Letter: North Adams Recovery Rally

To the Editor: 

This Saturday, all are welcome to attend a Rally for Recovery taking place in North Adams at Colegrove Park, from 1-3 p.m. This event, sponsored by the North Adams HEAL Coalition, is held as part of Recovery Month, a national observance held every September to promote and support proven treatment and recovery practices, our strong and proud recovery community, and the dedication of service providers and communities who make recovery in all its forms possible.

It is a fitting time to celebrate recovery in North Berkshire — we have seen a tremendous expansion of services in our region including residential treatment at Keenan House North, over 50 beds of sober housing and a new day treatment at the Alternative Living Center, expanded access to harm reduction services and naloxone through Berkshire Harm Reduction, increased access to medication, and perhaps most exciting, the announcement that a peer-led recovery center is coming to North Adams this fall!

The Rally for Recovery is a time to lift up and celebrate ALL pathways to recovery, and all community members impacted by addiction who are working to take that next brave step in their recovery journey. There will be resource tables from many local organizations including Learn To Cope (family support), Berkshire AHEC, medication treatment providers Spectrum Health Systems and SaVida Health, Narcotics Anonymous (NA), the Brien Center, Berkshire Harm Reduction, Alternative Living Center, Berkshire Overdose Addiction Prevention Collaborative, the North Adams HEAL Coalition, and the Northern Berkshire Post Overdose Program (Northern Berkshire EMS).

There will be music, games, raffle items, free T-shirts, and a walk to City Hall to make recovery visible. There will also be speakers with lived experience who will talk about recovery in our region.

If you or someone you love is impacted by substance use, if you are wondering how to help those whose lives are impacted by substance use disorder, or just want to better understand the issue of substance use and addiction, I encourage you to come and meet the truly amazing individuals who are building a thriving recovery community in our region. Please join in this gathering and rally to celebrate recovery!

Wendy Penner
Williamstown, Mass. 

Penner is a member of the North Adams HEAL Coalition

Clarksburg Students Write in Support of Rural School Aid

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
07:25AM / Sunday, March 15, 2026

Mason Langenback calculated that Clarksburg would get almost $1 million if the $60 million was allocated equally.

CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Eighth-graders at Clarksburg School took a lesson in civic advocacy this week, researching school funding and writing letters to Beacon Hill that call for fully funding rural school aid. 

 

The students focused on the hardships for small rural schools and their importance to the community — that they struggle with limited funding and teacher shortages, but offer safe and supportive spaces for learning and are a hub for community connections.

 

"They all address the main issue, the funding for rural schools, and how there's a gap, and there's the $4 million gap this year, and then it's about the $40 million next year, and that rural schools need that equitable funding," said social studies teacher Mark Karhan.

 

A rural schools report in 2022 found smaller school districts cost from nearly 17 percent to 23 percent more to operate, and recommended "at least" $60 million be appropriated annually for rural school aid. 

 

Gov. Maura Healey has filed for more Chapter 70 school aid, but that often is little help to small rural schools with declining or static enrollment. For fiscal 2027, she's budgeted $20 million for rural schools, up from around $13 million this year but still far below the hoped for $60 million. 

 

Karhan said the class was broken into four groups and the students were provided a submission letter from Rural Schools Advocacy. The students used the first paragraph, which laid out the funding facts, and then did research and wrote their own letters. 

 

They will submit those with a school picture to the governor.