Franklin School For The Performing Arts To Host Open Houses - Aug 6, 14, 23, 29, Sep 8

Franklin School for the Performing Arts (FSPA) will host a series of Open Houses at 38 Main Street in downtown Franklin on Monday, August 6 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Tuesday, August 14 from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., on Thursday, August 23 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., on Wednesday, August 29 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Saturday, September 8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

The community is invited to tour the facilities, speak with faculty and staff, and learn more about FSPA programs in music, dance, and drama for all ages and levels. Prospective students are also encouraged to schedule a complimentary trial class. The FSPA summer session runs through August 24, and fall classes begin on September 10. Registration is ongoing for all programs.

Founded in 1985 by Director Raye Lynn Mercer, FSPA has been dedicated to the enjoyment of the arts for all ages and to the artistic growth and development of young people. The school offers classes in all dance disciplines, acting, musical theater, voice, and instrumental instruction, whether for recreational enjoyment or serious study. 

FSPA is also home to the Little Music School, an innovative program that teaches children as young as 18 months to play the piano. An extensive calendar of year-round performing opportunities features musicals, plays, ballets, voice and instrumental recitals, opera scenes, musical theater and dance company showcases, and more. 

Select FSPA musical theater troupes and the CenterStage dance company perform each spring at Walt Disney World, and the ensemble Electric Youth tours Europe every summer. Many FSPA students are also cast, by audition, in the affiliated Franklin Performing Arts Company’s annual season of shows. FSPA TALENT offers management services for young performers who elect to pursue professional opportunities.

FSPA is also proud to offer FSPA Academy, an academic alternative for students seeking a challenging curriculum in a supportive, flexible environment that encourages their creative goals. Provided Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in partnership with TEC Connections Academy Commonwealth Virtual School (TECCA), the program builds upon TECCA’s state-approved online curriculum offering Music Theory, math tutoring, field trips and more. 

In addition to the Academy, FSPA also offers FSPA AfterSchool, an enrichment program for students in grades K-5, providing supervised recreational experiences, including games, crafts, and other creative arts activities. The program begins at the close of the regular school day, with transportation available from Franklin and Medway schools.

To learn more about FSPA or the Back-to-School Open Houses, call (508) 528-8668 or visit www.FSPAonline.com for more information, including the FSPA catalogue and fall class schedule.

Franklin School for the Performing Arts (FSPA)

“It’s an important public health measure”

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

"To understand the chilling, public health effects of the opioid crisis in Massachusetts, look no further than Middlesex County. 

The county includes some of the cities and towns in the Daily News coverage area, and had the highest number of opioid-related overdose deaths (346) in the state last year. 

“The number of people dying unintentionally from opioid-related overdoses is clearly at the top of the list (in the opioid crisis),” said Dr. Dennis Dimitri, chairman of the Massachusetts Medical Society’s Opioid Task Force. 

He believes the state is pumping significant resources into treatment and public education campaigns to warn residents about the dangers of opioids."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20180720/opioid-crisis-it-takes-village-to-conquer-it

What isn't explicitly covered in the article is the rise of support groups like the SAFE Coalition. They provide a number of services including a hotline and a resource manual.

http://www.safecoalitionma.org/2017/01/05/safe-resource-manual/

SAFE Coalition - resource manual "What do we do now?"

Upcoming Events in Franklin, MA: FRI 7/20/18 - THU 7/26/18

FRIDAY 7/20/18

9:30am   Family Yoga @ Franklin Public Library

10am-12pm   Knitting Group @ Franklin Public Library

12-6pm   Farmers Market @ Town Common

8pm   Black Box Jazz: Steven Kirby @ The Black Box

SATURDAY 7/21/18

9am-3pm   Book Sale @ Franklin Public Library

10am-1pm   Franklin Historical Museum Open

10:30am   Toe Jam Puppet Band @ Franklin Public Library

SUNDAY 7/22/18

8am   FREE Yoga at the Beach @ Chilson Beach, Beaver Pond

8am   12th Annual Hockomock YMCA Triathlon @ Lake Pearl, Wrentham

11am   Goat Yoga (registration required) @ Fairmount Fruit Farm   

1-4pm   Franklin Historical Museum Open

1pm   8th Annual FHS Boys Hockey Golf Tournament @ New England Country Club, Bellingham

MONDAY 7/23/18

10:30am   Move Along @ Franklin Public Library

1pm   Garden Storytime @ Franklin Public Library

6pm   Southeastern MA Community Concert Band @ Franklin Senior Center

7pm   Library Board Meeting @ Franklin Public Library

TUESDAY 7/24/18

All Day   Drop In Craft @ Franklin Public Library

10:30am   Stacey Peasley Concert @ Franklin Public Library

WEDNESDAY 7/25/18

11am   Tick Talk @ Franklin Senior Center

2pm   Giant Bubbles @ Franklin Public Library

6pm   Concert on the Common: Electric Youth @ Franklin Town Common

6pm   Movie Night @ Franklin Public Library

THURSDAY 7/26/18

9:30am   Baby Tummy Time @ Franklin Public Library

10:30am   Pre-K Story and Craft @ Franklin Public Library

5-8pm   Franklin Historical Museum Open

6:30pm   Genealogy Club Meeting @ Franklin Public Library

7pm   Healing Hearts Community Support Group @ Franklin YMCA

For the Town of Franklin Public Calendar click HERE.

For all other events and Franklin happenings click HERE.

*To submit an event for the Community Calendar, please use this FORM

“There is no one making bottles in New England"

Via the Franklin network, we get the link to this story on the domino effect of companies closing up operations:

"Inside a huge industrial building in Franklin, there are 120 conveyor belts designed to carry broken glass to three stories of giant machines that crush the glass and sort it, to be sent away and be made into new bottles. 

But those machines aren't running now. 

"I think the plant operated at approximately 80 decibels — glass is banging, machines are running. Yeah it was it was pretty loud here,” said Andrew Crowley of Strategic Materials, which owns the plant. Today the plant almost silent inside. “It's kind of sad, it being so quiet," he said. 

The plant closed last month because it lost its only big customer — a company called Ardagh, which ran a plant just nine miles away in Milford that turned all that glass back into bottles. That closed down in March. 250 people worked there."

Continue reading the article online. You can also listen to the audio segment at the same link
https://www.wgbh.org/news/local-news/2018/07/19/massachusetts-only-glass-recycling-plant-closes

"The machines inside the Strategic Materials plant have remained quiet since the facility closed down in June."

For more about Strategic Materials  https://www.strategicmaterials.com/glass-recycling/

Support for the Concession Stand at Pisini Field is still needed

You may recall the proposal to replace the concession stand at Pisini Field. It was approved by the School Committee after sufficient fund raising was accomplished. Construction is underway as planned with most of it to be done while school is out for the summer. It is also to be completed in time for the opening of school in September to be available for sporting events in the new year.

There is still need for additional funds to help complete the project. There is also need for carpenter volunteers for items such as interior walls, partitions, doors and finishes.

If you can contribute financially, please follow the link to the GoFundMe page
https://www.gofundme.com/z35a8n-support-pisini-field-franklin-ma

If you can help with the carpentry, let me know and I'll put you in contact with the right folks.

Photos from Saturday, July 14

standing on the sidewalk going to the field and facing the field

standing on the sidewalk going to the field and facing the parking lot

Photos from this week with the roof beams and roofing being placed

the roof beams

the roof beams and roofing being placed

From December 2017
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2017/12/support-pisini-field-franklin-ma.html

From April 2018
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2018/04/franklin-public-schools-concession.html

MassBudget: A Formula for Success

Updating education funding to help schools better serve all our children

July 18, 2018 A Formula for Success: Updating education funding to help schools better serve all our children Students have the best chance of succeeding when their schools have the resources to serve them effectively. But the Massachusetts school funding formula, known as Chapter 70, has not been comprehensively updated in 25 years, leaving many schools unable to adequately support essential resources like teachers, materials, and well-maintained facilities. In its new report, Building an Education System that Works for Everyone: Funding Reforms to Help All Our Children Thrive, the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) examines how much the formula falls short of funding major expenses and how that leads to under-resourcing of other critical needs.  The report finds that the Commonwealth could address the problems identified by the Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC) - the underfunding of specific expenses and inadequate funding to support low-income students and English Language Learners - by increasing education funding by $888 million (or $1.082 billion when also accounting for increases in to minimum aid provided to all school districts).  The report also examines the implications of reforms that do not include the full complement of funding categories identified by the FBRC. All of the estimates assume a five year phase-in of the reforms. Read the report here. http://massbudget.org/report_window.php?loc=Building-an-Education-System-that-Works-for-Everyone.html The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, 15 Court Square, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02108 Sent by nberger@massbudget.org in collaboration with Try it free today

“Everyone could use a little extra kindness, so why not do this right on Main Street in Franklin”

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

"Sometimes a bit of nature with a unique human touch is all it takes to lighten the day and remind people of what truly matters. 

On Main Street next to Rockland Trust Bank, a new kind of garden is growing – a Kindness Rock garden. The space is decorated with small, painted rocks. Every painted rock displays either a phrase of encouragement or a small drawing of the artist’s desire. 

A sign outside the garden encourages people to take a rock if they’re in need, and to leave one if they’d wish. 

Berry Insurance owner and coordinator of the project Kaitlyn Pintarich said she was moved by the idea after finding a small painted rock in the Franklin Town Common last winter."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20180719/kindness-rocks-garden-lightens-up-downtown-franklin

the Kindness Rock Garden on Main St