Murdock Computer Science Students Bring Home Championship Trophy in Regional Robotics Tournament

by Inanna Arthen
On Thursday, May 18, the Murdock Robotics Team "The Devil Bots" participated in the regional VEX Robotics Competition at Oakmont High School, along with 32 teams from 11 Massachusetts high schools. The seven Devil Bots team members entered four robots built by students in their robotics class. After a series of qualifying matches to determine team rankings, the afternoon consisted of an alliance draft and single elimination bracket tournament. Devil Bots Team 9782A partnered up with Warrior Robotics Team 7457E from Narragansett High School to form the 9th seed alliance in the bracket tournament. At the end of the competition, The Devil Bots brought home the regional trophy in triumph.

The Courier went to Murdock High School to meet with computer science teacher Andrew Collins and some of the students to find out more.

Mr. Collins explained that the competition involves a game in which the robots move rubberized plastic disks about four inches in diameter on a "game board" 16 feet by 16 feet square. Two robots are matched up in an "alliance" and compete against another alliance to score points, so four robots are in play at the same time. The game field has about 30-50 disks scattered around it. The robots have to get disks into their team's goal--if they try and fall short, the opposing team is awarded a point. Disks can be tossed or simply pushed, and one team can push the other team's disks out of the way, so some strategy is involved in the game.

The robots are remote controlled by the students, using a module similar to a video game controller, some of the time--but not always. "The first 15 seconds the robot has to, autonomously by itself, with no driver control, do something. So the kids have to program an algorithm for the robot to do something. The team that scores the most points during that period gets a bonus point. And then after that there's a minute and 45 seconds of the kids driving around and they score the points however they want," Mr. Collins said. The game involves a lot of coordination and on-the-spot decisions by the team members. The competition is very fast paced.

Devil Bots team member Cohen Veilleux said what interested him about the competition was "the engineering process and actually building the robots and like prepping for an event, and then like, you have your games and then you have to, like, take a minute to process and then go back to another one."

"It's very euphoric," team member Andy Chen added.

Asked if the competition was stiff, Cohen said, "There was a lot of robots that were like, really good. Yeah, definitely. We definitely thought we were going to struggle against them, but we ended up doing pretty good with Andy's robot." A sophomore, Cohen said he wasn't sure if he'd pursue computer science as a career, but he'll "definitely take the class again."

Andy added, "I think it was definitely a team effort. I kind of did the robot part, but there was also the driving part, which was very important. So big thanks to our driver. His name is Aiden."

Cohen said, "I feel like we're having a lot more robot interactions throughout our day-to-day lives now and we see it a lot more. There can be more than just robotics games, and it could be used in more everyday stuff."

Devil Bots team member Camille Hart added, "I think they'll open up more opportunities for other students to try robotics, to have that opportunity or are interested in it, and see how they can see themselves in that field."

The students design and program the robots themselves based on packages from VEX. Components include a wide variety of metal frame pieces, motors, gears, wheels, belts, controllers, interfaces, and electronic components such as bumper switches and an ultrasonic range finder that allows the robot to detect distances from surfaces. The robots are programmed with a block-builder style of code that simplifies the process and makes it more intuitive. It is possible to code directly but most students find the block language system easy to learn.

Students find out that the most obvious solutions aren't always the best way to win, Mr. Collins said. "They go through the engineering design process when they are building this because they see the game and...they're like, well, we want to shoot the Frisbee into the net....this team in particular, they originally engineered a lift system, and then very similar to a baseball pitching machine, it would ramp up and it would toss the disk. And they found it worked really well in class. But once they got on the game field, they realized that their solution was not the best." The students redesigned their robot to simply push the disks across the floor into the goal. "Some students look at it from a coding perspective. Some students look at it from an engineering perspective," Mr. Collins said, but the most successful builders focus on how to win this specific game.

In past years, students have built robots that could raise objects up a series of expanding arms, like a forklift or extension ladder, and which could use rubber bands and gears to launch objects though the air, like a crossbow. The students' ingenuity doesn't stop with robots. This year, a supply chain backlog left the team without practice game disks to test their prototype robot. Finally a student suggested printing their own plastic disks on the school's 3D printer with a template from VEX. The homemade disks worked perfectly.

VEX Robotics is a global company and the game competition is held all over the country, with a world tournament in the spring, Mr. Collins said. But, "the competition we do is actually hyperlocal to Central Mass. So the folks over at Oakmont High School, a really good engineering program. They've hosted a regional event, specifically for schools who do this as part of a class. A lot of schools will do VEX robotics as an after school club, and they'll actually have a robotics team. And they'll spend hours upon hours and they're the ones who are competing in the regional and national or world events. This event is geared more for smaller schools like ours, who might not have a team, but we have a robotics curriculum and we have students who get interested in it. And what we do is, we bake going to this competition at Oakmont, into our class."

Mr. Collins said he was "super proud" of his robotics students. "They absolutely were amazing. They were rock stars. It was a scene...They overcame obstacles. They modified their robot on the fly. They were talking about reprogramming it like midday, and, I had to coach them into like, please don't do that. But they came back with the biggest smiles on their faces. We were going down Central Street, as the buses were already dismissed, in the school van and they were holding the trophy out the window, and they were yelling into the wind and it was really cool." The "nerd" stereotype is not in evidence at Murdock. "This competition was on a Thursday and on Friday the announcement went over the PA system in the morning about winning the competition and getting the trophy in the display case. And all day, the students who were involved were getting pats on the back and 'way to go' and handshakes from a cross section of the high school, it was really neat."

Mr. Collins has been the computer science teacher at Murdock for six years. "Mike Fontaine was the technology teacher here and now he is the technology teacher in the middle school, and he had built up the robotics program prior to my arrival," Mr. Collins said. "When he was a high school teacher, his group of students won the competition [about ten years ago]...and he's now teaching robotics as part of his curriculum at the middle school. So we're seeing more students come up to the high school, ready with some of the basic stuff of building robots. So he got us involved in this."

Students come into the high school from Mr. Fontaine's classes with a strong foundation already in place, allowing the high school classes to begin at a higher level. "We've really brought the level of rigor of curriculum up now that we have students in the middle school doing it. And so we do a quick down and dirty on building stuff and then the students really spend the entire semester designing from scratch and building and testing and coding a robot really just to go to this competition." The Robotics class runs for half the year. It has its own dedicated classroom. The computer science lab is on another floor of the building.

"We have an Intro to Computer Science class, which focuses on fundamentals of problem solving," Mr. Collins said. "You know, a lot of people think of computer science, it's just someone coding, and computer science really isn't. It's really, how do I attack a problem? How do I solve problems? And how do I use computing to get to the end of that." All middle school students now take at least a couple of courses in computer science. When they get to high school, the Intro class includes modules on problem solving, game making, web design, artificial intelligence, physical computing, micro-processors and the Internet of Things (the computer chip in your coffee maker).

Up from this class is AP Computer Science Principles, which earns students college credit if they pass the AP exam. This course has some coding, but it's not focused on any one programming language. "The purpose of the class is all of the principles of computing science, data structures and problem solving and how the internet works and how we save data to computers and how we communicate to somebody else a secret message without giving them the password and all the very fundamentals," Mr. Collins said. As part of their AP exam, students design a mobile app (the programs that you buy from Google Play or the Apple store to run on your smart phone) from scratch.

Mr. Collins said, "I'm really lucky because I've seen the growth of the program when I first started. Take Computer Science Principles as an example. When I first started, I had three students. And it was three great students. It was three students who clearly had some sort of interest or knack for technology. They were me as a high school student. Over the years, the number of students in that class has grown. Now I have 16. Next year, we're looking at 24-28. And part of that is the students are getting exposed to computer science earlier, and it's not just for the computer savvy."

More and more females are taking the classes, Mr. Collins said, "which is awesome. It's been a male-centric world for far too long. Go back to the 1950s and 60s and there were a lot of women involved in computing. A lot of what NASA did with computing was women programming computers. It turned into a male world, unfortunately. And we're now seeing more and more young ladies, which is good to see the creative side because they bring a totally different perspective than the boys at problem solving. And they frankly, do it better...they can attack a problem and break it down. And they make some really cool projects."

The technology program got substantial funding from a capital skills grant from the state about seven years ago. They re-use and recycle as much as they can, but technology being what it is, the program has to keep up with upgrades or their equipment won't be compliant with current standards. The robotics equipment is now programmed with Chromebooks, but older components aren't compatible with Chromebooks and have to interface with PCs. The program has a budget of around $1000-$2000 per year, Mr. Collins guesstimated. Registering the team for the VEX competition is $100.

Along with computer science, Mr. Collins produces the student video show Blue Devil Weekly. As part of that, students learn video production, video editing, photography, graphic design, Adobe Creative Suite, Canva, and similar skills related to digital literacy.

Not all the students end up pursuing technology careers or higher degrees. Some do; some pursue very practical applications of these skills. "There's a program over at Mount Wachusett [Community College] that is specifically designed for robotics and automation within industry, and so I've had some students go to that, that have decided 'I don't want to go the four year route. I want to get an Associate's in this thing so I can go work at a local manufacturer and work on a plant factory floor,'" Mr. Collins said. "I've got a couple former students, one's at UMass Lowell studying computer science. Others have gone on to UMass Amherst for engineering or business."

Good paying jobs, even blue-collar and trade jobs, increasingly require a substantial amount of digital literacy. Thanks to passionate and committed teachers like Mr. Collins and Mr. Fontaine, Murdock students aren't just winning competitions--they're getting a solid grounding for their future in the real world.

Watch a (short) video of the Devil Bots team in action at the competition, on the Blue Devil Weekly YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/gFRZM21i5Us

MVOC Receives $20M to Proceed with Winchendon Veterans Housing Project

by Keith Kent, Special to the Courier
In a long awaited press release on the evening of Wednesday, May 17, by the Office of State Rep Jon Zlotnik (D)-Gardner and Montachusett Veterans Outreach Center Executive Director, Dr. Stephanie Marchetti, EdD, veterans and the citizens of Winchendon were notified federal and state funds in the amount of nearly $20M have been approved for the ongoing Winchendon Veterans Housing Project at the former site of the adjacent Streeter and Poland Elementary Schools.

Zlotnik also shared the news that same evening on his page on the social media site Facebook, where he stated the following: Today, I joined MVOC Executive Director Stephanie Marchetti at a ceremony where the Healey-Driscoll administration announced $246 million in affordable housing grant awards. Of that, just under $20 million will go directly to the Montachusett Veterans Outreach Center's housing expansion plan! With this money, under Stephanie's leadership, the former Streeter and Poland elementary schools in Winchendon will be renovated to support 44 units of low income veteran housing. This will truly be a great way to support our veterans here in Massachusetts.

Zlotnik in the release also added, "Thank you to Governor Maura Healey, LG Kim Driscoll, and our partners in Winchendon - Town Manager Justin Sultzbach, and the Winchendon Board of Selectmen. The entire Winchendon community has been truly on board with this project, from the property's neighbors to town officials". Zlotnik has played a strong role throughout the project, including filing an amendment to H.5007 "An Act relating to economic growth and relief for the commonwealth" which was eventually signed by former Gov. Charles Baker.

The very following day MVOC Executive Director, Dr. Stephanie Marchetti, along with the MVOC in a press release in part announced the following: The Montachusett Veterans Outreach Center has been hard at work for nearly 4 years preparing to redevelop the former Streeter and Poland Elementary Schools into 44 units of low-income apartments for homeless and high-risk veterans. On Thursday May 18 it was announced that the organization would receive nearly $20m via a mixture of state and federal resources to advance this project forward. This award comes from the state's "One Stop" program, which was created several years ago to allow organizations to apply for many state grants at one. These funds were appropriated by the legislature as part of the state's broader effort to address the housing shortage across the Commonwealth, which the new Healey- Driscoll administration has made a top priority. This large award, coupled with a $2m award secured by Representative Jon Zlotnik in the Economic Development Bill and several other state and private awards, give the project the funding it needs to move forward.

Dr. Marchetti also in part in the release added, "This is unbelievably exciting news for MVOC. There is a huge need for affordable housing throughout the state and we are excited to be able to be a part of the solution to that issue, and appreciative to the town of Winchendon for providing us the opportunity to expand within their community. We feel very fortunate to have received the support of many town officials and community members and are looking forward to breaking ground later this year."

The MVOC Press Release by Dr. Marchetti in its entirety, regarding the Winchendon Veterans Housing expansion project can be viewed on-line at https://www.veterans-outreach.org/news-and-media/

The project still according to design plans on the nearly 4 acre site will once finished include 44 total units designed for "Veterans to age in place" with at least 16 reserved for veterans earning less than 30 percent of AMI. There will also be 22 parking spaces, a courtyard, and recreational spaces. Marchetti explained that of their 6 facilities, 50 percent of veterans on average have personal vehicles, and the other 50 percent use public transportation, which is strongly supported by the MVOC.

As previously covered in a December, 2021 Edition of the Winchendon Courier, the buildings once finished will have 14,870 gross square feet (GSF) in the Streeter School building, 8,230 GSF in the Poland School building, and an additional 16,631 GSF between the center and rear additions of the Streeter structure, for a total of 39,731 GSF on three levels of structure.

Additionally it was explained in MVOC provided documents, on the Gardner Floor level there will be thirteen units, two gathering areas or pods, one laundry area, a Day Room, Case Manager Office, Storage Room, and security cameras at all entrances, exits, and elevator. On the First Floor there will be fourteen units, a combined Laundry/Pod Room with a TV and sitting area with a table and chairs which will also serve as a game and or puzzle room, and also one small common area. On the Second Floor will be the remaining 17 living units, another combined Laundry/Pod Room, another Pod Room for gaming or puzzle making, a small common area, and elevator access".

The previous story with more details regarding the project in its entirety can be viewed on line at "Former Streeter/Poland School Buildings Slated to Become 44 Units of Veterans Housing".

Speaking the MVOC Executive Director, Marchetti was elated regarding the long awaited and recent developments. "I am really excited, and just overwhelmed to learn of the grant money becoming available. We applied last January of 21 and didn't get them, and applied this January again and we felt a little more prepared and a little more further along and tried to adjust it to more of what we know DHCD (Department of Housing & Community Development) is looking for, but you never know what your competition is in something like this, so we are truly excited we can finally move forward"! Marchetti explained.

Project Timeline - When asked for a projection on potentially breaking ground, Marchetti replied, "So if I am being very optimistic, I really hope to break ground by the end of this year. My reason for that is these buildings have been sitting for so long, and I really need to get to work on some structural integrity issues before another winter comes". Marchetti added, "I would clearly like to break ground on the basic stuff, but then really get to work hard in 2024".

Expressing Thanks - Dr. Marchetti wanted all involved to know how thankful she was for their assistance. "First and foremost I want everybody to know how appreciative I am for their help and guidance along the way, because when I stepped in to my current role, this project had already been formed. I stepped in to it about two years after it was conceived. I am very fortunate to have a great team in Anser Advisory and Barbara Sokoloff & Associates to guide me through it, and even more lucky that the Town of Winchendon has been so welcoming and so supportive of this project".

In closing Dr. Marchetti said, "I am really particularly excited that Winchendon is where we are going to expand, because Winchendon is such a strong veterans supporting community and I think they are going to be really welcoming to these men and women that we house here, and to the veterans we are going to house there, I can't wait until we had you the keys to your new apartment, because I cry almost every time I hand a veteran their new keys. It's really an emotionally rewarding opportunity to tell people that you're never going to have to worry about where you're going to have to live again"!

If you would like to donate to the Winchendon Veterans Housing Project, there are a variety of donation levels, and no donation is too small to be accepted. If interested, please contact the MVOC at their phone contact below, or please visiting the following link at: https://www.veterans-outreach.org/expansion/

The Montachusett Veterans Outreach Center is located at 268 Central Street, Gardner, MA. The MVOC can be reached by phone at 978-632-9601. You can view the MVOC on the internet via their homepage at https://www.veterans-outreach.org/ and also view them on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/MontachusettVeteransOutreachCenter

Current condition
The former Streeter School, seen left in photo, and Poland School, seen right, are under high priority by MVOC Executive Director Dr. Stephanie Marchetti to be addressed ASAP beginning with items such as the roofs to prevent any possible continuing damage before the start of next winter.

Town Looks into 110-year-old Whitney Trust Fund for Bridge Repairs

by Inanna Arthen
At their meeting on Monday, May 22, the Board of Selectmen heard from Town Manager Justin Sultzbach, Burton J. Gould and Les Goodrich about their investigations into a 110-year-old trust fund established by the will of turn-of-the-last-century Winchendon benefactor George M. Whitney. Mr. Sultzbach said, "The question is whether or not a Trust that was established still exists. And if there are funds remaining in there. The biggest concern is that the Trustees that were appointed to oversee that Trust, unfortunately, are no longer with us. And so we're gonna have to go through the process of trying to investigate the legal way of appropriately reappointing. At this time, it's the belief that it would fall under the purview of the Board of Selectmen, but we just wanted to get legal confirmation first."

Regarding the Trust, in her 1964 history of the town, Winchendon Years 1764-1964, p. 151, Lois Stevenson Greenwood writes,

"Bridges as well as buildings were being improved or built thanks to another town benefactor, George M. Whitney. Mr. Whitney was a well-known figure in his native town of Winchendon. In addition to holding many minor town offices, he served as town clerk for thirty-three years and as an assessor for twelve years. In 1914, Mr. Whitney left a trust fund which provided 'for the construction of a bridge or bridges over streams or rivers in said Town under the authority thereof; said bridges to be built of stone or concrete in a substantial manner with due regard to architectural and engineering features of the ways of said Town and each to bear in an appropriate place the inscription "George M. Whitney Bridge".' Under the terms of the will, William M. Whitney and Orange Whitney were appointed Trustees and were to nominate a third Trustee. Also they were instructed to 'annually render to the Town an account of said Trust.' Sidney N. Fletcher was appointed the third Trustee and in their first annual report to the Town the fund on December 31, 1917, showed a total of $81,546.25.

"In 1927 the first George M. Whitney Memorial Bridge was built on Spring Street to replace the so-called Hunt Bridge. The year 1932 saw the construction of the second memorial bridge. This spans the Millers River in Centerville. A third bridge was built in 1939 on Glenallen Street replacing the old bridge damaged by the 1936 flood. In 1961 a sum of money from the Bridge Trust Fund was used together with Chapter 90 funds to build a new bridge over Millers River to replace the so-called Brown Street Bridge in Waterville."

The bridges are still here; so is the Trust, Mr. Gould assured the Board. "What eventually happened was the will got challenged. And it finally got straightened out. But the key to this whole thing is on page 12 [of the will]. This is what it says. 'The Trustees shall annually render to the Town account of said Trust.' Well, the Trustees have long since gone. The Board of Selectmen, believe it or not, as executive officers of the town don't appoint them. They have to be appointed by the Probate Court."

Mr. Gould went on, "The reason why I bring this to your attention is this fund was set up for the benefit of the taxpayer. Not too many people do that anymore. And there are ample funds in that--at least as far as I know, I'm not going to tell you what the figure is, because I really don't know." The Whitney family owned the Whitney Mansion on Front Street just up from Town Hall, now the home of the Winchendon History and Cultural Center.

Mr. Gould said he could find no records of any annual reports to the town from the Trustees (even though according to Greenwood, money was drawn from the fund four times for its intended purpose between 1927 and 1961). There is a surviving descendent of the family, who Mr. Gould thinks does not "have anything at all to say about this."

Mr. Gould said he was happy to help resolve this dilemma. "My point is that, and I'm sure my colleague over here from Board of Public Works [Brian Croteau] hopes that things get going, because it's going to give him some serious money to take care of these four bridges. Three of which need some work." Not all the bridges seem to conform to the construction specifics in the will.

Board member Danielle LaPointe said, "I'm excited to see that after all the bridges are built to repair we can use it on the highways leading to the bridges. So there's some road money."

Board Vice-Chair Rick Ward said that he'd spent about an hour at the Beals Memorial Library, "crawling over the workspace over there trying to get into the files that they have." He found a few of the Trustee's reports. The 1917 report cited the figure given by Greenwood. "I did find one for December 31 1947, which said that the fund was now at $96,755," Mr. Ward continued. "And the last one I was able to get was December 31 1962. And at that time, the fund was reported now at $145,354.82. And at that time, the trustees were Kenneth S. White, F. Paul Norcross, and William Whitney, who have all passed." Mr. Ward added that the will specified that "in no case is the fund to be reduced for any bridge or for any cause below $85,000." So it should contain a substantial amount by now, 62 years after it was last drawn from.

Mr. Ward commented that each bridge should have a sign designating it a George M. Whitney Bridge, and they don't. This was a condition set forth in the will.

Ms. LaPointe raised the question of whether the town, at any point, had declined to accept the funds. If so, the will specified that the total amount would be donated to Mass General. Mr. Ward stated that Town Meeting voted to accept the funds at a Special Town Meeting on December 17, 1914, but there is no record beyond the use of the funds in 1961 of whether the town ever declined them.

Mr. Gould compared the situation to the fund established by toymaker and town benefactor Morton E. Converse, which was left under the jurisdiction of the Board of Selectmen and essentially forgotten until 2017, when it was found to contain some $350,000, and money was disbursed to a number of surprised and grateful town organizations (as specified by the conditions of the fund).

The next step is getting verification from legal counsel as to how to proceed. Mr. Sultzbach added, "And just for the sake of everyone's expectations, I guess two points, one is, it's probably going to take a while. The other point is although it's unknown how much money is actually in there, the cost to repair a bridge has escalated exponentially over the past decade. And so you could be looking at each of those bridges could be a million dollars each to get them up to speed. Either way, money's money. The town will take it, but just for the sake of setting expectations."

Murdock Music Students Bring the Year to a Harmonious End in Pops Concert

by Inanna Arthen
It was the first "Pops Concert" she'd conducted at Murdock, Winchendon Schools music director Emma Erwin told the audience at Wednesday's finale to Murdock Middle High School's academic year of music and theater. An annual tradition in pre-COVID times (and hopefully will be from now on!), the Murdock Pops Concert includes all the choral and instrumental ensembles from both schools, by themselves and in combinations. Regardless of the musical selections played, the concert is a little bittersweet--it's the last time we'll see and hear the talented seniors who have appeared on the Murdock stage over the last four years.

The concert was well-attended, and well-recorded as cell phones throughout the hall preserved the performances for sentimental memories. The musicians were dressed in black shirts, pants or skirts and blouses, most with neat neckties. A new set of acoustic back panels both screened the back of the stage and improved the sound level noticeably. Ms. Erwin gave credit to the lighting technician running lights and spots from the light panel in the balcony. Professional organist and pianist Sharon Beaty accompanied the choral groups on an electric keyboard. As with the musical and one-act plays, changes between the student ensembles were made smoothly and quickly.

The concert opened with the Murdock Select Choir, performing Ms. Erwin's arrangement of "Oyfin Pripetchik" (soloist Quinn Richard), the traditional song "Ikan Kekek" (soloists Quinn Richard and Tiana Graessle) and "Just a Dream Away" (soloists Tiana Graessle, Abby Guerra and Angelina Dellasanta).

They were followed by the Murdock Jazz Band, an ensemble including clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, bass guitar and drums, performing "Skyfall" (vocal soloist Moss Maloney) and "Superstition".

The Murdock Middle School Band, while small, performed "The Dragon Lord".

The Murdock Concert Band played one number, "Final Countdown," after which the concert broke for a 10-minute intermission. Ms. Erwin explained this was because the band needed to rest up before its next number. That number, "Arabian Dances" was a level 4 piece on the scale of 1 to 6 in difficulty by which band pieces are rated, Ms. Erwin explained. It also required "more percussion than we have, but we have a way around that," she said mysteriously (a full drum set and two players at the timpani were working hard). That "way around" was seen midway through the piece when some of the wind players put down their instruments and whipped out bongo drums and other small percussion instruments--without missing a beat.

Ms. Erwin said the Concert Band traditionally played pieces requested by the group's seniors for their last concert. The band finished with "Dark Ride," "Best of the Beatles," and an arrangement of Michael Giaccchino's theme music for "The Incredibles".

The Murdock Middle School Choir took the risers next, giving sweet renditions of "Baloo Baleerie" and "Yonder Come Day." The middle school students joined the Murdock High School Choir for several of their pieces as the High School Choir concluded the concert. The singers performed Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Watercolor Morning," "Bella Ciao" (a piece from the Italian Revolution, Ms. Erwin told the audience, sung by memory, in Italian and a cappella) and finally, "Journey On" by Derrick Fox. It was hard not to feel a little emotional listening to that one.

Soloists with the High School Choir included Skylar Winn, Genevieve McSheeny, Charlene Lor, Ryaley Laventure, Andrea Santiago Rios, Wren Lambert, Tiana Graessle, Abby Guerra and Angelina Dellasanta.

All the musicians, both vocalists and instrumentalists, did a wonderful job. The many hours of hard work and rehearsal, and the dedication of their teachers, truly shone from the Murdock stage. There was only one missing element: too few young men among the singers. All of Murdock's talented male singers (and we know you're there) need to step up!

Many of the musicians played or sang with more than one ensemble. Tiana Graessle, Quinn Richard and Vivian Sellars are members of the Narragansett Marching Band and Jazz Band.

To all the graduating seniors in the Murdock Music program, we wish you the best. To all the rest of you, we look forward to seeing you on the Murdock auditorium stage--and maybe the new Community Park amphitheater--next year!

Community Conversation: Autism Inclusion at the Beals Memorial Library

Are you a parent or caretaker of a child with autism? The Beals Memorial Library in Winchendon wants to hear from you at their upcoming community conversation. Join the library on Wednesday, June 14, at 6:30 p.m. to talk about their upcoming plans for autism inclusion and express your thoughts on how they can make the space more accommodating for you and your family.

This public discussion will be the first part of the Winchendon library's See Beyond the Spectrum Initiative, a grant-funded initiative to make the library a more accessible and sensory-friendly place for children and families on the autism spectrum. It will also be the first of a series of community conversations to be held as part of See Beyond the Spectrum over the course of the year-long grant cycle.

Families are welcome to have children accompany them to the community conversation.

This conversation is brought to you by funds provided Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities is an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA) in collaboration with the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL).

Since 2014, ALA's Libraries Transforming Communities initiative has re-imagined the role libraries play in supporting communities. Libraries of all types have utilized free dialogue and deliberation training and resources to lead community and campus forums; take part in anti-violence activities; provide a space for residents to come together and discuss challenging topics; and have productive conversations with civic leaders, library trustees and staff.

The Beals Memorial Library is located at 50 Pleasant Street in Winchendon. For more information, contact the library at 978-297-0300 or visit bealslibrary.org/autism.

Sensory Friendly Saturdays at the Beals Memorial Library

Enjoy special library hours designed to provide a safe and friendly environment for children on the autism spectrum and their families this summer at the Beals Memorial Library in Winchendon. For one Saturday each month this summer, the Winchendon library will be offering their new Sensory Friendly Saturdays, beginning on June 24.

Sensory Friendly Saturdays will be held on June 24, July 15, and August 19, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. During these hours, friendly library staff will assist patrons through navigating the library and its various services: using computers, locating library materials, and more. Sensory toys and accessories will be available to help encourage positive play/interaction and minimize stress and anxiety. Additionally, there will be activities that may include crafts, sensory activities, movement, and more.

Please note: the library will not be open to the general public during these events. Thank you for understanding.

This program is brought to you by funds provided Libraries Transforming Communities: Accessible Small and Rural Communities is an initiative of the American Library Association (ALA) in collaboration with the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL).

Since 2014, ALA's Libraries Transforming Communities initiative has re-imagined the role libraries play in supporting communities. Libraries of all types have utilized free dialogue and deliberation training and resources to lead community and campus forums; take part in anti-violence activities; provide a space for residents to come together and discuss challenging topics; and have productive conversations with civic leaders, library trustees and staff.

The Beals Memorial Library is located at 50 Pleasant Street in Winchendon. For more information, contact the library at 978-297-0300 or visit bealslibrary.org/autism.

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