The coronavirus pandemic that has suppressed the nation for most of the past year couldnât silence a countywide celebration Sunday heralding the Four Freedoms advocated decades ago by a former president.
More than 200 people gathered via a Zoom presentation, organized by the Four Freedoms Coalition, to embrace the four entitlements that President Franklin D. Roosevelt espoused 80 years ago. During the online event, local, state and national political figures called for equality and justice for all Americans, while singer Wanda Houston, drummer Jerome Edgerton, and the duo of singer Natalia Bernal and guitarist Jason Ennis inspired those watching with their music.
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The Daniel Pearl Berkshire Scholarship was established in 2003 with major support from The Berkshire Eagle, the North Adams Transcript and friends of Daniel Pearl, to benefit Berkshire-area students who intend to major in journalism or music. The scholarship fund is invested by the Daniel Pearl Foundation of Encino, California and the award program is administered by the Daniel Pearl Berkshire Scholarship Committee.
Daniel Pearl was a reporter for The Wall Street Journal who was kidnapped and killed, at the age of 38, by terrorists in Pakistan early in 2002. He began his career with stints as a reporter at both the Transcript and The Eagle between 1986 and 1990, after graduating from Stanford University. He joined The Wall Street Journal in 1990, and worked in its Atlanta, Washington, London and Paris bureaus. In 2000 he was appointed chief of The Journalâs South Asia Bureau in Bombay, India. At the time of his death, Pearl had been seeking an interv
Teachers unions and some lawmakers have pushed Massachusetts to scrap a standardized testing requirement in a pandemic-impacted school year, but the state and some advocacy groups still want public schools to administer tests this year.
Preparing for and administering the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam, opponents fear, would take away learning time that is especially scarce due to the pandemic. Moreover, some question the ability of standardized testing to measure student performance, since test results are often shown to correlate strongly with race and family income, among other social factors.
MCAS supporters, however, claim the difficult year makes the test particularly important for measuring whether students have fallen behind. Information gathered from testing, they say, would help parents see how their children are doing and allow the state to identify where additional resources might be needed.
Quote It is a feeling I can t put into words â but it is powerful and it keeps me going.
â Madison Quinn, on the work her nonprofit, Strong Little Souls, does for children battling cancer
Quinn, now 19, received a nod recently from the New England Patriots for helping children diagnosed with cancer. The Patriots honored Quinn with the teamâs Difference Maker of the Week Award, which celebrates volunteerism. The award comes with a $5,000 donation to the nonprofit.
âI appreciate the honor, and the donation is a great thing to receive,â said Quinn, a graduate of Pittsfield High School who is attends Elms College as a full-time nursing student. âI thought of this as a way where Strong Little Souls could get some recognition and bring in supporters who want to help what we do.â
While offering further flexibility for students and families in need of picking up meals, these additions to the schedule will also provide families the opportunity to receive multiple days of meals at one time. Regular midday meal service at all sites will continue. Newly added late afternoon\early evening meal service sites include: Conte Community School (West Union Street) and Morningside Community School (Burbank Street) on Thursday, Dec. 17 and Monday, Dec. 21. 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM Multiple days of meals will be distributed at each location, on each day – including a 1\2 gallon of milk on each pick-up day. In an effort to ensure that enough multi-day meals are prepared and available on Monday and Thursdays, families are encouraged to place their order place using the www.pittsfield.net website. A link to the meal pick-up form is located on the top the website, in the announcements section.