Groton’s Billie Downs spearheads enrichment for students

Although a rural school with fewer than 1,000 students, Groton Central School (GCS) is able to offer its students a plethora of opportunities, thanks to its creative and forward-thinking leadership as well as faculty and staff who enthusiastically step up to the proverbial plate to turn ideas into reality.

With Superintendent Margo Martin leading the charge for the past seven years, GCS has been able to build a STEAM learning center, partner with the Park Foundation to establish the Groton HARVEST initiative and garner more additional grants than there is space here to list.

Billie Downs, GCS K-12 district coordinator, has been instrumental in obtaining many of the “too many to list” grants that the district has been privileged to receive — including the most recent grant through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ARP-ESSER). Downs is also the mastermind behind some amazing programs for students that are being created as a result.

Downs is in her eighth year as an administrator at GCS in various roles: athletic director, associate principal and then principal of the Jr./Sr. High School and now the K-12 district coordinator.

Downs explained that in her current role, she is responsible for marketing, human resources, registrar functions, data integrity, teacher observations, grant writing and now enrichment programming — thanks to the ARP-ESSER grant. This grant stipulates that the funds be used for enrichment to help alleviate the learning gaps many students are dealing with due to ramifications of the pandemic.

“I also oversee the Early College High School grant, in which we were awarded $800,000 to provide our students with a very unique and robust college and career prep program,” Downs said. “Students earn between 24 and 60 college credits during their four years of high school. They also participate in 90 additional hours of college and career-focused programming each year to ensure they graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful at the postsecondary level without the need for remedial courses.”

Downs further explained that GCS will be using the ARP-ESSER funds specifically to create extended school day (after school, nights, weekends and school breaks) and extended school year (summer) programming designed to tap into student interests and passions to drive learning.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to use ARP-ESSER funding to create new enrichment programming that will disguise learning within fun activities to ignite students’ passion for learning and create more meaningful and relevant connections to classroom concepts,” Downs said. “By creating high-interest activities for students to engage in after school and during the summer, we will reduce the ‘summer slide’ learning regression that naturally occurs over the summer.”

Downs added that by “blitzing students with fun and engaging activities” that reinforce math, English language arts, science and social standards, “we will help close the learning gaps created by the pandemic.”

Downs further explained how these programs will incorporate social and emotional learning (SEL) principles to help students build their resilience, practice self-care and create strong and supportive relationships with their peers and instructors.

“We have surveyed students, parents and teachers to create some amazing enrichment programs for students to enjoy, including a ‘Travel the World in a Week” culture camp, Exotic and Enduring Animals, Woodworking, STEM, LEGO Masters, Baking Buddies, Farm Hands, Lifetime Fitness and more,” Downs said.

Just like the lack of space here to list all the grants Downs has had a hand in bringing to GCS, the range of student programs that she has planned is also more than could be listed here. Students from kindergarten through 12th grade will be offered numerous programs going forward.

Information about the programming will be available at the end of April via the District Bulletin as well as on the Groton Central School Facebook page and its website grotoncs.org.

“One of the spinoff programs under the ARP-ESSER funding that is near and dear to my heart as a former business teacher is our new Groton Summer Internship Program,” Downs said. “Our goal is to give students a glimpse into various careers they are interested in before they decide on their post-high school plans. What better way to figure out what you want to do with your life than to do it?”

Helping students avoid a common pitfall — spending a ton of money and time studying for a career they have never experienced only to learn later on that it is not what the textbooks said it was — is one of the driving factors behind the creation of the internship program.

Internships allow students to put classroom concepts into action, hone their technical and soft skills, build their professional network, reflect deeply on their interests and discover their true passions.

“We are looking for local businesses to partner with us to offer meaningful and personalized learning experiences that allow our students to explore careers or areas of interest that are not available in the traditional education setting,” Downs said. “We believe experience is one of the best teachers a student can have. Our hope is that the internship placement will be one of the most valuable learning experiences in a student’s high school career.”

Internships will be limited to rising 11th- and 12th-graders and are scheduled to begin the week of July 11 and end the week of Aug. 12. Students must work a minimum of 20 hours per week, or 100 hours over the summer, and may be paid or unpaid. Specific days and times will be agreed on by the employer and student. However, every Friday morning, interns must attend a mandatory mentor meeting with the internship coordinator.

If you are a business owner and have a place for a student intern this summer, contact Downs at bdowns@grotoncs.org or (607) 898-4595.

Groton on the Inside appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com or text or call Linda at (607) 227-4922.

In brief:

Celebrate Easter together

Groton Assembly of God, 701 S. Main St., welcomes the community to attend its Easter celebrations April 17. There will be an uplifting sunrise service at 7 a.m. at Stonehedges Golf Course, 549 Stevens Rd., and services at both 9 and 11 a.m. at the church, with inspiring music and worship and the illustrated sermon, “Why Believe,” given by Pastor Sam Neno.

Groton Senior Club

The Groton Senior Club will hold its monthly lunch and meeting at the Center Village Court housing complex, 200 W. South St., April 27 beginning at 12:15 p.m. All are welcome, and the event is open to senior citizens from anywhere, not just Groton.

Membership in the club is a $12 annual fee, but first-time attendees are under no obligation to join. Everyone is asked to bring a dish-to-pass and your own place setting for the meal. Lunch will officially begin at 12:30 p.m., followed by entertainment and a short meeting. This month’s featured singer and musician is Josh Dwyer.

Library events

The Groton Public Library (GPL) will host a free community meal at 5:30 p.m. April 19 with ham, side dishes and dessert. Meals may be picked up in the Great Room.

The GPL Garden Club will begin April 20 at 6:30 p.m. Gather in the Great Room for all things gardening.

The GPL Book Club will meet at 7 p.m. April 21, also in the Great Room.

This month’s focus is continuing a discussion of “The Warmth of Other Suns” by Isabel Wilkerson. Call (607) 898-5055 or email director@grotonpubliclibrary.org to get your copy.