CRCS Celebrates Their Volunteers

By Joshua Walther

COBLESKILL - At the latest CRCS Board of Education meeting last Monday, both the superintendent and students sought to applaud the Board members themselves for their work.

Falling in line with the New York State School Board Recognition Week, Superintendent Matthew Sickles noted that “It takes a certain amount of risk to put yourself out there,” commending how brave each member was by putting their name both up to vote and for public scrutiny.

He then explained that each member received specialty gifts from all CRCS schools, in the forms of a cutting board from the computer and woodworking classes, baked goods from the employment program, spider plants from the natural resources class, and cards from various art classes.

However, the gifts didn’t end at these few tokens. The Board was also pleased to have the elementary chorus give a live performance of the Star Spangled Banner, which was met with raucous applause.

The members thanked the students for each of their presents in return, with President Bruce Tryon saying “That’s what it’s all about,” referring to his motivation for filling the role.

Yet it wasn’t only the Board of Education that was celebrated at the meeting. Superintendent Sickles also invited the Cobleskill-Richmondville Education Foundation to give a short presentation on who they were.

Made up of volunteers in kind, the CREF is an organization that’s dedicated to funding and giving grants to both staff and the district at large, accomplishing this in two ways.

The first is the Rapid Access grant, a $75 award that can be funded immediately for any teacher that might need it. Over the last seventeen years, 1,200 of these grants have been given to total approximately $82,000.

The second is the much larger sum, being the Foundation Grant. With up to $4,000 awarded each cycle, the grant window is open twice a year and has historically funded resources like the archery program, multicultural night, metal detector club, Radez free library, and much more.

CREF explained that a vast majority of this grant money is funded through their annual golf tournament, where they receive several sponsorships from local businesses in the community.

After their presentation, CREF was excited to award the CRCS Board with a $10,000 check to cover the start-up costs for the Cartwheel Care program, which provides clinical mental health services for students.

“On behalf of our students, we are truly indebted to you and thank you,” Superintendent Sickles replied. Without further hesitation, the Board moved to accept the gift with great appreciation.