Fri, 09/02/2022 - 04:14 pm

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER

Boothbay Region Elementary, Southport Central and Edgecomb Eddy schools’ students gear up for school at the 11th annual Set for Success. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

KEVIN BURNHAM/Boothbay Register

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

Boothbay Region Elementary, Southport Central and Edgecomb Eddy schools’ students gear up for school at the 11th annual Set for Success. JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

KEVIN BURNHAM/Boothbay Register

JOSEPH CHARPENTIER/Boothbay Register

The annual Boothbay region Set for Success was held for the first time at Boothbay Region Elementary School Sept. 1. The event was held back-to-back with the school’s open house where students and their families could meet with their teachers for the upcoming year.

Community members Sue Burge and Nancy Van Dyke started Set for Success in 2011. The vision was to supply every student in the region with the materials they would need for school. Burge and Van Dyke stepped down before last year’s event, passing the torch to Parent-Teacher Organization’s Krystal Hodgdon and Katrina Dunsmore.

BRES Principal Shawna Kurr credited the wisdom of Boothbay Region YMCA for bringing the event to the school from the Y’s fieldhouse where it had been held every year. Boothbay Region Community Resource Council’s Holly Stover and Anna Geneseo were key for all the details, Coulombe Center for Health Improvement Director Anni Pat McKenney was the master organizer and Hodgdon sourced much of the materials and took charge of the event. The BRES custodial staff was perhaps most key in providing clean, clear space and support throughout the event, said Kurr. There are so many more to thank for the event’s success, she said.

“It's hard for me to describe what it felt like to pause on Wednesday evening and witness our community at its very best: Community businesses and agencies alongside volunteers and school personnel all working towards the same goal of welcoming families back into our school for the first time since COVID-19 and celebrating the start of another school year – together … As a community, we have so much to celebrate and this event is a great example of that. When we all work together for a common goal we get great things done!”

It is clear from the large group effort and family turnout that the event did not “just happen,” said Kurr. Months of preparation led to weeks of heavy planning, then several final days of getting the finer details nailed down. Kurr said it gave everyone a renewed appreciation for Burge’s and Van Dyke’s past successes; and volunteers are already working on what can be done better next year.

Everyone involved in planning and implementation knew from the start there would be obvious things to change for next year’s event, but the best way to find the best way to hold the event at BRES was to just do it, said Kurr.

“We felt like we needed to live through the event at BRES before we could anticipate everything. More exciting things to come for next year – another event you won't want to miss!”