Around Town

MLK Friend: Watertown Embraces King’s Principles Like No Other Community

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Watertown has embraced the non-violence teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. like no other community, according to a Civil Rights activist and good friend of King. 

On Thursday afternoon a celebration for the dedication of the mural created on the back wall of the Watertown Boys & Girls Club was attended by Dr. Bernard Lafayette. The mural, called “The Time is Always Right,” features bright paints and sections of mosaics which demonstrate the six principles of Kingian Nonviolence (and the words on the mural):

Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people (Have Courage)
The Beloved Community is the framework for the future (Be Kind)
Attack forces of evil, not people doing evil (Don’t Hate, Solve)
Accept suffering without retaliation for the sake of the cause to achieve a goal (Stay the Course)
Avoid internal violence of the spirit as well as external physical violence (Love Yourself)
The Universe is on the side of justice (Trust)

Lafayette knows King’s teachings well. He has dedicated his life to spreading the nonviolence movement by teaching others how to use the principles and become Kingian instructors themselves. Two years ago he came to Watertown to teach 24 students, 17 school staff and three police officers. Since then, that group has reached more than 2,500 people in different events, according to Ruth Henry, a Watertown Middle School teacher who helped bring the Kingian principles to town.

Schools

Watertown Middle School Principal Leaving After 13 Years

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Watertown Middle School Principal Kimo Carter will be headed to Weston in July to take the position of Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning. The Weston Public Schools announced the appointment on its website on Monday. Watertown Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee that Carter would be leaving during Monday’s School Committee meeting. “We wish him the best for his future, and thank him for 13 years in the district,” Galdston said. School Committee Chairman John Portz congratulated Carter.

Schools

Watertown Middle School Classroom Kitchen Gets An Overhaul

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A kitchen used by students in the special education program at Watertown Middle School got a partial upgrade and improvement recently, bringing it into the current century. The kitchen is left over from a now defunct program at the Middle School, said Principal Kimo Carter. “Fifteen years ago we had a home economics program that got discontinued,” Carter said. “This room and the one beside it were the home ec rooms.” The room has counters, cabinets, a stove, refrigerator and microwave.

Around Town

Rotary Club, Watertown Middle School Pack Meals for the Hungry

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On Tuesday, November 22 over 90 kids, parents, teachers, community members and Rotarians headed to the Watertown Middle School to pack over 10,000 meals through the Stop Hunger Now program, the Rotary Club of Watertown announced. The Rotary Club of Watertown hosted the packing party not only to help feed thousands of people around the world but also as a way to foster a spirit of community service among the school children of Watertown. The meals prepared during the Stop Hunger Now Packing Party are distributed through feeding programs operated by partner organizations in developing countries that promote education, encourage children to attend school, improve students’ health and nutrition, address gender inequalities, stimulate economic growth, and fight child labor.

Schools

Fundraiser Planned to Help Watertown Students Go To Washington

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An event will be held to raise money to send Watertown eighth-graders on their annual trip to Washington, D.C.

A cocktail party will be held at The Plumbers Museum, 80 Rosedale Road, Watertown, on Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016 from 7-9 p.m. Catering to be provided by La Bonne Maisonhere, and there will be a cash bar. The event is Sponsored by the Watertown Democratic Town Committee. Suggested Contributions: $30 Guest, $100 Host (Not Tax Deductable)

All funds raised will go to the WDTC Carver Scholarship Fund

RSVP by ordering your tickets now! Get tickets at the group’s Facebook page (click here). For more information contact watertowndems@gmail.com or call 617-610-0402

Schools

Find Out Why Campers Were Evacuated from Middle School Monday

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A blown fuse resulted in the evacuation of children from Camp Pequosette to be evacuated on Monday. 

The fuse blew while workers were doing work on the on the roof of Watertown Middle School, said Superintendent Jean Fitzgerald at Monday’s School Committee meeting. When the electricity went out, not only the lights but also the air conditioning went down. Workers started to restore air conditioning on Monday, Fitzgerald said, but she was not sure if the work had been completed that day.

Government

Middle School Window Replacement Approved by Town Council

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Watertown Middle School

Hundreds of windows that leak, let in breezes and do not connect well to the building will be replaced at Watertown Middle School in a project jointly paid for by the town and the state. 

Tuesday night, the Town Council approved the town borrowing $3.08 million, of which 48.47 percent will be reimbursed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The price of the project grew from about $300,000 to over $3 million after the state’s project manager, Gale Associates, examined the school and found that 207 windows, instead of just a few dozen, needed replacing. Some windows let in water, others have gaps that let in the cold in the winter and some are permanently closed, said Siva Sivalogan, of exPERTcon Inc., who will serve as owner’s project manger on behalf of the Watertown Public Schools. “(The middle school) is solidly built, unfortunately the windows are not in good shape, to the extent that they are not compliant (with state standards),” Sivalogan said. Sivalogan showed photos of windows that show they are not well connected to the building.

Schools

Watertown Alums Want to Honor Former Principal With Plaque at Middle School

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A group of students who attended the old West Junior High School wanted to honor their former principal, Jack Burns, and decided to pay for a plaque at the middle school. Earlier this month June Ford and Mike Younger, who attended West Junior High from about 1975-77, appeared at the School Committee’s Building and Grounds Subcommittee and Ford made an emotional plea for permission to install the plaque. “You were never a number for him. He cared about you,” Ford said. “He not only cared about you as a student, but as a person.”