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Twenty Years Later: How Area Educators Handle 9/11

September 10, 2021 by Katie Lovett

In the 20 years that have followed the events of Sept. 11, 2001, small memorials are still organized each fall, and the public takes time to share their memories.

However, for a younger generation of Americans, there is no memory to recall. Instead, it falls on educators to bring that lesson out of the history books and convey the impact of that morning to students.

Each of the 18 teachers in the history and social science department at Methuen High School will be talking about Sept. 11 this week as the 20th anniversary approaches, said Roger Lenfest, the chairperson of department. As a community, the entire school will also observe a moment of silence on Friday.

Inside the classrooms, teachers rely on various ways to approach the topic, Lenfest said, and each of the teachers has created their own plan for the lesson. Much of the discussion will be driven by what he or she feels the students are ready to process, he added.

Teachers can choose to talk about the events of the day itself or how the events of Sept. 11 changed society as a whole, he continued.

Some teachers will rely on the use of “powerful” first-person sources — newsclips or testimony from survivors or victims’ families, Lenfest said. Hearing the painful words can be emotional, he added, and triggering for students who may have experienced their own loss.

 

Teachers will take the time to talk to students about the testimony they’ll hear and let the students take a step back if needed.

Faculty find that students typically have some knowledge of Sept. 11, Lenfest said, and often build on that base knowledge to facilitate a discussion, answer questions, and fill in the gaps.

“Students are curious, when they hear bits and pieces, they want to know,” he said. “They are trying to put it together.”

Some teachers have students pursue guided research projects while others share their own personal reflections of the day.

Lenfest recalls how he was teaching that morning when a colleague came in to tell him what had happened. Cell phones weren’t as prevalent then, and it was hard to watch the news during the school day, he said.

“Teachers were trying to keep each other informed and not cause students to panic,” he said.

While some may find it hard to convey the totality of that fateful morning, Lenfest said, only by sharing the experience with new generations can we keep the promise to never forget.

“We study history to understand how we came to be and who we are,” he said. “It was more than just who was president that day. Every individual has a perception of that day. When we can center that, that’s where kids maintain interest.”

Filed Under: Education Tagged With: 9-11, Education, history, Methuen, Methuen High School, School, Sept11, september11, students

Georgetown Police Announce Return of School Resource Officer Program

September 9, 2021 by Merrimack Valley Magazine

By: Alia Spring

Chief Donald C. Cudmore of Georgetown, Mass., announced that the School Resource Officer (SRO) Program is returning to Georgetown Public Schools, and Officer Taylor Ford has been selected to serve as the new SRO.

Officer Ford joined the Georgetown Police Department in 2015. As a School Resource Officer, she will be primarily responsible for safety planning and training for all students and faculty, organizing teaching programs and serving as a liaison between the department and all three Georgetown schools.

“Officer Ford has the skill set necessary to ensure the well-being of students and faculty, and also the skills to form meaningful connections with those in the school community,” said Chief Cudmore. “She is a perfect fit for this position and I am so excited that we have the opportunity to continue the SRO program this year.”

Officer Ford has a passion for animals and spends her spare time volunteering with Northeast Canine, a nonprofit organization that trains Great Danes to become service dogs. She also is a certified communications dispatcher.

The SRO program was temporarily paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic and limited department resources.

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: community, Georgetown, Police, resource, School

Baker Not Considering Remote Option Amid School Outbreak

September 9, 2021 by State House News Service

By: Matt Murphy

Melrose said this week, barely into the new school year, that it had quarantined at least two classrooms for a COVID-19 outbreak, but Gov. Charlie Baker said Wednesday a return to remote learning as an option for school districts is not under consideration.

“Schools have a certain number of days baked into their calendar that they are allowed to miss and I think our view at this point is in-person learning is where we should be and where we should stay, and anybody who isn’t vaccinated who’s eligible should get vaccinated and take advantage of these clinics we’ve put up,” Baker said.

Baker responded to questions about the situation in Melrose from Gloucester, where he was celebrating the opening of new lab space to be used to train people for jobs in marine and life sciences. The governor said his administration continues to work with school districts about how to respond to positive cases in schools, and encouraged schools to take advantage of the on-site vaccine clinics that the state has offered to set up for students and staff. More than 100 clinics in schools around the state are up and running through October, he said.

 

Melrose officials did not say how many students or staff had tested positive for COVID-19, if they were vaccinated, or specify the grade level of the classrooms that were put into quarantine. “As long as there are unvaccinated people in Massachusetts, there will be COVID cases,” Baker said.

The Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported 5,484 new cases of COVID-19 over the long Labor Day weekend, and 4,415 cases over the past week in individuals fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The newly-reported breakthrough cases raised the state’s total as of Sept. 4, to 23,858, or 0.53 percent of the 4.52 million fully vaccinated Bay Staters. Breakthrough infections have led to 762 hospitalizations and 162 deaths.

“When you have 5 million people at this point in time in Massachusetts who are basically vaccinated you can’t count cases anymore and assume that means hospitalizations and deaths. The vaccines work,” Baker said.

Filed Under: Community, Health & Wellness Tagged With: Baker, Coronavirus, learning, Massachusetts, outbreak, remote, School, vaccinations

Merrimack Valley COVID-19 Update

September 7, 2021 by Katie Lovett

As the new school year gets underway, students and parents are adjusting to a statewide policy that calls for mask-wearing until at least October.

Under the policy adopted days before schools reopened, all public school staff and visitors must wear masks indoors through at least Oct. 1. Children under 5 are also recommended to wear masks.

Some students could be eligible for a medical exemption. Under the order, if a school has a vaccination rate of 80% or more on Oct. 1 when it is set to expire, a district could lift the mandate for those who are vaccinated.

Booster Shots Delayed

Meanwhile, Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, reported on Sunday that he believes Pfizer vaccine booster shots will be available for a Sept. 20 target date, but Moderna shots will be delayed by a few weeks.

The Biden Administration had previously announced a plan to make third doses, or “booster shots,” of the COVID-19 vaccines available by the end of the month. The plan called for Americans, 18 and older, to get the third dose at least eight months after being fully immunized.

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised the White House to scale back that recommendation, saying more data was needed.

 

In an appearance on the CBS program “Face the Nation,” Fauci said he believes delivery of COVID-19 vaccine booster shots will be able to start Sept. 20 for Americans who received Pfizer doses, while Moderna and Johnson & Johnson may take several weeks longer. He noted the plan is pending approval by the FDA.

Fauci said it is “conceivable” that for Moderna’s booster, there might be “at most a couple of weeks, a few weeks delay, if any,” while the company provides more data to the FDA on its efficacy.

On Aug. 23, the FDA granted approval to Pfizer’s vaccine for two doses for people 16 and older. Pfizer is the first to receive FDA approval as Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are available under an emergency use authorization. For minors ages 12 to 15, Pfizer’s vaccine is still authorized for emergency use.

Currently, the CDC is recommending that individuals who are moderately or severely immuno-compromised receive the additional dose or the booster. That population is especially vulnerable to COVID-19 because they are more at risk of serious, prolonged illness, according to the CDC, and they may not build the same level of immunity to the two-dose vaccines as those with a healthy immune system.

Latest COVID-19 Numbers:

As of Tuesday, 5 p.m., the state’s COVID-19 statistics were as follows:

New Confirmed Cases             5,484

Total Confirmed Cases            720,175

Total Deaths                           18,298

Full Vaccinations                     4,531,700

Filed Under: Community, Health & Wellness Tagged With: covid19, mask, Massachusetts, Merrimack Valley, School, vaccinations

Food, Farming and Open Space

August 7, 2018 by Emilie-Noelle Provost Leave a Comment

The choices we make today will determine how our communities will look and where our food will come from in the future.

At no time since the industrialization of farming in the mid-20th century have Americans been as concerned about where their food comes from as they are today. The local and organic food movement that began in the 1960s and picked up speed in the ‘90s at a smattering of seasonal farmers markets has evolved into an entire industry. Farm-to-table fare can be found, and has come to be expected, at just about every halfway decent restaurant in the country. People across the United States are signing up in droves for community supported agriculture shares (CSAs) — which, in addition to produce, can include meat and dairy products, and even things like craft beer and maple syrup. Consumers are demanding to know where their food comes from, and they are making choices based on that information.

It would seem logical, then, that along with our desire for locally grown and produced food — and the better flavors and nutrition that come along with it — that we would be equally concerned about preserving the land where this food is grown. But this isn’t always the case, especially in places like eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, where housing is in demand and real estate prices are high. In the Merrimack Valley, you only need to drive down Route 133 in Andover, Route 110 in Westford or Route 119 in Littleton to see what is becoming of our farmland and open space.

 

To make matters worse, the issues surrounding land preservation can be complex. Vanessa Johnson-Hall, assistant director of land conservation at Essex County Greenbelt, a nonprofit in Essex that works to help landowners and farmers keep their property out of the hands of developers, says, “Over a third of farmers in Massachusetts are over the age of 65 with no successor. Combine the region’s high real estate prices with the desire these farmers have to retire and get some sort of value for their land — not to mention the fact that a lot of the farmland along the Merrimack River is beautiful — and you have what amounts to a serious problem for open space.”

Legal issues such as real estate transactions, conservation easements and land development rights can also become obstructions when it comes to land conservation. Attorney Richard Cavanaugh, one of the founding partners of the Lowell law firm of Gallagher & Cavanaugh, today runs his own practice, called Common Grow, out of his home in the central Massachusetts town of Petersham. He works with farmers and landowners across Massachusetts, and with federal, state and local agencies, land trusts and planning boards, to help meet the legal requirements necessary to keep farmland in the hands of farmers and the development of open space at a minimum.

Left: Richard Cavanaugh left a lucrative law career behind to focus on helping regional farmers. “I see myself as a foot soldier in the local food movement,” he says. Photo by Adrien bisson. Right: Cavanaugh has mentored local farmers, including Chris Horne. Here, Horne cleans radishes in preparation for this season’s CSA share. Horne Family Farms is located in Londonderry, N.H. Photo by Doug Sparks.

Cavanaugh, who was born in Iowa and lived in Littleton, says he has always felt strongly about issues concerning land use and agriculture. “I see myself as a foot soldier in the local food movement,” he says. “I don’t want to see other communities suffer the same fate as Littleton. I use my law degree to that end. I look at what I do as helping local people take charge of their own lives and resources.” 

Like many people who change direction in their careers, it was almost by accident that Cavanaugh and his wife, Anne, ended up moving to Petersham, and that Cavanaugh ended up leaving his law firm in Lowell to start Common Grow.

In 2012, the Cavanaughs sold their house in Lowell and Richard took a one-year sabbatical from Gallagher & Cavanaugh so that he and Anne could enroll in The Farm School, a nonprofit educational farm in Athol and Orange that offers a program for adults who want to learn how to farm, as well as programs for kids from visiting schools.

“We weren’t really considering becoming farmers, but we wanted to learn about it. The idea was that we would move back to Lowell after the year was over and buy a condo downtown or something,” Cavanaugh says. 

While the Cavanaughs were enrolled at The Farm School, a privately-owned 95-acre parcel in the town of Orange, adjacent to the school, went up for sale. The school needed the extra space and didn’t want to see the land become a housing project, but the asking price was $500,000, way out of its budget. “We came to Rich to see if there was a way we could make it work,” says Ben Holmes, who founded The Farm School in 1989.

The result was the first planned open-space development project in Orange, and the beginnings of what would become Common Grow. “We were able to bring partners together to purchase 75 percent of the 95 acres,” Cavanaugh says.  

Some of the money was raised by selling parcels to Farm School employees who were allowed to build modest low-environmental-impact homes on the property. The school has the right of first refusal to buy back the land if the employees want to sell. 

Cavanaugh, a member of the Legal Food Hub, a pool of lawyers who work at reduced rates on farming and land issues, also helped the school meet legal requirements for the land, including Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection standards for its septic systems.

Top: Horne Family Farms in Londonderry, N.H. Owner Chris Horne is a Lowell native and alumnus of The Farm School, a nonprofit educational farm in Athol and Orange. Photo by Doug Sparks. Bottom left: Richard Cavanaugh visits Rice’s Roots Farm in Petersham. Farm owner Conor Rice worked as an apprentice farmer for several years before he was able to purchase the land thanks in part to Cavanaugh’s efforts. Photo by Adrien Bisson. Bottom right: These vibrant salad greens are from Horne Family Farm and find themselves on the menus of numerous local restaurants, including The Old Court in Lowell, Mass. Photo by Doug Sparks.

After their experience at The Farm School, the Cavanaughs opted to live permanently in central Massachusetts, where they would be closer to many of the farmers they wanted to help.

One of Cavanaugh’s recent projects is a beautiful 230-acre farm across the street from his house. He helped the East Quabbin Land Trust and the Petersham Conservation Commission raise money to buy the land at market price, then looked for a buyer who wanted to farm it and would buy the property at a reduced price. 

The parcel is now called Rice’s Roots Farm. It’s owned and farmed by Conor Rice, who grows a variety of produce that he sells via a CSA program and at local stores. Originally from Andover, Rice, who is in his early 30s, worked as an apprentice farmer for several years and is thrilled to have a farm of his own. “I recognize the importance and the privilege of being a steward of this land,” he says.

Back in the Merrimack Valley, Essex County Greenbelt is fulfilling a role similar to Cavanaugh’s at Common Grow. 

At the end of 2017, Essex County Greenbelt and several regional partners were awarded a $1,050,000 grant funded by the United States Department of Agriculture and distributed by the Regional Conservation Commission.

“Right now there are more than 3,000 acres of unprotected land along the Merrimack River in Essex County,” Greenbelt’s Johnson-Hall says. “We plan to use the money to buy conservation easements on local farmland so it can’t be developed. There are lots of young farmers looking for land that’s affordable.”

Photo by Doug Sparks.

One of those farmers is Chris Horne. A Lowell native who still lives in the city, Horne, who is in his late 20s, has an economics degree from UMass Lowell, is an alumnus of The Farm School and a former FoodCorps member who spent several years working for Mill City Grows, an urban farming nonprofit in Lowell. Today the owner of Horne Family Farms in Londonderry, N.H., Horne grows salad greens that are served by several area restaurants. He also works weekends as a bartender at The Old Court in Lowell to help make ends meet. Not surprisingly, The Old Court is one of the restaurants that serves Horne’s greens in their salads.

“The time is right to be growing and selling quality local produce,” Horne says. “Restaurants are increasingly dependent on it for their marketing and business plans. It’s what people want to eat.”

Horne says he became interested in agriculture because of health problems in his family caused by lifestyle and diet issues, including a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables. And although his education would allow him to work a less physically demanding job that pays more, he says farming is the right thing for him.

“There’s no feeling better than harvesting something you’ve grown,” Horne says. “My skill set fits really well with working outside. It’s a lot of hard labor, but there’s something special about feeding people and being connected to the land.”

Common Grow
Petersham, Mass.
(978) 724-3311
CommonGrow.com

Rice’s Roots Farm
Petersham, Mass.
(978) 886-5750
RicesRootsFarm.com

The Farm School
Athol, Mass.
(978) 249-9944
FarmSchool.org

Essex County Greenbelt
Essex, Mass.
(978) 768-7241
ECGA.org

Horne Family Farms
Londonderry, N.H.
HorneFarms.com

Filed Under: Community Tagged With: athol, essex, Farm, farming, grow, Londonderry, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, petersham, School

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