Schools

Watertown Youth Coalition Wins Award for Anti-Tobacco Efforts

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The following information was provided by The 84 Movement:

Five youth and their advisor from the Watertown Youth Coalition joined other youth from across the Commonwealth last week for a Kick Butts Day event to celebrate their role in reducing the influence of the tobacco industry in their communities. The 19 participating chapters are all members of The 84 Movement. Youth leaders of The 84 Movement educate and mobilize young people to take action and protect their communities from the tobacco and vaping industries. During a ceremony in the Great Hall at the State House, awards were presented to individuals and chapters of The 84 Movement for their dedication to reducing the impact of tobacco and nicotine. The Watertown Youth Coalition Peer Leaders were recognized with The 84 Movement’s Local Community Change Award and their advisor, Dawn Graham, received the Adult Advisor Award.

School Buses

Watertown Schools Looking at 3 Busing Options, One Could Raise Fees $100

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Depending on which school busing option the School Committee adopts, transportation fees could remain the same as this year or increase by as much as $100, and not all students wanting to be transported is guaranteed a spot. The decision will be made with the help of college students participating in a “hack-a-thon.” The School Committee received an update on planning for busing during the 2018-19 school year on Monday night. Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Mary DeLai said the district will enter a five year bus contract if the Town Council gives its approval Tuesday night, but the schedule will change from the current year because the high school and middle school are starting later next fall. Three options will be considered, DeLai said, with different numbers of buses and possibly requiring students to wait after school for the bus to arrive after school.

Around Town

Watertown High Grad Chosen to Conduct Research in Italy as a Fulbright Scholar

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Watertown’s Francesca Korte will use her knowledge of biology and Italian, learned while studying at Wellesley College, and her experience working in medical labs to do research during her Fulbright Scholar year in Palermo, Italy. 

The 2014 Watertown High School graduate was one more than 1,900 Americans selected to be a Fulbright Scholar in the 2018-19 academic year. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. It is designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. In Sicily, Korte will work on a project to evaluate the bioethics of the practices used to autopsy and identify migrants who die while crossing the Mediterranean from Africa to Italy. She will conduct her research at Università degli Studi di Palermo from October 2018 to July 2019. Her work will be supervised by Antonella Argo, MD, PhD. When Korte received word that her project had been chosen she had a mix of emotions.

Schools

Watertown Resident Elected President of Massachusetts Teachers Association

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Watertown’s Merrie Najimy will be taking a leave of absence from teaching kindergarten in Concord for two years so that she can serve as president of the largest teachers union in the state. On May 5, Najimy was elected president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association with her running made, vice president Max Page, a professor of architecture at UMass Amherst. Before being elected, Najimy served on the board of directors of the MTA for six years and was president of the Concord Teachers Association for 11 years. In the classroom, Najimy has taught grades kindergarten to third grade for 28 years, the last 23 in Concord. Both teaching and unionism run in her family, said Najimy, who has lived in Watertown for 25 years, but who grew up in Pittsfield. “When I was a child my Dad was on the board of directors of the MTA,” Najimy said.

Schools

Use of Drugs, Alcohol & Tobacco Dropping Among Watertown Youths

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The youth of Watertown are less likely to drugs, alcohol and tobacco than in the prior years, according to the results of the most recent results of the latest Youth Risk Behavior Survey. 

Members of the Watertown Youth Coalition discussed the findings from the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey at a recent School Committee meeting. The group also  held a town hall meeting to discuss the survey results in April. The survey also tracked depression, suicidal thoughts and bullying. Stephanie Sutherland-Ramsey, Program Coordinator for the Watertown Youth Coalition at Wayside Multi-Service Center, said that the downward trend of the use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs continued in this survey. There was a slight increase  in the previous survey in 2014 for alcohol and marijuana use.

Marian Ryan

Watertown High Gets Check from District Attorney for Safe Prom, Graduation Events

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The following information was provided by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office:
Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan donated $500 to Watertown High School to promote substance-free events after prom and graduation. Watertown High School is one of 13 high schools that applied to receive $500 from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office for safe post-prom and graduation events. District Attorney Ryan has hosted events across the county to encourage teenagers to make “safe choices” when attending parties and other activities with their friends. District Attorney Ryan has also spoken to parents on the topic of “social host responsibility,” warning parents and caregivers about the dangers of serving underage drinkers.

App

MBTA Piloting Bus App for Blind Riders Developed by Perkins School, Raizlabs

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The following information was provided by Perkins School for the Blind:
Perkins School for the Blind has enhanced its groundbreaking micronavigation app, designed to help commuters with visual impairment find their bus stops, by bolstering it with new technology that makes traveling even easier. Still free to use, BlindWays 2.0 now alerts riders along select MBTA bus routes when they’ve found their outdoor stop via signals from bluetooth beacons, installed in bus stop signs, that trigger iPhone vibration. “Perkins continues to foster innovation by working collaboratively, as we are with the MBTA and developer Raizlabs on this initiative, to solve challenges for people who are visually impaired,” said Luiza Aguiar, executive director of Perkins Solutions. “We’re motivated to help create a transportation infrastructure that is equally accessible to all riders. Augmenting BlindWays to leverage beacons speeds us along that path.”
The first iteration of BlindWays was released in fall of 2016, providing users with crowdsourced landmark clues to help them navigate the last 30 feet of frustration standard GPS models leave between users and their exact destinations.

Schools

School Committee Approves School Bus Contract, Working With College on Routes

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Monday night, the School Committee approved a five year school bus contract, which will only rise three percent over the term of the contract. Most times, the District signs a three year contract, but the winning bidder (and current contract holder), Local Motion, offered incentives for two additional years, said Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations. State law requires the contract to also get the approval of the Town Council, because it more than three years. The current contract ends on June 30, 2018. Local Motion and Eastern Bus Co.