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HFM leaders'
message to staff: Working together is what makes us great
 At
the end of what HFM BOCES Board President Robert Townsend
termed "the most difficult and challenging year" in the
organization's history, he and other keynote speakers at
HFM's Closing Day reminded BOCES staff members that HFM will
continue to be strong if they work together.
Mr. Townsend's statement referred to the loss of Dr.
Geoffrey Davis, who served as HFM's district superintendent
for 14 years before succumbing to cancer on April 1, and
William Finch, a 10-year member of the HFM BOCES Board of
Education who passed away on Oct. 28.
'Hold hands and stick together'
At the start of her address to staff, Dr. Lorraine
Hohenforst, HFM's assistant superintendent and chief
operating officer, requested a moment of silence for the two
lost leaders. She then proceeded to remind staff members of
all the valuable lessons from Robert Fulghum's 1988 classic
All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
that are still applicable today:
- Share with others: "We as a
BOCES know this very well. We share services, knowledge and
information."
- Play fair: "Playing fair —
or working together — is fundamental to our ongoing success."
- Watch for traffic, hold hands and
look out for each other: "We have challenges that
we're facing, but we can navigate them together."
- Learn from Dick & Jane that the most
important word is look: "Look forward and
back. Take what we've learned and move forward."
Dr. Hohenforst used the Dick & Jane reference to
also remind staff members to literally look where they're going.
She told them that, in the last eight years, HFM has had almost
200 hurt-at-work claims. "So, as we look forward, make sure we
know where we're going."
She asked staff members to take some time this
summer to notice moments of wonder and to work toward living a
balanced life. Her final words of wisdom from Fulghum were, "hold
hands and stick together."
"Our organization is great because we stick
together."
'Be thankful... Be proud'
"We're at the end of an era," said HFM BOCES
interim superintendent Mark Vivacqua who, in his address, reminded
staff members of things they should be thankful for. "However, a
wise person once said, 'Thankful people don't cry for what's lost;
they're thankful for what was.'"
Mr. Vivacqua told staff members that they should
join him in being proud to be civil servants, "especially in
schools."
"Every ill and woe in society comes to school
because every child comes to school, and we work to make things
better," Mr. Vivacqua said. "We serve students who are underserved
and provide services that are difficult for individual districts
to provide. You should be proud to work at a BOCES, especially
this one."
Mr. Vivacqua, who is the district superintendent
at Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Ostego BOCES, told staff members they
were fortunate to work at HFM because of the "splendid
relationship" HFM BOCES has with its "very supportive" component
school districts, and because of its "excellent administrative
staff."
Looking to the future
"HFM continues to rise above adversity," Mr. Townsend said
in his opening remarks. He told staff members that a study
is currently underway that will determine the fate of HFM as
an independent BOCES.
"Our neighboring BOCES and our 15 component school districts
all support the independence of HFM," he said. In a letter
to the State Education Department (SED), Mr. Townsend said
that he wrote of HFM's "demonstrated commitment to
excellence," its role as "the most cost-effective provider
of shared services," and provided justification for
maintaining the current structure:
- "There is no educational benefit to
reorganization."
- "We have surpassed the mandates of the
original study (conducted in 1995, which confirmed the
desirability of HFM's existence as an independent BOCES)."
- Merging HFM with a neighboring BOCES "would
cost more for our component districts and drive down
enrollment."
Although he is still waiting for a response from
SED, Mr. Townsend said that he was "extremely confident that on
opening day, we'll be starting a new chapter of excellence in HFM
BOCES history."
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