On Friday April 27th the Naugatuck High School Excel Club held their 3rd annual Pinwheel Ceremony. The ceremony was held in the morning after homeroom at 7:45 a.m.

The purpose of the ceremony was to bring awareness and prevention of child abuse and to honor the victims of school violence.

The ceremony was planned and held by four high school clubs: Excel Club, Naugatuck Youth Leaders, Gay-Straight Alliance, and The Future Project.  

Leading up to the ceremony the Excel Club sold T-shirts, bracelets, pins, and pinwheels and the funds were donated to the Naugatuck Partnership for Children and Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury.

Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury offers victims of domestic violence and sexual assault aid by providing free confidential services in a safe environment. Safe Haven of Greater Waterbury also strives to raise awareness through community education and outreach according to safehavengw.org, their website.

After an opening speech from Excel co-presidents, senior Kelly Carr and senior Jessica Komacki, all of the attendees of the ceremony placed dedicated pinwheels in front of a sign that honored the people who lost their lives to school violence.

“I was very proud first of all of our leaders at Naugatuck High School; that to me they’re still children but they are so responsible, and so active, and participating in all of their experiences that [the ceremony] was very moving, and it really renews me as a teacher,” said Ms. Kathryn Guglielmo, a science teacher at Naugatuck High School, who also spearheaded the ceremony. She serves as the faculty adviser of the Excel Club.

“What I’m really hoping what everyone gets from [the ceremony] is that abuse is not something to be ashamed of. It is something that needs to be addressed, and we all need to be aware of, and do whatever we can to help victims of violence and abuse throughout our nation.”

“The whole school violence thing is becoming more frequent, it’s kind of scary that it could happen here,” said Komacki. “For this to be the last big thing that we do [as seniors], that’s really special.”

“Hopefully every year more and more groups will come together and give attention to the month of April, Child Abuse Awareness [Month] deserves, and hopefully that it’ll give somebody the courage to speak up, or the courage to help somebody to remove the stigma [from child abuse],” said Ms. Guglielmo.