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$3.5m cut from school project, but alternate funding is a possibility

By Alice Waugh

(Editor’s note: this story has been updated.)

Items including new trees, some of the playground equipment, and sunlight-controlling window devices totaling $3.5 million were chopped—at least temporarily—from the school project last week after construction bids came in at $3.5 million higher than budgeted.

The School Building Committee (SBC) got the bad news when bids were opened on January 29 and voted on February 12 to approve cuts to close the gap. The newly deleted line items include:

  • $1.2 million for planting new trees, concrete walkways and bike paths, half the playground equipment, an auditorium divider and theatrical rigging, and sunlight-controlling window devices
  • $1.5 million (of the $2.1 million originally budgeted) for furniture, fittings, equipment, and technology
  • $254,000 for auditorium seating, carpeting, and stage paneling
  • $782,000 for using a different foundation pouring method and less expensive new caseworks, as well as not demolishing and removing the temporary classrooms.

In a bit of good news, the $254,000 for the auditorium refurbishment was restored after it recently became clear that the work could be funded from the estate of the late Harriet Todd, a former Selectman who died in 2018 and left $500,000 to the town in her will. Her family agreed that some of that bequest could be spent on the auditorium; the rest will endow a scholarship for Lincoln students.

Some of the other items that the SBC cut may not be gone for good. After a flurry of meetings this week, the Board of Selectmen approved a Special Town Meeting (STM) to vote on restoring some of them with money from a different source. The STM will take place at the start of the Annual Town Meeting on March 28.

The three buckets of items the SBC hopes to restore to the school project. Items in peach are the SBC’s top priority, those in blue are second priority, and green is third priority. Click image to enlarge.

On February 26, the SBC went over its previous list of cuts and parceled them into “buckets” that they hope to offer for STM votes (see illustration). The three buckets, which total $2.08 million, are in descending order of how critical the SBC feels the items are. If the first set (peach) is approved, there will then be a vote on group #2 (blue), and then another vote on the third set (green) if group #2 is also approved. But if any bucket is voted down, there will not be a vote on the next set.

Residents approved a budget of $93.9 million for the school in December 2018. Since the school project cannot increase its previously approved budget, money to restore any of the cuts would have to come from another source and would therefore require residents’ approval. Those sources, as identified by the Finance Committee on February 25, include:

  • Free cash. Officials have already targeted spending $1.5 million from free cash to upgrade the town’s public safety radio system. However, that item on the ATM warrant could be passed over if residents at the STM decide to spend some or all of that money on the school instead. The first two buckets of potentially restored cuts add up to $1.499 million.
  • Tapping the town’s stabilization fund, which currently stands at $2.2 million (this would require a two-thirds majority vote at Town Meeting). Town Finance Director Colleen Wilkins said this week that depleting the stabilization fund even to zero would not affect the town’s AAA bond rating.
  • Borrowing via a capital or debt exclusion. This would require a two-thirds majority at Town Meeting plus a simple majority at the ballot box.

At their meeting on Tuesday, the Finance Committee also expressed concern about how town officials and contractors misread the market and didn’t build in enough bidding contingency funds. “The cost escalation moved very quickly [from an expected 5-6% to 8%], and we may not have understood the preference for new construction” by contractors bidding on Lincoln’s complex renovation project, SBC chair Chris Fasciano told Selectmen on Monday.

Finance Committee members voted 5-2 to “roll back” and reopen its deliberations on the large budget requests (e.g., public safety radio) for fiscal 2021 in anticipation of the SBC’s budget request. They will then deliberate those requests  at one or more meetings before Town Meeting and make a recommendation, which might include supporting the SBC’s request, supporting only portions, not supporting it, or having some other recommendation(s).

FinCom members Tom Sander and Elisa Sartori voted against the motion. “I would like to have voters vote at Special Town Meeting decide on whether they want to put additional money into the school project to preserve these important items that SBC was forced to cut and which otherwise will never be part of the building,” Sander said later. “And I actually personally favor funding these. But I see our role on FinCom as being neutral fiscal trustees of the town. And I feared that undoing our vote to fully fund the police and fire radio project for this coming fiscal year would not as concretely and objectively pose to residents what we (FinCom) would have planned to do with this free cash if it wasn’t put into the school. As long as it is clear to voters at Town Meeting that this is not simply $1.5 million of free cash sitting idle with no other planned uses for it, I’m fine with the vote that FinCom approved.”

“It’s a hard ask,” Selectman Jennifer Glass acknowledged at the SBC meeting. “But in my opinion, this is the moment to say to the town that we have a set of choices. We have a great project as it is, but we have some decisions that, if we don’t make them now, we’ve lost things as part of this project.”

News acorns

Birches School open house

The Birches School (100 Bedford Rd., Lincoln) will hold its winter admissions open house on Saturday, Jan. 11 from 1–3 p.m. Tour the new campus set on three acres of private woodlands and speak with faculty, parents, and current students about the school’s K-8 program centered on cultivating curiosity, creativity, empathy, and self-reliance. Children are welcome to attend. Click here to register.

Introduction to L-S for middle school parents

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School will host an information session and tour for parents of middle school students on Thursday, Jan. 16 (snow date: Tuesday, Jan. 21) from 6:30-8 p.m. in the high school library. Hosts will include L-S administrators Bella Wong and Virginia Blake as well as L-S veteran parents, who will talk about the school’s academic profile, enrollment projections, median class sizes, student clubs and activities, athletic teams, theater and music opportunities, college planning, the Global Scholars Program, and more. For further information, please contact L-S School Committee member Carole Kasper at carolemkasper@gmail.com or Virginia Blake at virginia_blake@lsrhs.net.

Free grief support group at hospice house

If you’ve recently lost your spouse or partner, join our experienced grief specialists for this support group at the Care Dimensions Hospice House (125 Winter St., Lincoln) on Wednesday evenings from February 19 to April 8 from 7–8:30 p.m. The group is free but registration is mandatory (the deadline is February 14). To register, visit www.CareDimensions.org/calendars (click on February 19), call 781-373-6530, or email grief@CareDimensions.org. Click here to see a list of other grief support groups.

L-S recognizes National Merit Scholar students

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School congratulates nine semifinalists and 23 commended students in the National Merit Scholarship Program. The semifinalists will continue in competition for approximately 7,500 scholarships that will be offered in the spring of 2020. Commended students are recognized for exceptional academic promise demonstrated by their outstanding performance on the 2020 qualifying test and are commended on their outstanding potential for academic success.

National Merit semifinalists are (left to right) Stephanie Lu, Laura Appleby,* Jonah Krasnow, Derek Nielsen, Justin Lewitus, Tea Baumgartner, Abigail Truex, and Ranen Leung.

 

National Merit Commended Scholars are (back row, left to right) Grant Bordner, Ethan Minkoff, Jason Huang, Keith Hylton,* Anny Fryling, Haydon Merrill, Jessie Li, and Caoilin Engstrom.* Front row, left to right: Arlene Leavitt, Abigail Ganz, Eric Feng, Aiden Pendergast, Allison Densel, Parker Simon, Benjamin Morris, Kelly Durning, and Julian Flack.

* Lincoln resident

State of the Town meeting on Saturday

Updates on the school project, South Lincoln rezoning proposals, community electricity aggregation and property tax relief will make for a full agenda at Lincoln’s annual State of the Town meeting on Saturday, Nov. 2 at about 9:30 a.m., after the conclusion of a Special Town Meeting on Water Department funding. These links and Lincoln Squirrel stories offer some background on the issues.

School project
South Lincoln rezoning
Community electricity aggregation
Property Tax Study Committee

LSB Players announce 2019-20 season

The LSB Players at at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School has announced its slate of plays for 2019-2020 and are offering season subscriptions. Tickets for all shows are $8 for students and senior citizens, $15 for adults. Benefactors and season ticket holders receive advance notice before tickets are available to the general public so they can reserve for the evening of their choice, and they are named in every program during the year. Season tickets are $40 for adults and $20 for students and senior citizens; benefactor tickets are $60. Click here for details.

“Be More Chill”
November 20–23 at 7:30 p.m.
A contemporary musical based on the young adult novel of the same name by Ned Vizzini tells the story of Jeremy Heere as he decides to find a way to “be more chill” and rule the high school, with unfortunate results. Recommended for ages 13+.

“Beanstalk”
January 17 at 6 p.m.; January 18 at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
LSB Players’ fourth annual theatre-for-young audiences production, a silly adaptation of the traditional tale of Jack and the Beanstalk. The production will employ audience participation, arts and craft activities for young children, and a sensory-friendly performance at the Saturday morning show.

Seventh annual student-directed winter one-acts
January 31 at 7:30 p.m.; February 1 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Two L-S seniors will direct “Waiting for Lefty” and “The Other Room.”

“Peter and the Starcatcher”
April 3–4 at 7:30 p.m.; April 4–5 at 2 p.m.

This fast-paced, highly physical play, considered something of a prequel to the J.M. Barrie stories of Peter Pan, employs storytelling techniques and fantastical humor that will delight all ages. 

9th- and 10th-grade play (title TBD)
May 8 at 6 p.m; free admission.

COLLAGE XXVI
June 1–13 at 7:30 p.m.
A collection of scenes, one-acts and original pieces selected and directed by students. Free admission.

Minuteman High School project marks finish line with ribbon-cutting

Minuteman Superintendent-Director Edward A. Bouquillon holds the ribbon and State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg makes the cut at the new school’s opening ceremony on October 4. With them are Needham Selectman Dan Matthews (far left), State Sen. Cindy Friedman (center), MSBA executive director Jack McCarthy, Minuteman School Building Committee chair Ford Spalding of Dover, and State Rep. Michelle Ciccolo. (Photo by Alice Waugh)

By Alice Waugh

The new Minute Man Regional Vocational Technical High School in Lincoln was officially dedicated last week at a ribbon-cutting attended by hundreds of students, staff, officials, and friends.

The event capped a sometimes rocky road for the project. Several of the original 16 towns in the Minuteman district, including Lincoln, withdrew largely due to the $145 million price tag for the new building ($44 million of which was provided by the Massachusetts School Building Authority). Eight years after submitting its initial statement of interest to the MSBA, the project won approval in a district-wide vote in 2016, and construction got underway in June 2017. Students began using the school this fall after construction was finished a year ahead of schedule and $3 million under budget.

There was debate over the projected enrollment during discussions several years ago; towns and the MSBA settled on 628 students in grades 9-12, several hundred fewer than the former capacity. The new facility has proved to be popular — there’s already a waiting list, “and we have the largest freshman class in over 25 years,” Bouquillon said. Students from Minuteman district towns (Acton, Arlington, Belmont, Bolton, Concord, Dover, Lancaster, Lexington, Needham and Stow) get preference for admission.

Since 2002, Lincoln has sent anywhere from two to 11 students to Minuteman each year, though that figure includes post-graduate and part-time students. As of October 2016, Lincoln accounted for eight of the school’s 618 students.

Minuteman’s property straddles the Lincoln/Lexington town line. The old building was on the Lexington side and the athletic fields were in Lincoln, but they’ve now traded places. Fields and an athletic complex will be built after the old building is demolished starting next month, and they should be ready for use by fall 2021. The school is working on a financial model to develop and rent out athletic facilities when the school is not using them, as well as a public/private partnership for sharing some of the school’s indoor space such as labs.

The entrance to Minuteman High School. (Photo by Alice Waugh)

The new facility reflects a sea change from how vocational education has evolved. In the 1960s when the school opened, the curriculum focused on trades such as carpentry, plumbing, cooking, and auto mechanics. Students can now choose from courses in areas including digital arts and design, biotechnology, environmental science, and robots and automation, as well as academic subjects and the traditional trades.

“We have built a school that lets us dream big and be brave. We have a place that gives us all a chance to answer the two critical questions we want our students to answer: what do I love to do and what do I do well?” said school superintendent/director Edward Bouquillon at the October 4 ceremony, which also featured a video showing the building and happy students and staff. “For those of you who have been with us since the beginning, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.” 

Ceremony marks official opening of new Hanscom Primary School

Preparing to cut a ribbon marking the official completion of the new Hanscom Primary School on October 2 were (left to right) Col. William Conde, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New England District commander; Jonathan Braley, J&J Contractors president; Stephen Donley, Department of Defense Education Activity facilities chief; Dr. Rebecca McFall, Lincoln’s superintendent of schools; Tara Mitchell, Lincoln School Committee chair; Julie Vincentsen, Hanscom Primary School principal; and Col. Chad Ellsworth, Hanscom Air Force Base installation commander. (U.S. Air Force photo by Jerry Saslav)

(Editor’s note: This is an edited version of an article by Mark Wyatt, 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs, that was posted on the Hanscom Air Force Base website. It is republished here by permission.)

Officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony this week to mark the completion of the $37 million, 80,000-square-foot multistory Hanscom Primary School. The school replaces a 1950s-era primary school with contemporary learning space.

Becky McFall, Lincoln’s superintendent of schools, called the facility “the most incredible primary school learning environment I have ever seen in my 35 years in education.”

“The opening of the Hanscom Middle School, and now the Hanscom Primary School, has reinforced the concept that a building is so much more than bricks and mortar; it is a catalyst for change and a launchpad into the future of education,” McFall said.

The ceremony included comments from Jon House, the military and veterans liaison for U.S. Rep. Katherine Clark, who represents Lincoln and other nearby towns. “By opening this primary school on base, it ensures the sacrifices our service members make are rewarded with the best possible education for their children,” he said on behalf of Clark. “It is my belief that Hanscom is one of the best military bases in the country, and the opening of a brand-new school within the bounds of that base only reinforces that belief.”

“The Hanscom Primary School represents our vision for an environment that engages students in their learning, develops students who are problem-solvers and critical thinkers and assists children in developing the ability to collaborate and to create caring relationships,” McFall said.

The building’s design fully integrates the primary school with the new Hanscom Middle School, which opened in 2016. It incorporates “21st century school” concepts such as learning neighborhoods, central hubs surrounded by learning studios, flex labs, an information center annex, commons area for dining and social networking, therapy rooms, teacher work areas, counseling areas, storage, administrative offices and other required areas for a fully  functioning facility.

Like the 85,000-square-foot middle school, the new primary school includes indoor and outdoor learning spaces and features that are environmentally friendly, including photovoltaic panels, rainwater harvesting, solar hot water, high-performance HVAC, and energy-efficient lighting systems.

Both of Hanscom’s schools are built and supported entirely by the federal government and are operated via contract by the Lincoln Public School system. The Department of Defense Education Activity required that the Hanscom schools meet educational standards outlined on its 21st Century Learning website.

The new Hanscom schools were designed by EwingCole, which is partnering with Symmes, Maini and McKee Associates (SMMA) in designing the renovated Lincoln School, which recently took delivery of the portable classrooms that had been used at Hanscom Primary.

“A world of possibilities awaits our school family this year in this new school,” said Hanscom Middle School Principal Julie Vincentsen, who served as emcee for the ceremony. Staff members from the offices of U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton, as well as local and state representatives, also attended the ribbon-cutting.

Committee trims $2.8 million from school project

After the latest round of updated cost estimates for the $94 million school project showed a $2.8 million shortfall, the the School Building Committee chose from a lengthy list of options provided by SMMA Architects to trim costs.

At several milestone points during the school project, the project team performs a new round of cost estimating; the latest estimates marked the end of the 60% Construction Documents phase. As it did after the first round of cost estimates last October came in about $9 million over budget, the SBC employed “value engineering” to decide where to save money This phase is when the specifications and details of building envelope and mechanical systems are decided, “so this difference in cost estimates is not unusual,” the SBC said earlier this month.

Top image: the original proposed design showing fiber cement rainscreen, and the two brick options now being considered instead (click to enlarge).

The biggest VE item by dollar amount is changing all proposed fiber cement rainscreen to brick, saving almost $507,000. The SBC has not yet decided on which of two brick options to select (see the Sept. 11 presentation starting with slide 18 labeled “Current design”). 

In recent weeks, architect and longtime Lincoln resident Edmund Stevens has raised concerns about the school project on LincolnTalk several times, saying that the proposed removal of the bell tower “is nothing less than barbarous” and that the school building design resembled “a strip mall.” At the SBC’s second value engineering meeting on September 4, he objected  to some of the proposed design elements and the SBC process in general. “I don’t think anybody really knows that this building looks like… it’s total chaos,” he said.

Stevens kept trying to speak after being asked to desist and said, “You’re not going anywhere!” But SBC member Peter Sugar silenced him with raised voice, saying “Neither are you, sir!”

Stevens afterwards told the Lincoln Squirrel that he had not participated in school project discussions up until now because he had been “out of circulation” with lymphoma, and because he initially thought the design would be “at least up to the level of the town hall renovation, which was excellent.” He said he did not vote at the Special Town Meeting that narrowly rejected a state-approved design in 2012 but could not recall why.

Going into the third and final value engineering (VE) meeting last week, “our VE decisions continued to be guided by our project principles, and no decision was without vigorous discussion and understanding,” said SBC member Kim Bodnar. “There were no easy or hardest items to cut. All VE items were met with rigorous scrutiny and an understanding of how they impacted the project.”

The project now moves into the 90% Construction Documents phase, when the final details are fleshed out in preparation for putting the project out to bid for areas that are subcontracted such as plumbing and HVAC, etc. This phase will be complete by the end of December and one more round of cost estimates will take place before the bid documents are finalized.

Second round of value engineering items approved by the SBC
ItemCost
Change all proposed fiber cement rainscreen to brick – structural steel support required to support brick$506,739
Eliminate lightning protection system$267,523
Replace all VRF heat recovery systems to heat pump systems. This would involve changing the heat recovery condensers ACCUs to heat pump condensers ACCUs and removal of all the branch controller units for the VRF zoned systems$246,466
Change concrete walkways to bituminous except 5' pads at exterior door locations – hybrid option$222,578
In Dining Commons and Media Center: Change wood ceiling to 2x2 ACT. Suspended/surface construction type linear lights be replaced to recessed linear type simulateously. Eliminate upright sprinkler heads$187,468
Change proposed brick veneer at north elevations rear of building to ground faced CMU – hybrid option$144,039
Eliminate all corridor phenolic lockers; provide metal lockers $134,550
Simplify acid waste neutralization system to point-of-use chip-type system- delete pit acid neutralization room including equipment, pit, foundations for pit, waterproofing and associated MEPs for this space. Revise system at 7/8th grade Science classrooms per sketches provided.$109,953
Eliminate all exterior wood benches$109,540
Eliminate sun shade/PV canopies at Reed corridor (1,610 square feet)$103,882
Reduce LF by 50% for proposed masonry mechanical enclosure walls and sound liner panels at condensing units$96,985
Eliminate 1'x4' ACT in hubs; provide 2'x2' ACT$74,507
Eliminate all roof drain overflow piping on the interior at new construction and install scuppers on roofs$61,852
Use chain-link fence and gate in lieu of steel picket at Pre-K playground$57,285
Reduce concrete walkways in front of building$56,051
Eliminate one remaining doghouse light-gauge metal framing, roof insulation and membrane roofing and replace with insulated ductwork above the roof$25,000
Eliminate proposed Data Acquisition System$50,299
Change all proposed PT-base to rubber except at locations with PT wainscot$49,611
Add Dx coil at ERVs and reduce capacity of FCUs and reduction of ductwork per sketches and descriptions provided.$42,922
Use ProPress fittings in lieu of soldering for copper fittings for domestic water$37,439
Reduce quantity of clocks to what is indicated in drawings$31,115
Maintain existing interior floor hatches$30,738
Reduce area of heavy-duty pavement to standard-duty$29,314
Eliminate gas piping and turrets in grade 6 science (as a result, gas piping can be rerouted to eliminate 440 linear feet of gas pipe and three expansion/seismic loops)$27,593
Reduce scope of snow guards at sloped roofs to 775 linear feet$23,752
Substitute Category 6 cable in lieu of Category 6A except for the wireless access points$22,462
Reduce allowance for replacement of existing roof decking by 50%$16,766
Eliminate locker room phenolic lockers; provide HDPE lockers, and salvage and reuse existing HDPE lockers$16,733
Reduce the thickness of the new construction slabs on grade to 4” in the classrooms and office areas. 5” would remain in the Learning Commons area and loading dock areas.$14,757
TOTAL$2,797,918

L-S to start school day 35 minutes later in 2020-21

Students at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School will be able to get another half an hour of sleep in the mornings starting in fall 2020.

The LSRHS and Sudbury School Committees voted unanimously on June 11 to change their school day start times, with the high school day set to begin at 8:25 a.m. instead of the current 7:50 a.m. Sudbury elementary and middle schools will start at 7:55 a.m. and 8:30 a.m, respectively. In the coming academic year, administrators will work on an implementation pan, including schedule revisions and setting school day end times.

“The vote is not an end — it’s really a beginning,” said Carole Kasper, a Lincoln member of the L-S School Committee and its Start Time Subcommittee.

The move is based on recent research showing that the circadian rhythms of children’s bodies shift as they enter adolescence around age 12, resulting in naturally later times for falling asleep and waking up. Teens have trouble falling asleep before 11 p.m., meaning that the early start time results in chronic sleep deprivation and other resulting problems.

“Based on the experience of districts across Massachusetts and the country, we expect our students will benefit from this change. Across both districts, we expect middle and high school students will have improved cognition, physical and emotional health, and academic performance, as well as fewer injuries, risky and impulsive behaviors, and absenteeism and tardiness,” the subcommittee said in a May 29 presentation.

Experts present their data and arguments in a four-minute video that was shown at a June 10 public forum (the segment begins at the 6:28 mark). This and other videos came about as a result of the National Conference on Adolescent Sleep, Health, and School Start Times held in Washington in April 2017.

If the current schedule structure remains as is, the end of the high school day would move from the current 2:40 p.m. to 3:14 p.m. The current three-year teacher contract signed in 2018 included flexibility to change the start time as long as the school day length remains at six hours and 49 minutes.

The school day ending time will affect after-school activities including sports. L-S athletic teams play in the Dual County League (DCL). League members Acton-Boxborough, Concord-Carlisle, and Weston have already moved to later start times in the school day, and Wayland will do so in the next year. Sixteen other Massachusetts school districts have done the same.

The movement toward later start times in Sudbury and L-S began in 2015 at a tri-district school committee meeting. A 2017 report by the LSHRS Sleep and School Time Subcommittee consisting of school committee members, teachers, administrators, and parents recommended changing morning bus schedules and creating a new subcommittee to investigate the operational issues involved.

Six Lincoln school staffers retire with happy memories

The Lincoln Public Schools retirees: Becky Eston, Bruce Gullotti, Donna Lubin, Phyllis Custance, Susan Totten, and Kathleen Xenakis (seated).

By Alice Waugh

The Lincoln Public Schools said farewell to five teachers and other staff members who officially retired as of last week: administrative secretary Phyllis Custance of Hanscom Middle School; art teacher Donna Lubin of Hanscom Primary School; and kindergarten teacher Rebekah Eston Salemi, eighth-grade math teacher Susan Totten, custodian Bruce Gullotti, and instructional assistant Kathleen Xenakis of the Lincoln School. Below are a few reminiscences (Xenakis and Custance could not be reached for comment).

Phyllis Custance

A Lincoln resident who grew up and raised her own children in town, Custance worked in the Lincoln school system for an impressive 47 years, as Hanscom Middle School Principal Erich Ledebuhr explained at a recent School Committee meeting where members honored the retirees. She went to school in the little red schoolhouse that’s now the Masonic Lodge on Lincoln Road, then the Center School (now the town office building) for two years, and finally the new Smith School, where she was a member of the first class to graduate from that school.

Custance wore many hats in the Lincoln schools including bus monitor, teacher aide, Resource Room coordinator, and administrative secretary (the last starting in 1998). “Phyllis has been one of my first lines of defense. She has been a supporter, cheerleader, and sounding board, and has been there to offer advice or critique when needed… she has been a rock of support throughout my tenure, ” Ledebuhr said. She also built connections to many students over the years; “of course, there are a few she gets to know really well, as it seems she writes a late pass for them every day,” he joked.

Bruce Gullotti

A self-described jack of all trades (carpenter, painter, handyman., etc.), Gullotti started working in Lincoln 19 years ago and said simply, “I like helping people.” One of the ways he’s helped over the years is using his talent for finding lost belongings at the school, including a diamond stud earring and even a hearing aid piece (“eight teachers were on the playground looking but I found it inside five minutes,” he said proudly).

Gullotti will also be remembered for the miniature Zen gardens he made and gave away to students and others, including Superintendent of Schools Becky McFall (“When she first came here, I made one for her because I knew it would be a stressful job,” he said). When giving the garden to kids, he told them they were a free gift but asked them to pay it forward.

“It’s been a great place to work. A lot of people just went out of their way to be nice,” he said. “If you want to teach your children anything at all, you teach them a work ethic and love. Everything else seems to fall in place.”

Donna Lubin

Donna Lubin with a montage of her #projecthappyway drawings.

Lubin taught for 32 years at Hanscom Primary School, where the student turnover rate is very high because of parents’ military assignments — some kids are there for only a few months. “I love being their teacher at Hanscom because I’ve been able to share art with thousands of children and their families — much more so than most teachers,” she said.

Not surprisingly, one of the things Lubin hopes to pursue in retirement is more artwork, including her drawings for #projecthappyway. On every single day in 2017, she did a freehand Sharpie drawing with the word “happy” in it. “I realized I needed to spread the happy,” she said. “Even when you’re really busy, make a happy picture.”

Becky Eston Salemi

Eston has been a kindergarten teacher for all but a few of the 39 years she’s worked in Lincoln. including 25 years in the same classroom. She’ll remember class walks to the deCordova Museum along the boardwalk fellow teacher Terry Green helped create, the Pinewood Derby (a race with wooden cars the kids built themselves), the Halloween costume parades and haunted house, “and many happy memories of young children just growing in front of my eyes,” said Eston, who will be the parade marshal at next next month’s July 4 parade..

Longtime kindergarten teacher Becky Eston (in front of tree) with students and parents who gathered last week to give her an affectionate sendoff.

Back in the early days of her career, kindergarten had a phase-in schedule starting with just five half-days a week for the first half of the school year, and computers in the classroom were unheard-of until fellow teacher Betty Bjork introduced a single Radio Shack TRS-80 for the entire school. In the early days, she recalled, kids could learn programming basics with Logo; ironically, this year kindergarteners year used screen-free coding materials provided through a Lincoln School Foundation grant to support the teaching of computational thinking.

“Because the technology is so much more viable, we can do so much more. It’s amazing to see what they can do” with computers, Eston said. “But at the heart of it, my hope is to keep kindergarten as a place where children play as they learn.”

Susan Totten

“Most of all, I’ve loved the young people I’ve worked with,” said Totten, who began her Lincoln teaching career in 1998. “I also love the craft of teaching, of working and watching the light on the faces of the students in front of me. As a teacher, one has to have a love of children, and the eighth-grade adolescents I’ve worked with have been wonderful. Lincoln and Boston students are fortunate here in Lincoln to be well supported, both by their families and the school community.”