Community Conversations Series to Foster Understanding and Empathy

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The public is invited to attend a series of community conversations designed to foster deeper understanding, cultivate empathy and provide an opportunity to ask questions on critical social issues. 
 
These conversations will feature insights from individuals with lived experience and experts in the fields of immigration, domestic violence, criminal justice, substance use disorder, housing insecurity and LGBTQ+ issues. 
 
All sessions will be held on Wednesdays, 4-6 p.m., at Wander, 34 Depot Street, Suite 101, Pittsfield. The schedule is as follows: 
  • September 24: Immigration with Berkshire Immigrant Center 
  • October 8: Domestic Violence with Elizabeth Freeman Center 
  • October 22: Criminal Justice with 2nd Street 
  • November 5: Substance Use Disorder with Berkshire Overdose & Addiction Prevention Collaborative 
  • November 19: Unhoused with Hearthway, ServiceNet and UpSide413 
  • December 3: LGBTQ+ with Berkshire Pride and seeing rainbows 
Each conversation is free to attend and all are welcome to learn in this safe and brave space. There will be dedicated time for questions and answers. 
 
Registration is encouraged but not required. For more information and to register, visit berkshireunitedway.org/conversations
 
 
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Wahconah Students Join Statewide 'SOS' Call for Rural School Funding

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

DALTON, Mass. — Students at Wahconah Regional High School are urging the state to fully fund Rural School Aid that supports essential services that shape their future.
 
Rural districts across the state participated in Rural and Declining Enrollment Schools Week of Action to insist Beacon Hill fully fund rural aid at $60 million. 
 
Schools across Massachusetts sent their pleas for aid to lawmakers through letter-writing campaigns, sign-making, and coordinated gatherings where students and educators formed the letters "SOS."

Wahconah students did something different — they created an educational video detailing the need for increased funding for rural schools with the school's music teacher Brian Rabuse, who edited the video, Assistant Superintendent Aaron Robb said. 

The advocacy efforts move the issue from spreadsheets to show the human cost of a funding formula previously described as "remarkably wrong." 
 
During an interview with iBerkshires, students expressed how districts without rural aid would have to make reductions in world language programing, mental health support, extracurricular opportunities, and other areas they find essential. 
 
"Our students deserve the same quality of education as any child in Massachusetts, regardless of their ZIP code," Superintendent Mike Henault said in a press release.
 
"The week of action is an opportunity for our communities to come together and make it clear to Beacon Hill that the status quo is no longer acceptable." 
 
Rural schools attempt to create the same quality education as urban and suburban areas while balancing high fixed costs of transportation and operations of geographically large, low-population districts.
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