Santa is coming!
The Daily Item has obtained, through a Freedom of Information Act request, a partial copy of Santa’s Christmas list. As journalists, we believe in the public’s Constitutional right to know what our local officials and others will be receiving in their stockings and under their trees on Christmas morning.
The North Pole Information Agency has grudgingly complied with our request. (Like they had a choice.)
Through its press office, the North Pole released a statement calling the release “a regrettable breach of the trust that Santa Claus has worked hundreds of years to establish. After this, how can anyone speak freely while sitting on the lap of a bearded stranger in a red suit?”
That’s the price of transparency, Big Guy. Ho, ho, ho.
As our gift to our readers, the Daily Item has decided to publish the unedited list. Don’t blame us. We’re just the messengers.
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Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 2 Comments
Tags: Ann Santos, Betsy Sheeran, Bill Renault, Board of Health, Brian McGrail, Donald Trump, Ed Dombroski, Edward Dombroski Jr., elections, FOIA, Fred Rich, gift, Humor, Jeff Kehoe, Marian Ryan, Mark Sardella, Melrose, Merry Christmas, Mishy Lesser, North Pole, Opinion, Politics, present, Santa Claus, School Committee, Stephen P. Maio, Suzy Veilleux, Town Council, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights CommissionChristmas, Wakefield Public Schools, WCAT, Youth Council, Zoning Board of Appeals
Logo logistics
Apparently, the Wakefield School Department doesn’t have enough on its plate at the moment, so last week administrators announced plans to push ahead with developing a new high school sports logo to replace the Native American image that was so heinous it took three quarters of a century to determine that it was offensive.
Presumably, the process of choosing a new logo will require somewhat less time.
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Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 9 Comments
Tags: amends, atonement, Bandstand, community forum, Critical Race Theory, curriculum, decolonization, diversity, Douglas Lyons, education, equity, Eurocentrism, Golden State Warriors, Hiker, Humor, inclusion, Indienous people, Mishy Lesser, Opinion, Politics, schools, students, teachers, Upstander Academy, Upstander Project, Wakefield High School, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield School Committee, Wakefield Warriors, Warrior logo, Western Civilization
Honorable mention
It leapt out at me as I drove past the marquee sign in front of the high school.
I wasn’t annoyed so much as bemused. I took a picture and posted it on Facebook with the light-hearted comment, “Did they run out of letters?”
The responses from the local “Kindness is Everything” community were anything but light-hearted.
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Filed under: Columns & Essays | 5 Comments
Tags: Christmas, Easter, holiday, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Opinion, patriotism, School Committee, schools, sign, Spring Break, veteran, Veterans' Day, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield Junior High School, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Memorial High School, WHS, Winter Break, WMHS
Happy fall celebration!
When we spoke of a war on Christmas, they rolled their eyes.
They told us to “grow up” when we wanted to keep our high school logos.
They said cancel culture was a myth.
Now, they can’t believe that the forces of diversity, equity and inclusion want to cancel Halloween.
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Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: cancel culture, Columbus Day, COVID, Critical Race Theory, culturally responsive teaching, diversity, equity, fall celebration, groupthinkHalloween, Humor, inclusion, Julie Kukenbergerger, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Melrose, Melrose Public Schools, Opinion, Politics, School Committee, schools education, social justice, students, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Warrior Logo, War on Christmas, Youth Council
Decolonizing Columbus
I love Columbus Day because it reminds me of a bygone era before children were taught to hate their own country, its founding and its history.
Now, we teach students that they live on stolen land and are descended from genocidal oppressors. Must do wonders for their social emotional wellness.
Our local Human Rights Commission wants to have Columbus Day changed to “Indigenous People’s Day” in Wakefield. They would have gotten it done this year, but they were so busy decentering whiteness that they got a late start and ran out of time.
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Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 3 Comments
Tags: America, Christopher Columbus, Columbus Day, explorer, Galvin Middle School, General John Galvin, headdress, History, humor Wakefield High School, Indians, Indigenous People, Indigenous Peoples Day, Majorettes, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Native Americans, Opinion, Politics, restorative justice, schools, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield School Committee, Wakefield Warriors, Warrior logo
WAKEFIELD — Greenwood native Thomas A.C. Ellis has written a new, comprehensive history of Wakefield’s role in the Civil War. It is a worthy companion to other volumes written on the history of the town.
Ellis is an independent Civil War historian who decided to write the book after he searched for information regarding Wakefield’s contribution to America’s Civil War and found it to be lacking. Further exploration and preliminary research revealed a rich history. His book, “Wakefield’s Civil War Service, A History and Roster,” focuses on the epic actions of the Town of South Reading (now Wakefield) from 1861-1865. Meticulously researched, the book chronicles the contributions of Wakefield men and women in America’s bloodiest war.
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Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Feature stories, History, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: battle, book, Civil War, Confederacy, Cyrus Wakefield, History, Lakeside Cemetery, Major Horace M. Warren, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, military, Richardson Light Guard, South Reading, Thomas A.C. Ellis, Tom Ellis, union, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield’s Civil War Service, women
Policy of truth
“We’re only getting rid of the Warrior logo. The Warrior name can stay.”
How many times did we hear those soothing words of assurance over the last year?
I didn’t believe it the first time I heard it and I don’t believe it now.
Even before they cancelled the logo, I said, “They’ll be back for the name. Mark my words.” Just so you know, I’m batting 1.000 when it comes to predictions regarding this whole process.
And now, having seen a copy of the new School Committee policy on “Logos, Mascots & Team Names,” I’m more convinced than ever that the “Warrior” name will soon be following the logo to the Happy Hunting Ground.
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Filed under: Art, Columns & Essays, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 18 Comments
Tags: Cyrus Wakefield, definition, dictionary, Eagle Feather, Hiker, Humor, immigrants, Indian, Lakers, logos, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Native American, Opinion, policy, Politics, Richard Bayrd, School Committee, schools, team names, violence, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Public Schools, Wakefield Warrior, war, warrior, wicker, Youth Council
Cruel summer
August was not a good month for those who believe they have the power to control the weather.
Things started to go downhill on Aug. 12, when those climate deniers at the Department of Public Utilities hastened the incineration of the planet by approving Project 2015A.
Project 2015A a natural gas-fired plant to be sited in Peabody that would assure that there’s enough electricity to keep the lights on and the air conditioning running at times of peak demand.
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Tags: automobiles, battery, Boston Globe, cars, charging stations, Chevrolet Bolt, climate, coal, DPU, electric cars, electricity generation, energy, environment, environmental justice, EVs, fossil fuels, Fox News, General Motors, Humor, Mark Sardella, MCAN, MMWEC, narural gas, nuclear power, oil, Opinion, Peabody, peak power, PMLP, Politics, Project 2015A, public power, recall, reliability, renewables, solar power, Tesla, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, WakefieldMA, wind power, WMGLD
Theory of relativity
For something that supposedly doesn’t exist in any public school anywhere, an awful lot of effort and ink have been spent of late trying to convince us of it’s non-existence.
Critical race theory, they insist in no uncertain terms, has no place in public education.
The messaging usually goes something like this: “Of course we’re not teaching that. You don’t even know what it is. Where would you even get such an idea?”
Or as Wakefield School Committee chair Suzy Veilleux put it more succinctly this week, “Critical race theory is not being taught in Wakefield Public Schools.”
Well. That’s settled.
Apparently, education officials think we don’t know how to use Google.
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Filed under: Columns & Essays, Feature stories, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 14 Comments
Tags: Bakari Sellers, classroom, Critical Race Theory, CRT, Culturally Relevant Teaching, culturally responsive teaching, curriculum, Douglas Lyons, Dr. Clint Smith, education, educators, equity, Jamilah Pitts, Jason Pavey, Judith Briggs, Margaret Messier, Mark Sardella, Marxist theory, MASC, Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Opinion, Politics, schoold, social justice, Social Studies, students, Suzt Veilleux, teachers, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Public Schools, Wakefield School Committee
Secret summer retreat
Only the most jaded cynic would question the School Committee’s decision to discuss the “next steps” in the process for the Wakefield Warrior logo at a Saturday morning meeting in the dead of summer that wasn’t being recorded on ZOOM or cable.
So, when a reporter and two members of the public showed up at the Galvin Middle School last Saturday to sit in on the meeting, you can imagine their shock when they found the school locked up tighter than a drum.
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Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 7 Comments
Tags: Ami Wall, apology, Critical Race Theory, culturally responsive teaching, Dorothy Presser, Douglas Lyons, education, Galvin Middle School, Humor, Indians, Indigenous People, Mark Sardella, Mike Boudreau, Native Americans, Open Meeting Law, Opinion, Politics, professional development, public meetings, retreat, schools, teaching, Town Election, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield School Committee, Warrior logo
Mark Sardella 