LOCAL HEROES

IN PRAISE OF THE DEDICATION OF ADULTS & THE COURAGE OF CHILDREN

GRAND PRIZE AWARD TO SCHOHARIE RECOVERY

Big Mind Learning is thrilled to announce our list of 2012 Local Heroes for the Environment. This week we will salute those activists, legislators, businesses, and schools working to make altruistic contributions to our local scene. We thank them heartily and encourage their commitment and spirit of solidarity. We also know that a dedication to environmental values makes good business sense.

Before we name our recipients, we want to honor all of the individuals associated with Schoharie Recovery, www.schoharierecovery.org. In light of the crisis precipitated by Hurricane Irene, residents of Schoharie, NY rose to the enormous challenge of rebuilding their community. We name Schoharie Recovery as the number one recipient of our Local Heroes Award. Since the flooding occurred, this organization has valiantly worked to rebuild, to recover, and to support those in crisis.

                                                          Photo courtesy of Seth Sholtes


    Photo courtesy of Seth Sholtes

Katie Farineau, Lily Caza, Allen Rossetti, and Seth Sholtes from Schoharie Central School participated in a reading devoted to Schoharie Recovery at The Carrot Barn on June 14, 2012. The dream of this event started from my own desire to spread the word about Katie Farineau's moving essay about Schoharie which won first prize in the Big Mind Learning Scholarship Contest. 

We reprint Seth Sholtes's poem here.

The Field of Dust

                            

by Seth Sholtes, 8^th grade, Schoharie Central School                                

I walk across a field of dust,

that once was lush and green,

with oiled ground as red as rust,

I wish it was a dream.

The crops are sculptures made of sand,

curved downward like a bow.

Their leaves crumble in my hand,

their coating falls like snow.

The field of dust holds empty shells

of memories now long gone,

replaced with that of screams and yells,

that lasted until dawn.

Debris is the new crop of the field,

piled high in large mounds.

The trees are dead, their bark is peeled,

toys buried in the ground.

As I walk across this field of dust,

I wake up from my dream.

I look outside and see only just

The field I had just seen.