Archive for the ‘Columns & Essays’ Category
What “Giving Back” Looks Like
If anyone wants an example of a civic group having a positive impact on the town, they need look no further than last July 4. After more than a year of determined, hard work, the new Wakefield Independence Day Committee and its team of volunteers resurrected the largest Independence Day Parade in the state and […]
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Tags: 2015, Fourth of July, Independence Day, July 4th, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Parade, parades, Patrick Sullivan, patriotism, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Independence Day Committee, Wakefield Independence Day Parade, Wakefield MA
Fear Factor
“Your decision will decide if Wakefield becomes more like Medford or more like Lynnfield,” attorney Alan Grenier warned the Zoning Board of Appeals last week. Grenier had asked for and was granted an opportunity to present to the Zoning Board the opposition case against building the 130-unit Brightview Senior Living facility proposed on Crescent Street. […]
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Tags: Alan Grenier, Assisted Living, Brightview Senior Living, CVS, Dollar Tree, elderly, Galvin Middle School, Lynnfield, Malden, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Medford, Melrose, Shelter Group, Topsfield, urbanization, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Zoning Board of Appeals
Prohibitionist’s Journal
by Mark Sardella If you still buy into the myth that potheads are mellow, live and let live types, try suggesting that weed might not be the next penicillin. To paraphrase an old saying, hell hath no fury like a stoner scorned. Oppose legalization of marijuana and, if you’re lucky, the worst they’ll call you […]
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Tags: alcohol, cannabis, children, cigarettes, Colorado, drugs, education, legalization, marijuana, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, OD, overdode, pot, prohibition, prohibitionist, stoner, substance abuse, tobacco, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, weed
A League of Their Own
As you may have noticed, protesting is back in vogue. Beyond the immediate complaints, it’s hard to know exactly what has spawned the recent resurgence in this trend of seeking redress of grievances by “singing songs and carrying signs,” as The Buffalo Springfield once sneered. Maybe part of it is aging Baby Boomers and their […]
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Tags: Assisted Living, Baby Boomers, Brightview Senior Living, Buffalo Springfield, demonstration, Koch Brothers, Mark Sardella, protest, Shelter Development, social justice, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Zoning Board of Appeals
Commencement Address
Greetings parents, guardians, students, faculty and other stakeholders. On behalf of this professional learning community and its educators, it is a pleasure to welcome you to today’s commencement exercises. I am pleased that you were able to leverage your resources in such a way as to join us today. Our strategic plan for this afternoon […]
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Tags: commencement address, diploma, education, educator, eduspeak, faculty, graduate, graduation speech, jargon, learning, lingo, Mark Sardella, pedagogy, school, schools, student, teacher, Wakefield Daily Item
The Simple Art of Voting
Every time there’s a low-turnout local election or Town Meeting (or both, as we recently had in Wakefield) talk inevitably turns to ways to improve voter turnout and participation. On the surface, it seems like a noble idea. “How can we make voting easier?” people wonder, as if voting were a task akin to climbing […]
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Tags: apathy, elections, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Politics, Town Meeting, vote, voting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
Size Matters
Does size matter? Yes, it does. But if you’re a member of the Wakefield Zoning Board of Appeals, there’s a limit to the number of hours you want to spend talking about it. Size is the biggest issue for many opponents of the Brightview Senior Living facility that Shelter Development is proposing to build on […]
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Tags: Assisted Living, Brightview Senior Living, Charles Tarbell, David Hatfield, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Shelter Development, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, ZBA, Zoning Board of Appeals
The Big Ask
Wakefield School Department officials have acknowledged that their requested 11.4 percent budget increase for FY 2016 is “a big ask.” The largest piece of that increase is $1,176,875 (3.8 percent) for “contractual salary obligations.” Another $658,174 (2.1 percent) is for SPED tuitions and $628,218 (2 percent) goes to fund salaries related to the newly instituted […]
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Tags: Big Ask, budget, Christopher Callanan, Daniel Sherman, Dr. Stephen Zrike, Edward Dombroski, Finance Committee, Gerard Leeman, Mark Sardella, school, School Committee, schools, Wakefield Daily Item, William Boodry
Mark Sardella 