Northwood students read to St. Agnes School preschoolers. Photo: Northwood School/Instagram.
St. Agnes is Lake Placid’s only school specializing in early childhood education. For the past few weeks, Northwood School has sent students to read to the young students, play with them, and get to know them. Around 10 Northwood students go each week, which occurs during the students’ off period, so no school is missed. This is a great opportunity for Northwood students to give back to their community.
Northwood plans to interact with the students of St. Agnes all year, as the first few weeks went well. The St. Agnes teachers are very appreciative, and the Northwood students think it is a great experience. The St. Agnes kids love it.
Drew Donatello ’25 has gone both weeks. “It was a great experience to interact with children and remember how I was when I was a kid,” Donatello said. Drew said he got to read “Goodnight Zoo” the first week and he said the kids really seemed to enjoy it. The second week was spent playing on the playground with the kids because of the great weather. Drew said he can’t wait to go back and is happy that he can give back to his community.
Mrs. Leigh Riffle did all the behind-the-scenes work for this. She sent out a form for anyone interested and created a schedule to ensure students didn’t miss any class. Mrs. Riffle said that Northwood hadn’t sent students to St. Agnes since she had been here, and when asked what motivated her to set this up, she said, “I think we get wrapped up in our own world sometimes, and this reminds us that this community is so much bigger than just our school.” Riffle also mentioned that when she was a kid, she remembers looking up to the student-athletes in her hometown and is sure these kids feel the same. The Northwood students who have participated so far seem to have had a great time, which Mrs. Riffle expected. She also mentioned that Northwood students often get overwhelmed with athletics and schoolwork and that a nice break like this is great for them.
As the year goes on, the students of St. Agnes and Northwood will continue to build relationships and get to know each other. Mrs. Riffle plans to create a schedule that will allow Northwood to head over to the Preschool even during Northwood’s change to winter schedule.
