Celebrate Horace Mann's birthday at the Historical Museum

The Franklin Historical Museum will celebrate Horace Mann, Franklin’s favorite son, on the occasion of his 220th birthday. Join us on Sunday May 1st for coffee and cake in the museum library. A slide show presentation on the life of Horace Mann and his accomplishments will be running throughout the afternoon. Horace Mann was born in Franklin, May 4th, 1796. With very little primary education, he was mostly self-taught and entered Brown University as a sophomore after testing so well on his entrance exams. He graduated at the top of his class and went on to study law.

Horace Mann

In his life time he was a lawyer, a legislator, president of the Massachusetts Senate and an advocate for the abolition of slavery and the care of the mentally ill. He was named the first Secretary of Education in Massachusetts and this is where is life’s work is most highly noted. He created the Common School and established that all children should attend schools supported and funded by the community. He believed that, in a democratic society, education should be free and universal, nonsectarian, and reliant on well-trained, professional teachers. It’s these basic beliefs that shaped the education system used to this very day. 

Franklin is proud to claim Horace Mann as our own. Later this year the town will honor him with a life size statue erected on the site of the former Horace Mann High School at the corner of Emmons Street and West Central Street. 

At the same time the museum will recognize another favorite Franklin resident who shares her birthday with Horace Mann, but as she notes, he’s just a little older. Stop in and wish Ellie Crothers a Happy Birthday between 1:00PM and 4:00PM!

Franklin Historical Museum

Find out more about the Franklin Historical Museum on the web at
http://franklinhistoricalmuseum.org/

• Saturday, Franklin Historical Museum open 10:00AM - 1:00PM, always Free
• Sunday, Franklin Historical Museum open 1:00PM - 4:00PM, always Free

Pat Morse to speak at Franklin Garden Club Meeting

Pat Morse, who operated Wadsworth Farm in Franklin for 26 years, will provide tips for successful vegetable and flower gardening at the Tuesday, May 3 meeting of the Franklin Garden Club that will take place from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. at the Franklin Senior Center, located at 26 Daniel McCahill Street. The program is open to all residents.

Morse’s sister, Sue Hehn, a lifelong gardener and partner with her in operating the Wadsworth Farm greenhouses, will join her in offering suggestions for growing bountiful vegetable and beautiful flower gardens, including timing of planting, fertilizing, and dealing with gardening challenges. The sisters will also answer gardening questions.

Morse worked with her parents in cultivating vegetables before starting her own greenhouses in 1972. In 1986 she opened Wadsworth Farm, which she operated until 2012, establishing an excellent reputation for the quality of her vegetable and flower plants. The farm is now operated by her son, who raises blueberries and raspberries.

The Franklin Garden Club was founded in 1987 and became a member of The Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts, Inc. in 2015. The Club sponsors a variety of educational programs. Members volunteer to plant and maintain the Veteran’s Memorial Garden at the Town Common, distribute pine tree seedlings to all first graders in Franklin schools, and provide a scholarship to a graduating senior pursuing an education in environmental or horticultural studies. Membership is open to all area residents. 

For further information, visit the Club website at: http://gcfm.org/franklingc/Home or email franklingardenclubma@gmail.com

Franklin Senior Center

Video and document from the Forum on the Spectra Pipeline

The presentation document from the Forum on the Spectra Pipeline held in Sharon on April 7, 2016 is shared here. The link to the video recording produced by Sharon TV is also included.

No Spectra April 7, 2016 Forum from Franklin Matters

The link to the video recording of the approx 2 hour event

http://www.sharontv.com/pipeline-forum.php

No Spectra lawn sign found in Franklin

Check out all of the activities at incredABLE Day 2016!

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"Celebrating the ABLE in all of us" incredABLE Day Family Fun Activities HMEA's incredABLE Day 2016 - 15th Annual Walk, Run and All-Day Family Fun will be held on Sunday May 22nd, 2016. This fundraising event benefits our community's children and adults with Autism and special needs, and includes a 5k run or walk and all day family fun. Food. Music. And activities for the entire family. Join the celebration! Run: Register 8 AM, race starts at 9 AM Walk: Check-in at 10 AM, walk starts at 11 AM Kids: Fun Runs start at 10:15 AM and 12:30 PM HMEA's Children's Services Kids Corner: Other Event Attractions: Home Depot Woodworking Bubble Music Man FREE Kids raffle Bouncy Houses Game Booths Crafting Popcorn, cotton candy  ...and more! "Lifts For Love" - Truck Pull The New England Revolution 50/50 Raffle for a chance to win $5k at the 5k!  Dream Raffle prizes All Hands Drumming Touch a Truck area Photo Booth Train Rides You might get lucky and see The Red Sox's Wally the Green Monster, Slyde from The New England Revolution, Nibbles Woodaway of Big Blue Bug Solutions, Garelick Farm's Bessie the Cow, or NiRoPe from Cardi's Furniture! Here are ways you can participate in this year's event Spread the word! [event toolkit] Create a fundraising page and ask your friends and family to donate  [register] Create a team and ask your friends and family to join your team [create a team] Make a donation [donate] Volunteer [sign up]  Have fun while you're at it! :D Get involved with incredABLE Day 2016 at: www.events.hmea.org/incredABLE Sunday, May 22nd, 2016 EMC2, 50 Constitution Blvd, Franklin MA 02038 Follow us on Facebook for daily updates, stories of inspiration, motivation and more! HMEA, Inc. | 508-298-1100 | hmea@hmea.org | www.hmea.org STAY CONNECTED:

HMEA, 8 Forge Park East, Franklin, MA 02038 Sent by hmea@hmea.org in collaboration with Try it free today

Dean College Children's Center Open House, June 2, 2016

Dean Children's Center will host an Exploration Open House on Thursday, June 2, 2016 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Parents of children 2 years old to 6 years are encouraged to bring their child to explore the school and learn about our program. Applications are being accepted for 5-day morning, 2-day morning, 3-day morning preschool programs or 4-day Pre-K program.

Innovative and progressive, the school is NAEYC accredited and well known in the community for an inspiring preschool experience. Dean Children's Center is a lab school for ECE majors, with teachers-in-training alongside credentialed teachers. The center has a very professional and caring environment for children to learn through exploration.

The school uses a developmental approach to education which reflects current research in child development and peer conflict resolution. Director Faith Nickolas states "We are a regional resource to parents and educators on peer conflict resolution in young children and our lab school is a demonstration site for best practices in early education of children."

Dean College Children's Center is located at 144 School Street in Franklin. For more information, call 508-541-1598.

image linked from Dean CHildren's Center webpage

Changes to curriculum, state funding, and the school calendar the consistent thread

The School Committee recognized the FHS boys hockey team as the State Division 1 Champions with plaques on Tuesday. 2 of the 4 team captains helped present the full team to the School Committee assisted by Coach Spillane. The 2 captains missing also participate in a spring sport and were unable to attend.

2 of the 4 team captains helped present the full team to the School Committee assisted by Coach Spillane

Digital learning and the changes to the science curriculum were key presentations to the School Committee. Additional details and a combination of screen shots from one presentation and a copy of the other presentation are contained in the live reported notes linked below.

A resolution to address state funding of Chapter 70 was also presented and passed by a 6-1 vote. Committee member Vanessa Bilello presented an articulate and thoughtful summary of the reasons for the resolution. The lone vote against was cast by Committee member John Jewel who wanted the increase in funds but objected to wording that seemed to have strings attached restricting on how the fund could be used. 

Two proposal for changes to the school year calendar were also discussed. While one of the calendars proposed was reported out by the subcommittee to contain 'no changes', it does make at least one change that would need to be negotiated with the teachers union. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is shown on the proposals as full days. They were typically half days until about 2007 when they became a no school day in recognition of the attendance patterns for both students and faculty.

The School Dept will bring the proposals to the teachers union for further review and discussion before the next School Committee meeting. The Committee plans to approve a calendar for the 2017-2018 school year at the May 10 meeting. If the desired changes are approved, they want to provide parents and the community enough time to plan for them.


Option 1
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczalVVTG5IZzNFSWZxT0dUaUdnLV9rY0ZhZWpF/view?usp=sharing

Option 2
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczcF92Qmt0WklWN0U/view?usp=sharing

representatives of the Digital Learning Committee at the School Committee meeting

Additional photos and notes from the meeting can be found here:

• Live reporting: Action items to closing
• Live reporting: Discussion only items - Chapter 70...
• Live reporting: Digital Learning
• Live reporting: School Committee - Apr 26, 2016

Student produced video on Autism Awareness

Demi Seremetis writes: 

"This is a video that me and my friend Lauren Ballinger made for our local police department. It shows the importance of autism awareness because most people in our community do not know what the disorder entails. We hope that in watching this you will learn and realise more about autism."

The video is shared on YouTube and by the Franklin Police Dept as part of their campaign on autism awareness