Remote learning has returned to Wellesley High School, at least temporarily, beginning this week.
In a Jan. 8 message, Superintendent David Lussier and Health Department Director Lenny Izzo updated the community on COVID-19 cases at the public schools for that week. We saw positive cases at multiple schools, including single cases at Bates and Upham, two cases at Sprague, and five cases at WMS, the letter said. All but two of these cases are students. None of these cases involved in-school transmission of the virus.
The most challenging situation was at the high school, where 10 positive cases were documented. All but one of these cases are students, the email said. Two of these cases may have emerged through in-classroom transmission, although we cannot confirm that with full certainty. (We will be conducting a more thorough review next week.) The aggregated number of close contacts and other absences has resulted in a significant number of students and staff who ca
Farewell Shamsur Rahman Faruqi: The Sun That Set in the Earth Â
Faruqi (1935-2020) was simultaneously a high-quality writer, competent critic, respected poet, high-ranking short-story writer, authentic researcher, and expert of prosody and grammar.
Shamsur Rahman Faruqi. Photo: Twitter/@MayaramArvind
Yoon in gharon mein pehle bhi lagti rahi hai aag
(This time around the smoke carries the bloodâs red colour
These homes before too have been burnt by fire)
â Shamsur Rahman Faruqi  Â
Shamsur Rahman Faruqi (1935-2020), the famous critic and researcher of Urdu literature, passed away on December 25 at the age of 85 in Allahabad. Not Prayagraj but the historic city made famous by Allahabadi
Jill Adams
The Wellesley High School Drama Society and Technical Team have selected “The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later” as its winter production this year. This is the second play based on Matthew Shepard’s murder in Laramie, Wyoming. It was deemed to be a hate crime because Matthew Shepard was gay.
The directors made the show a film rather than a Zoom play in an effort to give students a more enriched experience but remain in accordance with the current DESE guidelines for the pandemic.
“The Laramie Project,” the original play, came out in 1998 and was the result of dozens of interviews by the Tectonic Theater Project, an acting troupe from New York City. In 2008, the team returned to Laramie to explore the long-term effects of Matthew Shepard’s death in 1998 on the town, expecting to write a short epilogue to The Laramie Project. The depth of what they encountered warranted a full-length play in itself.
The WHS Choral Program is alive and well in a pandemic
Jill Adams
The Wellesley High School Choral Program, under the leadership of Kevin McDonald, is renowned for its various vocal ensembles in which approximately 20% of the student body participates.
They are the Rice Street Singers, one of the top jazz choirs in the state; the Keynote Singers, who have performed twice with the Boston Pops Orchestra; Concert Choir, which annually performs with the Handel and Haydn Society; and Song Sisters and Brooks Brothers Choirs, which are two of the largest choral ensembles in the state of Massachusetts.
This year, the choral department has faced many challenges in adhering to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education guidelines to keep singers and staff safe. Guidelines require singing outside of the building while being 10 feet apart and staying masked while in school and while singing.