Posts Tagged ‘students’
Offensive strategy
If nothing else, the current debate over the Wakefield Warrior logo has been educational. I’m not talking about learning the unique history of the logo. It’s been well-established that a local Native American family and the four-star general for whom we named the Galvin Middle School played key roles in the history of the Warrior […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Family, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: ancestry, athletes, children, education, Galvin Middle School, game plan, heritage, History, Indian, jocks, John R. Galvin, logo, Mark Sardella, Native American, Opinion, Politics, Richard Bayrd, school, strategy, students, tactics, U.S. Census, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, warrior, Youth Council
Civics lesson
A certain kind of bias has long been suspected in public education but has always been vigorously denied. So, I commend Wakefield School Committee member Greg Liakos for his honesty and forthrightness this week in loudly and proudly confirming what many have long believed.
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: bias, civic education, civics, civil discourse, classroom, demagogues, democracy, Donald Trump, education, Greg Liakos, learning, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Opinion, parents, Politics, President Trump, School Committee, schools, students, teachers, teaching, voters, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Public Schools
The cost of learning
If there is one group of individuals about whom a discouraging word must never be uttered, it’s public school teachers. Wakefield teachers have been without a contract since last summer, which you’ve probably heard as their supporters have been using social media and other means to spread the word.
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: budget, class size, contract, DPW, education, Galvin Middle School, Greenwood School, Humor, Mark Sardella, negotiations, Norma Rae, Opinion, police, Politics, Public Safety Building, salary, School Committee, School Department, schools, students, taxpayers, teachers, Town Meeting, union, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Education Association, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Walton School, WEA
The vaping lot
It’s been an open secret for some time that vaping is a serious problem at Wakefield High School and at high schools everywhere. Vaping, if you don’t already know, is short for “vaporizing,” in which cartridges containing nicotine or even THC concentrate from marijuana, are vaporized rather than smoked. This is what e-cigarettes do. There […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: addiction, coyotes, drugs, e-cigarette, election, environmentalism, Facebook, Humor, Juul, Landrigan Field, lawn signs, litter, littering, marijuana, Mark Sardella, News, nicotine, Opinion, parking lot, Paul DiNocco, Politics, seagulls, smoking, students, teenagers, THC, tobacco, Town Council, trash, vape, vaping, vapor, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, WHS
Learning to walk
Since when have one-sided political protests been sanctioned during class time in Wakefield Public Schools? Next Wednesday at 10 a.m., at least some students plan to “walk out” of Wakefield Memorial High School “to protest Congress’ inaction to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods.” […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: Bill of Rights, demonstration, Enough, Florida, gun control, guns, legislation, March 14, Mark Sardella, Opinion, Parkland, Politics, protest, school shooting, Second Amendment, students, Tide Pod Challenge, U.S. Constiutution, United States, violence, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Public Schools, walk-out, weapons
All in the timing
With the various measures they pass on the federal and state level, lawmakers come up with some interesting ideas when it comes to their own powers. They even think they can control the weather by passing climate regulations. (I wonder what the Supremacy Clause under Article VI of the Constitution says about the doctrine of […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: adolescent, clock, day, Daylight Saving Time, government, laws, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts Legislature, night, sleep, students, sunrise, sunset, teenagers, time, time zones, timepiece, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, watch
Voter fatigue
You’ve got your work cut out for you this fall. It’s called voting, and you’re going to have to do it not once, but twice. I’m exhausted just thinking about it. Hopefully you’ve recovered from voting in the local Special Election on July 19 and have spent the summer resting and building up your strength […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: ballot, Ben Franklin, candidates, drivers license, early voting, election reform, elections, Humor, Mark Sardella, Opinion, primary, Registry of Motor Vehicles, students, town hall, transgender, Voter ID, voting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School
Red and white blues
It’s happening everywhere. The forces of political correctness have been picking off one innocent tradition after another. It hit Wakefield this week. The School Department announced that for this year’s High School graduation ceremonies, graduates will wear “gender neutral” gowns instead of the traditional red for boys and white for girls. No, this is not […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, News, Opinion, Politics | 4 Comments
Tags: commencement, Core Values, gender, gender neutral, gender neutral graduation gowns, graduates, graduation, learning, Mark Sardella, political correctness, Richard Metropolis, School Department, senior class, students, teaching, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Warriors
Commencement Speech
We are right in the middle of the graduation season, and I am again available for a small stipend to deliver the keynote address at any commencement ceremonies. Or you can save yourselves the money, save me some time, and spare your graduates a few minutes of agony and just read it here. Graduates, distinguished […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, Opinion | Leave a Comment
Tags: commencement, graduates, graduation, Mark Sardella, school, speech, students, Wakefield Daily Item
How to Galvinize Wakefield
The campaign to sell the town of Wakefield a new Galvin Middle School is already gathering steam and is likely to continue unabated through the May Annual Town Meeting and beyond. It’s going to be a hard sell. With a $74,740,254, price tag, building a brand new, state-of-the-art middle school is going to require the […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 2 Comments
Tags: Annual Town Meeting, ballot, building, building project, buildings, campaign, classroom, classrooms, construction, Daily Item, debt exclusion, debt exclusions, election, Gallvin Middle School Wakefield MA, Galvin, Galvin Middle School, Galvin Middle School Wakefield, Galvin Middle School Wakefield Mass, Galvinization, Galvinize, Galvinize Wakefield, home, Massachusetts School Building Authority, MSBA, override, overrides, plan, plans, project, Proposition 2 1/2, referendum, renovate, renovation, school, school building, school building project, schools, site, student, students, teacher, teachers, town, Town Meeting, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts
