Monday, 20 Jan 2020 - MLK wrote his letter in great discomfort, from jail, on the margins of a newspaper, then on scraps smuggled in here and there, until finally he was given a pad of paper.
Tuesday, 14 Jan 2020 - As part of an investment in rural communities, Hinds and his colleagues recently pushed through a $1 million supplement to a $1.5 billion school aid package. “Rural” is a category that’s slowly being replaced by the more inclusive “Low and Declining Enrollment.”
Monday, 13 Jan 2020 - Seven wellness categories at the high school level were identified in which the district could be doing better: Physical Education, Substance Use, Mental Health, Commitment to School, Bullying, Diversity and Inclusion, Absenteeism and Commitment and Planning.
Thursday, 2 Jan 2020 - How much more convenient than acknowledging that advanced literacy and numeracy is still a shared, public responsibility, the provision of which requires financial sacrifice we’re not willing to make.
Thursday, 2 Jan 2020 - "To do this work well, we are going to have to engage with families." - Monument Mountain Regional High School interim Principal Kristi Farina
Friday, 13 Dec 2019 - The 24-seat restaurant with a loungy feel is the new collaboration of Billy Paul with Emily and Josh Irwin, co-owners of New Marlborough’s destination restaurant Cantina 229.
Tuesday, 3 Dec 2019 - Participants will spend two to four afternoons per week working hands-on in the work world, on construction sites and working farms, earning both class credit and stipends, and learning skills in virtual and physical 'makerspaces.'
Friday, 29 Nov 2019 - But as everyone agrees, any responses must be part of a larger community reckoning with societal problems that our schools reflect but do not create.
Friday, 22 Nov 2019 - In an interview at his home, local veteran Steve Pullen recalled two significant nights during his service, one in which he lost a significant portion of his hearing, and another when he found himself in a situation that could very well have resulted in his court martial and dishonorable discharge.
Tuesday, 19 Nov 2019 - Thank you, Fox News, for reminding me that every day is opposite day at your network, and that whatever you say about your good victim de jour is exactly what the bad president is doing. This helps me keep track of his sins.
Monday, 18 Nov 2019 - Four contestants aged 9 to 12 who have demonstrated their knowledge of food and skill in the kitchen are given “mystery baskets” of ingredients they must include in dishes they create on the spot.
Saturday, 16 Nov 2019 - But despite the one-in-a-million, up-from-the-bottom stories we all know and love, equal opportunity was never real. We’re not united by this new system any more than we were under aristocratic rule.
Thursday, 31 Oct 2019 - Christmas shopping season is cancelled, except for 3 to 5 p.m. on December 16th, my grandmother’s half-birthday.
Monday, 7 Oct 2019 - For the most part high-achieving, low-income students do not apply to highly selective colleges. Many under-reachers live outside of cities, are white, and attend smaller high schools. I have seen this phenomenon play out at Great Barrington’s Monument Mountain High School. Honors track low income students are more likely to apply to schools less selective than their grades and scores would recommend.
Wednesday, 18 Sep 2019 - Perhaps it’s the ugly times we’re living through, here and everywhere, that makes me love the Josh, and having 373 reasons to cheer.
Tuesday, 30 Jul 2019 - Jonathan and Fatima’s success story today — car parked outside and apartment whose rent they pay on time and which comfortably houses a growing family — was made possible by the very hard work, and very long hours, of many people, coordinating their assistance among many local social service organizations.
Wednesday, 17 Jul 2019 - Which is it, America? You’re making me dizzy! Where do you stand when it comes to your female half? Are we queens of the world or the shit under your shoes?
Tuesday, 9 Jul 2019 - We are a nation of laws, and this week, unlike in far too many recent weeks, it feels like the law is winning. It feels this week, if just for this week, like our law exists to protect the vulnerable, not to facilitate the cruelty of entitled men.
Saturday, 29 Jun 2019 - The Edge recently sat down with Hinds in his Pittsfield office to discuss his proudest accomplishments, how to align workforce development needs with the education system, and his hopes and concerns about the rollout of recreational marijuana in the state, among other things.
Saturday, 25 May 2019 - One local group of about a dozen people has started a conversation about guns by learning how not to interrupt each other.
Saturday, 18 May 2019 - Among the special concerns of the youth coalition members is a perceived deprioritization of health in our schools.
Saturday, 11 May 2019 - This play made me wish our education system still fostered the art of rigorous, respectful debate.
Thursday, 2 May 2019 - There is a rumor that the Cove Bowling Lanes is the inspiration for the bowling alley that was a central setting in the Coen Brothers’ 1998 cult classic film “The Big Lebowski” starring Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore and Steve Buscemi.
Saturday, 20 Apr 2019 - Kids’ welfare ought to be our first, second, third and fourth philanthropic priorities and when the kids are all set with food, shelter, loving adults and good schools, then we may turn our attention to the adults, and then to the animals.
Friday, 12 Apr 2019 - The morning served as a kick-off to the district’s initiatives to deepen connections between the district and the community, and help even the school’s youngest students start to envision a future for themselves in the work world.
Tuesday, 2 Apr 2019 - Four years ago, 70 percent of South Berkshire 12th-graders reported having used marijuana at least once, and 41 percent reported use within the past month. In 2019, those numbers are 52 percent and 36 percent respectively.
Saturday, 16 Mar 2019 - The worst part of the cheating scandal was not that the parents paid to cheat, but that they took pains to ensure their children didn’t know they’d won the golden ticket through devious means.
Monday, 11 Mar 2019 - "Recreational cannabis means that we are talking about cannabis. That’s a good thing. Young people are asking unsolicited questions, neighbors are talking to each other. ... We developed norms ... We’re starting to talk about what does safe use look like for adults? What is the norm?" --Chris Tucci, Railroad Street Youth Project deputy director
Thursday, 7 Mar 2019 - "As a parent, and someone who’s worked with young people who are at risk, I’m very concerned with how we protect young people from marijuana. We know that marijuana is devastating for developing brains. If your kids get drunk before school, you’re going to notice. But if they’re smoking marijuana, it’s a lot harder to tell." --Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington
Wednesday, 27 Feb 2019 - Vibe: Tribal ceremony, whereby tribesmen dance around their leader in absentia, throwing protective stardust on his aura.
Tuesday, 12 Feb 2019 - In the push for medical cannabis approval in 2012 in Massachusetts, and then to the passage of recreational in 2016, the ACLU, Drug Policy Alliance and others stressed the racial and class disparities of the war on drugs. It is a fair guess that many of the more than 60 percent of Berkshire County voters who checked “yes” on the 2016 ballot question did so at least in part to help right these wrongs.
Wednesday, 6 Feb 2019 - Any new initiatives will build on the school’s strong pre-existing relationships with businesses and nonprofits, fostered in part through its longstanding internship program, which sends dozens of students into the community each year for a portion of the school day.
