Duffy Students Work to Make West Hartford More 'Welcoming'

A class of fifth graders at West Hartford's Duffy Elementary School is reaching out into the community and gathering information with the hopes of making West Hartford even more welcoming to new residents.

All 21 students in Clare Taylor's fifth grade class are involved in this service learning project, and will be hosting a meeting on April 25 with community partners who will be part of the process. State Sen. Beth Bye who is also director of Great by Eight, ESOL Director Cheryl Curtis, Family Resource Center Director Deborah Zipkin, Director of Hello! West Hartford Bepsie Perry, and West Hartford Town Clerk Essie Labrot have been invited.

The class will be running and planning the entire meeting, and students Fallon Moore and Emmy Delany will be hosting it, Taylor said.

According to a news release, which was prepared by the class, the students "will be talking about minority laws, reaching out in the community, talking about how people got used to and fit into the community, as well as language and diversity in West Hartford."

“We are excited about getting involved in the community and we hope it will make a difference!” Moore and Delany are quoted as saying in the release.

The students have already created a large bulletin board to inform residents about "fun activities" as well as local town news. "The bulletin board is meant to show how our town works and includes upcoming events, such as summer camps, Hello! West Hartford, newspapers, magazines, and our melting pot, (our nationalities)," the students wrote in the release.

In addition to gathering statistics about crime, diversity, and other aspects of West Hartford, the class is also creating a survey to gather feedback from families that have moved to town within the past five years.

The survey can be found by clicking here, and the students are asking for responses by May 10.

“This is a great opportunity for the students to learn about their town and make a real difference. We don’t know what the end product is yet but we know we can all have a part and make West Hartford a welcoming place,” said Taylor in the release.

“The class is working hard on this project!” said Kate Bell who helped write the press release.

"All students have a job in this project. Many of them are visiting places in town and gathering information about what is being done to welcome new people to West Hartford. They’re going to schools, parks, libraries, and organizations. Students are working like busy bees trying to get the project ready for the meeting. We hope all goes well, and we hope that people know that although we’re young, this is our town, we own it, and we can make a difference."

For more information or to be part of the project, contact Clare_Taylor@whps.org.