To the Editor:

As a fourth-grade teacher at Voorheesville Elementary School, I strongly support Tricia Putman for the Voorheesville School Board. Over the past 10 years teaching at Voorheesville Elementary, I have witnessed Tricia’s drive to help make the school and community an engaging place for our students to learn and grow.

Tricia started up our Good Eats program over 10 years ago. The program teaches children about healthy new foods that they might want to try. At first, just the primary grades partook in this program, but over the years it has grown to a program for kindergartners through fifth-graders that every class participates in.

My students look forward to Good Eats each month. Tricia is wonderful with the children she teaches. She has a way of explaining things in a way that children can understand and relate to.

Tricia starts out each session with some information about the new fruit or vegetable. From there, the children get to try the fruit or vegetable. As a follow-up, Tricia always has a game to test the students’ new knowledge.

My students loved one of this year’s sessions about mushrooms. Although 90 percent of the kids did not like mushrooms (there was a lot of spitting them in the garbage), they were still fascinated by the mushrooms that we grew in our classroom. The Good Eats Team ordered kits for each grade level to grow their own mushrooms. Each day, different students had the opportunity to spray the mushrooms with water. The kids were amazed by how fast the mushrooms grew!

Tricia also incorporates curriculum into her program where she can. For example, in fourth grade, we spend a great deal of time learning about the Iroquois. Tricia decided it would be neat to teach the students about the Three Sisters Garden (corn, beans, squash) that the Iroquois grew.

After planning with teachers and later teaching the students about the Three Sisters, she took them outside to Blackbird Paradise Garden (which she also volunteers to maintain), to plant their own Three Sisters Gardens. Each class in fourth grade got to plant their own garden. The highlight of this exercise was burying the dead fish heads first, an Iroquois tradition for feeding the soil.

Tricia loves teaching children new things, and works so closely with the teachers to connect what is going on in the classroom, to the Good Eats Program. Her ability and motivation to teach children in our community about healthy new foods displays her desire to make learning fun and engaging for our community’s youngest learners. It is important to note that Tricia’s children are in high school, and she still enthusiastically continues this program.

Tricia serves as an advocate for our students, teachers, and community members. She attends every board meeting, and other meetings such as curriculum and facilities/grounds. She listens to what is being discussed and asks carefully-thought-out questions at board meetings, for clarification about items being discussed and gives input where necessary.

Her questions allow the community to better understand what is going on within the district. Tricia is able to keep parents who are not able to attend board meetings in the loop. Tricia is extremely well informed about how the district runs, topics that are being discussed, curriculum being implemented, etc.

There are many other ways that Tricia has contributed to the Voorheesville School District and community. She served as an Odyssey of the Mind Coach for five years. She also was a key player in the fundraising and planning of the new playground.

Tricia ran and maintained the school’s garden, Blackbird Paradise, from 2010 to 2018, when Dr. Alan Fiero took over. She also helped start the district’s Farm to Schools Initiative. Tricia is treasurer of the Voorheesville Community and School Foundation Board.

Outside of the school setting, she is a member of the Indian Ladder Team, where she assists in managing their summer programs and runs Baby Animal Days. As an added bonus, Tricia is a certified public accountant with over 20 years of experience in creating and managing budgets; this extensive knowledge would be extremely beneficial in assisting the district in developing its budget each year. 

In conclusion, Tricia is an ideal candidate for school board. You cannot find a more qualified and devoted person to serve on our school board. Please vote for Tricia via mail-in vote by June 9! 

Caitlin Willsey Rice

Fourth-grade teacher

Voorheesville Elementary