Wanted: Draw 7 Park Feedback

On March 26th, Groundwork Somerville & Urban Family Outreach will be holding a community meeting to collect the public's feedback on how they would like to redesign Draw 7 Park, a state park along the Mystic River that is slated for redevelopment alongside the massive redevelopment at Assembly Square. This meeting will give the public a chance to discuss their values, concerns and wishes for a park that has historically been hard to access and under-resourced. Between the feedback collected on the 26th, community meetings in Malden on March 6th and Somerville this past October 2012, and through additional surveying and conversations around the region through April, Groundwork Somerville will be providing a report of recommendations to the Department of Conservation and Recreation as they prepare to redesign and develop the park.

We hope you will support this community effort by announcing the event over the next couple of weeks, and by attending the meeting itself on March 26th. We would love to have you join us!

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me at chris@groundworksomerville.org or 617.628.9988.

Teen Empowerment by Jaime Lederer

Jaime Lederer is the Director of Somerville Programs - The Center for Teen Empowerment.  Thanks Jaime for being a guest blogger and sharing with Ward 1 all the great things Teen Empowerment is involved in.

In collaboration with the city of Somerville, Teen Empowerment is excited to announce the 7^th annual Peace Conference! This year things are going to be even bigger than ever!

On April 6th, at 7:30pm, we’ll kick off Peace Month at the Somerville Theatre. Teen Empowerment will host “Late Nite with Teen Empowerment,” an all-original show with theater, spoken word, music and speeches. Youth Organizers and Associates have been working to create a powerful show to address the issues that youth face in Somerville and bring together the community. The show will address issues related to drug use, bullying, mental health, media influences, violence and more.

Peace Month was designed to celebrate the youth of Somerville and all the resources available in the city. The overall theme is “Giving Back to the ‘Ville, Voices of the Seven Hills.”

To continue the dialogue, Teen Empowerment will facilitate a youth/police dialogue and a youth/Aldermen dialogue. By bringing together youth with police officers and city leaders, we are able to foster communication and build relationships. These dialogues are so important so that all our voices are heard and we can all work together to make Somerville a great place to live for everyone.

With the youth/police dialogues, we work to break down stereotypes and find ways to increase community safety. Our last dialogue, held in November, was part of training for new officers joining the Somerville Police Department. Check out the coverage in the Somerville Journal here!

Many groups have come together to make Peace Month possible, including Groundwork Somerville, Somerville Cares About Prevention, Teen Connection, Books of Hope and more.

A full calendar listing can be found here.

At the end of the month, on April 26^th, Teen Empowerment will hold big celebration at the Armory. This event, ‘Villens All Out Bash, vol. 2.0 will have a job and service fair with local agencies, provide dinner, entertainment and a dance party with local DJ Anthony Soto, a former Youth Organizer and Ward 1 business owner of Fresh Press Printing and Accessories.

We hope you’ll join us for “Late Nite with Teen Empowerment” on April 6^th at 7:30pm. Tickets are $2 in advance and $3 at the door. They are available from Teen Empowerment or at the box office of the Somerville Theatre.

About Teen Empowerment:

The mission of the Center for Teen Empowerment is to empower youth and adults as agents of individual, institutional, and social change.

Jaime Lederer

Snow Daze

What a wet and wild winter it has been!   Today marks (I believe) the 6th, and hopefully last, weather related closure of the 2012-2013 school year for the Somerville Public Schools.   We're now up against the end of June and there is no more float in the schedule.  Spring - tomorrow, believe it or not - can't come quickly enough.

The decision to close the schools is made by the Superintendent when forecasts and/or current conditions indicate that the streets and sidewalks may not be safe for students and staff to travel to and from school on a given day.   In my (2 blog) tradition of long-winded blog posts, I will share with you an email response I wrote last night to a ESCS (though not Ward 1) parent who asked for clarification on the school closing decision-making process, and specifically about the widely-traveled rumor that the process is dictated by City snow emergencies and specifically the role some schools play as snow emergency parking overflows.  The process is NOT influenced by this, although in most cases it would be hard to prove this because the two events are obviously going to generally coincide.

Here's my response to one parents questions/concern on this.

I don't know if there are written guidelines indicating a particular amount of snow, as the city loosely uses 4", specific to Somerville Schools - it's a good question (I'm new at this).   I believe it's at the superintendent's discretion based on predicted conditions of roads and sidewalks during the school transit times.  I was however, just about to write a blog post on this topic - no innovative ideas, unfortunately, more of an I-feel-your-pain-but-mother-nature-is-a-cruel-mistress blog post.

I can say that it's my understanding that the decision to close the schools for weather is unrelated to the snow emergency parking (the question has been raised in a meeting).

You're right, we live in Massachusetts and I can tell you from having grown up here, having lived at one time or another in virtually every  region of  the state - and having a brother who's currently a teacher at Grafton High School - that frustration among parents around snow days is not exclusive to Somerville! 

Unfortunately, as you point out, weather forecasting is still far from an exact science.   During the snow 2 weeks ago, the storm was obviously considerably worse than the forecast the night before had indicated and some parents expressed frustration about NOT having a snow day declared.  It's one of those tough calls that has to be made based on the best available forecasted conditions.   When the forecast is right, there is no celebration - parents, particularly those with younger children, need to jump through hoops to find childcare or miss work themselves.   The negative effects on the student's academic "momentum" is a cause for concern. Fortunately  we haven't historically had a huge number of snow days in Somerville.  I'm guessing that's why we still start school after Labor Day while much of Massachusetts starts the week before. 

Needless to say,when the forecast is wrong, the frustration of parents will be palpable.  But it still doesn't, in my opinion, make it a bad call.   We've talked about this before in School Committee meetings - I've only been on the Committee for a grand total of two regular meetings and we're 2 for 2 in discussing this topic.   I'm sure it will be raised again.   If someone has an obvious solution,I'm all ears, but we have to continue to put the safety of our students - and staff, many of whom come from out-of-town - first and foremost. 

Not much help maybe - but I do feel your pain.  My wife or I typically have to use one of our limited vacation days when the schools close for snow, and we are lucky enough to at least have a little PTO to use.   Many parents don't, and they're in the toughest spot. 

Thanks for writing.  If I've given you incorrect or incomplete information I'm sure one of my colleagues will correct me.  I'm not sure if global climate change is going to start to do strange things to our local weather patterns, and the hurricane closure and multiple snow days portend the new normal in Somerville; or if this is merely an anomaly and we'll go back to the more familiar patterns of my childhood growing up in Central Mass. - where we'd be getting hammered with 18" of snow that seemed to always "turn to rain" around Boston.  Those were the days - and I'm not that old so they weren't so long ago!

Here's to tomorrow.  Here's to spring!

Survey Anyone?

CITY ANNOUNCES ATHLETIC FIELDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY

Parks and Open Space, Recreation Departments Seek Feedback for Future Projects

SOMERVILLE – Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development announce the Somerville Athletic Fields Needs Assessment Survey, asking community members to give feedback on the City’s athletic fields to help inform future use. 

“Playfields are a center for neighborhood activity, like going to soccer games or just relaxing with friends,” said Arn Franzen, Director of Parks and Open Spaces. “This is a chance for you, the people who use the field, to give us valuable feedback in terms of how we may utilize these places better.”

The survey is available through Tuesday, March 26th at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MR7R3QD

It takes approximately 5 minutes to complete, with the 17 available questions concerning field use and quality. If you have any questions, please call OSPCD at 617-625-6600 ext 2500.

- - - - - 

Don't forget tonight -

Where:  Capuano School

             150 Glen Street

When:  Tonight

            6pm

Why:  Cross Street Bridge closing

Sponsored by MassDOT, Mayor Joe Curtatone and yours truly.

IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!!

 FYI.....The meeting scheduled with MassDOT regarding the Cross Street Bridge closing is still on for 6pm tomorrow night at the Capuano School.  

SNOW EMERGENCY DECLARED, SCHOOLS CLOSED TUESDAY, Five Things You Need to Know: Based on current snow forecasts and a predicted difficult morning commute on Tuesday, the City has declared a snow emergency effective 6 pm today, Monday, Mar. 18, and all Somerville Public Schools will be closed on Tuesday, Mar. 19. Please take a moment to review the important snow emergency information below (and please share this so others will see it):

1. PARKING BAN: During the snow emergency, parking will be allowed only on the odd-numbered side of the street (unless otherwise posted). Cars not moved from the even-numbered side of the street by 10 pm Monday will be subject to ticketing and towing.
2. PARKING IN CITY LOTS: Residents may park in any municipal lot or in designated school parking lots starting at 6 pm Monday. Meters in these lots (and Citywide) will not be in effect during the emergency. Vehicles may remain in the lots until 2 hours after the emergency is lifted. For an interactive map of City and school lots, click here: http://ow.ly/hwtpk.
3. METERS NOT IN EFFECT: During the emergency, meters must not be paid. But please note, parking at street meters is allowed only on the odd-numbered side of the street.
4. WHO TO CALL: Residents with non-emergency requests should call 311. For emergencies, please remember to call 911.
5. MORE INFO: Additional information may be found at the City Snow Webpage at www.somervillema.gov/snow.

Somerville Pride

Last night I had the honor of presenting citations to the Somerville High School Varsity Girls Basketball team for being the 2013 Great Boston League Tri-Champions…..two years running.   The girls ended their season with a 14 – 7 record.  Congratulations to:

Esther Joseph

Samantha Sahlas

Indira Evora

Ella Tyler

Himanot Mulugeta

Kristen Florio

Leslie Durate

Melissa McGovern

Melissa Baptista

Brooke Metivier

&

Megan O’Brien

And of course it wouldn’t be right if I didn’t extend a big CONGRATULATIONS to head coach, Paul O’Halloran, Assistant Coaches, Alicia Querusio, Shelia Fretas-Haley and Liz Avis.  

 

I also had the honor of presenting a citation to Indira Evora.  Indira, co-captain of the SHS Girls Varsity Basketball team has made history.  She now has the distinction of being one of only four FEMALE basketball players in Somerville whom have scored over 1,000 points.

Ending her SHS Basketball career with 1,262 points.  Scoring 449 of those points in her senior year – averaging over 21 points per game.  She is a 4 time GBL All Star and was voted Most Valuable Player in both 2012 & 2013.

She is a member of the National Honor Society, an active volunteer with the Somerville Pride and a Youth Basketball Coach & Referee.

Nearly 60 colleges expressed interest in Indira!!!!  But Indira took the next step in her Basketball career by signing a National Letter of Intent during the early signing period to play for St. Michael’s College in Vermont. 

She says, “My goal has always been to play basketball in college and I’m very excited to be going to St. Michael’s and feel St. Michael’s is a good academic fit for me.”

I say, “Somerville is lucky to have her and St. Michael’s is lucky to be getting her.”

Congratulations Indira and Good Luck in all your future endeavors

Need Something to do Tomorrow?

Tomorrow there are some pretty great things happening in our City.

From 9am - noon Somerville High School will be holding their 15th annual Vocational Fair.  Students and staff from the various vocational education departments show case their work and talent.

&

As I mentioned in this previous blog post "A Stronger You" is happening at the Somerville Boxing Club.  Click the link for more information.

I have updated the sidebar links to include the both the City and School Calendar of Events.  There is always something cool happening in our City.