A community celebration of “collaboration, creativity, caring, and support,” had apple imagery all over Newtown for the weekend of May 29 for the Newtown Public Schools “At Our Core” event.

The event invited the entire community to recognize the hard work, effort, and accomplishments of students, teachers, and caregivers in a challenging year, according to a release for the event. People were encouraged to take part by using “apple imagery, creations, or thoughtful messages throughout the town.” People were invited to decorate their yards, windows, driveways, and more. Local businesses took part, too — like Castle Hill Chocolate, which sold limited-edition chocolate apple pie bonbons, and Farmhouse Restaurant, which offered a half-price apple tart on May 29.

The district’s PEAC (Parent Educator Advisory Council) and members of local PTAs were behind the creation and the event. The apple image was chosen as a symbol of wisdom, teaching, and health.

Participants were asked to take pictures of their creations and submit them by e-mail and post them to social media. A website, sites.google.com/newtown.k12.ct.us/atourcore, was created for the event, and it now has pages of submitted images and videos to scroll through. A “NewtownAtOurCore” Instagram account was also created and people were encouraged to use “#AtOurCore!” to participate with posts.

Then there were the “apple ambassadors,” individual educators and supporters who answered the district’s call for people to wear costumes and stand around town. According to reports, the apple ambassadors embraced the endeavor enthusiastically.

Reflecting on the weekend in a phone interview on June 1, Superintendent of Schools Dr Lorrie Rodrigue said, “It was really quite amazing.”

The effort received “hundreds and hundreds” of submitted images, videos, poems, artistic representations, and more.

“It was better than expected,” the superintendent said.

And the event came at a time when a positive experience may mean a lot to many. Dr Rodrigue said it was a positive way to celebrate the near-end of the school year.

Dr Rodrigue noted the event was a celebration, a recognition, and an appreciation of all the caregiving, teaching, and learning underway.

In a message to parents and district staff following the event, Dr Rodrigue wrote, “We appreciate all the contributions we received during the launch of At Our Core on Friday, May 29. Thank you for the unique artwork, musical performances, positive sentiments, and family [pictures] you shared with us. Your artistry became part of a rich tapestry of ‘apple-inspired’ images that showed a unified recognition of teachers, caregivers, and the core values that define our school community.”

“We are a caring, compassionate, and resilient community... and teaching and learning is important,” Dr Rodrigue shared by phone.

Newtown High School theater arts/English language arts teacher and auditorium manager Janice Gabriel oversaw the creation of the At Our Core website and helped oversee the submissions and social media posts. Gabriel also created the logo for the event, and she said the entire At Our Core initiative took a “team effort to plan everything out.”

“It was incredible to see the town come together,” Gabriel said in a phone interview on June 1. “I think it was the perfect timing for something like this to be done, when people are looking for something to unify, something to be a part of, after two months of being sort of in solitary.”

For Gabriel, the immediacy with which people shared submissions was impressive, and she particularly loved the submissions sent directly from proud students.

For the event, teachers could also share resources with students and resources were posted on the At Our Core website to offer some apple-themed ideas, according to Gabriel.

“I think it was all around a great event at a perfect time in Newtown,” said Gabriel.

Jenn Padilla participated in the At Our Core event both as a member of PEAC and as the PTA president at Hawley Elementary School. She described a group effort to create the event, and she said T-shirts were available for people to purchase on the event’s website while available.

In a phone interview on June 1, Padilla said she saw many unique creations for At Our Core, including apple imagery on doors, on mailboxes, and on painted boulders. Small painted rocks, she said, were placed on a walking path at Fairfield Hills.

“For me, it kind of lit me up from the inside to see everybody connecting in their own way with the community around them... and it wasn’t just the schools doing it,” Padilla reflected. Later she added, “I’m hoping that we will continue to find ways for the community to come together like this. And I know the PEAC council is already thinking about that as well. Community is incredibly important to us.”