March 2025

Spring has almost sprung! This month's StoryWalk® will feature our new saint of the month: Joseph! Please join us in learning part of Saint Joseph's journey. The StoryWalk® is featured in the Blessed Sacrament Church stairwell and begins at the top of the stairs for families to enjoy as they exit the church. Saint Joseph was chosen for this month to coincide with the liturgical calendar which celebrates Saint Joseph's feast day on March 19th. March 19th is thought to be the day Saint Joseph died and we therefore remember him on this important date. See below for activities to help celebrate Saint Joseph with your family!

* write your father a letter. Talk about what you love about him, the things you like to do together, something positive he's taught you, etc.. 
* say the Saint Joseph novena as a family https://dioceseofvenice.org/wp-content/uploads/Novena.pdf 
* color and cut out a toolbox for God (St. Joseph was a carpenter, a woodworker) https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3uNEVAAKowpd29lbWVINlJtaWs/view?resourcekey=0-ub4sD9lijpStprQb3IyEQA
* create a Saint Joseph shrine https://www.looktohimandberadiant.com/2015/03/quick-easy-saint-joseph-shrine.html?_ga=2.262095944.496489512.1738952858-1474265740.1738952858
* build a small wooden birdhouse to pay homage to Saint Joseph's profession as a carpenter and help the wildlife near your home
* celebrate Saint Joseph's feast day on March 19th by eating Italian food!
* Saint Joseph coloring page https://www.scribd.com/doc/28538944/St-Joseph-2
* watch a quick video to learn more about Saint Joseph traditions  https://youtu.be/Es8ZMXKTYpY

This month we also celebrate Ash Wednesday, March 5th, which marks the beginning of Lent. Here are some ways to celebrate Ash Wednesday with your family!

-go to church and get ashes as a family, bring friends
-set up a small lent alter at home with purple candles (6 make a cross) and light one candle each week as a visual countdown to Easter 
-have a bonfire and burn old palms from years past
-make a self-portrait and rub your thumb in pencil lead to put ashes on your drawing's forehead and display it in your home 
We also celebrate Saint Patrick and the Annunciation of the Lord in March! The Annunciation of the Lord celebrates the angel Gabriel coming to Mary to tell her she would conceive Jesus. This important day in the Catholic faith is celebrated on March 25th. We hope you enjoy trying some new ways to celebrate the saints and important dates of the Catholic faith in March with your family and friends!

February 2025

Hello! 

Starting this month we will feature our StoryWalk® inside the back stairwell in Blessed Sacrament Church. The StoryWalk® begins at the top of the stairs and continues as you go down the stairs to the back parking lot. We hope this will encourage more people to enjoy the stories during the cold months! This month's feature story is about Saint Bernadette of Lourdes, the patron saint of illness, poverty, and the patron saint of Lourdes, France. The story is a brief journey on her path to become a saint beginning with her visions of the Holy Mother Mary and joining the Sisters of Charity. 

We hope you enjoy learning about Saint Bernadette and are inspired to pray to her if the need arises. 

JANUARY 2025

Happy New Year! We continue to work with any potential candidate to help guide them through the necessary Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) requirements as a preschool classroom teacher. We are hopeful and eager this will bring new developments for us in the new year! 

This month's StoryWalk® is I Can Pray Anywhere by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle. This book features entertaining rhymes and a bit of humor to show you really can pray anywhere- whether it's in your home in thanks for the blessings we have, in the car to ask for help in meeting the challenges we're faced with, or next to a loving pet simply talking to a friend- prayer can happen anywhere and any time. 

We invite you to stop by the fenced-in playground area located between the blue/grey Pastoral Center where the preschool is housed and Blessed Sacrament Church. We invite all families to stop by and enjoy the story while benefitting from some fresh New England air! 

The children's clothing drive during December proved to be very successful! We received a large donation of boy and girl toddler clothing at the end of November. After organizing items by size and gender, we first presented free children's coats, snow pants, shoes, and pajamas to anyone in need. The following half of the month we featured children's Christmas clothing, pants, shirts, and any left over footwear. Clothing was available any time Mon-Fri 10am-3:30pm or by appointment. In addition, two families outside of these times scheduled an appointment in order to receive items of need. Thank you to all involved in helping organize, spread the word, and give encouragement during this important endeavor!

December 2024

Hello and happy holiday season! As we enjoy this advent season and prepare for a joyous Christmas celebration, there are a few updates to share. We have had a few interested teacher candidates ask for more information about the Beacon of Light Preschool. While no candidate has come forward with the necessary EEC Lead Teacher certification yet, anyone who has expressed interest in becoming a teacher on staff has been given the information needed to move forward with obtaining the required certification, which can also be found at https://www.mass.gov/info-details/early-education-care-positions. The eligibility and application process for EEC certification can be found at https://www.mass.gov/how-to/eec-professional-certification. Our hope and excitement are further bolstered from these potential teacher candidates and the continued support and encouragement from the community to open as soon as possible. We look forward to an exciting new year with many blessings for our preschool, its staff and students, and the families we serve.

Another initiative we began to help serve the families in our community has been a free children's clothing table at the Pastoral Center. We ran a preliminary trial featuring outdoor winter apparel, pajamas, and shoes for children ranging in size from 12 months through 7 T (toddler). Because of the success of this first endeavor, we have expanded the items to children's pants, shirts, and holiday clothing for this month in boys and girls sizes ranging from 18 months through 7 T. Any one can come to browse clothing from Monday-Friday between 10am to 3pm or by appointment by contacting Catherine Cuff at [email protected]. We have received feedback from several individuals expressing thanks and interest in continuing this important work. The decision to continue a free children's clothing closet will be discussed in order to determine the feasibility of offering this service on a more routine basis.

During this advent season, we are reminded of the true meaning of Christmas in the featured StoryWalk® Away In A Manger illustrated by Thomas Kinkade. Please enjoy the beautiful illustrations depicting the sacred journey of Mary and Joseph welcoming Jesus to the world as you read or sing your way to each page. The story concludes with the full song on sheet music for you and your family to enjoy. Let our voices carry the songs of the season through the air and bring comfort to those around us. 


We wish you a wonderful Christmas season filled with peace and love!

Hello everyone! We hope the beginning of the holiday season is filled with peace and warmth for you. We have a new StoryWalk® posted within the Preschool playground on the Blessed Sacrament grounds. Please stop by to visit and enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having as you read God Gave Us Thankful Hearts. In this book, you'll follow our main character in a journey of discovering how to practice being thankful, even in things that at first appear to be unwanted. It takes some practice in finding things to be thankful for in hard times, but we're reminded that God is always with us. There is always something to be thankful for if you practice looking for the lessons and learning during times of struggle. Don't forget to sign our virtual guestbook to provide valuable feedback as we continue this important collaborative family literacy initiative!

We are still in search of teaching candidates for our highly anticipated opening of Beacon of Light Preschool. Below is a list of where we've advertised. If you have more ideas to add, please contact Catherine Cuff at [email protected] We would love to hear from you!

Greenfield Library

GCC

UMASS Amherst- Newman Center & Education Department

School Spring

Indeed

Working Fields Temp Agency 

Holy Family

Our Lady Częstochowa

Our Lady of Peace

St. Josephs

St Mary’s Church in Orange, Ma

St Patricks

Social Media 

Thomas Aquinas College

Diocese of Springfield

Springfield College

Bay Path University

STCC

HCC

Westfield State University

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Hello! While we're still searching for teacher candidates (please send any our way and keep praying!), we've set up a rudimentary StoryWalk® for any of our parish families and members of the community to enjoy along the preschool playground fence nearest the Pastoral Center. A StoryWalk® is a story broken up by pages and spread across an area at various stations you walk to in order to read a story. It's a way to incorporate literacy with exercise while you walk and enjoy the outdoors with your loved ones. The space for the StoryWalk® can be a short distance or a larger area, whichever suits the needs of the space available. To learn more about StoryWalk® please visit https://kellogghubbard.org/programs-events/storywalk/ Our StoryWalk® is currently short in order to assess the interest in this family friendly activity.

Be sure to sign our virtual guestbook accessed through an on-site QR code to provide valuable feedback to continue to improve and meet the needs and wants of families we serve.

Our first featured story is an abbreviated version of I Can Pray Anywhere written by Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle and illustrated by Jim Starr. Through wonderful rhyme and humor, the narrator provides examples of different places and times to pray throughout the day- in bed, in the car, crossing the street, anywhere! God is always listening to our prayers and this story reminds us all, we can pray anywhere! How many places will you pray today?

October 2024

We have officially obtained our Educational code for our building! What does this mean? It means that our building has been inspected and our classrooms and doors meet the necessary building code requirements to safely open a preschool at the Pastoral Center! Thank you to everyone who has been hard at work planning, implementing, and praying. We understand this has been a long process and we are continuing to learn and grow along this journey.  We are committed to ensuring we open successfully and can sustain our program for many years to come! 

The next steps to follow are to secure our teaching staff so that we can have the state assess our program and grant us our EEC preschool license. We have advertised on social media, posted our opening positions in local businesses, and formally uploaded job listings on School Spring and Indeed. Please spread the word for any interested licensed lead teachers or directors looking for a great opportunity to join us in a supportive, energetic environment with eager families and children. Any interested candidate should call 413-773-3311 for more information or email Catherine Cuff at [email protected]

September 18, 2024

Hello!

We're hard at work continuing to ready the preschool for opening! We have been working with the town building inspector to meet to requirements necessary for our building code to change. We were given guidance about some changes to our locks and switching out door handles to the classrooms. This wasn't something we had advance knowledge of, but we are moving forward to meet these important requirements. The reason behind the change is so that anyone with a disability as a student, guardian, or staff member will be able to access our facilities the same as any other person, thereby meeting ADA accessibility requirements. Because of this, we are changing our push/pull door handles to level handles. We thank you for your support, encouragement, and kindness during this last push towards the finish line of our opening. We are all very eager to open our doors and hearts to the families of our community! Below are some pictures of the work and progress that has happened behind the scenes. Please continue to pray for our successful opening as soon as possible and showcasing the kindness and strength that it means to live our Catholic faith each day. Installing new door locks on the double doors. They will allow preschoolers to exit, but lock off any public access. Our door handles being replaced. The Preschool classroom library and meeting circle area.
New cubbies with coat hooks!
 Our art center with plenty of Play-Doh, markers, crayons, glue, popsicle sticks, and paper to inspire our littlest learns to explore and create what they envision.
 Our imaginative play area set up as a grocery store.

Thank you to all who have generously sent in donations to help supply our preschool!