Last Spring several kids died of Heroin overdoses in Topton and Kutztown. Everyone said someone should do something and meetings were held; and in many cases the issue faded away. In Kutztown, Kathy Metrick, KASD Superintendent, and many others stepped up and took action.
Brenda Loeb with her Education Committee gathered ideas and the Cougar Chronicle is a result of that.
Cougar Chronicle is distributed quarterly to all Greenwich Elementary and Kutztown Elementary students, which is about 575 students.
Teachers Josh Chambers and Kris Tuerk assembled a staff of KASD High School & Middle School writers and editors and artists and they created the Chronicle and the school kids in Kindergarten through 5th grade received it four times a year and it is full of activities and contests. Young kids look up to older brothers and sisters. When these older kids write these articles they take their role as mentors more seriously.
Kelly Neyhart started many after school activities. Local churches started some after school programs. Melissa Blatt is coordinating activities with the Brandywine Task Force such as country line dances.
The Optimist Club of Kutztown sponsored the first two issues of the Chronicle to get it going. Area businessmen such as Renninger’s Market, Corrado Custom Homes, the Lions Club, Solo Labs, and some parents sponsored issues. The 4th and final issue for the 2014/2015 school year is sponsored by Kutztown University and this is monumental as it brings the University into a guiding role for the Youth. If we are to beat this Drug issue or any substance abuse issue, we need the University helping KASD.
The program that Kathy Metrick has woven through her guidance and recruitment of many volunteers is having a bigger and bigger influence. By having the Optimists that are so active with young children and high school kids play a role this spreads the reach of Kutztown Strong. Kathy was able through her organization; and team of Kutztown Strong, was able to win a State Grant and now we have a full time coordinator Sheryl McKlveen who is helping us spread our wings even more.
Myself, Hugh Smith, I have been targeting the K-5 student group and to keep them safe. I coached these kids for years and can’t stand the thought of one of these angels being lured into drugs, alcohol, or even smoking. This school district taught and guided these kids and I can never thank them enough. All three are successful and the teachers in Kutztown were a big part of this Family and my kids’ guidance.
If you want to see the Heros come to a meeting (dates listed on the Kutztown Strong website: www.kutztownstrong.org) and watch everyone take Kutztown Strong on another journey to save the kids. The recent overdosing of four more kids in Topton, two who were still in High School, has all of us more dedicated to protecting the students especially Kathy Metrick. Her Kutztown Strong brigade will step up and find more ways to protect the kids.
The more you find out about this the more you will appreciate the Community that Kutztown is! For example Kathy asked for a logo and the next meeting Celine Trudel had four posters with different examples and the next week it was hanging on the outfield fence. I know because one of the 4th graders told me he hit a Home Run right over the Kutztown Strong’s sign hanging on the fence.
In Greenwich School every single child in Mrs. Oswald’s class wrote a Thank You Note to Kathy to thank her for caring about the kids and wanting to protect them. So many quoted the motto of the Chronicle: Be a Star! Say No to Drugs! This told me this magazine is having a real effect on the kids.
Kutztown Strong is having an effect. Kelly Neyhart and his HS Kutztown Strong Student Group is having after school programs such as Movie nights, Field day, Dodge Ball, and so forth. Nathan Herrlin’s Christian fellowship with OASIS and guidance is another. This is the biggest thing to happen in Kutztown and it is all quietly happening.
Every community should follow this lead because it takes an entire Borough and Community to care enough to save these kids from drugs.
Pizza PartyOne of the fun activities that the “Cougar Chronicle” presents to the students in Kindergarten through 5th grade are contests that reinforce the message of the Chronicle which is to “Be a Star, Don’t Do Drugs” and to always live a healthy lifestyle. One of the contests was a writing competition where the kids wrote an essay about “Who is their Best Friend and why they are a good person.”
The goal of this essay contest was to have the kids think about what makes a friend a good friend. The teachers in the Elementary Schools at Greenwich and Kutztown Elementary gave the kids guidance about what makes a friend. And of course, the parents provided insights to the kids.
A big part of living a healthy lifestyle is to surround yourself with friends that reinforce your admirable traits and when you select an activity that might cause you to be in trouble with the parents or even at school, that friend helps you avoid that trouble or encourages you to do better or most importantly when you are discouraged, cheers you up.
Madison Cramer in Mrs. Oswald’s classroom at Greenwich won the prize for her school and Carlee Hilbert in Mrs. Delong’s classroom at Kutztown Elementary won for her classroom. Not only did these two writers win the pizza party, their friends were given recognition and the class learned what makes a true friend. When boxes and boxes of pizza arrived from TommyBoy’s Pizza Shoppe, the kids were so excited and the manner in which Mrs. Oswald and Mrs. Delong handled the party made it very enlightening for the kids.
If there was ever a doubt whether the kids in the elementary schools are receiving the message about living a healthy lifestyle, the Thank You notes to Mrs. Kathy Metrick, the KASD Superintendent showed these kids receive and value this message. They see that the High School and Middle School Students that write the “Cougar Chronicle” care about their safety and choose to be worthwhile mentors by writing that valued newsmagazine.
Mrs. Metrick was touched by the sweet remarks from the kids and they emphasized the Kutztown Strong is make a difference in our Community. When 4th and 5th grade students write notes that include remarks such as “Be a Star, Say No to Drugs; I won’t do drugs as it will mess up my brain; I know drugs are bad for me and I won’t use them; Thank you for telling us that drugs are bad and for making Kutztown Strong; and Thank you again for all you done to stop people from using drugs and for standing up to do this.”
The greatest thing was when Kris Tuerk had some of the students who write and place artwork in the Chronicle attend the KES Pizza Party and the kids in the Elementary saw the faces of these editorial writers and contributors and the Middle School kids saw the real impact up close of how their work on behalf of these kids is resonating through all the younger kids.
Josh Chambers said, “My two cents would be that we at the high school – both faculty and students alike – are glad to see such a level of concern and commitment among the elementary students. With early education on the dangers of addiction we will have a proactive, forward thinking population in all three educational levels – elementary, middle and high.”
Kris Tuerk notes that the Cougar staff that came to the Pizza Party were Owen Stemko and Phoebe Jenkins “who developed our new Cougar Man and Cougar Boy of the front cover of the 4th edition. Both were 7th graders who will take a leadership role next year as 8th graders on the Chronicle staff.”
“Amy Yoder and Asher Cooper who did the Big Hero 6 review… they are both 8th graders who will be heading down to the HS next year as 9th graders and plan on being on the HS Chronicle Staff,” said Tuerk.
These Cougar Chronicles are sponsored by area service clubs and the area businessmen and businesswomen that want to promote a healthy lifestyle in our wonderful community. This last issue was sponsored by Kutztown University as their University students participate in many of the Kutztown Strong activities and they show these high school students that there are valued mentors in college that care about their healthy lifestyle.
Kutztown Strong is designed like one of our famous Folk Festival Quilts. It is woven together from small pieces of our Kutztown Borough: the KASD Faculty, the High School and Middle School Students, other community members, the service clubs, churches and bible study groups, business people who want to protect our way of life, loving parents who want their kids to be safe, and so many other people. The strong thread is the love we all feel for these kids. We will do anything in our power to keep these kids safe and we want the dialog to be ongoing at every level of our Community.
History tells us to start young with this message of a healthy lifestyle and then reinforce it again and again with loving concern. If you would like to know more about Kutztown Strong visit the web site at www.kutztownstrong.org and view all of the issues of the Cougar Chronicle and see the many parents, students and University members who make all of this happen.
