OPENING REMARKS OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN
AUGUST 28, 2006

On this day a year ago I stood before you to welcome you back to the new school year. At that time I spoke to you about the challenges that would face us over the coming year. While we were assembled here, our gulf coast was being ravaged by a hurricane of historic proportions that changed the tenor of the year ahead.

 I have spoken over the past 4 years about “community” and what “community” means in the educational world here in the Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District. We saw through the catastrophe of Hurricane Katrina that as a “community” we had to reach out to those in need. We were one of the first school districts in the state to become part of the National Education Association’s “Adopt A School Program”. This District made significant contributions to those affected by Hurricane Katrina. We rose to the occasion to reach out beyond our community’s physical borders.

 As Chairman of the School Committee I have never been so proud to represent this District in acknowledging and proclaiming what the staff, teachers, administrators, pupils and parents did to rally support and raise funds for those in need. We rose to the occasion and became role models to our students about the importance of spreading “community” to those in need.

 This year our school year starts with a somber challenge that evidenced itself in the past month. The District has lost two of its students, one through a tragic accident and one through a horrific act of violence. During this time we have come together as one to support our student body. Last year we rose to the challenge of national import, this year we rise again for our local challenge of supporting our students during this difficult beginning.

 I have another challenge at the outset of the school year: This year I ask you as educators to take the challenge of reaching out to those students who may be on the margins, those students who are disaffected, those students who are isolated for whatever reason. Let’s not allow any of our students to feel left out or isolated and on their own to navigate this difficult world. Reach out to those students and bring them from the dark of isolation into the light of community and achievement.

 Let us take the lessons learned from last year, and the somber lesson of this past month and use them to rise to succeed for the unknown challenges that will face us this year.

 Thank you for all that you do every day here for our students. Thank you for all that you did last year in our Hurricane relief efforts. And thank you for all that you will do this coming year in the challenges ahead.

 Scott R. Chapman, Chairperson