Central Falls, RI in the news

At one time, Central Falls was the most densely populated square mile in the US. It is now in the news as the Superintendent is preparing to fire all the high school teachers.

Why? 

The school apparently is failing its students. The Superintendent wants to make changes. The Teacher Unions is hold its ground to make changes "upon negotiation".

Read the full article here

and more here

Franklin, MA: Skipping weekly review

I'll skip the weekly review (podcast) for this week. I will have one for the week ending Sunday the 21st.

If you missed one of the updates during the week, you can see them all here:

• Franklin Flatbread/Spruce Pond Creamery
• Solid waste - Newton's info
• Time to wake up on obesity
• Wired Kids Summit
• HMEA 5K Race/Walk - May 23rd
• Solid Waste Pros/Cons - Updated
• Comments discovered
• Solid waste - pros/cons
• Town Council - 02/10/10
• Spilka and Vallee to Hold Office Hours in Franklin...
• In the News - trash fee reduced, Seniors get aid
• "a real positive service for the whole community"
• Live reporting - closing
• Live reporting - legislation
• Live reporting - Senior Outreach
• Live reporting - Town Council
• What is online learning?
• What are Smartboards?
• School Committee 02/09/10
• Let's be honest! - seminar for Middle School Paren...
• Franklin mock trial team beats Bellingham, 83-77
• Vallee to hold office hours in Franklin, Medway
• Live reporting - closing items
• Live reporting - Action items
• Live reporting: School Committee
• Abbey Wind Turbine
• 
  

Franklin Flatbread/Spruce Pond Creamery

As the girls were growing up, one of our family traditions was to walk to Spruce Pond Creamery on the last day of school to help celebrate. I've been known to go with a banana split for dinner. It does have multiple food groups, right (fruit, dairy, nuts, chocolate!) :-)

Franklin Flatbread/Spruce Pond Creamery, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Good food with a quaint pond view setting. Now with a wine and malt license, there is an added incentive to visit for pizza or a panini.

Of course, sitting on the porch with your ice cream is not something you'd do often in winter.

Franklin Flatbread/Spruce Pond Creamery in a green and warmer view:

Stay warm!

Solid waste - Newton's info

Newton implemented an automated single stream solid waste process similar to what is coming to Franklin. From the Newton website I found the following:

The size of the cart was selected for several reasons:

1. In a survey conducted in 2007, 88% of the households could fit trash into this cart;
2. The cart will encourage more recycling;
3. The average household in Newton produces approximately 40 lbs of trash per week.

NOTE: The new blue carts will hold the same amount as two large standard trash bags (each holds 35 lbs) or five small kitchen trash bags (each holds 20 lbs) or two 35-gallon barrels (each holds 40 lbs)

4. In the pilot survey, 82% of the participants stated that the 64-gallon carts held their weekly trash without a problem.
5. 
   

Thanks to Warren Reynolds for providing the link from his post on the new system. You can read Warren's post here:
http://www.02038.com/2010/02/franklin-ma-single-stream-automatedtrash-pickup/

The link to Newton's pages can be found here:
http://www.ci.newton.ma.us/DPW/recycling/ittakestwo/intro.html

Time to wake up on obesity

There are a number of problems in this world but many of them pale in comparison with obesity.

Franklin's budget problem is minor. The trash fee is minuscule.

Jamie Oliver gave this talk at TED recently. It is a powerful and yet easy message to take a step on. Today.

Powerful? Wait until you see the wheelbarrow!



What are you going to do?
When are you going to start?

Wired Kids Summit

The Franklin Teenangels group could use your help in raising money to attend the following event. If you would like to contribute, please contact Lisa Keohane

Prior posts on the Teenangels can be found
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/live-reporting-teen-angels.html

and
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/01/teen-angels-pledge-text-think-send.html

The Milford Daily News wrote about the Teenangels here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x1685423643/Cyberbullying-too-real-for-teens

-----

The Fifth Annual Wired Kids Summit

Wired Kids and The WiredSafety Group’s  FBI-trained Teenangels

and Tweenangels invite you to join them at their Wired Kids Summit

given entirely by these expert teens and pre-teens.       

 Teenangels and Tweenangels share:

·        What do Kids Currently Use the Internet for?

·        What are the Latest Interactive Technologies and How Do Kids Use Them?

·        What Sites Do Kids Visit the Most and Why?

·        What’s the Latest on Kids and Cyberbullying, Blogs, Cyber-dating, Downloading Media, Privacy, Security, Cell phones and Text-messaging as well as Predators on the Web?

Come Join Us and Hear from the Real Experts –

The Teens and Preteens Themselves

Panel discussions: The summit will consist of panel discussions run entirely by FBI-trained preteens and teens, our real Internet experts. Moderated by Parry Aftab, cyberlawyer and Executive Director of Wired Kids and the Wired Safety Group, four separate panels will allow the expert preteens and teens to share their expertise, views and accolades about the Internet, their favorite sites and visionaries.

An Awards Ceremony take place throughout the summit, including our Internet Super Hero Award which will be presented this year by Marvel’s Spider-Man and Parry Aftab.

About Us

WiredKids.com and the Wired Safety Group is a 501c3 organization. It is the largest online safety and help group in the world, operating through thousands of volunteers in 76 countries around the world. The Wired Safety Group operates WiredSafety.org, WiredKids.org, Teenangels.org, InternetSuperHeroes.org and StopCyberbullying.org.

SCHEDULE

Date: May 25, 2010

Place: Washington, D.C. at the Senate Russell Building, Room 325.

Time:    Registration will begin at 9:00 A.M.

The Summit will be held from 9:30 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.

A special lunch will be served for invited guests from 1:15 P.M. – 2:30 P.M. Over lunch, the Tweenangels and Teenangels will join the guests and share their expertise and presentations on Internet predators will be delivered by Teenangels with bestselling author, Katie Tarbox. (Sorry, luncheon invitations are reserved for special guests, WiredKids advisory board members and Teenangel supporters.) 

Space at the Summit is limited so please reserve your place early by e-mailing us at wksummit@wiredsafety.org or by visiting WiredSafety.org and clicking on “events” and filing out the reservation request form.

We look forward to seeing you!

·        Panel 1: Stop Cyberbullying! presents information about how young people are using the internet to harass other kids online. The panel will cover real cases, prevention, and safety tips for parents, kids and schools.

·        Panel 2: Keeping Kids and Families Safe in a Digital World will share information about the 4Ps – privacy, predators, pornography and piracy, the new WiredSafety.org video, the Teenangels’ and Tweenangels’ own safety tips and what parents, schools and industry leaders should know.

·        Panel 3: The Secret World of Kids Online will share hidden risks of new technologies and showcase products and improvements created or enhanced by the TeenAngels as well as recommendations for features to existing products to enhance online safety, privacy and security.

·        Panel 4: Just for Fun will explore what kids enjoy doing online including their favorite sites and activities. (The Wired Kids Best of the Web Awards will be given during this panel.)

Awards Ceremony:

The Summit will include awards for the following:

·        The Teenangels Hero Awards

·        WiredSafety’s Super Librarian of the Year

·        The Wired Cops Awards

·        The Educational Superstar Award

·        The Wired Kids’ Best of the Web Awards

·        The Internet Visionary Award

·        And for the first time, our Internet Super Hero Award will be presented by Marvel’s Super Heroes, including Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk

In addition, the Internet safety video – The 4Ps – Privacy, Predators, Porn and Pop-ups will be released in honor of Christina Long, the first confirmed murder victim by an Internet sexual predator.

HMEA 5K Race/Walk - May 23rd

The Horace Mann Education Associates - HMEA, Inc. is located here in Franklin, MA but their effective service delivery is to over 100 communities in MA.

HMEA has a long history of providing innovative services in school, at work, at home and in the community and now serve over 2400 children and adults with developmental disabilities. Services include: Residential, Day and Family supports, and services for children.

HMEA's Employment Programs provides people with disabilities the opportunity to pursue meaningful employment either on a full- or part-time basis. For people in the Employment Program who work part-time, HMEA encourages volunteering for community organizations, or leisure and recreation activities to supplement their day.

HMEA's Employment Programs serve people 22 years of age and older who live within the commuting distance of program locations in the following cities and towns: Bellingham, Clinton, Hopedale, Plainville and Worcester

The annual fund raiser for HMEA is the 5K Race/Walk and Family Fun Day scheduled for May 23, 2010.

From Passionate Runner

SAVE THE DATE...Sunday, May 23, 2010 HMEA's 9th Annual Independence 5K Walk/Run in the Park - MARK YOUR CALENDARS and grab your sneakers to participate in this "Fun-filled Family Day fundraising event...

This event, which is hosted by our good friends at EMC2 Corporation in Franklin, MA gathers 2,000 or more people to help HMEA continue its mission to make a difference in people's lives. AND, all the money raised is returned to the many programs at HMEA, which supports 2,400 children and adults with intellectual challenges and developmental disabilities.

Once again we have Gene Lavanchy from Fox News25 and tentatively Gail Huff from WCVB-TV Channel performing hosting duties for us. And our great friends and inspiration to many, "TEAM HOYT", Dick and Rick will be on hand again this year -- plus we're pretty sure there will be a few other celebrities and mascots on hand as well!

So come on down and participate in the fun...there's raffle prizes, food, tee shirts for participants (while they last), prizes, a Kids Corner filled with games and activities, a Kids "FUN RUN" and so much more... 

In addition to working the road race registration table (and providing splits at the 2 mile mark), I have decided to help HMEA do some fund raising this year.

I love the quote from Horace Mann that they use on their History page:

"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity"

You can help the HMEA make a difference with a donation. I have a widget in the center column of this and my other blogs, should you choose to donate an amount within your means.

I will appreciate it.
The HMEA clients you help will too!

-----

If you would like to register for the race you can do so here
http://www.hmea.org/events.html

If you'd like you can contribute in one of several options directly through the HMEA website here
http://www.hmea.org/donations.html