Students at LHK take the next step

FALLS VILLAGE — The Lee H. Kellogg School eighth grade promotion exercise, held outside on the hill of the Falls Village campus, proved to be an emotional moment for Katelin Lopes. The class speaker and winner of the President’s Award for Educational Excellence was moved enough by the moment to let out a few sobs before collecting her breath and concluding her speech:

“Thank you, Kellogg. You are small, but you have a mighty place in my heart.”

Held on Wednesday, June 16, following a weather-related delay on June 15, the ceremony ushered the members of Lee H. Kellogg School’s Class of 2021 into the next chapter of their educational careers under unusual circumstances. 

The evening followed a strict distance-and-mask safety policy, making clear the lasting presence of the pandemic and the way it had affected the students in their final years at Lee H. Kellogg. 

But the five students in attendance (two members of the eighth grade class were unable to attend), the faculty and Principal Alexandra Juch instead chose speak on anything but their setbacks or current events. 

They remained positive, looked toward the future and focused on the core values one would expect in a promotion exercise in any normal year: personal growth, the pursuit of academic goals and extracurricular achievements, and, of course, in a town as small as Falls Village, ways to enrich and give back to the community.

 

Lee H. Kellogg School

Class of 2021

Austin Donald Bachman, Bernice Haley Boyden, Blaine Robert Curtis, Tessa Jane Dekker, Katelin Jeanette Lopes, Demetri Joseph Ouellette, Tristan Ernest Oyanadel

 

2021 Awards

President’s Award for Educational Excellence: Katelin Lopes; Tessa Dekker

President’s Award for Educational Achievement: Austin Bachman

Peter G Lawson Citizenship Award: Tessa Dekker

Tessa Dekker and Katelin Lopes were the dual winners of the President’s Award for Educational Excellence at the Lee H. Kellogg eighth grade promotion exercise on Wednesday, June 16. Photo by Alexander Wilburn

Members of the eighth grade who participated in Lee H. Kellogg’s promotion exercise included, left to right, Demetri Ouellette, Austin Bachman, Katelin Lopes, Tessa Dekker and Bernice “Birdie” Boyden. Photo by Alexander Wilburn

Tessa Dekker and Katelin Lopes were the dual winners of the President’s Award for Educational Excellence at the Lee H. Kellogg eighth grade promotion exercise on Wednesday, June 16. Photo by Alexander Wilburn
Related Articles Around the Web

Latest News

Ski jump camp for kids returns Dec. 27, 28

Ski jump camp for kids returns Dec. 27, 28
Ski jump camp for kids returns Dec. 27, 28
Photo provided

The Salisbury Winter Sports Association (SWSA) will host its annual Junior Jump Camp, a two-day introduction to ski jumping, on Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 27 and 28, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Satre Hill in Salisbury.

The camp is open to children ages 7 and up and focuses on teaching the basics of ski jumping, with an emphasis on safety, balance and control, using SWSA’s smallest hill. No prior experience is required.

Keep ReadingShow less

Six newly elected leaders join Northwest Hills Council of Governments

Six newly elected leaders join Northwest Hills Council of Governments

Jesse Bunce, first selectman of North Canaan.

Photo provided

LITCHFIELD — The Northwest Hills Council of Governments welcomed six newly elected municipal leaders Thursday, Dec. 11, at its first meeting following the 2025 municipal elections.

The council — a regional planning body representing 21 towns in northwest Connecticut — coordinates transportation, emergency planning, housing, economic development and other shared municipal services.

Keep ReadingShow less

Mountaineers fly high in preseason basketball

Mountaineers fly high in preseason basketball

Ryan Segalla takes a fadeaway shot over a defender.

By Riley Klein

FALLS VILLAGE — Housatonic Valley Regional High School’s boys basketball team defeated Pine Plains High School 60-22 in a scrimmage Tuesday, Dec. 9. The non-league preseason game gave both sides an opportunity to run the court ahead of the 2025-26 varsity season.

HVRHS’s senior-heavy roster played with power and poise. The boys pulled ahead early and kept their foot on the gas through to the end.

Keep ReadingShow less

Kent toy drive brightens holiday season

Kent toy drive brightens holiday season

Katie Moore delivers toys to the Stuff a Truck campaign held by the Kent Volunteer Fire Department last weekend. Donated toys are collected so that parents, who need some assistance, may provide their children with gifts this Christmas. Accepting the donation are elves Fran Goodsell and Karen Iannucci

Photo by Ruth Epstein

KENT — Santa’s elves were toasty warm as they collected toys for the children of Kent.

Keeping with annual tradition, Fran Goodsell and Karen Iannucci manned the Stuff a Truck campaign sponsored by the Kent Volunteer Fire Department on Saturday, Dec. 6, and Sunday, Dec. 7. Sitting in front of a fire pit in the firehouse parking lot between donations from residents, they spoke of the incredible generosity displayed every season. That spirit of giving was clear from the piles of toys heaped on a table.

Keep ReadingShow less