Archive: Around Town

Books for Izzy

Izzy's Closet recently received funding from The Friends of the Tompkins County Library to purchase books for the Closet. An adventurous cat who lives in the Groton Public Library, the fictional Izzy character was created by the Groton Rotary Club for a series of books.

The character's popularity inspired the giving project called Izzy's Closet. Stocked by Groton Rotarians, the hand-painted closet was donated to the Elementary School at the start of this school year to supplement classroom supplies. The closet is stocked with hats, mittens, pens, pencils, notebooks... and now new books.


Last month Groton Rotarian Mona Forney, along with teachers Rebecca Gamel, Pat Berry, Hannah Quick, Cody Cosbey and retired Groton Elementary teacher Lynn Weeks shopped the large Scholastic Book Sale held in Syracuse, NY purchasing a total of 250 quality books to help children with reading.

"Teachers from the school graciously gave of their after-school time to help us purchase these books," Groton Rotarian Janet Watkins said. "Without their expertise we would not have been able to purchase the best books to help children develop their reading skills."

Communities That Care

On January 12, 2016 the Jr-Sr high school Groton Parent Teacher Organization hosted a Communities That Care presentation at the Groton High School Library. Parents were encouraged to attend to learn more about the effects of drugs and alcohol on the school culture within our district. Communities That Care is a school-wide survey taken every two years, the objective is to measure the risk and protective factors within the community in order to foster positive change.

The survey results help predict the incidence and prevalence of substance use, delinquency and related problem behaviors. Student responses indicated perspective and awareness on a variety of topics that effect their overall wellbeing. Community Youth Services Coordinator Janice Johnson from the Tompkins County Youth Department shared with the group the latest survey results, taken from the 2014-15 school year.

Throughout the evening, the presenter often asked attendees what their best guesses were before producing the results of the student responses. The parent guesses were tallied in real-time and then these results were compared to the student results and discussed as a group. The trends for Groton indicate that student opportunities for pro-social involvement exist, and students have a low perception of the availability of drugs and firearms. Some risk factors were identified, such as early exposure to alcohol and nicotine. Limiting exposure at an early age to either of these substances decreases the likelihood of the intake of these substances as well as lessening the amount of usage. The results of this survey will be part of an ongoing discussion to build awareness of opportunities and strengths within the community.

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