HPS staff cheered and danced their way into the new school year during an invigorating and inspiring back-to-school convocation in the Holyoke High School North gymnasium, the first time nearly all staff members have been together in one place for the start of the school year since 2019.
Sullivan School cheerleaders helped build school—and district!—spirit several times during the program. The gymnasium bleachers were a sea of colors, as colleagues from each school sat in sections together, wearing matching T-shirts, waving pom poms, and cheering in unison throughout the program, bringing some friendly competition to the morning’s proceedings to see who could cheer loudest and with the most enthusiasm.
“We have some of the most dedicated educators, the most flexible educators, the most empathetic educators, educators that persevere through unimaginable challenges,” said Superintendent Anthony Soto in his welcoming address. “More importantly, we have some of the most dedicated [individuals] to Holyoke Public Schools students.”
Superintendent Soto acknowledged Holyoke’s newest staff, those who have worked for the district for a year or two at most, and then offered his thanks and appreciation for the district’s more tenured staff, including therapist Patriciaa Lemieux with 45 years of service and E.N. White’s Roberta Duprey who has worked for HPS for 55 years.
For a musical interlude about halfway through the program, Holyoke STEM Academy music teacher Aaron DiPilla led a group of STEM Beat musicians in a percussive musical number blended with vocals and Interim Principal Kevin McGrath on electric guitar.
And then, it was the staff’s turn to perform!
Brendaliz Cepeda, Saul ElPulpo Peñaloza, and other musicians from Bomba de Aquí demonstrated a traditional dance routine and drumming to warm up the crowd and show them how Bomba is done.
Then school by school, staff members went to the front of the gym—solo or in small groups—as they performed dance moves, turned cartwheels, and repeatedly brought the house down with their spirited performances. While all of the volunteer dancers were met with wild applause from their colleagues, the Sullivan cheerleaders declared Dean Tech performers as the most inspiring of them all.
“I hope to inspire you with the power that you all have to make students feel connected, feel like they belong, and feel like you care about them,” said Superintendent Soto in closing, before students declared the school year officially begun.