Franklin Matters

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

"it provides good information"

The Milford Daily News reports that the annual survey by the MetroWest Health Foundation is expanding this year. The expansion will cover all 25 of the communities covered by the Foundation.

The survey asks students about everything from their drug and alcohol use to their daily stress levels, providing schools and health officials with a valuable glimpse into their lives. Data gleaned from the questionnaire also influences where and how the MetroWest Health Foundation spends its program funding, which is another reason the organization wants as many towns as possible to participate, according to Donham.

"In order to have good data to supply to us, they need to take the survey," she said.

This year’s participants have until Thanksgiving to complete the survey. Many districts are already done.

The 2012 version includes several new question topics, including bystander behaviors and peer support. The high school questionnaire also has more questions about dating violence and sexting.

Read more of the Milford Daily News article: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x35737837/Student-health-survey-gets-full-participation#ixzz2C6A3pKV3

Franklin has been one of the 25 communities to participate in the survey and use the data to direct program efforts. Some of the related posts on the survey data can be found here:

2007 - http://www.franklinmatters.org/2007/12/metro-westedc-adolescent-health-survey.html

2008 - http://www.franklinmatters.org/2009/12/live-reporting-metrowest-health-update.html

2010 - http://www.franklinmatters.org/2010/04/live-reporting-community-health-council.html

For more information on the MetroWest Health Foundation visit their webpage here http://www.mwhealth.org/

Monday, November 12, 2012

Veterans Day - 2012

As we celebrate Veterans Day, if you haven't been to the Town Common recently to walk among the monuments these photos can help make that walk a virtual one.

My father was a veteran of World War II having served with the US Marine 4th Division on Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. He was fond of saying that the real heroes did not come home.

On this Veterans Day, let's remember those who are among us and those who have mustered on!

Franklin, MA: Election Turnout Percent 2003-2012

The voter turnout results for elections from 2003 to the most recent November 2012 has been updated and charted as shown here:

Feed the Need - Turkey Trot - Nov 22

If you are a runner, or walker you can help the Franklin Food Pantry.

Registration, course map and additional race information can be found at http://www.feedtheneed.org/

If you would like to organize a collection in your neighborhood, you can print out this flyer to use

Girls soccer head to final four at State level

The Franklin High School Girls soccer team have advanced to the final four for the State soccer tournament. They lead Oliver Ames 3-0 before conceding two goals to make the final minutes a nail bitter.

Luckily for the Panthers, they did, winning 3-2 and clinching their second sectional title in three seasons. They will now travel to Lynn's Manning Field for a 5:30 p.m. date in the state's final four.

The Panthers are now 20-0-1, and their pursuit of an unbeaten season is still intact. Oliver Ames, the 2011 Div. 1 South champs, ends its season at 17-4-1.

"We never like to make things easy on ourselves," said a relieved Franklin coach Tom Geysen. "We came out with some formations that they didn't recognize and were able to get up early. We did a good job of staying hungry to close out the first half. We played okay in the second half for the most part and then made a few mistakes late that almost cost us. But at this point, a win is a win and now we'll look ahead to a very good Beverly team."

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Dean College Hunger Awareness Banquet (Free Event)

Losing power seems to be a random event. Your residence loses power and folks on the next block still have power. Frustrating? You bet. During the recent storms, you can drive around Franklin and see houses with lights and power, and then rows of houses in the dark.

Hunger can be like that too. It is usually less visible. The person next to you looks normal. How can you tell if they are hungry? Dean students have set up this event to discuss hunger and its effects.

Taking a “can drive” one step further, Dean College invites the Franklin and surrounding communities to a public “Hunger Banquet” on Tuesday, November 13, in which participants will experience a meal either as an Upper Income citizen, Middle Income citizen, or Lower Income citizen. Dean Community Outreach students conceptualized and will emcee this learning experience where guests will be assigned a class upon arrival and will experience life as a member of that class for the duration of the program. Upper income class guests will receive a scrumptious meal served to them in an upper class setting at a roundtable. Middle income class guests will experience their meal middle class meal at rectangular tables, while the lower income class experiences their meal on the floor.

This event is free. Participants are asked to bring a canned good for the Franklin Food Pantry

Tuesday, November 13, 7:00 PM

at the Dean College Campus Center

Info from the Dean College calendar
http://www.dean.edu/events/index.cfm?calid=4858

And Franklin Town News
http://franklintownnews.com/content/dean-college-hunger-banquet

FHS Girls Soccer - South Sectional finals - Sun 11/11 @ 5:00 PM

Hello Franklin Soccer fans!

The FHS girls won their semi-final game on Friday , 2-0 over Marshfield. It was a very physical game but the girls kept working hard to get their victory!

FHS Girls Varsity South Sectional final vs Oliver Ames @ Braintree HS, 5pm Sunday, 11/11/12.

A win on Sunday means that FHS would win their section and go on to the semi-finals for the state championship.

Oliver Ames is sure to have a large crowd so we need lots of Franklin fans to head out to Braintree on Sunday. It's supposed to be a great day for weather so come on out and cheer them on! Go Panthers!