The Lincoln Squirrel – News, features and photos from Lincoln, Mass.

letters to the editor

Letter to the editor: endorsement for Hullinger for LSSC

To the editor:

I confidently endorse Siobhan Hullinger as the write-in candidate opening for the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District School Committee in the upcoming election on Monday, March 26.

Ms. Hullinger is a long-time Sudbury resident who is well respected in the community. I have most admired Mrs. Hullinger’s selfless volunteer work having served alongside her as a board member on the Lincoln-Sudbury Scholarship Fund, Inc. Dollars for Scholars (LSSF).

Through my involvement with LSSF and having built a strong working relationship with Ms. Hullinger over the years, I have gained tremendous respect and admiration for her strong work ethic, resourcefulness, and dedication to supporting L-S students in their pursuit of academic excellence, through the LSSF encouraging students’ future success as they moved on to college, and promoting the L-S core values of “fostering caring and cooperating relationships, respecting human differences, pursuing academic excellence and cultivating community.”

As an L-S School Committee member, Ms. Hullinger will put many hours into:

    • Advocating for the interests of the community
    • Promoting a working relationship that is honest and transparent
    • Ensuring an optimistic future for taxpayers, families, students, faculty, staff and school administration.

With proud enthusiasm, I support Siobhan Hullinger as the write-in candidate opening for the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District School Committee.

Sincerely,

Andrew Nyemekye
731 Concord St., Framingham

(Editor’s note: Nyemekye was the METCO specialist at L-S from 2010-16 and is an LSSF Dollars for Scholars committee member.)

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: Hogue running for Parks & Rec

(Editor’s note: Hogue is one of three candidates running for the open seat on the Parks and Recreation Committee. The others are Rey Romero and Sarah Chester.)

To the editor:

My name is Adam Hogue and I am writing to announce my candidacy for Lincoln Parks and Recreation (Parks & Rec) Committee. I look forward to earning your vote on Election Day on Monday, March 26.

As a member of Parks & Rec, I will prioritize programs that bring our community together and increase summer and after-school programs for our town’s kids so that they have a safe place to interact with each other and learn more about themselves. I also want to promote our veterans’ events in our community because of our proud history of service and proximity to Hanscom Air Force Base.

I have been an active volunteer in our community since moving here in 2013. I am the president of the Lincoln Veterans Association and have helped plan the annual Memorial Day celebration as well as the 15th anniversary of September 11th remembrance ceremony. I have also spoken to our kids in the Lincoln schools about my military service and experiences overseas. I want to continue to serve this community as a member of this great committee.

I started my professional career as an officer in the U.S. Army Airborne, serving one combat tour in Afghanistan, and I am currently a major in the Massachusetts Army National Guard serving out of Hanscom. I also own my own financial services company, Ulen & Hogue Financial, offering individual and small business insurance and investment solutions. 

My education background includes a BA in history from UMass-Lowell, a MA in education from the University of Nebraska, and an MBA in management from Fitchburg State University, as well as a graduate certificate in financial planning from Boston University. I live on Todd Pond Road with my wife Katy (Green) Hogue, who is a lifelong Lincoln resident, our dog Woodstock, and our soon-to-be-born daughter. 

It would be my honor to serve each and every one of you on the Parks & Rec Committee and I would appreciate your vote. Thank you in advance for your consideration on Election Day!

Sincerely,

Adam M. Hogue
36 Todd Pond Rd.
Adam.m.hogue@gmail.com
978-828-6184

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: Glass runs for reelection to BOS

To the editor,

I write to declare my candidacy for the 3-year term on the Board of Selectmen, and I ask for your support at the town election on Monday, March 26.

Last year when I sought to fill the final year of Renel Fredriksen’s term, I knew that serving as a member of the BOS would be interesting and challenging. It is both, and I would also add the adjectives “energizing” and “humbling.” Energizing because grappling with issues such as housing, the School and Community Center projects, the town budget, solar panels, traffic, and zoning policy is an intellectually engaging, nuanced process that brings me in contact with a wide variety of community members. Humbling because the range of expertise and knowledge among our professional staff and residents is truly amazing. I am fortunate to be part of a collaborative board and of a community that strives to draw on its members’ vast talents for the betterment of our town.

During the last 12 months, our board has focused on reaching out to residents through meetings, individual conversations, a series of listening sessions, and our BOS newsletter. Our goal is to be transparent about the business of the town and to foster communication among boards and with the community. As residents of Lincoln, we have many (and sometimes conflicting) issues we are all trying to balance. I believe our goal is to keep our eye on how specific projects and policies can serve our town’s broader vision and mission while we pay careful attention to the details. I look forward to staying engaged with you, to being challenged by your questions, and to being inspired by your ideas.

Please put both the March 24 Annual Town Meeting and the March 26 town election on your calendars!

Sincerely,

Jennifer Glass
11 Stonehedge Road

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: Hullinger seeks write-in votes for LSSC

To the editor,

My name is Siobhan Hullinger and I am pleased to announce my candidacy for the write-in candidate opening for the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District School Committee (LSSC) in the upcoming election on Monday, March 26.

I respectfully ask for your vote because as a 27-year resident with three children who have attended and are attending L-S, I am grateful for and understand the importance to our children and town of L-S’s national reputation among colleges and universities, and the diversity of its academic and extracurricular offerings.

I have spent 27 years in Sudbury devoted to efforts to support our community and schools.   My volunteer efforts include board memberships with HOPEsudbury, the Lincoln-Sudbury Scholarship Fund, and the LSPO as well as L-S School Council member, Sudbury eown election officer, CERT volunteer, parent coordinator for the Kicks for Cancer Soccer Tournament, youth sports age group coordinator, and a participant in the Sudbury Listening Project.

My civic involvement is at the core of who I am and aligns with L-S’s core values of “fostering caring and cooperating relationships, respecting human differences, pursuing academic excellence and cultivating community.” As a longtime participant in local town issues, I understand the essential importance to continually take a fresh look at how we operate our local town organizations, including L-S. Among the key issues I would pursue are:

  • Build a stronger collaboration between L-S, Sudbury, Lincoln, and the METCO program to facilitate open, collaborative, and thoughtful discussions that will improve coordination of academic and social transitions into our high school, identify areas of operating redundancies and inefficiencies, and support reasonable class sizes.
  • Review safety measures to ensure they align with current trends and research while preserving the benefits of an open campus.
  • Enact a policy of periodic reviews of the Regional Agreement, originally enacted in 1954, to ensure it provides an effective and equitable framework reflecting the current and future public education conditions and needs for L-S to thrive.
  • Pursue the start time recommendations of the separate L-S/Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) subcommittees. We must put in the hard work to see whether adjusting our schedule is feasible and tackle obstacles that hinder student growth. Unlike past efforts, we must tackle this task collaboratively with L-S, SPS, and the METCO program.
  • Our music and arts programs currently find themselves under threat of elimination or reduction. We should instead see a growing commitment to these programs which have been proven to boost academic and social/emotional outcomes.

LSSC needs to proactively consider whether the current leadership structure of separate superintendents and administrations from SPS is the most desirable for attracting top-tier leadership at both L-S and SPS for the long term.

I will work tirelessly to represent the interests of taxpayers, families, students, faculty, staff and administration to enhance, support and foster open and constructive dialogue among our partners in education. Please contact me with any thoughts and/or questions at sioforls@gmail.com. I humbly ask for your support by writing in “Siobhan Hullinger” under L-S School Committee on March 26. 

Sincerely,

Siobhan Hullinger
55 Washington Drive, Sudbury

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: Joachim runs as write-in candidate for L-S panel

(Editor’s note: L-S School Committee Gerald Quirk of Sudbury had planned to run for reelection but subsequently withdrew his name after the deadline for others to get on the ballot had passed.)

To the editor:

I am happy to announce that I am running as a write-in candidate for Lincoln-Sudbury Regional District Committee. I welcome your support on Monday, March 26.

I know first-hand the unique qualities of L-S as I myself am an L-S graduate. I have had children enrolled at L-S since 2010. Two have graduated, and my youngest is currently a junior. I understand L-S: its breadth of classes, its emphasis on learning, and its focus on building student independence.

After L-S, I went to Columbia College and Harvard Law School. I served on the Sudbury School Committee for six years, including one year as chair and two as vice chair. I will bring my knowledge of L-S, my legal training, and my School Committee experience to the L-S School Committee.

If elected, I will put students first. I will listen to and consider all perspectives before making decisions. I will collaborate with staff, parents from Boston, Lincoln, and Sudbury, and students to ensure that L-S is providing the best education possible to all students. We must ensure that students feel safe and welcome at L-S, that they are offered a broad array of classes in core subjects and the arts, and are challenged to learn and grow in each of these classes, and that they are well-prepared for their chosen path upon graduation.

I believe we need to explore options for further collaboration and sharing between L-S and the Lincoln and Sudbury public schools. Such work can only be done with interest and participation from members of both the Lincoln and Sudbury communities. We have a shared goal of ensuring that L-S provides an excellent learning experience for our students in a supportive environment, and we must partner to move forward. My six years on the Sudbury School Committee will be valuable in these discussions.

I believe that we need to continue exploring school start times for our teens. There are logistical challenges to implementing a later start time, but given the overwhelming evidence of improvements to student health, well-being, and academic performance, we must continue to focus on this issue. Finally, L-S must review its safety protocols to ensure that they address the current environment and follow best practices.

I look forward to meeting you and discussing L-S in the coming weeks and ask you to write my name on the Lincoln and Sudbury ballots on Monday, March 26.

Sincerely,

Ellen Winer Joachim
6 Craig Lane, Sudbury

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: support Kasper for L-S school committee

To the editor,

I write in support of Carole Kasper, who is running for a three-year term on the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School (L-S) School Committee. Carole has significant experience serving our community, she is a listener and a facilitator, and she is committed to our schools and our families. Please join me and vote for Carole at the polls on Monday, March 26.

I first got to know Carole other through her leadership of the Lincoln PTO. Carole worked with her team to revamp the organizational structure of the PTO and to reach out more broadly to families, residents, and community businesses for their support. After her tenure on the PTO, she worked with Middle School Principal Sharon Hobbs to strengthen the support for students and families as children transition from the middle school to the high school. To that end, she co-hosted a second annual gathering of “veteran” parents and current middle school parents to talk about the social transition from Lincoln to L-S. She is skilled at identifying a need and doing what it takes to organize a response and create a solution.

In 2015, Carole raised her hand to be part of the Campus Master Planning Committee for the Lincoln School campus, and served as its chair. The work of that committee was foundational for the current school and community center projects, and it further connected her to the community. Carole will draw on her strong connections with current, past, and future L-S families to inform her decision making as a member of the L-S School Committee.

Carole values the independent and innovative spirit of L-S, and will bring both enthusiastic support and a keen analytical eye to the work of the School Committee. She will listen, problem solve, and work hard on behalf of the Lincoln, Sudbury, and Boston communities who together make L-S a unique place.

On her behalf, thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Glass
11 Stonehedge Road

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: more input on school planning is vital

To the editor:

I am motivated to write this letter as a result of recent discussions about the school project. Following the January 23 public forum, the outreach committee conducted a survey which brought in 156 responses. While this is a good number related to the number of attendees, it is not a large enough number to give one confidence as to the eventual outcome of the effort put in by the School Committee, the School Building Committee, and the committee working on the community center.

The projects are progressing apace, but the resultant budget will cause a significant increase to our taxes. We are talking of options for the school ranging from $70–$90 million. When adding the community center’s $12–15 million, the resulting amount approaches $100 million. Thus, I believe it is critical that as many of you as are able and are interested should attend our discussions to ensure that the end result will truly reflect the wishes of our community and thus not fail at the ballot box.

Our meetings are well publicized on the School Building Committee website: lincolnsbc.org. We look forward to seeing you at our next meetings.

Sincerely,

Peter Sugar (School Building Committee member)
133 Chestnut Circle

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: Kasper running for L-S School Committee

To the editor:

I am announcing my candidacy for the Lincoln-Sudbury School Committee (LSSC) and looking forward to earning your vote on Election Day (Monday, March 26).

As an L-S School Committee member, I would prioritize the support and enhancement of the many strengths of our dynamic 21st-century high school, including rigorous college-prep academics, educated and experienced faculty, thoughtful core values that guide decision making, and responsible management of budgets and resources in supporting a school environment that encourages well-rounded students who value learning, leading, initiating, serving, and developing both their intellectual and social-emotional potentials. As a current L-S parent, I have seen first-hand the significant positive impacts that these factors have on the daily lives of our students.

There are always ways to improve, and I would prioritize these as well. A climate of inclusion and social safety for all students should be a key focus area within a school culture committed to the core values of fostering caring and cooperative relationships, respecting human differences, and cultivating community. Facilitating smoother eighth-to ninth-grade transitions for all students should also be highlighted, as well as a continued emphasis on reasonable class sizes. Increasing awareness of the L-S Four-year Plan, guidance for a college planning process that entails student initiative and follow-up, would also serve students and families more fully. And further, our Lincoln and Sudbury communities need to continue together in a spirit of relationship building, open communication, creative collaboration, and shared commitment to excellent pubic education for all of our L-S students.

I have been an active volunteer in our local community. Most recently, I contributed as a member of the LSSC School Start-time Sub-Committee (Spring 2017), initiated and led the First Parish in Lincoln Intergenerational Women’s Group (2014-17), led the town-wide Lincoln Campus Master Planning Committee as chair (2015-16), and led the Lincoln School K-8 PTO as chair/president (2011-14).

Professionally, I spent many career years as a management consultant, trainer, facilitator, and educator, serving in various roles on college campuses and within firms before founding my own national consulting company that specialized in strengthening organizational performance and building workplace communities. My professional experiences spanned both private and public sectors, and included collaborations at every level of government from federal to local.

My educational background includes a B.A. in communication science and an M.Ed. in organization development with a specialty in multiculturalism. I have designed and taught undergraduate semester courses, and have professionally fostered on-campus student communities on two major college campuses.

My husband and I have two teenage sons. Our 10th-grader loves his life at L-S, while our eighth-grader will graduate from the Lincoln School this June and then begin ninth grade at L-S this fall. Our family is invested in L-S and its future, and it would be an honor to represent Lincoln, Sudbury, and Boston families in maintaining and increasing the excellence of our beloved high school.

Thank you for your consideration on Election Day!

Carole Kasper
140 Concord Road, Lincoln
kasperlssc@gmail.com

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: Marshall not running for reelection

To the editor:

I write to announce that I will not seek reelection to the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional School Committee this March. In 2009, I was elected with the support of both towns and it has been an honor from start to finish.

We have a high school treasured by the communities of Lincoln, Sudbury, and Boston. Our teachers and staff are creative, dedicated and deeply committed to educating and preparing our children for the 21st century. The core values of the district —fostering caring and cooperative relationships, respecting human differences, pursuing academic excellence, and cultivating community—are all behaviors to be mirrored in our own lives, our conversations at the dinner table, and in our actions.

I am grateful for the responsiveness of our towns’ Boards of Selectmen, the proactive counsel of our Finance Committee liaisons, the relatively new relationships we have begun with both towns in advocating our capital needs and forecasts, and of course of our voters. This has been process and relational work I have thoroughly enjoyed.

I am indebted to many members of the committee with whom I have had the great pleasure of serving. I have learned a great deal and, while we found ourselves sometimes agreeing to disagree, our committee has always focused on our charge as elected officials, namely,;’ what is in the best interest of our students within the fiscal guidance we are given. Working well together and listening to each other is critical given our tasks.

Finally, to those inside the building who do so much to clear the snowy sidewalks and open the building, who have it optimally at the ready to allow education to happen; to those who work to teach, to challenge and engage and to be present for their students, who create unique, dynamic, relevant curriculum; to those who allow our students to take risks and grow, and who support those who are struggling inside and outside the classroom, I will miss you the most. While we have four children who gleaned so much from their education and are now on unique paths as young adults, my service was far from being just about them. For me it was about the Lincoln-Sudbury community—the faculty, the administration and staff, the families, our towns, and, first and foremost, all of our students.

Thank you.

Nancy Marshall
2 Beaver Pond Rd.

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.

Letter to the editor: more coordination needed between building committees

To the editor:

Following the meetings of the Community Center and the School Building Committees during the past couple of weeks, it is clear for me that much work has been done. On the other hand, it is not so clear whether one or the other of these groups perceives it to be their responsibility to seek how to best coordinate or integrate the projects. During the recent meetings, while there was lip service paid to the goal of integration and efficiency, no specific proposals or comments were made. Perhaps such coordination is being left to later, as time does not appear to be anyone’s concern.

At one of the School Building Committee workshops, one of the discussion groups suggested using the part of Smith School that would be demolished under the B6 option for the community center. The SBC had no comment at this moment.

While there is a group seeking to ensure communication between the two groups, it does not appear to me there is any real effort seeking to think of both projects together as one effort. If left to the town to suggest such an approach at Town Meeting, my concern is it will be too late and very confusing.

Sincerely,

Robert deNormandie
45 Trapelo Rd.

Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.