Madelyn Pitts and Grace Short: Newest members of the Groton Board of Education

As of July 1, 2025, New York state requires any school district with a high school to include at least one ex-officio student member on its board of education. Groton Jr./Sr. High School (GHS) implemented a policy and process to appoint a member and an alternate to fulfill that requirement.

To that end, Madelyn Pitts, a rising junior, was selected to serve as the ex-officio student member, with Grace Short as the alternate. Short is a senior this fall. The girls made their debut at the Aug. 18 board of education meeting.

“Mady and I decided we wanted to take a more collaborative approach to the role, attending as many meetings as possible together, and have a part in writing the reports together,” Short said.

Both Pitts and Short are enrolled in ECHS (Early College High School), and each is also very involved in school. Pitts has been on the varsity bowling team and yearbook club and vice president of student council. She attended the Career Academy the past two summers. Short is vice president of the National Honor Society and a member of Future Farmers of America.  

The motivation…

“I was motivated to apply to become a student member of the board for a couple of reasons,” Short said. “Part of it was curiosity about the board and how they impacted the student body. The other part was wanting to give the students a voice, a student-driven outlet for them to express their concerns and thoughts, and to inform them of how their thoughts were being heard. It’s so often that students have a negative outlook of the board or administration because they don’t know that their worries and concerns are being taken seriously, and being in this role will hopefully allow me to create a bridge between the board and students.”

Pitts gives a lot of credit to her teacher, Scott Montreuil, and her parents for motivating her.

“I saw the advertisement outside of Mr. Montreuil’s classroom door for weeks,” she said, “but the day it was due, he convinced me to apply. I needed a little help filling out the application, so I went to Mrs. [Beth] O’Brien, who helped me with the first part. After my student council meeting that afternoon, I stood outside and wrote the paragraph needed for the second part and turned it all in 10 minutes before it was due!”

The process…

“The process was relatively simple,” Short said. “I submitted an application, then I was interviewed by Mrs. [Margo] Martin, the superintendent, who asked me a series of questions regarding what I could bring to the students and board, my thoughts about various topics regarding the school, as well as how I thought I could execute this role to best accommodate the student body as a whole. I was approached by Mr. [Brian] Kavanagh, the principal, a couple of days later and told I was going to be one of the student representatives, specifically the alternate role.”

“The interview was a bit scary,” Pitts added, “but as soon as I sat down and Mrs. Martin and Mr. Kavanagh were asking me questions, it seemed natural, that I was in the right place, and wanting to learn more about how I can make a difference by having a voice on the board representing the student body.”

The result…

“I felt that my first meeting was very informative,” Pitts said. “I learned some things that I think the student body has a right to know, so they have more of an understanding of what goes on behind the scenes of the first few weeks of school. I plan on being a contributing member by sharing upcoming events from the school and what the students are thinking about. If they have any concerns about what is going on in the school, I plan on bringing them up to the board to get their attention about the concerns.”

“The meeting I attended was a good first meeting that showed me a lot about how the board operates,” Short said. “It was concise, but also thorough on the topics covered, and it was nice to see how [the board members] truly valued everyone’s input. It was also really neat to see how they value Groton’s students. I hope to contribute to the board by giving them reports gathered by us from the students that detail their concerns and ideas, so the board has a more direct line of communication and are better informed of the goings-on of the students.”

In brief:

Back-to-school carnival!

Groton Assembly of God, 701 S. Main St., is planning a back-to-school carnival on church property from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13 with fun for everyone. There will be free food, carnival snacks, inflatables, carnival-themed games for kids (with prizes guaranteed), adult giveaways, crafts, photo station and local meet-and-greets — and it’s all free!

Please take this survey from Groton Central School

The 21st Century Community Learning Center grant is a New York state grant of federal Department of Education monies. This summer, more than 225 students participated in 58 programs, ranging from gymnastics and piano and drum lessons to pottery and podcasting. Part of the grant’s evaluation process is parent and community feedback. This two-minute survey will allow Groton Central School to hear from families and make its programs even stronger. You can respond to the survey here: https://survey.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1yS8YOixDiutmpE.

Adult flag football

Sponsored by Groton Recreation, pick-up adult flag football games will begin Saturday, Sept. 13 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at Groton Memorial Park and will take place weekly through Nov. 8. Participation is open to anyone aged 15 and up. Contact recreation@grotonny.org for more information.