NFA News: Of national honors, class elections, helping out and working remotely

November 04, 2020 8:53 am • Last Updated: November 04, 2020 8:55 am

By Michael O'Farrell, Special to The Times

Arts instructor Alyssa Pendleton provides one of her students with supplies to use at home during the school’s recent fully remote learning period. (photo submitted)

The most unusual year in memory continues. We here at Norwich Free Academy are grateful for the support of our families and the hard work and dedication of our faculty and staff to keep everyone safe. Here’s some of the latest news from Norwich Free Academy.

National honor

Special Olympics has named Norwich Free Academy a Special Olympics Unified Champion School for our efforts to provide inclusive sports and activities for students with and without disabilities. We are receiving this honor as a result of meeting national standards of excellence in the areas of inclusion, advocacy and respect.

Special Olympics Unified Champion Schoools is a strategy for schools that intentionally promotes meaningful social inclusion by bringing together students with and without intellectual disabilities to create accepting school environments utilizing three interconnected components: Special Olympics Unified Sports, inclusive youth leadership and whole school engagement.

At NFA, we offer the following unified sports options: soccer, basketball, bowling, cheerleading, speed skating, track and field, dance and volleyball.

“We are all so proud of our Unified sports program,” said Athletic Director Roy Wentworth, who oversees NFA’s participation. “Our kids are what make the program successful. There is great teamwork involved in all aspects of our program. It’s about participation, working together and providing opportunities. The smiles on the court and the field are what make it rewarding. And to receive an honor like this is validation for the hard work and effort put in by everyone on our team to make this program work for our kids.”

Class election results

Congratulations to the following winners of our annual class elections. Thanks to all of our students who expressed interest in running for class office.

Class of 2021: Jareth Tosses, president; Joceline Rodrigues Monteiro, vice president; and Valeria Yraita-Zavallos, secretary.

Class of 2022: Ross Blinderman, president; Katie Bradford, vice president; Donald Crouch, treasurer; Jason Hicks, secretary; and Aubrey Schies, SAB at-large representative.

Class of 2023: Rachel Orcutt, president; Alli Pestey, vice president; Katrina Hitchcock, secretary; Brett Rondeau, treasurer; and Riley Levine and Leopoldine Bertrand, SAB at-large representatives.

Working remotely

NFA and our partners at Norwich Public Schools transitioned to full remote learning Oct. 2. We were excited to welcome our students back to campus Monday, Oct. 26. During those three weeks of remote learning, our staff continued to provide outstanding experiences for our students. Whether it was online cooking demonstrations, sending art supplies home for students to use, online band instruction and more. We are grateful for the work of our faculty and staff during this challenging time.

Helping our community

Working together as part of our community is an important part of the NFA culture. Recently, more than two dozen of our faculty and staff assisted in providing food boxes to more than 260 families in our community. The City of Norwich, with assistance from the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut, participated in the Farm to Families Food Box Program. Over the course of a day, more than 1,100 Norwich area families received these boxes to assist them in this challenging time.

NFA, which was one of four distribution sites, handed out more than 250 boxes.

NFA pride

On Friday, Oct. 23, our team donned school colors to celebrate Red and White Day. Faculty and staff displayed their school pride, and the highlight of the day was a grab-and-go lunch of ribs and chicken prepared by our own Clarence Cooper.

In addition to a great meal, this allowed our team to come together and celebrate the strength of the NFA community – albeit in a socially distant way!

Michael O’Farrell is the director of communications at NFA and a parent of a two students, Class of 2022 and 2025. He can be reached at ofarrellm@nfaschool.org.

Music instructor Kristen Motola worked with her remote learners to provide instruction during the recent fully remote learning period. (photo submitted)

Culinary Arts instructor Laura Szczygiel demonstrates cooking techniques for her students during Norwich Free Academy’s three weeks of remote learning. Szczygiel used technology to bring the kitchen into the homes of their students. (photo submitted)

Culinary Arts instructor Amy Reed demonstrates cooking techniques for her students during the Academy’s three weeks of remote learning. She used technology to bring the kitchen into the homes of their students. (photo submitted)

The colors of fall were alive on the campus of Norwich Free Academy. (photo submitted)

School social worker Joanne Zenowitz shares a moment with an NFA colleague during Red and White Day held Oct. 23. The NFA team, who wore school colors that day, was treated to a lunch of ribs and chicken prepared by Clarence Cooper. (photo submitted)

Cars line Joseph Perkins Road to enter the NFA campus recently to receive food as part of the Farm to Families Food Box Program. (photo submitted)

NFA was one of five Norwich community distribution sites for the Farm to Families Food Box Program. Academy staff helped distributed boxes to more than 250 families in need. The effort was coordinated by the City of Norwich with support from the United Way of Southeastern Connecticut. (photo submitted)

Special Olympics has designed Norwich Free Academy as a Unified Champion School for promoting inclusion, leadership and school engagement in its Unified Sports program. (photo submitted)

Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.

STORIES THAT MAY INTEREST YOU