greylocknews

Film, discussion on Saturday about football scholastic head injury -- Williams summarizes review process

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Amid evidence that head-impact sports may cause lasting brain damage to players even in secondary school and college, a retired physician is staging a free feature-film showing and discussion on Saturday at the Milne Public Library in town.  Sports officials from both Williams College and Mount Greylock Regional High School say they can't attend. The reason -- prior engagements. 

However, Williams provided a statement explain its research into the head-injury question. 

"Concussion," a 2015 feature film which chronicles the discovery of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in the brain of the late Pittsburgh Steeler lineman Mike Webster -- and the National Football League's efforts to downplay its significance -- will be show at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the library free and open to the public, says Nicholas Wright, M.D., an epidemiologist and Williams College graduate. 

Wright has been working for several years since his retirement from New Jersey to Williamstown to alert Williams trustees, sports administrators and school board members at Mount Greylock to the possibility that repeated sub-concussive blows to the head common in tackle football programs may have a compounding effect on the brains of youth.  Wright wrote about his concerns in a Berkshire Eagle op-end last fall, has spoken about it to the Mount Greylock school board, and written to Williams trustees.

But so far, he has had little reaction -- appending to the bottom of another op-ed, """Williams College has denied two requests to provide a representative for interview on these issues." So he decided to show the film.  Already, some students at Williams screened it on campus. 

More than a month ago, Wright emailed and then spoke with Lindsey von Holtz, athletic coordinator at Mount Greylock, and Lisa Melendy, athletic director at Williams. But as of this writing, both had declined Wright's offer to be part of a discussion. Melendy said she has a family engagement. von Holtz is coaching a long-scheduled lacrosse game on Saturday as the film is showing.  Also, Melendy said Williams sports-medicine staff would be covering games at that time.

In an email to Greylock News, von Holtz said: "I hope the event is a success and the turnout is large." 

Williams' media-relations director Mary S. Dettloff, responded for the college on Thursday:

"The college has voluntarily participated and provided data for outside concussion studies. NESCAC has formed a Medical Aspects in Sport Committee that is gathering data, following research, and making recommendations for best practices.  This work is on-going and under constant review at every level.  (coach, sport medicine, athletic directors, and presidents, and medical directors)  The college relies most heavily upon the NCAA Sport Science Institute and the NCAA Medical Safeguards Committee to provide us with cutting-edge research and guidance."

RELATED LINKS:

• Background on the history of the National Football League's handling of brain injury
• Berkshire Eagle story on Dr. Wright's planned testimony
• iBerkshires story on Dr. Wright's testimony and school-board reaction
• WNYT-Channel 13 (Albany, N.Y.,) report on Wright's testimony
• March 1, 2017 op-ed in Berkshire Eagle by Dr. Wright 
• Earlier op/ed in Greylock Independent by Dr. Wright: 
  ""Williams College has denied two requests to provide a representative for interview on these issues.""
  
  Photo of Nick Wright, (to right) courtesy of WNYT-TV, Channel 13

 

ABC board sets forum on Monday -- seeks public input on how to use $900,000 endowment for enhancing diversity after shuttering scholars program

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Directors of the non-profit Greylock ABC Inc. are asking the public to join them on Monday night to discuss how the charity should use an endowment which documents show is approximately $900,000 -- after shutting down its 47-year-old residential scholars program spawned in the nation’s civil-rights era.

“We're hosting a community forum on Monday night at MGRHS, great chance for people to find out what's happening,” ABC board co-president Michael Williams wrote in a Nov. 4 post on his Facebook page.  “"We know how much this program means to so many in our community and we would like everyone to know where we are, how we got here, and where we're going."

 The “community forum” is at 7 p.m.  In Mount Greylock Regional High School meeting room and is public.  Options could include dissolving and turning Greylock ABC’s cash over to another charity, using it gradually or rapidly for charitable purposes that fit its mission of fostering diversity and reducing educational inequality -- or something else.

ABC stands for “A Better Chance.”  The Greylock ABC is an affiliate of the national A Better Chance program.  Its purpose was to provide high-school students from educationally disadvantaged settings in America the opportunity to attend elite private prep schools and summer programs with a goal: "To substantially increase the number of underrepresented youth assuming positions of responsibility and leadership in American society."   (WATCH VIDEO)

 Greylock ABC Inc. has been an independent educational non-profit organization for academically talented students from educationally underserved communities. One of the oldest ABC public school programs in the country, Greylock ABC had over 47 years sent more than 80 graduates to top colleges.  ABC programs operate in more than 20 public high schools, including Massachusetts communities such as Winchester, Wellesley,   Andover and Amherst.

“Diversity enriches the Wellesley community,” says the Wellesley website. “Get involved.” Graduates of  A Better Chance programs nationally include former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.  NPR profiled the national program in a 2013 audio story  around its 50^th anniversary.  (WATCH VIDEO)

Greylock ABC closed its residential program this spring after 47 years of educating visiting scholars at MGRHS. The last Greylock ABC residential scholar will graduate from the Buxton School in June, 2017. Each year, up to eight students enrolled at Mt. Greylock Regional High School and lived, during the academic year, at the ABC house on Hoxsey Street in Williamstown.

"We're excited about our future and look forward to sharing this excitement with the greater community," Williams added in a statement.

Phil Smith, one of three originators of the Williamstown affiliate, wrote about its history in The Greylock Independent in an Aug. 25, online post.  ABC set up living quarters in a house it at 58 Hoxsey Street, next to the Williams campus, until this spring, when directors decided to end the residential program and sell the house to Williams College for $528,000.  The house  abuts where Williams will soon start construction on a new science buildling.

Public records show that on its 2012-2013 tax return, Greylock ABC Inc. had $594,709 in unrestricted net assets, including the house, which was then valued at $234,921. So the additional of the cash from the building sale to Williams should leave the charity with up to $900,000 and no specific program to spend or raise money for. 

Until now, three has been little public discussion of the reasons why ABC decided to abandon its commitment to providing education to disadvantaged high-school students.  In private, various board members have cited factors including: 

• Difficulties retaining adult resident managers of the ABC house on Hose Street when the teen scholars had been housed.
• Chronic disciplinary or academic performance challenges with recent scholars.
• A declining pool of talented, yet disadvantaged scholars applying (or being recruited) to the program.

"Now that the question of continuing the Greylock ABC is under scrutiny by community organizers and present and past administrators, a reappraisal of how it has contributed to the life of Williamstown naturally includes a closer look at its history,” Phil Smith wrote in the August article.

Renovate light, major or a new building for Mount Greylock HS students -- which do you prefer?

Which plan do you prefer? More than a dozen Williamstown and Lanesborough volunteer citizens are holding public meetings and trying to figure out what to recommend on Thursday (July 30).

Thursday is the day the Mount Greylock Regional School District committee must make a decision whether to do (1) a partial renovation and new construction, (2) a major renovation with new construction, or (3) a total teardown and construction of a new high school on Cold Spring Road. Costs: Roughly between $52 million and $63 million -- with more than half covered by the state.

The reason for Thursday's date is because if a decision isn't made and forwarded to state school-building authorities, it will delay by at least three months any possibility of a green light for state funds for the project. The funds are vital to making the renovation affordable to local taxpayers.

At meetings last week, architect Daniel T. Colli, of Design Partnership of Cambridge ([email protected]) discussed three options (clicking on the highlight will open up a PDF view):

• The first renovation option would keep roughly half of the current classroom splace. Keeping the auditorium and gym core.
• The second renovation option would raze all current classrooms and add a two- or three-story all-classroom wing angled along the front of the current core buildings, preserving the auditorium and gym. This additional PDF view shows an option discussed last week to put a new cafeteria and media center area between the gym and auditorium, giving students a panoramic view of Mount Greylock, and moving adminstrative offices to the front of the gym.
• A third option - the most expensive -- would raze the current structure entirely and construct a new building behind the current one.

Stephen Dravis of iBerkshires covered last week's meetings and provided a detailed summary. 

MGRHS school garden yields evening's hors d'oeuvres

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Marti Packer, left, and his daughter, Mount Greylock Regional High School junior, Rebekeh, serve up three varieties of potato salad culled from potatoes grown in the school's new community garden, begun by students in the spring. The were at the school 's parents' night on Tuesday.

 

Teachers' union threatens to go to court to block release of $50K teacher settlement records

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The Massachusetts Teachers Union (MTA) threatened court action on Friday and requested that school officials delay release of records about a supposed $50,000 payment in 2009 to a former teacher, characterizing the request as involving a "personnel action." The union is asking that the town seek guidance from the state before their release.  The town agreed when it signed the agreement not to discuss or communicate about its terms "except as required by law."

EARLIER STORY

(All mentioned documents at: http://www.newshare.com/openrecords.pdf )

In a May 7 letter to Joel B. Bard, Williamstown's Boston-based legal counsel, MTA attorney Ira C. Fader writes that although the Massachusetts Open Records Act requires release of public records within 10 days of a request, "the town would not be in violation of its obligations by requesting an opinion of the Supervisor of Public Records regarding its obligation in these circumstances." The letter was provided to this blog by the school.

Fader's letter proposes that "rather than have to seek a temporary restraining order from a court on Monday, I am certain we can accommodate the interests of the town, the school district, the association and the individual through a mutual and timely discussion."

A staffer at the MTA office in Boston said at 4:15 p.m. on Friday that Fader was at the annual meeting of the MTA, the state's largest teachers union. She said she would leave a message for him to call. Mr. Bard, the town lawyer, relayed a message through a staffer in his Boston law office that he would not speak to this blogger, referring inquiries to town officlals.

An official at the Williamstown Public Schools said the school district, Lynn Sadlowski, noted that the school district, under the state Open Records Act, has 10 days from receipt of a document request to comply. She said the district had not made any decision about how to react to the MTA's letter. The MTA attorney said he had received a letter from the town "concerning your intention to release certain documents on MOnday, May 10 . . . . "

In a letter dated May 6, school Supt. Rose P. Ellis advised in a letter to William P. Densmore Jr., the citizen who requested the documents: "We expect this review will be completed within the statutory response time of ten days, on or before May 14th. My office is in the process of segregating the requested documents from our extensive files and redacting information that is related to personnel or contains specific names. Furthermore, we have a contractual agreement to contact staff at the Williamstown Educational Association within five days prior notice of disclosure."  The association is a local unit of the MTA.

Williamstown school working to release public records after request about puported $50K settlement

UPDATED STORY: Union threatens court action to block records' release

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The chairman of the Williamstown elementary school committee has responded to a Massachusetts Open Records Act request for public documents and says the school administration is working to comply.  The request, filed by local resident (and GreylockNews.com blogger) Bill Densmore, seeks information about whether the school board entered into an agreement in 2009 with a former school employee that ended a complaint the employee had brought.

Town resident Fred Leber, who is running for Town Moderator in Tuesday's annual town election against Mark Gold, said he had raised the issue in discussions and emails with town officials. Leber says he is concerned that the cost of the alleged settlement agreement -- he says he has heard from school sources it was $50,000 -- might not have been reflected in budget or other financial documents seen by Williamstown Finance Committee. The FinCom is appointed by the town moderator.

For source email exchanges, and a link to the open-records act request submitted by this blogger, click on this link.

MCLA Students Join Forces with MassPIRG

NORTH ADAMS, MA—Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts students and the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MassPIRG) co-sponsored daily events on campus throughout the fall semester to raise awareness about hunger and homelessness.

MassPIRG held a sock drive, during which students purchased socks, mittens, and hats for $1 to donate to the Louison House, a regional homeless and transitional shelter. Students also hosted a Hunger Banquet, during which students and members of the public played roles to experience various levels of poverty.

“The goal is to show that poverty does exist, but there are ways to change it,” said Melissa Bruhn, the MassPIRG organizer at MCLA.

The College also invited Louison House Director Paul Gadge to speak with students about poverty.
MCLA students volunteered with the Berkshire Food Project to prepare a free Thanksgiving dinner for the North Adams community. Several surrounding restaurants donated food for the meal.
The Zombie Walk for Hunger on Halloween, where students dressed as zombies and walked around North Adams as part of MassPIRG’s campaign against Hunger and Homelessness, was the organization’s largest event during the fall semester.

“The students who came were very enthusiastic,” said Bruhn.

Public Interest Research Groups are independent statewide student organizations that work on a variety of issues.  MassPIRG volunteers devote much of their time at MCLA to hunger and homelessness and zero-waste efforts.

Northern Berkshire Basic Education Program Welcomes New Students

NORTH ADAMS, MA-The Northern Berkshire Adult Basic Education Program welcomes new students for free classes beginning in January.

The program offers the following courses: GED Preparation, Pre-College Skills, English for Speakers of Other Languages, and Basic Skills.  

The Basic Computer Skills class is available to all students enrolled in at least one other class.

New courses include Next Steps, a class to help students plan for post-secondary education and career goals; and GED Fast Track, a 12-week test preparation course.

All classes, books, and materials are free for enrolled students.

Day and evening classes begin the weeks of January 4 and 11. Classes are held at three locations in Northern Berkshire County: the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) Freel Library in North Adams, CT Plunkett School in Adams, and the Milne Public Library in Williamstown.

For more information or to schedule an enrollment meeting call (413) 662-5314. Enrollment continues throughout the school year.

MCLA Professor Writes New Textbook for Educators

NORTH ADAMS, MA—Pearson Higher Education recently published Strategies and Lessons for Culturally Responsive Teaching: A Primer for K-12 Teachers by Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Education Professor Roselle K. Chartock.

The textbook, which draws on Dr. Chartock’s 43 years of experience as a high school teacher and college professor, helps educators talk to young people about diversity, social justice, and building community.

“There is a fear of difference in our society, and I think education is the only way you can get across the realities that those fears are really unwarranted,” she says.

Strategies and Lessons for Culturally Responsive Teaching includes 40 lesson plans on diversity, building community, teaching students who speak English as a second language, honoring students’ cultural backgrounds, and other subjects.

For example, says Dr. Chartock, social justice themes can be added to a math lesson by examining the percentages of ethnic groups in a city. She worked on the book for four years.

“This is an important book, and it showcases Roselle’s passion for culturally responsive~teaching and her experience as an educator,” says Dr. Cynthia Brown, vice president for Academic Affairs at MCLA. “She is a distinguished member of our faculty and community, as well as an active
researcher and scholar.”

Before joining the faculty at MCLA 23 years ago, Dr. Chartock was a teacher at Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington.  She says teachers sometimes see students from another culture as a challenge in the classroom rather than an opportunity.

“It’s a very complex topic,” she says, but it often comes down to how teachers relate to their students.

In her classes at MCLA, for example, Dr. Chartock gives her students questionnaires so she can better understand their academic needs. “I feel like I know them, not only to learn their names but to connect,” she says. “Students talk about their interests and their classmates see them as individuals. Students respond to that.”

The book also helps educators become aware of their own prejudices and attitudes and offers different perspectives.

“We can change attitudes,” she says. “If you can change the thinking early, you can have the population that realizes how destructive prejudice is.”

Dr. Chartock says educators need to respects students’ commonalities and differences with regard to language, gender, ability, and culture.

“Every teacher should teach in a way that recognizes those contradictions,” she says. “When they teach with a one-size-fits-all attitude, they’re not doing their job.”

Each chapter of Strategies and Lessons for Culturally Responsive Teaching includes art by people with disabilities who participate in the Community Access to the Arts (CATA) program in Great Barrington.

“There are not a lot of books like this, and I know it will play an important role in helping educators and their students succeed in today’s complex classrooms,” says Dr. Ellen Barber, chair of the Education Department at MCLA. “The whole department is very excited to read and use
this work.”

Strategies and Lessons for Culturally Responsive Teaching is Dr. Chartock’s third book. She is currently doing research for her next book, a study of the former Windsor Mountain School in Lenox, a pioneering multicultural boarding school.

Dr. Chartock grew up in Hudson, NY, and earned her undergraduate degree from Skidmore College, her master’s degree from Hunter College, and her doctorate from the University of Massachusetts.

MCLA Receives Architectural Award for Berkshire Towers

NORTH ADAMS, MA- Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) was honored recently by the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety Architectural Access Board and the Boston Society of Architects for the renovations of the Berkshire Towers dormitory. In recognition of the building's improved accessibility, the College received the Public Architecture Honor Award during a ceremony at the State House.

Berkshire Towers, first built in 1973, began undergoing renovations in 2008. The brick towers now have a street-level entrance with an elevator to the main lobby. The old design had residents and guests enter on the second floor, using an exterior ramp.

Other additions to the space include a pull-off area for vehicles in front of the building, a kitchenette, new meeting and multi-purpose rooms, a new front desk, and a new laundry room and lounge space.
"It's an honor for the College to have a building project that's been recognized by the state," said Diane Manning, director of Residential Programs at MCLA. "It's nice knowing that we have a facility welcoming to all... It's really important to make sure buildings are accessible to all members of the MCLA community.
"The building was so lacking in any public space, and it's so heart-warming to see the students in the meeting and multi-purpose rooms," she added. "It's such an improvement to the quality of life of the
students in general."

The Berkshire Towers renovation project was designed by Kuhn Riddle Architects of Amherst.
The Massachusetts State College Building Authority funded the construction project through a $4 million bond. For more information on MCLA visit www.mcla.edu.