Nashoba Tech students study ethic care for zebrafish
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To keep up with the state’s frameworks for biotech programs in 2021, instructor John Milhaven at Nashoba Valley Technical High School recently added a facet to his class that “involves the proper and ethical care of laboratory animals.”
“Of course, when people think of laboratory animals, they think about mice or rats, and I thought mice or rats would be expensive and smelly,” said Milhaven.
Milhaven’s second thought was reportedly fruit flies. But Nashoba Tech is a school that when not running during a health crisis features an award-winning restaurant run by staff and students in the culinary arts program that is open to the public. So the idea of fruit flies was not deemed appropriate.
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Samantha Valcourt, 17, of Westford, has a passion for healthcare.
Valcourt, a senior at Nashoba Valley Technical High School majoring in health assisting, plans on becoming a physician s assistant.
Valcourt, a certified nursing assistant, received the first of two doses of coronavirus vaccine on Jan. 6 at her workplace Westford House, a nursing home. Getting it wasn t bad. I haven t had any symptoms . I didn t notice anything different from my day-to-day, at all.
A second dose is expected in about three weeks.
Valcourt is among the frontline, including emergency responders, and healthcare workers the first tier in the state s planned, three-tier a rollout of the vaccine.
112-year-old Hazel Plummer, oldest resident of Mass., gets the COVID-19 vaccine
By Breanne Kovatch Globe Correspondent,Updated December 30, 2020, 3:38 p.m.
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David Plummer (left) gave his 112-year-old mother, Hazel, a double thumbs-up before she received her Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination at Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley on Wednesday. Hazel Plummer, who was born in 1908, lived through the flu pandemic of 1918.Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Hazel Plummer, 112, survived the flu pandemic of 1918. A little over 100 years later, she received the Pfizer vaccine to help her live through another one.
âYou have to have faith that this works, and it looks like this works good,â said her son, 84-year-old David Plummer, referring to the vaccine.
Angell at Nashoba Medical Center loosens restrictions
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The Angell at Nashoba Animal Medical Center in Westford announced it is loosening restrictions.
When the center opened in February 2016, its mission was to care for the pets of low-income residents of the towns that make up the district of Nashoba Valley Technical High School.
Nearly five years later, that mission is handcuffing the clinic.
“We’ve realized that it’s not sustainable, especially now with COVID-19 and a lot of people losing their jobs,” said Dr. Laurence Sawyer, medical director of Angell at Nashoba.
Angell at Nashoba is the result of a partnership between the MSPCA Angell Animal Medical Center and Nashoba Tech’s Veterinary Assisting program that sought to help families in the district who couldn’t afford veterinary care.
New chef-instructor at Nashoba Tech knows his way around a kitchen
Dan Phelps
When Paul Wilson owned a restaurant, he often employed high-school students in the kitchen and as waitstaff. So when he decided to spend the twilight of his culinary career as a teacher, he knew what he was getting into.
Of course, he didn’t count on changing careers in the middle of a global pandemic.
Wilson, 56, joined the team at Nashoba Valley Technical High School full time in August after filling in last spring for former Chef-Instructor Fran Zentgraf while he recovered from surgery. When Zentgraf retired in June, Wilson got his opportunity.