TEWKSBURY - Why would Brenda Regan’s 6th grade math class be dissecting a frog at the beginning of class last Friday and how did they do it without metal dissecting tools, frog dissection kits, or any kind of mess?
The answer is an incredible technology being implemented into Tewksbury classrooms. Regan’s classroom is outfitted with a SMART Board System, from SMART Technologies. It is three-component system of an interactive whiteboard, a projector that is mounted to the ceiling, and the teacher’s computer, to which the projector and the whiteboard are linked. As the projector puts an image of the computer screen up onto the whiteboard, the teacher or students can touch the whiteboard with a finger and control the computer as if they were using a mouse.
But this Board does so much more. Pick up a stylus pen from the tray on the Board and use it or your finger to write on the Board. Change your handwriting to text and play with size, font, color, repetition – the possibilities are endless! And this is how Regan’s class came to perform a virtual dissection of a frog on their SMART Board system. The students were engaged and having fun with the dissection, while they were also learning to use the Board.
At any opportunity to use the Board, kids are excited and many hands go up when a volunteer is needed at the Board. Regan said that this excitement is not a novelty. She said the kids last year were just as enthralled by it at the end of the year. The excitement never ends because there is always something new to do on it. “It’s engaging, it’s different, and it’s interactive,” said Regan.
Regan explains that if she sent a notebook home and told kids to create math lessons to share with the class, there would be a lot of eye rolling and comments like “oh great, she gave me more work,” but with the SMART Board system, kids are eager to go home and install the software and create lessons from home. It reinforces the lessons for the student and at the same time they create lessons that their class and future classes can use to learn math.
Not only will the student-created lessons serve as a resource for future classes, but anything that is written on the Board can be saved in a file or printed out. Students can bring in thumb drives and take home files to continue to review or practice material and a student who is absent can catch up on the materials from missed lessons.
The Board changes the way teachers traditionally teach. “It revolutionizes teaching a little because I don’t have to be in front of the class in your way,” Regan told students as she moved to teach from the back of the room and used her Bluetooth enabled slate to control the board from a distance. Students no longer have to look at the back of a teacher who is trying to write on a chalkboard. Regan can see all of the students, and the students focus on the material presented in front of them. There is even a magnifier tool that can be used to enlarge parts of the screen so that text can be read from across the room. The slate can be passed around, so even students that are not physically able to get to the board can use it from their seats.
Describing the technology as “contagious,” Regan said that once a teacher in a subject area has piloted the SMART Board in their classroom for a year, others that see the excitement want one in their room too. Lessons that are created by teachers and students can be shared and there is free access to more lessons on the SMART Technologies website for the life of the Board.
Regan won a grant in 2006 from SMART Technologies that included a SMART Board System, training for her in Canada so that she could learn the system and learn to train other teachers, and a trip for 2 teachers and 8 students for 8 days to Canada for intensive training also. Now the district is building on that to train more teachers and students and to implement more systems throughout the schools.
Superintendent McGrath and the School Committee are fully supportive of efforts to bring in more SMART Boards for the classrooms. At their August 29th meeting they discussed the necessity of giving consideration to hiring individuals who have the skills to keep up with the technology we are bringing into the schools. They mentioned revisiting this issue as they get into the budget process for next year.
In e-mail to the Crier, School Committee Chairman Keith Rauseo provided the multi-faceted reasoning behind the district’s enthusiastic response to SMART Board technology, “SMART Boards are terrific tools because they bring a new level of hands-on interaction and student participation within instruction. They are new and different, so they generate a natural boost of excitement among students and teachers. Even more importantly, they allow teachers to save and share lessons. Bringing the lesson right up and working through it immediately, or bringing up a tried-and-true lesson developed by a colleague, saves teachers time from writing everything over and over on a standard board, and this allows teachers more time for instruction. Several teachers are strong advocates of the technology and are already using it everyday. The administration is excited about it and working on plans to acquire more boards over time. We all think they will have a great effect on the overall quality of instruction.”
The Schools Need Your Help
There are nearly 20 of these systems currently throughout the school district. PAC fundraising and private and corporate donations have provided most of these SMART Board systems. Regan said that a classroom could be fully set up with the SMART Board equipment for a cost of $2000 to $2500. Any business or resident interested in making a contribution toward the purchase of one of these systems is encouraged to contact a school or the Superintendent’s office and specify that the donation is for a SMART Board purchase.
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Wetlands Dispute
TEWKSBURY – When are wetlands, wetlands? It’s not as easy a determination as one might think. Are there wetlands on the property at 60 Chivas Circle or not? Charles Pastorello and his neighbor Manuel Alves have been seeking the answer to that question for a few years now. In June of 2002 Tewksbury conservation officials told them that there are wetlands on the property, but by November of the same year they were told that there were no wetlands.
The trouble began in the spring of 2002 when Alves went to put in an above ground swimming pool in the back yard of his Maplewood Road home, which backs up to the back yard of his Chivas Circle neighbor. His neighbors alerted Town officials that it was too close to wetlands and that trees in the buffer zone had been cut down. Conservation Administrator Walter Polchlopek visited the site and sent a letter in June of 2002 stating that Alves needed to file a Request for Determination with the Tewksbury Conservation Commission because the proposed pool location was located within the buffer zone that is less than 100 feet from the wetland.
On July 1st 2002 Polchlopek approved the application for the pool with the handwritten condition that Alves plant trees in the left rear corner of the lot as discussed, and a building permit was issued the next day. Trees were planted in the northwest corner and the project continued.
When the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection contacted the Town, Polchlopek visited the site once again. This time he tested the soil. He reported in a November 2002 memo that his on-site inspection revealed no wetland area that would impact the Alves project. Polchlopek explained (in a 2005 deposition for a lawsuit between the two neighbors), “In using the three parameter method for wetland delineation, my findings indicate that this area has soils that are not hydric and in addition the area lacks hydrology characteristic of a hydric soil, therefore, it is not a wetland.”
So how do Town officials explain the discrepancy in the two reports that were completed only five months apart? The spring visit was a cursory site visit, an observation of the land in question. The second visit, in the fall, included the soil testing and a more in depth review of the land. Community Development Director Steve Sadwick said that the two different types of visits could account for different results. He expressed his confidence in Polchlopek’s experience and ability to make wetland determinations.
Polchlopek explained that soil, vegetation and water must all be scientifically evaluated. There are types of vegetation and soil that are typical of wetlands and a water evaluation requires that a water table be high with a certain percentage of days when the water comes to the surface during the growing season.
“It takes more than one season to evaluate the wetland relative to hydrology. Technically it is supposed to be a year to ten years,” explained Polchlopek in the deposition.
In spite of knowing that a good portion of their back yard is a wetland, the Pastorello’s have now submitted a proposal for the construction of a patio with new drainage, stone wall, shed and grading, some of which is within the 100 foot buffer zone, but outside of the 25 foot no disturbance and additional 25 foot no build zones. Pastorello said that they bought the property knowing that the back yard was wetland and it would severely limit what they could do with the yard. He and his wife want the wetland area declared on their property and the buffer zone enforced and protected. They also want their project, which they believe conforms to wetland regulations, to be approved as soon as possible.
The Public hearing for the proposed project at 60 Chivas Circle was brought to a recent meeting of the Conservation Commission and after some discussion and with several questions unanswered, it was postponed until the September 5th meeting. The reasons for the postponement were that it is still unclear if there are wetlands on the property, and that a full topography map of the site was requested. A final decision on the status of the land is set for the September 5th Conservation Committee meeting.
The final determination of whether or not there are wetlands, and where, will have a direct impact on the project for the Pastorello’s. If wetlands are found to be too close to the area they intend to work on, then the improvement project could be denied, and if there are no conservation issues the project could go forward.
The outcome of the wetland issue now has no bearing upon the Alves backyard pool. According to Polchlopek’s deposition, if the Chivas property is determined to have wetlands, it will not affect Alves because “It’s an exempt activity. Even if the area ended up being a wetland, it’s in excess of the 50 feet that’s indicated in the exemptions.” The fence that has been installed would not have to come down either, as it does not interfere with wildlife because there are openings underneath it.
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD. All Rights Reserved.
The trouble began in the spring of 2002 when Alves went to put in an above ground swimming pool in the back yard of his Maplewood Road home, which backs up to the back yard of his Chivas Circle neighbor. His neighbors alerted Town officials that it was too close to wetlands and that trees in the buffer zone had been cut down. Conservation Administrator Walter Polchlopek visited the site and sent a letter in June of 2002 stating that Alves needed to file a Request for Determination with the Tewksbury Conservation Commission because the proposed pool location was located within the buffer zone that is less than 100 feet from the wetland.
On July 1st 2002 Polchlopek approved the application for the pool with the handwritten condition that Alves plant trees in the left rear corner of the lot as discussed, and a building permit was issued the next day. Trees were planted in the northwest corner and the project continued.
When the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection contacted the Town, Polchlopek visited the site once again. This time he tested the soil. He reported in a November 2002 memo that his on-site inspection revealed no wetland area that would impact the Alves project. Polchlopek explained (in a 2005 deposition for a lawsuit between the two neighbors), “In using the three parameter method for wetland delineation, my findings indicate that this area has soils that are not hydric and in addition the area lacks hydrology characteristic of a hydric soil, therefore, it is not a wetland.”
So how do Town officials explain the discrepancy in the two reports that were completed only five months apart? The spring visit was a cursory site visit, an observation of the land in question. The second visit, in the fall, included the soil testing and a more in depth review of the land. Community Development Director Steve Sadwick said that the two different types of visits could account for different results. He expressed his confidence in Polchlopek’s experience and ability to make wetland determinations.
Polchlopek explained that soil, vegetation and water must all be scientifically evaluated. There are types of vegetation and soil that are typical of wetlands and a water evaluation requires that a water table be high with a certain percentage of days when the water comes to the surface during the growing season.
“It takes more than one season to evaluate the wetland relative to hydrology. Technically it is supposed to be a year to ten years,” explained Polchlopek in the deposition.
In spite of knowing that a good portion of their back yard is a wetland, the Pastorello’s have now submitted a proposal for the construction of a patio with new drainage, stone wall, shed and grading, some of which is within the 100 foot buffer zone, but outside of the 25 foot no disturbance and additional 25 foot no build zones. Pastorello said that they bought the property knowing that the back yard was wetland and it would severely limit what they could do with the yard. He and his wife want the wetland area declared on their property and the buffer zone enforced and protected. They also want their project, which they believe conforms to wetland regulations, to be approved as soon as possible.
The Public hearing for the proposed project at 60 Chivas Circle was brought to a recent meeting of the Conservation Commission and after some discussion and with several questions unanswered, it was postponed until the September 5th meeting. The reasons for the postponement were that it is still unclear if there are wetlands on the property, and that a full topography map of the site was requested. A final decision on the status of the land is set for the September 5th Conservation Committee meeting.
The final determination of whether or not there are wetlands, and where, will have a direct impact on the project for the Pastorello’s. If wetlands are found to be too close to the area they intend to work on, then the improvement project could be denied, and if there are no conservation issues the project could go forward.
The outcome of the wetland issue now has no bearing upon the Alves backyard pool. According to Polchlopek’s deposition, if the Chivas property is determined to have wetlands, it will not affect Alves because “It’s an exempt activity. Even if the area ended up being a wetland, it’s in excess of the 50 feet that’s indicated in the exemptions.” The fence that has been installed would not have to come down either, as it does not interfere with wildlife because there are openings underneath it.
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Lia's Field of Dreams
Tewksbury second-grader Lia DiFronzo fulfilled a dream on Monday August 12th that few adults ever get to experience. As the Boston Red Sox prepared to take on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Lia threw out the first pitch during opening ceremonies!
“It was fun and exciting,” said Lia the next day in a phone interview.
Lia’s adventure at Fenway Park was courtesy of the Jimmy Fund. Lia is battling against a rare form of Leukemia and while in for treatments one day someone from the Jimmy Fund asked if she would like to go to a game, throw the first pitch and meet Tim Wakefield.
Lia’s mother, Laura DiFronzo, said Lia was so excited, and the timing was perfect and it was something that lifted the spirits of the entire family.
DiFronzo, described a whirlwind of activities that started with their arrival at Fenway Park at 4:30 in the afternoon. A Red Sox representative met them and escorted them during their visit.
First they went to the field to see some batting practice. Unfortunately it rained and there was no batting practice, but they visited with Ball Girl Stephanie Maneikis, who is also a Fenway Ambassador, for a few minutes until it was time to go to the clubhouse to meet Tim Wakefield.
DiFronzo said that Wakefield was wonderful with Lia and her brother Rico. He talked to them and allowed them to ask any questions they wanted. When the kids wanted to know how to hold a ball for a knuckle ball pitch Wakefield took the time to show them and explain it to them. He also offered to autograph things for them, posed for some photos, and had hugs for Lia.
As the whirlwind continued the DiFronzos found themselves being interviewed for a Sunday night sports program on NESN. DiFronzo said that while she was a little nervous, the kids did a great job with their interviews.
They had just enough time to go up to the Green Monster seats to take a look around the park before they had to be back on the field for the 6:30 pre-game activities. Soon it was time for Lia’s first pitch. She went out the mound alone, independent, as she wanted it, and threw that first pitch. Her mom said that “Being there [Fenway] is always exciting, but this was just…” …and there just weren’t words to describe her emotion!
After the opening ceremonies, Lia and her family went up to their seats in the grandstand where Lia was able to stay for the entire game to see her Red Sox beat the Devil Rays by a score of 3 – 0.
Lia is battling a rare form of Leukemia that was first diagnosed in spring of 2006 during a routine physical exam. She endured heavy doses of chemotherapy that put her into remission and allowed her to receive a bone marrow transplant from her brother, Rico, last August. Lia relapsed again in November. Doctors are now trying to get her back into remission so she is eligible for another bone marrow transplant.
In her CarePages.com online journal, Laura DiFronzo writes about the family’s medical ups and downs and experiences in daily life. Family and friends follow along through the entries and the community support has been overwhelming and wonderful.
In anticipation of Lia’s big day at Fenway, DiFronzo wrote [quoted with her permission], “She [Lia] still continues to be positive and full of life. After she was asked about the Red Sox game she looks at me and says" see mom, its not all that bad being sick! I get to do all this fun stuff." She really needed this right now and so did we all, a good pick me up for all of us.”
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD. All Rights Reserved.
“It was fun and exciting,” said Lia the next day in a phone interview.
Lia’s adventure at Fenway Park was courtesy of the Jimmy Fund. Lia is battling against a rare form of Leukemia and while in for treatments one day someone from the Jimmy Fund asked if she would like to go to a game, throw the first pitch and meet Tim Wakefield.
Lia’s mother, Laura DiFronzo, said Lia was so excited, and the timing was perfect and it was something that lifted the spirits of the entire family.
DiFronzo, described a whirlwind of activities that started with their arrival at Fenway Park at 4:30 in the afternoon. A Red Sox representative met them and escorted them during their visit.
First they went to the field to see some batting practice. Unfortunately it rained and there was no batting practice, but they visited with Ball Girl Stephanie Maneikis, who is also a Fenway Ambassador, for a few minutes until it was time to go to the clubhouse to meet Tim Wakefield.
DiFronzo said that Wakefield was wonderful with Lia and her brother Rico. He talked to them and allowed them to ask any questions they wanted. When the kids wanted to know how to hold a ball for a knuckle ball pitch Wakefield took the time to show them and explain it to them. He also offered to autograph things for them, posed for some photos, and had hugs for Lia.
As the whirlwind continued the DiFronzos found themselves being interviewed for a Sunday night sports program on NESN. DiFronzo said that while she was a little nervous, the kids did a great job with their interviews.
They had just enough time to go up to the Green Monster seats to take a look around the park before they had to be back on the field for the 6:30 pre-game activities. Soon it was time for Lia’s first pitch. She went out the mound alone, independent, as she wanted it, and threw that first pitch. Her mom said that “Being there [Fenway] is always exciting, but this was just…” …and there just weren’t words to describe her emotion!
After the opening ceremonies, Lia and her family went up to their seats in the grandstand where Lia was able to stay for the entire game to see her Red Sox beat the Devil Rays by a score of 3 – 0.
Lia is battling a rare form of Leukemia that was first diagnosed in spring of 2006 during a routine physical exam. She endured heavy doses of chemotherapy that put her into remission and allowed her to receive a bone marrow transplant from her brother, Rico, last August. Lia relapsed again in November. Doctors are now trying to get her back into remission so she is eligible for another bone marrow transplant.
In her CarePages.com online journal, Laura DiFronzo writes about the family’s medical ups and downs and experiences in daily life. Family and friends follow along through the entries and the community support has been overwhelming and wonderful.
In anticipation of Lia’s big day at Fenway, DiFronzo wrote [quoted with her permission], “She [Lia] still continues to be positive and full of life. After she was asked about the Red Sox game she looks at me and says" see mom, its not all that bad being sick! I get to do all this fun stuff." She really needed this right now and so did we all, a good pick me up for all of us.”
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Yentile Place, part two
Wilmington - In a follow-up to a June 20, 2007 story in the Town Crier, representatives from the Yentile Estates project were in the hot seat at the Planning Board meeting on Tuesday night. They faced questions not only from the Planning Board, but also from several families that have tried to buy homes in the not-yet-built development, including the family from the previous article that had been unable to get back a sizeable deposit they had placed on a Yentile Estates unit.
Planning Director Carole Hamilton explained that developers for Yentile Estates had been called in to meet with the Planning Board because the project is substantially behind where they expected it to be at this point and that they were starting to hear complaints from people that bought or were trying to buy in the development. “Confidence is very low and trust is a difficult thing to gain back,” Hamilton explained. She also warned, “Frankly, if it isn’t going forth and isn’t going to succeed, let’s not start!”
Lawyer Joseph M. Antonellis spoke representing builder Dave Franchi. He explained that due to health issues with Franchi’s lawyer, John O’Keefe, he has stepped in to help with the situation.
Antonellis said right up front that he could not quarrel with anything that Hamilton had said because he had previously discussed it with her. He instead described the situation as a “perfect storm” at work against the builder, meaning that everything seemed to go wrong.
Franchi came into the project as a work in progress when the previous builder passed away. The financing was with Webster bank at that time, and the contract that had been negotiated called for the townhouses to be built first. Unfortunately, what were selling at the time were the more affordable garden style units.
Franchi “no more than dug half of a hole in the ground” when Webster bank pulled out of the project saying that they were no longer interested in doing business with them. He said that the CT based Webster bank came up here and pulled the plug on about 8 projects in MA and NH. He questioned their pulling out of a project once it had been put in motion, but to no avail.
As for the lack of communication between the builder and the town and also families with questions, Franchi said that he did not want to have his situation in the press while he was trying to get funding for the project. Board members told him that if he had come to them and explained the situation quietly with them as problems arose then he would have been better off and they also assured him that they do not contact the press with such matters.
Franchi made no apologies, and was quick to blame the DiFazio family for the miscommunications because they did not retain an attorney to speak with his attorney. Several Planning Board members responded that it seemed unfair that the family should have to get an attorney to get back money that was rightfully theirs anyway.
Antonellis said that Franchi definitely intends to go through with the project. Forty percent of the money put into the project is Franchi’s own money, so he has a definite invested interest in it reaching completion. He has now secured new financing with Century Bank, a more local bank that is interested in having a presence in Wilmington through the Yentile Estates project, according to Antonellis. They have a meeting scheduled for Friday with the ADA to ensure compliance and then will be able to put a foundation in the ground.
Currently the bank has given approval to go ahead with the infrastructure- roads, sewer, etc. To go ahead with Building A, and the first four townhouses, the builder must acquire some P&S agreements, improve signage, and demonstrate activity and interest in the site which means that people are actively looking at unit designs and the site. To go beyond those first units, they need 12 Purchase and Sale agreements to continue. “How many are there now,” asked Lora Oliver, whose mother has a reservation for a unit – but not yet a purchase and sale agreement. “We have several” was Franchi’s quick non-committal reply. The quicker we have commitments is the quicker we can proceed, Franchi explained.
Franchi and Antonellis were also non-committal about the date that the first units might be completed. Antonellis said they had discussed time frames, anything from May of 2008 to a year from now or beyond, but could not agree on a date and did not want to give another false deadline. There was an audible gasp from Oliver and her mom, Carol Paulicelli. Paulicelli sold her home on the Cape and is now renting an apartment in Reading until the development is built. She said the plans are beautiful and she still hopes to live there some day, but expressed reservations about putting money down right now until the project is moving along.
Hamilton reminded the builders that it is in their best interest to present absolute truth on their website and to questions that people ask them. “There have been units shown on the web that may or may not have been sold. Our trust has deteriorated. This needs to be an open and honest process and we cannot wait months.”
A Check In The Mail
Mark DiFazio spoke on behalf of his mother, Ninfa DiFazio, who paid a deposit and had a Purchase and Sale agreement for unit 15C in Yentile Estates. In April 2006 his mother paid a $5,000 deposit on the garden style unit. On June 6, 2006 she signed a Purchase and Sale agreement and paid the remainder of her deposit. On October 26, 2006 she cancelled her P&S agreement by certified mail as per the terms of the contract because the completion dates kept pushing out further and further. As of the meeting Tuesday night, she had still not received her deposit back from Franchi.
“You have $38,490 of my mother’s money,” said DiFazio. He went on to say that the realtor told him that Franchi was an excellent builder and that DiFazio hopes he is also an excellent human being and will do the right thing.
Antonellis said the money has now been put in escrow for a couple of people that cancelled their contracts. He took the contact information for the DiFazio family and said he would have a check cut for the full amount of their deposit. The family should receive the check within a week along with a letter they must sign and return to the lawyer stating that they have received their funds and terminated the contract.
Find Yentile Place, part one here: http://ontherisewriting.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD All Rights Reserved.
Planning Director Carole Hamilton explained that developers for Yentile Estates had been called in to meet with the Planning Board because the project is substantially behind where they expected it to be at this point and that they were starting to hear complaints from people that bought or were trying to buy in the development. “Confidence is very low and trust is a difficult thing to gain back,” Hamilton explained. She also warned, “Frankly, if it isn’t going forth and isn’t going to succeed, let’s not start!”
Lawyer Joseph M. Antonellis spoke representing builder Dave Franchi. He explained that due to health issues with Franchi’s lawyer, John O’Keefe, he has stepped in to help with the situation.
Antonellis said right up front that he could not quarrel with anything that Hamilton had said because he had previously discussed it with her. He instead described the situation as a “perfect storm” at work against the builder, meaning that everything seemed to go wrong.
Franchi came into the project as a work in progress when the previous builder passed away. The financing was with Webster bank at that time, and the contract that had been negotiated called for the townhouses to be built first. Unfortunately, what were selling at the time were the more affordable garden style units.
Franchi “no more than dug half of a hole in the ground” when Webster bank pulled out of the project saying that they were no longer interested in doing business with them. He said that the CT based Webster bank came up here and pulled the plug on about 8 projects in MA and NH. He questioned their pulling out of a project once it had been put in motion, but to no avail.
As for the lack of communication between the builder and the town and also families with questions, Franchi said that he did not want to have his situation in the press while he was trying to get funding for the project. Board members told him that if he had come to them and explained the situation quietly with them as problems arose then he would have been better off and they also assured him that they do not contact the press with such matters.
Franchi made no apologies, and was quick to blame the DiFazio family for the miscommunications because they did not retain an attorney to speak with his attorney. Several Planning Board members responded that it seemed unfair that the family should have to get an attorney to get back money that was rightfully theirs anyway.
Antonellis said that Franchi definitely intends to go through with the project. Forty percent of the money put into the project is Franchi’s own money, so he has a definite invested interest in it reaching completion. He has now secured new financing with Century Bank, a more local bank that is interested in having a presence in Wilmington through the Yentile Estates project, according to Antonellis. They have a meeting scheduled for Friday with the ADA to ensure compliance and then will be able to put a foundation in the ground.
Currently the bank has given approval to go ahead with the infrastructure- roads, sewer, etc. To go ahead with Building A, and the first four townhouses, the builder must acquire some P&S agreements, improve signage, and demonstrate activity and interest in the site which means that people are actively looking at unit designs and the site. To go beyond those first units, they need 12 Purchase and Sale agreements to continue. “How many are there now,” asked Lora Oliver, whose mother has a reservation for a unit – but not yet a purchase and sale agreement. “We have several” was Franchi’s quick non-committal reply. The quicker we have commitments is the quicker we can proceed, Franchi explained.
Franchi and Antonellis were also non-committal about the date that the first units might be completed. Antonellis said they had discussed time frames, anything from May of 2008 to a year from now or beyond, but could not agree on a date and did not want to give another false deadline. There was an audible gasp from Oliver and her mom, Carol Paulicelli. Paulicelli sold her home on the Cape and is now renting an apartment in Reading until the development is built. She said the plans are beautiful and she still hopes to live there some day, but expressed reservations about putting money down right now until the project is moving along.
Hamilton reminded the builders that it is in their best interest to present absolute truth on their website and to questions that people ask them. “There have been units shown on the web that may or may not have been sold. Our trust has deteriorated. This needs to be an open and honest process and we cannot wait months.”
A Check In The Mail
Mark DiFazio spoke on behalf of his mother, Ninfa DiFazio, who paid a deposit and had a Purchase and Sale agreement for unit 15C in Yentile Estates. In April 2006 his mother paid a $5,000 deposit on the garden style unit. On June 6, 2006 she signed a Purchase and Sale agreement and paid the remainder of her deposit. On October 26, 2006 she cancelled her P&S agreement by certified mail as per the terms of the contract because the completion dates kept pushing out further and further. As of the meeting Tuesday night, she had still not received her deposit back from Franchi.
“You have $38,490 of my mother’s money,” said DiFazio. He went on to say that the realtor told him that Franchi was an excellent builder and that DiFazio hopes he is also an excellent human being and will do the right thing.
Antonellis said the money has now been put in escrow for a couple of people that cancelled their contracts. He took the contact information for the DiFazio family and said he would have a check cut for the full amount of their deposit. The family should receive the check within a week along with a letter they must sign and return to the lawyer stating that they have received their funds and terminated the contract.
Find Yentile Place, part one here: http://ontherisewriting.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
A Wilmington Time Capsule Project
Seventeen recent graduates returned to their former classroom at the Wilmington Middle School on Tuesday afternoon to open two time capsules they created with their teacher, Michael Mahoney, when they were in fifth and sixth grade.
The time capsule project started 10 years ago when Mahoney was in his first year of teaching in the middle school. Students decorate a cardboard box and put all of their names on it. They then write letters to themselves about their interests, or about classmates they like so they can come back and laugh and enjoy the letters as seniors. Some students even include photos and other memorabilia.
Then, as graduation nears, letters of invitation are mailed to each member of the class. Some are at WMHS, others are at Shawsheen Technical High School and some have moved away or left school.
Tuesday afternoon the latest class returned to Room 125 in the Discovery Building to share their letters and some laughs. There were two boxes to open this year. After teaching fifth grade, Mahoney moved to a self-contained sixth grade classroom, and some of the fifth grade students moved along with Mahoney and participated in the time capsule project in both grades. There were two group photos taken with Mahoney that will hang on a classroom wall next to their fifth and sixth grade class photos.
Returning student Stephanie Knoettner commented, “It’s weird, I haven’t been here since the last day of eighth grade.” In spite of the years between visits, as each student entered the room, Mahoney greeted them by name. “100 percent! I can still remember everyone,” he said proudly. At first the group looked at their old class photos, caught up on who’s going where to college and asked about missing classmates.
Soon it was time to open the green and blue boxes that were their time capsules. Only 2 students in the group thought they might remember something they had written in the capsule, but when they tore into the packages everyone seemed surprised by all of the other treasures they found inside. “They’re like little kids opening presents,” said Mahoney. Some of the treasures inside included a softball, a fuzzy hot pink mirror and brush, some hand-written reports and a contract that the teacher had signed with Tim Kent to ensure that Tim’s schoolwork would be completed. These were more than items saved in a box; they were memories.
There were piles of photos of the very hands-on activities that the classes had done throughout the year. There was also a solo photo of each student on the first day of school. Most students cringed and laughed upon seeing their photos.
Around the room there were random cries of “Oh my God – that’s embarrassing,” Oh, I didn’t remember that!” and “that’s such a funny picture!”
Linda Golden attended the event because her son Michael was unable to be there. She was happy to find several photos of her son and the envelope with his letter that she saved for Michael to open later. Of Mahoney she said, “He’s a phenomenal teacher, he really is.”
Mahoney explained the rewards of the project from a teacher’s perspective: “As a teacher you only get to see a small segment of a child’s school experience. I get to see the completed high school child and to hear their current dreams.”
He emphasized that this day is all about the students and remembering a common past experience. “Every year is a different dynamic,” he said.
One most memorable moment came when a student walked in one year and said ‘guess what, I’m going to give my speech!’ It turned out that she told Mahoney years ago that her goal was to be valedictorian – and she was!
This was the third class to return for a time capsule opening, but Mahoney has a closet with many more time capsules in it and looks forward to sharing them with former students for years to come.
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD. All Rights Reserved.
The time capsule project started 10 years ago when Mahoney was in his first year of teaching in the middle school. Students decorate a cardboard box and put all of their names on it. They then write letters to themselves about their interests, or about classmates they like so they can come back and laugh and enjoy the letters as seniors. Some students even include photos and other memorabilia.
Then, as graduation nears, letters of invitation are mailed to each member of the class. Some are at WMHS, others are at Shawsheen Technical High School and some have moved away or left school.
Tuesday afternoon the latest class returned to Room 125 in the Discovery Building to share their letters and some laughs. There were two boxes to open this year. After teaching fifth grade, Mahoney moved to a self-contained sixth grade classroom, and some of the fifth grade students moved along with Mahoney and participated in the time capsule project in both grades. There were two group photos taken with Mahoney that will hang on a classroom wall next to their fifth and sixth grade class photos.
Returning student Stephanie Knoettner commented, “It’s weird, I haven’t been here since the last day of eighth grade.” In spite of the years between visits, as each student entered the room, Mahoney greeted them by name. “100 percent! I can still remember everyone,” he said proudly. At first the group looked at their old class photos, caught up on who’s going where to college and asked about missing classmates.
Soon it was time to open the green and blue boxes that were their time capsules. Only 2 students in the group thought they might remember something they had written in the capsule, but when they tore into the packages everyone seemed surprised by all of the other treasures they found inside. “They’re like little kids opening presents,” said Mahoney. Some of the treasures inside included a softball, a fuzzy hot pink mirror and brush, some hand-written reports and a contract that the teacher had signed with Tim Kent to ensure that Tim’s schoolwork would be completed. These were more than items saved in a box; they were memories.
There were piles of photos of the very hands-on activities that the classes had done throughout the year. There was also a solo photo of each student on the first day of school. Most students cringed and laughed upon seeing their photos.
Around the room there were random cries of “Oh my God – that’s embarrassing,” Oh, I didn’t remember that!” and “that’s such a funny picture!”
Linda Golden attended the event because her son Michael was unable to be there. She was happy to find several photos of her son and the envelope with his letter that she saved for Michael to open later. Of Mahoney she said, “He’s a phenomenal teacher, he really is.”
Mahoney explained the rewards of the project from a teacher’s perspective: “As a teacher you only get to see a small segment of a child’s school experience. I get to see the completed high school child and to hear their current dreams.”
He emphasized that this day is all about the students and remembering a common past experience. “Every year is a different dynamic,” he said.
One most memorable moment came when a student walked in one year and said ‘guess what, I’m going to give my speech!’ It turned out that she told Mahoney years ago that her goal was to be valedictorian – and she was!
This was the third class to return for a time capsule opening, but Mahoney has a closet with many more time capsules in it and looks forward to sharing them with former students for years to come.
Copyright 2007 CBLEGVOLD. All Rights Reserved.
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