Mount Wachusett Community College 56th Commencement to be held on May 19, 2021

Honorable Senator Stephen M. Brewer to Present Keynote Address

GARDNER, MA - April 7, 2021 - Mount Wachusett Community College will be holding its commencement ceremonies virtually on May 19, 2021. The MWCC Class of 2021 will be joined by Keynote Speaker Senator Stephen M. Brewer.

Brewer grew up on a farm in Barre, in central Massachusetts, and throughout his time in the State House has worked to protect agricultural land and open space. In 1971 he earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a master's in history from Assumption College in 1974.

His political career began in 1977 when he was elected to the Barre Board of Selectmen where he served until 1984. In the 1980's he worked as an aide to state Sen. Robert Wetmore before being elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1988. In 1996 Brewer was elected to represent the Worcester, Hampden, Hampshire and Middlesex District, the second-largest Senate district in the state, made up of 28 communities.

During his time in the Senate, Brewer chaired the powerful Senate Committee on Ways and Means and served on the Senate Committee on Ethics and Rules and the Joint Committee on Rules. Previously, he served as Senate vice-chair of the Joint Committee on Natural Resources and Agriculture, as vice-chair of the Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee, and as a member of the Joint Committee on Public Safety.

Senator Brewer retired in 2014 after 26 years in the state Legislature. He continues to be involved in a variety of events at MWCC, where the Brewer Center for Civic Learning & Community Engagement is named in his honor. He is a resident of Barre, where he lives with his wife, Valerie, and is the proud father of their two daughters, April and Audrey.

Six Sizer School artists chosen for MAEA Youth Art Month exhibition

Jaiden Killion
Abigail Barto

In March, six Sizer School students were chosen to be featured in the Massachusetts Art Educator Association's Annual Youth Art Month Exhibition!

Youth Art Month (YAM) is celebrated nationally every March to highlight the importance of visual art education "in the total education curriculum that develops citizens of a global society" according to their website.

Annually, MAEA sponsors a Statewide preK-12 YAM Exhibit of student artworks submitted by art educators in public, private and independent schools from across the state. The exhibition features outstanding artwork created by students from throughout the Commonwealth.

This year, Sizer School will be well represented by: 9th grade student Hailey Turner of Fitchburg with her Radial Photograph; 9th Grade student Abigail Barto of Fitchburg with her Recycled Art Sculpture; 10th grade student Jaiden Killion of Templeton with her piece "Held in the Dark"; 10th grade student Janiel Ortiz of Fitchburg with his Accordion Book; 11th grade student Garrik Wilkins of Lunenburg with his piece "Melting Away"; and 12th grade student Joseph Boire of Fitchburg with his piece "Mirrorman".

According to their website, that even with the difficulties of teaching through a pandemic, 136 teachers from public, private and independent schools located in 85 different Massachusetts cities and towns submitted 756 student works of art!

"The great news is that this virtual exhibition is just a click away," said Sizer School Visual Arts Teacher Cat Judge.

While typically this exhibition takes place at the Worcester Art Museum, this year MAEA has created an online platform for the art show.

The show is organized by location at https://massarted.com/youth-art-month. Sizer can be found in Gallery 2 under the city of Fitchburg.

"Art teachers across the Commonwealth are invited to submit artworks created by six of their students featuring different assignments to represent their school and celebrate the creativity of our students. I chose these six works from hundreds of pieces created by my students," said Judge.

"I submitted 'Held in the Dark' a photography project," said Killion of Templeton. "It really means a lot to be in this art exhibition because I work really hard on my art and I feel like I don't get to show many people. Photography is really one of my favorite media to use for art."

According to 9th grader Abigail Barto, "It's a huge honor to be a part of this exhibit. I'm very lucky to have been chosen. I've always enjoyed art, knowing that others can now also look at my own art and get something from it is fascinating to me."

Barto's submission was a Recycled Art Sculpture. "The project was based around taking something that you may simply see as trash and turning it into something entirely new. We were primarily encouraged not to use any kind of tape or glue unless it was absolutely necessary. So an additional aspect of this project required us to plan on how to make the sculpture stay together. With the materials I collected I constructed a hand that is reaching out towards the sky, with a plant/spider like base underneath."

Held in the Dark by Jaiden Killion

Radial Photograph by Hailey Turner

Accordion Book by Janiel Ortiz

Mirrorman by Joseph Boire

Melting Away by Garrik Wilkins

Recycled Art Sculpture by Abigail Barto