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Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

Thumbs up to Mary Ann Kuzmin, a Jamestown woman who has been volunteering at Hospice of Warren County for 20 years. Spurred to action after her husband was enrolled in Hospice of Warren County in 1997, Kuzmin started as a secretary before putting her skills cutting hair to use at the Hospice House in Warren when the position became available. Kuzmin said knowing she can make a difference for patients during their end-of-life journeys is a “very rewarding experience. Seeing the smile come on their faces after I’m done,” she said, is what it’s all about for her. But she also enjoys providing more than just haircuts to comfort patients. “I’ve learned how to share my compassion with patients,” she said, “and I’m able to share my faith with people who are open to that.” It is dedicated volunteers like Mary Ann Kuzmin who make our community a special place to live.

Thumbs down to a ranking that reinforces what we already know — that Jamestown and Dunkirk struggle to educate themselves. A recent Buffalo Business First ranking of a ZIP code’s educational attainment showed Jamestown ranked a dispriting 173rd in Upstate New York with 87.2 percent of adults obtaining their high school diplomas, 19.5 percent obtaining a bachelor’s degree and 7.9 percent of adults in Jamestown earning an advanced degree. Dunkirk ranked 188th with 85.8 percent of adults achieving a high school diploma, 16.9 achieving a bachelor’s degree and 8.5 achieving an advanced degree. Economic development gets our county nowhere if its residents don’t have the education necessary for the jobs coming in.

Thumbs up to a group of Falconer Central School students who are planning a trip to the Dominican Republic in July for a service project. Members of the school’s Key Club, which is affiliated with Kiwanis International, are raising money for the project and are accepting donations from the community as well. Donations can be made by check, payable to Falconer Key Club, and sent to Falconer Central School, 2 E. Avenue N., Falconer, NY 14733. Falconer students will work with students from around the world to build aqueducts and bring running water to the villages. Previous student volunteers have already constructed seven aqueducts and worked on a system to filter waste water, which helps protect the longest river in the Caribbean. Kudos to the students, their parents and their Key Club advisers. There are easier ways for teenagers to spend a summer. It’s nice to see students so interested in making a difference in the world around them.

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