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Over the weekend of September 27th to the 29th, teaching assistant Dan Curtin attended his third annual Black Forest Star Party at Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania. Star parties give amateur as well as professional astronomers an opportunity to gathertogether to do what they love most, trade tips, equipment and experiences, and just have a great time. 2019 was the 21st annual such event held at the state park three hours due south of Rochester in the hills of Susquehannock State Forest, one of the darkestspots on the Eastern Seaboard. This year featured sparkling images of the constellation Orion, and quite a few shooting stars! Mr. Curtin encourages anyone with any interest in nature to try it some time, only $40 to register at http://www.bfsp.org/

Thank you Mr. Curtin for inspiring the Scienctist in all of us!

My name is Deserae and I’m an intern in the marketing department of the Work Based Learning program. I’ve been at the Villa of Hope campus school for almost two years now and I think the most helpful part of the Villa school is all of our support staff. The support staff at the school has been there for me every single day, on my good days and most importantly on my bad days. Trusting people has always been hard for me but I do genuinely trust the support staff because they’re always there for me to keep me going and pushing me to be the very best version of myself. These people have completely changed my life for the better because they have changed my negative attitude towards going to school into a positive one by helping me through some of my rougher patches in my life. I took some time to get pictures of myself with each support staff.

Mr. Ward

Mr. Ward has been working at the Villa School for 10 months as a support staff, his favorite part of the job is working with the youth and trying to positively impact their lives. He chose to come work at the Villa to help the youth. Some of his favorite things to do are watching movies, coaching sports and playing with his kids. One thing he wants people to know about the Villa is that despite what some people think there’s a lot of great kids here.

Mr. Sampson

Sampson has been working at the Villa School for 11 months as a support staff. His favorite part of the job is helping the youth get through difficult times in their lives. Sampson chose to work at the Villa because he loves working with the youth here and working with kids has always been a passion for him. Some of his favorite things to do are coaching football and basketball, playing video games, spending time with family and walking his dogs.

Mrs. Abbott

Mrs. Abbott has been working at the Villa for 6.5 years. Her favorite part of coming to work and being a support staff is building relationships with all the different students and she enjoys being able to help students get through the day when they have the most unimaginable things going on. Some of her favorite activities are spending time with her daughters, playing lacrosse, horseback riding and teaching her kids how to ride horses. One thing she wants people to know about the Villa is that it’s a place where people bring genuine empathy, compassion and love to youth that have been faced with many challenges and obstacles.

Mrs. Knight

Meet Shayla Knight, one of our school’s support staff! She has been working at the Villa for 4 years and she started off her time at the Villa working at the residential cottages on campus. She now works at the school and says that her favorite part of coming to work every day is seeing the youth here be successful, learn new coping skills and get good grades. At home she has 3 kids, 2 younger and one who recently graduated from college. She also runs a “Mini Villa” at home where she hangs out and takes care of some of the neighborhood kids. Working at Villa of Hope is Shayla’s dream job and she loves working with the youth here.

Ms. Wilson

Ms. Wilson has been working at the Villa for 5 years. Her favorite part of her job as a support staff is interacting with the kids and teaching them life skills and making a difference in their lives. She decided to work at the Villa because she’s been working with kids for a long time and she loves teaching kids skills that they can use in their lives. Some of her favorite hobbies include cooking, watching movies, singing, dancing, grilling and spending time with her family. One thing she wants people to know about the Villa is that, “you’re going to have your good days and your bad days, but if you love the kids and if you stay consistent and patient then the good days will eventually outweigh the bad.”

Mrs. Johnson

Mrs. Johnson has been working at the Villa School for 16 years. Her favorite part of her job as a support staff is being around the kids and seeing their smiling faces. Some of her hobbies include playing disc golf and spending time with her puppy. One thing she wants people to know about the Villa is that we do such good work for all the young people in the area, we instill hope and help them get a good education.

These support staff have been here for me everyday, and can always cheer me up. They have all positively impacted my life so much by helping me realize how important school is and that I have so many people at school who support me and want to see me succeed. Without their daily support, school would’ve been a lot harder for me, so I really appreciate everything that they do.