FPS and City United Church team up to distribute food baskets

The spirit of giving was on full display in the city last week during the yearly tradition of distributing Thanksgiving baskets to dozens of families in the school district through a partnership with a local church.

City United Church has been donating Thanksgiving baskets to Fitchburg Public Schools for the last seven years. This year FPS collaborated with the Lunenburg church to raise funds to distribute 140 baskets filled to the brim with a box of mashed potatoes, gravy cranberry sauce, canned vegetables. dessert mix, and an oven pan for a turkey that recipients could purchase with an included gift card to a local grocery store.

FPS Family and Community Engagement Coordinator Luisa Fernandez was part of the crew who distributed the baskets first come, first served drive-thru style on Nov. 15 at South Street Elementary School. She said this year FPS “wanted to be part of the magic” and set up boxes in schools across the district to collect food and monetary donations.

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A special holiday feast for families

The smiles said it all.

Fitchburg Public Schools wanted to make the holiday season special for over 30 families by hosting a Turkey Dinner event at Memorial Middle School on Nov. 10.

The celebration centered around fall, family and enjoying a delicious turkey dinner with gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, brownies, pumpkin pie, ice cream, craft projects and live music.

“We wanted to have the turkey dinner event to welcome all families as part of our community to share in a tradition that sends a message of welcoming and belonging,” said Fitchburg Public Schools Director of ESL and Family Engagement, Eva Kelly. “All of our families belong at our community table, they are part of our larger family and we value all of them. For many of the families who participated, it was their first experience having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. We are overjoyed that they were able to join us and that we were part of this experience with our families. Many thanks to Sodexo and all the devoted employees who prepared the meal.”

FPS Family and Community Engagement Coordinator, Luisa Fernandez, says that these type of events mean a lot to her personally.

“Meeting families and connecting with them through these activities strengthens us as a district,” Fernandez said. “And gives us the energy to continue to be creative to bring fun, smiles and create great memories. It makes me happy to know that more than 30 families enjoyed a family dinner and made decorations to take home.”

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Rivalry renews at Doyle Field

Those who argue that time is a yat circle, just a series of repetitions, look to Doyle Field this morning.

The 2022 high school football season will end just as it started for a pair of storied rivals, as Leominster High welcomes Fitchburg High to its historic home field for the annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry game at 10 a.m.

It’s a repeat matchup from Week 1, as the neighboring archrivals opened the season against one another for the second straight season. To kick off this fall’s campaign, the Blue Devils were 48-6 victors at Crocker Field on Sept. 8.

Much has changed since that Thursday night in Fitchburg.

The Red Raiders managed to turn things around midway through the season, winning four out of their last five games after starting 0-5. Fitchburg is currently riding a three-game winning streak with victories over Doherty, Algonquin Regional and Tantasqua Regional.

Junior quarterback Lukas Beaulac has been able to showcase both his potent arm and his running abilities, opening things up for Fitchburg (4-6) down the stretch. Doherian Wells has been Beaulac’s go-to receiver, while Eli Gonzalez has carried the ball well in recent weeks.

Leominster shot through the season with a 7-1 mark, but fell to Reading Memorial, 51-44, in the opening round of the Division 2 tournament. The Blue Devils (7-3) come into the Thanksgiving game having dropped two straight, following up the Reading loss with a nonplayoff defeat to Taunton.

Even in losses, the Blue Devils have been able to show off their offensive explosiveness. Senior Ricky Encarnacion continues to do it all for Leominster, while the connection between freshman quarterback Osiris Lopez and receiver and classmate Kaiden Drinkwater has remained strong. In addition, senior running back Ma’Kai Stinson Newton has emerged as a ball carrier who is hard to bring down.

Regardless of how things have gone in recent weeks for either team, expect the usual on Thanksgiving morning: a hard-hitting contest filled with passion and pride in this 142nd meeting between the Blue Devils and Red Raiders.

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FPS presents “Therapy Pets in the Schools” workshop

Hundreds of Massachusetts School Committee members and Superintendents recently got to meet Spencer Cat, one of Fitchburg Public Schools’ therapy pets at the Massachusetts Association of School Committees and Superintendents’ Conference.

Fitchburg Public Schools Superintendent Robert Jokela, with School Committee Vice Chair Pete Stephens, presented a workshop, “Therapy Pets in the Schools,” with Be PAWSitive Therapy Pets Director Sally Cragin.

“We were thrilled to have a table at the conference and to speak to so many school
committee members and superintendents about the benexts of therapy pets in the schools, which includes emotional support for young readers,” Cragin said. “Fitchburg has had therapy pets in our schools since 2015. We have been presenting workshops about pet therapy at MASC since 2017.”

Stephens noted, “People were really interested in what Fitchburg is doing, and asked great questions about how the program works and the benexts. This year, it was especially gratifying to see how many school committee members and school superintendents who are interested to implement similar programs in their districts.”

Ellen Holmes, of the Ash-West Regional District and a past President of MASC, attended the workshop and said: “The presentation highlighted the additional opportunities to support the mental health of our students and staff. The simple acts of seeing and/or stroking these animals helps reduce stress and anxiety.

The introduction of the ‘Reingoats’ at Reingold School from Central Mass. Goat Rental also created a once-in-a-lifetime for students to see animals they’ve only seen in books.

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Fitchburg welcomes new Hall of Famers

Baseball does not necessarily get the respect it deserves at Fitchburg High School. Played in the spring and at the end of a long school year, it has long been considered a sport secondary in importance compared to football, basketball, and track, even though it was the first to be contested at FHS way back in 1882.

For the first time, four baseball players and a baseball team were honored by the Fitchburg High School Athletic Hall of Fame on Sunday afternoon as part of its 11th Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Great Wolf Lodge.

Fitchburg has now inducted over 150 individuals, coaches, contributors, and teams to its Hall of Fame since forming in 2001.

FHS inducted the 1936 Baseball team, which included co-inductee Jimmy Flynn, and the 1990 Red Raider Boys Spring Track team this year.

The 1936 team found induction thanks to its 8-0 interscholastic record in which the Red and Gray outscored its opponents, 108-25. The Raiders also had to pull off this feat by playing all eight games on the road thanks to the March 1936 overflow of the North Nashua River, which left Crocker Field unplayable.

Flynn and Hall of Famers Jimmy Leo and Donald MacLean were members of that team. Hall of Fame coach Chris Woods spoke on behalf of his 1990 team, which finished third in the All-State Meet at Bridgewater State University.

“As an FHS grad, I knew first-hand what it was like to be a senior,” Woods said of his preseason speech, “and compete on a championship team. I asked that they look round the clubhouse and realize that half the trophies on the walls and shelves were track and field.

“I told them they had a chance to make history.”

Baseball, though, was the focal point of the afternoon.

Kathy Flynn, who accepted Jimmy Flynn’s plaque alongside her stepsister Charlene, noted that her father had “an insatiable love of sports.”

“I know some of the happiest and meaningful days of his life were spent in West Fitchburg and playing sports for Fitchburg High,” she said.

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