Members, friends, and guests are invited to the KYT Annual meeting and potluck supper, which will be held at 5:30pm on Thursday, June 18 in the Community Room at the South Hadley Public Libary, 2 Canal Street.
Plan to come and bring a favorite dish (and a friend or two!), and enjoy a delicious meal and the company of friends and neighbors.
Our featured speakers are Emily Boddy and Susan Sullivan from Reconnect Western Mass. They will speak about their work to institute opening bell to closing bell cell phone free schools.
Susan Sullivan is a teacher at Northampton High School and has been advocating for phone-free school policy for many years. She co-founded and co-leads ReConnect Western MA. She has a particular interest in phone-free schools and addressing EdTech and one-to-one device use.
Emily Boddy is a mom in Northampton and a long-time advocate for more intentional use of technology for kids (and adults!). She co-founded and co-leads ReConnect Western MA. Additionally, she has served on the Distraction-Free Schools Policy Project MA state team since its inception, focusing on phone-free schools’ legislation. Emily also co-founded and co-leads Smartphone Free Childhood US, a national network of parent advocates supporting each other in pursuit of more intentional technology use in their homes, communities and schools. Emily has also been on national television on CNBC.
Susan and Emily have been advocating to enact a bell-to-bell phone-free school policy in Northampton Public Schools for over 18 months. They present regularly to and collaborate with school leaders and school committee members on this initiative. Join them for a talk about phone-free schools’ policy and state legislation, and a broader discussion about the harms of social media and smartphone use among young people. They will include national and local data, anecdotes and will welcome questions and discussion.
After the speakers and discussion/questions/conversation, we will recognize the Anne Battersby Scholarship Awardee, the Know Your Town Citizen of the Year Recipients, KYT members and friends who have been especially active in the organization during this past year and hold a very brief business meeting. We congratulate Douglas and Linda Young who were named Citizens of the Year at South Hadley’s Annual Town Meeting on May 13th. Thank you to KYT member Bob Judge, for chairing the award committee and making the presentation.
Please plan to attend and bring a guest or guests. A headcount is needed, so please rsvp to Martha Terry at: mterry@knowyourtown.org.
We hope to see you there!
— Updated June 14, 2026