Students Delve Into Newtown’s Past Through Living Memories

By Eliza Hallabeck

Students working in the back room of the Newtown Youth & Family Services building on Church Hill Road were preparing posters on Thursday, July 9, to put up around town in the hopes of catching the eye of local seniors.

The five Newtown High School students — Amanda Swift, Alicia Paliotti, Devin Sapelli, Ann Sloan, and George Zaruba — are participating in a job program coordinated through the career center at the school and Newtown Youth & Family Services that has them finish a project while learning job skills.

This year’s students will interview ten to 12 seniors each, depending on how many willing participants respond to the students, and, according to Amanda Swift, will record responses to prepared questions, organize the end product, and finish the summer with a published book. The goal, Amanda said, is to focus on history.

Participating senior citizens will be asked questions like how much milk was when they were younger, what year they left school, and the location of their first date.

Executive Director of Newtown Youth & Family Services Beth Agen said Monday, July 6, the students, who had started working that morning, were already doing an impressive job.

“I was absolutely amazed with how they started out,” said Ms Agen within two hours of the students beginning their job.

This is the third year students at NHS have the opportunity to participate in the program that Ms Agen said teaches them job skills for the future.

On their first day, Ms Agen said the students spent their first couple hours investigating Newtown’s history on the Internet. They will continue the interview project through August 11, working from 9 am until 1 pm five days a week.

The students will be paid for their efforts through a grant called the Workforce Investment Act. Previous projects created by the students in the program have included a recipe book two years ago for the Newtown Prevention Council, and a video about youths’ exposure to alcohol advertisements, also for the Newtown Prevention Council.

This yea’sr self-published book through Newtown Youth & Family Services will be handed out, at no cost, at community events.

Ms Agen said she is overseeing the students’ work along with Peg Ragaini and Mimi Riccio at NHS.

“I think it’s going to be quite labor intensive,” Ms Agen said.

On Thursday the students already had a list of possible people to begin interviewing.

“Some of the questions have to do with national stuff,” said Amanda, “like the Great Depression, when JFK got shot, and how it effected them.”

Other questions, as Ann Sloan pointed out, include what town they lived in and was anyone they know drafted.