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Not Far From Home: Natick High Grad Josh Atwood Strengthens UMass football

April 12, 2023 by Admin Leave a Comment

By Matthew Schultz, sports writer, The Natick Nest

Natick’s storied high school football program has produced some incredibly talented players throughout the years including Brian Dunlap, Troy Flutie, and of course, Doug Flutie. These players got recognition not only at the collegiate level, but also professionally. Even in the past five years, standouts like Jakobi Holiday, Jalyn Aponte, and Will Lederman accepted scholarships to collegiate programs. However, very few have enjoyed the same success and opportunity as Josh Atwood.

Standing at 6’3’’ and weighing just over 330 pounds, Atwood towered over his high school opponents and used his size to his advantage as he wreaked havoc on both offense and defense for Natick. He tallied incredible numbers for an interior lineman in his Junior and Senior years. As a junior in 2018, he racked up 65 tackles, including 17 tackles for loss (TFL), an absurd 11 sacks and three forced fumbles. He finished his varsity career with 179 tackles, 42 TFLs, 12.5 sacks and eight forced fumbles. Despite putting up incredible numbers and having a build that would attract recruiters from high-level Division 1 programs, Atwood was somewhat slept on as he was ranked as a three-star defensive lineman on 247sports.com. Earning interest from schools like Wake Forest, UConn, and Bryant, Atwood eventually committed to the only official offer he received, UMass Amherst.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Josh Atwood (@josh_atwood96)

For most incoming collegiate athletes, the transition from high school to college level preparation is a shock. While high school teams spend an hour or two watching film together (with individual watching sprinkled in), the main focus of preparation is in practice due to focusses directed towards academics. However, Atwood had the pleasure of being coached by former Assumption Football linebacker Nick DiAntonio. While known for his “meathead” and hard hitting attitude, in my recent interview Atwood mentions that Coach DiAntonio gave him a glimpse of college football “in terms of watching film and applying that to practice and games”. Even so, Atwood says the transition from high school to college, in terms of film, was difficult as he “spends hours daily just to keep up.” Since very few players from Natick High play college ball, the film aspect of football may not be emphasized compared to private school programs where athletics may take precedence over academics.

Atwood’s first two years at UMass didn’t make the transition any easier as COVID-19 altered his experiences with the new program heavily. In the 2020 season, UMass only scheduled four total games and despite being a true freshman, Atwood appeared in all four. Playing defensive tackle, he notched 6 total tackles through four games and was a bright spot for the struggling UMass defense. Despite giving up over 40 points per game, the rush defense stood out with Atwood clogging the middle, especially against Florida Atlantic where UMass held them to under 150 rushing yards, a season low and Atwood’s best game totaling 3 stops.

With the NCAA allowing an extra year of eligibility, Atwood gladly accepted and entered his second season as a freshman. Despite their defense once again ranking at the bottom of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), going 1-11, and enduring a change at the head coach position, Atwood continued to stand out on the subpar Minuteman defense. Totaling 27 tackles through 11 starts, Atwood once again put up respectable numbers as a run stopper, a position meant to take up space rather than get tackles. Yet, the UMass coaching staff knew they weren’t getting everything they could out of the Natick native.

Making the switch

Going into the 2022 season, Atwood made the switch from defense to offense and attempted to anchor the UMass offensive line by playing center. While he never played center in high school, the O-Line was a familiar place for Atwood. Due to his sheer size, Atwood excelled at offensive tackle for the Redhawks, protecting his former quarterback Will Lederman’s blindside. Even so, the center position takes on much more responsibility and is widely regarded as one of the hardest positions in football. The switch seemed risky, but Atwood handled it just fine. When asked what helped him adapt to playing the O-line in college, Atwood explained that having collegiate experience as a defensive lineman and “knowing all the defensive assignments” allowed him to think faster and mesh well with the offense. Atwood also mentioned that having defensive experience helped him “reduce the amount of overthinking” by “ruling out certain tendencies” of a defensive lineman which made the game “a whole lot easier.”

By working hard throughout the offseason and applying his defensive knowledge to the other side of the ball, Atwood successfully made the switch from offense to defense. He started in all 12 games in 2022, helping propel UMass’s increasingly successful and reliable run game. While there weren’t many wins, Atwood and the O-line anchored small victories including an average of just under 148 rushing yards per game, good for 67th in the FBS and up 5 spots from 72nd in 2021. After having a few months to digest the season, I asked Atwood whether offense or defense was more difficult. Instead of picking sides, he acknowledged the difficulties of both, mentioning that offense is much more “technical” and “focus” based while defense is a “different animal” requiring better instincts and physicality. As he has had a noticeable impact on the offense, Atwood hopes to continue his success there and improve his pass blocking, his favorite aspect of the O-line.

Despite being a massive state school and having a decently large recruiting program, many analysts argue that UMass shouldn’t play at the FBS level and should at the very least be moved down to the Football Conference Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I – AA. However, the incredible competition that UMass faces has helped develop its players substantially, especially those with dreams of the NFL, including Atwood. He explains that the goal of reaching professional football “pushes [him] to try and be perfect everyday”, leading to “better practices” and “better games”.  Atwood also says he has begun to develop traits of “acting like a pro” and improving his routine as well as discipline.

Players like Daymond Williams of UBuffalo have contributed to Atwood’s development. With outstanding “strength and athleticism,” Atwood mentions Williams was one of the best players he faced all year. Atwood also had the chance to face the former number one recruit in the United States in Texas A&M defensive tackle Walter Nolen. What seemed like a complete mismatch between Texas A&M (which had the top recruiting class of 2021) and UMass ended up being a relatively close game. Atwood contained Nolen’s violent hands and pass rush arsenal to 0 sacks. High-level competition like Nolen (a predicted first round pick) helps prospects like Atwood polish his skills and get better each week in pursuit of the pros.

As Atwood approaches his final years of college football, he has the entire town of Natick rooting for him. Even though he graduated in 2020, coaches from the Natick Redhawks still recall the pure domination of Josh throughout his high school years and positional coaches teach techniques that Atwood perfected himself. No matter what Atwood’s future holds, his influence over the future generation of Natick football players holds strong.


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.


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Filed Under: Natick Nest, Schools, Sports


Brown School in Natick has a new mural created in colorful collaboration

April 3, 2023 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The appearance of Brown Elementary School‘s humble cinderblock-walled lobby recently underwent an dramatic transformation from functional-but-boring to wow, thanks to the creative skills of artist-in-resident Joe Pimentel, along with a community partnership between the school’s PTO, the Natick Education Foundation, and the Natick Cultural Council.

Add the enthusiasm of Brown’s 450+ kindergarten through 4th-grade students and the wider school community, mix in the organizational skills of visual arts educator Michelle Parven, and the results speak for themselves. Brown School now has a welcoming, vibrant, colorful mural, one that incorporated student voice and design ownership during every step of the process.

Brown School mural, Natick

Parven found Pimentel on Instagram and was immediately impressed with his extensive experience working on similar projects. When a school partners with Pimentel on a project, the kids are fully involved from the idea phase through project completion, when it’s all hands on deck to help with the actual painting. “In October, students had a meeting over Zoom with him and then generated drawings on our theme, ‘Our School Community,'” Parven said in an email exchange with Natick Report. “He sent drafts of the design to me, and working with Brown School administrators, we made edits to come up with a final version.”

Brown School mural, Natick

In March Pimentel traveled from his home in the bucolic Hudson Valley area of New York to spend a week making the Brown students’ vision come to life.  “The students submitted over 300 drawings based on what makes their school community special,” he said. “I then took their drawings and connected them with my center mandala and patterns to make it a full collaboration. One of the main things I like to get across is to be determined on making your day dreams come true and follow your passion.”

The project was kept very much under wraps until completion, but now that pics are all over social media, we get to join in on the excitement. Enjoy these great visuals. (All photos courtesy of artist Joe Pimentel.)

Brown School mural, Natick

 

Brown School mural, Natick

 

Brown School mural, Natick

 

The life of a traveling artist

After a few weeks at home, Pimentel will be on to his next installation, this time at Poughkeepsie High School in New York.

The Parsons School of Design graduate in 2010 took part in an artist-in-residency program in Bali, Indonesia for 3 months under the direction of artist Dewa Nyoman Batuan, who specialized in Mandala paintings. The experience of Balinese culture, coupled with the teachings of an artist who had truly mastered his craft, created a life-changing impact on Pimental’s process. Several years later he established his own business, Pimentel Murals, and built a following by first completing projects locally and then extending to other areas in New York, New Jersey and Long Island. He has completed over 100 murals to date with a wide range of themes, styles, and various degrees of involvement from students from 1st through 12th grade.


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Filed Under: Art, Education, Embracing diversity, Schools



Natick hires Josepha Blocker as high school principal

February 28, 2023 by Admin 1 Comment

Josepha Blocker

Natick and Newton have quite the talent exchange going on these days. A couple of weeks after Newton Public Schools selected Natick Public Schools Supt. Dr. Ann Nolin to serve as its next leader, Newton South High School Dean (and acting principal) Josepha Blocker has been named Natick High’s new principal.

She succeeds interim Principal Jason Hoye.

Blocker was 1 of 3 finalists interviewed recently at a public forum (see Natick Pegasus video at about the 1-hour mark). The other finalists serve in the Holliston and Needham public school systems.

“Josepha’s deep instructional experience and her work in addressing achievement gaps by making instructional changes to drive equitable achievement and personalize learning will further strengthen Natick High School,” Nolin said in a statement.  “In addition, her experience creating small, connected house/team environments within a large high school in her current high school leadership role will also support and refresh ongoing efforts to do the same work for our high schoolers.”

Blocker began her career in education as a math and computer science teacher at Newton North High School in 2002.


Help Natick Public Schools in its efforts to be transparent: Please share memos from the schools that the whole community should know about: natickreport@gmail.com

Filed Under: Schools

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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

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