Bishop Dunn Memorial School
Mount students create ‘Little Free Library’ for Bishop Dunn
Photos by Lee Ferris
Thanks to the efforts of the Mount’s Sigma Tau Chapter 451 of Kappa Delta Pi (KDP), the young students of Bishop Dunn Memorial School can now sharpen their reading skills with their very own Little Free Library.
Situated outside of Bishop Dunn, near the school’s sensory garden, the Little Free Library contains dozens of books that students can borrow whenever they would like.
Students from Bishop Dunn and the Mount gathered for a ribbon cutting ceremony during the Fall 2024 semester. Fr. Gregoire Fluet, vice president for Mission and Ministry at the Mount, blessed the new library.
“I need to tell you how proud I am of all the KDP students who helped, because their work has made this happen,” noted KDP counselor Sonya Abbye-Taylor, associate professor of Education and Chair of the Division of Education at the college. “Their collective work has been absolutely incredible, and so are you [the students of Bishop Dunn].”
Bishop Dunn principal and Mount alumna Nancy Benfer echoed Taylor’s enthusiasm for the new library: “Dare to dream it when you’re an educator, and it can happen,” she said.
The Mount’s KDP is dedicated to service-learning in the local community. It promotes excellence in, and recognizes outstanding contributions to, the field of education. The society endeavors to maintain a high degree of professional fellowship among its members, quicken professional growth, and honor achievement in educational work.
Bishop Dunn, on the Mount campus, was founded in 1883. The school is committed to the academic, spiritual, emotional, social, and physical development of children, pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. Mount Education students do fieldwork at the school, under the guidance of seasoned Bishop Dunn faculty.
Sweetest race in the Hudson Valley earns $20,000 for Bishop Dunn scholarships
Photos by Lee Ferris
Bishop Dunn Memorial School (BDMS) hosted its sixth annual Cupcake 5K Run/Walk on the Mount campus this fall, raising $20,000 for scholarships and improvements to the school.
Students, parents, faculty, and members of the community came together to make the 2024 Cupcake 5K the most successful one yet, with about 200 race participants – including Mount President Dr. Robert Gervasi. Also in attendance were Evan Merkhofer, interim vice president of Academic Affairs, Fr. Gregoire Fluet, vice president for Mission and Ministry, and Nikki Khurana-Baugh, vice president for Advancement.
There were races for both adults and children, as well as plenty of cupcakes to go around.
Volunteers helping to run the event included BDMS parents, Mount faculty and staff, and students from the college’s swim team and Kappa Delta Pi, the international honor society in education. In addition, local K104 radio personality Skywalker was on-hand with fun activities and prizes throughout the morning.
“The vitality of our BDMS community, the Mount, and the greater Hudson Valley were on full display,” said Nancy Benfer, Bishop Dunn Memorial School principal. “I was truly impressed by the extraordinary volunteerism which comes from the hearts of our Bishop Dunn Memorial School families, Mount Saint Mary College students, BDMS staff, and MSMC staff that made this event such a resounding success.”
She added, “This achievement would [also] not have been possible without the overwhelming support of over 30 local businesses who made this event a reality.”
Bishop Dunn kindergartners publish drawings in ‘Me and My Family’ book
For a lot of authors, getting published in a book is an accomplishment that can take decades.
For Colleen Middlemiss’s kindergarten class of 2023 at Bishop Dunn Memorial School, it was a feat that only took a few months.
Nearly 20 of Middlemiss’s students had their artwork published in the 2024 book Me and My Family Featuring Special Sister and I. The publication boasts illustrations by children from all over the United States.
The Young Artists group, the organization behind Me and My Family, runs national art contests for children – in this case, kids from four to seven years old. The children were asked to create portraits of themselves with their family members, including pets.
They received thousands of entries from across the country, with the winners being printed in Me and My Family. The artwork from Bishop Dunn comprises an entire chapter of the book.
“All the pictures of their families – it’s adorable,” said Middlemiss. “The details are great!”
