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Natick Martin Luther King, Jr. events— “Snacks for Students” drive & Jan. 16 celebration

January 9, 2023 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2023 Celebration Committee invites Natick residents to participate in a “Snacks for Students” drive to help create a community in which all children’s needs are addressed. Everyone also is invited to attend the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration on Jan. 16.

John F. Kennedy Middle School, Natick

Where to drop off donations of snacks

  • Elementary families/caregivers may drop off snack donations in the front lobby of their elementary school through Jan. 13.
  • Anyone may drop donations in the box in the lobby of Town Hall through Jan. 13.
  • Bring donations to the MLK Jr. Celebration on Jan. 16, 10am, at Kennedy Middle School.

Types of snacks needed

  • Peanut-free individually packaged snacks (dried fruits, pretzels, chips, goldfish)
  • Cereal bars
  • Healthy granola bars
  • Applesauce (single serving)
  • Fruit cups (single serving)
  • Juice boxes

All are invited to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2023 Celebration Committee invites everyone to attend a celebration of the life and legacy of the civil rights leader on Mon., Jan 16, 10am, at Kennedy Middle School. The program will feature performances from student groups, Middle and High School MLK Day Creative Contest winners, remarks from community leaders and partners, Interfaith Clergy representatives, a moving keynote, and more. A Community Connection Event will immediately follow the program at 11am, with special MLK Day activities for all ages, and time to meet student groups, community organizations, neighbors and friends.

Register to attend in person at Kennedy Middle School in Natick. You can also livestream through Natick Pegasus or watch through Natick Community Television channels: RCN 3, Comcast 99, and Verizon 29

The 18th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Celebration + Community Connection Event is co-sponsored by the Greater Natick Interfaith Clergy Association, Natick Public Schools,  Natick METCO, Natick Is United, the Natick Board of Health & Natick 180, the Town of Natick, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, and SPARK Kindness.

 


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Filed Under: Embracing diversity, Holidays, Schools



Natick High heads into winter break with memo to school community about investigation into alleged racist, discriminatory acts

December 23, 2022 by Bob Brown 2 Comments

Natick Public Schools Supt. Dr. Anna Nolin issued a memo to the school community on Friday, as students and staff began their winter break, with disturbing news about “recent heinous acts in our high school” that could result in the Natick Police Department conducting a hate crimes investigation.

As of this posting, the memo was not posted on the school site for the general taxpaying public’s consumption, but has started to make the rounds online.

Earlier this month, Wellesley Public Schools informed the school community of an alleged racist incident at an away basketball game.

Dear Natick Families, Staff and Students:

We made it to the December break and through the darkest days of the year–at least in a seasonal sense. But we have not done so in other ways–student actions this week have darkened the days for many, and, most particularly our Black and Brown skinned students, Asian students, and our Jewish Students. Still under investigation are possible incidents involving violent speech against females in our system.

While I wrote my monthly message to you last week filled with the joy of our students’ work and the pending unity of the December holidays, I write to you today, to inform you of traumatic events in our district and surrounding communities that mean the darkness looms. I ask for your help in keeping the light alive by speaking with your children about these incidents and standing with us in community against racist and anti-Semitic actions and statements. Hate has no place in this school system or community.

This past week, two superintendents were threatened, one with violence and one with racial aggression simply due to who they were –a female superintendent and Black male superintendent, respectively– standing up for safety, care, inclusion, excellence and equity for all students. These made news headlines and can, to some, seem distant. However, in our school district, other discriminatory actions have also occurred of which you need to be made aware.

It’s a weird post-pandemic time. It seems the pressures of the pandemic have made people more raw, less tolerant, and more inward-focused on their own needs and needs of their family. Anxiety and grief over what has been lost or perceived to have been lost in the pandemic has amplified emotions and made tolerance for stress and conflict quite shallow.

Parents and students reveal this post-pandemic effect in various ways. Students have shown some dysregulated and risky behaviors in schools, and parents have shown more apathy and more extreme anger / emotional responses to things previously not demanding this manner of reaction. Keyboard warriors abound, few people talk to school staff personally.

Part of this behavior, in many school systems, including ours, had led to increased threats of violence, racism and discrimination. To the three anonymous emailers reaching out to me last night indicating we “cover it all up…” thanks for sharing that, but, on the contrary, we always dive, head-on to address the issues deeply and thoroughly and sometimes that means we cannot communicate until we have the right information to share. Do we always have the perfect answers to these matters? No, but we keep fighting the fight for true inclusion and belonging in our community.

I write to ensure you know, and in knowing, join the cause to end hatred and violence. I also waited until I could share with you the full scope and plan for restoration. As a school superintendent, my job is not only to shine light on issues, but to actually solve them and educate, model and guide all of our students through our actions and intentions. As school leaders, we do not have the luxury of being keyboard warriors only

Parents do need to know, however, that when an incident involves potential Civil Rights violations, hate crimes, hazing, sexual harassment, or other actions that violate law, careful, deliberate and ordered notifications and investigations have to happen in order to have such an investigation not be hampered by poor or premature communications. The police chief, NHS school principal and I have been working for the last 36 hours to ensure accuracy, legality and care for all regarding these recent heinous acts in our high school. I have filed with the Natick police for a hate crimes investigation which will run concurrent to our own investigation.

Specifically, NHS Principal, Jason Hoye, and his team discovered a racist act (a published video) against our Black students. Through that investigation, an anti-Semitic, anti-Ableism group sports team chat associated with one or more of our winter teams was also discovered; this then led to an additional investigation within the group involving potential violence towards girls.

The team who originated the hateful chat group has been shut down from season play and investigations occurred all day today to determine the scope of the hateful behavior. This team and others may be involved in this type of discriminatory and racist behavior. Any and all students involved in such behavior, even as bystanders, will be subject to possible investigation, discipline, and solutions to address this behavior.
The hateful culture of this chat and messaging will be addressed immediately and in lieu of their practices and games we will require participation in, at the start, training conducted by Northeastern University Center for Sport and Society in toxic speech prevention and bystander training and additional hours in the Anti-Defamation League’s Removing Bias and Hate in Sport groups.

I ask you to speak with your child about these acts. The core values of the Natick Schools and our vision for our graduates is that they can work and live in diverse and inclusive communities. Creating a healthy community means that we cannot tolerate such behavior and we cannot act as passive bystanders when these acts occur. From Kindergarten through Grade 12, we offer training and direct instruction on creating inclusive environments but we need your help as the most important teachers of your children to reinforce that message at home.

As the mother of two teens, I also ask you to inspect your child’s technology and become acquainted with the nature of their online lives. This often unpoliced area of teen life (and even in elementary and middle school lives) can expose students to hateful acts and in doing so they become party to it or become bystanders with harder than necessary choices to make.

I wish you a good December break, but I encourage you to have some deep discussions with your children about these matters.

Thank you,
Dr. Anna Nolin
School Superintendent


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Filed Under: Schools



Town of Natick, holidays schedule 2022-23

December 20, 2022 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The Town of Natick will follow an end-of-year schedule during which municipal buildings will be closed in observance of the holidays. Here’s the breakdown:

Natick Public Schools break

All school buildings will be closed for winter break on Mon., Dec. 26, 2022.

Classes resume on Tue., Jan. 3, 2023.

Natick municipal buildings and offices

Open on Fri., Dec. 23, 2022, 8am-12:30pm
Closed on Sat., Dec. 24 & Sun., Dec. 25, 2022 (normal weekend closure)
Closed on Mon., Dec. 26, 2022 for holiday observance
Regular hours resume on Tue., Dec. 26, 2022

Open on Fri., Dec. 30, 2022, 8am-12:30pm
Closed on Sat., Dec. 31, 2022 & Sun., Jan. 1, 2023 (normal weekend closure)
Closed on Mon., Jan. 2, 2023 for holiday observance
Regular hours resume on Tue., Jan. 3, 2023

Morse Institute & Bacon Free Library

Sat., Dec 24 – Mon, Dec. 26, 2022—both libraries closed all day

Sat., Dec. 31, 2022—Morse Institute is open 9am-1pm
Sat., Dec. 31, 2022—Bacon Free Library is closed all day

Sun., Jan 1 – Mon., Jan 2, 2023—both libraries closed all day

Regular hours resume on Tue., Jan. 3, 2023


Christmas tree pick up

Christmas trees (bare only, no bag) will be picked up the first two full weeks in January on your trash day. Yard waste (except for Christmas trees) must be in paper bags or marked rubbish barrels. Plastic bags will not be collected.

More information here on residential recycling and trash collection.


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Filed Under: Bacon Free Library, Government, Holidays, Schools, Vacation

A Preview of Natick High School Theatre’s ‘Little Shop of Horrors’

December 1, 2022 by Admin Leave a Comment

Natick Report has begun working with The Natick Nest, Natick High School’s official student-run school newspaper, to help bring the students’ work to a larger audience. We’ll be republishing some of their articles, and plan to coordinate with their staff on additional pieces.


By Ella Stern, editor-in-chief, The Natick Nest


It was the day the cast, stage crew, and pit band had been waiting for: the puppets of the evil, man-eating plant had arrived.

Theatre Director Mr. Miller and Music Director Ms. Burns conspired to reveal the much-anticipated puppet to the students in the production in as dramatic a manner as possible. The cast assembled in the auditorium, the pit band began to play, and the curtains drew back to reveal the nefarious set piece.

This plant puppet is one of many surprises in store in Natick High School’s production of Little Shop of Horrors, which will be playing in the NHS auditorium on Friday, December 2 at 7:30 and Saturday, December 3 at 3:00 and 7:30. The show presents growth opportunities and fun for cast, pit, and crew alike, while teaching them and the audience about the dangers of greed and the perils of poverty.

little shop of horrors

 

Little Shop of Horrors follows the story of Seymour and Audrey, plant store employees working in a shop on run-down skid row, and Audrey II, the plant that could give them fame and fortune but demands a bloody price.

Below the surface, this show touches on themes that are still relevant today, such as greed and selfishness, homelessness and poverty, and self-confidence and success. Specifically, Mr. Miller, the director of the show, has been having cast members consider their personal interpretation of the refrain don’t feed the plant. “One of the things that I’m thinking about and that we’re working on is: What does that mean? What does it mean to feed the plant? What is the plant? And this is not just about this show that was written in the late 70s/early 80s about the 1950s; this is about now. This is about our temptation to feed something, to have success no matter what,” Mr. Miller said.

Connor Federico-Grome ’23, who plays the voice of Audrey II (the plant), appreciates that Mr. Miller is “not just trying to put kids onstage and make a play; he’s trying to teach us a life lesson within it as well.” Connor said that, for him, “This whole idea of don’t feed the plant is that you might have certain urges toward doing things that might progress you personally and might have an advantage for you personally, but if you have the foresight to sit back and see the impact it can have on other people, and if that negatively outweighs your own personal gain, you shouldn’t do that thing, you shouldn’t feed the plant in that scenario.” However, Connor was sure to emphasize that their interpretation is not the only correct one—on the contrary, part of the beauty of theatre is that it allows everyone to have their own interpretation. In their opinion, this juxtaposition of ideas makes the show more interesting, as it lends itself to different character motivations, ensuring that the actors seem to be portraying individuals rather than working as a hive mind.

For example, in group numbers, ensemble members are assigned a job or identity—from mail clerk to homeless person—so that they make up a selection of people on skid row rather than a homogenous background. This allows them to approach group scenes with, as Connor put it, “their own understanding of ‘why am I here, why am I angry, why have I done nothing to change my situation, is there even anything I can do to change my situation, and do I even want to do those things, or am I just going to continue to stay on Skid Row?’”

In addition to needing to deeply consider character motivations and their own interpretations of the show’s themes, actors must learn a range of musical styles. The score is written by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, who have collaborated on a number of Disney movies. It includes snippets of Menken and Ashman’s work for Disney, on top of doo-wop; funk; light, classical pieces; and traditional musical theatre ballads.

According to Ms. Burns, the show’s music director, the urchin trio has the hardest job when it comes to music. These semi-Greek chorus, semi-narrator roles sing in three-part harmony, so the actors portraying the urchins (Eris Haynes ’23, Yasi Reza ’24, and Bella Tibagwa ’24) have to blend their three voices into one team. On top of that, their music is hard to remember, as they are in almost every song, but their vocal parts do not have many common patterns throughout the show. However, these three actors have formed a great bond working together on their challenging roles.

Although the range of styles presents a challenge, it also makes the show exciting. Ms. Burns particularly appreciates how it allows the student musicians in the pit band to be exposed to many types of music, as the band plays in every song and during transitions. On top of that challenge, the pit band only had four rehearsals going into tech week. “That’s pretty remarkable for a group of student musicians. I really hold [them] all to the same standards that I would hold pros to,” Ms. Burns said.

The students in the pit band also appreciate the interesting instrumental parts. Michael Atkin ’24, who plays trumpet, likes that being in pit band offers him a chance to play jazz, which is a refreshing difference from the wind symphony and orchestral music he plays in other ensembles. Despite the wide-ranging score, the music is still doable. Preston Burt ’23, who plays keyboard, said that, in comparison to last year’s show All Shook Up, “it feels like pit was more considered when writing this, like when people were writing this, they were thinking, oh, how can we make this fun for cast and pit.”

In addition to its acting and music, Little Shop of Horrors would not be complete without the sets, lighting, sound, costume, props, and more provided by its stage crew.

In this show, the sets, costumes, and props are based on New York City in the 1960s. Mr. Miller and the stage crew have worked hard to make the set historically accurate so that audiences are not left guessing. For instance, one scene features protest posters based on a 1960s New York City housing strike.

This year, the crew has been working with Mr. Ballard, the new tech director. According to Stage Manager Charlotte Gagliardi ’23, Mr. Ballard has been fun to work with. He balances his own industry experience with valuing student input. “Just being able to have someone on board that’s clearly in our corner, and is willing to take our ideas and help us execute them, is very helpful,” Charlotte said.

A few weeks out from show weekend (at the time of this interview), the stage crew is still doing a lot of work, but they are confident that it will get done and are anticipating the final product. As Charlotte said, “It’s nice to look at all the things you’ve done and have it be this very 3D thing in a space where you can interact with it, and being able to say, ‘Look! This is a thing I made!’…is super fun.”

Together, the cast, pit, and crew have great surprises in store—the giant plant puppet is only the beginning. As Connor put it, “The joy of theatre is when all of those things [cast, pit, and crew] come together, and those are always my favorite moments.”

To future audience members, Connor says, “Be ready to laugh, be ready to be surprised, be ready to tap your foot, and also be ready to be totally flabbergasted by the way the show ends—and if ya like the color green, you’ll love the show.”

Filed Under: Natick Nest, Schools, Theater

It’ll be all soccer, all the time in Natick this long weekend; Natick High soccer teams get tied up at Gillette

October 3, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

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The Natick Soccer Club celebrates is 40th Annual Fall Classic Soccer Tournament to be held Oct. 8-10 at various venues around town.

The competition includes hundreds of teams from across New England for players in grades 2-8.

 

Natick High soccer teams get tied up at Gillette Stadium

Natick High School’s boys’ and girls’ soccer teams faced off vs. Wellesley High this past Sunday at Gillette Stadium while the Patriots were on the road and the Revolution had finished its home schedule. Big stadium, big video screens, big memories for all involved.

Both matches ended in 1-1 ties, with the boys scoring on a penalty kick and the girls scoring on a corner kick.

WHS Gillette2022-5

WHS Gillette2022-9

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