FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2014 / Julia Winer
Assistant Director of Communications
(860) 509-3666
Two Rivers Student-Athletes Donate to CT Humane Society
(Hartford, CT) In late February, the Connecticut Humane Society received a trunk-load of donations from students at the CREC Two Rivers Magnet High School. CREC Two Rivers has a growing Community Service group that works to assist many outreach programs within the local community. In recent months, student-athletes from the CREC Two Rivers athletics department have joined forces with the Community Service group to provide additional support for their fundraising efforts.
The indoor track and the boys & girls junior varsity basketball teams chose to collect donations on behalf of the Connecticut Humane Society. With the guidance of their coach, Ryan Anderson, students worked with their school and local community members to collect items from the Humane Society’s “wish list”.
On Friday, February 27, Barbara DeBellis-Naugle of the CT Humane Society visited the school. DeBellis-Naugle was pleased to accept the donations and eager to hear about the school’s future plans to expand the project to other athletic programs. “The support of our friends in the community makes our work possible,” says the agency’s website.
According to their website, the Connecticut Humane Society is the leading resource in the state for companion animal welfare, enriching the lives of families and communities through adoption services, medical care, education, and prevention of cruelty. The agency relies on volunteers for donations to support the operation of their shelters around the state. Items on their wish list include cat and dog toys, treats, towels, blankets, zip-lock bags, Tupperware and storage bins, litter boxes, paper towels, batteries, and much more.
The middle school athletics program at the CREC Two Rivers Magnet School, in addition to four other CREC middle schools, was started just last year. The program was carefully designed to be an extension of the district’s academic programming, including using athletics as an avenue to get CREC students more involved in the community. “CREC Two Rivers Magnet High School has great players on and off the court and represent the Two Rivers moral code of BARK - Belief, Awareness, Respect and Kindness,” explained Coach Anderson. “The athletes have encouraged and inspired others to get involved and do more for the community.”
Participating students reside in many surrounding towns, including East Hartford, Glastonbury, Bloomfield, Hartford, South Windsor, Wethersfield, and Manchester. The CREC Two Rivers spring sport teams – baseball, softball and outdoor track –will select another project to support in the coming months.
More information about the Connecticut Humane Society can be found at www.cthumane.org/.
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The confluence of the Connecticut and Hockanum Rivers serves as an ever-changing laboratory for the CREC Two Rivers Magnet School. Students engage in traditional academics paired with a focus on environmental science and environmental engineering. With environmental sciences and technology as its unifying theme, the school prepares its graduates for higher education and careers in science, technology, engineering or mathematics. Two Rivers Magnet School is an Interdistrict magnet school enrolling students in grades 6-12.
The Capitol Region Education Council was established in 1966.Working with and for its member districts, CREC has developed a wide array of cost-effective and high-quality programs and services to meet the educational needs of children and adults in the region.CREC regularly serves 36 towns in Greater Hartford, offering more than 120 programs to more than 150,000 students annually. CREC manages more than 35 facilities throughout the area, including 19 interdistrict magnet schools. More information about CREC or CREC’s award-winning Magnet Schools is available at www.crec.org.
From left to right: Barbara DeBellis-Naugle of the CT Humane Society, A. J. Helmin, Amare Kelly, Anthony DiNapoli, Coach Ryan Anderson, and Kassondra Ashley
CREC Two Rivers student-athlete, Kassondra Ashley loads donations into a car to go to the CT Humane Society.
Capitol Region Education Council www.crec.org