Tri-County student to collect jeans for homeless teenagers
The justice system at work
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Franklin Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski said district administrators worked through the weekend on safety procedures.
"Our target was to return to business as usual," she said. "We did not have any memorials or school-wide announcements about it."
The district, Sabolinski said, regularly re-evaluates safety.
"We work very closely with the Police Department - we met just a month ago to review protocol and do lockdown drills," she said.
Sabolinski said school doors are always locked, and the schools have cameras.
"We did have an additional police presence," she said. "We have resource officers, and requested additional officers to reassure the parents."
Although many schools will likely look to tighten security, Franklin Police Chief Stephan H. Semerjian believes society needs a fundamental change.
"The underlying issue as I see it is our society’s mental health," Semerjian wrote Friday in a letter to the community. "The inability of us as a people to help those in crisis before violence becomes the answer; before the anger boils over."
Semerjian said he believes people need to act to stop cycles of family violence — something he said often leads to children learning responses of anger and violence.
"We lose care and respect for one another and those closest to us," he said. "Moreover, we have no respect in ourselves or our lives and begin to believe that life is cheap, worth nothing."
Jack Patel said he has been selling a lot of flavored electronic cigarettes at his shop, Cigars & More in Franklin.
"I see a lot of people into this," Patel said. "They like it," he added. "It helps them to quit cigarettes and, plus, it’s cheaper than regular cigarettes."
Kiklas said the number of users has shot up from 50,000 in 2008 to 3.5 million, and that number is expected to double by the end of next year.
"I have heard projections that in five years, 20 percent of smokers in the U.S. will transition to our technology," he said.
Unless prohibited by local law, people in Massachusetts are free to use the devices anywhere - and that can cause problems.
A message from FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT
December 15, 2012
Good Morning,
As we all continue to try to comprehend the unspeakable act that happened in a CT elementary school, parents and community members may be asking how school personnel plan to handle this tragedy. Administrators, school counselors and our teaching staff will assess needs at the classroom and individual level. Our counseling staff is comprised of highly trained professionals and they collaborate and function as a team. If a school or classroom needs additional assistance we can assign personnel from other schools to provide support. We have a variety of instructional strategies and tools we use such; as Middle School Advisory, Open Circle, Social Skill groups and individual/group counseling. If you feel your child is struggling with managing their emotions about this incident please contact school personnel Monday morning. Principals and counseling personnel will be ready to assist.
Here are some resources that may help you discuss this tragedy with your child. One of our parents who is a professional in the education field offered these links. We will post on our websites as well. These are challenging conversation to have with a child, especially at a time of year that should be magical for children. Stay well.
Respectfully,
Maureen Sabolinski
Resources: (note - links updated 6/11/16)
A National Tragedy: Helping Children Cope
http://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources/school-safety-and-crisis/trauma/how-children-cope-with-ongoing-threat-and-trauma
Talking to Children about Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers
http://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources/school-safety-and-crisis/school-violence-prevention/school-violence-prevention-tips-for-parents-and-educators
Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators
http://www.nctsnet.org/resources/audiences/school-personnel/trauma-toolkit
SAMHSA's "Coping with Violence and Traumatic Events" Web site
https://findtreatment.gov/
School Crisis Guide: Helping and Healing in a Time of Crisis
http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.sswaa.org/resource/resmgr/imported/schoolcrisisguide.pdf
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.
December 14, 2012
In light of today's tragic shooting of school children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut as your Police Chief I thought it important to put some of my thoughts to paper. I would like to begin by sending along my thoughts and prayers to the families of those who lost their loved ones and all of those in Newtown who have suffered as a result of today's tragic event. It will take much more than words and a great deal of time to heal those wounds suffered by these families today. I hope and pray for all of them to heal.
As Police Chief I often times wonder what has happened to us. What has gone wrong? Why do some feel the need to act out their anger and aggression on the innocent? Is it the fact that access to dangerous weapons, i.e. firearms is too easy in our Nation? Is it the fact that we have a generation of young people who spend an inordinate amount of time with violent video games? Is it the violence watched on television or seen at the movies? Some of these factors may surely contribute to such behavior, but I can't help but feel the issue goes much deeper than this. In my 34 plus years in law enforcement I have been witness to innumerable amounts of family violence. Violence that is not only physical but mental in nature. Children who grow up with such insecurity in their lives because of unstable familial relationships with those who are supposed to take care of them. Supposed to protect them. Children who have watched their parents fight and been witness to intoxicated ranting and ravings. Children, who go without, are hungry and cold left pretty much on their own to fend for themselves.
This is a cycle; it is not germane to any one generation. It begins at some time in the family and becomes learned; carried on sometimes generation to generation not by deliberation or design, but this is just what was learned from watching, seeing and being victim to. The end result is a weakness of the mind; an inability to deal with the daily stressors of life in a humane and civil way. The learned response of anger and violence becomes the way to solve the problem. Hence it is a societal issue. One where we fail as a people. We lose care and respect for one another and those closest to us. More over we have no respect in ourselves or our lives and begin to believe that life is cheap, worth nothing.
The underlying issue as I see it is our society's mental health. The inability of us as a people to help those in crisis before violence becomes the answer; before the anger boils over. When law enforcement looks back into the history of those who commit such crimes in nearly every case warning signs were present. These warning signs may have been a lifelong secret, overlooked or dismissed as nothing important, or they may have been improperly diagnosed and/or treated. The fact remains that the unknown variable will always be in the mind of the offender and until we learn how we can accurately read a person's mind we will never be able to say with any degree of certainty that tragedies such as those in Newtown Connecticut today will never happen again.
Stephan H. Semerjian
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The Food Elves and the Franklin Downtown Partnership are trying to reach a new goal of collecting 2 tons or 4,000 pounds of food for the Franklin Food Pantry.
The drive is only 310 pounds away from reaching that goal.
Also, the Food Elves are trying to surpass last year’s money donations and are only $300 away from meeting that new goal.
A Big Thank You for all of your support on this year's "12 Days of Donating" campaign.
The Food Elves and FDP passed their goal and are now trying to set a New Goal of bringing in 2 TONS (over 4,000 pounds) of Food for the Food Pantry.
We are only 310 pounds away...so please pass the word. The Food Elves are also trying to beat last year's money donation total and need just $300 more to meet this goal. The "12 Days of Donating" is extended until this Saturday
...so please send a reminder out to encourage everyone to drop off their donations at one of the following locations: Franklin Downtown Partnership, Berry Insurance, Chestnut Dental, Dean Bank, Dean College, DCU, East Coast Driving School, Emma's Quilt Cupboard, Janes'Frames, Murphy Business, RE/MAX Executive Realty
Or have them drop off donations at the Food Pantry between 9-1 on Thursday
or Friday and let them know it is for the Food Elve "12 Days of Donating".
Together we are making a difference.... Franklin Downtown Partnership
and the Franklin Food Elves...50 elves and counting...
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The move is effective Jan. 1. Terracon, located at 5 Boynton Road, has 14 employees. The company will move to a new 18,000-square-foot-facility at 1376 West Central St. in Franklin.
Company President Rob Jewett said in the press release the move is necessary because of significant growth in the last few years.
"As our products and solutions have become better known in the industry, demand has risen – and quickly," Jewett said in the release. "Our new office and manufacturing space is 50 percent larger than our previous offices and offers a more efficient layout. It will support our continued growth and expansion, and provide a better work environment for current and future staff."