Arts Review

MHS Cast and Crew Never Miss a Beat in "Matilda: the Musical"

by Inanna Arthen
Murdock Middle/High School students, staff and supporters defied record-breaking cold temperatures on Friday and Saturday to present two energetic performances of the contemporary show, Matilda: the Musical. On Saturday they played to an almost-full house, with even the balcony crowded with audience members. The hundreds of hours of rehearsal, choreography, creation of sets and costumes, and behind-the-scenes work were evident as cast, crew and musicians kept up the breathless pace of the two hour and forty minute show right to the last bows and final reprise chorus.

Based on the children's story by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), with a book by Dennis Kelly and music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, Matilda: the Musical tells the story of six-year-old Matilda Wormwood, a young prodigy who has already read her way through Dickens, Bronte, Melville and Dostoevsky before she's started her first day of school. Her used car salesman dad, ballroom dance competitor mom and older brother think she's a weirdo, and Matilda's only friend is Mrs. Phelps the librarian, who listens enthralled to Matilda's made-up stories about a circus couple who truly love each other. Hurt by her TV-addicted family's disdain for her reading, Matilda plays several practical jokes on her dad.

She starts first grade in a school of rigid discipline run by child-hating drill sargeant Miss Trunchbull, a former world's champion hammer-thrower, who locks up recalcitrant children in a "chokey" cell lined with nails and broken glass. When Matilda stands up for herself and shows how gifted she is, she earns the admiration of another student, Lavender, impresses and inspires her classmates, and sparks sympathy in her kind but timid teacher, Miss Honey. Matilda discovers that the key to foiling the odious Miss Trunchbull lies in Miss Honey's tragic past, and with a lot of cleverness and a little telekinesis, Matilda and Miss Honey turn the tables on their cruel headmistress.

In the lead role of Matilda, Tiana Graessle had many long speeches, including the installments of her fantasy story, sang three solo numbers and was onstage for most of the performance. Via Hastings relished the very physical role of Miss Trunchbull (including a scene where she "hammer throws" one of her students off the stage!). As Miss Honey, Camille Hart instilled complexity and depth into what easily might be a bland part, and gave an affecting rendition of her two solo numbers.

Colin Rowe as Matilda's dad Mr. Wormwood, and Quinn Richard as Mrs. Wormwood, took their roles right over the top, with hilarious effect. Angelina Dellasanta was kitten-cute as Lavender, the star-struck classmate who tells everyone that she is Matilda's "best friend." Donovan Whitaker played Sergei, the Russian mobster cheated by Matilda's dad, with a deep heavily accented growl--funniest when the grim Russian mobsters joined the final songs without breaking character.

Several of the cast members played multiple parts, including Steven Gauthier, Rickell Divoll-Tieu, Abby Guerra, Sophia Gauthier, Abilgaile Lafrenne, Aidan Whitney, Yang Yu Chen and Jason Vivieros, who all changed costumes and characters repeatedly through the show. Mark Quinn, Ameerah Bergeron, Jayden Linsey, Madelyn Santos, Abigail Blake and Carleigh Moriarity played the unfortunate students under Miss Trunchbull's thumb, and Alex Leblanc flexed athletically as Mrs. Wormwood's ballroom dance partner, Rudolpho.

As Matilda is a British book and show, the cast spoke their lines with British accents, often quite well. Accents are tricky beasts, especially in a long show.

Both cast and crew maintained an impressive amount of timing and coordination throughout. In numerous scenes where the stage was crowded with actors, the group interacted in continuous and complicated harmony. There was a never a sense that you were watching grandstanding leads with a backup "chorus," something all too common with high school musicals. This entire cast was a true ensemble and it showed. Credit goes to director Kristi Iannacone, music director Emma Erwin, choreographers Tiana Graessle, Camille Hart and Rickell Divoll-Tieu, as well as the cast themselves. But even the many set changes--all done in total darkness--were smooth and well-practiced. Light cues were seamless and on the mark.

The "pit band" was conducted by Aly Galipeau, who also played piano, with Emma Erwin on reeds, Ian Galipeau on guitar, Scott Ryder on bass and Sam Vendt on drums.

Costumes, designed by Jenny Leblanc, and hair styles were creative and evocative (not to mention, authentically Roald Dahl-ish), giving the audience a visual impression of the characters with minimal detail. Students were dressed in maroon-and-white uniforms, Miss Trunchbull in prison guard gray and Miss Honey is a soft flowered dress. The spare set design also used a few key items to suggest an entire scene, leaving the stage clear for the actors to dance and move broadly as they performed.

As always, Matilda: the Musical demonstrated not only the sheer talent and ability, but the dedication and sustained hard work Murdock students are capable of. I would only make one constructive suggestion: the students could use some work with fundamental voice technique and line delivery. It was sometimes hard to understand the dialogue, and this was a shame when some of the lines were so funny and the actors were delivering them with so much energy. Colin Rowe had a whole speech to the audience, and a song, proclaiming "All I know I learned from the telly," but I missed some of what he said. This was a problem throughout, despite the fact that the cast was miked. So much care and attention was paid to the physical aspects of the performances, the accents and the music, but without understanding all the dialogue, it could be hard to follow the actual story.

Although it is very popular, Matilda: the Musical is not an ideal show for a high school cast, because half the characters are intended to be six years old. If you're not already familiar with the story, this isn't immediately apparent. The book Matilda is not Roald Dahl's best effort (and if you look up the history of how he wrote it, you can see why). The musical version, however, won five Tony awards and has been performed in countries around the world, so its many strong female characters and empowering message for girls clearly strike a chord.

It takes a village and a half to put on a great show! Kudos and credit also go to: Artistic designers Christina Gauthier, Laura Labrack, Jenny Leblanc, Cindy Darcy, and Sophia Gauthier; Founding Artistic Director Maureen Provost; Set Crew Dean Iannacone, Dave Labrack, Adam Leblanc, Kris Provost, and Marcus Provost, Tech Director Domenic Iannacone, Tech Supervisor Ari Dribble, Graphic Designer Katie McKellick, Photographer Jeff Alisauskas, Backstage/Tech Crew Ian Hart, Aria Kantor, Grace Lafrennie, Julie Lafrennie, MacKenzie Lafrennie, Matthew Tranbarger, Jack Verca, Jason Vivieros, Donovan Whitaker, and Yang Yu Chen; Front of House coordinator (and tireless promoter) Tina Santos; House Consultant Laura Marshall; Volunteers Sophia Leblanc, Kerry Pelham, Kolby Trombly, Kalleen Dibble, the Murdock Administration and the Murdock Custodial Staff; and uncounted fans, friends, advertizers-in-the-program and supporters.

Murdock thespians will next be performing in the 2023 Morton E. Converse Tournament of Plays on March 24 and 25 at the Murdock High School auditorium. Come see the classes of '23, '24, '25 and '26 compete in this long standing Winchendon tradition to put on the best one-act play! On May 24, Murdock singers and musicians will present the annual Spring Pops Concert, conducted by Murdock Music Teacher Emma Erwin.

BOS, FinCom, Discuss Community Preservation Act Questions at Length as Warrant for March 13 Special Town Meeting is Finalized

by Inanna Arthen
On Monday, February 6, the Board of Selectmen reviewed and finalized the six articles on the warrant for the March 13 Special Town Meeting. On Tuesday, February 7, the Finance Committee held a public hearing to discuss the warrant articles and vote on their recommendations. The primary reason for calling the Special Town Meeting in March is so voters can decide whether to include the Community Preservation Act on the ballot for the annual Town Election to be held on May 1. Article 5, the Community Preservation Act (CPA), elicited by far the longest discussions and the most questions at both meetings. Click here to read the warrant (PDF)

At the Board of Selectmen's Monday meeting, Town Manager Justin Sultzbach spoke at length about Article 5. A major theme of discussions about the CPA has been the timing of the stages of its adoption and the need for an extra Special Town Meeting in March.

"One of the concerns is in terms of the process and if this had approval in the community and if it was implemented," Mr. Sultzbach began. "So March 13, you would have your Special Town Meeting vote which requires a majority vote. If that passed, on May 1 it would appear on the ballot vote for the annual Town Election." The warrant for the May 15 Annual Town Meeting closes on April 3, a month earlier. So, Mr. Sultzbach said, a proposed CPA bylaw crafted by the Community Preservation Act Exploratory Committee (CPAEC) would already be on the Annual Town Meeting warrant. If the CPA failed on the May 1 ballot, that article would be passed over and not acted on at Annual Town Meeting. If the May 1 ballot vote passed, then voters would be asked to approve the new CPA bylaw at Annual Town Meeting.

"So the question that came up from the Committee was well, if we're gonna ask the community to vote on implementing the Community Preservation Act in Winchendon, shouldn't we be upfront with them in terms of what the expectations are regarding certain guardrails, in their own words, guidelines, financial best practices, things that there would be an expectation that would be implemented before the citizens go so they're not just blindly voting on something," Mr. Sultzbach said.

The CPAEC asked for six items, which Mr. Sultzbach read.

1. The [Community Preservation Act] Committee will consist of nine members, broken down as follows: five seats as established by Mass General Law, so automatic under the Community Preservation Act, there needs to be a representative from the Conservation Commission, the Planning Board, the Historic Commission, the Housing Authority, and the Recreation Commission. The remaining four seats will be elected citizens at large with staggered three year terms. No appointments will be made by the Town Manager's office or the Board of Selectmen or any other entity (such as the Town Moderator).
2. If an appointed member from Section A, so the preset five folks, Conservation, etc, resigned, a replacement would be reappointed by their respective appointing authorities.
3. If an elected citizen resigns midterm, the seat would be filled by a member of the community to be appointed by a majority vote of the remaining Community Preservation Commission body. That person would serve out the remainder of that term as appointed by their peers.
4. No funds will be spent in the first year of implementation. "They wanted a chance for the money to come in, and have a thoughtful conversation over a year with the community to talk about what the community's needs and priorities are, and then we'll go to the following Annual Town Meeting," Mr. Sultzbach said. Also, a minimum of 5 percent of the funds will remain untouched and allowed to accrue, so the fund will always have a balance.
5. The borrowing of CPA funds (i.e. committing future CPA funds in advance for a long-term project) would not be permitted for any project.
6. 5 percent of the total funds would be budgeted annually for administrative oversight. "That's permitted by Mass General Law, and the unused funds would be returned to the balance annually. So basically, there would be an independent individual annually accounting for and following through on all of these pieces," Mr. Sultzbach explained.

Board Vice Chair Rick Ward pointed out that the article as written never specifies that the tax surcharge will be 3 percent. "Why isn't that amount in the article? So the public knows," he said.

Mr. Sultzbach said he had the same question. The language in the aticle "is activating the Community Preservation Act in town but it is not establishing" all the specific details. Those details, such as the percentage amount of the surcharge, whether another entity such as the Robinson Broadhurst Foundation might cover part of it, the exemptions being implemented in Winchendon, and so on, would be "called out" in the verbal motion made on Town Meeting floor. "Typically we get the motion language out in advance. I would like to get it out even sooner, put it out on social media, put it out on the website to really highlight what the intricacies are" because it is complicated, Mr. Sultzbach said. "I hope you've seen historically I'm a big proponent of trying to boil things down the way that people can easily understand it."

Mr. Ward said, "I can guarantee I know I will be letting the public know at Town Meeting exactly what the 3 percent equates as far as taxes. I will let that be known."

Mr. Ward asked about the citizen committee members being elected for staggered terms. Initially, Mr. Sultzbach explained, the committee members would be elected for different terms because they were all starting at the same time, so they'd have staggered expiration dates. They would be elected the following May (May, 2024), if this is approved. "That would actually fit nicely with their hope that the funds not be touched for a year, certainly because that would give a full year for the community to have that conversation about what it would look like, forming the Community Preservation Commission and seeking out those additional members."

Referring to the difficulty Winchendon has in getting citizens to run for elected positions, Mr. Ward asked what happened if four citizen candidates couldn't be found to run for the CPA Committee.

Mr. Sultzbach admitted that the first year might be tough, but after that only one person would be elected each year. The town can keep on talking about the CPA and its benefits. "I think the Community Preservation Act is far more interesting. It's a multifaceted program, and it would impact a lot of areas that I think a lot of people care about. The four things that they hold up as priorities, housing, recreation, open space, historic preservation, I think you're tapping into a really broad subsection of the community. So maybe I'm just being bright eyed and optimistic, but I think people would come out and really try to fight for those seats," he said.

Quorum for the committee would be five members; if they couldn't get a quorum, worst case scenario "is that money would continue to be saved away." The 5 percent administrative fee is a consulting fee, and would provide the program with an independent oversight, and keep it isolated from "typical town operations."

Mr. Sultzbach told the Board that the CPAEC's "largest concern about the Community Preservation Act in relation to Winchendon is that those funds would go through what they call the typical process, and there are folks on that Exploratory Committee that do not like the typical process. Now I will be the first to admit it's not perfect, but it's the best we have. And so it was a priority for that group to display to the community at large that there's going to be a firewall and a separation between the Community Preservation Commission and the funds that go to it and the causes that they fund, and what they would call the typical town operations," meaning especially, the Town Manager's office and the Board of Selectmen.

"I'll admit it took me half a second longer than typical to put ego aside on that one, and not feel personally attacked," Mr. Sultzbach said wryly. "But the message I would communicate to this Board as well is that it's more a function of a power that your Board wields compared to the others, in terms of your ability, if you wanted to find some ways to steer that funding, and they want to keep it, from a purity standpoint, they wanted it to be an extremely citizen driven initiative, but it's no reflection on any of you as individuals or myself."

The Board voted unanimously to approve the warrant as presented.

The following night, Tuesday February 7, the Finance Committee held the customary public hearing on the March 13 Special Town Meeting warrant. Attending to answer questions about article 5 were Amanda Phillips and Marc Dorwart of the CPAEC.

Mr. Sultzbach, Ms. Phillips and Mr. Dorwart went over the basic facts of the CPA recommendations for the FinCom, which had not seen the earlier presentations given to the Board of Selectmen. About the 3 percent surcharge, Mr. Dorwart explained, "the reason we're choosing 3 percent over other options is you can go anywhere from point five to three percent and still adopt the law. But when you go to 3 percent, you can be eligible for round two and round three of the disbursement. So there's three rounds and the second two are only available to towns that have adopted 3 percent. The third one's only available to certain threshold towns which is based on population and taxable property value. We fall into the decile ranking that would put us available to get the most bang for the buck at 3 percent."

Mr. Dorwart emphasized that the article before them "isn't voting to adopt the law. It's voting to put the vote to the people at the next ballot." By the time the CPA is put before voters at Annual Town Meeting, if it is approved on March 13 and May 1, a complete bylaw will be written that specifies details such as the percentage of the surcharge and the exemptions that will be put in place for property owners. Mr. Sultzbach reiterated that these details would be included in the motion as made on Town Meeting floor on March 13.

FinCom member Dr. Maureen Ward said that it was important for the public to know the information or they might not even attend Town Meeting to vote. "That's my concern with the transparency and with getting that message out there. How can we get it out, exactly what all of this entails...we have an online paper. We have hardcopy papers. There has to be a way because the warrant's available to everyone. So if it was actually in the warrant, then they got that from a copy or from online they could read it and talk about it. I know that we say well, we've talked about this so much. Well, those directly involved in government have, but I bet you if you walked down the street and asked 20 people about CPA you'd get 18 blank stares. And I know part of that responsibility is theirs. But I think that heaviest onus is on us to make sure they understand what's coming before them."

Mr. Sultzbach responded that the CPAEC had held or presented at some 30 public meetings, and had an information booth at Fall Fest. He pointed out that often the public voted on things like the school budget which wasn't laid out in detail in the warrant, but "supplemental information" was available if people wanted it.

Dr. Ward said that details were important, because people such as renters might assume the surcharge didn't affect them. "It is because it's going to trickle down. Businesses are going to be taxed, it's going to trickle down. So it is going to affect everyone and they need to understand it's not just property owners," she said.

"I think a lot of the items that this initiative would fund in town," Mr. Sultzbach said. "The long term benefit of that would trickle down to those people as well in terms of building a stronger community that would encourage more business investment. It would encourage new revenue streams that would help lift some of that burden off the taxpayers' back, but it's going to take that little upfront and a little bit of belief to grow that over the next five or ten years."

There was some discussion about the surcharge being the maximum 3 percent and whether it might be amended downwards on Town Meeting floor. Mr. Dorwart felt that "we should start at the 3 percent and educate the public about it being 3 percent, because what 3 percent brings is so much more than any other percentage." He emphasized that there was time to "have some PR events" and public meetings to refine the recommendations for the bylaw.

Mr. Sultzbach said that the 3 percent and matching amount "would come out to a little over $250,000 a year. So what that means is if the town of Winchendon had implemented the Community Preservation Act in the early 2000s when it first became an option...something like the Old Murdock that's a multimillion dollar initiative that we're straining ourselves to pay for...the state would have paid for that entirely, top to bottom, every single penny." People talk about things like dog parks, expanding the rail trail and so on, the CPA "would pay for those types of initiatives that people want to see in town, but we have no way to pay for them. So just something to be mindful of."

Dr. Ward spoke about the recent steep increases in utility bills, and the tax increases for the fire station and water main. "it's going to be a hard sell to the community that's bleeding and hurting just to make sure their home is warm and they have food on the table. When you say it's going to preservation and the trails and all, great things but not if my kids are starving."

Resident Jill Sackett rose to address several points. "I'm concerned, the way many of you already are, about how to sell this properly, and how to make sure people really understand what this is and what it's going to give them," she said. "So I think this document is a great start...but it's not a document I would hand out to voters. So it's too complicated. You're gonna lose folks." Ms. Sackett went on to argue that people needed some concrete examples of the amount of money the town could realize. "I'm a voter and I'm looking at this and I'm going, I don't know how much money we're going to get out of this. So if you can actually run a number and go, if this was in place last year, and people paid into it...you're gonna get a range depending on what the state pays that matches that year. Last year, we would have gotten X to Y amount of money...you said $250,000. That's helpful. That's a lot of money. That's a quarter of a million dollars."

Ms. Sackett went on, "The other thing is, to be clear, do you have to be able to fund an entire project or can this be partial, because some of our stuff around here is super high ticket. So are you going to be able to use CPA toward something and then you have to get some other money to keep going, or you're gonna have to do it in phases or something, but I think you have to be a little clearer on how flexible it is to spend the money." She suggested giving actual examples of town projects that could have been or could be funded through CPA funding.

Ms. Sackett concluded, "The last item, and this is really important for me. I'm very, very concerned about Scenario B [Robinson Broadhurst covering 1 percent of the surcharge]. And Robinson Broadhurst. I think it has to be really clear to the voters whether they're voting for 3 percent or not, or whether they think the cavalry is going to come in and Robinson Broadhurst is going to come in and pay for 1 percent. I am adamantly opposed to Robinson Broadhurst getting involved in this. They are in such extreme demand. Some of you know how they fund around here, they have paid for so much stuff in town. And the ask is 2, 3, 4 times what they have to pay out already.

"I think the time has come for property owners here in Winchendon, who have benefited for years and years and years with the most extraordinary foundation here in town, to put some more skin in the game, and I'm a property owner and I'm ready to pay. But I'm telling you I feel Robinson Broadhurst needs some relief. Please don't pressure them to pay into this. They're already paying in a lot. And if I get any inkling that that's part of the apron strings here I won't vote for it. I won't vote for it. So please take Robinson Broadhurst out of the equation."

Mr. Sultzbach responded that the expectation for voters should be that the town is paying the 3 percent. Robinson Broadhurst has "softly committed" to covering 1 percent for five years. "One of the benefits for Robinson Broadhurst Foundation is, getting something like this off the ground while it might take baby steps initially, in the long term is going to provide a lot of relief for them. And so that's kind of their benefit in the immediate. But I do agree they are taxed pretty heavily."

Ms. Sackett also questioned Robinson Broadhurst being asked to pay into something when they have no control over how the funds are used, which "runs completely counter to how they operate now." Mr. Sultzbach agreed that Robinson Broadhurst probably wasn't happy to give up that control, but the missions of Robinson Broadhurst and the CPA were extremely similar.

After much discussion, the FinCom voted on their recommendations for the six articles. Dr. Ward moved to postpone voting on article 5 until after the Board of Selectmen's meeting on Monday, to see if the BOS certified the warrant. "I just think as finance we're black and white, dollars and cents, and to expect something like this with such a huge leap of faith, it doesn't sit well."

The FinCom voted unanimously to postpone voting on their recommendation of article 5.

For the complete background of this article, see:

"BOS Vote to Hold Special Town Meeting for Community Preservation Act" in the January 12-19, 2023 edition of The Winchendon Courier

"Community Preservation Act Exploratory Committee Gives Recommendations" in the January 5-12, 2023 edition of The Winchendon Courier

"Seven Citizen-at-Large Members Appointed to Community Preservation Act Exploratory Committee" in the March 3-10, 2022 edition of The Winchendon Courier.

"Town Manager Calls for Volunteers for Community Preservation Act Exploratory Committee" in the February 10-17, 2022 edition of The Winchendon Courier

For complete information about the Community Preservation Act, see the website of the Community Preservation Coalition

And for all you real policy wonks out there, direct links to Mass General Laws, Chapter 44B, Sections 3 through 7 covering the Community Preservation Act:

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter44B/Section3

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter44B/Section4

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter44B/Section5

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter44B/Section6

https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter44B/Section7

Kimberly Shea, DNP, the College's Dean of Nursing has accepted a position on the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women

Gardner, MA - February 6, 2023 - Kimberly Shea, DNP, Dean of Nursing at Mount Wachusett Community College was appointed to the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women (MCSW). The MCSW works to promote rights for women and girls by offering recommendations regarding policy that help improve access and equal opportunity.

Dean Shea will offer unique insights to the Commission based on her experiences as a Registered Nurse and a Higher Education Professional. Her voice will also be representative for girls and women living in North Central Massachusetts, which is an underrepresented geographical area for the MCSW.

A Winchendon native, Dean Shea received her Associate of Science Degree from Mount Wachusett Community College, Bachelor of Science and Master of Science Degrees at Drexel University, and her Doctor of Nursing Practice at Regis College.

Dean Shea understands how difficult it can be for a woman to further her education, especially with young children at home. When she first started attending school at Mount Wachusett Community College her children were one, two and three. It was difficult to balance her schoolwork while managing to maintain her regular life.

"It was a lot having three little children, a house, bills, obligations," Dean Shea adds. "I was very fortunate to have a good support network. When I was going through nursing school, I made really close friends that I am still friends with today. We really relied and depended on each other. I sometimes brought my kids to study groups with some of my nursing student friends. I got through it with a lot of support from friends and family."

After graduating and gaining years of clinical experience, Dean Shea started teaching at MWCC as a full-time faculty member in the Practical Nursing Program in September of 2013. She was a faculty member for seven years before becoming the Director of Nursing in 2019, the role changed to Dean of Nursing shortly after. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences teaching Transitional Research in their MSN Program, and Elms College teaching Leadership and Management in their RN-BSN Program.

Throughout the years her position has changed but her passion for helping students has not wavered. She says her favorite thing about her job is "Seeing someone first come into one of our programs having very little knowledge, not knowing how to negotiate the system, and following them all the way through to being successful and becoming graduates; to go on and become nurses and making a difference in the world. My favorite part is the student success aspect of it and knowing that somehow, I have made a difference."

When she is not making a difference at Mount Wachusett Community College, she is working towards making a difference in her community. She is in her second year serving on the Winchendon Community Action Council. She says the council is "really about community support for folks that need it." They provide support by working in food banks, setting up fundraisers, community events, and emergency situations. Having a strong sense of community is important to Shea who believes, "We are stronger together than we are separate, and we can get more things done together than we can separately."

Her focus on community made the decision to join the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women (MCSW) an easy one. Shea says it was "Something I was very interested in because I have lived in various towns in this area for over thirty years. I have raised my children here, I have gone to school here, I work here, and I have a lot of tight-knit relationships in the community, so it seemed to be the perfect match."

As stated on the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women website "The mission of the Commission is to provide a permanent, effective voice for women and girls across Massachusetts. The Commission stands for fundamental freedoms, basic human rights and the full enjoyment of life for all women and girls throughout their lives." For more information about the Commission, visit https://www.mass.gov/orgs/massachusetts-commission-on-the-status-of-women

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