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Leaders in the Making
Using a grant from the Staples Foundation, the Windham-Tolland 4-H Camp was able to help more than 100- local teens develop leadership skills. Courtesy photo.
POMFRET — Early this year, the Windham-Tolland 4-H Camp was awarded a $5,000 grant by Staples Foundation, through a program called 2 Million & Change. This program allows Staples associates around the globe to direct more than $2 million in donations each year to not for profits they support.
Camp Director Heather Logee, was very excited to receive this funding to enhance the leadership training aspect of Windham Tolland’s 4-H camp program. She was able to purchase leadership activity supplies and curriculum materials and to contract with Kim Aycock, MSTS, to conduct a series of three interactive workshops this year with camper teens . Aycock is a North Carolina educator who has more than 30 years’ experience in year-round and seasonal summer camp positions and as a middle/high school and college level teacher.
The first participants in this training were a group of 12 teens who were participating in the Teen Republic meeting in April. This group provides camper teens an opportunity to connect during the off season without technology and focuses on building leadership skills and community service.
The second group to benefit was the teen leaders for the 2018 camp season as part of their staff orientation week. This program is open to teens who have completed 9th, 10th or 11th grades. Sixty teens participated this year, assigned to work with cabin counselors and assisting counselors in the 15 different activity programs that are offered during camp weeks.
At Teen Weekend in October at the camp, 30 teens took part in hiking, pumpkin carving, cupcake decorating, community service project work at camp, choosing theme weeks for camp next year and leadership training.
After Aycock’s workshop, each participant had three different chances to lead a group of their peers in some way during the rest of the day. She asked each of the teens to reflect on what leaders in their lives look like to them, to reflect on what qualities are needed for leadership and friendship skill building, and to think about how each of them could be leaders among their peers and family. Her mantra is everyone can become a leader if you take the time to analyze and develop the qualities and skills that good leaders possess.
Tyler Waterman from Southbury and Ben Torre from Brooklyn were two of the teens at the workshop. Ben has attended camp for 4 years and was a Teen Leader for the past two. Tyler has five years of camp attendance under his belt. Both said that camp encourages leadership growth among campers of all ages. They reported that they felt that they had both matured personally and developed confidence to be comfortable in assuming leadership roles in their school, family and camp lives as a result of their camp attendance. Whether as an experienced camper or as a formal teen leader, both stated that helping younger campers with homesickness, behavioral issues or social skills has been a rewarding part of their own camp experience.
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The Last Green Valley, Inc. recently awarded a $2,500 Heritage Transaction Grant to the Wyndham Land Trust to help in its ongoing effort to protect Bull Hill, a more than 3,000-acre undisturbed forest straddling Thompson and Woodstock.
“Bull Hill is an exciting place for those concerned with preserving the forests of The Last Green Valley National Heritage Corridor,” said Lois Bruinooge, executive director of TLGV. “Wyndham Land Trust has done tremendous work in a short time to ensure this largely unfragmented forest stays that way.”
The $2,500 grant will be matched 1:1 and is needed for legal fees to finalize the donation of two parcels of landlocked forest on Bull Hill totaling 19 acres. The parcels abut land owned by the Town of Thompson and Wyndham Land Trust. The parcels contain a segment of north-south trail that connects the entire Bull Hill Forest.
Andy Rzeznikiewicz, a board member for Wyndham Land Trust and the project director for the grant, said these parcels posed a challenge for the land trust.
“These two particular parcels require more legal work than usual land transactions,” Rzeznikiewicz said. “Before the transaction can be completed, three previous owners who all died must have their estates go through probate. The probate process was never done in the past. In order for the land trust to take ownership the land titles must be clear. This is a lengthy process, which our attorney will work through.”
The Heritage Transaction Fund was conceived as a program to help organizations such as Wyndham Land Trust close the gaps in funding for projects. Another round of the grant program will be opening soon.
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Headmaster Donald Cushing with HOF Ta’Quan Zimmerman
Athletic Director and HOF inductee Tom Espinosa and HOF inductee Ron Coderre
PUTNAM — At the recent Putnam Science Academy inaugural Athletic Hall of Fame eight were inducted.
Four former athletes, a contributor, coach, super fan and a team were inducted into the Putnam Science Academy Hall of Fame. The 7-foot big man Rundell Mauge, who played for the Mustangs back in 2008, still holds the record for most points (44), rebounds (26) and blocks (15) in a single game. Mauge also swatted everything in sight with 187 blocks in a single season.
Enes Ulukaya, who played for PSA from 2006 through 2009 and accumulated 580 points, was also inducted. Ulukaya also helped PSA capture its first Coastal Prep League Championship which it went on to win 3 straight times.
Ta’Quan Zimmerman scored 26.6 points per game in his lone season and that remains the most ever per game by a Mustang with players like UConn product Mamadou Diarra and Kentucky-Wildcat-turned-NBA-pro Hamidou Diallo playing in the same gym.
Dayshon “Scoochie” Smith went on to play at Division I Dayton where he made his mark before playing in the Cleveland Cavaliers organization. Scoochie scored over 1,000 points at PSA and ranks first all-time in steals with 205 in 2012 through 2013.
The 2012-2013 basketball team reached the Elite 8 in the National Prep Championship tournament after an impressive 29-5 record. At the time, that was the furthest the Mustangs have ever gone in the National Prep tournament.
Bryan Sailor, an outgoing fan who has become family at PSA, was inducted as a Super Fan for his time and effort that he puts in to the program at Putnam Science. Sailor has attended more than 90 percent of all PSA games.
Ron Coderre was voted in undoubtedly as a contributor for what he has been able to do for not only PSA as a school but their athletics as well. Coderre was the first to cover Putnam Science Academy basketball by writing in the local papers and also helped develop the “Mustang Club” which still to this day is PSA’s biggest fund-raiser.
The last induction was Tom Espinosa. “Espo” coached multiple sports before settling in as the head men’s basketball coach where he has gone on to win 79 percent of his games. Espinosa has not only won during the regular season but he also won when it mattered most bringing home the 2018 National Prep Championship last year. In his time at Putnam Science Academy, Espo is responsible for helping send more than 40 athletes to Division I programs across the country.
Josh Sanchas
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy
About three minutes into overtime Oct. 26, Woodstock Academy sophomore striker Eric Phongsa took a through ball from Alejandro Quintas Gonzalez.
His shot off the pass found the back of the net and the Centaurs began the celebration.
One thing had not occurred yet.
There was no sign of a goal from the official.
“The signals the referee was giving weren’t very clear. Did he disallow the goal? Call offsides?
There was a moment of hesitation,” said Woodstock Academy coach Paul Rearden.
An offside call was a possibility as Gonzalez had made the pass from just outside the area into Phongsa.
Fortunately, after the brief hesitation, the officials did indicate the goal was good and the fourth-seeded Centaurs prevailed 1-0 over No. 5 Bacon Academy in the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division 1 boys’ soccer tournament quarterfinal match.
The Centaurs moved on to meet Stonington on Tuesday in New London in a semifinal match that ended too late for this edition.
Woodstock Academy was dominant throughout, according to Rearden, against Bacon Academy (9-7-1).
“I never thought we were going to lose it,” Rearden said. “It was just about putting the ball into the net.”
The Centaurs (10-5-2) had several good opportunities to do so in regulation.
Matt LaBounty had two good chances early in the second half, but was thwarted on both attempts by the Bacon defense.
Phongsa came within inches of what Rearden described as the potential goal of the season for the team in the second half.
The ball started in the Woodstock Academy area and eight passes later, Phongsa, coming in from the far post, got his foot on a cross, but his shot went wide.
Bacon had only one good opportunity to score, but the Centaurs had to work to keep the Bobcats from getting many looks.
“It was a really tight game against a good, well-organized, and physically strong team. The boys had to dig deep and run themselves ragged to stand any chance,” said Rearden.
The post-regulation speech, after 80 minutes was played without a score, sounded almost identical to the one Rearden had delivered at halftime. Rearden just urged them to continue what they were doing and good things would happen.
“The boys have the belief now if we keep doing what we do, we will find a way to win,” Rearden said. “We’re playing well, moving the ball around well, we kept our shape and discipline and kept on making chances.”
They just needed one to go in and Phongsa finally delivered three minutes into the extra period.
Rearden said any question as to whether there should have been an offside call made was quickly when Rearden shook hands with the Bacon Academy coaching staff.
“I was speaking to them, literally, a minute later and if it had been in doubt that it was offside, they would have still been riled up. They said (Phongsa) was onside,” Rearden said.
The Centaurs finished up the regular season Oct. 22 with a 2-2 tie with Windham.
Chase Anderson scored his first goal of the season with eight minutes left in regulation to knot the game with the Whippets (13-3-1).
Sean Rearden’s corner found the head of Cole Hackett but his shot was knocked away. The rebound went to Anderson who knocked it in.
Quintas Gonzalez scored the first goal for the Centaurs who finished the regular season with a 9-5-2 mark.
“To be honest with you, I was hoping to get 10 wins, double figures. I even went as far as submitting the (ECC tournament) score (to the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference website) but it wouldn’t let me,” Rearden said with a laugh.
League tournament matches do not count toward CIAC records.
Still, Rearden was happy that his Centaurs did clinch a share of the ECC Division II regular season title and have advanced to the league semifinals.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director
The Woodstock Academy
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