Entertainment

Musicians Wanted for the 4th Annual Watertown Music Fest

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The fourth annual Music Fest will be held in March, and organizers seek musicians to perform at the event that benefits music in the Watertown Public Schools. Music Fest will be held on Friday, March 6th from 5:30-9:30 p.m. at the Watertown Middle School. It features an instrument petting zoo (where students can touch and examine musical instruments), have some pizza and baked goods, and of course listen to the musical performances. There will be four stages with musicians playing a variety of styles of music throughout the evening. Event organizers from the Friends of Watertown Music are looking for musicians to perform during the event.

Schools

Watertown High School TV, Radio Program Expanding

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After starting with a couple of periods of television production classes last year, Watertown High School students now have five classes to choose from, including one focused on radio. With an expanding program, the high school hired Todd Robbins – a first year teacher but experienced broadcaster – to run the multimedia production program. Students can choose from two sections of television news production, documentary film making and radio. In TV news production, Robbins allowed students to choose what kind of program they wanted to do for the class. “Both periods came up with similar panel style shows,” Robbins said.

Schools

Watertown Spelling Bee Coming Up – Teams Can Sign Up

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The annual Watertown Education Foundation Spelling Bee is coming up soon, so get your teams together. The bee will be held on Sunday, Jan. 25 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Watertown Middle School Auditorium. Teams are made up of three members and students in grades 1-5 can enter. Students do not have to be from the same school.

Boston Marathon Bombing

Expert Giving Advice on Dealing with Issues in Kids Due to Marathon Bombing

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With the beginning of the trial of the Boston Marathon Bombing suspect, memories of the tragic and disturbing events of April of 2013 could come up – especially in children. The Watertown Public Schools will host a forum for parents to help them deal with situations that may arise. 

On Wednesday, Jan. 14, a licensed clinical psychologist will speak at Watertown High School from 7 to 8:30 p.m. to talk about emotions and reactions children may have as the Bombings, and shootout and manhunt in Watertown come up with the start of the trial. The event was organized and provided by the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance (MOVA). The event includes:

A discussion of how such events impact the lives of our children.

Schools

Watertown Football Team Honored by School Committee

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Celebration of Watertown High School’s football team’s successful season continued this week when the players and coaches were honored by the School Committee. The Raiders went 9-2, won the Middlesex League Freedom Division, made the MIAA Div. 4 football playoffs, and capped the season with a win over Belmont on Thanksgiving Day. Watertown Football Coach John Cacace said the success started well before the season. “It has not been just since Thanksgiving 2013, but when these guys were freshmen,” Cacace said.

High School

Watertown High Renovation Will Have to Wait

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The request to renovate – or replace – Watertown High School, will have to wait at least another year after school officials were told their project was passed over by the state. Last spring, the Watertown Public Schools submitted a Statement of Interest to the Massachusetts School Building Authority requesting state support in renovating or rebuilding the high school. The letter was sent after the a report from an architectural consultant found that the high school was the town school in most need of repair. (See the consultant’s report here). The original part of the the building was built in 1924 and 1925 and there were additions in the 1950s and in 1979.

Schools

See Who Made the Honor Roll at Watertown High School

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Watertown High School released the first term honor roll lists – see who made it during the fall of 2014. Ninth Grade – High Honors
Evan Aldridge, Amelia Allison, Joseph Chau, Nicholas Cordeiro, Caroline Costa, Jacquelyn Furbish, Claire Gabel, Anna Gellerman, Siobahn Greene, Melanie Halibian, Emily Koufos, Katherine Lawn, Spencer McClellan, Katherine Nilov, Jeremy Ornstein, Sarah Pardo, Lauren Petrillo, Elizabeth Powderly, Darlyn Ramirez, and Destiny Santalucia. 
Ninth Grade – Honor Roll
Alexander Abrahamyan, Hakeem Alhady, Madiha Begum, Sarah Benites, Christina Borelli, Gabriella Cacia, Liz Cam, Gabriel Cimino, Julia Cottone, Arianna Curry, Nelziclea Da Silva, Julie Der Torossian, Hailey DiBacco, Daniel Fabrizio, David Fabrizio, Hadi Farhat, Alexander Feltner Harrison, Meghan Foley, Julio Fulcar, Owen Gallagher, Natali Gevorgyan, Didar Jajan, Jonna Kennedy, Christopher Koufos, Amanda Lewis, Jie Sen Lian, Jeannie Ngan, Anahid Ohanyan, John Papadopoulos, Stella Papadopoulos, Catherine Papayannopoulos, Tia Pellegrini, Sydney Poulin, Kian Rice, Molly Ryan, Sergio Salas, Christine Saroufim, Ana Scott, Elza Shakhverdova, Rubina Simikyan, Brianna Sullivan, Timothy Tat, Kaitlin Tracy, Isabella Vitti, Rubina Vosbigian, Connor Walsh, James Walter, and Ana Zoubian. 10th Grade – High Honors
Evamarie Alessandroni, Samuel Carton, Alexis Catsoulis, Alexan Cinar, Julia Dunoyer, Nicole Frisoli, Michael Guyumdzhyan, Sara Gyulakian, Rosdom Kaligian, Stefanos Kiorpes, Thayna Marcos, Hovig Margosian, Lily Mills, Shannon Murphy, Ryan O’Reilly, James Piccirilli, Ruby Rosenwasser, Alex Smith, Stella Varnum, and Olivia Venezia. 10th Grade Honor Roll
Mahdi Alhady, Brian Amedio, Faryal Amin, Elizabeth Arauz, Andres Arenas, Ani Aroyian, Sarine Ashjian, Christopher Baccari, Natalia Balan, Emma Bannon, Robert Belli, Larissa Bittencourt, Benjamin Bunnell, Lauren Burns, Anthony Cardarelli, Daniel Carito, Joseph Chomthakham, David Conlon, Julia Dario, James DeRocher, Maksim Doe, Aurora Fidler, Colin Gardiner, Isaac Gibbons,  Sarah Greim, Artem Grigoryan, Mayra Guerra, Isaac Huff, Sabir Hussain, Kaysa Jinan, Nareg Kalaydjian, Lisa Kalies, Leslie Kay, Yasir Khan, Zelal Kort, Fatima ez Zahra Kouchaoui, Eli Krieger, Lance Kuo, Catherine LeBlanc, Tatum Lee, Benjamin Lowry, Karina McAdam, Samantha McFarland, Hanna McMahon, Jenna McMahon, Lisa Nantongo, Emerson O’Connor, Vicky Orellana, Marina Osipova, Gabriel Pino, Vasiliki Pistoftzian, Talene Pogharian, Max Potseluev, Nayara Ribeiro, Zachary Rimsa, Fatima Roda, Elizabeth Santourian, Reid Shanabrook, Brendan Shanahan, Lori Shirinian, Aidan Sullivan, Janaki Thangaraj, and Emmanuel Theodore. 11th Grade High Honors
Nelli Balian, Niko Carvajal-Janke, Karl Elbakian, Kyle Foley, Karina Franca, Tyler Gardiner, Zoe Grodsky, Julia Harrington, Sabiha Khalid, Erika Libertini, Austin Lin, Joanna Lopez Ordonez, Steven Mey, Cristopher Patvakanian, Christopher Rohlicek, Arshdeep Singh, and Deanna Solari.

Letters

LETTER: Your Gift Can Support Music in Watertown Schools

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Dear friends,

Friends of Watertown Music was formed in the summer of 2011 in response to severe budget cuts in the Watertown Public Schools music program.  Since then, we have raised funds and awarded grants that include salaries to expand teaching positions, teacher initiatives for their classrooms, and instrument needs.  By offering partial funding for critical needs in the music program, we create immediate music opportunities for students and provide the Schools a way to incorporate the full cost into the general school budget. Please consider joining us in our efforts to continue to enrich, sustain, and develop the music program in the Watertown Public Schools.  May we include your name in our 4th Annual MusicFest program?  We have four donor levels:  Soprano (up to $25), Alto ($50), Tenor ($75) and Bass ($100 or more).   You can donate with PayPal or any credit card on our website:  http://watertownmusic.org/, or checks may be sent to Friends of Watertown Music, 43 Paul St., Watertown, MA 02472

This year we have been pleased to award a $5,863 grant to the WPS music program to ensure that all elementary students receive music education classes with an appropriate student:teacher ratio.  This support will help reduce the burden on overextended music teachers throughout the system by adding a new teacher.  The Schools are matching our funds in a 2.5 to 1 ratio, creating a 0.4 FTE at the Hosmer School that also includes pre-school and pre-kindergarten music classes. The Middle School Jazz Band, originally funded by a 2012-13 Friends of Watertown Music grant of $6,800, is now fully integrated into the music program.  One of our key goals has been to fund initiatives that are then sustained in the general school budget.  We have every expectation that this year’s grant will also function as seed money and allow the cost of the new position to become a permanent part of the music program. Friends of Watertown Music, Inc., incorporated in 2014, is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization.  All donations are fully tax deductible within the limits of the law.