Posts Tagged ‘teachers’
Election central
For the past few years, we’ve been subjected to endless lectures informing us that voting is incredibly difficult and we must do everything in our power to make it easier for voters to participate in elections. Anything less would be VOTER SUPPRESSION! We’ve been told that democracy shouldn’t place even the slightest burden on the […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Politics, Wakefield | 7 Comments
Tags: ballot, centralized voting, democracy, disabled, drivers license, early volting, Election Day, elections, Galvin Middle School, high school, illegal aliens, mail-in ballot, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, News, Opinion, parking, Politics, polling place, polls, precinct, professional development, schools, senior citizens, teachers, vote, voter suppression, voting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefielld MA
Brave New World
Less than a year after dumping the Warrior logo, the Wakefield School Committee continues to demonstrate that they are more in tune with global causes than they are with the local taxpayers who pay the freight. Last week, they quietly changed Columbus Day to “Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day.” And nobody said a word. The 2022-2023 […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: America, Aztecs, calendar, Christopher Columbus, colonizers, Columbus Day, education, European, explorer, History, human sacrifice, Humor, Indians, Indigenous People, Italian-Americans, Italians, learning, Mark Sardella, Native Americans, New World, North America, Opinion, Peru, Politics, Reuters, Scandinavian, school, stolen land, students, teachers, Vikings, virtue signaling, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Memorial High School, Wakefield Public Schools, Wakefield School Committee, WakefieldMA, Western Hemisphere
Ethos, pathos and logos
Having endured two previous School Department “forums” on the Wakefield Warrior logo, my expectations were not high for last week’s “Warrior Logo Community Forum.” Somehow, it still managed to disappoint. For one thing, it was held via Zoom, which hinders participation by the less technically adept while favoring a demographic more comfortable with technology. If […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 5 Comments
Tags: American Indians, Bayrd Family, caring, chat, compassionate, courageous, Douglas Lyons, fierce, football, forum, global community, gridiron, Humor, inclusive, Indigenous peoples, Jim Landrigan, Landrigan Field, logo, Mark Sardella, Native Americans, Opinion, Politics, respectful, School Committee, schools, sensitivity training, sports Wakefield Warriors, strong, students, teachers, technology, Town Election, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, welcoming, Zoom
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, […]
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
If the sudden urgency to eliminate the Wakefield Warrior logo last spring after 75 years struck you as curious, perhaps it shouldn’t have come as such a surprise. In retrospect, you wouldn’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to conclude that the logo’s elimination was merely setting the stage for something bigger, like the local […]
Filed under: History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 7 Comments
Tags: America, American University, children, colonialism, colonizers, CRT, culturally responsive teaching, culture, educators, History, Humor, Indians, Indigenous Curriculum, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, melting pot, Mishy Lesser, Native Americans, Opinion, Politics, public schools, students, teachers, United States, Upstander Academy, Upstander Project, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield School Committee, Wakefield School Department, Wakefield Warrior Logo, WakefieldMA, 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 spark of youth
Massachusetts state lawmakers are currently weighing a proposal that would allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote. In other news this week, the latest viral trend among teenagers involves partially inserting an iPhone charger into a wall outlet and sliding a penny down the wall onto the exposed prongs, causing an explosion of sparks, electrical damage, […]
Filed under: History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: Ayyanna Pressley, ballot, children, elections, electrical outlet, fires, Harvard, iPhones, Jim Morrison, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, penny, plug, Politics, schools, science, Sen. Jason Lewis, smoking, teachers, teenagers, viral, votong, Wakefield Daily Item
Teachable moment
“Demands on classroom teachers are now laughable,” Wakefield Education Association president Will Karvouniaris told the meeting of the “Tri-Board” last week. If any members of the Town Council, the School Committee or Finance Committee were amused, they didn’t show it. The town’s three top boards were meeting in joint session at the Galvin Auditorium last […]
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Tags: budget, children, class size, Finance Committee, finances, fiscal, History, Humor, Mark Sardella, mythology, newspaper, Opinion, Politics, quid pro quo, School Committee, schools, teachers, Town Council, Tri-Board, union, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Education Association, Wakefield MA, WEA, William Karvouniaris
Mark Sardella 