Students study genocide across districts

A group of students from Fitchburg High School traveled to Groton-Dunstable High School in November to participate in an academic symposium based on the state-mandated genocide curriculum.

FHS teacher Mark Arsenault teaches a course at the high school along with his colleague and fellow history teacher Alissa Campbell that focuses on genocide in world history and investigates the definition of genocide and possible origins of it.

Arsenault, who has been teaching at the high school for over 20 years, said the symposium was a unique opportunity for the students to interact with each other over the topic of genocide.

“This has never been done, having two schools from different socio-economic backgrounds come together,” he said. “Very rarely do teachers work with their students across different districts. I’m hoping this becomes more of a trend in education and other districts get involved.”

Arsenault said the course was launched at the school following former Gov. Charlie Baker signing a bill in December 2021 requiring “genocide or some sort of component of genocide study should be imbedded in high school curriculum.”

Several FHS students who attended the symposium shared their thoughts on it and the genocide course and what they are learning from it.

Junior Cameron Montalvo, 17, said the course is helping him “understand genocide and the concept of it.”

“I believe it gave more insight on how genocide can affect a cultural group and how it can affect the world,” he said of what he came away with from the symposium.

Senior Bella Caron, also 17, echoed his sentiments, saying that “coming together for the symposium allowed us to connect more ideas together that we learned about.”

“Each of the curriculums were different and we were able to create more cohesive ideas and concepts about what we learned,” she said of the how the symposium was organized.

She went on to say that during the genocide course at FHS they are studying the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that the course is giving her and her fellow students “insight into the patterns of what leads up to a genocide and how to stop a genocide.”

Read more here.

25th annual Montachusett MLK Coalition Martin Luther King Jr. celebration held

By DANIELLE RAY | dray@sentinelandenterprise.com | Sentinel & Enterprise

PUBLISHED: January 18, 2024 at 4:11 a.m. | UPDATED: January 18, 2024 at 11:36 a.m.

The 25th annual Montachusett MLK Coalition (MMLKC) Martin Luther King Jr. celebration was held on Jan. 15 at the senior center.

Several community members spoke at the event led by emcee Rev. Annie Belmer including MMLKC President Linda Mason, Mayor Sam Squailia, Fitchburg High School students, local politicians, and keynote speaker Rev. Dr. Susan Suchocki Brown, the MMLKC founder, among others.

Squailia called King Jr. a “visionary leader” and said, “his legacy of justice, equality, and unity continues to inspire us, and we come together as a community to reflect on the values that he has championed.”

Brown spoke about being a founding member of the coalition that was brought to life by many people as a way to “honor and remember the life the legacy and the lessons of Dr. King.”

“I am painfully aware that my struggles are nothing like those persons who grew up black, brown, and red skinned or who came from other countries or other religious backgrounds or marginalized communities,” Brown said. “But as I began to learn about the original sin of racism that our country was built on, I continued to be perplexed, puzzled, and perturbed. And it took time til I was able to fully acknowledge the ravages racism has taken on people and on our society. I was preprogramed to not see.”

She went on to say that “we are right in the middle of a huge and powerful and dangerous backlash.”

“If we don’t come together as allies and learn how to be accountable to and with one another, our very lives and the ideals of democracy will be taken away,” Brown said.

The three FHS students – senior Zoe Graham, sophomore Iyanna Louis, and senior Madison Perron – are members of the high school’s Black Student Union. They received enthusiastic applause for each of their moving speeches about what Martin Luther King Jr. Day means to them.

“Martin Luther King Jr. Day to me is not just a day off from school or another plain old holiday celebrating a person in history who isn’t really worth celebrating. To me, MLK day is so much more than that,” Graham said. “This day is one of the few days in the year that African Americans and other black folks within the diaspora can celebrate a person in our history who genuinely fought for our rights and did it in such a positive and inspiring way. MLK is and forever will be an inspiration to me because he was about protesting and standing up for what you believe is fair in the most peaceful of ways.”

Louis said that to her, Martin Luther King Jr. Day “is a day to represent my freedom and the freedom of my family.” She conveyed that her mother, who grew up on Los Angeles, “is this incredible woman who blesses me every single day and shows me the freedoms that I’ve been granted in this area.”

“Her grandmother grew up in redlining cities where they forced black people into communities where they weren’t allowed to escape because they were buried in so much debt,” Louis said. “Martin Luther King Day is a day where I get to show and represent the struggles and the beauty of being a black person because being black is this incredible experience that can’t be described in words or in stories or in poems. It is something so extraordinary and through all this struggle, through all the speeches and all the marches, and through the peace and the riot, black people have made this moment so incredible.”

Perron echoed her sentiments, saying that Martin Luther King Jr. Day “is much more than a day, it marks the significant steps to positive exposure to our fight, our battle.”

“Growing up I knew next to nothing about this man and his contributions to our culture and our movements, and as I grew into myself and my community, I also grew in the knowledge of his legacy,” she said.

Read more here and watch full video here.

Fitchburg Schools’ facilities evolve, one project at a time

Take a look at some of the projects underway at Fitchburg Public School facilities throughout the city. Assistant School Superintendent of Finance and Operations Jeremy Roche presented a progress report for the Crocker Elementary School construction and many other ongoing projects district-wide during a meeting shortly before classes began this academic year.

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Crocker Elementary School and Crocker Field projects

Site work has been moving quickly for the Crocker Elementary School project despite all the rain and work crews were scheduled to do work on the foundation throughout the summer. Frame construction was expected to begin in September and is expected to be ready for the 2025-2026 school year. The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MASC) is funding 55% of the $76 million project.

The Crocker Restoration Committee, city of Fitchburg, and Fitchburg Public Schools are partnering and have secured the funds necessary to upgrade the field, track, and lights at historic Crocker Field. The $3.1 million project is moving forward with full funding from the city, the schools, and significant donations coordinated by the Crocker Field Restoration Committee.

Saying goodbye to the analog phones

An internet-based phone system is being added to all schools in the district as the analog phone system is beginning to fail and does not meet federal and state emergency safety requirements, as required in Alyssa’s Law and Ray Baum’s Law, according to school officials.

The entire system is being upgraded to an internet-based phone system, Voice Over IP,  with all new phones starting in July with Longsjo, then the high school, and South Street Early Learning Center shortly after. Each school takes a week to three weeks to install depending upon facility size and the number of phone lines. All schools’ phones will be upgraded before the end of the first half of the year.

Energy Efficiency, comfort improvements to HVAC

Engineers contracted by the school are developing a plan to significantly update the HVAC systems at three schools. The project’s goal is to provide a more comfortable and energy efficient environment. With the work expected to begin during the school year, the project engineers are still assessing the needs at each school and have submitted schematic designs so far. The project costs are likely to reach $5 million and will be covered by two grants.

Solar canopy to cut HS electricity costs in half

In a bid to meet the 2050 Net Zero federal and state guidelines, Fitchburg Public Schools have decided to add a solar canopy at the high school. School officials say the canopy will produce nearly 50% of the electricity consumed at the entire school site and is expected to save between $1-2 million over the next 25 years.

The canopy will be among the many other solar arrays in the school system including at Reingold, Memorial, Longsjo, and, in 2025, the new Crocker Elementary School. School Committee members discussed the new solar canopy’s projected energy savings, the replacement of defective panels, and the life expectancy of the canopy. The school system collaborated with the city of Fitchburg Facilities Department to analyze additional methods to reduce energy consumption while saving funds.

Surveillance System Upgrades

Fitchburg Schools continues collaborative work with the Fitchburg Police Department and several other partners, in addition to the district Safety Task Force, to develop a comprehensive surveillance and security system. The general goal is to completely modernize the external and internal hardware and software, all of which in full compliance with Ray Baum’s, Alyssa’s, and Kari’s laws; those designed to protect all school community members.

Read more here.

“A home run” for Leominster-Fitchburg rivalry

There’s a story that plenty of athletes and residents of Fitchburg have heard, though its validity has been up for debate for years now.

It’s long been said that Babe Ruth visited a newly-opened Crocker Field sometime in 1918, marveling at the venue alongside legendary Fitchburg coach Clarence N. Amiott.

Some 105 years later, the Red Raiders will get a chance to take in the sights at one of the ballparks formerly called home by Ruth and the rest of Boston’s all-time greats.

It became official on Tuesday morning that the Fitchburg High football team will host its annual Thanksgiving rivalry game against Leominster High at Fenway Park. With the change of venue also comes a change in time and date; the game will be played on Thanksgiving Eve at 6:30 p.m., rather than the traditional Thursday morning kickoff.

The longstanding rivalry game is one of four contests to be played at the hallowed Boston ballpark during the runup to Thanksgiving. TechBoston and Brighton will open things on Tuesday with a game at 5 p.m., followed by King Philip vs. Franklin at 7:30 p.m. On Wednesday, the action opens with Chelmsford squaring off with Billerica at 4 p.m. before the 143rd meeting between the Blue Devils and Red Raiders closes the festivities, moving east from the originally scheduled game at Crocker.

Fenway Park hosted high school football games in its infancy in 1912 and continued to do so until 1935. High school gridiron action returned in 2015 and has been ongoing since then. It also has played host to college football and various concerts.

Read more here, here, and here.

College Board awards four Fitchburg HS students

Four high school students recently earned academic honors from the College Board National Recognition Programs for their exceptional work at Fitchburg High School.

These programs celebrate students’ strong academic performance and spotlight rural area, Black, Indigenous, and/or Latino students that go above and beyond expectations.

“We’re thrilled to celebrate our students and recognize them for the great work they’ve been doing. We’re proud of their strong academic performance in the classroom and on College Board assessments like the PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10, and AP exams,” said Fitchburg High Principal John Braga. “There’s so much that makes our students unique, and receiving this honor reinforces this as an asset for their future.”

The academic honors are an opportunity for students to share their strong academic achievements with colleges and scholarship programs that are seeking to recruit diverse talent.

Fitchburg Public Schools congratulated Alexander Fey, class of 2025, and Estella LeBlanc, class of 2024, who both earned the National Rural and Small Town Award, Kevin Borges, class of 2024, who earned the National Hispanic Recognition Award, and class of 2025 student Theopoula Awad, who earned the National African American Recognition Award.

“These awards are a validation of each student’s dedication to their academics,” said FHS Guidance Counselor Michele Houle.

Read more here.

Fitchburg High graduate sings national anthem at Polar Park

Singing the National Anthem at Polar Park last month meant the world to Janiel Oquendo.

“It was a huge honor to sing the national anthem in front of so many people,” the Fitchburg High School Class of 2022 graduate said. “I only used to sing at my local church and getting the opportunity to now sing in front of thousands of people was huge for me. I had always envisioned myself doing it but would get nervous just thinking about it. My song, or better yet my sound, is something that I hold dear to myself so to bring it out to that amount of people, I didn’t then and still don’t have enough words to express my emotions.”

Oquendo sang loud and proud at the WooSox Fitchburg Takeover on Aug. 29 at the Worcester baseball stadium. Mayor Stephen DiNatale, Fitchburg Public Schools (FPS) Family and Community Engagement Coordinator Luisa Fernandez, and several city teachers and school district staff were there to cheer Oquendo on. They were joined by Fitchburg Little League baseball players and President Josh Peterson, who threw out the first pitch, and hundreds of city and area residents there in support of city based nonprofit organization LUK, Inc.

19-year-old Oquendo has lived most of his life in the city. He started earning a bachelor’s degree in education just one week after graduating from FHS and spent the last year accelerating through the program online at Western Governors University.

“I have finished over fifty percent of my degree and am set to finish by the end of October this year,” he said. “It has always been my passion to become a teacher and I found the most efficient way to get there. Aside from school, I have learned to prioritize myself in this new season of life and spend a lot of time doing things that make me happy such as traveling and spending time with family.”

He found out he got picked to sing at Polar Park from his central office FPS colleagues.

Read more here.

Four intriguing stories to watch in North Central Mass.

In less than a week, the lights will shine brightly on area football fields and the 2023 season will have kicked off.

Practices have been ongoing for more than two weeks now and the local slate kicks off Thursday night as North Middlesex Regional visits Crocker Field to face host Fitchburg High School. Most other area schools get going the next evening, with St. Bernard’s wrapping up Week 1 with a contest on Saturday afternoon.

Here are four things to look for this high school football season.

New coach, familiar face

Paul DiGeronimo is no stranger to Fitchburg High athletics.

A longtime basketball coach at the school, DiGeronimo has spent a considerable amount of time on the sidelines as an assistant coach on the gridiron.

On Thursday, he’ll be making his debut as head coach of the Red Raiders.

He inherits a team that went 4-7 under Greg Graham last season, finishing on a fairly strong stretch before dropping the finale on Thanksgiving to archrival Leominster. And it’s not a team that lacks talent; a new direction could likely do some good for a team that has some solid pieces on the roster.

Senior quarterback Lukas Beaulac showed the ability to air things out last fall and with some added experience, he could be dangerous under center for the Red Raiders. Senior backs Devanni Deleon and Elijah Gonzalez should also be able to carry some of the offensive load when the season gets going under the lights of Crocker Field Thursday night.

Read more here.

Young Red Raiders set sights high

Last fall, the Fitchburg High field hockey team and first-year head coach Kelly O’Connor punched their ticket to the Division 2 tournament.

The Red Raiders fell to Tewksbury in an opening round matchup, but the loss did little to diminish the accomplishments of that hard-working Fitchburg squad.

O’Connor and her Red Raiders are back on the field hoping to duplicate the success of 2022 as the team gears up for the new season.

“Last year was a dream. Walking into an established program with solid players and amazing group of seniors. The environment was just spectacular,” said O’Connor Tuesday afternoon at Game On Fitchburg. “The team embraced me with open arms, it was wonderful. I’m really excited about this year. I have an amazing group of girls this season.”

Fitchburg will be tested early as it kicks off the season with league rival and defending Mid-Wach C champion Lunenburg on the road at McCarron Turf Field on Wednesday.

“We open with a really tough opponent. Lunenburg is a talented team and I know they have a new coach over there so she is going to have them ready to play,” said O’Connor. “We have some tough games early on but I know that this team is looking forward to the challenge.”

Read more here.

Fitchburg aims for improvement

The Fitchburg High girls soccer team took its lumps in 2022.

The Red Raiders struggled to find the back of the net and it showed on the scoreboard as Fitchburg wrapped up the campaign winless. Chris Kitchin stepped in midway through the season last year as interim head coach looking to change the attitude and the culture.

One bright spot for the Red Raiders last season was a scoreless tie against host Tyngsboro on their way to a 0-17-1 record.

With the interim label removed, Kitchin is back at the helm for the Red Raiders as his team looks to move in the right direction this fall.

“Things have been great up to this point. When we took over last year we told the girls that we are changing the measure of what success is. It’s not so much wins and losses but to see daily improvement in themselves,” Kitchin said after his team wrapped up its first week of practice on Friday. “Once they started looking at it from that perspective, it changed their outlook and you can it carrying over into this season.”

The Red Raiders’ first match of the regular season is slated for Sept. 7 against Lunenburg at Game On Fitchburg, which will serve as the home venue for all of Fitchburg’s games this season.

Senior goalkeeper Genna Raboin has been a member of the Red Raiders soccer program since her sophomore year. Raboin says she’s looking forward to seeing what this year’s Fitchburg squad is capable of.

“I think this team is looking pretty good right now. We’re coming off a tough season last year but these girls are very excited for the season this year,” said Raboin. “I think the chemistry is strong in this group. We want to be successful and these girls are prepared to work hard to get where we want to be.”

Read more here.

Red Raiders putting in hard work

Soon, Crocker Field will be alive on Friday nights.

For now, the Fitchburg High football team will settle for being on Amiott Field.

The Red Raiders have been hard at work on Crocker’s satellite practice lot, kicking things off last Friday under new head coach Paul DiGeronimo and getting a handful of sessions under their belts in preparation for the upcoming season.

As coach and players get acclimated with one another, FHS is beginning to ramp things up in workouts.

“So far, so good. Things are going pretty well,” DiGeronimo said Tuesday evening. “We’ve got some pretty decent numbers. It’s been a lot of getting to know our players and know what we’ve got here.”

Fitchburg will soon shift over to the grass of Crocker Field, though the first game of the season at the hallowed venue doesn’t actually fall on a Friday night. The Red Raiders are scheduled to open the season on a Thursday evening, hosting North Middlesex Regional on Sept. 7.

For now, the focus is simply getting better with each session at Amiott.

“We’re capitalizing on the positives and working to correct the negatives,” DiGeronimo said. “The kids are putting in the work.”

Read more here.