Above: In 2009, teens asked the Board of Selectmen to build a skate park for them in town. Now, two years after graduating from Algonquin, one of them is teaching kids in town how to make use of the new park. (Photo by Susan Fitzgerald)
Some stories I missed in the media recently relating to Southborough. These all have some tie to education.
One is about a special educator who lives in town. Another covers a cultural exchange between educators at our high school and headmasters from abroad.
There’s also a story about a Southborough native proud of his military education. And finally, an instructor working outside the classroom.
Simmons Named Special Needs Art Educator of the Year – The Learning Center for the Deaf:
Congratulations to [Southborough resident] Mary Silvestri Simmons, art teacher at The Learning Center for the Deaf, for being named Special Needs Educator of the Year by the Massachusetts Art Education Association (MAEA). She will be honored at a luncheon during the MAEA’s Fall Conference, November 8-9, 2014. (read more)
Algonquin hosts Chinese Headmasters for cultural exchange – Southborough Wicked Local:
Headmasters of various Chinese schools visited Algonquin on Friday morning hoping to gather ideas that will help globalize their own classrooms. During the stop on their nation-wide tour, the headmasters probed Algonquin staff about leadership techniques, advanced placement coursework and class schedules. (read more)
Southborough native graduates from Air Force Officer Training – Community Advocate:
Second Lieutenant Scott Wambolt, son of Mark and Susan Wambolt of Southborough, has graduated from Commissioned Officer Training at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala. The mission of the United States Air Force Officer Training School is to produce world-class officers of character possessing the American warrior ethos, prepared to lead airmen, and embodying the Air Force core values of integrity, service, and excellence. Wambolt is a 2007 graduate of Algonquin Regional High School (read more)
Southborough’s new skate park hosts after-school program – Community Advocate:
Students from Neary Elementary and Trottier Middle schools are learning a new skill while enjoying a fun workout by attending a five-week skateboarding class. Perhaps they’re most excited to be among the first in town to test their wheels on the new skate park . .
Equally thrilled is its skateboarding instructor, Paul Ferguson, a 2012 Algonquin Regional High School (ARHS) graduate. . .
Ferguson knows firsthand about the years of lobbying for a skate park in town. While an ARHS sophomore, he joined the Southborough Skateboarding Committee. Without a driver’s license yet, it was difficult for him and friends to travel to nearby skate parks in Hopkinton, Hudson, Marlborough and Northborough. . .
“I honestly don’t think it could be in a better location,” he said of Finn School. “It’s safe here because there are people everywhere on the baseball and soccer fields.” (read more)
