Valley Volunteers Honored

Cathi Kellett and Officer Mike Barry

DERBY - Safe Kids Greater Naugatuck Valley Coalition recently marked its 5^th anniversary and honored its dedicated volunteers with a dinner at Griffin Hospital in Derby.

 

Operating within Griffin Hospital’s Community Outreach Program, Safe Kids Naugatuck Valley is part of Safe Kids Worldwide, a nonprofit organization working to help families and communities keep kids safe from injuries.

The local program was became a chapter 2004 and developed into a coalition under Safe Kids CT. In 2013, the program grew to include many Naugatuck Valley towns and became its own stand-alone coalition.



Cathi Kellett and Michele Holovach

 

Safe Kids Greater Naugatuck Valley Coalition educates children and adults on variety of health and safety programs to reduce unintentional injuries among children. Program topics include anti-bullying, germ protection, teen distracted driving, bicycle and wheeled sport safety, anti-tobacco use, child passenger safety, exercise and sports safety, and internet safety.

 

Ansonia Police Officer Michael Barry, and Michele Holovach and Jamie Peterson, of TEAM, Inc., received the Volunteer Excellence Award.

 

Officer Barry has volunteered with Safe Kids since 2006 and has been very active in programs involving child passenger safety, teen driving, pedestrian safety, poison prevention, and anti-bullying.

 

“At any given community health fair, program at Griffin Hospital or in one of the Ansonia schools, Officer Barry offers his guidance, support, expertise - and most of all his time - to bring quality programs to our community to ensure safe, happy and healthy children and families,” said Safe Kids Greater Naugatuck Valley Coalition Coordinator Cathi Kellett.

 

Holovach and Peterson have been essential in coordinating with Head Start classrooms in Ansonia, Derby, Shelton, Seymour, and Beacon Falls, to bring Safe Kids’ health and safety programs to more than 250 students every month throughout the school year. Additionally, they support major grant projects to fit every child with a new car seat and bike helmet, provide concussion protocols and water safety programs, and educate parents and caregivers at regular dinners throughout the year.

 

“Their collaboration is instrumental in keeping Safe Kids constantly moving forward.” Kellett said. “They are a vital part of our success.”

 

For more information about Safe Kids Naugatuck Valley, visit griffinhealth.org/safe-kids or contact Kellett at 203-732-1337 or ckellett@griffinhealth.org.

 

(This is a press release from Griffin Hospital)

Free Movie on Bullying

ANSONIA – Ansonia Public Schools and the Boys & Girls Club of the Lower Naugatuck Valley are co-sponsoring the free showing of the movie, “A Girl Like Her,” on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. in the Ruth Feinberg Connors Auditorium at Ansonia High School.

 

The movie, directed and written by Amy S. Weber, was released nationally a year ago and was recently made available free of charge to school districts. The movie storyline focuses on a high school student who is bullied, as well as about the student who commits the bullying.

 

This free program is one of several that Ansonia Public Schools has held and will be holding this year.

 

High school juniors and seniors, their parents and all adult community members in the Valley and region are welcome to attend the movie, which stars Avery Keller, Hunter King, Jessica Burns, Lexi Ainsworth, Brian Slater and Jimmy Bennett. To view a trailer of the movie, go to http://agirllikehermovie.com.

 

(This is a press release from Ansonia Public Schools)

 

 

 

Irving School to Host 'No One Eats Alone' Event

DERBY- Lunch can be the longest part of the school day for some youth who feel alone and socially isolated at their school.

Irving School and Beyond Differences announces the launch of No One Eats Alone Day at Irving School at 2 p.m. Feb. 10.

With social isolation and bullying now seen as chronic problems in our schools, this initiative will seek to reverse these trends by asking students to engage in a simple act of kindness at lunch – making sure that no one is eating alone.

“Today we are holding No One Eats Alone Day here at Irving School,” said Principal Jennifer Olson. 

“Our third, fourth, and fifth graders will learn about social isolation, and during their lunch they will do activities to encourage students to sit with others and engage in conversation. Students will see the 'Be the One' video from Beyond Differences. I want to thank Beyond Differences and their partners for their tireless efforts to tackle an issue which has been ignored for too long.”

Beyond Differences is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending social isolation in schools across the country.

“We believe that No One Eats Alone Day will be a game changer for Derby children," said Beyond Differences President Laura Talmus.

“A student being isolated at lunch signals the beginning of many problems which have come to plague our schools – with the most shocking examples being bullying and violence," she said.

"We want to reverse these frightening trends by asking students to engage in a simple act of kindness at lunch – making sure that no one is eating alone. Beyond Differences is proud to announce the No One Eats Alone Initiative.”

(This is a press release from Derby Public Schools)

Anti-bullying program at Derby Middle School applauded

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Students from Human Relations Clubs at Ansonia High School, Ansonia Middle School, Derby High School, and Derby Middle School deserve plaudits for their participation in an anti-bullying program Thursday at Derby Middle School.

After the 90-minute session club members reunited in the cafetorium where DMS Principal Sean Morrissey thanked them for their hard work.
"You just bridged that gap between the communities," he said. "It's a great program and I'd like to see it continue to grow."


Stay tuned for a story about the program in the New Haven Register.

FRIDAY FIVE: A recap of this week in the Valley

These are some of the stories that made headlines in the Valley in the past week.

They are written by Register reporters Phyllis Swebilius and Patricia Villers, and correspondent Jean Falbo-Sosnovich, and are listed in no particular order.


Documents shed light on Derby tax clerk investigation.

Shelton father denies paying teen to fight daughter's bully.

Ansonia tax office issues bring out critics.

Three named to Derby's Hall of Fame. 

Ansonia mayor fights blight, helps to tear down house.