Around Town

Letter: ‘LiveGirl’ Recognizes New Canaan High School Mentors 

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Dear Editor,

On a recent Friday night, 60 middle school girls from across Fairfield County gathered at the Norwalk Carver Center for a LiveGirl Leadership Summit. These girls come together every six weeks for leadership development and team-building and have forged special bonds as evidenced by the shrieks and welcoming hugs. Also in attendance were six high school mentors: Camaren Dayton, Abigail Farley, Caroline Garrity, Olivia Hunsinger, Grace Manges and Katie Kurz. These girls received hugs too. Because these girls have established themselves as something critically important to a middle-schooler: a trusted mentor—someone they can confide in, someone they seek advice from, someone they look up to.

News

Letter: LiveGirl, A Story About Kindness and Community

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Dear Editor:

I want to share a story about kindness and community. Topics that, too often, go unmentioned. One year ago, LiveGirl was just a seed of an idea for a one-week summer camp that would make a small difference. It has since grown into an organization that provides year-round programming, making a big difference, for over 100 middle school girls across Fairfield County. Our focus is on leadership, empowerment and diversity so that the young girls of our community are more confident and better prepared for the future.

News

Letter: Board of Ed Urges New Canaan To Support Saxe Building Project

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The Board of Education has been closely following the Saxe Building Committee’s (SBC) work throughout their process of analyzing the educational space needs at Saxe, recommending changes to meet those needs and designing the improvements deemed critical. The Board of Education fully supports the SBC’s recommended project to renovate the Saxe Auditorium and visual performing arts/music area and to expand the current building to add a net of 12 new classrooms.

Why Saxe Needs More Space

Built in 1957, Saxe Middle School was last renovated from 1997 to 1999 to accommodate 1200 students. Since this time (15-plus years), Saxe’s enrollment has increased. Current enrollment is at 1,327 students, up from the 1,292 students enrolled at this time last year. The latest projections anticipate that enrollment at Saxe will steadily increase over the next few years, peaking in 2024 at 1,376 students, and remaining stable at around 1,350 afterwards.

Around Town

Did You Hear … ?

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Friends and family of a 2009 New Canaan High School graduate who died suddenly this summer honored their loved one at a fundraiser on Saturday. Participating in a rappelling event in Stamford to raise funds and awareness for Shatterproof, “Team E” was named by Andrea Reinhardt for her brother Evan, who passed in July at age 24. Together with fellow New Canaanite Miles Turpin, Sara Sparks of Fairfield and Dan Egan of Norwalk, “Team E” rappelled 21 stories down Landmark Square as part of Shatterproof’s national movement to fight drug and alcohol addiction. With offices in Norwalk and New York City, Shatterproof is holding 26 rappelling events nationally this year. ***

Two miniature ponies from Comstock Hill Road got loose on a recent evening and ran in the road to a nearby residence.

Around Town

Letter: Thank You, First Annual ‘Camp LiveGirl’ a Success

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Dear Editor:

Camp LiveGirl brought together 50 middle school girls from Bridgeport, Stamford, and New Canaan. The camp facilitated bonding in a diverse, team-based environment through sports and leadership activities. Senior executive women provided mentoring and reinforced the LiveGirl motto: “I am smart. I am strong. I am special.”

Creating something new requires vision and extraordinary support, which we received from the following businesses/individuals:

CT Sandwich, Oxygen, Walter Stewart’s, Nielsen, Hunsinger Family—donated lunch/supplies
Meg Domino & New Canaan CARES—a passionate partner who customized and taught a leadership curriculum for middle school girls
Ellie Aliapoulios, Camaren Dayton, Abi Farley, Kendall Genzburg, Olivia Hunsinger, Katie Kurz, Grace Manges, Isabella Savini—amazing high school students who volunteered their time & served as camp leaders
Andrea Chalon, Johnny Ostendorf & Mike Wilson—donated video/ photography services
NCHS, Jay Egan, many coaches, instructors, speakers—provided essential support

The list of names is long and serves as a true testament to the character of our community.