Featured Events, Resources, & Opportunities

In Bloom in Western Mass, Saturday, May 14, 2022, Hitchcock Center for the Environment, is a full day conference for educators and parents of preschool–third grade students. The workshop sessions provide best practices in nature-based early childhood education, cover relevant topics, and take you outside to experience firsthand learning. The morning keynote speaker, Ayana Verdi, founder, and director of Verdi EcoSchool, Melbourne, Florida, will address Cultivating Connection: Using the Community-as-Campus to Build Immersive Learning Experiences for Young Children. The afternoon plenary features Anne Stires of Alna, Maine. Anne will speak on Re-imagining and Co-Creating Change: How a professional learning community (PLC) for Maine administrators is implementing nature-based change in PreK–8 schools. Presented by Antioch University New England in Keene, NH. View the Conference Program to see the workshop descriptions. Contact: Peg Smeltz, msmeltz@antioch.edu

The Hilltown Community Development Corporation (Hilltown CDC) offers free, confidential business assistance to Hilltown residents. If you are thinking of starting or growing your business, the Hilltown CDC can help! And thanks to a generous grant from the MGCC, all of their business assistance is FREE. They have experts in a wide range of areas that can help Hilltown entrepreneurs get on their feet, including website help, social media marketing, business tax and accounting, legal assistance, and more. For more information, email Hilltown CDC Economic Development Director Michele Kenney at MicheleK@Hilltowncdc.org, or call 413-354-1055. Sign up for their free virtual classes at hilltowndirectory.com/events

The Strategic Planning Initiative for Families and Youth (SPIFFY) is based out of the Collaborative for Educational Services (CES) in Northampton, MA. SPIFFY is a youth substance misuse prevention coalition serving all of Hampshire County. SPIFFY wants to hear firsthand from parents of middle and high school students about what they’re noticing regarding teen substance use and mental health. Parent input will be used to inform SPIFFY’s prevention efforts in the months and years to come, so please join them for a conversation – they would love to hear from you! To sign up, visit http://form.jotform.com/SPIFFY_Research/Screener. For questions, email study coordinator Caroline Johnson, Ph.D., at CAjohnson@collaborative.org

The Recovery Theatre in Charlemont, MA, is a performing and circus arts experience for young people overcoming trauma, addiction, anxiety, depression, and other behavioral health challenges. This pre-workshop 5-day intensive is for any teen living with circumstances that present barriers to becoming their fullest selves. Their innovative strength-based, holistic model—they integrate therapeutic horseback riding, circus silks, trapeze, ziplines, white water rafting, aerial park, and the gorgeous natural landscape of West County—takes into account adolescents developing endocrine and nervous systems, incorporates families, social supports and emphasizes peer interactions. Join the summer spectacle! (See Hilltown Youth Performing Arts Programs). Visit their website to learn how they opened safely in 2020-21
Dates: July 5-10, 2022; Age Range: 12-18yo & 19-24yo. Contact: 413-625-2100 ♦ hilltownyouth@gmail.com ♦ hilltownyouth.org

List of Weekly Suggested Events

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Self-Directed Learning: Language Arts/Shakespeare

Born on April 26, 1564, William Shakespeare‘s lasting popularity over hundreds of years may stem from his command of the English language and the universal themes explored in his plays and poetry. Shakespeare used a great deal of creativity with words. He combined short, familiar words into compound words and sometimes changed verbs into nouns and vice versa. This is how he invented hundreds of words still used every day. Shakespeare’s plays allow us to explore relatable ideas by reading, performing, and witnessing performances of his words. Plays are meant to be performed, and Shakespeare’s plays undergo countless renditions, iterations, and adaptations on stage and on film. Families can celebrate Shakespeare’s lasting impact by screening the 2011 film Gnomeo and Juliet. (Rated G), the 2010 adaptation of The Tempest (Rated PG-13), and the 2012 film Much Ado About Nothing (Rated PG-13).

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Self-Directed Learning: Shared Economy/Tools

More and more, communities are working together to create opportunities for pooling knowledge, sharing skills, and increasing each others’ access to valuable resources. A few examples in Western MA have included repair cafes, time trading, swaps, skill-sharing, and lending initiatives. In creating systems and channels to access shared information and materials, communities are building resilient foundations upon which to grow and learn. Commonly known as collaborative consumption, such shared economy practices work to shift emphasis from ownership of goods and knowledge to access to them, a shift that would decrease the number of resources each individual would need to participate in a sustainable way of life. During the spring, when families are looking towards their backyard gardens and plots, gardening tools are on everyone’s mind. Maybe your 20-year-old wheelbarrow now has a broken handle, or you need a spade but have an extra shovel and unused saw. Whatever the case may be, now is an excellent time to tap into a preexisting tool lending library in your neighborhood (i.e., Northfield Tool Lending Library). If one does not exist, consider spearheading the creation of a small-scale tool-sharing initiative with friends and families. By starting with folks closest to you and expanding out with a few interested neighbors, families may quickly discover that they need fewer tools on hand and are also seeding and growing meaningful community connections! Get inspired by seeing what other communities have created in this TED Talk, and read more about How to Start a Neighborhood Tool Share.

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Self-Directed Learning: Organic Gardening/Pollinators

You don’t have to be a beekeeper to attract pollinators to your backyard or garden. With strategic gardening, you can help reverse the decline in honeybee and native pollinator populations. Certain plants will naturally attract beneficial insects, which will beautify your garden in a mutually beneficial relationship with the plants. Northeast Organic Farming Association of Massachusetts (NOFA MASS) is a great local resource to support the interest of home gardeners. They serve homesteaders growing food for themselves, chefs planting herb gardens on restaurant rooftops, suburban parents picking tomatoes with their kids in the backyard, and urban foodies creating flower boxes on their windowsills. Visit NOFA MASS online to discover organic gardening workshops statewide and workshops designed to help support organic gardening practices. In addition to supporting a community-based educational resource like NOFA MASS, you can also support your learning at home! Not only can an organic home garden provide food, but it can also be a learning lab, supporting interest in ecology, botany, and entomology. This spring, let your garden guide your learning! See if you can spot pollinators in your garden while observing their pollination techniques.

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Self-Directed Learning: Kites

April is National Kite Month! Kites lend themselves to lessons in geometry, physics, measurement, design, history, culture, literature, and more – and such lessons can be exciting and informative for kids of all ages. The best way to learn is by building and flying your very own kite! Kite Plan Base offers a database of over 1,500 kite plans. Their designs often require a basic understanding of geometry, measurement, and perhaps some physics to understand how the kite will fly. Carrying out one of their plans is an excellent way for older students to practice these concepts and expand their understanding. Families can also make a simple construction paper kite using sticks found outside. Other DIY ideas include: taking leftover wax or tissue paper to create a  colorful flying kites; stapling together printer paper for a  binoculars-shaped flying object; or turning paper shopping bags into uniquely decorated kites. These projects present an opportunity to practice cooperating, reading and following directions, motor-related skills like tracing and cutting, and using measurement tools, and allow plenty of space for kiddos to exercise their imagination and creativity! Read more in our post, April is National Kite Month.

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Self-Directed Learning: Turtles

Unbeknownst to most of us, the bogs of the Berkshires are the perfect habitat for a very precious and endangered species, the Bog Turtle! One of ten species of turtles found in Massachusetts, we can find the ideal habitat for this rare tiny turtle in the naturally alkaline wet patches of field and meadow across the westernmost portion of our region. Families can learn more about the Bog Turtle and other species of Testudines by engaging in community-based opportunities for hands-on learning about habitat conservation and species preservation. Learn how to help protect local turtle species, which is especially important in the spring as females travel across roads to lay their eggs.

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Self-Directed Learning: Art Studies

In the second half of the 19th century, Paris was undeniably the center of the art world. Artists worldwide traveled to Paris to experience the dynamic and creative energy in the academies, museums, and salons. The Impressionists were notable for many women artists who joined the movement, among other reasons. The three so-called ‘grande dames’ of Impressionism were Berthe Morisot, Mary Cassatt, and Marie Bracquemond. After Morisot married Edouard Manet’s brother, she and the artist became very close friends. Manet was a significant influence on Morisot’s work, and she often posed for him, perhaps most famously in his striking 1872 piece “Berthe Morisot with a Bouquet of Violets.” Despite the enormous impact of Morisot and the other women of Impressionism, their work continues to be overlooked. Get curious about art history through the lens of female Impressionists, and then head to your local art gallery and museums to pursue primary source examples of historical and contemporary women artists. 

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Self-Directed Learning: World Folk Dance

While it is certain that Irish dance traditions date back thousands of years, there is very little recorded information about those traditions until the 17th-century because historians did not write down most ancient cultural practices around the world. When the Normans invaded Ireland, they brought with them the courtly ’round dances’ common in Europe during the Medieval period. In the 1600s, we begin to see references to Irish folk dances, known as ‘rinkafadda,’ which were often performed in fields and involved lines or rows of men and women facing each other. By the 1760s, the Irish added hornpipes and fiddles to Irish dancing traditions, and the custom of traveling dance masters began and would last until well into the 19th century. Do you want to see examples of not only Irish dance but also other traditional folk dances from around the world? – April 29, 2022, is International Dance Day. Let’s use this observation day as a catalyst for learning! Check out these folk dances from around the world.

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Weekly eNewsletter

Online and in-person events and resources shared above are done so as a courtesy and not as an endorsement. While we do our best to share accurate and up-to-date information, please take the time to confirm information, age appropriateness, registration requirements, safety protocols, and associated costs.

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Hilltown Families’ list of Suggested Events is supported in part by grants from the Agawam, Amherst, Becket, Bernardston, Buckland, Chicopee, Colrain, Cummington, Easthampton, Goshen, Granby, Greenfield, Hadley, Hatfield, Heath, Hinsdale/Peru, Huntington, Leyden, Montgomery, Mount Washington, Northern Berkshire, Orange, Otis, Palmer, Pelham, Rowe, Shelburne, Shutesbury, South Hadley, Tolland, Tyringham, Windsor, and Worthington Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.