Introductions

[Andrew Garcia]

Please take a moment to introduce yourself and add any information about you/your involvement as an Educator/Educational Institution in Berkshire County.

[Susan Maier-Garcia]

By profession I am an elementary school teacher, but by choice I am a stay at home mom right now. I spend all of my time teaching, and learning with our three old son Aidan. He is the greatest teacher to me right now. Around Aidan's preschool schedule and nap schedule I manage to tutor a few HS students for CBRSD and privately. I look forward to connecting with other Berkshire educators through this site.

[Brian Rabuse]

I teach band, jazz, guitar and music technology at Wahconah Regional High School. I am interested in bringing teaching into the 21st century, and preparing students for the new skill set that they will need to be successful in todays global economy.

[Tracy Wilson]

I have served as the Berkshire Music School executive director for 5 1/2 years; prior to BMS, I worked at Tanglewood, Berkshire Museum and Jacob's Pillow, giving me nearly 23 years of experience in fundraising, arts management and education, and special events.
I also conduct a 60-voice Stockbridge Festival Chorus in presenting two major concerts a year.
My interest in this new site is to share Music School information with Berkshire educators, to see how we can help bolster music programs both here and in your schools.

[Maureen Viner]

I am currently a para for CBSRD but I work at Pittsfield High, one-to-one with a student from Dalton. My summer job is as an adminstrative coordinator for the Becket Arts Center. The center has some really incredible offerings for children and adults. Visit www.becketartscenter.org for more info.

[Lisa M. Provencher]

As the Berkshire STEM Pipeline Coordinator my responsibilities and goals are to work with the network to build a pipeline between higher education, PreK-16, businesses, and non-profit agencies for the improvement of science, technology, engineering and math education, and is aligned with the Berkshire Compact for higher education.

The STEM Pipeline Fund is a workforce development initiative designed to increase student interest and teacher preparation in STEM subjects as well as to integrate other topics, the arts and music.

It you are interested in becoming part of the network feel free to contact me and I can put you on our listserv.

If you have any STEM related activities or events you would like to pass on to teachers, educators and business partners in Berkshire County feel free to let me know and I'll see what I can do to pass along this information.

Also check out our website and see our past newsletters to see what we have been up to!

The goals of the Pipeline Fund:
• to increase the number of Massachusetts students who participate in programs that support careers in fields related to mathematics, science technology, and engineering;
• to increase the number of qualified science, technology engineering and math teachers in the Berkshires
• to improve the science, technology, engineering and mathematics educational offerings available in public and private schools.

[Lisa M. Provencher]

Sounds like a great place-Where is the Becket Arts Center located? I don't see directions on the website.

Maureen Viner said:

I am currently a para for CBSRD but I work at Pittsfield High, one-to-one with a student from Dalton. My summer job is as an adminstrative coordinator for the Becket Arts Center. The center has some really incredible offerings for children and adults. Visit www.becketartscenter.org for more info.

[Shawn T. Serre]

Andy, thanks for creating this forum!

I coordinate Pittsfield ETV, the education access television channel operated by Pittsfield Community Television. We are a resource to all the schools in the Pittsfield Public School District, as well as the Catholic Schools of Pittsfield, Berkshire Community College, private schools, and other educational institutions that are based in and serve the City of Pittsfield. Pittsfield ETV can be seen on TimeWarner cable channel 17, in Pittsfield, Dalton, and Richmond, as well as on the web at www.pittsfieldtv.org. Our primary mission is to provide access to cable television channel time to the education community in Pittsfield, as well as access to our facility, and training on our equipment, in order to create community television programming.

Please feel free to contact me regarding education access television! My email is [e-mail].

[Simon Holzapfel]

Hello All--I work at Darrow School as the Director of Studies. I'm responsible for overseeing and developing the academic program. My second academic year at Darrow has just ended and I look forward to building friendships and knowledge in and about the area.

Here's a quick bio: born and raised in Southern VT, college in Northfield MN, grad school in Amherst MA, teaching since '95, mostly History. Two years of admin work. Passionate about history, institutional ecology, leadership, and cognitive science. Avid cyclist and telemark skier.

[Estelle Graziola]

Bonjour and Hola ~ I'm Estelle Graziola from Nessacus Middle School in Dalton, MA. This is my ninth year here, and I thoroughly enjoy teaching French and Spanish to students of this age. They are so challenging, fun, and inspiring, and no two days are ever alike. It is amazing to observe their progress and maturation as the years go by. There is nothing "boring" about being a middle school teacher!

[Karen Fisher]

Stay-at-home Mom (or Dad) is the most honorable and important profession in the world, as far as I'm concerned. I cherish the memories of the many years I was able to remain at home until my youngest child entered kindergarten. I have an old & yellowed laminated Erma Bombeck column on my fridge titled "Someone Has to Be There For Kids." In it, she stated, "It isn't a rousing crescendo or a clap of cymbals yet. It's just a small chorus of voices. But every day, somewhere, a person dares to suggest that mothers are needed at home to raise our country's children... For 20 years, I've been waiting for someone to anoint child-raising as a profession requiring skill, talent, and monumental value...Some will question, Why a mother in the home? Why not a father? It doesn't matter. Just so someone shows up for it."
Keep up the good work Susan:-)
Susan Maier-Garcia said:

By profession I am an elementary school teacher, but by choice I am a stay at home mom right now. I spend all of my time teaching, and learning with our three old son Aidan. He is the greatest teacher to me right now. Around Aidan's preschool schedule and nap schedule I manage to tutor a few HS students for CBRSD and privately. I look forward to connecting with other Berkshire educators through this site.

[Susan Maier-Garcia]

Hi Karen,
Thank you for the post... my cymbals and claps come in the simple statement, "I love you Mommy." from my son. I take the responsibility of raising our son as a full time commitment to his development and what is best for him and his sense of self. It is the most important and by the far the most rewarding experience of my life. I am grateful everyday for this time at home with him... and will cherish it for the rest of my life.

Karen Fisher said:

Stay-at-home Mom (or Dad) is the most honorable and important profession in the world, as far as I'm concerned. I cherish the memories of the many years I was able to remain at home until my youngest child entered kindergarten. I have an old & yellowed laminated Erma Bombeck column on my fridge titled "Someone Has to Be There For Kids." In it, she stated, "It isn't a rousing crescendo or a clap of cymbals yet. It's just a small chorus of voices. But every day, somewhere, a person dares to suggest that mothers are needed at home to raise our country's children... For 20 years, I've been waiting for someone to anoint child-raising as a profession requiring skill, talent, and monumental value...Some will question, Why a mother in the home? Why not a father? It doesn't matter. Just so someone shows up for it."
Keep up the good work Susan:-)
Susan Maier-Garcia said:

By profession I am an elementary school teacher, but by choice I am a stay at home mom right now. I spend all of my time teaching, and learning with our three old son Aidan. He is the greatest teacher to me right now. Around Aidan's preschool schedule and nap schedule I manage to tutor a few HS students for CBRSD and privately. I look forward to connecting with other Berkshire educators through this site.

[Karen Fisher]

I'm a mother of five - four sons and one daughter. Motherhood is my calling, but I am also an alternative teacher with certification in Health. My favorite teaching job was at Indian River Charter High School, where in 1998, our core team of amazing professionals started the first and only Charter High School in Indian River County, Florida. I developed the Life Skills department and created and taught courses on Nutrition & Health (Food as Medicine), Women's Issues, Personal Finance (Psychology of Money) & Creative Writing. I hosted the Prom and hauled in a demolished car which had been involved in a near-fatal drunk driving accident, and parked it by the entrance to our school. I started the Charter Youth Volunteer Corps, and I was voted "Most Caring and Understanding Teacher of the Year."

My second favorite teaching job was at the only juvenile state prison in Florida, paid to teach GED prep to thirty convicted felons, ages 14-19. The real work I did was in character ed and social/emotional ed, developing lessons on anger management (Walking Meditation, Feelings through Art), forgiveness (Anatomy of Hate, Street Peace Protocol), advocacy (instruction on writing letters to the editor regarding restoration of voting rights for ex-felons), in addition to basic tutoring in math, language arts and reading. (Sample Essay topic: Does it take more courage to retaliate or to forgive?) I learned a lot about humanity working in prison.

My hobbies include singing, baking, cooking, scuba diving and hiking. I plan to go ziplining with my kids as soon as I can afford it!