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Since we’ve gotten over the hurdle of finding a replacement for Supt. Karla Brooks Baehr (assuming contract negotiations over the next few days go well with Dr. Scott), we can get back to the business of the schools, which right now means putting together a budget amid rising costs and diminishing resources. Searching for a new leader is time consuming and important; the repercussions of the decision will be felt for years to come in our schools and in our community. The school committee selected a bright, innovative, and committed professional with a track record of successes and skills that will enable her to build on the progress the district has made under Dr. Baehr. In the meantime, several other key organizations in the city are also conducting their own searches for leaders: UMass Lowell will host inauguration events next week to honor its newest leader, Chancellor Marty Meehan. UML is also in the process of hiring a new provost. In addition, Lowell Telecommunications Corporation (LTC) is currently sifting through resumes of applicants for their executive director position—all key roles that will impact our community in many ways. As I said at the school committee’s special meeting to vote for the next superintendent, “This decision is a leap of faith.” You research the candidates and listen closely to the answers, and at the end of the day, you make the best-educated decision you can. The same process applies for electing our new president—each vote requires care and attention—because the resulting leader will impact our nation for years to come. 

Let’s take a break from the superintendent search to talk about what the Image Theater is up to.  They  always think out of the box, and their next project is a presentation of seven short plays, “Tales from a Tavern,” to be performed upstairs at the Old Court on May 16, 17, 23, 24 (don’t worry we’ll remind you when it gets closer).  The exciting thing is that they will be holding auditions next Monday, 3/24, and Tuesday, 3/25 at 7:30 pm. They are looking for “versatile actors (4 men and 4 women of varying ages) who have the ability to play more than one role.”  To make an appointment call Jerry Bisantz at 978-886-2125 or email jbisantz @ comcast.net.  Just don’t forget about us when you become famous!

Last night’s Lowell Green Drinks volunteer event at the Brewhouse brought dozens of folks out to learn more about how to get involved in this growing movement as well as get firsthand information from local groups working to improve our environment, such as Keep Lowell Beautiful, Clean Canals, Toxic Use Reduction Institute, Interfaith Power & Light, and members of the city’s new Green Building Commission (website under construction). The commission, which the city manager established in October to help make Lowell a “greener” city, is comprised of a public-private team of business professionals, concerned citizens, students, and university representatives. At last night’s meeting, they distributed a flyer of Ten Easy Steps to Save Energy and Money, which you can see for yourself by checking: more »

There’s been a lot going on in the schools lately, with the superintendent search getting top billing; however, don’t forget that other groups with an interest in education continue to do their work out of the spotlight.  The Citywide Parent Council met on February 25 for a conversation about “What’s Happening in Our Schools.”  The first part of the meeting addressed what is working at the school level with some innovative efforts brought to the attention of the wider group. (The Butler School homework policy where students have to call parents if their homework isn’t done; welcoming and informative math nights at several schools.) There was a consensus that the Connect Ed system (where telephone calls on school events can be done by the district or individual schools) has proved a great source of communication.  Under “What Would You Like to Change,” the most important thing was improved parent/teacher conference scheduling.  One meeting a year is not enough and teachers are not available when parents can meet.  (One of the contenders for the superintendent job, who is now out of the running, had tackled this problem in her distrcit by getting her teachers to be available for parents whenever the parent could meet for one 30 minute conference a year.  She achieved nearly 100% participation by parents and this stipulation is now in the teacher contract.)

Under “What Can We Do,”  parent education (on issues) was a key point, as well as the need to be “proactive so we don’t have to be reactive.”  The CPC keeps reinventing itself to fulfill its mission of informing and empowering parents.  This untelevised, informal chat about what’s working and what could be changed is a great way to stay in touch with the schools. The next CPC meeting on April 7, will bring in other groups to look at the system as a whole.  When we find out the location, we’ll announce it.

No matter what happens with Hillary’s campaign, as far as I’m concerned, this is the year of the woman, and yesterday’s annual Women’s Day Breakfast in Lowell brought that message home. I’ve attended this annual breakfast for years, and it’s always a good time—yesterday felt different though. There was a palpable sense of power from the hundreds of women gathered at the tables—women who make a difference every day in our communities—women who are changing our world.  It was nice to see Congresswoman Niki Tsongas, always a regular at the breakfasts, in her new role as the first female representative from the fifth district in decades. It was also an honor to hear First Lady Diane Patrick’s moving story about a “simple act of kindness” that changed lives. She ended by quoting from Maya Angelou’s poem:
Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I rise. more »

Thank God for blogs. That’s what I thought after reading yesterday’s coverage of the recent flap regarding ONE Lowell and two members of the high school subcommittee. Once again, the Sun has not provided readers with an accurate or balanced report, which means those who rely solely on the local paper to get their facts were given an incomplete picture on an important issue. From the start, the article’s first sentence that the agency is “on the verge of being suspended from city schools” is wrong. It’s the agency’s work at the high school that is being questioned by the two school committee members who voted to suspend it from LHS at the televised subcommittee meeting of Feb. 27. (For my thoughts on that meeting, check here.)

Another problem with the article is its glaring lack of balanced coverage—the lead, headline, drop head, and pullout quote all support the accusatory side of the issue, creating a slanted, negative view of ONE Lowell, a well-respected nonprofit agency that works with immigrant families, without fairly presenting the counter argument. (Not what I learned in Journalism 101 about factual, objective reporting.) The article does provide some information that the group is doing important work to combat student truancy when it quotes middle-school principal Liam Skinner, but his favorable comments are buried half way into the article on its second page. Meanwhile, negative quotes from the maker of the motion to suspend the group are highlighted in bold, boxed type, so that a quick reader is left from start to finish with a mistaken notion that unfairly disparages the agency and its work in our schools.

Despite the Sun’s failure to present it well, there are two sides to this issue, and you will be learning more about it here. (As a blog writer, I’m not as concerned with balance as with the truth.) For a good look at what we stand to lose if ONE Lowell is pushed from our schools, see what high school folks had to say about the agency last year in this Boston Globe article from April 2007. 

This is short notice, but I’ve been out of town.  The Citywide Parent Council is calling on all interested parties to join together tonight at the Daley School, 7 pm, for a discussion about the current state and future direction of our school system.  They want to hear from CPC members, PTO parents and other school based organizations as well as any parents and Lowell citizens who are concerned about the schools.  The meeting will not be televised in hopes of fostering a good conversation about what is working in the schools, what isn’t working, and how the CPC and other groups can work together to make things better.  This is so timely given the unknown future of our district leadership as well as uncertain budget projections.  Please try to attend.

FYI: The Daley School is on Fleming Street in the Highlands (off Stevens Street) with ample parking.

Next week, the Superintendent Screening Committee will review the applications of candidates interested in becoming the next superintendent of Lowell schools. Those meetings will be closed to the public and information on the candidates will be kept confidential until the committee determines who will be asked to participate in the semi-finalist interviews.The semi-finalist interviews will be held in open forums on Monday, March 3; Tuesday, March 4; and Wednesday, March 5; from 4-9 p.m. in the Little Theater at Lowell High School. A tentative date of Saturday, March 8, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. has also been set to complete the interviews if needed. For a list of the 13 members of the screening committee who will recommend five finalists to the Lowell School Committee, check here. The committee will be chaired by non-voting member Eileen Donoghue, former Lowell mayor and city councilor. The school committee is expected to receive recommendations from the screening committee by March 14 and begin interviewing finalists at its regularly scheduled meeting on March 19. Since the position of superintendent will directly impact the quality of Lowell public schools for years to come, residents are welcome and encouraged to attend all interviews.

It’s been a week since I posted on Lowell’s Winterfest, and I’ve cooled off enough to write about my disastrous attempts to enjoy the festival this year. First off, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I had 8 p.m. tickets for the MRT last Friday night (The Missionary Position—timely and well worth the price of admission) so my visit to the Soup Bowl competition, which didn’t open until 7 p.m., was cutting it close—even for me. When I got there at 7:03 and saw the line of people snaking its way through the parking lot, I realized soup tasting wasn’t happening for me this year. Then Saturday night, my daughter and I waited in the cold rain for 40 minutes cramped into an entranceway with about 100 other folks trying to get into the Tsongas Arena for free skating (we had our own skates). After all that waiting, we left in frustration to find a restroom, only to return an hour later (when the line was down to 10 teenagers) to discover the doors were locked. No one from the arena would explain why the schedule indicated another hour of skating yet they had stopped letting people in despite repeated attempts to get them to speak with us at the door. In fairness overall, I have to say the fireworks display was outstanding, and my daughter enjoyed the indoor activities earlier on Saturday—especially making earrings with her dad. But for me, Winterfest 2008 was a cold downer—too many people and not well organized—at least in terms of the skating.

Last year, Jackie and I saw the Image Theatre do a ’staged reading’ of Patrick Fenton’s play Kerouac’s Last Call, which we loved (and blogged about). Now Jerry Bisantz and his crew are bringing it back as a World Premier production.  This play has it all – drama, humor, pathos, historical resonance, cultural insights, and for us in Lowell, it’s a chance to see it before it hits the big cities.  Here is the description from the Image Theatre website: 

“Last Call” recalls a party held at a friend’s home in Northport, NY in 1964, just before the writer’s move to Florida with his mother.  It is based on an actual reel to reel tape recording of that night recorded by neighborhood friends, a tape that Mr. Fenton is honored to have heard. It depicts the Jack at the end of his road, with glimpses of  the  forces that drove him, the people who moved him, and his own strong opinions  on fame, his travels,  and the “new” generations of readers who idolized him. Populating the play are characters from his past and present, and the play is filled with the music that accompanied his travels across America. Mr. Fenton’s words are reminiscent of Kerouac’s own writings….

It’s at the Old Court, this weekend and next, tickets are $20 at the door, or $19 if you call ahead:  978-866-2125. Seating is limited! As with all of the Image Theater productions, especially those at the Old Court, things are informal and friendly. At last year’s production, we got to meet the author and read articles he wrote about Kerouac.