Fitchburg High track star Oduro is headed to UMass Lowell

Evans Oduro sure was comfortable as a student-athlete at Lowell High School.

But the talented track star and his family packed up and moved to unfamiliar surroundings in Fitchburg before the start of his senior year.

“Halfway through the summer I was like, ‘I’m really going to have to leave Lowell High,'” said Oduro, who helped Lowell High win its first all-state outdoor championship last spring at Fitchburg State University.

For most, leaving the comforts of your school and athletic program would be numbing, but not for Oduro. Oduro was welcomed in to his new home with open arms, and the transition from being a Lowell Red Raider to a Fitchburg Red Raider was easier than expected.

“The transition was smooth, actually,” said Oduro. “It’s different from Lowell High because it’s smaller, but it still was a good fit. It felt like home over here.

“It was easy because they welcomed me here. It’s like a family here, just like how Lowell was. I want to thank them for welcoming me as an athlete and as a student.”

Oduro picked up right where he left off in Lowell, excelling both in the classroom and on the track at Fitchburg High. All that hard work over the years certainly has paid dividends.

Surrounded by family, teammates, coaches and administrators in the school library Thursday morning, Oduro officially signed his national letter of intent to run track at Division 1 UMass Lowell in the spring.

Read more here and here.

Record-breaking Fitchburg relay team shares family bonds

The Fitchburg High School girls’ 4×200-meter indoor relay team has been a force on the track this winter.

There’s been a league championship at the relays, a fourth-place finish in districts and a fourth at the MIAA Division 2 state qualifier on Feb. 15 to qualify for Saturday’s all-state championship meet at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center.

The close-knit bond between teammates Emerson Scott, Elle Scott, Wonuola Ashaju and Olamide Bamgbose spills over outside of the sport, too.

This high-powered relay team is the true definition of family and bonded through blood, as the Scotts are sisters and Ashaju and Bamgbose are cousins.

“We’re all one happy family, the sisters and cousins,” Bamgbose said.

“It’s important to have a bond with your relay teammates, because during track you go through a lot together,” Emerson Scott said. “It’s great to have that bond, too.”

Emerson Scott says she hangs out all the time with her sister, Elle.

“We’re really close,” she said. “It’s nice to have that relationship off the track and also be able to share it on the track, too.”

Added Elle: “Off the track we’re sisters, but we’re also best friends. We do everything together. She can drive now and I can’t, so she’s my chauffeur and we go and do everything together.”

Ashaju says she has a strong bond with Bamgbose. The relationship is more than cousins, however.

“You can say that we’re sisters,” Bamgbose said.

“I don’t really count us like cousins because we’re really close. We argue here and there, but we do love each other.”

The relationships formed at home have helped this quartet accomplish record-breaking statistics, including shattering the school’s 16-year-old record formally held by Martha Oliver, Crystal Andy, Oly Wirtz and Kate Guenette at last week’s state qualifier with a time of 1:48.44.

“The four of us together, we just click,” Ashaju said. “We just motivate each other.”

Read more here.

Pierce to lead McKay Arts Academy

Mark Pierce will serve as interim principal of the McKay Arts Academy until the end of the year while the district looks for a leader to oversee the school’s turnaround.

Acting Superintendent Bob Jokela announced the change Friday, which coincides with a transfer of ownership of the school from Fitchburg State University to Fitchburg Public Schools. McKay, which serves pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students, is located on Fitchburg State’s campus.

“Mark brings school leadership, academic coaching, and student discipline background and experience,” Jokela said in a statement.

Pierce was previously a math coach and an assistant principal at the high school.

His experience also includes helping Fitchburg High School with its voluntary turnaround through the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and having a relationship with DESE’s Statewide System of Support for McKay, which is classified as a turnaround school, according to the statement.

Turnaround schools are ones that receive support, resources, and training to help improve student learning through the DESE.

Pierce takes over from Lourdes Ramirez, who was an associate dean and principal of McKay since 2015. She has assumed a new position with Fitchburg State, according to the statement.

The job posting for a turnaround principal for the 2019-2020 school year was posted Saturday on School Spring, a job board for education positions.

Responsibilities for the job include establishing and implementing a vision for the school to improve teaching and learning outcomes and maintaining high expectations for all students.

Applications are due March 29 and the new principal would start July 1.

Read more here.

Division 2 state indoor track and field championships at the Reggie Lewis Center

Fitchburg High senior Evans Oduro is in terrific position to earn a “wild card” invite to All-States after a strong showing Friday in the 55-meter hurdles.

Oduro was seeded ninth in the hurdles with a time of 7.99 seconds, which he posted while setting a facilities record on his home track with his victory at the Central Mass. Division 1 Championships on Feb. 9.

Oduro lowered his personal record twice in a span of 30 minutes, running 7.86 in the prelims and 7.80 in the final, where he was edged out for third by fourth thousandths of a second.

“In between each hurdle I tried to push myself and keep up with the person who was ahead of me,” Oduro said, “so I think that’s what took me to my PR in the hurdles today.”

Oduro, who will continue his track career and study to become a pharmacist at UMass Lowell, then took eighth in the long jump with a less-than-satisfying leap of 20-8. He came in seeded second at 21-11.

“Everybody has their bad days,” Oduro said. “I try not to dwell on my bad days. I try to build off my bad days because you learn from your mistakes. So I’ll take this, go to practice next week, work hard — work on what I’m lacking in and make that a strength.”

Fitchburg senior Emerson Scott came in seeded eighth in the 55 hurdles, but placed fourth after lowering her personal-best time to 9.06 in the prelims and 9.02 in the final.

Read more here.

Fitchburg track stars shine at state meet

It was a record-setting day for the Fitchburg High School boys’ and girls’ indoor track teams at Friday’s Division 2 state championship at the Reggie Lewis Center.

Olamide Bamgbose, Wonuola Ashaju, Emerson Scott and Elle Scott finished fourth in the 4×200-meter relay, setting a new school record with a time of 1:48.44. Emerson Scott was also a standout individually, placing fourth with new personal-best time of 9.02 seconds in the 55-meter hurdles.

Senior Evans Oduro represented the Fitchburg boys, finishing fourth in the 55 hurdles with a personal-best time of 7.80 seconds, and taking eighth place in the long jump.

Read more here.

Fitchburg High cupids earn extra credit

There was a lot of love being spread at Fitchburg High School on Valentine’s Day.

The hallways, doors and cafeteria were filled with over 1,300 colorful love-filled hearts, featuring the names of every student and staff member at FHS.

This initiative to spread love throughout the school was spearheaded by members of the Class of 2021.

The students cut out all the paper hearts, wrote each individual name on them and proceeded to tape them onto walls, doorways and windows throughout the building.

Members of the sophomore class, including President Estelle Arseneau, Olivia Tran and Lilly Bray, came to FHS on a snow day on Wednesday to add these hearts to the walls and inside the cafeteria.

Read more here.

Goodrich making Fridays fun at South St. Elementary in Fitchburg

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Students at South Street Elementary School love it when it’s Friday.

No, not because the weekend is near, but rather they get to spend time with Goodrich Academy students who are involved in the “Community Service Learning” program.

Every Friday since October, Goodrich high-school students Ariel Caban, Jazieyah Campbell, Jessica Flores, Chasity Marquez, Jasmine Ortiz, Jaeda Stewart, Gianmarco Santiago and Tanairy Velazquez Estrada have visited South Street Elementary and worked hand-in-hand with kindergarten students in Noreen Howe, Melissa Guerard and Cynthia Clark’s classes, and Kayleigh Pennell’s fourth-grade class.

The Goodrich students enjoy the interaction, along with coloring, singing, dancing and reading to the younger students.

“Whatever they are doing in class I help them with,” said Ortiz, while sitting at a table and talking with kindergarten students. “I love it. It’s nice to know that I’m helping them and they are comfortable with me.”

The Community Service Learning program is directed by Goodrich teacher Brad McNamara.

“I hope they get a sense of helping other people and giving back,” said McNamara, who credits Goodrich Principal Alexis Curry for her support and Margaret Daoust-Magennis who helps with coming up with craft ideas and driving the students to South Street.

“Some of these kids struggle academically, but they feel a sense of accomplishment by helping these kids.”

Read more here.

Longsjo eighth-grader selected as rep for Project 351

Project 351 believes that eighth-graders are a remarkable force for good in their communities and the world.

Fitchburg has its own young leader — Longsjo Middle School’s Sean Fermon — who is a strong student and one that is constantly looking to help others in need.

Every fall, educators nominate an eighth-grader to represent each of the commonwealth’s 351 cities and towns for a transformative year of leadership development and community service, as part of Project 351 — a nonprofit organization that develops a new generation of community-first service leaders.

Youth are selected by educators “for an exemplary ethic of service and the values of kindness, compassion, humility and gratitude.”

Fermon is excited about the opportunity to represent Longsjo, Fitchburg Public Schools and the city of Fitchburg.

“I think this is an amazing opportunity,” said Fermon. “I was definitely proud, but I was also nervous at the same time because I wanted to be the best person I could be because I was representing Fitchburg. I wanted to make sure I was representing the entire city of Fitchburg well.”

Fermon was nominated for Project 351 by his teachers at Longsjo Middle School.

“His teachers on his team just think the world of him,” said Longsjo Principal Craig Chalifoux.

Chalifoux calls Fermon “articulate, caring, empathetic, and a wonderful young man.”

Crocker Elementary renovation project on track

A project kickoff with the Massachusetts School Building Authority and visioning sessions are the latest steps completed for the Crocker Elementary School renovation project to keep it on track to submit preliminary designs and schematics by the summer.

“We’re moving along with forward motion … and getting things done,” said School Committee Vice Chairman Peter Stephens.

The MSBA was in Fitchburg Tuesday to meet with the project team and school officials to talk about goals, a timeline for construction, and procedures for the Crocker project.

That meeting included a tour of the school for the MSBA, Stephens said.

About two weeks ago, members of the school community and city leaders came for visioning sessions with an educational consultant to talk about what kind of building Crocker should have.

Acting Superintendent Bob Jokela said the feedback from the sessions will help to draft an educational plan that lays out the school’s model and philosophy. It is due to the MSBA in about three weeks.

That information will also be given to the project designer, Saam Architecture, to start creating preliminary designs, he said.

Read more here.