The Guild for Human Services is launching a new family resource library and is encouraging parents and guardians to donate books, DVDs, magazines, brochures, pamphlets and other materials to give them a "second life" for use by other families.

Donated materials should be related to topics like parenting, autism, behavioral health, child mental health, child psychology, Down syndrome, special education and transitioning into adulthood.

In early 2020, Guild families will be able to borrow materials.

Eunice Demezier employs a unique method to calculate how long she has worked at The Guild for Human Services.

“When I started at The Guild, my daughter was six months old,” she explains with a laugh, “and now she’s a junior in college.”

Thanks to the MDS Foundation, The Guild School’s dental clinic will soon have a new comfortable and accessible examination chair.

Through its Targeted Grant program, the foundation recently made a $2,000 gift to The Guild to replace the aging chair now in use. The new Galaxy dental 3285 X-ray exam chair is due to arrive any day.

The Guild School offered a special curriculum this summer focused on land and water. Topics included the environment, wildlife, safety and habitats.

The curriculum featured classroom learning and projects, school-based activities, and community outings.

“The students really enjoyed our unique summer curriculum,” says Casey Russo, The Guild’s assistant director of curriculum and instruction. “I think they really appreciated the hands-on learning projects and the opportunity to further their learning during community-engagement outings.”

From jumping in the bouncy house to a competitive tug-of-war game, students, their families and staff celebrated the impending end of summer at The Guild’s 18th annual Field Day.

The pirates-themed day lightheartedly celebrated the summer curriculum topics of land and water. Along with a bouncy house, Field Day featured a dunk tank; lawn games; basketball; face-painting; arts and crafts; music; and swinging, sliding and spinning on the playground.

Every evening after dinner, Joe Johnson reaches for his cellphone and calls his twin grandsons – Justice at his Guild residence and Raekwon at Crotched Mountain School. “Grampy” enquires about their days, sings them each a song (“Old MacDonald Had a Farm” for Justice, “I Will Always Love You” for Raekwon) and then concludes the call with a familiar phrase that the boys sometimes complete themselves: “Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.”

The work is both enjoyable and meaningful. For Guild School student Korey Myers, that’s a “fruitful” combination.

Her title is chief education officer at The Guild School, but perhaps it would be more appropriate to refer to Annie Willis as chief student supporter/cheerleader.

Annie, who joined The Guild on July 22, enthusiastically embraces the school’s foundational commitment to integrating students into the communities where they live and learn through a wide variety of enrichment and engagement activities. Throughout her career in special education, she has pushed to ensure that individuals with disabilities are not segregated.

Antoinette “Annie” Willis will join The Guild as chief education officer on Monday, July 22, Chief Executive Officer Amy C. Sousa announced.

Students in Liz’s classroom learned an important lesson about goodwill this spring as they organized a bake sale at school and then presented the proceeds to a nearby animal shelter during their recent visit.