Future Teachers

Student members of the MTA recently donated their time to rehabilitate the Walter J. Paton School in Shrewsbury. The May 3, 2008, event, “Outreach to Teach,” was spearheaded by the Student Education Association of Massachusetts at Westfield State College in tribute to classmate Elizabeth Connolly, a teaching major who died in an accident in July 2007. Connolly attended the Paton School, where her mother, Barbara, is a fourth-grade teacher. MTA members, college students from across the state, community residents and Connolly family members were among the hundreds of volunteers who contributed to the community service project. The volunteers, including the Westfield State students pictured working on the playground, spent the day performing a variety of jobs. They also created a garden that includes a bench, a tree and a plaque in Liz Connolly’s memory.