dreaming of"

break for photos

Beth Kontos, outgoing president of AFT-MA
and all around lovely person
"it has been an honor to be an educator"
"the students in my classes have made me so proud"
"some of my former students have become educators"
"all of them have a special place in my heart"
"It's a great career. I hope many more people will join me in this career."
"we really do believe in improving the lives of the people we serve" (as union president)
things we need to work on: fair compensation and benefits for all our members
paid family medical leave
Student Opportunity Act "has been transformative"
joint efforts to win the Fair Share amendment
need a similar funding mechanism to replace and improve school buildings
(HEAR HEAR)
"it changes the outcomes for the students when they have a building that is nice, and newer, and well cared for, and has all the facilities that they need"
want to see Lawrence come out of receivership
end to punitive use of testing

Tom Scott, outgoing executive director of MASS
"an educator for 55 years"
"When I heard it was a lifetime achievement award, I wondered if there was something you knew that the doctor wasn't telling me."
commends Riley's response to pandemic
"years of perspective in seeing the landscape of how things have changed over time"
"I don't think there has been a more challenging time"
"bring forward the educational enterprise" rather than being in "a firing circle"
asking for a study commission to look at where we're going in education
Educator pipeline, significantly changing demographic in our schools, presents challenges
"turnover of our staff is a major problem" 
20% of superintendents turning over in an average year, carries into principalships, and into teaching positions
"how do we cheerlead from all of our bully pulpits"
stability in all of our work
"and school committees, as turnover on school committees is very high, too"
(thank you)

Dan Warwick, retiring superintendent of the Springfield Public Schools
thanks Riley for his work; thanks Tom Scott
thanks Craven for her MSBA work
"in Western Massachusetts, we're not used to getting a lot of resources from the eastern part of the state"
eight projects in 12 years
"it's the people at the end of the day, but the buildings do make a difference"
mentions accelerated repair
started as a substitute teacher
first superintendent of Springfield who grew up in Springfield and came up through the ranks
first encounter with Springfield Public Schools was walking in in 1959 in kindergarten
lists off major achievement in his time as superintendent