Patrick Congratulates Brockton High

The BrocktonPost
BROCKTON--Having technical difficulties with video from Gov. Deval Patrick's visit to Brockton High Friday. Working on it. Sorry for the delay and check in later today!

Brockton School Lunches Go Online

The BrocktonPost
BROCKTON--Brockton Public Schools will now offer parents an online account for student lunches that allows parents to prepay balances, review purchases and keep an eye on what their kids are eating to ensure students are making healthy choices.
In a prepared statement, school officials said the new program is a partnership with Mealpayplus, an online prepayment system that offers parents a safe, easy and convenient way to prepay for their children's school meals.
"We see this as a convenience for parents, and also a way for them to monitor their child's purchases and help them make healthy food choices," said Superintendent of Schools Matthew H. Malone.
Chartwells School Dining Services, the corporation that operates Brockton Public Schools cafeterias, has been working to improve food choices, cafeteria operations and convenience since it became the district's food service vendor in 2006, officials said.
Last year, Chartwells introduced a new point-of-sale system district-wide, whereby students use their ID numbers or ID cards to expedite meal service in the cafeterias.
The new online payment system, officials said, is in response to parents comments.
"We often hear from parents wondering why their child is spending a certain amount of money, now those parents can view their child's account and see how much their student is spending on meals versus ala carte items," said Tom Burke, Chartwells' Brockton district manager.
Parents can log onto the student's account any time at http://www.mealpayplus.comand view what their child has purchased on a specific day. The software allows parents to view the balance at any time, as well as to check payment history. In addition, parents can choose to have email confirmations of payments and low balance reminders sent, and payments can be made quickly and easily using a credit card or check online or via telephone. Optional Wallet and Auto-Replenish features enable parents to set a low balance amount that will automatically replenish the account when it drops to a specified balance, if they choose.
For additional information about MealpayPlus, please visit http://www.mealpayplus.com
(The above logo is courtesy of Mealpayplus.com website)

Gov. Patrick To Speak At Brockton High Friday

The BrocktonPost
BROCKTON--Gov. Deval Patrick is expected to make a presentation to Brockton High School students Friday, Oct. 29 at 9:30 a.m.
Principal Susan Szachowicz's office said Patrick is expected to make a presentation about education. Also visiting will be New Jersey State Senator Barbara Buono.
Following the presentation, Patrick will head to his relection campaign headquarters in Brockton for the kickoff of a Democratic Party "Get Out the Vote," bus tour.
Starting from Brockton, the bus will travel to more than a dozen communities from New Bedford to Medford to Milton to Natick during the weekend.

Early Graduation In Works For Brockton High Students

NOTE: Originally posted Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010
By Lisa E. Crowley
The Brockton Post
BROCKTON—School officials have nearly finalized a new program that would allow Brockton High School seniors to graduate either six months or even nearly a year ahead of other students.
Tuesday night the School Committee unanimously approved the concept of a new early graduation plan, however some details still need to be finalized, including when the program will take effect.
“This recognizes that not everyone learns at the same pace,” said Brockton High School Principal Susan Szachowicz.
However, Szachowicz said an early graduation option will not be suitable for all students, but those who are highly motivated will see it as a way to step into their future sooner.
“This isn’t for a ton of kids, maybe a handful of kids, because they can’t do it with just taking an extra class, they have to meet all Brockton High requirements, but for the motivated student it’s really a great option,” Szachowicz said.
In order to meet graduation requirements, Szachowicz said students would have to take summer courses at the high school or attend classes at area colleges.
Students, Szachowicz said, would have the option of finishing high school after the first semester of senior year or possibly at the end of junior year, depending on how many classes the student can manage in the time frame.
She said the early graduation option was prompted by a current student who happens to be a heavily recruited football player with a fine academic record.
Szachowicz said the student would like to attend spring college football training camps, but as a senior in high school is not eligible.
After talking with the boy’s father, Szachowicz said she and other administrators formed a committee and have been working on the proposal for nearly a year.
Tuesday night the School Committee approved the program in principle, but some changes must be made to the program after member Thomas Minichiello added several comments that need to be included in the draft proposal.
However, Szachowicz said, plans are in the works to offer the option.
“I really like this a lot,” she said. “It’s really in the best interest of the student.”

40th BHS B-Day Celebrates Brockton "Turf"

NOTE:Originally posted Sunday, Oct. 10, 2010
Story and photos By Lisa E. Crowley
The Brockton Post
BROCKTON—Past, present and future generations came together Friday night at Rocky Marciano Stadium to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Brockton High School and the Community Schools program—a birthday bash that featured the beloved Boxers football team pull out a 28-20 victory in front of hordes of alumni and current students who attended the fete.
“This is one of the most exciting nights with the most school spirit that I have seen,” said Brockton High senior and Class of 2011 President Greta Zukauskaite.
“It’s really great to see all of the alumni and all of the families and all of the students—the bleachers are full. It’s an amazing night,” she said (Pictured above holding flag pole, with from left to right, sophomore Victoria Campbell, junior Amely Lopes and Michele Haughton).
Zukauskaite and her 2011 classmates joined throngs of alumni who streamed into the stadium for Friday night’s Homecoming celebration that was the kick-off of a year long commemoration of the opening of the current high school campus—a facility that opened Sept. 16, 1970 and since has been an academic center that has offered Brockton students courses, sports and activities that outmatch nearly all other high schools in the region.
"We have so much here. People talk bad about Brockton, there’s a stigma and I don’t get it. The problems that happen aren’t here at the high school,” said Michele Haughton, a senior who is also vice-president of the Class of 2011. “If there’s anything going on out in the streets, what you do when you leave here is your problem,” she said pointing at the turf of the Brockton High campus.
“That’s all left at the door,” Haughton said.
Contrary to popular belief, students said the high school does not have metal detectors and they would be shocked if such devices ever would be installed because administrators led by high school Principal Susan Szachowicz—a 1971 grad—teachers, staff and students see the high school as a safe haven—a place where students of many nationalities, races, religions, sexual orientations and artistic, academic and athletic leanings mix and mingle through the hallways of the 548,000-square-foot Brockton High—the largest in New England.
“It’s not tolerated,” said Michael Connor, a special education teacher and 1987 graduate, who along with more than 70 Brockton High teachers gathered in the Little Theatre for a commemorative picture of staff who are also alumni after classes on Friday afternoon—hours before the football game kicked-off.
Connor said he has lived and taught all over the country, including San Francisco, and believes the size and diversity of Brockton High today—about 5,000 students in grades 9 to 12—prepares young adults for the real world.
“It’s extremely diverse and the shock value for (Brockton High) kids isn’t as high and the tolerance level is so much higher than in the suburbs,” Connor said.
After years of traveling, Connor said he has returned to his hometown to teach, but during his pit-stops in other locales, he has left a lasting impression with friends and colleagues of what the Brockton character is.
“It’s a sense of pride in where you’re from—it’s not just Boxers football, Marvin Hagler or Rocky Marciano.., it’s the band, it's the arts department…it’s the villages, the neighborhoods…it’s a sense of pride in your family and community,” Connor said.
The pride revolving around the high school extends as far back as the 1940s when the Warren Avenue High School turned out many of the graduates who have operated businesses and have led the wheels of government.
In the late 1960s an influx of students swelled the old building to bursting and students and teachers suffered through eight years of double sessions from 1962 to 1970 as plans and construction of the new high school were completed, said Claire Appling.
Appling, who worked for the Brockton schools for more than 52 years until her retirement in December 2006—including being the first female headmaster to which she was named the year the high school opened--said it was tough, but Brocktonians are tough.
“It wasn’t easy, but we got through it,” Appling said.
She recalled that half of the students would arrive at about 7:30 a.m. and leave around noon-just in time for the remaining half of students to take classes from about 12:30 to 5:30 p.m.
However, Appling said, the pain of double sessions was worth the wait because when the school opened its doors in 1970 with about 6,100 students, the campus was state-of-the-art and boasted a planetarium, four libraries, a cutting-edge auditorium and music rooms that are still the envy of area schools, an indoor pool and a sprawling building that houses academic programs that have made the high school an award winning and respected leader in student achievement.
“We’ve always been in the forefront,” Appling said.
Before the football game Friday night hundreds of old friends reminisced and looked at black-and-white photos from the 1970s posted on boards under a special tent for alumni where food was served, hugs and kisses were had and conversation buzzed.
Jane Feroli, (Pictured above to far left with, from left to right, Ana Gonzalez, Linda Plache and Linda Callahan) a 1974 graduate, signed up alumni to carry and follow class banners on the field for a special halftime show, talked with 1986 grad Linda Plache, 1983 grad Linda Callahan, and 1973 grad Ana Gonzalez—who arrived in Brockton from Cuba in 1972 as a 16-year-old junior who didn’t speak English.
Gonzalez said she and a handful of other non-English speaking students were placed in a separate class with Mrs. Sims—who along with teaching core subjects, immersed students in the English language.
“By my senior year I was with all the other students,” Gonzalez said proudly.
“It was amazing. The support was wonderful,” she said.
Speaking in impeccable English, Gonzalez said she now teaches Brockton students Spanish.
Janel Cobb, a 1996 graduate looked at the photos posted on the boards under the tent, and pointed to a pretty blonde in one of the pictures making a garment on a sewing machine.
“That’s my aunt,” Cobb said, pointing to her aunt Karen Myles (Pictured above in black and white).
Cobb said some of the student activities shown in the photos revealed how courses have changed since 1970 to when she graduated in 1996.
“I don’t remember us making rugs,” Cobb said. “Classes are much different now,” she said.
Cobb said organizers did a great job and really brought a sense of unity and nostalgia to the event.
“It’s just fun and exciting to come back and see everyone,” Cobb said.
Looking at the pictures and the clusters of grads—some holding children--she said she was having fond flashbacks of her time in high school with friends.
“It’s the whole circle of life,” Cobb said.
On the other side of the tent, a group of four freshmen wearing Boxer football jerseys gazed at photos of grid-iron heroes who played long before they were born and who helped make Brockton High one of the most feared football teams in the state.
“People say good luck or good job when they see the shirt,” said freshman Robert Anuforo who looks forward to a time when he will be a varsity player.
“By playing for the football team it makes you feel important. You have respect,” Anuforo said (#50 pictured above).
Just two years after the new Brockton High opened, the football team charged into what is called the “Super Bowl Era,” behind legendary coach Armond Colombo (Pictured in above photo from 1947 with teammates courtesy of Mark Petti and taken by Stanley Bauman) who led the team to numerous state-wide titles beginning in 1972.
His son Peter now coaches the team and has kept the Boxer legend alive, tutoring heavily recruited college prospects like Albert Louis-Jean, who helped lead the Boxers to a 28-20 victory over Fitchburg’s Red Raiders in front of a roaring and cheering crowd Friday night.
“These colors will stay with you forever,” Class of 2011 Vice-President Michele Haughton said, clutching the front of her red and black Boxers shirt. “This is a great school,” she said.

"Snowy Day" Brings Funny Faces

NOTE: Originally posted Friday Oct. 8, 2010
Story and photos by Lisa E. Crowley
The Brockton Post
BROCKTON—Dozens of kindergarten students at Raymond Elementary School in Brockton Thursday listened intently as special guest Julianne Andrade read Ezra Jack Keats’ children’s book, “The Snowy Day.”
Andrade--the district’s coordinator of elementary literacy for kindergarten to fifth grade and social studies for kindergarten to eighth grade--raised and lowered her voice and used hand expressions as she read from the 1962 classic about a young African-American boy enjoying the simple delights of a day spent playing in the snow.
“Can anyone tell me what happens when you put a snowball in your pocket,” Andrade asked the dozens of students.
“It melts,” many of the youngsters shouted.
The Raymond School joined all of Brockton’s pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes in a campaign by Jumpstart—a non-profit educational organization—called “Read for the Record” that seeks to increase literacy around the world.
All of Brockton’s pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes joined millions of other students who were treated to special adult guests such as Andrade who read “The Snowy Day” to students in an attempt to foster the love of reading among young students.
Celebrities such as Bill Cosby, Patti LaBelle, and NBC’s Today Show hosts Matt Lauer and Meredith Viera promoted the worldwide event on television shows throughout the day Thursday.
Read for the Record began in 2006 and initially the campaign was intended to set a record with Guiness Book of World Records for the most shared reading experience in the world.
During last year’s event 2,019,752 students read children's favorite, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."
A spokesman for Jumpstart said this year’s goal is for 2.5 million students, but the group is no longer affiliated with the Guiness Book of World Records.
Each of Brockton’s classroom teachers received a copy of “The Snowy Day,” from Jumpstart as part of Brockton’s participation in Read for the Record—a donation that may seem small, but having books for students to read is becoming more and more difficult, Andrade said.
“The budget for buying books has become less and less over the years and being able to have these books in the classrooms for students to read is very important,” Andrade said. "Literacy is the foundation of learning," she said.
Violet LeMar, Raymond’s associate principal, said administrators work hard to provide books through grants and foundations and the school was recently awarded 2,400 books from the First Book Foundation to be given to students in kindergarten to eighth grade, including “Henry and Mudge,” “The Berenstain Bears,” and “The View from Saturday.”
“Each student will receive at least two books to have of their own and take home,” LeMar said.
As Andrade read “The Snowy Day,” students laughed, raised their hands to answer questions and made funny faces as they followed along with the story.
Principal Carol McGrath, who attended several of the readings, was happy to recall her favorite pastime while walking to school in the snow.
“I made snow angels,” to which she received scrunch-faced looks from the kindergarteners who seemed to have a hard time picturing their principal waving her arms and legs in the snow making snow angels as a child.
Andrade said the program is a fun way to foster a love of reading in students.
“This is a time for adults to show their love of reading,” she said—especially as youngsters turn more and more to digital screens for their reading materials.
“There are certain qualities about having a book in your hand—turning the pages, reading the words,” Andrade said. “I hope 'Snowy Day' becomes a classic for these students as it has for me. I hope when they have children they read it to their children,” she said.

Boxer Birthday Party Friday Night

NOTE: Originally posted Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010
The Brockton Post
BROCKTON—Get ready for a big celebration Friday during the Boxers football game in honor of the 40th anniversary of Brockton High School and the Community Schools Program.
“It’s really a big birthday party,” said High School Principal Susan Szachowicz, a member of the Class of 1971, the first to graduate from Brockton High after it opened Sept. 16, 1970.
Friday night’s 7 p.m. football game literally kicks off a year-long celebration marking the high school’s anniversary and organizers promise a fun time, punctuated by the talents of current students.
“The students are our future,” Szachowizc said. “I always say I have the best seat in the house during graduation because I’m facing the students and I can see their faces—I can see the smiles on their faces and the shine in their eyes,” she said.
Hundreds, possibly thousands of alumni are expected for Friday’s Homecoming game which from 5 to 7 p.m. will feature a special tent for Brockton High alumni that will have chili, chowder and other goodies donated by Chartwells—the company that provides food service to Brockton High.
Before the Boxers take the field against Fitchburg for the Homecoming Game, Szachowicz said she, Mayor Linda Balzotti and Superintendent Matthew Malone will offer brief comments, but the real show will come at halftime when Brockton High’s award-winning band will perform among other selections, a special program in honor of the school’s 40th birthday.
There will also be a special finale when the band, majorettes and dancers will make a human #40 on the field.
Szachowicz said alumni from across the country are coming for the celebration, while those who can’t make it, like a group loosely dubbed “Boxers in the Big Apple,” will share a toast in New York City in honor of the school’s 40th.
“People really want to be a part,” she said.
City Councilor-at-Large Todd Petti, whose family has been in the city for decades and who also was a member of the 1971 inaugural class said Brockton High has much more to offer than many of the suburban schools surrounding the city.
“There is something for everyone whether you’re an advanced student, struggling student, athlete or artist, Brockton High has so much to offer,” he said.
During his four years of high school, Petti said he took Italian classes because he thought it would be fun.
When he was stationed in Italy as a young serviceman, the classes came in handy and while it may not be a work of art, Petti said he still has a penguin-shaped end table he made in woodshop.
“This high school has so many memories and so many good people and staff,” Petti said. “I’m really looking forward to Friday,” he said.