The American Legion Post 10 Pensive Patriot Essay Awards took place last month at Longsjo Middle School, where several students were recognized at the June 15 event for their writing talents.
This is the fourth year the essay contest was open to 8th grade students, an effort that started at McKay Elementary School during the pandemic. Post 10 provides three award levels – Gold $75, Silver $50, and Bronze $25, with two students chosen for each level.
Forty-eight essays were generated this year and the prompt question was “What are three top attributes of our Democracy?” The VFW Patriot’s Pen judging rubric was used and completed by former Fitchburg High School (FHS) graduates in the area and beyond including from California, New York, Thailand, and Illinois.
Of the eight the award-winning Fitchburg students, this year’s Gold awards went to Prudence Dicato and Hnuchi Moua, Silver was awarded to Carlos Rodriguez Jr. and Derick Nartey, Kennisa Rotasayne and Madelyn Elkins took home Bronze and Honorable Mentions went to Hunter Raboin and Evan Buteau.
“This year’s prompt provided civic education and development of critical thinking skills,” Post 10 Youth Chair Richard Vaughn conveyed. “The judges were impressed with the prompt and thoughtful results.”
To date the essay contest has generated more than 160 essays with many students earning part of the $1,200 total awarded for their citizen efforts. According to a Post 10 press release “essay writing is valuable as part of a TEAMS educational program, and civic education is important to the future of America. American Legion Fitchburg Post 10 supports students.”
The Fitchburg Cultural Alliance recently announced the winners of the Janet Cragin Youth Arts Awards, an annual tradition done in collaboration with the late longtime and beloved city educator and performer’s daughter Sally Cragin as a way to carry on her mother’s legacy.
According to a press release, 18 city middle school students were selected to be award recipients by their music, art, and drama teachers.
Longsjo Middle School students William Barnor, Guillermo Escobar Pujois, Atera Mbunwe, Dax Richard, Barbara Gonzalez-Lopez, and Lila Perez; Memorial Middle School students Adrianna Benson, Lilliana Peterson, Kairi McManus, Yirianny Polanco-Aguilera, Cassandra LeBlanc, and Nuria Aifaro, and Jamayra Beltran; and Gavyn Guercio, Trent Rozell, Ariel Alden, Pierce ‘Chaos’ Burgess and Nalyce Texeira-Cruz from Sizer School are this year’s honorees.
The students were given medals at Main Street Studios in May and awarded Mayoral Citations at this week’s Fitchburg School Committee meeting. The awards and an arts swag bag filled with treats and a plant in memory of Janet Cragin were given to the students by Fitchburg Cultural Alliance Director Jessie Olson and Sally Cragin, a city councilor who is also the chair of Stratton Players.
A new piece of contemporary art is ready to be unveiled Thursday at 5:30 p.m. just outside of The Art Place on Elm.
“ PLAYscape” is a collaboration between New England sculptor Roberley Bell, who designed the piece with input from teacher Britt Waseleski and her students during the Fitchburg Art Museum’s after school program at The Art on Elm, the museum’s primary art instruction studio. The after school program is a collaboration between FAM and Fitchburg Public Schools.
Launched in fall 2021, the FAM and FPS after school program started with a total of 20 children in the program. FAM and FPS were able to create an immersive program where attendees have access to supplies, studio space, and professionals in the arts community. In a press release FAM said it believes this environment has a huge impact on how children learn, and the program reflects FAM’s mission as a catalyst for learning, creativity, and community building. The Art Place on Elm, its after school program, and “ PLAYscape” are made possible through the generous support of Gale Simonds Hurd, the Clementi Family Charitable Trust, and the Cathedral Fund.
Working with the students in the after school program proved to be an impactful experience for Bell.
“As an artist working in the public realm, I try to engage the stakeholders and this includes children. They are in fact the long term stakeholder of a project in their neighborhood. I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to engage young people on a number of projects. I find when you invite them in to partici
pate, they are curious and keen,” Bell said in a press release. “ The students in the FAM after school program were a delight. They were extremely engaged, excited, and enthusiastic — eager to achieve the goals of the project. Each child worked on drawings and clay models, taking the task seriously. At the end of the session each child spoke about their ideas for creating a shared, playful space accommodating seating for everyone.”
Bell also extended his thanks to Waseleski, who had already been working with the students, believing her work allowed them to be “open to engaging, learning and sharing in a productive manner.”
FAM’s Director of Education Susan Diachisin also saw a profound benefit of having the students involved.
“ By participating in the FAM/ FPS after school program, the students reap the benefits of the museum’s resources such as access to contemporary artists, inspiring exhibitions, and creative learning spaces. Through their weekly visits to the museum the students become more comfortable and realize that FAM is their museum. Our after school program is just one of many ongoing collaborative programs between FAM and the Fitchburg Public Schools that provide educational enrichment for students and faculty, and stimulate their creativity,” Diachisin said.
The Fitchburg Art Museum, in collaboration with the Fitchburg Public Schools, will celebrate the unveiling of a new work of art just outside of The Art Place on Elm, named ‘PLAYscape’, Thursday Sept. 1, at 5:30pm.
Natural gas and electricity provider Unitil isn’t just powering people’s homes, it is also energizing the mindsand improving the science skills of fifth-graders.
Recently, the company started up a classroom program that teaches students about electrical circuits, for the science portion of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System test.
“We had to suspend our program during the pandemic, so we are pleased to be back on our regular spring schedule. The teachers really appreciate the initiative because the students are working handson with circuit boards and magnets,” said Unitil Media Relations Manager Alec O’Meara.
Unitil consultant Neil Clark designs and teaches the curriculum to adhere to the MCAS science, technology and engineering standards. It’s collaborative, with the students creating open and closed circuits with batteries, wires and flashlight bulbs. They also learn how an They also learn how an electromagnet works, using electromagnet works, using a simple bolt, wire and a simple bolt, wire and small battery.
In addition to reviewing the science of electric- the science of electricity with the students, Clark discusses electricity safety, including who to call when they see downed wires and how to protect younger children from the potential hazard.
The company held classes this past fall for those who missed it during the spring of 2021 due to the pandemic. The initiative started out as a pilot program in 2003 and has since reached over 10,000 students. This fall, Clark will teach nearly 25 classes in Lunenburg’s Middle School, Hawthorne Brook Middle School in Townsend, Fitchburg’s Memorial Middle School, McKay Arts Academy School and Arthur M. Longsjo Jr. Middle School.
Fitchburg students are trying to be a part of the change.
In Fitchburg Public Schools, the planning for a better tomorrow has been an ongoing process for middle and high school students, who have been heavily involved in civics projects this year.
Several classes of students have been enacting a plan for change regarding an issue of interest in the local community.
These students, with a plan in place, will now participate in the Massachusetts Civics Day at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute in Boston on Monday, June 6. This event is sponsored by Generation Citizen, and it features students from the region showcasing their action civics projects that address an issue of great importance to them in the community.
“ The goal of action civics is to empower citizens — in this case our young citizens — to engage with community members,” said Fitchburg Public Schools Social Studies Director John Marderosian, “as well as members of local and state government, to enact a plan for change concerning an issue of interest in their local community.”
Longsjo eighth- grade teacher Kelly McDermott will be bringing three student groups to showcase their action civics projects to Boston. She will also be joined by Marderosian and Fitchburg High teacher Bryan Baxter, who is piloting the action civics project with his 12th-grade students.
“Students are working hard to take action with each project, and I am so excited to see them shine at this event,” McDermott said.
Patrol Officer Steven Hachey was honored at Longsjo Middle School Friday afternoon after he saved a choking student.
With Mayor Stephen DiNatale, Police Chief Ernie Martineau and District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. in attendance, Hachey was presented with the Team Excellence and Merit award after he saved the life of then 11-year- old Jean Sprague. Hachey is assigned to Longsjo as the school resource officer.
“Officer Hachey, in no uncertain terms, saved (Sprague’s) life and, because of his action, we’re smiling today,” Early said. “ This student was just enjoying her lunch at school and, because of (Hachey), a possible tragedy was avoided.”
On March 2, Sprague approached Hachey after part of her lunch became lodged in her throat. When she started having difficulty, she quickly approached Hachey and, pointing to her throat, signaled that she was choking.
Without hesitation, Hachey jumped into action and performed the Heimlich maneuver, clearing Sprague’s airway and saving her life.
Created in 2019, the Team award is meant to recognize those that go above and beyond the call of duty. Hachey said it was an honor to be presented with the award, despite the fact that he did nothing “out of the ordinary.”
“ It is just such an honor to be recognized,” Hachey said. “ There’s nothing, I think, I did that was extra or out of the ordinary — it was just, my training kicked in and I did what I’m supposed to do, protect the kids here.”
“ I’m just glad I was here and that I had my training to rely on. Because that’s the priority: keeping the kids safe and being a mentor to them.”
Hachey also called his work as Longsjo’s school resource officer “ rewarding.”
“ It’s just so fulfilling, just to have the opportunity to be here and work with them every day,” he said.
The annual Fitchburg Rotary and Fitchburg Rotary East clubs’ awards dinner held on May 17 in the Fitchburg High School cafeteria honored several community members, including dedicated educators, municipal employees and more for their valuable contributions to the city.
Fitchburg Rotary President Alexander Vera and longtime awards dinner Chair Mary Whitney welcomed the 160 people who attended the fete and the Rev. Joseph Dolan of St. Bernard Parish and St. Camillus Church gave an invocation after the pledge of allegiance prior to the awards dinner kicking off.
State Sen. John Cronin, Mayor Stephen DiNatale and state Rep. Michael Kushmerek handed out certificates of appreciation to the recipients and awards were presented by the people in their organization who nominated them. “ The most important part is that we recognize people from all departments and the schools,” Whitney said. “Some of these people the ordinary person would not know they work there, and they would not get recognition.”
Longsjo Middle School teacher Michelle Wright was presented with her award by Principal Trish May; South Street Elementary School Principal Suzanne Tingas gave out four awards to staff including school nurses Deb Duteau and Molly Reid, Administrative Assistant Noemi Ferraro and teacher Rebecca Goodlet; and Fitchburg High School teacher Aurora Rivera received an award from Principal Jeremy Roche.
Whitney said they rotate between the elementary schools each year “ because there are so many” and that a majority of the presenters commented on how the recipients went above and beyond during the pandemic.
“A lot of people said what a wonderful job they did during COVID and took things under their wings and ran with it,” she said.
Whitney said she has been running the awards dinner for over 20 years, which has grown from two or three recipients to over 15 each year. They stopped doing it during the pandemic and were happy to have it return this year.
Project 351 believes that eighth- graders are a remarkable force for good in their community and the world.
Fitchburg Public Schools has two young leaders, Mila Xiong and Dorothy Chelsea Barnor, who have displayed the core values of Project 351, including kindness, compassion, humility and gratitude to become this year’s Project 351 students in Fitchburg.
“ When I found out I was really surprised,” said Barnor. “ I was surprised I was the person (chosen) for this. I didn’t know anyone saw that I have leadership potential. I was really excited for it, and I know it’s a lot about helping the community, setting up projects in your own community and stuff like that.”
Longsjo Principal Trish May says Xiong exemplifies what Project 351 is all about, too. “(Xiong) steps up whenever a need arises and is kind, compassionate and shares her gratitude every day,” May said.
Every fall, educators nominate eighth- graders 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.
Project 351 seeks to develop the next generation of community-first service leaders through customized service learning, hands- on community building, and values-based leadership training.
Longsjo Middle School’s Becky Colo has been named the Patriots Hall of Fame presented by Raytheon Technologies Massachusetts STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) Teacher of the Year. Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft announced Colo as the STEM Teacher of the Year today, and her school will receive $5,000 to be used for STEM education. Colo will also serve for one year on the governor’s STEM Council.
“Congratulations to Becky Colo,” Kraft said in his announcement. “She is doing outstanding work to inspire our next generation of STEM professionals. Congratulations to all the nominees and the other four finalists.”
“It’s a tremendous honor to receive this prestigious award,” Colo said. “I want to thank the Kraft family and Raytheon Technologies for their support of STEM programs and for teachers overall. To be selected a finalist was an honor, but I am thrilled to be named the Massachusetts STEM Teacher of the Year.”
Superintendent Robert Jokela, Principal Tricia May, and STEM Director Jessica Stodulski attended the award ceremony on Wednesday, October 20, 2021 at Hall of Patriots Place.
Pictured above with Becky are Josh Kraft of Kraft Family Philanthropies and Lt Governor Karyn Polito.
May, Sparks and Tingas appointed in Fitchburg Public Schools
FITCHBURG — Fitchburg Public Schools is pleased to announce new principal leadership at three schools for the upcoming school year.
Patricia May is the new principal at Longsjo Middle School, and Justin Sparks and Suzanne Tingas have been appointed Interim Principals at Reingold Elementary School and South Street Elementary School, respectively.
“I am thrilled to announce our three new school leaders,” said FPS Superintendent Robert Jokela, “who will welcome back our students and further develop relationships with families to support all our students’ ability to grow and achieve in Fitchburg Public Schools.”
May officially started her new role at Longsjo Middle School on August 2.
“I am so extremely proud,” said May. “I’m humbled and feel so fortunate. I’m going to work really, really hard to make everyone in this community proud. I love the community of Fitchburg, and I’ve served the community of Fitchburg professionally for about 25 years now. Coming to the Fitchburg Public School district is just a great honor.”
May comes to Fitchburg Public Schools from the Sizer School in Fitchburg, where she was a school counselor since 2015. She was the principal at Sizer from 2007-2015.
Earlier in her career, May served as a school social worker and team leader at Fitchburg High School, and a special education teacher and guidance counselor at North Middlesex Regional High School.
“I’m going to work really hard to earn their trust,” May said. “I have a lot of background knowledge in building and sustaining safe, rigorous learning environments where expectations are really high, but we meet students where they are socially and academically, and we have a plan for everyone to help them get to where they want to be.
“The magic of it is that we can create a space that the people in it truly feel valued and a sense of belonging. We know that when we belong, we also care for ourselves, one another, and the space.”
Faculty, students and parents of Reingold Elementary are certainly familiar with Sparks, who was an assistant principal under former principal Albert Mercado since 2019.
Now, Sparks takes over the principal role for the upcoming school year.
“I am thrilled by the opportunity,” Sparks said. “To work in a school with such amazing teachers and kids, and after the year we’ve had and seeing the interactions with the kids and their families while going on home visits, just seeing how difficult it was through the pandemic, gave me a sense of urgency.
“That’s my driving force this year. We have a real opportunity this year — it’s my opportunity, too — but it’s an opportunity for all of us to leverage the strong community we have at Reingold and really accelerate student learning. I’m very hopeful this year that we’re going to have some really good results. We’ve going to hit the ground running.”
Communication with parents and guardians will be a real key, says Sparks.
“The parents are going to expect me to be communicating often,” he said. “I’m planning to hold a lot of events throughout the course of the year. I’m going to be hosting some events now that we can be in person; hopefully things don’t change drastically. This is a community facility and I want our families to feel comfortable and have a sense of inclusion and belonging. I’ll be holding different events during the day and night to accommodate their schedule and just talk. I want to know how we can meet their needs and continue to knock down barriers for them because it’s a partnership.”
For Sparks, he says it’s vitally important for him that kids “feel like they belong here.”
He added: “Different kids connect with different things. We need to make sure every kid feels a strong sense of connectedness. We’re going to be focusing on building relationships right from the get-go and re-establishing relationships with the kids and the teachers. When you see the attendance rates improve, that’s proof that kids feel engaged and connected, and kids feel safe and secure.”
Tingas is well known in the South Street Elementary School community, having been the assistant principal for the past five years. Now, Tingas takes over as principal at South Street.
“I am very excited to have this job,” said Tingas, who also worked in Lowell Public Schools from 1997-2016. “It’s a great opportunity. I think my five previous years of experience as the AP here will give me great insight into what our students need and what our teachers need for everyone to be successful.”
Tingas says she lives by the three words, “support, motivate and achieve.”
She added: “No matter what I do in life, that’s what I live by. I’m here to support teachers and students, I’m here to motivate teachers and students, and I want all of our teachers and students to achieve. That’s my big theme.”
Tingas says she believes in an open-door policy.
“People who do know me — parents and guardians who have worked with me in the past — they know that already,” she said. “They can call me and come in and see me. I’m available for them. That open-door communication is a key for success. We all want the same thing. We all want these little guys and little girls to succeed, whether we’re the teacher or the parent or guardian. It’s open-door communication, transparency and openness.”
FITCHBURG PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE NEWS 