The Saugus Review

The Saugus Public Library received re-cetification as a result of the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners vote of 9-0 on Thursday. Starting next Tuesday, Chairman Gill says, Saugus citizens should already be able to borrow books from other cities and towns.

The library will also have an annual book sale on Founder’s Day. The Founder’s Day Book Sale Extravaganza will take place on Saturday, September 11 from 9 am – 2 pm during the town’s Founder’s Day celebration.

There will be a six-session lecture/discussion program on the basic principles of play directing this summer held by the Theatre Company of Saugus at the MEG Building, 54-58 Essex St. in Saugus.

The workshop, titled Basic Principles of Play Directing, will be presented by Professor Emeritus Leo Nickole who teaches theatre courses at Emerson College. More than 125 productions for community, college and summer theatres have been directed by Nickole.

The workshop will cover play analysis, stage composition, stage movement, stage business and rhythm and tempo and many more.

The full payment for lecture costs only $25 but you can also avail for one lecture for $5. The session will take place for two Wednesdays of each month which will fall on June 16 and 23, July 7 and 21, and Aug. 11 and 25 from 7:30 to 10 p.m.

The six sessions will cover the following general principles of play direction: the unity of production, play analysis, stage composition, stage movement, stage business and rhythm and tempo.

Saugus Police and the Youth Recreation Department collaborated last Thursday and Friday in holding an Internet Safety and Cyberbullying prevention presentations to fourth and fifth graders at Lynhurst Elementary School.

The presentations discussed the threats looming on social networking sites that children should look out for. Detective Sean Moynihan warned them about cyber space predators looking for vulnerable individuals that they can prey on.

As an example, Youth and Recreation Director Greg Nikolas shared the incident involving a 14-year old girl in Peabody who almost fell victim to an internet predator. The girl thought she had been corresponding with a boy near her age when it turns out that it was in fact a man in his late 20’s. The girl was already going to meet up with a friend of the man who was supposed to take her to Delaware but fortunately the officers got to her and reunited her with her family before she anything bad happened to her.

Moynihan also told the students not to giveout personal information to strangers on the Internet. He told them that ‘some people will tell them anything they want to hear — such as misrepresenting their age or having similar interests — when in reality they are much older and have foul thoughts on their mind.’

If they should come across something on the Internet that makes them feel scared or uncomfortable, Moynihan advised the students to notify their parents or a trusted adult.

He also added that no matter how much you think you know a person, it doesn’t matter if you’ve talked to them 200 or 2000 times, the fact remains that you do not know the person outside the context of talking to him or her real person off the internet.

Moynihan also showed a computed program starring two animated characters who shared tips about what to do to stay safe when accessing the internet.

The Speakers also covered cyberbullying and how youths sometimes use technology for the wrong reasons to harass others to which Moynihan gave Phoebe Prince, a South Headley teen who commited suicide from being cyberbullied by peers as an example.

In the end  Moynihan warned that “The Internet is a useful tool and a part of your lives; All we’re telling you is that when you’re on the Internet you need to be safe and responsible.”

On Wednesday April 28, 7-8 pm at Belmonte the Saugus Youth & Recreation along with the Saugus Police are offering to give a talk on all the parents in a forum titled “What You Don’t Know.”

The forum will be about the need for parents to educate themselves on how to keep their children safe from dangers today such as cyber bullying, exposing themselves and/or others in the internet through pictures.

The Youth and Recreation Department urges parents to make the effort to come and show that as parents and as a community, we want to make a difference and want to keep our kids safe. All parents are encouraged to go, even the ones that think they already know their kids well.

It might not seem harmless but the parents should know that everything their kids do today might affect them in the future: college, their jobs, relationships, or raising their own children in the future.

Phoebe Prince committed suicide on Jan 14th due to bullying at school and online.

A workshop about internet safety was held at Belmonte Middle School last Thursday. Around 30 parents attended the workshop that discussed the rapidly growing issue of cyber bullying.

The event was headed by Josh Gunderson who had led events like these several times, once for students around the New England and then Saugus High the following day.

Gunderson comments that kids these days get around anything and everything so that site blocking softwares rarely work. The main solution is to educate them instead. Saugus Youth and Recreation Director Greg Nickolas adds that learning about internet safety is important so when kids do access social networking sites, they are already aware of the consequences and potential risks of using these sites.

He cited two example of serious risks involved when using these social networking. One was the 2006 report about two Texas High School seniors who made a MySpace.com page in the name of their head baseball coach where players on the team put slanderous comments on the Myspace page about their coach and his family.

Another example Gunderson made was the case of a teen named Phoebe Prince. Phoebe Prince was a South Hadley, MA teen who committed suicide after months of continuous bullying online and in person. The bullying did not stop even after her death. Some of her tormenters continued posting cruel messages on a memorial page that was created for her on Facebook. Even if the nine teens involved have since been charged with crimes ranging from stalking to statutory rape, it is a poor consolation to the death of Phoebe Prince.

“Kids can get in trouble and suddenly their futures are gone,” he said. “Your future seems so far off [when you’re in high school], but college and the rest of your life is right around the corner and it comes faster than we’d like.” Gunderson says.

Nickolas is hoping to formalize the program over the next year and create an Internet Safety elective where high school kids become mentors and work on such topics with younger kids. Gunderson says the elective will be similar to his workshops. School superintendents and principals support the idea.

More than 550 individuals volunteer every year at the Perkins School for the Blind and recently, 10 students from the honor society of Mystic Valley Regional Charter School volunteered to help out at Perkins.

Perkins School for the Blind is an institution that serves visually impaired people both young and old. They serve these people in their homes as well as on campus. It was founded on 1892 and is now on 62 countries worldwide.

The Perkins volunteer coordinator first gave the volunteers a tour of the Perkins School campus. During the tour they were introduced to facts about the schools founders its mission and purpose. They were also showed the tactile globe that has been used by Laura Bridgman, Anne Sullivan and Helen Keller as well as several presidents. The tour was led by Volunteer coordinator Mike Catarzulo, who was himself blind.

The students for Mystic Valley and chaperones helped in the talking book library once they started their work. Copies of existing books on tapes were made and checked in the books being returned, both digital and on tape.

Perkins school officials said that the students were very focused and were very hard workers. They were very pleased with the help the students gave.

In Massachusetts, approximately one-quarter of high school students are overweight or at risk for becoming overweight and the rates in the entire country has tripled for the last 30 years. But thankfully, the amendments sponsored by McGee have finally been adopted into the new nutrition bill.

The amendment states that there should be constant updates of data on physical education practices in schools. The data that are collected should then be studied and analyzed before making recommendations for new exercise and nutrition programs.

He says the bill he filed was aimed at providing the children with quality physical education that would improve their health over the course of their lifetimes and that it was not just about physical fitness but emotional and cognitive as well. McGee also says that by focusing on both nutrition and physical activity, the obesity epidemic will also be indirectly addressed.

“Every student in Massachusetts deserves the opportunity to benefit from quality physical education which will provide them with the foundation to adopt healthier and physically active lifestyles,” says McGee.

The Saugus Review would like to congratulate the Saugus, MA students who have recently made the honor roll for the second marking period of the school year.

High Honors (Average of 90 or better, with grade no less than 80):

Seniors:

• Kassandre Dardzinski
• Christopher Johnson
• MaryElyse Sullivan

Juniors:

• Rebecca Heathman
• Janelle Hibbard
• Haley McHatton
• Allison O’Neil
• Amanda Smith
• Melissa Tucker
• Kristina Walton
• Jenna Wilson

Sophomores:

• Jennifer Carbone
• Amy Castiello
• Michael Davis
• Catherine Dunton
• Jamielyn Hall
• Kayla Lussier
• Tyler Marshall
• Kevin McCarthy

Freshmen:

• Peter Allan
• Samara Aoun
• John Arria
• Britni Berry
• Heidi DeRosier
• Michael Furbush
• Christina Guerriero
• Nicole Healey
• Paige Hibbard
• Brianna Lonbardi
• Edisa Rizic
• Jake Rowinsky
• Zachary Sanders
• Jeanna Sheridan
• Ryan Whitcomb

Honors (Average of 85 or better with no grade below 75):

Seniors:

• Brandon Angelone
• Ryan Bancroft
• Shannon Bentley
• Christopher Cole
• James Hanson
• Erin Kelly
• Jillian Lightbody
• Patrick McCarthy
• Devony Millner
• Danielle Tosto

Juniors:

• Brandon DeRosier
• Leah Devereaux
• Rosalie Papagni
• Connor Phelps

Sophomores:

• Ryan Baker
• Robert Brown, Jr.
• Daniel DaCova
• Christopher Lundquist
• Mandi McLaughlin
• Casey Orlando
• Richard Palermo
• Brandon Rabbitt
• Derek Ryan
• Courtney Thurell

Freshmen:

• Christopher Barton
• Christopher DeResende
• Michaela Dellus
• Jacqueline Frangos
• Matthew Hood
• Casey Lundrigan
• Kristin Millner
• Danielle Morency
• Bruno Nappa

Congratulations Students!

Rats have been once again found in Waybright elementary school, Saugus Massachusetts. Recently, there was a rat found in the uni-vent which had been a cause for concern for parents and the school management.

This was not the first time that rodents were found in the school premises. The issue first surfaced in late December 2009 when a rat was spotted running in the school hallways. After that the school management took measures to address the problem the school was closed in January 22.  Pest control was called to take care of the problem.  Three days later after the situation cleared, Waybright resumed classes under the presumption that the rat problem was already taken care of.

However in January 28 there were rattling noises heard in the vents and when it was inspected it turned out to be a rat that seemed stuck in the vent. Parents were alarmed with the news, worried that the school was not doing enough to ensure that the rat problem was solved.  Superintendent Langlois assured the parents that he and the school with the help of the rat exterminators are doing everything they can to completely eradicate the rodents.

It was of note however that there was sewage work being done close to the school and that it might have forced the rats out and take shelter in the Waybright that was nearby.