Northern Adirondack Central School Highlights
Northern Adirondack FAST Families
by Christine Brudvig, December 2009
We are pleased to announce that because of our support from the Safe Schools/ Healthy Students project, Northern Adirondack was able to offer the FAST (Families and Schools Together) Program to our elementary families for the first time since 2003. Our families have been waiting a long time to be able to have this program again. Through the “Communities of One” initiative, seven wonderful families, with a total of twenty children, were able to participate in FAST.
With today’s society being so busy, it is often hard to find time to do things together as much as we would like. FAST is a program that provides the busy family with a great opportunity to spend quality time together. It is an eight-session family enrichment program that strengthens family, school and community relationships. During FAST, families share a meal with other families, do fun activities with their children, and meet and exchange ideas with other parents. Children are encouraged to make new friends, play games and do activities with other children. Parents are provided with the opportunity to strengthen family relationships, build strong networks with other families and get to know school and community members on a more personal level.
It was heart warming to see how all of the families were able to build special relationships with their children, other families and our school. We all were able to share that special bond and our lives have been touched forever. You can’t put into words the true value of a face of a child who is beaming as they share with great pride the meal that their family prepared for all of the FAST Families. When you hear the laughter and see the smile of a parent and child who are engaged in the “Special Play Activity,” it helps remind us that life is truly about the love of people around us and how it is so important to spend quality time showing each other how much we care. Sometimes it is the simplest things that mean so much to us and those are the things that seem to instill a long-lasting memory in our hearts and in our minds.
It cannot go without stating that the energetic and positive role of the FAST team is crucial in the development and delivery of a strong program. A ‘special thank you” goes out to the great individuals who dedicated many hours of their time and energy to ensure that NAC FAST Families would be a great success. Thank you also to the families for giving us an opportunity to get to know you in a way that will always leave a long-lasting impression in our hearts. You are truly wonderful people who dearly love your children. Finally, it is both inspiring and touching to mention the families and their children that continue to inquire about FAST. It is a true testament that FAST really does work.
If you have at least one child who is in kindergarten through third grade, your entire family can participate in FAST. For those who have already participated in FAST, your family is also eligible to join FAST Works.
For information on these programs please contact Christine Brudvig - 518-594-3986 ext. 2114, the NACS Site Coordinator.