Reminder Publishing submitted photo
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
Longmeadow resident Amy Baxter and Wilbraham resident Christine Goonan were recently celebrated as part of the 2024 class of Commonwealth Heroines by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women.
Both were part of more than 125 women honored this year by the organization for contributions to their communities. Candidates were selected by their local state legislator to be part of the class with each legislator only recommending one woman, the MCSW said.
Baxter and Goonan have now joined the more than 2,000 Massachusetts women honored by the commission since the start of the Commonwealth Heroines in 2004, the MCSW stated.
Amy Baxter
Nominated by state Rep. Brian Ashe (D-Longmeadow), Baxter was awarded the Commonwealth Heroine award for her work to improve animal welfare legislation through crafting a bill to better kennel safety across the state, she said.
Baxter first began advocating for animal welfare after her seven-month-old labradoodle Ollie died in November 2020 following an attack by other dogs while under the supervision of a pet daycare in East Longmeadow, she explained.
In the past three years, Baxter has worked with a team in support of a bill known as Ollie’s Law. The bill works to support pet owners, pet daycare owners and pets by ensuring all daycares have a relationship with a local vet hospital, requiring all pet daycares to have an emergency plan and creating a public database of injuries for consumers to review, Baxter said.
She highlighted that it was “really moving” to be selected as a Commonwealth Heroine, stating that “it was a great honor.” Baxter attended the June 14 ceremony with her 17-year-old daughter, Ashe and his staff after being notified of the selection by email.
“It was really humbling to be all around those women,” Baxter said, explaining that she enjoyed speaking with the other honored women and hearing of their work. Awardees ranged from age 18 to 98 and were selected from across the entire state.
While Ollie’s Law is currently in the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Baxter is hopeful that the bill will move forward in a few weeks.
“While this bill is at heart an animal welfare effort, it really is also aimed to protect workers and kennels,” Baxter said, emphasizing that the bill was not intended to hurt pet daycares but to help pets, daycare employees and consumers alike.
Currently, there is no statewide agency that oversees kennels. Additionally, while there is certain local legislation to protect animals, it is not consistent across the state, Baxter stated. She emphasized that S.2731 was a “great first step” and provides the opportunity for Massachusetts to be a leader in animal welfare, noting that injuries and deaths at pet daycares are “very preventable.”
Christine Goonan
Goonan was nominated by state Rep. Angelo Puppolo (D-Springfield) for her work to increase student access to coding and computer science with a specific focus on access for young girls, she said.
A teacher at Stony Hill Elementary School, Goonan has been a volunteer facilitator for nonprofit organization Girls Who Code for 10 years where she has worked to provide opportunities for students in grades 5-12 to take part in coding projects that help better their community.
The program, which typically draws about five to 14 students a year, aims to attract young girls and students of color who hadn’t seen computer science as a possible career path, Goonan explained. As a group, the participants create weekly goals and work together to design a product with basic code, such as an interactive book or an educational app to teach young children about nutrition.
While Goonan currently runs the program in partnership with the Wilbraham Public Library, she previously hosted it as an after-school program and a summer program at Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District. Now at the library, the program is able to reach students from across Western Mass, instead of only Hampden and Wilbraham, she highlighted.
Goonan first became involved with Girls Who Code after a student at Minnechaug Regional High School approached her about facilitating a computer science club at the school. Her coding program at WPL is completely free to students, only requiring students to have access to a device or an email, she said. Goonan emphasized how “supportive, wonderful and centrally located” the library has been for the program, stating that the program now has access to the computers at the library for students without devices to use. “It’s a win-win.”
Similar to Baxter, Goonan highlighted that her selection as part of the Commonwealth Heroines was “quite an honor.” She explained that she hadn’t heard of the Commonwealth Heroines prior to her selection and applauded the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women for its work to recognize women who went “under the radar.”
Any students interested in joining the coding program should visit the WPL website at wilbrahamlibrary.org for more information.
