Winchendon Weekly News -- August 31, 2023
New Winchendon Public Schools Administrators and Staff as of August 31, 2023
District-Wide
Dr. Ruthann Petruno-Goguen - Interim Superintendent of Schools
Charlotte King - Interim Director of Pupil Services
Kelsey Garcia - Interim Asst. Director of Pupil Services
Becky Leonard - Nurse Lead
Murdock High School
David Fredette - Interim High School Principal
Michael Gaynor - Special Ed Teacher
John Reilly - Math Teacher
Murdock Middle School
Craig Murdock - Interim Principal
Heidi Bevacqua - Interim Dean
Richard Weinhold - PE Teacher
Robert Pack - Math Teacher
Julia LeBlanc - English Teacher
Cameron Rodrinquenz - Music Teacher
Riley Oliva - Science Teacher
Ashley Brunt - Changed from Covid Support Nurse to School Nurse
Toy Town Elementary
Laura Lambert - Interim Dean
Brian McMaster - Special Ed Teacher
Emily Baia - Special Ed Teacher
Michael Hartjens - PE Teacher
Janet Johnson - Changed from Covid Support Nurse to School Nurse
Dorothy Rivas - Para-educator
Memorial Elementary
Bobbi French - Interim Principal
Kelsey Aggrey, Music Teacher
Kimberly Hartford - Para-educator
Makenzie Lundin - Para-educator
SNHU Announces Summer 2023 Dean's List
MANCHESTER, NH (09/05/2023)-- It is with great pleasure that Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) congratulates the following students on being named to the Summer 2023 Dean's List. The summer terms run from May to August.
Full-time undergraduate students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.500 to 3.699 for the reporting term are named to the Dean's List. Full-time status is achieved by earning 12 credits over each 16-week term or paired 8-week terms grouped in fall, winter/spring, and summer.
Aaron Gagne of Winchendon
Myron Foote of Winchendon
Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) is a private, nonprofit institution with a 90-year history of educating traditional-aged students and working adults. Now serving more than 170,000 learners worldwide, SNHU offers approximately 200 accredited undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs, available online and on its 300-acre campus in Manchester, NH. Recognized as one of the "Most Innovative" regional universities by U.S. News & World Report and one of the fastest-growing universities in the country, SNHU is committed to expanding access to high quality, affordable pathways that meet the needs of each learner. Learn more at www.snhu.edu.
SNHU Announces Summer 2023 President's List
MANCHESTER, NH (09/06/2023)-- It is with great pleasure that Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) congratulates the following Winchendon students on being named to the Summer 2023 President's List. The summer terms run from May to August.
Full-time undergraduate students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.700 and above for the reporting term are named to the President's List. Full-time status is achieved by earning 12 credits over each 16-week term or paired 8-week terms grouped in fall, winter/spring, and summer.
Katrina Wilson
Kiley Donahue
Mathew Capen
Alexis Thiers
Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) is a private, nonprofit institution with a 90-year history of educating traditional-aged students and working adults. Now serving more than 170,000 learners worldwide, SNHU offers approximately 200 accredited undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs, available online and on its 300-acre campus in Manchester, NH. Recognized as one of the "Most Innovative" regional universities by U.S. News & World Report and one of the fastest-growing universities in the country, SNHU is committed to expanding access to high quality, affordable pathways that meet the needs of each learner. Learn more at www.snhu.edu.
Sizer Staff Focus on Safety and Being Prepared
In an effort to provide a safe educational environment, all staff members at Sizer School participated in the "Recognize. Respond. Survive. Active Shooter Response" Training program on August 23.
This empowering training was conducted by the ProActive Response Group (PRG).
PRG is an organization that provides on-site active shooter training and emergency medical response training to offices, schools, and other organizations. PRG's leadership team is made up of veteran SWAT team leaders with first-hand experience in hostage rescues and high-risk dignitary protection.
The skills offered in each course have been specifically developed to provide individuals and groups with effective courses of action for actual critical situations according to their website.
The purpose of Sizer's Proactive Training in August was to ensure that staff members are prepared to recognize early signs of violence, effectively respond if an act of violence were to take place on our campus, treat common survivable life-threatening injuries, and ultimately increase the chances of survival during a violent encounter.
Following the training, Sizer met and discussed the training and to give feedback.
"My biggest takeaway is that I can take action, even when I feel out of control in a situation. I have been given new tools for my toolbox that can help keep me and my students safe, as well as transfer to other situations," said 10th Grade ELA Teacher Laurel Kelly. "I feel more prepared and less afraid."
She added, "When I hear about different tragedies that occur in schools in the US, I immediately connect them to my experience as a teacher and imagine what it would be like to go through these traumatic events. With this training, I feel like I now have more options as to how to face potential threats."
Div. III Math Teacher Kelly Monaghan said she felt empowered by the training.
"I greatly appreciated and feel empowered by the first response training we received on how to control bleeding and help students/staff in immediate need of help. The way all three presenters discussed an intense topic such as active shooters with reality and even a little humor, made this the best and most helpful training I have attended in my ten years of teaching."
"The presenters carried a conversational tone, integrated participant feedback, and infused comic relief [during the training]. Their approach fostered multiple entry points for our team to tackle this difficult subject," added Kristin Capezio, Assistant Principal for Student Accountability.
"My biggest takeaway is that if a situation should arise, I have more ability than I thought to protect my students and myself, and I can feel empowered to take as much control of the situation as possible with the knowledge we were given," said Learning Access Interventionist Mary Egan.
Reading Specialist Kendra Sheldon said she felt the training gave her skills that would be useful in any emergency medical situation.
"This [training] can be used anywhere at any time there is an active shooter situation. You can save countless lives when done as you have been trained," she said.
ACT Teacher Michele Egerton noted: "What's the old adage? Forewarned is forearmed? That is ESPECIALLY true about our ProActive Training."
She continued: "I am glad Sizer thought well of all of us to have [ProActive] come to our school and teach us the skills we need…If we know what to do about possible danger in advance, then we have an important advantage with skills and "know-how" in our arsenal."
And as Student Services High School Coach Jodi Boucher noted, "One benefit from the ProActive training is that all of our staff now have the same level of knowledge. It makes the building feel safer."
Visit https://www.proactiverg.com/ for more information or contact PRG Co-Founder Andy Sexton at asexton@proactiverg.com.