This Week's Winchendon News
"Winter Storm Fern" Shuts Down Toy Town for Two Days as Cold-Weary Residents Slowly Dig Out
Yes, it was a storm so big, it got a name--Winter Storm Fern. The giant storm system that dumped nearly two feet of snow on Boston, paralyzed much of the southern United States with icing and days-long power outages, and monopolized the news for most of last week, didn't hit Winchendon quite as hard as it did cities and towns to the east and south of North Central Mass. But it was definitely a whopper, and made even stronger by the "polar vortex" deep cold that persisted all this week and will continue into the beginning of February, with forecast nightly lows a few degrees above or below 0°.
After nighttime lows dropped into the negative numbers on Friday and Saturday, the big storm arrived on Sunday morning, January 25. It continued to snow through Monday night. By noon on Sunday, the Old Murdock Senior Center and the Winchendon Public Schools had announced that they would be closed on Monday, with all programs, services, meals and transportation cancelled. Beals Memorial Library and Town Hall announced that they also would be closed on Monday, and the Board of Selectmen's meeting scheduled for January 26 was cancelled. A Winchendon Music Festival concert scheduled for Sunday afternoon had already been postponed to Friday, January 30. Several local businesses opened on Sunday but closed early, On Monday, as residents wearily plowed, shoveled and snow-blowed their way out from under more than 14 inches of light, dry, fluffy snow, Winchendon Public Schools announced that schools would delay opening by two hours on Tuesday, January 27. The Old Murdock Senior Center also announced a two-hour delayed opening on Tuesday.
While Winchendon does not have an official observer to report on weather conditions here, the Courier measured 14 inches of snow in multiple locations outside its office on Lakeview Drive on Tuesday. Athol reported 12.8 inches of snow on Monday, while Rindge reported 13 inches. Some Winchendon residents reported at least 21 inches in their locations. Department of Public Works Director Patrick Wood told the Courier, "The snowfall report we received indicates an average total accumulation of approximately 17.5 inches across town. That said, we believe there were localized areas that experienced higher totals, which would explain reports from residents measuring amounts both below and above that average."
As of Thursday, January 29, back roads and smaller side streets, along with many parking lots, were still heavily coated with packed down snow and ice, which is unusual 48 hours after the storm is over. This is partly due to the very cold temperatures, but snow tends to dissipate from sunshine and traffic, even in deep cold. Mr. Wood told the Courier that as of Thursday, "Storm clean-up in town is largely complete, though crews continue to address residual issues such as shoulder clean-up, narrow roads, and isolated trouble spots where drifting or heavier accumulation occurred. Our focus has shifted from active storm response to cleanup and restoration, while still monitoring conditions as temperatures fluctuate."
Another factor impacting the clean-up is the continuing shortage of road salt experienced by towns in North Central Mass. As of Thursday, Mr. Wood explained to the Courier, "We continue to experience a salt delivery shortage and remain largely at the mercy of suppliers. Suppliers are making a good-faith effort to distribute salt to all communities as equitably as possible, so deliveries remain limited. We have been typically receiving a couple of truckloads per day, which equates to approximately 50 tons of salt. Our salt storage shed has a capacity of roughly 800-900 tons and we can go through a couple hundred tons in one bad storm. To manage the shortage and reduce overall salt usage, DPW crews are maximizing the use of liquid brine, pre-treating roads where conditions allow, incorporating sand-salt mixtures, and transitioning to plowing as soon as possible to minimize the need for chemical treatment."
The difference that the salt makes for the safety and navigability of roads is very apparent. Some of Winchendon's roads, particularly those going uphill to Old Centre, are especially treacherous in snowy conditions, and one of them claimed a DPW truck in a rollover accident on Wednesday. Fortunately, the driver was not critically injured, but will be hospitalized for several days.
Winchendonians are eager to get back to more normal routines, and traffic on Thursday was much busier than usual. Extreme cold is still restricting activity for many people, however. Also, for the second week in a row, the news is full of forecasting and speculation about another winter storm that may impact the region next Sunday, February 1. As of press time, it appears that North Central Mass will not be heavily impacted by this new storm, but it will bring high winds, bitter cold, and probably a few more inches of the white stuff.
But take heart! The Spring Equinox is only seven weeks away!
Winchendon DPW Worker Injured When DPW Plow/Sander Truck Rolls Over
DPW workers talk to the driver still in the truck
Photo courtesy of Sharon Larochelle
On Wednesday morning, January 28, as Department of Public Works crews continued to clean up and treat roads around Winchendon after "Winter Storm Fern" dumped more than a foot of snow Sunday and Monday, a DPW truck rolled over on Benjamin Street. The DPW worker driving the truck had to be extricated with the assistance of the Winchendon Fire Department, who called a Lifeflight helicopter to transport the worker to UMass Memorial Medical Center-University Campus in Worcester. No one else was in the vehicle, Winchendon Fire Chief Tom Smith told the Gardner News. Other crew members from the DPW also responded immediately to the scene to assist the driver and the Fire Department and supervise removing the truck from the roadway.
Benjamin Street is a steep, narrow road that goes up the hill toward Old Centre from Waterville, and dead-ends at the top with very little room to turn around. The heavily loaded truck was apparently coming back down the road, skidded and overbalanced onto its side.
According to persons connected to the DPW, the worker, Roy F. Winn Jr. (who commented himself on a public Facebook post on the Town of Winchendon Facebook page), will be hospitalized for several days. His injuries are reported to be serious but non-life-threatening. He states that he is improving and thanks everyone for their prayers and well-wishes.
DPW Director Patrick Wood told the Courier, "The vehicle involved in yesterday's accident on Benjamin Street was a six-wheel dump truck used primarily for salt spreading operations. The truck sustained damage and is currently out of service while we assess the extent of the repairs needed. It will not be operational in the near future. Our primary concern remains the injured employee, and we hope for a quick and full recovery."
Supt. King Presents Results of School Survey to School Committee
At the Winchendon School Committee meeting on Thursday, January 22, Superintendent Charlotte King gave a presentation to the Committee on a survey that had been taken through a partnership with Attuned Education Partners as one step in developing a long term strategic plan for the district.
"Tonight, I am sharing some of the survey results from the community, parents, families and students," Supt. King began. "The staff results were shared in staff meetings, and that's an ongoing process. We started the first one this week, and then we're planning on finishing up the first week of February, just based on staff meeting schedules. So those results are being shared with the staff first before would they be shared here. So we are sharing key insights from the district diagnostic to support transparency and collaboration. The results in these slides are simplified down from a very comprehensive diagnostic report that we received. There is a mix in here of data that came from DESE [the Mass. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education], some of our internal data, and then the survey results. Also, data from classroom observations. Some people from the Attuned Partnership came out to observe in some of the classrooms. So some of the data was derived from that."
Committee member Greg Vine asked how the survey responses broke down among students, staff and families--were they weighted toward any one demographic or another?
"We received about 500 or so responses, and it was given to all of students grade 6 to 12, so we had pretty much 100 percent participation there because it was an electronic survey that they were able to do in mentoring class," Supt. King said. "And then the family survey and community survey was pushed out in a variety of ways. So we were also looking to engage families that were with the district and have gone on to either homeschooling or some other options, to gain some information about why they left, and if they would be interested in sharing information that would help us keep students in district."
Going to the next slide, Supt. King continued, "Some key challenges that came up in the results were obviously achievement gaps that we've talked about quite a bit, low proficiency, AP results and SAT results, a low sense of belonging, discipline, consistency amongst the schools, and then retention issues.
"I don't think, as we go through these results, that anything is going to be very surprising. I feel like they're all things we have suspected or had our own data, but this just solidified that we're on the right track and the concerns that we want to address."
Mr. Vine asked about the "low feeling of belonging" and whether it was more prevalent among the younger or older kids. Supt. King said that the survey was only given to the upper grades, 6 through 12, but she thought it was evenly distributed. She promised to get a more detailed breakdown for the Committee.
The next slide gave a "snapshot" of the WPS student population. There are approximately 1,100 students. 54 percent of the students are low income. 30 percent have disabilities. District enrollment is declining, while the high-needs student population is rising.
For "bright spots" in Student Outcomes, Supt. King said that on DESE's point system for graduation rates, Winchendon has gained 13 points, while there are gains in early literacy for grades K-1.
For concerns, Supt. King explained that WPS has an MCAS proficiency below the state average, there are large gaps between student subgroups, the pass rate for students taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses is only 15 percent, and SAT scores are low. The pass rate for AP classes is not the class grade per se, but the final exam for the AP subject.
Continuing with the slides, Supt. King went on, "In the area of school culture and well being--this was from family surveys--people felt that the extracurriculars we offer are strong. Families feel safe, but they do have concerns about a low sense of belonging and bullying.
"In the area of Curriculum and Instruction, HQIM, which is high quality instruction materials, has been adopted in almost every subject area, which really puts us ahead of the game, which is great. There was a positive school culture, but the rigor is inconsistent, and only half of the students find our coursework challenging. So that's definitely something we need to dive into."
Supt. King clarified that the response about coursework not being challenging came from the student surveys, with 50 percent not feeling challenged. Mr. Vine said, "There might be a correlation there to some extent, that if they're not finding them challenging enough that maybe their scores are lower because they're bored and just tuning out the course, right?" Supt. King said that in the next part of the strategic planning process, the district would be working to find the root causes of the concerns and start to create goals.
Going to the next slide, Supt. King said, "Under the Talent and Family Perception section, retention was down 19 points. There was reported mixed experiences with Special Ed, some very positive, some negative, which I don't think is a surprise, and then the negative NPS was the Net Promoter Score, which means, 'would you recommend your district to other students or other families?' That net promoter score was low, meaning that families in their surveys said that they would not recommend our district to other families, which is a concern.
"So What This Means? Obviously, we have urgent needs, and the areas we identified as those urgent needs are the rigor of the coursework, improving that sense of belonging, consistent expectations, staff stability, and then family trust. Then our next steps are to continue to engage the community in this work, to begin to create the strategic plan, strengthen our instruction, sense of belonging, student readiness and those family partnerships.
"We will continue with the community participation through forums, surveys, planning committees and partnerships that will begin to shape the next steps. So as a leadership team and a school community, we will identify some goal areas, and then as we start to define those goal areas, that's when we'll reach back out for people's input on what they think the defining steps are. So for example, if we choose a goal area of social-emotional learning and we identify five action steps, if we get feedback from the community that 'we think that step five is actually your top priority,' we will move those pieces around to reflect what the community needs."
Committee member Tara Teixeira said, "I don't think that leaving that up to them would be--I don't think that that's appropriate. I really think that us having our needs and what we need to have figured out, and then going to the community and saying, How can you fill the gaps? What programs do you have, what things you have, their opinion doesn't really mean much, really. It just doesn't. It's, what can you bring to the table so that you can fill in these gaps? And it's a lot of talking and not a lot of action."
"I think that's where the action steps come in," Supt. King said. "I don't mean that we will not go with what our root causes are. If teachers and students and families say we think the thing that you've identified as step three is super important and maybe takes priority over what you've identified as step one, that would be something we would need to consider. So I think that, yes, we will go with these results, it's a piece of the pie, and then the root causes will be drives it."
Using social-emotional learning as an example, Supt. King pointed out that there are many community organizations that can work with the schools on addressing that. "There are some programs that we have in district that people aren't even aware of. We are aware of it as a staff, and we communicate that with families, but I think the community isn't necessarily aware of all the things that we've been doing, so that will come to light in the plan as well," she said.
Committee Chair Mike Barbaro said that this report "gives us a baseline to go on with...People that have gone through the schools that had a really positive experience, it's a really positive thing, right? Then you have the some of the kids that feel left out. You get the negative. It's a way to try to find the balance. As we've seen over the last five years, our Special Ed needs have dramatically gone up because of mental health issues. One of the things that COVID did bring out is our attention to it, and so we become more focused on these issues that probably weren't up high enough. So now they've come out because of what transpired with the shutdowns and whatnot, isolation caused a lot of additional angst." Now, he said, the district was getting information from stakeholders, students in the classroom, and so on. "We're actually putting together a strategic plan for the first time, which gives us direction for the next five to seven years. So I think this is all positive, although some of the data is not positive."
Ms. Teixeira said that it was important to listen to the people having positive experiences, as well, and learn from that what the district was doing right. All agreed that it was important to listen to all experiences, good and bad, and look at what needed to change.
Mr. Vine said, "How big is the universe of people that makes the final decisions on how we either tweak problems to make them better or make major changes to make them better? Because one of my concerns is, I love having the community and the families and the kids and the staff involved, but I'm always concerned when it comes to decision making, that sometimes if a group gets too large and too cumbersome, there can be so many cross currents that nothing gets done."
"Ultimately, the district leadership will drive the plan," Supt. King assured him. "This is the input we needed to get started, and then the plan will go out in a draft form for feedback, but it won't be drastically changed."
Mr. Barbaro said, "One of the things we're keying on, and it doesn't sound like it's resonating, is the fact that we've moved two schools out from being reviewed by the state. That's a celebration. That's a lot of work. It's just that our message is not getting out. And that's communication. We, all of us, constantly hammer away of the way it's going. I don't know what are the forms of communication we can use to to celebrate these things."
Supt. King said that she thought people did know that, but the state change to drop the MCAS as a graduation requirement was a major distraction from that achievement. "I think the positives, although it's work and we're looking at change, is that we're doing these consistent walkthroughs," she said. "We are walking through a building as a leadership team every other week or every third week, and getting into classrooms and really trying to support teachers and offering [professional development] on these HQIMs that we brought in. There are high performing districts that don't have the amount of curriculum that we have that's been aligned with DESE's expectations of us. So we really do have a lot of positives.
"And again, there's more work to do, and there's obviously work to do to address people's negative experiences, because that needs to be done. But I think you're right. A lot of great work has taken place, and some of the feedback is that things are inconsistent, and the best thing to fix that is consistency with staff and leadership. And we're working on that, and that has come a long way. So I think we're going in the right direction. This plan will be a driver and a consistent driver for the next five years, no matter who comes and goes."
The plan will be a living, breathing document, which can change over time as DESE changes its requirements and as concerns are resolved, the Committee and Superintendent agreed. The plan will have "buckets," such as Curriculum and Instruction, or social-emotional learning, or sense of belonging, with specific steps and goals to take with each one.
New date! Winchendon Music Festival presents Capella Alamire at UUCW on Jan 30
Director Peter Urquhart leads the Renaissance choir Capella Alamire in rehearsal.
Photo courtesy of Winchendon Music Festival
On Friday, January 30, at 7:00 p.m., the Unitarian Universalist Church of Winchendon will host the Winchendon Music Festival's presentation of Capella Alamire in a free concert performance, open to all. Capella Alamire features vocalists from Massachusetts to Maine who perform music from original notation researched and edited by Prof. Peter Urquhart of University of New Hampshire. The program will consist of three rarely-heard Glorias abstracted from masses by Heinrich Isaac (c.1450-1517), Antoine de Févin (c.1470-c.1512), and an anonymous composer from the French court. The ensemble's director, Prof. Urquhart, has taught at Brandeis, Harvard, and Boston Universities.
UU Church of Winchendon is located at 126 Central Street, and is fully accessible. Please enter via the Equal Access Entry to the right of the main doors. Light refreshments will be sold. Sponsored in part by the Winchendon Cultural Council. (This concert was rescheduled from last Sunday due to the weather.)
Murdock Media Production Students Go Viral With Video Response to Jimmy Fallon Trying to Say "Winchendon"
Residents and natives of Winchendon were highly amused by the Tonight Show feature, "Three Guys from Boston Say Every Town and City in Massachusetts" which was part of the Tonight Show broadcast on January 13. Actors Matt Damon, Ben Affleck and Jimmy Fallon took turns rattling off the names of every single Bay State municipality in alphabetical order. Toy Towners were waiting eagerly for the Ws, but we didn't expect the extra zinger Winchendon got from Jimmy--who took three tries to get the name out. He seemed to have a little trouble with the "d".
Media Production students at Murdock High School couldn't let this golden opportunity pass by. At the Winchendon School Committee meeting on Thursday, January 22, student liaison to the School Committee Bailey gave a complete report of how the students responded and what happened as a result.
"Last Tuesday evening, Jimmy Fallon, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck went viral during the Tonight Show for 'Three Guys from Boston Saying Every Town and City in Massachusetts,'" she began. "The next morning, clips of the bit went viral with people searching to see how their town's name was pronounced. Winchendon had the honor of Jimmy Fallon saying our name, not once, not twice, the wrong way, saying Winchen-ton with a T, then getting it right the last time.
"After seeing the clip that morning, our Media Production teacher, Mr. Collins, shared an idea for the video in response to Jimmy mispronouncing our town. Students in Media Production quickly went to work knowing it had to be acted on quick in our social media trends. So our goal was to storyboard, rehearse, record, edit and post the video by noon, with the hopes of someone from the Tonight Show seeing the clips. We quickly rehearsed during our Media Production class right before lunch, and we ended up having one of our students get into the Blue Devil costume, and we got that from Miss Rondeau, and recorded two clips right before lunch, and then during lunch, as the kids walked down, a few of us were going around getting other students to join in for the last clip where we were all cheering.
"So then it was posted onto Instagram, Tiktok and Facebook, and by the end of the day, we knew the video was taking off, but most of our posts get only a few hundred or maybe a few thousand over the course. This video was gaining three to four thousand views an hour. So what surprised us was how the video stats continue to increase, not just the next day, but throughout the week. Since we launched it last Wednesday, the video has been viewed over 153,000 times by almost 102,000 people, 10 times the population of Winchendon, and about 97 percent of the people who have seen it don't follow our accounts. So there has been almost 4000 recreations, likes, shares, reposts and saves from that video with hundreds of positive comments about our little town."
The School Committee applauded this story, as Bailey added that the Gardner News had done an article about it.
You can see the original clip below. The students' response is a "short" on YouTube and is not embeddable, but you can watch it at https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nTX9QV3hVTo in the Blue Devil Weekly YouTube channel.
Friends of the Beals Library Valentine's Cookie Fundraiser
The Friends of the Beals Memorial Library in Winchendon are warming up their ovens to create Valentine-themed sweets! The Bake Sale fundraiser will be held through Saturday, February 14, and will offer buyers the opportunity to purchase cookies in a variety of delicious flavors. These beautifully boxed baked goods can be given as gifts or kept for yourself as a guilty pleasure.
Cookies may be pre-ordered by the dozen at $10.00 each, or two baker's dozens (26 cookies) at $20.00. Order forms can be downloaded from the Beals Library website at bealslibrary.org/friends (click on the "Fundraisers" button at the far right), or picked up at the Library. Once the order form has been filled out, buyers can either email their orders to Paula Whitaker at jimpaulawhitaker@gmail.com or drop them off at the Library's circulation desk. Order forms are due by Monday, February 9.
Buyers may also stop by the Friends Book Sale on the ground floor of the Beals Library on Saturday, February 14 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM, and buy their cookies then. Payments are made when the cookies are picked up, and the Friends accept cash, check or Venmo payments.
The boxed dozens include:
- Peanut Blossoms: Peanut butter cookies with a variety of chocolate kisses on top.
- Scotch Shortbread: Round-shaped, frosted shortbread with a cherry on top.
- Stenciled Cookie: Heart-shaped butter cookies with stenciled heart-shaped sprinkles on top.
- Raspberry Almond: Rich, buttery Scandinavian, melt-in-your-mouth tradition.
- M+M Valentine Sugar Cookie: Heart-shaped cookies with white or milk chocolate swirled on half of it, and dotted with M+M's.
- Chocolate Peppermint Splash: Chocolate cookie with pink frosting and crushed peppermint on top.
- Variety Pack: An assortment of each cookie featured above.
Murdock MHS Presents "Mamma Mia!" February 6 and 7
On Friday, February 6 and Saturday, February 7, at 7:00 p.m., Murdock Middle High School will present performances of the hit rock musical "Mamma Mia!" with songs from the popular 70s Swedish singing group ABBA. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for kids under 10, free for senior citizens (donations accepted!). Seating is first-come, first served. Tickets can be reserved in advance by calling or texting Tina Santos at 978-855-9358. Payment may be mailed as a check or paid at the door. Tickets will be sold at the door if supplies last--"When we sell out, we SELL OUT!", warns the Winchendon Schools Music Department. Performances will be in the Murdock Middle High School Auditorium at 3 Memorial Drive, Winchendon.
"Mamma Mia!" is called "a jukebox musical," with a story built around existing songs not originally written for the show. The plot revolves around a young woman, Sophie, about to be married on a fictional Greek island in the present day. She wants her father to escort her down the aisle--but she doesn't know who her father actually is. She reads her mother Donna's old diary and finds three possible candidates for the honor--and invites them all to the wedding, without telling her mom. Donna and Sophie, Donna's two best friends from the past, and Donna's three ex-lovers all work out the tangled dilemma, coming to a surprising resolution.
ABBA was one of the most internationally popular pop/rock groups ever. Some of their hit songs in "Mamma Mia!" include "Dancing Queen," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," "SOS," and "Take a Chance on Me."
