caption, page 2:


With Courtney
All SADD PHS students and advisors  with U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney. Left to right: Jasper Coomey, Lisa Mooney, Natalie Ionkin, Monica Boudreau, Congressman Courtney, Brenna Fowler, Aidan Bernier, Jewelia England, Scott Davagian, Kayla Anderson and Sgt Niko Sezenias. Courtesy photo.


PRIDE
seeks
funding
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM --- The mission is still  important. Now also important is finding funding for Putnam PRIDE as federal grants stop.
Created to "unite the citizens of Putnam in a partnership to create and foster a safe, drug-free environment for the entire community," according to PRIDE coordinator Romeo Blackmar,   PRIDE has provided education and training for students and the community as a whole.
Blackmar attended the CADCA forum on in Maryland, along with PHS SADD students and visited  Washington, D.C. to search out more funding. Lisa Mooney, social worker at PHS and SADD advisor, PHS SADD students, along with members of Putnam PRIDE, attended CADCA at National Harbor, Md., Feb. 5 to 9.
Blackmar said PRIDE has three ideas for funding options to keep PRIDE helping the community.
Blackmar said: "At the recent CADCA Conference I spoke with our Project Officer from Washington and it was suggested that PRIDE might apply for a Partnership for Success grant, which is usually awarded on a five-year basis also.  Not exactly sure if we are able to qualify for this type of grant, but several agencies in the state have been awarded PFS grants in the past. "
The current Drug Free Communities (DFC) Grant Program that PRIDE is operating under ends on Sept. 30. Under the guidelines of the DFC Program Putnam is no longer eligible to apply for another DFC or STOP ACT Grant.
Another possibility for funding would be joining forces with NOW. Blackmar said: "I have also talked with the Executive Committee of NOW and proposed that they adopt PRIDE as part of their organization adding a prevention component to their existing programs.  I also suggested to NOW that after one year of providing substance abuse prevention to their program, they would be eligible to apply for the Drug Free Community Grant funding of their own."
A third option, Blackmar said, would be: "Looking to the Town of Putnam to fund a part-time coordinator position to keep PRIDE functioning to continue serving the town.  As part of seeking another grant, I created a bare bones budget of about $47,000 that would fund the coordinator position (part-time) and continue to provide initiatives, surveys, advertising and other expenses for to keep PRIDE running.  We continue to receive donations from local groups like Rotary, Lions etc.  but those donations are not enough to keep a paid coordinator position."
Mooney said PHS SADD students took part in “Capitol Hill Day” which was an opportunity for Forum attendees to communicate directly with their representatives "to educate them about the successes and challenges facing our schools and community and advocate to our legislators what they can do to advance prevention efforts.”  Putnam students met with U.S. Congressman Joe Courtney and an aide from Senator Richard Blumenthal.
Mooney said: " Jasper Coomey, a junior at Putnam High School, prepared a heartfelt speech for the congressman, as well as Senator Blumenthal’s aide in regards to keeping the existing programs in our community in place and advocating for more funding since Putnam PRIDE is in their final year of the DFC Grant.  Jasper spent hours preparing this speech and did amazing. I was so proud of him.  The senator’s aide told Jasper that his speech was the best he had ever heard from a Youth. "
Blackmar is proud of what PRIDE has accomplished since its beginning in 2006. PRIDE's accomplishments include: "Our semi-annual surveys conducted in grades 7,9,11 have shown that the use of alcohol and tobacco products continues to be reduced in Putnam.  Our last survey was conducted in 2016 indicated that Putnam is still below the national average on teen opioid/prescription medication use.  The survey continues to point out that the number one abused drug is marijuana. Providing education and training has been the focus of PRIDE since its inception.  Our target audience over the years has evolved from concentrating on the 12-17 age group, to the entire community.  I believe that we have expanded our messaging to include the entire community.  Our Drug Take Back Days have removed  more than 2 tons of unused, expired and unwanted medications from being circulated in the community.  One of the strong points of PRIDE is in providing community and individual protective factors.  Protective factors are environmental changes that focus on community building, providing alternative activities for families as well as individuals.  PRIDE has been an integral part of the entire community, working with the Putnam Business Association, local civic-fraternal, youth serving and other organizations to education parents, guardians and students about the dangers of substance abuse.  Our Mission statement pretty much sums it up:  'To Unite the Citizens of Putnam in a Partnership to create and foster a Safe, Drug-Free Environment for the entire community.'  Our goal of making Putnam “A Safe, Friendly and Healthy Community” stems from our partnership with the Putnam Police Department and our other community sector representatives."

 

Centaurs
capture ECC
Div.II regular
season title
The Woodstock Academy girls 'basketball team reached its first goal of the season Feb. 9.
The Centaurs downed Stonington, 40-34, to capture the Eastern Connecticut Conference Division II regular season title.
“It’s awesome. I don’t even know how to describe it. I’m so proud of my teammates, my girls, we’re a family. We did this together as a family. We worked together, practiced together and it just feels like a whole team win. I’m beyond happy,” said senior guard Mackenzie Cayer.
Centaurs coach Will Fleeton looked relieved when he finally sat down following the victory.
“Nice isn’t a big enough word, it’s truly amazing,” Fleeton said. “We did our weight training in the offseason, the girls put in the work. They expressed they wanted to ‘be considered’ for this opportunity. We made our way there, it was right in front of us, so it became, ‘Let’s take it.’”
Easy to say, not so easy to do.
The Centaurs put on a pair of hard-nosed defensive displays to get the job done.
They held down Bacon Academy, 44-26, on Tuesday to set up the showdown with Stonington.
“We were really excited to come out and play Bacon and we played with so much intensity and heart. Our defense sparked from there and we knew what we were playing for (Friday). We worked really hard. Every day is a new day, we were really excited, like we were on Tuesday,” Cayer said of the back-to-back fine performances by the team.
The Centaurs just got past the Bears by two points on Stonington’s home floor earlier in the season.
It wasn’t much easier Feb. 9.
Fleeton almost collapsed into a chair when it was over and put his head in his hands.
“The stress, the tension, I knew this would be a battle to the end. We seem to be each other’s equal. We’ve played eight times that I can remember and every one of those games was like (Friday). I knew it was going to be stressful, I knew it was going to be a battle, but I didn’t know it was going to be that stressful,” Fleeton said.
The Centaurs, who finished the regular season with a 15-5 record, 8-2 in ECC Division II, were up, 28-23, going into the fourth quarter.
But baskets by Kate Johnson and Aliza Bell for the Bears quickly closed that gap to one, 28-27.
The Academy got a pair of free throws from Jamie Woods (10 points) but with 4:56 left, Madison Brennan turned the tide.
The senior, one of the heroes in the win over the Bobcats earlier in the week, picked off a pass up top and won the foot race to the basket to put the Centaurs up by five, 32-27.
“She’s the fire of the team. We love her to death. She comes off (the bench) and gives us the energy we need. She’s crazy on ‘D’, she’s crazy on ‘O’, she’s just crazy,” Woods said.
Brennan finished with a team-high 13 points, eight of those points coming in the final four minutes of the second quarter to put the Centaurs up, 19-13, at the break.
Following the late Brennan basket, the Centaurs held the Bears (12-6, 7-3) at bay. They never got closer than four the remainder of the way.
Miranda Arruda scored 12 to lead Stonington, but the key was the Centaurs held Kate Hall and Kate Johnson to a combined 15 points.
“That’s our staple. (Defense) is where we live, it’s where we will die. I think we did a good job containing their guards because everything starts there. I think the bigs did a good job against (Bell) in the block and keeping (Stonington center Izadora Yarnall) off the boards. Once again, it was a complete team effort,” Fleeton said.
The Centaurs surprised some by winning the Division II championship last year.
This season, they will have to play against the toughest teams in the ECC as they will compete in the Division I tournament this year.
“That was absolutely the goal,” Woods said. “We know there will be a lot more competition in D-I but we’re ready to bring it.”
Feb. 6’s effort against Bacon was special.
“We were fighting for that tiebreaker in ECC Division II and this win was huge,” Fleeton said. “It’s special, because when we set expectations and different goals for ourselves, the girls really wanted to reach high. One thing they made clear to me was that it has been a long time since Woodstock has an ECC regular season title and they felt it was something they wanted to compete for. I asked them, ‘Does that mean we want to win it?’ They said, ‘We just want to be thought of.’”
The Centaurs set up the showdown against Stonington with an inspired effort against the Bobcats.
“Bacon is probably one of our biggest rivals this year and winning this game meant so much to our team,” said senior Madison Brennan.
Brennan best displayed the team’s determination late in the game.
Despite being up by 20 points at the time, Brennan was hit in the nose when she went up for a layup. She went to the floor, regained her footing, and suddenly found the basketball back in her hands. With nothing else to do, she attempted a shot, but it was blocked by Bacon’s Kellie Nudd who collected the ball and began running down the court.
Brennan, tears still streaking down her face from the blow she took, took off in pursuit and caught up to Nudd, knocking the ball from her hand and out of bounds. The ball went back to the Centaurs as it was last touched by Nudd.
“Put your heart on the line, that was our motto (Tuesday),” Brennan said.
There was very little, outside of a few missed inside shots ,that went wrong for the Centaurs.
“I think it was a very positive night in many areas,” Fleeton said. “We missed a few bunnies, but hit a few jump shots. Our defense held, like it should, but on the offensive side, it was great passing, great cutting, great decision-making and got some transition like we have strived for. I’m proud of the way we played and the position we’re in,” Fleeton said.
The Centaurs jumped out to a 10-2 lead and extended that to 11, 21-10, at the half.
A late basket by Jamie Woods (18 points) to end the third quarter kept that double digit lead in place.
Heather Converse chipped in with 10 points and 18 rebounds and the defense did the rest. In the four quarters played, the Bobcats reached double digits only once, 11 points, in the third quarter.
“That was probably the best help defense we’ve played all year. Defense is our No.1 thing. We have a saying that we take pride in our ‘D.’ We definitely did (on Tuesday),” Brennan said.
Marc Allard
Sports Information Director

.
 

On dean’s list
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Kathryn Archambault from Pomfret Center was recently named to the Dean’s List at the College of William & Mary for the fall 2017 semester.