Franklin gets on the AP Honor Roll

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
Date: Tue, Nov 13, 2012 at 4:00 PM
Subject: AP Honor Roll

A message from FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT

Hello, We wanted to share some good news !  Franklin Public Schools was selected to the Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Roll for the second consecutive year. A total of 539 districts across the U.S. and Canada are being honored by the College Board for increasing access to Advanced Placement courses, while maintaining or increasing the percentage of students earning a score of 3 or higher on AP exams.  In Massachusetts, Franklin High School is one of the forty-six districts to earn this distinction. This honor is a credit to our students, faculty and administration for their commitment to high expectations for all students and to increasing equitable access to the most rigorous curriculum available.  Franklin High School offers 17 AP courses with additional offerings available in an online platform. Through the leadership of our School Committee and administration and the commitment of the community to public education we can offer a variety of instructional opportunities to our students. Thank You, Maureen Sabolinski This e-mail has been sent to you by FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT. To maximize their communication with you, you may be receiving this e-mail in addition to a phone call with the same message. If you wish to discontinue this service, please inform FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT IN PERSON, by US MAIL, or by TELEPHONE at (508) 613-1777.

MBTA Commuter Rail: Mobile Ticketing

Arriving at North Station commuter lines first, this will come to the Franklin Line as part of the second phase scheduled for later this November.

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

MBTA Commuter Rail: Mobile Ticketing

via Commonwealth Conversations: Transportation by Klark Jessen on 11/13/12

Beginning this week, customers on four MBTA Commuter Rail Lines, north and west of Boston, will be able to use their smartphones instead of paper tickets to ride the train.

Under this first-in the nation mobile ticketing program, customers will be able to purchase tickets and passes using the MBTA mTicket app for iPhone and Android devices wherever they are. The tickets are displayed on the phone's screen as a digital 'flash pass' or encrypted barcode. The system uses the JustRide mobile ticketing platform from Masabi US Ltd.

"The new MBTA mTicket application is the latest innovation from MassDOT and the MBTA." said MassDOT Secretary and CEO Richard A. Davey. "Customers will now have the ability to purchase tickets without waiting in lines meaning they get more time back in their day and more control over their commute."

With the new MBTA mTicket application, customers can purchase tickets in seconds via their smartphone. Once tickets are purchased, they will be stored digitally in their application's 'ticket wallet' on the phone. With this new application, customers don't have to worry about losing their ticket. If a smartphone is lost or replaced, tickets can be transferred effortlessly at any MBTA customer service location.

In the first phase of the pilot, MBTA commuter rail riders riding on the Lowell, Fitchburg, Haverhill, and Newbury/Rockport lines can purchase and use single or ten-ride tickets via their smartphone. The second phase of the pilot will expand the app to customers using the Commuter Boat and Worcester, Franklin, Fairmount, Providence, Greenbush, and Old Colony Commuter Rail Lines. Under the second phase of the pilot, which begins later this month, riders will also be able to purchase and use monthly passes via their smartphones.

Customers with smartphones will now be able to avoid the on-board purchase surcharge by using MBTA mTicket app. Additionally, the app eliminates the need to install new vending machines and lowers cash handling costs for the MBTA. To help combat fare evasion, all mobile tickets also have cryptographic validation. Train conductors will be checking tickets to ensure their validity.

Check out the video explaining mTicket.

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In the News: high school, holiday decorations, drug abuse, donation drive

Public meeting on new Franklin High School project set, Nov. 14

by Staff reports

Downtown Partnership, Franklin Garden Club to decorate for Holidays

by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Eastern Massachusetts ranks high nationally in drug abuse

by Matt Murphy

Donation drives successful in Mendon, Franklin

by Mike Gleason/Daily News Staff

Scott Brown mum on chance of new bid for Senate

by Lisa Hagen

FAN BUS INFORMATION FOR GIRLS SOCCER STATE SEMI-FINAL GAME IN LYNN ON WEDNESDAY, 11/14/12

For anyone interested in supporting the FHS girls soccer run to the state championship this week...

Subject: FAN BUS INFORMATION FOR GIRLS SOCCER STATE SEMI-FINAL GAME IN LYNN ON WEDNESDAY, 11/14/12


Importance: High

To: FHS Soccer

In order to arrange a bus for fans to take them to and from the game, we need a firm commitment on the names and number of people that will want to take the bus.  

The cost would be $5.00 per person.  All students that wish to take the fan bus, would have to complete a permission slip and submit it with their $5.00 by 9:00AM Wednesday morning to the Athletic Office.  An announcement is being made at school today informing the students of the possibility of having a chartered fan bus to the game and permission slips will be made available to students at school today for those who are interested in taking the bus to the game. 

This email is to determine interest for the bus so we can give a count to Mr. Sidwell to determine if there is enough serious interest to charter a bus.  

Please respond back to Elizabeth Allen by 9:00pm this evening so we will have an accurate count to give Mr. Sidwell in the morning so he can make a determination on whether or not to order the bus.  At this time we have been told the bus will leave by 4pm.

Everyone who sends  to this email will receive a response back via email once a decision is made.

Thank you for your immediate response.

Elizabeth Allen

eallen719@comcast.net

 

Reminder: Tuesday events

• The Hunger Dinner is being held at Dean College's Campus Center at 7:00 PM

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/11/dean-college-hunger-awareness-banquet.html

• The Franklin Bellingham Rail Trail Committee will meet to discuss grants this evening at 7:00 PM at the YMCA on Forge Park Road.

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/11/trail-grants-up-for-discussion.html

Dean College: Fall sports have winning season

The first snowfall in Franklin, Massachusetts this week signaled the official end to fall sports on the Dean College campus. Both men’s and women’s soccer, along with the football team ended their seasons with winning records. Below are recaps of each teams season.

Football  

Head Coach Todd Vasey and his staff followed up leading the Bulldogs to the Valley of the Sun Bowl win in 2011 with another strong campaign, as the Dean College football team officially ended their season with 7 wins and 3 losses. The 7-3 record was good for third place in the Northeast Football Conference.

There were too many individual standout performances to list here, though it is worth noting that the Dean College passing attack easily led the conference in total passing yards with 2,404 and passing touchdowns with 21. This vicious attack was led by first year quarterback Trevor Vasey (1,848 passing yards, 15 touchdowns) and Sophmore Wide Receiver Shavarez Smith (43 receptions, 685 yards, 6 touchdowns).

On defense, Dean was second in the conference with 15 interceptions and also second in the conference in sacks with 25 on the season, led by Defensive End Rashard Simmons with 6 sacks on the season. Also worth noting Linebacker Marcus Pittard led the conference in solo tackles with 50.

Team and individual statistics can be seen on the Northeast Conference Football website by clicking here.

Women’s Soccer

Dean College women’s soccer team made an incredible leap in 2012, as the team officially ended their season with 9 wins, 5 losses, and 1 tie, posting the first winning record for the program since 1998.

Many stellar individual performances contributed to the successful season, and four players were ranked within the top 50 in the country in NJCAA Division I. Sophomore Jessica Gelbman was ranked 6th in saves (147 saves) and 40th in save percentage (.821 percent). Freshman Morgan Mencio led the team in points with 42 (13 goals and 16 assists). She was ranked 9th with assists and 35th in points. Freshman Samantha O’Keefe had 15 goals and 7 assists on the season for 37 points, giving her a ranking of 49th with points and 47th in goals. Freshman Lauren Valdario was ranked 38th with assists, and had 12 goals and 10 assists on the season for 34 points.

As a result of this year’s success, Head Coach Laura Ray was named Region 21 Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year. This award is voted on by all NJCAA Division I and III Programs in Region 21. Dean College not only posted the first winning record since 1998, but tripled their wins from last season, as well as improved their overall goals for and goals against average. Congratulations, Coach Ray!

Men’s Soccer

Dean College men’s soccer team enjoyed quite a ride this season which included being ranked 17th in the nation, a Regional Championship win, and Divisional Championship game participation. Coach Jim Hopkins and his staff led the team to a 12 win, five loss and 2 ties season.

A big story this season which really drove the success of the team was Dean’s ferocious defense and goaltending, as the team held opponents to a 1.29 goals against average. Leading this effort was goaltenders Rafael Urbina (9 games played, 77 saves, 6 shutouts 1.87 goals against average) and Denzel Teleau (6 games played, 23 saves, 2 shutouts, 0.26 goals against average).

Offensively, Dean had a well rounded attack led by Gregory Smedberg (20 points, 8 goals, 4 assists), Paul Rocha Lima (16 points, 6 goals, 4 assists) and Michael Fitzgerald (12 points, 6 goals), along with great effort from Alex Bedrosian and Brandon Vasconcelos.

The team defeated Massasoit Community College in the Region XXI Championship game to advance to the District Championship tournament for the first time in 8 years. Despite a solid effort against #2 Monroe CC, Dean was defeated 4-1.

The bottom line

Dean College is very proud of the effort of all fall team student-athletes. Each and every player put in a tremendous amount of work and was rewarded with being part of a standout fall sports season.

For more about Dean visit their webpage:  http://www.dean.edu/

"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/

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."

Read more: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/sports/local_sports/x1272756157/Franklin-3-Oliver-Ames-2-Heartstopping-victory#ixzz2C0J1dNLG

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!

Google Map showing Braintree High


View Larger Map

Trail Grants up for Discussion

You can almost feel the busy holiday schedule kicking-in!  But consider taking a few minutes this Tuesday to discuss some critical issues facing the the development of the Rail Trail. The Franklin and Bellingham Rail Trail Committee will be meeting at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, November 13, 2012 at the YMCA in Franklin.  The meeting is open to all who are interested, and attached is an agenda and minutes from the last meeting.

Hope to see you there.  

Marc Kaplan

Chair, FBRTC

Agenda for the November meeting:




Minutes from the October meeting:

Mission: The Franklin and Bellingham Rail Trail Committee (FBRTC) is a volunteer advocacy group dedicated to the development, maintenance, and financial support of the Southern New England Trunkline Trail as a multi-use, universally accessible recreational path.

FBRTC is a subsidiary of the Grand Trunk Trail Blazers, a recognized 501(c)(3), working in partnership with federal, state and local governments.

For more about the group you can visit their web page
http://www.franklinbellinghamrailtrail.org/

"they kicked over a hornet’s nest"

One of the medal recipients honored on Friday tells his story in the Milford Daily News:

On Oct. 7, 1967, as the Vietnam War raged on, Robert Gardner, of Franklin, was awarded the Bronze Star medal, a commendation given to U.S. Army soldiers who display valor on the battlefield. 

Gardner was a first lieutenant commanding an armored cavalry platoon based in the area around the Bong Son River, in the western part of the country. 

Below is a summary of the day that earned Gardner his medal. It began like any other for a soldier rolling through the rice paddies, creeks and streams, under the blistering sun of Vietnam.

You can read the reminder of Robert Gardner's story here: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x794467153/Franklin-recipient-of-Bronze-Star-tells-his-story#ixzz2BuezUlE4

In case you missed the story of the Veterans Day ceremony held at the Franklin Senior Center on Friday
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/11/i-think-of-guys-who-sacrificed-for-us.html