Red Raiders Defeat Blue Devils 34-21 at Crocker Field on Thanksgiving Day

Photos: Fitchburg vs. Leominster 112th Thanksgiving Day Game

Photos: Fitchburg vs. Leominster Football

Photos: Thanksgiving Faces in the Crowd

Raiders Start a New Tradition

Passion Remains High for Fitchburg-Leominster Football Clash

Sal Figueroa sends Red Raiders to first Thanksgiving win since 2008

Thanksgiving Win Shows Fitchburg has Returned to Form

Fitchburg Defeats Rival Leominster to End Thanksgiving Drought

‘The Rivalry’ A Thanksgiving Football Tradition Like No Other

One Shot at Thanksgiving Glory

On Thanksgiving it all comes down to matchups

DiGeronimo, Palazzi know importance of the game

Think the rivalry is dead – Think again

Fitchburg eager to end LHS Thanksgiving dominance

“It’s Almost Our Time”

“‘I’m excited for our kids because it’s about the kids,’ Fitchburg coach Tom DiGeronimo said. ‘It’s their day, it’s their time. Hopefully we put them in a position to succeed and be successful in the game. It’s all about them. I’m happy that we’ve had some success. They are excited to go out and play in this game.’

Energy and passion were injected into this program. It helps when defensive coordinator Charlie Raff is as excitable as they come in this business, and the players responded from the get-go.

‘We want our kids to feed off of us,’ DiGeronimo said. ‘We’re excitable. We practice with excitement. Our goal is that they would feed off our energy and eventually take it on themselves, which they have. We’ve been down in games and they’ve fought back, so that says a lot about our kids and their mentality and their attitude about playing football this year.'”

Read more: ‘It’s almost our time’

 

Fitchburg Community Meets to Address the Summer Meal Gap

“In Fitchburg, 93% of students are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals, and due to the Community Eligibility Provision, all enrolled students receive free breakfast and lunch during the school year.

However, when school lets out for the summer, students lose access to these meals, often resulting in unhealthy eating habits, fatigue, weight gain, and learning loss. This leaves many at a disadvantage compared to their peers when they to return to school in the fall. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP), administered in Massachusetts by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), is working to fill this meal gap by providing free meals to children and teens during summer when school is not in session.”

Read more: Fitchburg Community Meets to Address the Summer Meal Gap

Scientist Tara Sweeney visited the Fitchburg Public Schools last week

FHS grad and distinguished scientist Tara Sweeney was in Fitchburg schools last week, sharing her love of STEM education with our lucky students!

Tara is a parabolic flight crew member with the Zero Gravity Corp., conducting research on microgravity that benefits NASA astronauts on the International Space Station.

At Fitchburg High, she was a 1991 General Excellence Award Winner and National Honor Society Inductee, as well as both an Individual and team inductee to the FHS Athletic Hall of Fame. She attended the United States Air Force Academy, before receiving two Master’s Degrees, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (in Geography) and Regis University (in Business Administration).

She has served in the U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command, and worked as a scientist for the departments of Energy and Defense. She also taught and consulted at the University of Nevada and Regis College. Presently, she reports she has made 29 flights, 557 parabolas, and experienced approximately 3 hours, 52 minutes, and 05 seconds in microgravity.

Tara started her week at the Boys & Girls Club of Fitchburg and Leominster and attended the district’s professional development day on Tuesday. On Wednesday, she met with students at Longsjo and Memorial middle schools, and on Thursday visited Reingold and Crocker elementary schools.

She told teachers she was excited to promote STEM learning in her hometown and she plans to continue her relationship with Fitchburg schools. Our teachers were excited to welcome her, and extremely grateful for her generosity and enthusiasm.

Here’s what they had to say about Tara’s visits:

Rebecca Colo: “The Longsjo STEM Club ELT had the opportunity to meet Tara Sweeney, a graduate of FPS and an amazing STEM role model! Students learned about Space Camp, the history of our space program, opportunities that are provided at our U.S. Service Academies, microgravity and parabolic flight, and the goals Tara has set and achieved along her journey. Tara also shared her extensive experience with 3D printing and the company she has founded with this STEM skill.”

Jean Beckner (Memorial): “The students and I were so impressed with Tara Sweeney and we are thrilled that she wants to continue the relationship with our Fitchburg students. What a wonderful STEM role model for our AALI students!”

Jessica Stodulski, District STEM Support Specialist: “Tara’s visit at Memorial was very special, as it gave students in the Civil Air Patrol the opportunity to interact with a very accomplished flight crew member and deepened students’ understanding of the mechanics and physics of flight.”

A huge thank you to Tara Sweeney, we look forward to seeing you again!

Teachers told: #DreamWhatYouCantDoYet

Aaron Walsh’s message was simple: if students are engaged, teachers are winning.
“If you have to solve a quadratic equation to get out of a maze while a creepy clown is chasing you, you’re engaged.” said Walsh, a Boston College professor and director of the Immersive Education Initiative. “Immersion gives learners a sense of being there.”

And “being there” — through educational gaming and virtual and augmented reality — promotes retention of information, psychological attachment, stronger visualization and more precise work, he added.

Walsh spoke to an auditorium full of educators during Fitchburg Public Schools’ professional development day last Tuesday. The event, focused on technology and immersive learning, was organized by Assistant Superintendent Paula Giaquinto, with workshops led by Walsh, teachers and district staff.

Students also provided demonstrations of new district technology programs, such as the Digital Showcase/Sandbox.

Read more: Teachers told #DreamWhatYouCantDoYet

Figueroa runs for 338 yards, 7 TDs as Fitchburg beats Algonquin

Usually, the Fitchburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame requires at least two years — the junior and senior years — of competition in the famous Red and Gray to qualify a student-athlete for induction to the second floor. It’s a must. It’s practically Biblical.

After Sal Figueroa’s performance Friday night — heck, his entire senior year as a body of work — the selection committee may have to make an exception in his case. The senior tailback — who didn’t play for the Arn-How roaders a year ago — had a night never before seen in the 123-year history of Fitchburg High School Football.

In short, Figueroa — like other tailbacks wearing Fitchburg’s No. 1 jersey, such as Perkins and McCall — made visiting Algonquin Regional stare at the back of his jersey for two-plus hours as he piled up 338 rushing yards and an unheard-of seven touchdown runs on 23 carries, leading the Red Raiders to a 47-26 win over the Tomahawks in the penultimate game of the 2017 season at historic — and rather frigid — Crocker Field.

Read more: Figueroa runs for 338 yards, 7 TDs as Fitchburg beats Algonquin

 

A Message from One Who’s Flying High: You Can Too

“Tara Sweeney, a native of Fitchburg and proud product of its school system, shared her experiences in the Air Force and current work as a civilian with a group of eagerly listening local students on Monday. As she explained, the goal is not just to get them interested in science and math curriculum but to show them that a career like hers is possible.

‘We’re very excited to have her,’ said club Director Donata Martin. ‘She went to Fitchburg High (1991 Graduate) and we have so many kids from Fitchburg, but she’s also a woman. We’re trying to encourage the girls to go on and study the sciences more so this was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.'”

Read more: A message from one who’s flying high – You can too

Harnden will make a splash at UMass

With parents Keith and Regina, siblings Tim and Kaitlyn, as well as her coach Don Lemieux and Fitchburg High principal Jeremy Roche smiling next to her, Harnden put pen to paper as she signed her National Letter of Intent to swim for Division 1 University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Along with UMass, Harnden is expected to be dually-enrolled in the Commonwealth Honors College, where she will study biomedical engineering.

Read more: Harnden will make a splash at UMass

New Class Gets Call to FHS Hall of Fame

With eight subtle words in 2013 — “It is time for this to go home” — longtime Fitchburg High assistant basketball coach John Cordio made the entire room reach for a tissue as he handed over one of the most precious heirlooms in Fitchburg High history: the ball given to Doug Grutchfield at the Academy Street Brickyard prior to the great man’s passing in 2006.

Read more: New class gets call to FHS Hall of Fame

Read more: HallOFame17

Helping Needy to Cancer Support, FHS Current Events Club out to Make Impact

Collecting clothes for homeless classmates. Raising money for cancer. And, yes, duct-taping Principal Jeremy Roche to help Puerto Rico.

Fitchburg High School has a new Current Events Club, and members have been busy identifying ways to do good in the community and create an impact on issues they care about.

On Oct. 16, the club charged fellow students $1 per piece of duct tape, to secure Roche to a wall outside the school’s cafeteria. The activity raised about $250 for the Puerto Rico Hurricane Relief Fund.

“Mr. Roche was a good sport about it,” said president and senior Landon Tucker, who has worked with the United Way Youth Venture Team to establish the club. “It was really fun.”

Read more: http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/news/ci_31428014/helping-needy-cancer-support-fhs-current-events-club#ixzz4xr8W8POD