
Eleni Kontokosta, 17, is launching an ACEing Autism program at Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, where she will enter her senior year in the fall.
Photo provided
Eleni Kontokosta, 17, is launching an ACEing Autism program at Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, where she will enter her senior year in the fall.
LAKEVILLE — The private Hotchkiss School is launching a new tennis club in early September, introducing a five-week course at its Mars Athletic Center that provides specialized therapeutic tennis instruction for participants ages 5 to 18 with autism spectrum disorders.
The program, initiated by 17-year-old Eleni Kontokosta, a rising senior and stand-out tennis player, is a collaboration between the school and an accredited national nonprofit, ACEing Autism.
According to its mission statement, the organization’s goal is to “help children with autism to grow, develop and benefit from social connections and fitness through affordable tennis programming, uniquely meeting individual needs while filling a national void for this growing and underserved population.”
Since its founding in 2008, the organization has evolved into a volunteer-driven program which from 2022 to 2023 held 131 programs and saw 3,578 registrations throughout 27 states that have an ACEing Autism location. Lakeville is the fourth established program location in Connecticut, joining Ellington, North Haven and the Farmington Valley.
Although the organization has about 20 community programs currently running in schools across the country, including North Carolina, Michigan, New Jersey and about 10 in Southern California, “the Hotchkiss School is unique because it is the first boarding school that will be running a program for us,” said Richard Spurling, the organization’s founder and executive director.
“We are excited the school has recognized our program as an official club and we have several faculty overseeing the program,” he explained, noting that Kontokosta has been tapped as its program director.
The rising senior said a combination of her love of tennis, which she has been playing since she was able to swing a racquet as a toddler, and the quest to bring the sport to children on the autism spectrum, spurred the idea to start an ACEing Autism program locally.
She is hoping to provide a fun environment that would allow participants to engage socially as they learn something new while enjoying a healthy dose of exercise and improve coordination, focus and concentration.
The five-week program at the Mars Athletic Center is scheduled to begin on Sept. 8 and end Oct. 6. The one-hour sessions will take place on Sundays from 10 to 11 a.m. Cost is $120, and a $30 discount is available for registering by Aug. 8.
Kontokosta said participants of any ability and on any level of the spectrum are invited to attend, no prior tennis experience is necessary, and each child is paired with a volunteer based on his or her individual needs. Parents are encouraged to relax during the sessions as their children develop new friends and have fun.
“We’re hoping to launch with between six and 10 attendees, and scholarships are also available if any family needs financial help,” the program director explained. “This really is an introduction to the sport,” and the benefits go beyond skill by enhancing participants’ eye/hand coordination and motor skills.
“It’s good for focusing, social skills, fitness and exercise,” noted Kontokosta.
Last year, research by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control found that nearly one-third of children with autism are severely overweight, compared to 13 percent of typically developing children.
ACEing Autism requires that every location has at least two leaders to provide the best support possible, and all high school program directors are required to have at least one adult as a co-leader on and off the court.
The co-leader at Hotchkiss is Maja Clark, the varsity girls tennis coach, said Kontokosta, who has played on the varsity team since her freshman year and will be a two-year captain starting her senior year.
She said she has been busy this summer getting the program up and running, including recruiting volunteers. While this will be her first time working with those with special needs, she and team leaders are looking forward to upcoming trainings from members of the organization, including virtual and in-person autism and curriculum training.
“I’ve been prepping with a bunch of members from ACEing Autism this summer, getting me ready for all the different things I will have to do,” including spreading word about the new program and reaching out to families of children with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). She said she is also contacting local school districts and youth organizations hoping to attract participants to the September program.
ACEing Autism provides all the equipment, including racquets, mini nets, balls, hoppers, shirts and medals, as well as liability insurance and on-court support as needed.
According to the organization’s vision statement, it aims to be the “preeminent thought leader on how tennis and sport develops children with autism spectrum disorder by reaching 50 percent of the 1+million families in the autism community.”
“I feel very excited to be able to take this opportunity to teach kids — who may have less access to tennis resources — how to play the sport. I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of tennis resources growing up, so I hope I’m able to use my 14 years of experience to put it to good use.”
In the meantime, her quest to recruit volunteers and draw participants is in full swing. She credits school administration and faculty for their support and encouragement.
Looking to the future, Kontokosta said she is optimistic the ACEing Autism club will become a permanent fixture at Hotchkiss.
“I’m not sure that I am going to play tennis in college, but this is something I want to do to make sure tennis has a really big purpose in my life. Even when I leave Hotchkiss, it’s something that can be passed down.”
For more information or to register or volunteer, contact Eleni Kontokosta at lakeville@aceingautism.org. To know more about ACEing Autism, visit https://aceingautism.org
Glastonbury High School crew attempted to battle wind and white caps on Lake Waramaug at the Kent Invitational that was ultimately cancelled, May 10.
KENT — The annual Kent Invitational regatta on Lake Waramaug did not start this year due to strong winds of 30 miles per hour on Saturday, May 10.
The gusts caused white caps on the lake's surface and boats were unable to stay in lane or arrange on the starting line.
An initial starting time delay ultimately led to a full cancellation at 2 p.m.
GREAT BARRINGTON — Attarilm Mcclennon woke up on Tuesday morning to see a man standing on the fire escape and talking on the phone outside his apartment building in Barrington House.
When Mcclennon stepped out into the hallway that connects Main Street with the Triplex parking lot, he saw another man lingering there.
Mcclennon, who works at his family’s Momma Lo’s Southern Style BBQ downstairs, said he stepped outside to the unfolding commotion in the parking lot as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested two immigrants who live and work in the building.
But soon Mcclennon realized something — the man on the fire escape and the other one in the building looked a little familiar.
“I realized those two dudes have been walking through this hallway all week,” he said, adding that it was during the daytime.
Mcclennon’s brother, Ahmed Mcclennon, said that he also noticed a similar type of surveillance of the building last summer that he believes may have been ICE or other law enforcement.
Attarilm Mcclennon right, saw the arrests by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday morning unfold at the Barrington House apartments where he lives and works.HEATHER BELLOW — THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE
The May 6 arrests are the latest to rattle the Berkshires as federal authorities pursue President Trump’s aggressive mission to deport or otherwise remove undocumented immigrants. A March crackdown resulted in the capture of at least 10 people in the Berkshires — and 370 statewide.
While the administration has said it would target undocumented people with criminal records, there have been numerous examples of agents detaining people who have never been charged with a crime.
It is unclear why ICE targeted these men. An ICE spokesperson did not respond to requests for information.
Tuesday’s raid took place on a busy morning in the heart of downtown. It shook bystanders and drew people out from Rubi’s Cafe and The Triplex Cinema.
Videos shared with The Eagle show people videotaping the arrests and asking ICE officers questions about warrants and due process. Others taunted the officers, most of whom were masked and heavily armed. Avery Ripley, who works at Rubi’s captured video, including that of a drone overhead.
As officers walked one of the men they arrested down the fire escape from his apartment, one person was heard saying they “love America,” and thanked the officers for “doing their jobs.”
Mcclennon said that one of the men arrested works at Fiesta Bar and Grill, which is across the hall from Momma Lo’s, and asked the Mcclennons to call his boss.
Great Barrington Police Chief Paul Storti said the department received a phone call from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security around 5:30 a.m. to let them know that they were in the area.
Barrington House owner Richard Stanley said he did not know the tenant personally, and expressed dismay at what he called “gestapo” tactics he says are meant to “intimidate.”
Ben Elliott, a Select Board member who works at The Triplex Cinema, was arriving at work when he saw the commotion. He also videotaped one of the arrests.
Elliott said he had heard that ICE also may have also arrested someone off Bridge Street near Quick Print and the Berkshire Food Co-op around 7:30 a.m.
The ICE arrests involved multiple unmarked vehicles, some heavily armed law enforcement officials and a drone.
Seeing that one of the officers had a battering ram to break the apartment door down, the building’s maintenance director Sean O’Brien got his keys ready. But that turned out not to be necessary, he said.
“None of that came to pass,” O’Brien said. “They knocked on the door and he opened the door and surrendered himself.”
Some bystanders confronted O’Brien, thinking he was helping ICE — which he and witnesses and Barrington House tenants said that was far from the truth.
“They turned on me,” O’Brien said. “It just ruffled my feathers up a little bit because they had the completely wrong idea of what happened."
“A woman was screaming into the window, ‘You called them, you called them,’” O’Brien said of the accusation that he had called ICE.
O’Brien did call local police to keep the peace and stop the trespassing.
Hearing this, Mcclennon’s brother Ahmed Mcclennon, said of O’Brien, “He’s the coolest man in the world. He would be the last person to do that.”
And O’Brien said that ICE officers were “very polite and professional to [the tenant],” and “were not abusive or anything like that.”
He also said that one of the men arrested is, “to the best of my knowledge, a very, very nice guy and a hard worker.”
“I would be very surprised,” O’Brien said, “if he were guilty of some extra crime that brought their attention to him.”
Heather Bellow is a reporter for The Berkshire Eagle.
LAKEVILLE — ARADEV LLC, the developer behind the proposed redesign of Wake Robin Inn, returned before Salisbury’s Planning and Zoning Commission at its May 5 regular meeting with a 644-page plan that it says scales back the project.
ARADEV withdrew its previous application last December after a six-round public hearing in which neighbors along Wells Hill Road and Sharon Road rallied against the proposal as detrimental to the neighborhood.
Landscape Architect Mark Arigoni, representing the applicants, said the new proposal’s page count is due to it being “very comprehensive and complete,” built in response to feedback from P&Z at a January pre-application meeting.
Much of P&Z’s criticism of the initial proposal revolved around its size and intensity, which commissioners said was incongruent with the neighborhood.
Arigoni briefly summarized the major changes of the new application, saying the number of cottages had been decreased from 12 to four, though each will now span about 2,000-square-feet as opposed to the maximum of 1,100 square feet of the earlier proposed array.
An “event barn,” which was one of the more contentious aspects of the initial application, has been relocated to be a part of the expanded main inn building, as opposed to its previous position as a detached structure.
Arigoni highlighted that a noise study — the lack of which was one of P&Z major criticisms of the first proposal — had been conducted in February and March, analyzing the levels of slamming car doors, traffic, waste collection vehicles and other ambient noise components of an active hotel site. He also explained that a new architectural firm had been contracted: “I think you will all see the changes to the plan, in terms of context and character.”
P&Z Chair Michael Klemens stressed that no action would be taken at the May 5 meeting. ARADEV will appear before the Commission again at its May 19 meeting, where P&Z will discuss the application’s completeness and potentially schedule a public hearing, which “will come a lot later,” Klemens said.
The application comes in the midst of ongoing litigation against the Commission relating to ARADEV’s first application. Angela and William Cruger, Wells Hill Road neighbors of the Inn who formally intervened in the 2024 hearing, filed a restraining order against the Commission in February alleging that it engaged in unlawful “spot zoning” that favored the Wake Robin expansion when it altered a regulation in May 2024 to allow for hotels via special permit in the Rural-Residential 1 zone.
Klemens announced that P&Z is opposing the restraining order. If it is approved by the judge, though, the May 2024 regulations would be declared invalid and the Commission would not be able to review applications pertaining to them, which includes ARADEV’s proposal.
FALLS VILLAGE — Housatonic Valley Regional High School girls lacrosse kept rolling Tuesday, May 6, with a decisive 18-6 win over Lakeview High School.
Eight different players scored for Housatonic in the Northwest Corner rivalry matchup. Sophomore Georgie Clayton led the team with five goals.
The Mountaineers' record advanced to 5-1 with a cumulative 41-point goal differential halfway through the season. The lone loss came at Watertown High School on April 10.
Georgie Clayton draws four Lakeview defenders. She scored five goals in the game May 6.Photo by Riley Klein
"We will be playing [Watertown] in the championship on the 28th of May," declared Coach Laura Bushey at the midway point of the 2025 season. Last year, HVRHS lost to St. Paul Catholic High School by one point in the Western Connecticut Lacrosse Conference championship.
The game against Lakeview May 7 went on despite ominous cloud cover at starting time. Rain earlier in the day made for a wet field, but the clouds parted by the second quarter for a sunny afternoon of lacrosse.
HVRHS wasted no time setting the tone. Georgie Clayton repeatedly sliced and diced her way through midfield to create offensive opportunities for the Mountaineers, who took a 7-1 lead in the first quarter.
Tessa Dekker elevates for one of her three goals against Lakeview May 6.Photo by Riley Klein
The lead grew to 11-3 by halftime. Seniors Lola Clayton and Tessa Dekker created a one-two punch on attack with Dekker setting up plays from behind the net as Clayton cut to the crease. The pair combined for five goals in the game.
Once the lead extended to double digits in the second half, the clock ran continuously. Lakeview found scoring chances but HVRHS sophomore goalie Sophia DeDominicis-Fitzpatrck saved more shots (7) than she let by.
The game ended 18-6 in favor of HVRHS.
Lola Clayton bounces a shot past the Lakeview defense.Photo by Riley Klein
The following players scored for the Mountaineers: Georgie Clayton (5), Tessa Dekker (3), Lola Clayton (2), Islay Sheil (2), Katie Crane (2), Annabelle Carden (2), Mollie Ford (1) and Chloe Hill (1).
Lakeview's goals were scored by Layla Jones (2), Isabelle Deforge (2), Juliana Bailey (1) and Caroline Donnelly (1).Goalie Sophia DeDominicis-Fitzpatrick secures the ball.Photo by Riley Klein