The course is part of a Strong Communities grant that includes life-skill training in other areas such as swimming, cooking and addressing domestic violence.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — If a medical emergency happens, Drury High students know how to "Stop the Bleed."
Teens enrolled in the high school's life skills class learned life-saving measures this week at the Police Department. They were trained in how to effectively use tourniquets, gauzes and bandages and when to use them based on the injury and its location on the body.
"The Police Department has been able to launch a domestic violence response unit and we're helping launch the digital evidence unit," she said.
"So, all of these things, thinking about how do we work from two places of preventing community violence and interrupting but also providing care after an event."
The grant also funds the class that teaches kids life and safety skills such as sewing, swimming, cooking, fire safety, domestic violence training, first aid, and more.
The students involved in the class will also be getting their cardiopulmonary resuscitation certification.
"[The students learn] all types of those things that people need in life that necessarily aren't taught at home in some circumstances," group co-Chair Stephanie Mirante, the schools' resource officer, said.
"So, kids definitely, I feel, appreciate the class, appreciate the things that we're trying to give them that they didn't have the opportunity before and thankfully, that is all because of the grant that was written."
At the end of the class, the students will take a trip to Boston, said Mirante, estimating 98 percent of them have never left Berkshire County.
The skills these kids learn in the class has a ripple effect in the community, she said, because they may go on to show other people how to do these things.
"Then if an incident happens, where any of that medical attention is needed or anything they learned from the class, they're able to now provide that back into our community," Mirante said.
"So hopefully, our goal long term is that everyone in the school is going to go through my class at some point and be given new skills."
The supplies purchased through the can be reused so the class can continue as part of the school curriculum when the funding runs out, she said.
"I will say there's some kids in high school they only like going to this class during the day. We have like a 50 or 60 person waitlist to get into the class," Mirante said.
"So, I think they just enjoy during their day of schoolwork being able to do more hands-on things and learn new skills."
A lot has changed over the years. Schools are not just doing fire drills anymore, they are doing active shooter drills, too, Detective Sgt. Brad Vivori said.
"I think empowering these students, teachers, people within the community is important, because it makes them feel like they have some type of control over a situation which is outside their control and it allows them to save lives in the process," he said.
Unfortunately, many parents don't know these things, and safety training is not taught in school, said school nurse Lee Girard, and if it's not taught in school, where are they going to learn it?
The class started last semester and students have already been able to use some of the skills they have learned, she said.
"It's amazing and I hear them talking to each other, and kind of spreading the good vibes and the information and it's really amazing. They really enjoy it and I think that it's really needed for these kids," she said.
Sometimes students do not realize how much they are processing until they are put into a situation where the skills are needed, life skills teacher Patrick Boulger said.
"It's hands-on learning but it's also lifelong learning of where they are going to take so many pieces …of things that they're going to be taught in this class and it's going to be … a lifetime knowledge of particular concepts, which are not in a textbook, or it's not in a formal curriculum per se, that we have in education," he said.
"It's real life and that's one of the most important things we could probably teach these kids today."
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Neal Secures $700,000 for North Adams Flood Chutes Project
Mayor Jennifer Macksey at last August's signing of an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — U.S. Rep. Richard Neal has secured $700,000 in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' budget to complete a feasibility study of the Hoosic River flood chutes.
The Corps of Engineers is in the midst of a three-year, $3 million study of the aging concrete flood chutes that control the passage of the river through the city.
North Adams has ponied up $500,000 as part of its share of the study and another $1.5 million is expected to come from state and federal coffers. Neal previously secured $200,000 in the fiscal 2023 omnibus spending package to begin the feasibility study.
The additional funding secured by Neal will allow for the completion of the study, required before the project can move on to the next phase.
Neal celebrated it as a significant step in bringing the flood chutes project to fruition, which he said came after several months of communication with the Corps.
"The residents of North Adams have long advocated for much needed improvements to the city's decades-old flood chutes. This announcement is a substantial victory for the city, one that reaffirms the federal government's commitment to making this project a reality," said the congressman. "As a former mayor, I know firsthand the importance of these issues, especially when it comes to the safety and well-being of residents.
"That is why I have prioritized funding for this project, one that will not only enhance protections along the Hoosic River Basin and reduce flood risk, but also make much critical improvements to the city's infrastructure and create jobs."
But not enough for Finance Committee member Andrew Fitch, who voted against the compensation and classification plan because it did not include a city planner.
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The Corps of Engineers is in the midst of a three-year, $3 million study of the aging concrete flood chutes that control the passage of the river through the city.
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This weekend, the Berkshires and surrounding areas will have a variety of events, including concerts, comedy, farmers' markets, and more.
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The License Board on Tuesday approved two license transfers including one for V&V and a license for a restaurant in the former BrewHaHa on West Main Street.
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Board Chair Peter Mirante thanked the sponsors of the breakfast event at the Berkshire Hills Country Club, including his employer, Adams Community Bank, for allowing him to attend the nonprofit's many events and functions and encouraging his involvement. click for more