LIBERTY, NY — Talking is important, said Dr. Patrick Sullivan, superintendent of the Liberty Central School District. “When you have more one-on-one conversations, you learn more.”

 But sometimes a district has to jump-start the process. It has to tell its stories to the people it serves, has to provide a table and chairs and maybe some snacks, so people can sit down and be comfortable. 

Then the conversations can get started.

The Liberty School District will host All Things Liberty from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, October 14 at the library.

The event is part of the Liberty PBA’s Fall Festival, which takes place on North Main Street.

All Thing’s Liberty isn’t your standard school activity. Stacy Feasel, the community schools coordinator, has organized games (with prizes) and a scavenger hunt. The district will also collect donations for the snack pack program, which provides healthy food and snacks for students who can’t get enough to eat.

And the new logo will be unveiled at 12 noon, reminding all that the school belongs to everyone.

School, in the community

Talk to Sullivan and you hear the word “connection” over and over. All Things Liberty is meant to build bridges that connect the school to people in the district. 

“The staff is engulfed in this work,” he said.

Sullivan and the district have been working with Liberty and its people, its first responders and more for a while now. 

When asked about connections he’s proudest of, Sullivan starts off with the police department and the school resource officers (SROs).

Joseph Poppo, James Simon and Adam Lake, the SROs, act as mentors, educators, first responders—and law enforcement officers if need be. 

“It’s social and emotional safety,” Sullivan said.

SUNY Sullivan is not far away, and a partnership program lets students earn college credits while still in high school. 

And during the festival, you’ll find All Things Liberty in front of the public library (189 N. Main St.) rather than at the school. 

Most of all, though, Sullivan talks about the staff at Liberty. 

“Our staff is so dedicated,” he said. They constantly ask “What can we do?”

Being visible

“It’s not only about what we do on paper,” the superintendent said, “but about who we are.” 

All Things Liberty started a few years ago as a way to share with the community what the district was doing.

The more the district tells its story, the more it explains what’s going on, the more likely it is that people will better understand what Liberty is about. 

“The school district cares.” Come see us, he said. “Come to our school.”

Or if not, “we’ll meet the community where the community is.” 

It can be tough to get people out to All Things Liberty, Sullivan acknowledged. And the pandemic, naturally, didn’t help. Maybe it got folks out of the habit of going to school things, or maybe families are presently caught up in the crush between work and life—and the school has to fight for a space.

“Everyone’s so busy,” Sullivan said. 

Meanwhile, the kids themselves do their bit. Just scroll through Liberty’s Facebook page. Here’s one example: students from Liberty Middle School helped plant trees that will shade future kids at the playground.

Changing the logo

“We did a study and the staff and the community voted,” Sullivan said. 

Those working on the change met with various grades and social studies classes. “We really heard what people were thinking.” 

And people were thinking it was time to abandon the concept of the Liberty Indians.

“We felt the Liberty Redhawks was an accurate reflection of the district,” Sullivan said.

Then there were mascot discussions. Other discussions. Talk, always, with as many members of the community as would sit awhile and share their thoughts.

The new logo—and the outreach and conversations it represents—will be unveiled at 12 noon during All Things Liberty.

“It’s something that Liberty can be proud of,” he said.

Learn more about what’s happening at the Liberty Central School District at the Fall Festival, or check the district’s Facebook page.

Find the Fall Festival on Facebook at Liberty PBA.

The challenges, the benefits

Rural schools pop up in the news sometimes, and not always for good reasons.

Poverty. Disengagement. Poor health. Angry parents. Low graduation rates that cement families into low-wage jobs or no job at all.

Liberty ticks some of the boxes. The National Center for Education Statistics lists the district’s median household income at just under $50,000—the median in the state is $75,000—and the poverty rate is 14.8 percent. Mid-Hudson Valley’s community profile page—a project of four regional philanthropic organizations—lists the high school graduation rate for the county at 78 percent in 2022. 

Students struggle with mental health, as do kids everywhere.

The district is working to change those numbers.

“The curriculum has been updated,” Sullivan said. “We have English as a Second Language in the high school. Liberty is a diverse community, but we have opportunities for enrichment.”

If students struggle with reading or math, there are supports in place. If the struggle is with mental health, there are programs in place to make sure kids get help.

The district has been reaching out to graduates. What do they think the school should do? How can it better prepare kids for college or for careers? “They’re identifying what we need,” he said.

But there are the benefits. “I know the students by name. I know the staff,” Sullivan said. “We have a close-knit school community.”

It comes down to Liberty pride.

“We’re here to support one another and the Liberty community as a whole,” he said.