Community Foundation Awards $16,000 to Student Projects
By MONICA CALZOLARI
ONEONTA
The Community Foundation of Otsego County awarded $16,000.00 to fund initiatives created by students ranging from eighth grade to twelfth grade. The foundation challenged students to find a need in the local community, find a community partner, and come up with a solution to a problem they identified.
Seven teams of students from seven local schools presented their “Student Voices, Student Choices” solutions on November 20 in Hartwick College’s Slade Theatre to a packed auditorium of their peers, their parents, school principals, school administrators and community partners.
Cherry Valley-Spring-field Central School won first place and received $5,000.00 to address the issue of hygiene poverty in their community. The team of four students explained, “It’s the side of poverty that no one talks about.” They found that one out of four people in Otsego County cannot afford hygiene products such as shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toilet paper, laundry detergent or feminine products.
The students discovered this is “not just a global issue, but a local issue.” They said, “We see hygiene poverty every day.” Some families must choose between food, transportation and hygiene.
These young Cherry Valley-Springfield presenters proposed creating a room in their school that students and community members can access that will have a washer, dryer and detergent where people can wash their clothes and pick up the additional hygiene items they need free of charge.
Members of the National Honor Society will staff the store. They will call it “The HQ,” to remove any stigma and shame that may be attached to needing help in this way. The group teamed up with the Cherry Valley Food Pantry to help stock items.
Morris Central School won second place and $4,000.00 to start a food pantry. They identified at least 73 individuals in their community with hunger issues. Five students presented their plans. They will use door hangers to advertise their program. They will go door-to-door to collect donations. They plan to team up with four local churches and ask the pastors to request donations be placed in boxes on church premises that would help stock the food pantry.
Part of the seed money would be used to buy a freezer and refrigerator to store healthy items such as milk, eggs, bread, and vegetables in season. They partnered with the Morris Rotary Club to make their effort sustainable.
They quoted Mother Teresa, who said, “If you cannot feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”
Richfield Springs Central School won third prize and $3,000.00 for their program, “Students Adopting Seniors.” Twelve student presenters recruited 35 student volunteers interested in building a personal connection with elderly members of their community at the Richfield Springs Public Library.
The team indicated that 40.7 percent of Richfield Springs’ 326 taxpayers are over 65 years old. They played a video about how issues of isolation lead to depression and other health problems. Seniors and young people will read books together. Seniors will learn to operate their technology better and engage with young people on social media.
The remaining four teams each won $1,000.00 to fund their projects. Five students from Unatego Central School dedicated their presentation to Richard Colley, their bus driver, whose life was saved on September 12, 2023 by the use of an EpiPen after he was stung twice by a European hornet while driving 26 students back from their morning classes at BOCES.
At intermission during the program, Cooley said, “I never would have thought you could die from a bee sting! Within 12-15 minutes of being stung twice in my back, I was completely paralyzed. I managed to get 26 students back to the front of the school and radioed for help. I was seconds away from death. After the school nurse shot me with the EpiPen and called 911, the paramedics gave me two shots of adrenalin to bring me back to life.”
The Unatego team of students requested money to educate the entire school about anaphylactic shock, which can be caused by insect stings, peanut, milk, and seafood allergies and certain medicines such as antibiotics. EpiPens cost $650.00-$750.00 each without insurance and must be replaced every year.
The Gilbertville-Mt. Upton Central School team were the grand prize winners of $5,000.00 and the trophy in 2022, the first year of the competition.
The 2023 Gilbertville-Mt. Upton team discovered that almost one-third of all high-school students suffer from mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and hopelessness. They played video clips of an interview with Marion Mossman, project director of System of Care, who said, “Many teens and children do not seek help.”
Mossman admitted that mental health is still a taboo subject and said, “Kids are resilient, and we must empower them to recognize how resilient they are.”
The team gave the audience buttons with flowers on them. Devon Hartwell, one of the student presenters, explained, “We are planting a seed. It’s going to grow and turn into something beautiful.”
Milford Central School received $1,000.00 for their Senior Buddy Program. These four presenters were the youngest to participate. Two presenters were eighth graders and two were ninth graders. They contacted the Office for the Aging and visited seniors at the Clark Sports Center Connections program in Cooperstown. They will invite seniors to their school for two-way mentoring. Seniors can teach the students compass-using skills, how to play instruments or ping pong, and join the students for healthy lunches, book club, arts and crafts, and walking the track.
Jim Brant, principal of Milford Central School, was in the audience. He said, “We have an incredible, dedicated group of students and their advisor, Heather Van Essendelft, who spent many hours planning and preparing a sustainable budget for this program.”
Edmeston Central School received $1,000 to fund their collaboration with Pathfinder School. Five students visited Pathfinder for its Halloween events and invited some of the Pathfinder students to their school.
They asked the audience “Have you ever felt excluded or left out?” These students plan to “change the world with a giving heart.” They want to mirror the mission of the Community Foundation of Otsego County by modeling collaboration, inclusion and respect.
Jeff Katz, executive director of CFOC, presented the winning team from Cherry Valley-Springfield with a huge trophy at the conclusion of the seven presentations. He said, “One of the core tenants of the Community Foundation is building a better community. Having students who are so poised—some as young as 12 and 13 years old—who did the research and came up with solutions that will serve the future of Otsego County is remarkable.”
Tim Lord, CFOC board member, served as master of ceremonies for the presentations and awards. With the Student Voices, Student Choices Awards, the foundation has created a special program for high-school students to focus on the local needs and issues and encourage them to become “philanthropic thought leaders” in their communities, according to the printed program.
Lord said, “These students are the future (leaders) of Otsego County.”
The esteemed panelists who decided first-, second-and third-place winners were Cyndy Andela, president of Andela Products; Gary Kuch, Clark Foundation director since 2013; Darren Reisberg, Hartwick College’s president; Cheryl Robinson, president and chief executive officer of NYCM Insurance; and Gretchen Sorin, director and distinguished professor, Cooperstown Graduate Program.
The full list of participating schools, the students on their teams and the student advisors is as follows:
Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School
Students: Charlise Canary, Lexi Dygert, Carly Spaulding and Liam Rockwell
Advisor: September Schecter
Edmeston Central School
Students: Gavin McEnroe, Chelsey Clegg, Braymon Clark, Brooke Carentz and Taryn Lund
Advisor: Daniel Cheatham
Gilbertsville-Mt. Upton Central School
Students: Leah Cotton, Devon Hartwell, Natalie Livelsberger and Alyssa Sorochinsky
Advisors: Jennifer McDowall and Rachel Norton
Milford Central School
Students: Khalie Hoyt, Prudence Foster, Julia Leech and Evelyn Rhodes
Advisor: Heather Van Essendelft
Morris Central School
Students: Jessica Walling, Rachel Hill, Everette Pondolfino, Maddie Coleman and Aislin Ray
Advisor: Diane Walling
Richfield Springs Central School
Students: Laken Dyn, Shane Johnson, Riley Francis, Mariah Stetson, Royston Clarke, Shenom Allred, Aiden Dibble (Alt), Lily Coveny, Killian Coveny, Danica Farley, Dylan Burditt and Kayden Stegen
Advisors: Patricia Fagan and Janine Shulkie
Unatego Central School
Students: Avery James, Madisyn Birdsall, Abbey Bailey, Hailey Barron, Quinlan Ranc
Advisors: Kim Trask and Lexi McHenry