The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Donate your old cellphones to help Wellesley & save the world

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The Wellesley Middle School PTO and Wellesley Green Team are partnering to run a cellphone recycling fundraiser that they say will help prevent you from destroying the world with all that nasty stuff (arsenic, lead, etc.) those devices attached to our ears and mouths are filled with. Funds raised through recycling the materials will go to Wellesley Middle School PTO programs, which supports student programming as well as professional development.

The organizations cite research that found millions of old cellphones are stockpiled in U.S. households and millions more are discarded annually. What’s more, mining for the metals used to build smartphones and other gadgets is a huge source of pollution.

The event takes place  Monday, June 5 – Friday, June 9. Your used item will be recycled in accordance with EPA regulations.  After collection, your recycled phones and devices will go through a triage process to determine their status for reuse. At that time customer data is removed (though you might wanna take things into your own hands and wipe the devices before handing them over). Devices will either be refurbished or shredded for precious metals reclamation.  In this process, devices are shredded and metals are extracted for asset recovery.

WMS will collect the following items:

Cell phones of any age or condition  *  Wall or car chargers  *  iPods  *  Digital Cameras  *  Bluetooths  *  Air Cards  *  Leather Cases  *  Plastic Cases  *  Paper or CD Manuals

The week of 6/5 – 6/9, please drop off any items you would like to recycle in the drop bins at the Wellesley Middle School, Kingsbury Street and Donizetti Street entrances, in the main office, or hand them to a team of collectors who will come by your car at school pickup between 3:00 p.m. and 3:20 pm. after school at WMS.

If you’d like to volunteer to take part in the event, sign up here: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/10C0C4AA9AB2FABFA7-cell

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Wellesley Middle School Mini Marathon tradition continues

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Wellesley Middle School Mini Marathon
8th grade speedsters
Out of the shadow of April’s Boston Marathon, Wellesley Middle School students took part in the annual Mini-Marathon at the Sprague playing fields on May 4.
 
Nearly 1,000 students ran or walked the 2-mile course, which was monitored by parent and faculty volunteers. 
 
The top three male and female runners from each grade were presented with medals in front of their classmates.
The WMS Fitness and Health staff, in partnership with the PTO, organized the event.
Wellesley Middle School Mini Marathon
7th grade top finishers

 

Wellesley Middle School Mini Marathon
Zippy 6th graders

 

Wellesley Middle School Mini Marathon

 

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Save the Date: 5th Grade-Only Teen Center at Wellesley Middle School on May 20

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neon night teen center wellesley

Wellesley 5th Grade Teen Center, Saturday May 20th, 7pm – 9pm @ Wellesley Middle School.

The Wellesley Teen Center is running a special 5th grade-only Red Sox-themed event @ WMS. Gather your friends and enjoy DJ & dancing, ping pong, dodgeball, Wii, snacks and games. Everyone in attendance is entered into a Red Sox Crazy Raffle for a chance to win a Premium Ticket Package to a 2017 Red Sox vs. Yankees Game.

To attend complete the membership registration online by Clicking Here. There is no additional door fee at the 5th grade event. There will be a $5 fee collected at the door for all future Teen Center events for 6th, 7th and 8th grade. Parent volunteers welcome and can sign up online at www.wellesleyteencenter.org. Find out more at the Wellesley Teen Center website or contact [email protected]

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Wellesley High cross country/assistant track coach arrested on child porn charges, fired by school

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Wellesley High Track and FieldAll seemed normal on the surface at Wellesley High School’s track meet vs. Norwood on Thursday afternoon, as student-athletes competed, spectators enjoyed getting a break from the rain and school officials gave friendly greetings.  But sadly, things were anything but normal on this day.

Just as the meet was ending, the Wellesley Public School system issued an announcement by email that it had dismissed Walter Johnson, who has served as Wellesley High’s girls’ cross country coach and an assistant indoor/outdoor track coach (working mainly with jumpers) in recent years. The fact that Johnson wasn’t at the meet was unusual, but no cause for alarm. What was alarming is that the school’s action followed a revelation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that the 69-year-old Framingham resident had been arrested and charged earlier in the day with one count of distribution and one count of possession of child pornography.

Following the disclosure, TV news vans descended on Wellesley High School, soliciting reactions of astonishment from random people in the area to air on their evening broadcasts. Wellesley Police made their presence felt at WHS on Friday morning to ensure news outfits didn’t impede learning.

The school system isn’t sharing much more information during this investigation period, but Superintendent David Lussier says WPS will keep the community updated. In addition to his coaching duties, Johnson had served as a special education teaching assistant at Wellesley Middle School from 2007 to 2015. He was known as a soft-spoken coach, often barely audible when making remarks at sports banquets.

Lussier emphasized that all Wellesley High employees, including Johnson, are fingerprinted and CORI checked before being hired. Johnson had no prior criminal record. He served as a cross country and track coach at Harvard University from the early 1980s until 2006, and  taught English at Wayland High School in the 1970s and 1980s, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Anyone with relevant information or questions about investigation can call 617-748-3274, a number established by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Marianne B. Bowler scheduled a detention and probable cause hearing for May 1.

According to the charging document, in January 2017, federal agents began an investigation into child pornography being traded by a Craigslist user. The investigation led to Johnson, whose home was searched today. According to one report, an investigation into a police sergeant’s conduct led to Johnson’s alleged involvement.

The charge of distribution of child pornography provides for a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and no greater than 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine $250,000. The charge of possession of child pornography provides for a sentence of 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine $250,000.

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