Reconnecting Youth

This Semester's T-Shirt Design!

2010-06-16T10:02:00.000-07:00

More Pictures from Closing Celebration

2010-06-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

Final Celebration Breakfast Recognizes Students' Achievements

2010-06-16T09:10:00.000-07:00

Students celebrated their final few days together with a celebration breakfast to recognize their accomplishments and to thank our community partners for their support this year. Students each received a certificate recognizing their outstanding community service this semester and a class designed t-shirt. In attendance at the breakfast were 15 senior citizens from the Montague Senior Center, Katherine MacColl, who helped us with our pillow making project, Sue-Ann Hilton from Griffin's friends, Assistant Principal Kim Hearn, and several family members and friends. Students worked hard to prepare and serve a spectacular breakfast of bacon, homefries, pancakes and eggs to a very appreciative crowd. Click below to see their thoughts about all of their accomplishments this semester and on what this class has meant to them this year.

Students Sew Up Pillow Project

2010-06-07T07:07:00.000-07:00

Students have worked extremely hard to design and sew pillows for young people receiving treatment for cancer at Bay State Medical Center. They are hoping that the pillows will provide some comfort for kids their age during treatment and when they use them, they'll feel supported! Click on the comments below to see what students thought of the experience.

2010-06-07T07:04:00.000-07:00

RY Brings Summer Happiness to Kids

2010-06-07T06:07:00.000-07:00

Seven hundred cupcakes later, RY students are thrilled to announce the final tally for the fundraiser for the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. $375!!! The camp provides children with extremely challenging illness the opportunity to attend summer camp while receiving medical treatment. Read the comments below to see the students' thoughts on their fundraiser.

And just a few more.

2010-04-30T09:32:00.000-07:00

And a few more rock climbing pictures...

2010-04-30T09:28:00.001-07:00

More Pictures from Rock Climbing

2010-04-30T09:26:00.000-07:00

RY Class Rocks Out at Rose Ledges

2010-04-30T09:18:00.000-07:00

Students learned the basics of rock climbing and rappelling at Rose Ledges with Greenfield Community College's Outdoor Leadership Program. Thank you to Austin, Anna and Sara for a great day!

Pictures from Quilting Day

2010-03-04T11:32:00.000-08:00

Well Know Fabric Artist, Katherine MacColl, Gives Students a Quilting Primer

2010-03-02T08:37:00.000-08:00

Katherine MacColl, a well-known fabric artist from Conway, Massachusetts, joined students on Thursday to help them in their latest project. Students plan to make quilts, pillows and stuffed animals for young people fighting cancer. In conjunction with Griffin's Friends, a group providing support to children in treatment centered at Bay State Medical Center, RY students will donate the items they sew. Katherine gave students a wonderful primer, helping them with mathematical calculations and creative ideas. The project is well underway and we'll have some finished work soon!
-Ms. B

Students Give A Happy Surprise to Children Fighting Cancer

2010-03-02T08:26:00.000-08:00

This week RY students created magnificent cupcake creations for young people receiving treatment for cancer at Bay State Medical Center. Students made the cupcakes and wrote notes of encouragement that patients enjoyed following their treatment at the hospital. The cupcakes turned out wonderfully and I know that they'll bring a smile to the faces of all who see them.

-Ms. Batchelor

Watch Out Cake Boss!

2010-02-12T04:27:00.000-08:00

This week Christa from 2nd Street Bakery in Turners Falls visited and taught students the finer points of cake decorating. The results were amazing! Students all worked together to add one element to a birthday cake for a young lady living at the Family Inn. We really hope she enjoyed it.

We also had a great time at "Coffee and Conversation," a monthly event at the Montague Senior Center, where we got to spend some time with friends we met at the Brown Bag Program next month. Click below to read students' feedback on the week.

One More Cake

2010-02-04T11:12:00.001-08:00

Sam, Joe and Kyle created this masterpiece!

Students Bake Their First Birthday Cakes for the Survival Center

2010-02-04T11:01:00.000-08:00

Students learned the basics of cake frosting and decorating this week and proved to be very quick studies! Click on the comments to view their thoughts.

More Pictures from Brown Bag Day

2010-02-04T10:59:00.001-08:00

Students Get Their First Taste of Brown Bag Day

2010-02-04T10:33:00.000-08:00

Students helped out at the Montague Senior Center this week, packaging groceries from the Western Massachusetts Food Bank for the Center's Brown Bag Day. The Senior Citizens were happy to have the help packing and carrying groceries out their cars. Click below to see the students' comments.

A few pictures of the new group

2010-01-22T07:03:00.000-08:00

Great New RY Group for 2010

2010-01-22T04:41:00.001-08:00

With the start of 2nd semester, a new group of students take over the helm. Right now students are still getting to know each other and are solving some of the challenging group building challenges they’re given. As their advisors, we’re excited to work with such a great group and are really interested to see what kinds of projects they’ll choose to do this semester. Whatever they choose, we know that they’ll make a huge difference in our community. Click on the comments below to see their first impressions.

More Pictures from Award Ceremony

2010-01-22T04:40:00.001-08:00

Students Honored by the Community Coalition for Youth

2010-01-22T04:38:00.001-08:00

Students from the RY classes semester 1 were honored last night by the Community Coalition for Youth. A great meal and well deserved honors were the highlight of the evening. Congratulations wonderful students—you earned this award!

2010-01-21T04:06:00.001-08:00

RY Prepares to Say Goodbye

2010-01-08T04:16:00.000-08:00

With only a few short days left of the semester, students in the RY classes are gearing up for our closing ceremonies next week. While we’re excited that we’ll get one last chance to spend some time with folks who we’ve been working with all semester, we’re also a bit sad to say goodbye to our group. It’s been a wonderful semester, full of amazing service work and bonding and I’ve asked each student to reflect on their experience this semester in the comments below. I know I am personally sad to see all of them go off to other classes, and I want to thank each of them for a wonderful first half of the year. I am so proud of all of them for their hard work and the changes they've made in our community.

-Ms. Batchelor

More Rock Climbing Pics

2009-11-30T06:03:00.000-08:00

Rock Climbing Trip a Success

2009-11-30T05:59:00.001-08:00

Five students traveled to the Northampton Athletic Club to climb in their state-of-the-art rock climbing gym. We all literally pushed ourselves to reach new heights. A good time was had by all.

One More Photo

2009-11-30T04:33:00.001-08:00

The Baking Batch is at it Again

2009-11-30T04:25:00.000-08:00

Students happily delivered 14 made from scratch apple pies to the Franklin Area Survival Center on the day before Thanksgiving, hoping that families would enjoy them with their Thursday meal. The beautiful pies were delicious too--we've had requests for the recipe! Students also lent a hand with the food drive run by the other class, helping them haul the over 1700 pounds of food they collected.

Makin' Pies

2009-11-19T04:39:00.000-08:00

Students have been working hard making pies for the Survival Center's Thanksgiving give-away. This project came about because we heard that the FASC had to severely cut back on what they could give away this year. Local farmers donated the apples and Christa from 2nd Street Bakery lent a hand with pie crusts.

Cakes Get Fancy

2009-11-19T04:36:00.000-08:00

More Pictures from Brown Bag Day

2009-11-19T04:34:00.001-08:00

Senior Center Brown Bag Program

2009-11-19T04:31:00.001-08:00

Pictures from the brown bag day.

Senior Center Brown Bag Program

2009-11-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

On November 4, students travelled to the Montague Senior Center to help with their Brown Bag Food Distribution Program. The program allows seniors to buy bags of food from the Food Bank for $3, although they're often filled with close to $20 worth of food. Click below to see what the students thought of their day.

...And Still More

2009-11-03T08:30:00.001-08:00

Even More Ropes Course Pictures

2009-11-03T08:26:00.000-08:00

2009-10-28T11:13:00.000-07:00

2009-10-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

Ropes Course Pictures

2009-10-28T11:08:00.001-07:00

2009-10-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

Ropes Course Day a "Flying" Success

2009-10-28T04:46:00.001-07:00

On October 27, students traveled to Greenfield Community College to participate in a day of group building sponsored by the Outdoor Leadership Program. We were able to not only participate in some interesting activities on the ground, but also climbed high into the treetops on the flying squirrel, the catwalk and the multivine (pictures will be added soon!). We want to thank Eileen, Ian, Beth, Sara, George, and Jen for giving us such a great day!

A Very Big Week

2009-10-26T04:14:00.000-07:00

Last week was a very big week for both RY classes. First, many students took a field trip to Pumpkin Fest in Keene, NH and had a great night listening to live music, looking at some fabulous pumpkins and eating great food. Second, students volunteered to make pies for the Franklin Area Survival Center's Thanksgiving food give-away and have already peeled 3 cases of apples in anticipation. They also were interviewed by the Montague Reporter, and a very nice story about them appeared in Friday's edition. Also, Don from MCTV began filming for a short documentary about the class and will do more filming today. Read the students' comments below about these events!

More Scenes From Pumpkin Fest

2009-10-26T04:09:00.001-07:00

A Big Week

2009-10-26T04:05:00.000-07:00

Students Make a Big Splash at the Senior Center

2009-10-09T04:22:00.000-07:00

Five RY students enjoyed a little time with a group of senior citizens at the Montague Senior Center for their monthly "Coffee and Conversation" get together. Students arrived with homemade cake, brownies and cookies in tow and spent about an hour getting to know some new friends. Click below to see what they thought about their trip.

2009-10-01T04:39:00.000-07:00

RY Students Pretty Up the Family Inn

2009-10-01T04:27:00.000-07:00

On September 30, students visited the Family Inn in Greenfield to do some landscaping. During the morning, we weeded a large embankment full of daylilies and planted daffodil bulbs in the front of the house that will come up in the Spring. It was a fun project that we'll have to wait until April to really appreciate.

Christa from 2nd St. Bakery Visits!

2009-09-23T11:04:00.001-07:00

Today, Christa from 2nd St. Bakery in Turners Falls was kind enough to visit our R.Y class and share some of her cake decorating expertise. We had a great time learning how to make interesting designs with different types of materials that the bakery so generously donated. Afterwards, we indulged in some delicious chocolate cake. We would like to thank Christa and the 2nd St. Bakery for all of their help in making "The Birthday Batch" a success!Please click on the "comments" link to see what R.Y students have to say.

Pictures from Christa's Visit

2009-09-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

Cake #3 for "Erin" and "Ashley" at the Family Inn

2009-09-23T04:31:00.000-07:00

Field Trip to Mount Monadanock!

2009-09-23T04:18:00.000-07:00

Three brave souls headed to Mount Monadanock early Saturday morning and overcame blisters, a fear of heights and a troop of enthusiastic boy scouts to have a fantastic day on the mountain.

2009-09-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

RY Makes Their First Cake for "Elisia," Age 9

2009-09-18T04:33:00.000-07:00

Students made their first cake this week and the Franklin Area Survival Center has agreed to let us bake even more cakes for folks utilizing their food pantry. Here's what our students think about it...

The Year Begins

2009-09-18T04:14:00.000-07:00

Students in the Reconnecting Youth class have been working hard to develop community service projects for the upcoming semester. They have already lined up several exciting ones, including baking birthday cakes for children living in transitional shelters in the area, and participating in Montague Senior Center's "Coffee and Conversation" event each month. Here are their first impressions of what's to come.

2009-09-02T11:55:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the TFHS Reconnecting Youth page.