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

Architects show how school design can enhance education

A 2014 drawing of the new Hanscom Middle School calling for “neighborhoods” of classrooms (click to enlarge).

Architects and Superintendent of Schools Rebecca McFall explained how the design elements of a school building can help realize an educational vision for its students at an October 17 School Building Committee workshop.

The building’s design should reflect the educational vision and strategic priorities as approved by the School Committee this year, said McFall, who first outlined the school’s educational needs in a renovated or new building in 2014.

“Educational environments are changing,” said architect Keith Fallon, executive vice president of EwingCole, one of the two firms hired by the SBC. Elementary and middle schools today are designed to support different ways for students to gather and work together. This means flexible spaces of various sizes in addition to the basic classroom so students can be easily taught in groups as small as three or four and as large as an entire grade.

Currently in many parts of the Lincoln School, individuals and small groups who want to work independently during a class must do so in the corridor. “It’s not that the work doesn’t happen, but the spaces could enhance that and increase the impact of the work we’re trying to do,” McFall said.

Many schools illustrated in slides by the EwingCole architects have several classrooms around a central hub rather than the traditional double-loaded corridors, as well as lots of natural light and “maker spaces” throughout. This approach maximizes teaching time by minimizing transitions from one place to another.

Larger common areas for art, music and performances can be centrally located and can even be transparent, such as the art room at the new Hanscom Middle School (HMS), which a number of residents have toured in recent months. Smaller spaces that are more private can also be carved out in a school design characterized by flexibility and ease of modification. “It’s about creating a wide range of educational experience,” McFall said.

Since the new HMS opened in the fall of 2016, students have benefited from the opportunities for student and staff collaboration that the building’s design offers. “They’re able to think about what the learning experience is and what the appropriate space for that might be, [and] they have to talk about who’s using [the common spaces] for what purpose,” McFall said. As a result, “the building has been a true catalyst for changing instruction.”

The ideal school design would also feature seamless technology infrastructure (such as places where students can plug in their own devices to work collaboratively), and a connection to the community and the environment. One of the questions the school’s design must address is “to what extent the life of the school and the life of the community should intersect?” Fallon said.

“We see the schools as an integral part of the community and a necessity for the community,” McFall said. “We’d be open to community events as much as we can.”

Another design question that impacts education is how to integrate sustainability into the curriculum, Fallon said. Seeing and measuring recycling in a new cafeteria and kitchen are natural teaching tools that aren’t available today, with cramped food service facilities without dishwashers where disposable utensils and uneaten food must be thrown out, McFall noted.

Sustainability will also be an important factor in the surrounding landscape design as well as environmental efficiencies in the building itself. Consequently, a single kitchen, cafeteria and food storage area will “absolutely” be part of the design, Fallon said. (Earlier discussions had included the possibility of two separate cafeterias for different age groups.)

In addition to residents, teachers and architects, students are getting the chance to offer their ideas for the school. Groups of students were asked to illustrate their ideas on mural-size paper the previous week and came up with some very creative ideas, including a whale pool, a water slide into the library, and a tree house that could be accessed via zipline from the computer room.

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School, community center updates on Friday

Join the School Building Committee (SBC) and the Community Center Preliminary Planning and Design Committee (CCPPDC) on Friday, Oct. 20 at 12:30 p.m. in Bemis Hall for an update on the two proposed Ballfield Road campus projects. This session is a great opportunity to get caught up on the campus projects and also to share your questions, concerns and feedback with the committees.

Water bottle documentary at St. Anne’s

The Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School Environmental Club is joining up with St. Anne’s-in-the-Fields Church and its Climate Justice Film Series to discuss the club’s proposed single-use water bottle and plastic bottle ban and to view the documentary  film Tapped. Tapped looks at the bottled water industry and its environmental, health and economic long-term effects. Join the group on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m. for a light meal and presentation by the students. The film will begin at 7 p.m. with a discussion to follow.

LFA Halloween party is Oct. 29

The Lincoln Family Association will hold its annual Halloween party at Codman Barn on Sunday, Oct. 29 from 2–4 p.m. There will be crafts, pizza, popcorn, and a trick-or-treating parade and costume contest around 3 p.m. Free for LFA members, $10 for nonmembers (maximum $25 per family).

Piano recital with Rhapsody

Rhapsody, a group of amateur pianists, will offer a piano recital on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 3 p.m. in Bemis Hall. The performance is free and open to the public. The recital will feature selections from Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Godowski, Guastavino, Ginastera, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Schubert, Shchedrin, and Schumann. Rhapsody was formed in 2003 by a amateur pianists who sought a venue in which to perform for each other, both to grow musically and to share their musical journey with others. It has since grown to 18 people from the Boston metropolitan area, and members have met continuously every month for 14 years. Now an annual event, this will be their eighth public performance on Bemis Hall’s restored Steinway.

Interactive website brings residents into South Lincoln planning

A screen shot of the South Lincoln revitalization website at courb.co/lincoln.

Using a new interactive website, residents can look at a map of South Lincoln, see some of the improvements being discussed, and add their own comments and suggestions.

The project page at courb.co/lincoln was created for the Lincoln Planning Board and the South Lincoln Planning Implementation Committee (SLPIC), which are working to make the area around Lincoln Station a vibrant, walkable and sustainable village center. Officials can post updates and respond to comments by residents as part of the public process, which also includes in-person workshops and events.

The project team behind the website can drop a “pin” on certain areas of the map to invite discussion. For example, when users click on one of pins, it opens a text box saying “If this underutilized green space next to Donelan’s and Lincoln Woods was revitalized, what events would you like to see held here?” Residents can then post and read each other’s responses, much like the comments section at the bottom of a blog post, or add their own pins to start discussion on another specific area of South Lincoln. Participants receive a notification when the project team replies.

The town was recently awarded a $400,000 Complete Streets grant for 10 projects in town, some of which include including signs, roadway markings, crosswalks, bike racks, and informational kiosks in South Lincoln. One of the website pins asks residents where they wold like to see these kiosks located.

The web platform was created by coUrbanize, a startup founded by urban planners from MIT with the goal of supplementing the traditional community process that planners use by connecting people online. “Traditional planning workshops are important, but they can be a challenge for many people to attend,” said coUrbanize co-founder Karin Brandt. “By using technology to reach people and lowering the bar to participation, we can ensure that more voices are heard.”

Letter to the editor: help Scout preserve bats

letter

To the editor:

On behalf of the Lincoln Boy Scouts, I am writing to update the community about our declining bat population and how Troop 127 is trying to help.

In Massachusetts, there are nine different species of bats, the most common ones being the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus). As we know, these bats are extremely efficient in controlling mosquitoes, up to 600 insects per hour. A main challenge our bats are facing is white-nose syndrome, a disease originating in their wintering caves and leading to the death of a significant portion of the bat population — more than a million in the Northeast and Canada alone. Bats that are host to this disease have a white fungus (Geomyces destructans) growing on their nose or other body parts. The moisture in the caves allow this fungus to spread uncontrollably. Until scientists find a way to eradicate this illness, our troop aims to provide new, dry places for bats to live.

For my Eagle Scout project last spring, the Lincoln Boy Scout Troop and I built seven bat houses designed to house 50–60 little brown bats. The houses were hung high on trees throughout the conservation land in our town. Not only was this project ecologically beneficial — it was a satisfying task for the Scouts to participate in.

The troop would like to continue creating bat houses in the hopes of helping the struggling bat population. If you would like to contribute to this ongoing project, please donate to “Lincoln Boy Scout Troop 127″ and mail contributions to Troop Leader Christopher Bursaw Sr. at 136 Tower Rd, Lincoln, MA. Thank you for your interest.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Soukup, 2017 Eagle Scout
6 Woodcock Lane

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: kudos to Scarecrow 5K for reusable water bottles

letter

To the editor:

As a participant in Sunday’s Scarecrow 5K run and walk, I want to commend all involved in setting up, supporting, and implementing a wonderful morning of fun. I particularly want to thank the Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, Klean Kanteen, and the Rural Land Foundation for providing reusable water bottles to every participant in the race. This was a welcome change from plastic water bottles that are generally used in road races around the country.

Americans use 50 billion single-serve plastic water bottles a year. Only 29 percent get recycled, so most end up littering our land and our waterways, and pose a risk to our wildlife and marine life. Plastic does not biodegrade and remains in our environment for 1,000 years. Plastics leave behind and leach chemicals that are known to cause cancer and threaten our health — and the health of our ecosystems.

The long-term impacts on the planet and our health are not worth the price and convenience of cheap, convenient, single-use plastic water bottles. Thank you again to the sponsors of this race for your vision and commitment to a clean, green, sustainable Lincoln.

Sincerely,

Sheila Dennis
28 Weston 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.

Council on Aging welcomes new co-assistant director

Abigail Butt. (Photo by Alice Waugh)

The Lincoln Council on Aging has hired a new co-assistant director with the tools to help meet the needs of the town’s growing senior population.

Abby Butt started at the COA in September, sharing her job with Susan Isbell (she succeeds social worker Pam Mizrahi, who still leads a support group at the COA). Isbell helps seniors with applications for programs and services such as fuel assistance, while Butt handles more complicated situations where the client’s need aren’t so cut and dried.

Butt is not a social worker or counselor—she holds a PhD in gerontology from UMass-Boston’s McCormick School of Public Policy, and she’s trained in researching programs and doing needs assessments for entire communities as well as individuals. While a graduate student, she held a fellowship through the city of Somerville’s housing division, and she was outreach coordinator for the Beverly COA from 2011-16. She’s also a board member of the COA in Salem, where she currently lives.

“I discovered I really love working for cities and towns — I love working locally, kind of at the ground level,” said Butt, 34. “I enjoy doing a little of this and a little of that, and getting to know people. I’m excited about getting out into the community.” She has begun holding office hours at Lincoln Woods and making home visits, “so we can give services right where (clients) are,” she said.

Another part of Butt’s portfolio is modernizing the COA’s record-keeping. Before her arrival, all case notes were kept on paper; having them in digital form will make it easier for COA staff to follow up with clients with resorting to phone calls or lengthy emails with each other, “so the seniors are going to get much better service,” she said. The COA plans to move from hand-written to electronic sign-in for activities at Bemis Hall, “so the receptionist can focus on being welcoming and helping people instead of trying to get them to write legibly on a piece of paper about the activities they’re participating in,” Butt said.

The ability to gather growing amounts of information from individuals and government — then “distilling it down into something that’s manageable into a policy brief and recommendations and action steps,” as Butt describes it — is becoming more important every day. “We’re  about to have more seniors than we ever have, and we need to be proactive.”

Research by Butt’s colleagues, among others, bears this out. The Baby Boomers have begun to retire, and improved medical technology means people are living longer — and requiring more services — as they move into their 80s, 90s and beyond.

In Massachusetts, the share of the population age 60 and older is expected to increase from 19 percent in 2010 to 28 percent  in 2030, with 65+ population growing by 61% and the 85+ population by 34 percent, according to UMass-Boston’s Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging. As a result, most cities and towns in the Commonwealth will have at least 50% more seniors in 2030 than they do today—so Lincoln is hardly alone in confronting the need for better facilities and programs for its older residents.

“Abby has already made a wonderful difference here at the COA by bringing not only her enthusiasm and skills, but also lots of ideas from the other COAs she’s worked with,” said COA director Carolyn Bottum. “She’s helped us take a fresh look at how we do things and some of our procedures, and she’s also suggested a number of important and entertaining programs that we’ll be offering here in the next few months.”

The town of Salem, where Butt sits on the COA board of directors, has just broken ground for a new community center. That experience should also prove very useful “to help us ensure that we are bringing the best possible proposal to the town for a community center at the appropriate time,” Bottum said.

Tuesday workshops to focus on school’s educational priorities

The School Building Committee (SBC) and school project design team will hold a series of meetings this week with residents and students as they continue to answer the question: How will the building support our vision of education?

Lincoln School administrators and faculty discussed the town’s educational priorities during a day-long session facilitated by the design team from SMMA and EwingCole:

  • Provide high quality education
  • Create an engaging and inspiring approach to learning
  • Encourage interactive, multi-disciplinary, project-based learning modes; foster curiosity
  • Value diversity; display creativity
  • Provide a variety of learning spaces
  • Value reflection
  • Optimize connection to the natural environment
  • Host community events and promote partnerships with the community

These priorities reflect those laid out in the Lincoln Public Schools strategic plan approved by the School Committee in August 2017.

On Tuesday, Oct. 17, residents are invited to community workshops focused on how physical space impacts teachers and students. The workshops will take place from 8–10 a.m. and 7–9 p.m. in the Brooks gym. Questions to be discussed will include:

  • How does our current building impede our educators?
  • If a new building is built, or significant renovations made, how will it affect what is taught and how it is taught?
  • How do we know our new/renovated building will meet the needs of the next generations of Lincoln students?

Also on Tuesday, members of the design team will meet with student groups from grades 3, 5, and 8 to talk about what they like about the Lincoln School building, see examples of other schools, and discuss what they’d like to see in a new/renovated school.

In discussions about the school, phrases such as “21st century learning,” “project-based learning,” and “maker spaces” are used a lot. The SBC offers some short videos to help make these concepts clearer, and invite residents to bring questions about them to one of the Tuesday workshops:

The SBC always welcomes feedback and questions about the process. You can make a public comment by clicking on the “comment” button at the bottom of any of the posts on the SBC website, or you can send a message directly to the SBC by clicking on “Contact the SBC” on the site’s home page menu.

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Speakers to discuss Israel-Palestine conflict

The Lincoln-based GRALTA Foundation is hosting two talks by human rights activists in the Lincoln Public Library as part of its ongoing series exploring the Israel-Palestine conflict:

  • Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 7 p.m. — Lubnah Shomali, Administrative and Financial Affairs Manager, BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights. Lubnah Shomali will discuss BADIL’s comprehensive, rights-based approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the applicability of international humanitarian and human rights law on forced population transfer, refugees, and internally displaced persons.
  • Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 1:30 p.m. — Haggai Matar, Executive Director, +972 magazine and Local Call. He will speak about the role of media in the rise of populist regimes and its potential role in unifying the progressive camp to fight back.

On Sunday, Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. at Bemis Hall, GRALTA will reports on its recent micro-delegation to Israel and Palestine with reports from Bill Stason, Janet Simmon, and Steve Low. For more information, contact Low at 781-259-1300 or steve.low@gordianconcepts.com.

Durant to give Rappaport Prize Lecture at deCordova

Sam Durant.

Sam Durant will give the annual Rappaport Prize Lecture at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m. (doors open at 6 p.m.) Durant is the 18th recipient of the prestigious Rappaport Prize, an annual award of $25,000 given to a contemporary artist with strong connections to New England. This program is FREE, but registration is requested. Free tickets are available on Eventbrite.

Free concert with Toni Lynn Washington

Sax Gordon and Toni Lynn Washington.

All ages are invited to a free concert by renowned Boston-area blues vocalist Toni Lynn Washington and acclaimed saxophonist Sax Gordon Beadle on Sunday, Nov. 5 at 2 p.m. at Bemis Hall. The performance—a gift from Margo Cooper in celebration of her mother’s life—is the first annual Ronna Cooper Memorial Concert and is sponsored by the Friends of the Lincoln Council on Aging.

Washington, who has starred for decades as both a singer and songwriter, has received the Boston Blues Festival Lifetime Achievement Award and seven Blues Music Award nominations. Gordon Beadle, known for his “hard-blowing, exciting, gutsy” signature style, has performed around the world and won numerous awards. The Duke Robillard rhythm section (Bruce Bears on keyboard, Jesse Williams on bass, and Mark Teixeira on drums) will back up Toni Lynn and Sax Gordon. For more information, call the Council on Aging at 781-259-8811.

Talk on gardening with native plants

Claudia Thompson, founder and president  of Grow Native Massachusetts, will speak on “Gardening with Native Plants” on Monday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. in Bemis Hall. She will explain the differences among native, naturalized and invasive plants and explore the food web that links plants to insects, birds, wildlife, and humans. Open to all Lincoln residents; sponsored by the Lincoln Garden Club.

Paws for the Holidays on Nov. 12

The Pierce House Mansion in Lincoln will open its doors on Sunday, Nov. 12 from 11 a.m.–4 p.m., decorated for the holidays and filled with hot chocolate, cookies, popcorn, live music, holiday baskets, arts and crafts, silent auction items and pet supplies.

The event benefits Phinney’s Friends, a Lincoln-based nonprofit that helps low-income people keep their pets in times of hardship. The mansion is dog-friendly, and there will be a room with activities for children. Santa will be available for pictures with families and their dogs. The festival will also offer items handmade by Phinney’s Friends volunteers. For more information, leave a message at 617-979-8705 or email phinneysfriends@gmail.com.

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“Tales of the Night” at Drumlin Farm

Put on your costume, grab a flashlight, and come to the silly spooky, and family-friendly Halloween tradition, “Tales of the Night,” on Thursday and Friday, Oct. 26 and 27 at Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary. Check the Fright-o-Meter when you arrive to see what activities will trick or treat you. Visitors will have the chance to:

  • Explore the farm at night lit by our display of more than 100 jack-o-lanterns
  • Meet some of the nocturnal wildlife of Massachusetts
  • Enjoy spooky treats, spider cider, and witches’ brew at the Ghoulish Graveyard
  • Venture out into the fields for a haunted hayride full of spooky surprises for the stout of heart from 7–8:30 p.m.

Tickets ($15 for Mass Audubon members, $17 for nonmembers and free for children under age 2) are available in advance only—they cannot be purchased at the gate. Click here to purchase online or call 781-259-2206. Register today, as this event often sells out.

Halloween parade at Lincoln Woods

All ages are welcome at a Halloween parade on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 5:30 p.m. in Lincoln Woods. Parents and children in costume will begin congregating at 5 p.m. and parade (with music) around the back and up through the MBTA parking lot, stopping by local merchants. The list is still forming, but Donelan’s, Something Special, the Lincoln Police and Fire Departments, the Parks and Recreation Department, and St. Vincent DePaul at St. Joseph’s Church will set up stations on our route and pass out candy and/or small trinkets. Participants will eventually make their way to the Ryan Estate, where they’ve been invited to show off their costumes. Participants have permission to park in the MBTA lot to minimize vehicle traffic in Lincoln Woods. Anyone with questions may contact Sharon Antia at Sharon.antia@tcbinc.org or 781-645-9178.

Service for Dunn on Nov. 3

Relatives and friends will gather for a memorial service for Barbara Bigelow Dunn on Friday, Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. in the First Parish Church. Dunn died on August 12 at the age of 96. Interment will be private at Lincoln Cemetery. Click here for her obituary and online guestbook.

Roadside pasture getting ready for return of the cows

New fenceposts await installation in the pasture running along Route 117. (Photo by Alice Waugh)

The narrow pasture between Drumlin Farm and the railroad tracks along Route 117 is being cleared and fenced in preparation for the return of a quintessentially Lincoln sight: cattle grazing in roadside fields.

The area was historically known as the “night pasture” because it was where the cows were turned out to graze in the evenings, but then the fence deteriorated to the point where it couldn’t safely contain the cows. With no livestock, invasive plant species took over the field, said Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary Manager Renata Pomponi.

Drumlin Farm is replacing the fence as part of a grant from the National Resource Conservation Service (part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture) to promote rotational grazing and invasives removal. The sanctuary has also invested in the clearing and fencing work as part of its ecological management plan, Pomponi said.

“Our staff have been working on that field for two years in preparation — a combination of physical removal (hard work!) and some limited chemical spraying to get rid of the black swallow wort. Our goal is to return cows to that field as soon as we can,” she said.

“The prospect of cleaning up that edge and having cows be the first thing people see in the early mornings and evenings as they drive into Lincoln over the railroad tracks has always been so appealing to me. We’re excited about restoring it to farmland use,” Pomponi said.