Butler Students, Superheroes Fun Run for Enrichment

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The dank, misty conditions this past Friday was no match for the likes of Batman and Captain America as the superheroes stood superhero like in the middle of the Butler Elementary School playground.

Nor was a mere 1 mile jog around the grounds of the Waverley Square school going to stop the duo from assisting Butler’s entire student population of 340 in running the same distance.

“This is a fantastic idea,” said Ann Ozawa, who came with her husband to cheer on her third grader, Zoe, as she did laps around the schoolyard.

“The kids were up and ready to go this morning and all the kids were here early,” she said as groups of parents cheered on the kids.

Yet the morning run was not some collective act of super-dopper strength, but part of a school-wide Fun Run fundraiser that exceeded the goals of students and staff.

With a goal of raising $10,000, the students – through online pledges from family, relatives and friends – smashed the objective and took in more than $18,000 with an extra $3,400 from corporate sponsors.

“The kids really surprised us. They really came through and really amazingly,” said Butler PTA’s Miriam Lapson.

(In fact, the only act of bravery was that of Butler Principal Michael McAllister who wore the Batman outfit for the entire morning as part of an agreement to get into a super hero costume if the fundraiser exceeded its goal.)

In past years, the school’s Parent Teacher Association ran an auction every three year to raise funds, said Lapson, who was on the fun run committee.

But with the school’s population changing demographics – the Butler students are more multicultural and have a wider income disparity than the other five schools in the district – “an auction just wasn’t going to work,” she said.

“We wanted something that everyone could take part in, whether you could or could not contribute, your parents don’t have to speak English. The only qualification was that you are a student at the school,” said Lapson.

That’s when the group thought of the fun run, said Lapson, which would have the added benefit of being a healthy activity and promoting physical education.

With help from The Original Get Movin’ Crew, a fun-run company based in Milford, Michigan, Butler students collected the $10,000 goal with three days to spare.

The funds raised will provide for two years of enrichment programs such as field trips, in-school enrichment, library books, teacher supplies and professional development for the Butler staff.

One superhero said the funds raised are greatly needed by staff and teachers.

“It’s huge for us. It allows us to purchase things and offer opportunities to kids we wouldn’t otherwise,” said Batman/McAllister.

“Unfortunately, some of the enrichment funding has been pulled out as we standardize our curriculum,” said McAllister. “The PTA comes through for us on that front.”

Duty, Honor, Country: Schools Salute Vets in Remembrance Observances

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The Chenery Middle School Wind Band played patriotic music, the chorus sang the “National Anthem” and several students made speeches and recited poems to their classmates and the two dozen men – many slowed with age – sitting on chairs on the side of the stage.

They were an array of armed forces veterans from Belmont and surrounding communities, coming to the school as the living embodiment of the commitment and sacrifice they gave to the country.

The school-wide assembly, held on Monday, Nov. 10 in the Chenery auditorium, is an annual commemoration of the service of all veterans and those currently in uniform.

“I want to thank all of you for showing up today because twice a year, we feel like rock stars,” said Kip Gaudet, commander of Belmont’s Veterans of Foreign Wars Post on Trapelo Road.

“We come here to represent those who can’t be here, who paid the ultimate price for the freedoms that we enjoy today,” said Gaudet, who was awarded a bronze star for “heroic or meritorious achievement or service” as a radio man in Vietnam.

Chenery’s Principal Kristen St. George advised students to take a moment on the holiday to personally reach out and thank a veteran “for their contribution … for fighting for things that are important to us and our country.”

St. George read the names of veterans with a connection to the “Chenery community” and for the student to simply “listen and to reflect.” Included in the names were of Chenery teacher Ryan Schmitt and Army Spc. Jonathan Curtis, an alumni who was killed in Afghanistan in 2010.

Gaudet read the names of the veterans who stood to receive the applause from the auditorium, including Frank Morrissey, a 96-year-old vet from the US Navy.

“Hopefully these events reminds the students of freedom’s cost,” said Gaudet after the service, before leaving with his fellow veterans for visits at the Butler and Winn Brook elementary schools before a lunch at the VFW post.

“The veterans get appreciated for their service and the kids learn something, so this morning is like a two-way street,” he said.

The highlight of the ceremony was the reading and a musical rendition of the poem, “In Flanders Fields” by Canadian Lt. Col. John McCrae who wrote the poem on May 3, 1915, moments after presiding over the funeral of his friend, Alexis Helmer.

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
      Between the crosses, row on row,
   That mark our place; and in the sky
   The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

“We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
   Loved and were loved, and now we lie
         In Flanders fields.

“Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
   The torch; be yours to hold it high.
   If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
         In Flanders fields.”

‘Scintillating’ Spelling By Young Wordsmiths At This Year’s Bee

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Just like its namesake, the winning team at the 2014 Foundation for Belmont Education’s Spelling Bee “killed it” when it came to correctly spelling words that would stump many adults in the audience.

The Killer Bees – Chenery sixth graders Oliver and Harrison Hees, Loick Marion and Ben Prenderville from teacher Bhuvana Kaushik’s homeroom – capped a successful night by correctly spelling “scintillating” to win the crown over runners-up Chenery Spellers – Will Harkness, Jackson Mann, Maulik Bairathi and Edward Patrick Lee – after both teams survived a near-record 19 rounds of ever challenging words to spell.

“It was stressful,” said Marion who performed most of writing on the white board which was then shown to the judges.

Marion and his teammates took home a $100 savings account from the Belmont Savings Bank and a “star” trophy.

For more than six hours, a multitude of Belmont’s youngest wordsmiths – in teams of two to four – from the town’s four elementary schools and the middle school tackled words ranging from “dog” to “croissant” in the Belmont High School auditorium, cheered on by proud parents taking photos of their spellers.

More than 700 students – a record number – participated in this year’s event, raising $20,000 for the Foundation for Belmont Education. The spellers from the elementary schools were in the non-competitive “swarms” while the wordsmiths from the Chenery Lower School (fifth and sixth grades) were part of the competitive swarms battling to participate in the finals.

Under the smooth direction of long-time MC Greg Stone, the volunteers – pronouncers Laurie Graham and Anne Mahon, time keepers Kevin Cunningham and Anne Lougee along with umpires Suzanne Alcock and Joanna Kaselis Tzouvelis all led by Bee chairs Christa Bauge and Karin Lehr – pulled off the annual feat of patience personified.

The money raised Saturday by the Foundation will support projects initiated and organized by administrators, teachers and staff in the six Belmont public schools.

 

Rising Enrollment, Structural Faults Puts Schools Half-a-Million in Red

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It isn’t “the happiest news” the Belmont School Department wanted to give anytime, especially less than two months into the school year, said Laurie Slap, chair of the Belmont School Committee.

If expenditures and trends continue on their current trajectories, the fiscal year 2015 school budget will end the year approximately $500,000 in the red, according to the school’s Director of Finance and Administration Anthony DiCologero.

The forecast, present to the Belmont School Committee at its Tuesday night meeting on Oct. 28, “is not a deficit in any item,” said DiCologero. 

While there isn’t one specific cause, there is an overriding theme to the shortfall facing Belmont’s public schools: the well-noted increase of students entering the system. 

Kevin Cunningham, at his final committee meeting as he will be replaced by the next meeting on Nov. 18, said the expense spike is “enrollment driven” – with the surge of students has come the need for more services “that is driving costs.”

Due to the rapid rise in total enrollment in all grade levels, a jump in children who are English Language Learners and an increase in students requiring special education instruction has placed the budget under pressure as salaries are nearly $225,000 above the $31.4 million budgeted for the fiscal year, noted DiCologero. 

The deficit comes from adding instructors to address enrollment and ELL needs as well increasing the number of special education aides, tutors and occupational therapists.

The remaining $360,000 of the total deficit is the result of an increase in special education expenses such as $125,000 for tuition for six additional out-of-district students (Belmont pupils who are determined will be educated outside the public schools) and $60,000 in added transportation costs.

John Phelan, Belmont’s first-year school superintendent, said he has spoken to administrators, principals and staff on the need “slow down” expenditures such as bringing new technology into the schools and to “prioritize spending.”

But, said Phelan, the “big picture” is “what we need to do differently next year” to prevent repeating the same steps in fiscal 2016.

“These are structural issues,” said Cunningham. And while “this year we’ll strategically shrink it” the deficits will only continue unless expenses are placed in a more long-term context.”

Arlington-Belmont Boys’ Eights Just Miss Top 20, Girls’ Battle at Head of the Charles

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The Arlington-Belmont Crew Club Boys’ Eights spent Sunday morning in the passing lane, far exceeding their 59th seed to finish a place out of the top 20 in the club’s best performance at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta, Oct. 19.

It was a good day for both ABC squads – made up of students from Arlington and Belmont high schools – as they bettered their expected placement in the world’s largest and most popular rowing event held on the Charles River between Cambridge and Boston.

In the men’s youth eights event – in which each of the rowers has one oar – Arlington-Belmont came out quickly from the start located just before the BU Bridge to reach the first timing mark on the 4.8 kilometer course at the Riverside bridge just 12 seconds behind the leaders. By the next checkmark at the Weld Bridge at Harvard University, the team, coached by Mark Grinberg, blistered a 5 minute 15 second split from the Riverside Bridge which was the 7th fastest time for that portion of the race.

But the effort to pass numerous boats and the pace got the better of the team as it slipped to 21st at the finish at Brighton’s Christian Herter Park completing the course in 16 minutes, 30.15 seconds, just 2.5 seconds from a top 20 finish. The crew – cox Brenna Sorkin; stroke Max Halliday; seat 7, Louis Pratt; seat 6, Adrian Tanner, seat 5, Liam Lanigan; seat 4, Nicholas Osborn; seat 3, Eryk Dobrushkin; seat 2, Brendan Mooney and bow Alexander Gharibian – finished less than a minute behind winners, Oakland Strokes based in Oakland, California, which finished in 15:38.65.

ABC’s girls entry in the women’s youth eights rowed its best in the early portions of the race with a strong leg between the Riverside and Weld bridges but found the going a bit tough into a steady breeze heading home. The squad – coxwin Ellen Cayer, Catherine Tiffany, bow; seat 7, Sara Hamilton; seat 6, Jessica Keniston; seat 5, Sophia Fenn; seat 4, Bridget Kiejna; seat 3, Alena Jaeger; seat 2,  Catherine Jacob-Dolan and Julia Blass as stroke – made it through the difficult course including navigating the narrow bridge openings which victimized the Montclair High School girls’ crew just before ABC swung under. 

Next Sunday, Oct. 26, the varsity and novice squads will finish the season with a trip to the Massachusetts Public Schools Rowing Association’s Fall State Championships in Worcester where the Boys’ varsity eights will defend its goal medal.

Town, Schools Set Nov. 12 Application Deadline for School Committee Vacancy

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Interested residents will have just about a month to submit applications for a place on the Belmont School Committee.

But the person selected by the Selectmen and the School Committee will have to keep their running shoes on because they’ll need to win their seat all over again five months later.

In a joint letter released today, Friday, Oct. 17, the chairs of the Belmont School Committee and Board of Selectmen announced the deadline for applications to fill the vacancy left when Kevin Cunningham resigned earlier this month will be Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 4 p.m.

The School Committee’s Laurie Slap and Andy Rojas of the Selectmen said the two boards will meet five days later, on Monday, Nov. 17, in a joint committee to hear from and interview candidates before voting to appoint a new member to fill the vacancy left when Kevin Cunningham resigned earlier this month.

The selected appointee will be sworn in by the Town Clerk Ellen Cushman before the School Committee’s meeting on Nov. 18.

Under state law, the appointee’s term only lasts until the next Town Election; in Belmont that occurs in April, 2015. The person elected for that committee seat will serve a two year term, which is the remainder of Cunningham’s tenure.

Those interested in seeking appointment should write a letter of interest that will include:

  • The reasons for seeking the appointment,
  • Expertise, skills and perspectives they will bring to the committee, and
  • Identify the most pressing issues facing the committee, both through the April election and beyond.

Letters should be sent to:

Cathy Grant

Belmont Public Schools

644 Pleasant St.

Belmont, MA 02478

or via email at:

cgrant@belmont.k12.ma.us

Tickets on Sale for Annual Broadway Night at Belmont High, Oct 17,18

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Who needs to travel 200 miles to New York when Broadway comes to Belmont next weekend?

Broadway Night 2014, the annual musical theater cabaret featuring the talents of the students of the Belmont High School Performing Arts Company, will raise the curtain on two shows, Friday, Oct. 17 and Saturday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. in the Little Theater at Belmont High School.

The show, which includes solos, duets, and full company numbers, has become a wonderful tradition that opens the PAC season each year.

But get your tickets now since it has become a tradition for both shows to be sold out.

Tickets are $5 students, $12 adults. Chenery Middle School 8th graders get a free ticket at the door the night of the show. Belmont School Staff get a free ticket by e-mailing tickets@bhs-pac.org 

Advance tickets on sale at Champions Sporting Goods starting Friday, Oct 10 and at the high school the week of the show during lunch mods.

Scary Businesses at Belmont’s Second Halloween Window Painting Contest

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Leonard Street businesses will have their windows transformed into pumpkin patches, witch covens and scenes of specters and ghouls as the second annual Belmont Center Halloween Window Painting Contest will be held on Saturday, Oct. 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The contest is open to artists in second to eighth grades.

Sponsored by the Belmont Center Business Association, the event’s proceeds are being donated to the Foundation for Belmont Education.

Rain date Sunday, Oct. 26, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Register at: A Chocolate Dream, 68 Leonard St., 617-484-4119.

Register before 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, the fee is $10 per child per window After the deadline, the fee is $15 per child per window. Checks can be made payable to: BCBA or cash

Window Painting Contest Rules:page1image10232 page1image10392

  • Each artist will be assigned a 20″ x 36″ space on the outside of a merchants window in Belmont Center.
  • Sill, wall, and sidewalk areas below window MUST be covered and taped with newspaper.
  • Each artist supplies his or her own tempera (NOT ACRYLIC) paints, brushes, newspaper, rags, and masking tape. All work needs to be done freehand and have a “Halloween” theme.
  • Official rules and regulations will be given out when you register and must be followed closely to avoid disqualification.
  • Windows will be painted on Saturday, October 25th, any time between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm. all work must be finished by 3 p.m.
  • The rain date for painting will be Sunday, October 26, 9am – 3pm. You will receive an email by 8am on Saturday, Oct. 25 if the event will be postponed because of weather-related conditions.
  • Windows are assigned on a first come, first served basis. One window will be assigned to each participant. Due to the popularity of this event, we cannot honor requests for specific windows.
  • Prizes will be awarded for each grade.
  • Winners will be notified by e-mail.

Members of the Belmont Center Business Association: Alchemy, A Chocolate Dream, Bells and Whistles, Belmont Citizens Forum, Belmont Dramatic Club, Belmont Farmer’s Market, Belmont Historical Society, Belmont Orthodontics, Belmont Savings Bank, Bessie Blue, Brugger’s Bagels, Cambridge Savings Bank, Champions, Coldwell Banker, East Boston Savings Bank, Hammond Real Estate, Henry Frost Children’s Program, Ingram, Rettig & Beaty, Inc., Irresistibles, Kashish, Lawndale Realty, Leon & Company, Nicks, Paprika Kids, Patou Thai, Pilates, Ponte & Chau Consulting, Inc., Rancatore’s Ice Cream, Refresh Therapeutic Massage, Revolve, Robert’s Salon, Rotary Club of Belmont, Subway, Thirty Petals,The Toy Shop of Belmont.

 

‘I Ran the Dan’: Second Scharfman Memorial Run Tops First

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There were parents who could run very fast and teachers who are strictly middle of the pack, youngsters who could out race most adults and a pair of superheroes – those would be The Mighty Thor (Ed Chen) and Captain America (Mike Worthington) – all who came to Belmont High School’s Harris Field on Sunday to race either over five kilometers and a flat mile.

The racers also brought a great deal of heart as more than 700 runners – both fast and not so fast – participated in the second annual Dan Scharfman Memorial Run 5K on a brilliant autumn morning, Oct. 5.

“We even had more people come out than last year that is fantastic and the day is gorgeous, so it was perfect running weather. We’re thrilled,” said Jamie Shea, president of the Foundation for Belmont Education.

The race is held to raise money – with the hope to top $20,000 from this year’s race – for the foundation’s education innovation fund, the goal of the man for which the race is named.

Dan Scharfman was a school committee member and a long-time supporter of education and the performing arts who sought to bring technology into the classrooms by teaching Belmont educators “the tools and the practices that they need in order to bring innovative techniques into the classroom,” said Shea.

After his untimely death from a heart attack in Jan. 2013, the FBE decided to hold a road race in Scharfman’s memory – Dan was a dedicated ultra-distance runner – with the aim to assist in the foundation’s four-year, $450,000 Innovation Teaching Initiative campaign. This spring, the foundation funded $50,000 for professional development in all grades and curriculum.

For Iris Ponte, leading the four-member Henry Frost Children’s Program team, the race was to remember “Dan, who was an awesome guy.” She can recall when she was a lifeguard at the Underwood Pool, “we would keep the pool open for him so at the end of his big runs he would come flying into the deep end almost every evening.”

“The town has not been the same without him,” said Ponte.

It’s that sort of memory that Rachel Scharfman hopes the annual race will rekindle each year it’s run. Rachel – who with her brother, Jacob (who also sang the National Anthem), aunt and mother, Muriel Kummer, participated in the race – recalls her father being a community leader, runner, friend and, now, an inspiration.

“His biggest passions are combined today in this one event,” she said.

“I know once a year, this town will gather to support the Dan Scharfman Education Innovation Fund. We’ll come together not to mourn but to carry forward Dan’s great loves; running and education.”

Moved up from November to October, this year’s race would be competing with nearly 30 established road races in the crowded fall running calendar. In addition, several long-standing charity events were taking place in Boston and surrounding communities. But came they did, in greater numbers than the first race.

With the help from the Belmont High School Volleyball team – which was spread around the course as marshals and timekeepers – and a hoard of volunteers, the race was successfully completed under a bright warm sun on the cool fall morning.

Racers climbed from Harris Field to the Payson Park Res before starting back down Goden Street before taking a lap around Clay Pit Pond and returning to Harris. The one-milers sped around the “Pit” before sprinting home.

Along the route, the runners passed four of Belmont’s six public schools in another tribute to Scharfman.

As for the winners, Chris Leitz of Watertown (in 17:26.1) took first followed by Belmontian’s Joe Shaw and Belmont High senior cross country captain Ari Silverfine. Rachel Henke of Cambridge (20:15.9) was the top woman with Belmont teacher Sara Saba-Sher second and Christy Lawrence third. In the one mile, Chris Burge broke six minutes by a hair in 5:59.4 followed by Shea Brams in 6:10.4.

“It feels great to finish in the top three,” said Silverfine, just as the race announcer urged all the runners to tell their friends “I ran the Dan!”

“But this is real special because I know the Scharfman family and Dan was a great man.”

Belmont High Students Making Strides This Sunday

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It’s October, and the Belmontian Community Service Club at Belmont High School has been planning for Breast Cancer Month.

As a first step, many members are walking in Making Strides Against Breast Cancer this Sunday, Oct. 5, where representatives from the club will be on the stage at the Hatch Shell in recognition of our third-place finish in last year’s High School Challenge. 

If you would like to support the team – and the American Cancer Society’s efforts in breast cancer research, education, treatment, and patient support – the team would be delighted to accept those donations by going online to the team’s website: 

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/belmonths 

and clicking on “Donate Now” or by sending a check, made out to “American Cancer Society,” to Alice Melnikoff, Belmont High School, 221 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.   

The team will be collecting donations from now until the end of November. In 2013, the team raised $15,000 from all its breast cancer fundraising activities and it is hoping to exceed that figure this year.