OneManchester

TOMORROW IS GROUNDHOG DAY and as usual there will be a big crowd at the Lutz Children’s Museum eagerly awaiting word from Chuckles about what’s left of winter. We have that covered below and also photos from Tuesday’s Martin Luther King celebration, which had twice been postponed because of bad weather. Plus two staff members and a student from the district’s Adult and Continuing Education program received state honors and we have their stories, too. But first, there's this:

• It takes exactly 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes and 45 seconds for the earth to circle the sun, so every four years we add an extra day in February to keep the calendar balanced.
• People born on February 29 are known as ‘leapers’ or ‘leaplings’ and this year the world’s estimated 4 million leapers get to party on their real birthday.
  
• According to district records, no current MPS students or staff were born on Feb. 29 but if anyone knows of anyone with a Manchester connection who has such a birthday, please let us know and maybe they’ll let us share their story!

Black History Month begins today, having been created to focus attention on the contributions of African Americans to the United States. It honors all Black people from all periods of U.S. history and in recognition there will be events all month throughout the district, town and beyond. Our coverage today starts with a look back at Tuesday's MLK celebration, which was sponsored by the Manchester Youth Commission in collaboration with the district's Department of Race and Equity and had originally been scheduled for Jan. 16 but was twice delayed.

Students from throughout the district were honored and we have more photos on the district Facebook page. At right above is Janze Richardson, the Manchester Youth Commission chair, and below are the Illing Steppers.

The ceremony was dedicated in memory of Darryl Thames, a former Board of Ed Chairman and Town Clerk, who died last year.

Brushawn Williams, Barbara Lacoss and Emuna Patterson (above) were all honored recently by the Connecticut Association for Adult & Continuing Education and we told their stories in our "Humans of Manchester' gallery. Below are Keeney teacher Mia Wright (left) and Bowers teacher Tammy Sullivan, who are also new to the gallery, which you can find on both Facebook and Instagram. And by the way we are now inviting parents and guardians to let us know who you would like to see recognized. This form tells you how that works.

MPS was a 2024 CIRMA Excellence in Risk Management Awards Sustained Risk Management Program honoree and Karen Clancy (Assistant Superintendent of Finance & Management) and Max Cohen (School Safety Coordinator) were featured in an explanatory video that you can see here. CIRMA stands for Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency.

Of Note:

The third of three BoE budget workshops is scheduled for tonight (Thursday, Feb. 1) at 6 p.m. at Lincoln Center. And the next regular meeting is scheduled for Feb. 12 at Highland Park School starting at 7 p.m.
You can watch a replay of the workshops and meetings by clicking here.

• The Student Equity Advisory Team at MHS is selling merchandise featuring the slogan "Ignite Change, Love Worldwide", a phrase that embodies the work they do in the community and what they want the community to embrace. Check out this flier and to learn how to order click here.
• Project Graduation has a fundraiser at Ben & Jerry's in Evergreen Walk. It's March 7 from 4-9 p.m. and 10% of proceeds will benefit project graduation class of 2024. Here's the flier.

Related:

Project Graduation is looking for volunteers to lead a few committees during the 2024-25 school year. Click for information.

Guests are asked to pre-register for the event online through the Lutz website and they also plan to stream tomorrow's event live on their Facebook page starting at approximately 6:30 am

Thursday, Feb 1
12:30 - 5:30 p.m. -- Red Cross blood drive at North United Methodist Church, 300 Parker St.
6 p.m. -- BoE budget workshop #3 at Lincoln Center.

Friday, Feb. 2
6:30 a.m. -- Groundhog Day at the Lutz. Online registration required.
6 p.m. -- Free movie night at Nathan Hale Recreation Center, 160 Spruce St.

Saturday, Feb. 3
9 a.m. - 1 p.m. -- Ancestors Road Show at the Arbors.
10 a.m. - noon -- Polish food sale at St. John’s Church, 23 Golway St.
10:30 a.m. -- Take Your Child to the Library Day with Mr. Lobster at Mary Cheney Library.
3:30 - 5:30 p.m. -- Open house at iCode, 1131 Tolland Tpke.

Monday, Feb. 5
11 - 4 p.m. -- Red Cross blood drive at Manchester Church of Christ, 595 Tolland Tpke.

Tuesday, Feb 6
8 - 9 a.m. -- Business Link: Collaboration & Coffee at WORK_SPACE, 903 Main St.
10 a.m. -- Red Cross Blood Drive at Midwest Food Bank, 440 Adams St.
3:30 - 4:45 p.m. -- Brick Builders for ages 8-12 at Mary Cheney Library.
5:30 p.m. -- Heart Healthy Eating & Cooking at Manchester Memorial Hospital.
7 p.m. -- BoD meeting at Lincoln Center.

Wednesday, Feb 7
6 - 7:30 p.m. -- Dungeons & Dragons for 6 - 9 graders at Mary Cheney Library.
6:30 p.m. -- Into-Me-See with Nadia Sims at WORK_SPACE, 903 Main St.
6:30 - 8 p.m. -- At-Home Composting at Eastside Neighborhood Resource Center, 153 Spruce St.
12:30 - 5:30 p.m. -- Red Cross blood drive at North United Methodist Church, 300 Parker St.
6 p.m. -- Master Eats: crAve by Aves at Whiton Library.

Also:

• Little Shop of Horrors opens at Cheney Hall on Friday and runs on the weekends through Feb. 18. Click here for times and ticket info.

• iCode is offering an early bird special (40% off) on summer camps to Manchester students who register before Feb. 10. Click here for more information.

• Troop 25 is having a grinder fundraiser and all the details are here.

• MACC Charities’ 4th Annual Souper Bowl of Caring will be held on Feb. 10.

• Manchester’s Early Childhood Fair returns to the MHS cafeteria on Feb. 10.

• Second Congregational Church’s annual Fat Tuesday/Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras Pancake Supper Featuring The Katz ‘n Jammers Swing Band will be on Feb. 13. Click here for details.

• YSB will present ‘What is Consent?’ on Feb 15 for teens to learn and discuss teen dating violence. Click here to learn more.

• Manchester Public School will be closed Feb. 19 and 20 in observance of Presidents’ Day.

• Little Theatre of Manchester’s 2024 Jukebox Music Series starts with 'The Ultimate Cher Experience' on Feb. 24. Click here for the full schedule.

• The Manchester Antique and Collectibles Show returns to Second Congregational Church at 385 North Main St. on March 15 and 16. Click here for details.

• Manchester High’s Sock N Buskin will present Mama Mia! at Bailey Auditorium March 21-23.

• The Elks Club is bringing ‘The Wall that Heals’ back to Manchester in September. Click here for details.

Also:

• The Youth Service Bureau is offering mini-grants to local groups and organizations and the info is here.
  

• Jenn Bartlett, the head of Reference and Adult Services for the Manchester Public Library, was the subject of a Next Avenue feature highlighting her work promoting and connecting people through board games. You can read it here.

Illing Middle School hosted the 36th annual Buzz Wooldridge Invitational Basketball Tournament last weekend. Illing beat East Hartford in the boys championship game while the girls, after beating Windham in the quarter final, lost to a very strong East Hartford team in their championship.

ALSO:

• MHS senior Mia Gilbert was the Servepro student athlete of last week. Click here to read more.
• The Manchester High Red Hawks Baseball Booster Club will be hosting its 2nd annual pasta dinner fundraiser on Feb. 25. Click here for more info.
• We have more sports pics on our OneManchester CT sports Facebook page.

For seven years now Martin Elementary School has held a book character parade, with students and staff dressing like favorite literary characters. We have more photos on the district Facebook page.

DONT FORGET THE ANNEX: This is our new spillover space to other newsletters, social media accounts and more, including the 'OneManchester Planner', which has even has more calendar listings for the months ahead. Plus we share a special flashback photo from Paul Ofria each week. To get to The Annex, click here.

• NOTE: OneManchester is compiled by the school district's communications office but is dependent on contributions from people and institutions throughout the town and school district. So if you have something that you think people would want to know about, please let us know. Photos, fliers, links, tips, whatever -- please share with Paul Ofria at pofria@mpspride.org.
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