Time out to honor veterans, especially one

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

SOUTHAMPTON - As a strong November wind whipped across the schoolyard, a proud group of local veterans exited William E. Norris Elementary School Wednesday afternoon, to be greeted by hundreds of smiling faces and a sea of miniature American flags gripped by some of the town's youngest residents.

Some of the 500 students on hand were cheering on their parents, others their grandparents, but all joined in to recognize area veterans who served their country.

The Norris School's Veterans Day celebration honored all veterans who served, are serving still, and those who died in the line of duty. But a special thank-you was reserved for local resident, U.S. Navy veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor Edward F. Borucki.

At Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, Borucki was a yeoman clerk aboard the USS Helena, a cruiser that was among the ships torpedoed by Japanese fighter pilots.

As a handful of fifth-graders peeled back a layer of red, white and blue ribbons adorning the school's flagpole to reveal a commemorative plaque, Principal Bill Collins announced that it would forever be known as the Edward F. Borucki flagpole.

"The number of Pearl Harbor veterans who participated in that pivotal moment in American History gets fewer and fewer every year, so Norris students I ask you to etch indelibly in your minds that you were here today in the presence of Mr. Borucki, a true real-life American hero," Collins said. "Someday you will be able to tell your children and their children that you were here in the presence of a hero."

The flag flying atop the pole, which was a gift from the local American Legion, was ceremoniously taken down by a handful of students, folded and presented to Borucki, 89, who then took the podium to address the crowd.

After briefly describing what he experienced during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Borucki said he was proud to have defended his country and asked those in attendance to honor the 2,390 men who died that day and his brother, Walter, who died onboard the USS Ingraham in the North Atlantic in 1942.

"I'll be 90 years old on Nov. 20, and I will continue to do the job of remembering those who gave their lives at Pearl Harbor, and I salute the school for honoring all of our local veterans," Borucki said.

Also stepping to the podium was Navy veteran and fifth-grade teacher Joseph Moynihan, who reminded students that Veterans Day is a time to remember that freedom isn't free.

"I was out there, sometimes putting myself in harm's way, just as these gentleman and ladies who are beside me did, and we did that so a ceremony like this could happen," Moynihan said. "So across our country we could gather peacefully, speak our minds, live our lives and be free."

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.

Northampton High undertakes self-review

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - Faculty members at Northampton High School have begun working on a self-review organized by the New England Association of Schools that targets ways of improving the quality of education offered at NHS.

Last month, NHS faculty members sat down for an hour-long presentation given by Ann Ashworth, associate director for the association's Commission on Public Secondary Schools, who outlined strategies for preparing the self-study, due in 2012.

"Northampton High School is already an accredited member of our organization and over the next year-and-a-half or two years, they are required to complete a self-study that analyzes the facility, practices, programs, teaching strategies and curricula," Ashworth said. "All of our member schools must go through this process every 10 years."

When the self-study is completed, an evaluation will be conducted by a visiting committee of professional educators, sent by the commission, who review all materials prepared by the faculty in the self-assessment, visit classes and talk with students, teachers, administrators, parents and community members during their four-day visit to the school.

"While accreditation by the association does not imply perfection, it does ensure that the school has the resources, leadership, and organization necessary to support the ongoing improvement required of all schools," said Principal Nancy Athas.

The New England Association is a voluntary accrediting agency of more than 2,000 public and independent schools, colleges and universities, and vocational, technical, and career institutions. Of these, about 650 schools have been accredited through the association's Commission on Public Secondary Schools.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com

Gan Keshet expands, affiliates with Lander-Grinspoon

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

NORTHAMPTON - A 25-year-old Jewish preschool run by Congregation Bnai Israel on Prospect Street will expand its school and offer full-day options next year.

Gan Keshet Preschool Director Wendy Stein said the expansion means the school will be able to double the number of children enrolled.

We want to be able to offer more options to more families and we think expanding what we have available will help us meet the needs of more people in our community, said Stein. We already had full-day classes that went to 3 p.m. but this expansion will allow us to run to 5:15 p.m.

By joining forces with Northamptons Lander-Grinspoon Academy, a private Jewish day school for grades K through 6, Stein said the expanded preschool will be larger and made available to all children in the community, regardless of faith.

We value diversity and welcome all families in the community, Stein said.

The school is also changing its name to Gan Keshet Jewish Community Preschool of the Pioneer Valley.

The expansion, which will begin next school year, will include offering longer-day options Monday through Friday and adding another classroom for 3-year-olds. Stein said the new three-year-old classroom will be located in currently unused space that administrators plan to refurbish. Established in 1985, the school is licensed by the states Department of Early Education and Care for children between the ages of 2.9 and 5 years old as of Sept. 1 in the year they enroll.

So much of our preschool curriculum supports a childs ability and natural interest in being a member of a community, Stein said.

Gan Keshet will be accepting applications in November for the 2011-2012 school year. The school is holding an open house Monday, Dec. 6, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. to meet the staff and visit classrooms.

For more information about Gan Keshet, residents can contact Stein at 413-584-3593 ext. 204 or visit the schools website: http://www.cbinorthampton.org/gan-keshet-preschool.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com

Founder of groundbreaking breast cancer website dies

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

SOUTH HADLEY - In the days before web-based social networking and medical sites changed the way people interacted, the concept of creating an online chat room for people diagnosed with breast cancer was a novel one.

When longtime resident Susan Frisius was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1994, she realized that such a virtual place - capable of bringing people across the world together to comfort one another, exchange ideas and treatment methods - simply didn't exist.

So, in 1997, Frisius went about creating BCForum, a popular website that features chat rooms aimed at helping people with breast cancer cope with the diagnosis and providing an open forum where they can talk one-on-one with experts and survivors.

Frisius died Thursday at the age of 63 from a stroke associated with ovarian cancer.

In an interview with the Gazette just 2½ years after her breast cancer diagnosis, Frisius said that shortly after finding out about her disease she rarely left her home and found herself too weak to attend local support group meetings.

"When you get breast cancer, you enter a world you know nothing about," Frisius said. "When you have cancer, a lot of times people abandon you. I was so needy, and people did help me out, but not enough."

During that tough time, Frisius said she turned for help to her family and friends, many of whom lived far away and didn't truly understand what she was going through.

Soon her energy, she said, was fully focused on recruiting members for her forum, sending out email messages to people affiliated with breast cancer groups and sitting for hours in front of her computer, waiting for someone to log on.

Frisius' daughter, Rachel Frisius-Henderson, who now lives in Colorado, said it wasn't long before the website was visited by hundreds of people from places including Canada, California and Costa Rica and began touching the lives of countless breast cancer patients.

Soon every Sunday, Wednesday and Friday at 8 p.m., members would enter the chat room and update each other their progress, share encouraging words and swap stories.

"She felt the need was there for people to share their stories and help each other cope," said Frisius' sister-in-law, Randi Henderson. "I know it's hard to imagine it now but, back then, there just wasn't a really easy way go about doing that. Thankfully, she had the imagination and the ingenuity to do it."

Soon after the site was created, Frisius' forum spawned numerous meet-and-greets among users and guided thousands through the steps that immediately follow a breast cancer diagnosis, like finding the right doctor, choosing medications and making healthy lifestyle choices.

Frisius was also well-known for helping those who needed it most, including one of her many foster daughters, Beverly Poynter, 18, who lived for two years in Frisius' South Hadley home before moving to Springfield a year ago.

"My mother passed away from cancer when I was 10, and Susan was always there for me and really helped me cope with my mother's death," Poynter said.

"She was a good person and was very inspirational. It always seemed like she was so busy, but she was always willing to take time out of her day to help someone else."

Frisius' online breast cancer support group, her daughter said, was also open to the family members of breast cancer patients and led to the formation of many lifelong friendships.

"The site helped a lot of people," she said. "I went to a couple of get-togethers and got to see it firsthand."

Frisius' friends and family members are invited to attend a memorial service Tuesday at Tower Theatres on College Street from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Anyone interested in viewing Frisius' website can visit www.bcforum.org.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.

Hands-on engineering

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

EASTHAMPTON - Students at Pepin School are building and programming robots as part of a regional project aimed at providing hands-on engineering experience to some of the region's youngest students.

Earlier this year, the Hampshire Regional schools and seven other Pioneer Valley school districts were awarded $200,000 in grant funding to support the Western Massachusetts Robotics Project, thanks to a grant written by Williamsburg Schools' Technology Coordinator John Heffernan.

The funding, which was provided to the state's Department of Elementary and Secondary Education through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, equipped area elementary and middle school students with technology, math and science robotics kits and paid for a training program for teachers across western Massachusetts.

At Pepin, students in grades 1 through 4 have worked with their math and science teachers to build, program and operate miniature robots.

Marge Kline, who teaches second grade at Pepin, said the idea behind the program is to encourage school administrators to begin introducing students to technology and engineering at a younger age than in years past.

"Research has shown that very few females choose engineering as a career and this is our way of starting interest among both boys and girls at a young age," Kline said, adding "and at the same time we are promoting 21st-century skills and higher-level thinking and problem solving among students."

The results, Kline said, have been "unbelievable."

"They are all very excited and what is interesting is we were worried about managing the lessons, losing pieces and having our kids work together, and so far none of that has been a problem," Kline said. "Once we gave them a little structure the work they've done has been incredible."

According to Heffernan, who said the projects have been a hit in Williamsburg schools for years, students in grades 1 through 4 will work with Lego WeDo kits and those in grades 6 through 8 will use Lego Mindstorms to develop engineering skills through cooperative learning.

Using those kits, students will complete a variety of tasks, including constructing and programming minature robots to move, make noise and navigate mazes.

One project recently completed by the younger set of students, Heffernan said, involved setting their robot up with a drum and then using a laptop computer to change the rhythm the robot makes when it plays.

Pepin first-grade teacher Mary Franck and third-grade teacher Marcia Dushane, Kline said, are joining her for a 10-week course provided by grant funding to prepare them for the projects, which use Lego building kits to build, program and control robots capable of moving and make noise.

"We are taking the course so we can work through eight different projects and then pass the information we gain to our other grade levels," Kline said. "So far we've been absolutely impressed with the results and with the discussions we've generated."

According to the grant, participating teachers will provide at least two promising practices or lesson plans to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education by August 2011 so they can be sent out to teachers and students in school districts statewide.

Also participating in the robotics program are students in Amherst, Northampton, Easthampton, the Gateway Regional district, Greenfield and South Hadley.

Fore more information about the grant, or the Western Mass Robotics Project, residents are encouraged to visit an informational website: www.burgyschools.org/WeBot/WeBotOnePage.pdf.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.

45th Junior Miss competition offers 'Viva Las Vegas'

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

EASTHAMPTON - The annual Junior Miss competition is known for wowing crowds with a little glitz and glam, and this year's theme of "Viva Las Vegas" is sure to up the ante in both categories.

Dressed in sweats and T-shirts, the 16 high school seniors who will participate in this year's scholarship program laughed Friday in the auditorium at White Brook Middle School as they worked to fine-tune their group performances before the Nov. 21 show at the Academy of Music in Northampton.

Organizers of the competition take pains to note that the scholarship program is not a beauty pageant and that the young women are instead measured in a range of categories, including poise, confidence, public speaking, physical fitness and creativity. This is Easthampton's 45th Junior Miss competition.

Each year, participants are judged based on their performance in a group fitness routine, an individual special talent, a self-expression segment and their ability to answer questions rooted in current events.

Christine Corley, who has helped organize the program for 18 years, said she is looking forward to this year's competition because it has a fun theme and a wide variety of individual talents.

"We have girls playing basketball, reading monologues, singing, playing volleyball, playing the piano and some dancing," Corley said. "This is going to be a good year because we have such a great mix."

This time around, 16 young women from Easthampton High School, Hampshire Regional High School and Holyoke Catholic High School are gearing up to compete for a college scholarship. The winner goes on to compete in the Massachusetts Junior Miss Program and the winner of the statewide competition will have the opportunity to compete in America's Junior Miss Program in Mobile, Ala.

This year's contestants are Shealyn Berube and Rebecca Lambert of Easthampton High School; Stephanie Vlohioti of Holyoke Catholic High School; and from Hampshire Regional High School, Jessie Lewis, Margo McCarthy, Kayla Fappiano, Leah Lyons, Abigail Whiting, Shelby Benoit, Carolyn Mase, Kendra Lohr, Elizabeth Cauley, Lisa Mogilka, Caitlin Cauley, Treya Crisafulli and Vanessa Rice.

Jessie Lewis, 18, who is working on a hip-hop dance routine for the talent segment, said a friend at Hampshire Regional recommended that she participate in this year's program.

"I've heard a lot of good things about Junior Miss, and after my friend dragged me to the first meeting I heard that by the end everyone becomes a family and it is a lot of fun," Lewis said.

Another contestant, Abigail Whiting, 17, of Westhampton, who will sing for her talent portion, said she has been looking forward to her shot at Junior Miss since she was a freshman.

"I've been on the varsity cheerleading team since I was a freshman, and every year there has been at least one girl competing, and I've watched them every year," Whiting said.

"I'm really looking forward to going to college because I'm the first child from my family to do it, and winning a scholarship would be a really big deal for my family."

The show goes on Sunday, Nov. 21, at 1 p.m., at the Academy of Music on Main Street. Anyone interested in buying tickets should visit the Academy website.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com

Schools beat the drums for healthy eating

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

As students prepared to sample a piece of a fresh Mutsu apple at Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School last week, the worried looks they exchanged suggested they had never had one before.

At a lunch encouraging students to make a conscious effort to eat healthier last week, they were asked to choose their favorite among Mutsu, Blush Gold, Rome, Jonna Gold, Spencer, Winesap and Spartan apples plucked from trees at Bashista Orchards in Southampton.

"Some of these are apples that I've never even heard of and it's always good to let them try new things," said Heather Bouley, the high school's food service director. "The students really seem to enjoy it."

Using a grant from the state's Department of Public Health, Bouley said the effort will promote physical and nutritional health with a series of programs.

"I've been using a portion of that to buy fresh fruits and vegetables for tastings like these," Bouley said as students worked together to decide which apple they thought was the tastiest.

Other healthy foods, including Waldorf salads, zucchinis, and carrots will be among those sampled at school-wide taste-tests this year, Bouley said.

"Caesar salad was such a hit last year among students that we made it a menu item that we now serve once a week," Bouley said. She noted that school staff prepare about 70 percent of the food they serve from scratch.

"This is just our way of reminding students to think about eating healthier and to get them thinking about the fruits and vegetables they can eat."

Tom Bashista, who provided the apples for the taste test, said he grows 42 different apple varieties at his East Street farm and hand-picked the kinds that he thought local students may have never had before.

The results, Bouley said, showed that 32 percent of students ranked Mutsu apple slices as their favorite, easily beating the Blush Gold variety which drew support from 16 percent of students.

Rodriguez honored

Superintendent Isabelina Rodriguez was recently selected by the National Association of Professional Women as one of 100 women to receive this year's Woman of the Year award.

Rodriguez said she was notified late last month that she had won the award and attributed the honor to the staff and faculty she has worked with during her tenure in Northampton.

"As your Superintendent, I am thrilled that this honor is also extended to the Northampton Public Schools as well and a big thank you goes out to my staff, administrators, School Committee members and families for continuing to support me and the district," Rodriguez said. "I am proud of all that I have accomplished during my time in Northampton and look forward to continuing that work in the coming weeks and months."

This year will mark the last for Rodriguez as the city's superintendent. Previously, she was director of pupil services for the city, and held a host of other positions in her 25 year career in public schools.

Ward 3 deadline

Candidates for the vacant Ward 3 School Committee post have until today by 5 p.m. to file nomination papers with the Registrar of Voters office in City Hall. To get on the ballot, candidates need to get the signatures of 50 registered voters from the ward.

The position earns a $2,500 a year stipend. It opened up when Timothy Fisher resigned recently because he moved to Holyoke.

The special election is set for Jan. 7, but if more than two people qualify for the ballot, a preliminary election would be held Dec. 7. The last day to register to vote in the preliminary election is Nov. 17; the last day to register for the special election is Dec. 22.