Winchendon Weekly News -- April 5, 2024
From the Desk of Dr. Goguen - Superintendant's Update February 16, 2024
Watch the April 12, 2024 Student-Produced Blue Devil Weekly!
Kindergarten Registration Open for 2024-25 School Year
If you have a child that will be eligible for Kindergarten for the 2024-2025 school year, the registration forms and more information can be found at:
2024-2025 Kindergarten Registration
Eligibility Requirements:
- Your child must be five (5) years of age by August 31, 2024.
- Original Birth Certificate must be provided.
- Proof of Residency must be provided (current utility bill, lease or mortgage)
- Physical examination, including vision and hearing screening by your physician, dated after August 31, 2023 must be provided.
- Immunization verification must be provided by the end of August, 2024. (Must include lead screen results.)
WPS Pre-K Screening Scheduled for May 8 and 15
Winchendon Public Schools Preschool Screening will take place on Wednesdays May 8 and 15, 2024 by appointment only. Children must be age 3 or 4 by August 31, 2024 to be eligible. Screening is optional and looks at a child's development in the areas of speech and language, fine and gross motor skills, cognition and social emotional skills.
If you have any concerns about your child, suspect your child may have a disability, or if you did not receive an information packet by mail, please call Kathy at the Winchendon Pre-K Program office at 978-297-3436 or email kbrooks@winchendonk12.org.
Read and Rise Literacy Workshop April 23
A Literacy Workshop for parents will be held on Tuesday, April 23 from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. at Memorial Elementary School, 32 Elmwood Road, Winchendon. At this workshop, we will discuss the importance of reading aloud to your children, and learn fun techniques that will keep your chil engaged! Each family will receive a bag of children's books and a Family Reading Guide. To register, call email Kristin at kmoran@winchendonk12.org or call 978-297-3436.
Inspirational Youth Changemakers Share the Spotlight During the Annual United Way Youth Venture Spring Showcase Event
GARDNER, MA - April 12, 2024 - The United Way Youth Venture (UWYV) program of North Central Massachusetts will celebrate student community-service projects with the return of the annual UWYV Spring Showcase event which will be held on May 2, 2024 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at the Great Wolf Lodge in Fitchburg, MA.
The UWYV Spring Showcase event is open to the public, members of the community are welcome to attend and see the incredible efforts of students from more than 25 Venture Teams. Many of the Venture Teams represent their entire school as they show off the work they have done to support their community's varied needs. These projects included collecting bedding and personal care items for people without stable housing, operating a teen-run community cafe, building outdoor shelters for homeless cats, advocating for and supplying a new playground at the McKay Elementary School, providing gifts to young people in hospitals, working to improve the environment, writing a comic book to raise money and awareness for cancer, and so much more!
The United Way Youth Venture program is a partnership between the United Way of North Central Massachusetts, Mount Wachusett Community College and Ashoka's Youth Venture. The program exists to empower youth through support for innovative, community outreach proposals and help them gain essential experience that will help them to become the future leaders and innovators of our community. United Way Youth Venture reaches 5,000 young people in elementary, middle and high schools across the North Central Mass region through workshops and youth-led, youth-created service projects, both during the school day and in afterschool programs. In more than 20 years of operation, more than 500 Venture Teams have launched with seed funding grants provided by UWYV to get them started.
"The UWYV Spring Showcase event gives the community an opportunity to speak with students and learn how they took their passions and concerns for the issues our community faces and transformed them into their own unique community-benefiting projects," notes Lauren Mountain, United Way Youth Venture Director. "In addition to meeting these teams, the Spring Showcase offers attendees the chance to network with other community members who are passionate about supporting our local youth."
Tickets for this drop-in event are free with advanced RSVP at https://tinyurl.com/uwyvspring24. Donations at the door are welcomed and sponsorship details available at https://uwyv.mwcc.edu/support-our-efforts/attend/. This is a chance to celebrate the great work young people are doing as inspiring leaders in our community, as well as an opportunity to show your support for their continued efforts. For more information about the United Way Youth Venture program, contact Director Lauren Mountain at Lmountain@mwcc.mass.edu or (978)-630-9201, or visit the website at uwyv.mwcc.edu.
MWCC Teatime Speaker Series Presents: The Black Outdoors with Mardi Fuller
GARDNER, MA – April 16, 2024 – Mount Wachusett Community College is pleased to announce our next Teatime Speaker Series event, "The Black Outdoors with Mardi Fuller" on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, from 12:00 until 2:00 p.m. at the Gardner campus.
Mardi Fuller is a lifelong backcountry adventurer and board member of the Appalachian Mountain Club who became the first known Black person to hike all 48 of New Hampshire's 4,000-foot peaks during the winter in January 2021.
Fuller is a Boston resident where she works as a nonprofit communications director. She is committed to personal and corporate Black liberation, and thereby liberation for all humanity. She believes deeply in nature's healing power and organizes hike, ski and climb events centering on Black and BIPOC community members. She is a contributing writer to Outside magazine, SKI magazine, NRDC, and Melanin Basecamp among others and advocates for racial equity through writing, speaking and community building.
At the "Black Outdoors with Mardi Fuller" event, Fuller will be sharing insights and stories about her life's adventures as a Black outdoors woman, and discussing the barriers faced by marginalized people in accessing the outdoors and how exclusion is detrimental to all people.
The event is hosted by the Teatime Speaker Series and funded in part by the MWCC Green Society, International Center for the Promotion of Diversity and Inclusion, Three Pyramids Inc., Gateway to College, City of Fitchburg Human Rights Commission, Heywood Healthcare's DEI Committee, YWCA Central MA, MOC's Race Equity Committee, and CHNA9