TOM RUSH with Matt Nakoa at OCC Coffeehouse - April 5

OCC COFFEEHOUSE

Original Congregational Church

1 East Street, Wrentham, MA 02093

Phone: 508-384-3110

OCC Coffeehouse Website

The two concerts listed below are the final ones of our 2018-2019 season. Tickets for the Tom Rush show are selling briskly, so it is likely they will sellout. Tickets for all shows are available at the church office, 508-384-3110, or at www.musicatocc.org.

TOM RUSH with Matt Nakoa

Friday, April 5, 7:30 PM

Tom is a gifted musician and performer, whose shows offer a musical celebration and journey into the tradition and spectrum of what music has been, can be, and will become. His distinctive guitar style, wry humor and warm, expressive voice have made him both a legend and a lure to audiences around the world. His shows are filled with the rib-aching laughter of terrific story-telling, the sweet melancholy of ballads and the passion of gritty blues. 

TOM RUSH with Matt Nakoa at OCC Coffeehouse

Rush's impact on the American music scene has been profound. He helped shape the folk revival in the '60s and the renaissance of the '80s and '90s, his music having left its stamp on generations of artists. James Taylor told Rolling Stone, "Tom was not only one of my early heroes, but also one of my main influences." Country music star Garth Brooks has credited Rush with being one of his top five musical influences.

Matt Nakoa,Tom's keyboard player and vocalist, now tours internationally, recently performing at The White House, throughout India, and regularly with folk music icon Tom Rush. Matt's piano music has received favorable reviews in publications including The New York Times, and his film scoring has been featured by Disney.

Tickets are $45, in the church sanctuary.

OCC Coffeehouse is a non-profit organization affiliated with the Original Congregational Church in Wrentham. Doors open 30 minutes before the concert. Please call 508-384-8084, email occmusic99@gmail.com, or visit http://www.musicatocc.org for more information.

Inside the FHS Mock Trial Team's historic advance to the Finals

Each year, the Mass. Bar Association sponsors our statewide competition. They create a fictitious fact pattern. This year's case was a criminal case centered around a police officer's use of deadly force. The charges were brought under federal law as a civil rights violation. 

Teams had to explore and present on issues concerning whether the police officer's use of deadly force was objectively reasonable and if not, whether the excessive force was willful. Each side, Prosecution and Defense, has three witnesses. Attorneys must prepare direct and cross examination questions and an Opening Statement and Closing Argument.

Essentially, the entire season is one long single-elimination tournament. The 132 participating schools are placed into 32 geographical regions. In these preliminary trials, two schools face off in local courtrooms. Each school is told in advance which side they will play. This year, each of our preliminary round trials were extremely close. Franklin emerged as the Regional representative to the next round, which was held at Clark University on March 3.

From that point on, schools do not know which side they will represent until 15 minutes before the match. The two schools are told to meet in an assigned room and flip a coin. The winner of the coin toss decides which side they want to play. Interestingly, Franklin lost the coin toss every time.

This year, Franklin advanced to the Finals for the first time in school history. We were the last public school left in the tournament. The state Finals are held each year at historic Faneuil Hall in Boston. A three-judge panel adjudicates the trial. Franklin lost to the Winsor School, which has won the championship five out of the past eight years.

The FHS Mock Trial Team Roster is shown below. Giving a big shout out to the attorney coach, Mike Doherty.  The team also had help along the way from Rep. Jeffrey Roy and one of Mike Doherty's associates, Attorney Andrew Kepple.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bnvsjoEStLVQi2H0OKDoS1krq6lm0HDF/view?usp=sharing

FHS Mock Trial Team at Fanuel Hall (@MockWalsh photo)

Baseball is Back! All 30 Teams Play on Opening Day

From the US Census Bureau comes the following graphic on the American baseball teams and their respective metropolitan audience.

The national pastime comes to us courtesy of 29 teams from 25 metropolitan areas across the United States and one team from Canada (Toronto).

The four metro areas with two teams each are New York, Los Angeles, Chicago — the nation’s three most populous — and San Francisco-Oakland (the 12th most populous).

Baseball is Back! All 30 Teams Play on Opening Day

Shared from the US Census Bureau

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USCENSUS/bulletins/2395ff8

FHS Le Blanc makes listing of Top Hockey Sophomores

"With the 2018-19 Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association high school hockey season over, it’s time to look at the top 100 players in the Bay State circuit. 

New England Hockey Journal will unveil the top 100 players who played high school hockey this winter. Yesterday, we released the top 13 freshmen. Today, we move onto the top 32 sophomores. 

Over the course of the three-month season, there were many sophomores stood out as being a cut above the rest. An interesting trend in this year’s top sophomores is the fact that there were three sets of twins on our list."

Continue reading the article online (subscription is required)
https://www.hockeyjournal.com/mass-high-school-hockeys-top-32-sophomores/

FHS Joey Le Blanc ranks #30 in MA HS list of 32 best sophomores in MA Hockey according to New England Hockey Journal article.

Over the course of the three-month MIAA season, there were many sophomores stood out as being a cut above the rest. We rank the top 32.https://t.co/ScpmZok7Av

— NE Hockey Journal (@NEHockeyJournal) March 22, 2019

"that’s not a one-time problem, either"

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"Amid an effort to reform the state’s school funding system, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is getting a new leader. 

Chairman Paul Sagan, appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker in 2015, announced to his colleagues Tuesday morning in Malden that it was his last meeting and he was stepping down at the end of his four-year term. 

Baker subsequently nominated Katherine Craven, who has served on the 11-member board since 2014, as the new chair, and tapped Matthew Hills to take the newly vacant seat. A former chair of the Newton School Committee, Hills is a managing director at LLM Capital Partners in Boston."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190326/katherine-craven-tapped-to-replace-paul-sagan-as-chairman-of-education-board

What is the role of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education?

"The mission of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is to strengthen the Commonwealth's public education system so that every student is prepared to succeed in postsecondary education, compete in the global economy, and understand the rights and responsibilities of American citizens, and in so doing, to close all proficiency gaps. 

BESE's responsibilities include approving learning standards, voting on charter school applications, deciding when to intervene in the state's lowest-performing districts, and hiring the commissioner. The Board includes the secretary of education, a student (the president of the State Student Advisory Council), and nine members appointed by the governor. Those members must include a parent representative, a labor representative, and a business representative."

From the Board web page  http://www.doe.mass.edu/bese/

Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)

Live reporting: Consent agenda- Closing (Executive Session)

6. New Business
a. To discuss any future agenda items

middle school improvement plans
Zub will be remote for next meeting

7. Consent Agenda
a. Minutes
I recommend approval of the minutes from your March 12, 2019 School Committee Meeting as detailed.
b. Transfers
I recommend approval of the budget transfers as detailed.
c. FHS Scholarship
I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,000.00 from Robert Seide for a FHS Scholarship as detailed.
d. FHS Donation
I recommend acceptance of the donation of a Nikon D60 Camera and 55-250mm zoom lens valued at approximately $300.00 from Ivy Patten for FHS as detailed.
e. JFK Gifts
I recommend acceptance of two checks totaling $1,075.00 for JF Kennedy Elementary School as follows:

• $350.00 American Heart Association for Supplemental Supplies
• $750.00 JFK PCC for Field Trips

f. Davis Thayer Gift
I recommend acceptance of a check for $2,700.00 from the Davis Thayer PCC for field trips as detailed.
g. Music Dept. Gift
I recommend acceptance of a check for $323.00 from various music parents for in-house enrichment for the Music Department.
h. Keller Gift
I recommend acceptance of a check for $4,098.50 from the Keller PCC for field trips as detailed.
i. HMMS Recurring Trip to Save the Bay
I recommend approval of the recurring request of Rebecca Motte to take 6th Graders to Providence, RI for Save the Bay program on June 5, 6, & 7, 2019 as detailed.

motion to accept, seconded, passed 7-0

8. Payment of Bills Dr. Bergen

9. Payroll Mrs. Douglas

10. Correspondence

11. Executive Session
a. Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 30A, §21(a)(3) to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with the FEA/RN unit as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the School Committee and the chair so declares.

motion to go to executive session, not to return to open meeting
motion passed, 7-0


The meeting packet and documents released for this meeting can be found online
https://www.franklinps.net/district/meeting-packets/pages/march-26-2019-school-committee-packet

Not some of the documents will only be posted AFTER the meeting (usually during the day Wednesday)

Live reporting: Discussion Items - Information Matters

3. Discussion / Action Items
a. Policy – 2nd Reading/Adoption
I recommend adoption of Policy IJOAB – Extended Field Trips as discussed.

motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0


4. Discussion Only Items
none

5. Information Matters
a. School Committee Sub-Committee Reports 
Budget - met last week, meeting again
 Community Relations - Apr 27, portrait of a graduate

Policy - TBD

Public Schools Advocacy - 
hearing last week, (as reported) 
meeting Weds evening

b. School Committee Liaison Reports 
Joint PCC - meeting next week

Substance Abuse Task Force - met this AM
school based supports, also when students make choices, balancing disciplinary transactions; student reps helped a great deal

School Wellness Advisory Council [SWAC]
March 5 meeting

School Start Times Advisory Committee