Ndey Awa Touray delivers one of the senior reflections at BArT's graduation on Saturday morning. See more photos here.
ADAMS, Mass. — Before they went their separate ways on the final day of their high school careers, the 30 members of BArT's class of 2023 were reminded of the community they formed at the school.
"This class has always been about connections," Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School Principal Erin Hattaway told the crowd in the gymnasium. "Against all odds, you will connect with your community.
"It turns out life is a group work assignment."
Each in their own way, speaker after speaker reminded the graduates how good they are at working together and how close the class has become.
"I played two sports this year — not well, I will admit," senior Ndey Awa Touray said, drawing chuckles from the crowd. "This does not mix well with the fact that I don't like losing. I spent a lot of time during soccer and frisbee season fantasizing about quitting.
"However, there was always a fellow senior around the corner convincing me to stick it out a bit longer. Seeing the perseverance and determination and dedication they demonstrated convinced me. Did it make me a better athlete? I can't say it did. But these values influenced me."
In the ceremony's other senior reflection, Giordan Zavatter told his classmates that he shared their anxiety about what comes next after they graduate from BArT.
"But what I can tell you is that after being with these people for so many years and witnessing our bonds grow closer, these are some of the most in-depth and genuine people that you will ever meet," Zavatter said.
"Everyone here is going to leave an impact on the world for the better, whether that's being the next president of the United States or waving hi to a next door neighbor. These are the people that this world needs."
The class of '23 selected teacher Amy Wiles to give the commencement address — a fitting honor for an educator who told the crowd she taught most of the members of the class sixth-grade science on their first day at BArT and went on to teach them a class in four of their seven years at the school.
Wiles offered a theory on one reason why the class developed such strong ties.
"In March of ninth grade, COVID hit and changed our worlds, separating us and causing us to go completely digital," Wiles said. "You didn't come back into the building until April of your 10th grade year. And you sure did come back strong.
"You'd grown so much and, I think, missed each other so much that I think your bonds grew even stronger."
BArT Executive Director Jay White told the graduates that they would help make the world what they wanted it to be and would do so on a foundation helped shaped by their time at the school.
"At times, you're going to feel anxious," White said. "You're going to miss the surety and the dedication and even the love that you feel here at BArT.
"But take that image of the world that you want. Take hold of that anxiety and the uncertainty that you certainly will feel occasionally and use it to harness the imagination to fashion the world that you know that we need."
The 2023 graduates of Berkshire Arts & Technology Public Charter School
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Adams Review Library, COA and Education Budgets
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass. — The Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen reviewed the public services, Hoosac Valley Regional School District and McCann Technical School budgets on Tuesday.
The workshop at the Adams Free Library was the third of four joint sessions to review the proposed $19 million fiscal 2025 budget. The first workshop covered general government, executive, finance and technology budgets; the second public works, community development and the Greylock Glen.
The Council on Aging and library budgets have increases for wages, equipment, postage and software. The Memorial Day budget is level-funded at $1,450 for flags and for additional expenses the American Legion might have; it had been used to hire bagpipers who are no longer available.
The COA's budget is up 6.76 percent at $241,166. This covers three full-time positions including the director and five regular per diem van drivers and three backup drivers. Savoy also contracts with the town at a cost of $10,000 a year based on the number of residents using its services.
Director Sarah Fontaine said the governor's budget has increased the amount of funding through the Executive Office of Elder Affairs from $12 to $14 per resident age 60 or older.
"So for Adams, based on the 2020 Census data, says we have 2,442 people 60 and older in town," she said. "So that translates to $34,188 from the state to help manage Council on Aging programs and services."
The COA hired a part-time meal site coordinator using the state funds because it was getting difficult to manage the weekday lunches for several dozen attendees, said Fontaine. "And then as we need program supplies or to pay for certain services, we tap into this grant."
Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter Public School history teacher Alla Chelukhova has been selected as the April Teacher of the Month. click for more
Desroches graduated from the Police Academy on March 22 in the top tier in his class. He's currently in the field training program and assigned to Sgt. Curtis Crane.
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Michael Wynn, who was selected in January to run the center, submitted a level operating budget of $57,500 but said he could pull funding from different lines to ensure there was money for advertising this fall.
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The Selectmen on Wednesday night voted to award the bid to Mackin Construction Co. Inc. of Greenfield, which plans to invest $11 million to build out 20 or more one- and two-bedroom apartments in the three-story classroom wing that parallels Columbia Street.
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