“Learn, grow, and do good things.”
That’s the motto of Dr. Tom Bennett of Rindge, who said that mindset is the path to both happiness and success. Embodying that motto makes Bennett the Hometown Hero for the Ledger-Transcript for the month of February.
A former internal medicine physician, Bennett is an assistant professor of Health Sciences at Franklin Pierce University, and was nominated as a Hometown Hero by Reuben Duncan, the superintendent of the Jaffrey-Rindge Cooperative School District, for his long commitment to partnership between the two school communities.
In particular, Bennett helped to found and is currently leading the Inquiry Scholars program, a collaboration between Franklin Pierce, Rindge Memorial School and Jaffrey Grade School.
Started as a student project years ago, Bennett said Inquiry Scholars was initially an FPU student group in 2015 that wanted to delve deeper into research projects. The club branched out with a junior Inquiry Scholars program, which still exists. The program pairs volunteer students from FPU with elementary students from either Rindge Memorial School or Jaffrey Grade School (each school taking turns) to get them excited about the concepts of research. In the past, the program has included more advanced projects for middle and high school-aged students.
The young students, guided by their college-age mentors, choose a topic to research — which Bennett said can be anything from their favorite pop star to a scientific concept — and put together a poster about what they learned. The posters are then professionally printed. The students also present their work, along with their mentors, at a student showcase held at Franklin Pierce.
“This gives the college students opportunity for a lot of growth, and to come out of their shell,” said Bennett. “I’ve had students who have gone into teaching after this experience.”
He said the program was paused during COVID, but was brought back as a result of the efforts of FPU student Raven Groblewski, having gone through it herself as a student in the Jaffrey-Rindge, and now wanted to give back through the other side.
Bennett said that shows the impact this kind of partnership can have.
“There are so many smiles in the Inquiry Scholars room,” he said. “There’s an immediate connection and enjoyment in learning.”
Inquiry Scholars is not the only way Bennett has been part of the Jaffrey-Rindge community. His four children went though the school system, and Bennett has served as an assistant coach for their athletic teams, including soccer, softball and tennis.
A now-defunct day camp held at Franklin Pierce University, known initially as QUEST, and then BEST, was a partnership between the Jaffrey-Rindge Rotary, the school district and Franklin Pierce. For several years, Bennett served as one of the co-directors for the program.
Bennett has also worked with other FPU educators, including Director of Education Joan Swanson on other collaboration projects between the college, Jaffrey-Rindge Education Foundation and local school district, such as the Writing Nest, a mentor partnership similar to Inquiry Scholars, where college students mentor young students on creative writing projects, and recording their stories as a podcast.
Bennett has made several service trips abroad through FNE International, including taking Franklin Pierce students to Nicaragua to build housing, and to the Dominican Republic to help with health care education.
He serves on the board of Cedarcrest Center for Children with Disabilities in Keene, and has formerly served as its chair.
Within the Franklin Pierce community, Bennett serves on several boards and committees, including as vice president of the Franklin Pierce University and the Rindge Faculty Federation, and is on the review board and general education committee.
He said that when he retired from his medical practice and moved to Rindge from Pennsylvania, his wife encouraged him to become more involved in service. He has taken those opportunities as they’ve come.
“Since being in the Jaffrey-Rindge community, there’s been a lot of those opportunities for service, and I’ve jumped in whenever I can,” Bennett said. “Working at Franklin Pierce has been a real benefit, because it’s very service-oriented and involved in the community.”