Franklin Matters

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Open Learning Initiative - Great Courses

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Open Learning Initiative - Great Courses

via Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne) on 9/11/09

The Open Learning Initiative offers free high-quality courses created by Carnegie Mellon University. There are courses available in Statistics, Engineering, Science, Economics, French, and more. All of the courses are open to anyone that wants to give the courses a try. Users can create an account to track their progress or users can just jump into the course materials without creating an account.

In addition to offering open learning opportunities to students, the Open Learning Initiative provides instructors with course packages that they can use for free. To explore the free options offered to educators, request an OLI Instructor Account.

Applications for Education
The Open Learning Initiative provides high school students with the opportunity explore their interests and get a sense of what is required by collegiate level courses. If you're school allows you to create independent study opportunities, the OLI instructor resources could be starting place for creating those opportunities.

Here are some related items that may be of interest to you:
100 Awesome Open Courses
Lectures and Courses from Great Universities
Yale Open Courses Added to iTunes

Things you can do from here:

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Who Gets the Money? Your Vote Decides for Dean Bank!

Who Gets the Money? Your Vote Decides!

Dean Bank will be hosting a fundraiser and would like you to help choose which Franklin-based non-profit organization will be the beneficiary.

On Saturday, October 10th, Dean Bank will host an E-Waste Recycling Collection behind its Main Office in Franklin. Local residents will be able to pay reasonable fees to drop off their old, used and unwanted electronics, which will be hauled away to a recycling facility. All profits will be donated to the Franklin-based non-profit that the community selects by voting at Dean Bank's website.

Dean Bank employees collectively nominated the following five organizations to be voted on: The Franklin Food Pantry, The Franklin Library, The Franklin Downtown Partnership, The Franklin 2010 July 4th Celebration, and Random Smile Project.

Tell us. . . Who do you support? The voting period will end on Monday, September 21st at 4:00pm. The organization that receives the most votes will be announced by Dean Bank as the fundraiser beneficiary. Voting is limited to one per computer.

To VOTE on who you think should get the money and see current results, click HERE!
To LEARN MORE about the E-Waste Recycling Collection fundraiser, click HERE!

Monday, September 14, 2009

Town Council - Agenda - 9/16/09

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – August 19, 2009, September 2, 2009

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS

E. APPOINTMENTS

F. HEARINGS

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS

H. DISCUSSIONS

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS – Charter Review Subcommittee

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

Resolution 09-59: Amendment of FY 2010 Budget
Bylaw Amendment 09-634: Amendment to the Franklin Conservation Bylaw Chapter 181-8D: Term of Years- 1st Reading
Bylaw Amendment 09-635: Amendment to the Code of the Town of Franklin, Chapter 25 – Personnel Regulations – 1st Reading
Bylaw Amendment 09-636: Amendment to the Code of the Town of Franklin, Chapter 25 – Human Resource Management – 1st Reading
Zoning Bylaw Amendment 09-637: Amendment to Chapter 185-3. Definitions – Referral to Planning Board
Zoning Bylaw Amendment 09-638: Amendment to Chapter 185-39. Uses Accessory to Dwelling – Referral to Planning Board

K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

L. OLD BUSINESS

M. NEW BUSINESS

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS

O. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Negotiations, Litigation, Real Property, as May Be Required

P. ADJOURN

The documents supporting the pertinent agenda items can be found on the Town website here (PDF)

School Committee duties

With some potential new members coming to the School Committee, I thought it would be a good idea to find out what the School Committee duties are. The following comes from the School Committee policy library.

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Policy BBAA

SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBER AUTHORITY

Authority

Because all powers of the Franklin School Committee derived from state laws are granted in terms of action as a group, members of the School Committee have authority only when acting as a committee legally in session.

The School Committee will not be bound in any way by any statement or action on the part of an individual member except when such statement or action is a result of specific instructions of the committee.

No member of the committee, by virtue of his/her office, will exercise any administrative responsibility with respect to the schools or command the services of any school employee.

The School Committee will function as a body and all policy decisions and other matters, as required by law, will be settled by an official vote of the committee sitting on formal session.

Duties

The duties and obligations of the individual committee member may be enumerated as follows:

1. To become familiar with the General Laws of the Commonwealth relating to educational and School Committee operations, regulations of the Massachusetts Board of Education, policies and procedures of this School Committee and the school department.

2. To keep abreast of new laws and the latest trends in education.

3. To have general knowledge of the goals, objectives, and programs of the town's public schools.

4. To work harmoniously with other committee members without trying either to dominate the committee or neglect his/her share of work.

5. To respect the privileged communication that exists in executive sessions by maintaining strict confidentiality on matters discussed in these sessions, except that which becomes part of the public record, once it has been approved for release.

6. To vote and act in committee impartially in the best interest of the students of the town of Franklin.

7. To accept the will of the majority vote in all cases, and to remember that he/she is one of a team and must abide by, and carry out, all committee decisions once they are made.

8. To represent the committee and the schools to the public in a way that promotes interest and support.

9. To refer questions and complaints to the proper school authorities.

10. To comply with the accepted code of ethics for School Committee members.

This policy statement can be found online with all the School Committee policies here

Secretary of Elder Affairs - visits Senior Center Thursday, Sep 17

Meet the Newly Appointed
Secretary of Elder Affairs,
Ann Hartstein

at
the Franklin Senior Center
On
Thursday, Sept. 17
At 12:30 p.m.

The public is welcome to attend to ask questions
and offer feedback
about elder issues!

Originally posted on the Town website (doc)

Sunday, September 13, 2009

The walls at Walgreens are rising

The walls at Walgreens are rising, originally uploaded by shersteve.

The sun hadn't broken through the clouds yet on Sunday morning but some workers were busy about the rising structure. Likely playing catch up the schedule due to the recent rainy spells we have had.