PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It took 15-year-old Mister Shaw most of his life to learn that people can recover from tragedy. 

 

"After finding out my grandmother and baby sister had died in a tragic fire, I wasn't able to let things go," Shaw said. "I'd put up a struggle against anyone I thought was disrespecting my family but in all cases it wasn't really out of disrespect. I find it hard to let go of the tragedy of what happened."

 

Shaw was expelled from school for misbehaving. He then bounced around through agencies, institutions and foster families trying to control his behavior. On a daily basis he was causing disruptions and staff were concerned for their safety. His reputation grew and preceded him so that few would consider taking him in.

 

"There were many things that I did to get sent to Hillcrest. I had family problems. I was hanging around with the wrong crowd," Shaw said. 

 

Eventually he had a realization. 

 

"People in my life slowly started to walk out. All the people in my past, who I once cared about moved out of my life because of my actions," Shaw said. "I woke up one morning and said to myself 'I want to be the best I can be for myself and others to show people I can really change.'"

 

Now he's turning his life around with the help of Hillcrest Educational Centers and his stepfather. On Friday, he and other students in the residential program for the emotionally and behaviorally disturbed came to another realization — the state's Senate president also was a foster child. 

 

Sen. Stanley Rosenberg met with the students Friday before heading to the Country Club of Pittsfield, where he was honored by Hillcrest as its Irish Person of the Year.

 

"He shared with him about his background and I saw the kids take a step back. Here is a man who worked his way through a system and ultimately worked so hard that he becomes an incredibly, politically, active advocate for the kids and their rights," Hillcrest CEO Gerard Burke said. "It is just an amazing story all the way around."

 

The Amherst Democrat was recognized at the 15th annual Robert "Bees" Prendergast St. Patrick's Day reception at which hundreds of local business, cultural, political, and other leaders crowded the banquet hall. 

 

"We take our responsibility very serious and when you choose to honor any one of us, you choose to honor the entire institution and all of the members therein. Because it is together we understand the challenges and opportunities. Together we work on the solutions possible," Rosenberg said.

 

Burke highlighted Rosenberg's commitment to education and particularly the newly launched Kids First Initiative. Rosenberg said that plan is intended to take a "long view" look at children and ensure the entire continuum of care is being provided to the state's youth.

 

"We want to raise resilient children who become productive adults. We want to shift the paradigm from going from program to program and lurching from two years to two years and instead take a long view and think about how different this community will be — whether you are talk about Pittsfield or Berkshire County or the commonwealth of Massachusetts — if we understood that those first eight years of development of a child will determine the success for the rest of their lives," Rosenberg said.

 

The initiative looks to take an interdisciplinary look at all aspects of a child's life — mainly focused on pre-natal through the fourth grade — and identify strategies to support the state's youth.

 

"In each child there is promise; there is hope; there is something they can contribute to this world no matter their abilities, no matter their background. They will go somewhere and they will do something great in their lives," Rosenberg said.

 

Hillcrest plays a role in that initiative because some students need a different learning environment, Rosenberg said. 

 

Hillcrest also honored UNICO of Pittsfield on Friday with the Judge John A Barry Community Service Award for the thousands of dollars the Italian organization raises to help local charities and provide scholarships for students. 

 

"[Judge Barry] was very well respected and for us to be mentioned in the same sentence as Judge Barry is an absolute pleasure," said UNICO President Fran Marinaro. 

 

Marinaro later added, "we don't do it for the recognition but it does feel good when we get it." 

 

The annual celebration included a silent auction and dinner along with the award ceremony. Elected officials in attendance included state Sen. Benjamin Downing, state Reps. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Gailanne Cariddi and William "Smitty" Pignatelli, Sheriff Thomas Bowler, Mayor Linda Tyer, former Mayor Gerry Doyle, City Councilors Peter Marchetti, Melissa Mazzeo, Lisa Tully and Christopher Connell, and North Adams City Councilor Lisa Blackmer. State Senate candidates Andrea Harrington and Adam Hinds were both in attendance. Michael Bloomberg and Connell are both challenging Farley-Bouvier for a House seat and they, too, were in attendance.