The Weekend In Belmont: Town Day, Graduation, Concert at First Church, Yard Sale For Fire Victims

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• Belmont Town Day will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Belmont Center on Saturday, May 31. There will be food, music and rides and entertainment for the kids while businesses and community groups will have tables out in the middle of Leonard Street. Don’t be scared off by the small threat of rain.

• Belmont High School Graduation Ceremony for the Class of 2014 will take place at 2 p.m. in the high school’s Wenner Field House on Sunday, June 1. Later, the newly-minted alumni will participate in the All-Night Party in the High School’s cafeteria.

• The Belmont Police is holding a Gun Buyback event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the town’s DPW Yard at 37 C St. on Saturday, May 31. It is a “no questions asked” service provided by the Belmont Police and the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office; gift cards will be provided to those who participate courtesy of the Belmont Religious Council.

• A Neighborhood/Marketplace Yard Sale for the nine victims of the fire on Marlboro Street will take place on Marlboro Street between Unity and Fairview from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 31. 

• A Chamber Music Concert to benefit the SPARK Pediatric Division of Boston Medical Center will take place at The First Church Belmont, Unitarian Universalist, 404 Concord Ave. at 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 31. Music of Bach, Handel, Purcell, Dowland and Gilbert & Sullivan is on the playbill.

• Belmont High School Girls Tennis will likely host a quarterfinals match this weekend in the Div. 2 North sectionals but there has been no indication when that would occur as of Friday morning.

Post Season Schedule Set for Sprinters, Belmont Baseball, Tennis Teams

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Three Belmont High School teams will be playing in the post season as Baseball and the Boys and Girls Tennis teams along with two exceptional sprinters on the track team received their tournament draws yesterday, May 27, from the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Freshman Julia Cella is the favorite in the 200 meters – having run a season leading 26.07 – and a top contender in the 100 meters in the Div. 3 East track and field meeting taking place on Saturday, May 31 at Pembroke High School. She will also be anchoring the 4×100 meter relay ranked fourth in D3.  Joining her will be fellow freshman Rachel Berets in the 100 meter hurdles, the top 9th grader in the event. Junior Kayla Magno is a top eight threat in the 400 meters hurdles. Joining his teammates is junior Max Jones who has broken 23 seconds in the 200 meters and is rated 4th coming into the meet. Fellow junior Ari Silverfine dipped under 2 minutes in the 800 meters for a top 10 ranking this year.

Belmont High Baseball – which came out of the weekend’s Brendan Grant Tournament with a win and a loss – with a record of 11-9 has been seeded 9th in the Div. 2 North sections and will meet number 8 Beverly High School under the lights at Endicott College in Beverly on Friday, May 30 at 7 p.m. A win will see the Marauders head over to Gloucester on Saturday, May 31 to take on number 1 seed Gloucester High School.

The 8-8 Boys’ Tennis will be traveling to Topsfield to challenge the number 5 seed Masconomet Regional High School on Thursday, May 29 at 5:30 p.m. while Girls’ Tennis, with a record of 11-5 and co-champions of the Middlesex League’s Liberty Division, will host Tewksbury High School on Thursday, May 29 at 3:30 p.m. A Marauders victory will likely see a match between league co-champion Reading High School.

PHOTOS: Amidst a Little Rain, Belmont High Holds Its Promenade

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Things began going wrong on Friday morning, May 16, when the sun was obscured by clouds with the anticipation that the last day of school for graduating seniors at Belmont High School would be a wet one.

And when the clouds opened and the rain did come around 2:30 p.m., it was a harbinger of things to come for those preparing to attend the annual pre-Prom Promenade at Belmont High later that afternoon.

The Promenade, which began in the past decade, allows parents, relatives, siblings and friends to see the congregation of students and guests dressed in tuxes, gowns, dresses and suits, duded up for a night of fun and frivolity at the Westin Copley Place Hotel in Boston.

Wearing a pair of two-tone derby dress shoes to go along with a walking stick and a classic tux, senior JD Niles said he obtained them at “Men’s Wearhouse, of course.”

One young lady – who asked that her “real” name not be used – said the toughest choice was “whether to go long or short” in terms of her dress and not the stock market. She went long for prom.

It also allows the school administration to make sure those attending the prom are able to attend a school event.

Due to traffic causing many of the prom attendees to be delayed, the start of the promenade was pushed back by nearly 15 minutes as the students waited in the wings of the auditorium.

“It’s a little hot in here,” said Olivia Kearns who, along with her date, Brian Cleary, would be the first couple on the stage.

As for the humidity and heat being generated in the hallway, “I’ll get over it. The photos are all done,” said Kearns about photos at home.

“It will all be worth it when we get there,” she said.

But just after the promenade began, the music went “on the fritz” before being righted by a member of the Physical Education Department.

Soon, the couples and groups were being corralled into the school’s cafeteria for a quick overview by staff before being placed on the buses.

But at the appointed 5 p.m. arrival time for the buses to show … nothing. As staff began calling Crystal Transportation, the lunch room resembled a well-dressed steam room with hairdos frizzing out and jackets removed.

Nearly 15 minutes late, the first buses came and the kids got to embark for Boston.

The, as the fourth bus pulled up, the heaven’s opened once again, as some couples did a quick trot to the transport while some of the young men took off their jackets – again – to shield their dates from the rain. Sir Walter Raleigh had nothing on these gentlemen. 

And while most of the students and their guests made it to the Westin by 6:15 p.m, the final group of student, 33 in number, where stranded at Belmont High School until just before 6:45 p.m. for a bus to finally arrive.

When they began arriving back to the school around 11:20 p.m., the majority of prom goers – several young women walking barefoot with their shoes in their hands, many young men sans ties (some without their shirts) – said they had a good time.

Middlesex DA Contributes to Hometown’s After Graduation Party

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Middlesex County District Attorney (and Belmont resident) Marian Ryan came by Belmont High School Friday, May 16, to contribute to funding a substance-free, after-prom and graduation party for seniors.

Belmont and 11 other school districts applied for and received $500 from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office to help defray expenses associated with all-night after-graduation parties, senior picnics and a graduation cruise hosted by these schools.

“We want it to be marked by wonderful celebrations and terrific memories that will last a lifetime, not by a preventable tragedy,” said Ryan. “We support our schools’ efforts to organize substance-free post-prom and graduation events to ensure everyone has a happy and safe time as they celebrate this important milestone and all that they have accomplished.”

And it’s not too late to join Ryan and contribute to the all-night party. Funding for the party comes primarily from donations from junior and senior class families. This funding allows us to keep the ticket price for the party affordable and within reach for every graduating student. 

Please consider donating today by going to the brand new All Night Party website or by sending a check to: All Night Party Committee, 73 Fairmont Street, Belmont MA 02478.

AWOL: Late Buses Strand Belmont High Prom Goers In The Rain

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Thirty-three students and guests who paid $120 to attend the Belmont High School Senior/Junior Prom at Boston’s Copley Westin on Friday night, May 16, were left literally standing in the rain for nearly one hour and 45 minutes after the 5 p.m. scheduled departure time when buses from Crystal Transportation of Brighton arrived late to transport ticket-holders to the event at the Westin Copley Place Boston Hotel.

“It’s annoying because we’re missing our prom and all our friends are there and we’re stuck here,” said senior Natasha Trotman as concerned staff members, on the phone with the company, waited with the frustrated students.

“I’m a little mad. It’s kind of disappointing waiting around here,” said Solomon Mankin who spent $240 for two tickets. “At least I’m with great people in the rain,” he added, pointing to his friends.

According to press releases and news accounts, the firm was recently forced to stop carrying passengers due to serious safety concerns.

In an April 1 news release, the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) revoked Crystal Transportation’s operating authority and shut-down the carrier for “disregarding federal safety regulations and putting their drivers, passengers, and the motoring public at risk.”

It is not known at this time the process used to select the company.

On Friday afternoon, the bus line did not have carriers ready at the 5 p.m. schedule departure time, reducing the time students had to enjoy their prom.

The final bus arrived at Belmont High School – where the annual Pre-Prom Promenade had taken place – nearly three-quarters of a hour after the penultimate bus had left, which itself was 60 minutes behind schedule.

Belmont High School sophomore Jack Carbeck said while he wanted to be one of the last people to travel to the prom, “everyone paid the same price … I would expect [the company] would have enough buses to get us [to the Westin] on time.”

Town Clerk Ellen Cushman, whose son, senior Liam Cushman, was one of the students on the final bus, said she felt “belittled” as a parent and town official by the actions of the bus company.

“Some action needs to take place by someone,” she added.

Many of the students who were destined to be on the final bus were at the school for nearly three hours, much of the time inside a humid, hot cafeteria after parading before parents and friends during the promenade in the high school’s auditorium.

Due to the lengthy delay, the “surviving” participants would have less than three hours to enjoy the dancing, socializing and dining that was scheduled to end around “10-ish” p.m., according to John Muldoon, Belmont High’s assistant principal, who was informed of the buses location. The final bus reportedly drove past the school before the driver called asking for directions.

Crystal Transportation describes itself on its Facebook page as a “[c]harter Bus business located in Boston, MA. Provide Shuttle services for The University of Boston, Brandeis University as well as many others.”

On March 19, the FMCSA shut the company down after it discovered the shuttles used at UMass Boston were allowed to drive before drug test results of the company’s drivers were completed and a number of the drivers tested positive for controlled substances.

Given a month to respond to the charges, the company did not provide an answer to the feds. In an interview with the Boston Globe in March, Crystal’s General Manager Kevin Sheehan said the carrier fixed the problems but missed the deadline to file its corrective action plan.

There is no information indicating when the bus line was allowed to return to carrying passengers.

A call to Crystal Transportation by the Belmontonian was not returned.

Making Their Own Gold Star: High School Senior Volunteers Honored

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At some point during the annual presentation of the President’s Volunteer Service Awards to Belmont High School seniors, there is a moment where Alice Melnikoff will get a little, let’s say, “verklempt.”

Melnikoff told the students, parents and educators in the audience at the Chenery Middle School during the ceremony held Tuesday, May 13, of her favorite quote from Winston Churchill: “We make a living of what we get; but we make a life by what we give.”

“This is it,” said Melnikoff of when she would have to pause for a moment, as she looked towards the 12th graders sitting in the first two rows of the auditorium, each who gave more than 100 volunteer hours in the past 12 months.

“You have already demonstrated that you are building a life that is rich and fulfilling in part because of service to which you were committed,” said Melnikoff.

And no one would begrudge Melnikoff a time to feel a bit emotional towards those she mentored during the past four years in giving of themselves to the benefit of others. And while the students will be receiving a certificate and pin as well as a letter bearing the signature of President Obama, the time spent improving the society in which they live will be their lasting memorial, said Melnikoff.

 

While the term community was used throughout the ceremony, Belmont School Superintendent Dr. Thomas Kingston also spoke of the word “philanthropy” which is mostly used describing money given to others. But its root meaning is “love of humankind.”

“The richest form of philanthropy doesn’t come from the money that you give … but from the service you give one another; the care that we use to support each other,” said Kingston.

Speaking for the recipients, Amy Zhang, a co-president of the Belmontian Club, said, “Service is as self-serving as it is wonderful, as you undoubtedly gain something, an equal reaction whether you are volunteering with kids or raising money for cancer.”

“Community service can not be quantified nor can its effects be measured and analyzed. It can not be logged in hours or dollars, it doesn’t always come with a happy ending. To me, community service is about … acting to set the world in a positive direction,” said the 18 year old graduating senior who will be matriculating this fall at Harvard College.

The award winners included:

Bronze award (100 to 174 hours)

  • Victoria Beecroft; Founding mother of the Water Drop Club which supports an orphanage in Madagascar where she also volunteered.
  • Emily Burke; Wellington Aftercare
  • Joseph Thiel; Benton Library
  • Cindy and Jason Yu; research in cell biology and cancer

Silver award (175 to 249 hours)

  • Raina Crawford; orienteering group and the high school library.
  • Juliette and Sarah Dankens; the other founding mothers of the Water Drop Club who both volunteered at the orphanage in Madagascar.
  • Arden Fereshetian; Working in the lab, on a website and research at a cancer research institute.
  • Virginia Hardy; Community-based work in Nicaragua.
  • Sam Kerans; Coaching basketball and tutoring.
  • Amiee Lin; Working with children from broken homes in Taiwan.
  • Andrew Logan; Trail work for the Appalachian Mountain Club and at Belmont’s Habitat.
  • Lucy Martirosyan; Belmont Acres farm.
  • Tyler Papciak; The Bristol Lodge soup kitchen.
  • Sarah Ramsey; Coaching basketball and cancer fundraising.
  • Justin Rogers: Belmont Acres farm.
  • Peter Staub: Red Cross Food Pantry.
  • Andrew Strawbridge: Worked on a gubernatorial campaign.

Gold award (more than 250 hours) 

  • Talin Tahajian: Non-profit literary journal.
  • Haruka Uchida; Research in a psychology lab.
  • Rowan Wu; Samariteens.

These six seniors have earned presidential awards each of the four years they attended Belmont High School:

  • Anna Hillel; a bronze this year for working in Birmingham, Alabama painting houses.
  • Keith Burns; gold, Cardiovascular research.
  • Gabe Faber; gold, Making soccer available to young people in Boston.
  • Tess Smichenko; gold, Working with children and adults with special needs in Belmont, Vermont and Guatemala.
  • David Sullivan; gold, Working on immigration issues in US Sen. Warren’s office.
  • Amy Zhang; gold, on several service issues including Wellington Aftercare and fundraising to fight breast cancer.

Inaugural Belmont High Coffeehouse to Help the Homeless

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The Belmont High School cafeteria will be transformed into a coffeehouse of old – without the cigarette smoke, of course – as the Belmont High School Working to Help the Homeless club will host its first-ever acoustic coffeehouse on Thursday, May 22 at 7 p.m.

The event is open to public with advanced tickets being sold for $5 at Champions Sporting Goods in Belmont Center.. The ticket price includes the cost of ice cream and other treats once inside.

The performances include:

  • Rosy Fitzgerald
  • Amelia Fox
  • Joe Fitzgerald and Sydney Perkins
  • Brass Band (Michael El-Hayek, Max Davidowitz, Rowan Wolf, Jasper Wolf, Sami Belkadi, Jack Carbeck, Rafi Wagner)
  • Ribz Daddy G and The Jamboree (Ekim Otucu, Max Davidowitz, Eli Workman, Alex Gharibian, Sary Abi-Hassan)
  • Emma Taylor
  • Charlie Smith
  • Aimee Lin
  • Aidan Hamell
  • Ben Covell
  • Amy Wang
  • Barry Eom
  • Maerose Pepe

Each of these exceptionally talented performers auditioned for the chance to showcase their skills at the coffeehouse and is well worth the $5 entrance fee.

All of the proceeds will benefit Mary’s House, a shelter in Waltham for homeless families. The shelter provides temporary housing for these families and gives them access to help around issues such as parenting, nutrition, budgeting, substance abuse, and vocational and educational goals.

An Ace: Belmont High’s Dr. Shea Named Massachusetts Teacher of the Year

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Early in the celebration honoring him as the 2015 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year on Tuesday, May 6, Dr. Jeff Shea gave the impression that he would have liked to be anywhere BUT sitting at center court of Belmont High School’s Wenner Field House.

With the entire student population and teachers in the bleachers, a brass band and chorus serenading him, a gym adorn with dozens of large signs of congratulations, and school, local and state officials gathered to honor him being named the state’s top teacher, Shea pensively sat next to his wife, Valerie, under an oversized banner proclaiming him the state’s teacher of the year.

“It was nerve wracking,” Shea said later. “Like your first day in the classroom.”

On, appropriately, National Teachers Recognition Day, Shea was presented with the title before the entire Belmont High community.

“Wow,” Shea said when he got to the podium, later noting that “I wouldn’t have chosen to get everyone together here for this particular reason.”

“I see this award not so much as a personal award but certainly as a reflection of the strength of our community,” said Shea, an Arlington resident who attended Andover High School before matriculating at Tulane University.

From golf pro (Shea taught on the greens in western Massachusetts and on Maui) to educational professional, the Belmont High School social studies teacher creating and leading the popular global leadership courses for 11th and 12th graders, his help introducing new technology – such as iPods to 9th grade freshmen entering the High School in September – to spur learning “and his overall ability to inspire merits him this particular recognition,” Dr. Thomas Kingston, Belmont’s school superintendent, told the assembly.

A 10-year Belmont district veteran who also coaches the resurgent Boy’s Golf team, Shea “is the kind of teacher that marries the passion for teaching … to a greater understanding of the subjects he loves and knows,” said Kingston. “It’s pretty wonderful to have someone like [Shea] on our faculty because … he represents the best in all of us,” he said.

Massachusetts Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education Dr. Mitchell Chester – who also recognized the other teachers in the Field House “who are second to none in the world” – said “this is the place to be” as the state honors Shea. Shea will also speak before the legislature in June and will be the state’s nominee for National Teacher of the Year.

Calling him a continuous learner who is “very reflective” on educational issues, Chester said he could not think of a more important area of study today than Shea’s interest and teaching of global leadership because “increasingly where you grow up is going to be less … determinative of your opportunities” so it important “to understand the global world in which we live.”

“I am deeply humbled and extremely honored” to win the award, said Shea who gave special recognition to his “mentor and very close friend” recently retired sixth grade teacher Joanne Coffey who took Shea under her wing at Belmont’s Chenery Middle School.

Shea noted one of the major strengths Belmont has to resulted in his award and Belmont High’s high academic reputation “is the commitment parents … have made to their children’s education” having benefited from that effort which included the “generosity” of the Foundation for Belmont Education.

And despite the considerable accolades the district has received – last week, Belmont High was ranked the top open enrollment public high school in Massachusetts and 151st in the country by US News & World Report – the administration “is still trying to move us forward.”

He also took time to point to his colleagues, “so many amazing teachers in the room, so many deserving teachers” that Shea suggested Chester be provided a parking pass as he could return next year to make the same presentation.

Shea finally spoke to his former and present students, those he taught at the Chenery, in his High School classroom or coached on the golf course.

“The trait that most defines the students at Belmont High School is your curiosity and that will lead you to many successes in the past and will lead you to many successes in the future. It also makes teaching a lot of fun” with students who “want to learn is incredibly important.”

“So I would be remise if I did not say at this point that I apologize to students and facility for the interruption in teaching and learning this morning,” he said.

“[Teaching] is a great profession because it is so very challenging and trying to overcome challenges, I think, is life,” he said.

Belmont High’s Jeff Shea Named State’s Teacher of the Year

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Dr. Jeff Shea has been leading his students to explore the world outside of Belmont, and make a difference.

Recently, Shea, a social studies teacher at Belmont High School, created a microfinance project for students in his innovative Global Leadership course, an elective open to 11th and 12th graders designed to increase students’ awareness of international issues.

Using online resources and other technology like a class blog, Shea asks students to examine human rights challenges and consider solutions through the frameworks of finance, leadership and diplomacy. One lesson was choosing a recipient from across the world to receive money in an effort to benefit their community. After a semester of discussions and presentations, the Shea’s class used a small pool of money – including using his own funds – for the expansion of a dairy farm in Uganda and a foreign exchange business in Liberia.

Shea has made presentations on his course at international teaching conferences and to educators nationwide.

While teaching leadership in the classroom, Shea also managed and coached an extremely young group of golfers to a historic third-place finish in the state Div. 2 golf championships.

For his innovative teaching and leadership, Shea was named Wednesday, April 30, as the 2014 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year.

Shea will be recognized in a ceremony at Belmont High School on Tuesday, May 6 at 9 a.m. in front of the entire school and state officials.

Early End: Belmont High Graduation June 1; Final Day of School, June 20

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Sometimes, due to a quirk in the calendar, holidays are celebrated a lot earlier than what is customary. This past year Hanukkah – which is usually held in December – fell on Thanksgiving while Easter can come as soon as the third week in March.

And that phenomenon will occur this year for the graduating class of high school seniors as Dr. Thomas Kingston confirmed this year’s Belmont High School graduation will take place on Sunday, June 1 at 3 p.m. in the Wenner Field House at Belmont High.

“It’s the earliest day on the calendar that we can hold graduation,” said Kington at the Belmont School Committee meeting held on Tuesday, April 29 at the Chenery Middle School, who noted that the class of 2015 will have their ceremony on one of the latest dates, in the second week of June.

Kingston also announced that unless there is an emergency in town that would force the closure of school for a day (or with the current frigid spring, the possibility of another “snow” day) the final day for the Belmont school district will be Friday, June 20. That will also be an early-release day district wide with the High School ending its day at 10:30 a.m. and all schools “out for summer” before noon.

“So those folks anticipating camp dates and vacations can start making their plans” with a date certain finally set, said Kingston.