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World of Wellesley to host documentary discussion on “Just Mercy”

December 6, 2022 by admin Leave a Comment

World of WellesleyWorld of Wellesley (WOW) will hold a documentary discussion about Just Mercy, the 2019 film that shadows world-renowned civil rights defense attorney Bryan Stevenson. After graduating from Harvard, Stevenson heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned or those not afforded proper representation. One of his first cases is that of Walter McMillian, who is sentenced to die in 1987 for the murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite evidence proving his innocence. In the years that follow, Stevenson encounters racism and legal and political maneuverings as he tirelessly fights for McMillian’s life.

WOW asks that you watch the movie or documentary at a time that is convenient for you, and then join the in-person conversation on Tue., Dec. 13, 6:30pm-8pm, at 219 Washington Street, Wellesley MA 02481 (Wellesley Friendly Aid, Living Room). Tea and cookies will be available during this relaxing and casual evening of thoughtful discussion.

You can watch Just Mercy on Amazon, Netflix, or get a copy through the Wellesley Public Library.

DATE: Tue., Dec. 13
TIME: 6:30pm-8pm
LOCATION: 219 Washington Street, Wellesley MA 02481 (Wellesley Friendly Aid, Living Room)

RSVP here to the event.

Please note that this event is mask optional. For more information: info@worldofwellesley.org

Filed Under: Education, Embracing diversity

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Wellesley charity news: Raider Classic golf tourney raises $20K for local METCO; Relay for Life participants sought

November 18, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The latest Wellesley, Mass., charity & fundraising news:

Raider Classic golf tourney raises $20K for Wellesley METCO program

The Friends of Wellesley METCO has been presented with a check for $20,000 courtesy of the inaugural Raider Classic Charitable Golf Tournament, which took place over the summer at Sandy Burr Country Club in Wayland. Eighty golfers took part at the event, which Friends Co-President Tinea Rochelle says “surpassed our wildest expectations for year 1….With player and participant feedback, we are looking forward to taking this event to the next level for years to come.”
This idea began as a few friends getting together to celebrate connections made through Wellesley METCO, which brings urban and suburban students together in town. These friends included Brendan Brooks, Reid Kapinos Drew Kelton, and Conor McCormack.
“As a  parent of 2 Wellesley METCO High School graduates, it’s with great pride to say that Wellesley METCO truly has the friendship & support of the community,” Rochelle writes.

Friends of Wellesley METCO is an all-volunteer nonprofit whose mission is to help Wellesley METCO students with community building and provide support towards academic achievements.

Raider classic metco
WHS grad Reid Kapinos, Friends of Wellesley METCO Co-President Tinea Rochelle, Wellesley High Assistant Principal DrewKelton & WHS grad Conor McCormack

Relay for Life participants sought

relay for lifeThe Relay For Life of Charles River, which raises funds for the American Cancer Society, is seeking student and adult participants from Wellesley and nearby. The event will take place at the Newman School in Needham on May 20.
With the COVID-19 pandemic derailing the event for the past couple of years, organizers are looking to reestablish old connections and make new ones to make the event a success.
At Relay For Life, community members take turns walking around a track lined with light-up bags. Those who are or have lived with cancer, as well as their supporters, take part in the event, which includes entertainment and goes through the night.
See more info on the Relay for Life website or email steven@michaelsdelibrookline.com

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Filed Under: Education, Embracing diversity, Fundraising

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Roots and Wings event celebrates writers who graduated from Wellesley High & their teachers

October 18, 2022 by Deborah Brown 1 Comment

It’s been said that “there are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.”  A prominent newspaper editor in the 1950s referred to the source of the adage as “a wise woman,” and over the years various speakers have claimed credit for the words. The historical record of the speaker may be muddy, but the metaphor remains clear—the idea behind roots and wings is that if a family and community are doing it right, the kids in their care come away with a strong sense of where they came from (the roots) and the power and confidence to live their dreams (the wings).

Staying grounded, taking flight

The Roots and Wings: Wellesley High’s Legacy of Nurturing Creativity program at the Wellesley Free Library last week celebrated Wellesley High School’s long history of graduates who are writers, and the teachers who inspired them. During a panel discussion moderated by Beth Hinchliffe, herself a former presidential speechwriter and the town historian, WHS graduates who are writers spoke about their formative years in Wellesley and how their teachers set them on their path.

The Roots and Wings project as explained by Hinchcliffe is the opportunity to come together as a community, celebrate Wellesley’s legacy of nurturing academic excellence and creativity, and “ensure that we and our schools will continue to value this rare tradition and to urgently commit to keeping it a priority in our future.”

Hinchcliffe is proudly keeping score—she and the Roots and Wings team have assembled a work-in-progress list of over 125 WHS graduates who are writers. The project celebrates writers who are wordsmiths in all genres including fiction, nonfiction, scriptwriting, journalism, and poetry.

The event and project are in honor of Katharine Lee Bates (WHS class of 1874, and namesake of Bates Elementary School), Sylvia Plath (class of 1950), Wilbury Crockett (WHS English teacher 1944-1980, chair for 30 years), and all WHS writers and teachers past, present, and future.

Richard Preston, from reluctant reader to prolific author

Richard Preston, author of the New York Times #1 bestseller The Hot Zone, a true account of the study of Marburg and Ebola viruses in the years preceding the full-blown epidemic (among many other bestsellers), knows how to speak up now, but as a small, shy Hunnewell student, he had difficulty learning how to read. “I was behind much of the class. but the teacher spoke to my mother and said ‘I think you should try him on comic books.'”

Roots and Wings, Wellesley
Author Richard Preston, right, and panel moderator Beth Hinchliffe

Exposure to plenty of Superman and Casper the Friendly Ghost led to his realization that there was not only something to this reading thing, but there was a whole Wellesley Free Library of books in walking distance from Hunnewell. Preston had found his new happy place. At WHS, Preston said teachers Jeanie Goddard, Jerry Murphy (deceased, 2019), and Wilbury Crockett (deceased, 1994) were instrumental in his early development as a writer, preparing him for Pomona College, where he majored in English, and graduated summa cum laude, followed by graduate school at Princeton University, where he got his Ph.D. in English.

Adam Haslett, no stranger to Wellesley

Adam Haslett, two-time finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for You Are Not a Stranger Here and his most recent novel, Imagine Me Gone, has also received Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships. He spoke about how teachers encouraged freedom of thought.

Roots and Wings, Wellesley
Author Adam Haslett and retired WHS English teacher (and legend) Jeanie Goddard

“One of the things Jeanie did in her class was show us a documentary called Webster Grows” about a 1960s St. Louis suburb where white suburban families embraced conformity rather than truly live their purported liberal ideals. Of the WHS English department faculty he said, “These teachers took teenagers’ minds seriously, which seems like a challenge.”

At Swarthmore College, Haslett’s writing ability continued to be nurtured, most notably by faculty member (and internationally acclaimed author of five novels, including The Corrections), Jonathan Franzen.

They always knew Nina Shope was going places

Nina Shope, the author of Hangings: Three Novellas, was the kind of student who in high school analyzed dream symbolism in the works of Dostoevsky, submitted an early novel-in-progress to her English teacher, Mrs. McCoy, and turned in a 42-page end-of-year paper at the age of 15. Here’s the kicker—to the delight of the audience, Shope brought that 42-page paper with her all the way from her home in Colorado and read from it. This is an author who was among her people and knew how to work her crowd.

Roots and Wings, Wellesley
Author Nina Shope

She cited the high point of her high school career as winning the Sylvia Plath Creative Writing Award her senior year. “I was in awe of the fact that Plath lived in my town. Reading her poetry really reaffirmed my desire to write fiction that used the same radical condensation, symbols, and compression” techniques of the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet. “My teachers Mrs. Fralick, Mrs. Goddard, Mrs. Frick, and Mrs. McCoy helped me learn to trust my voice and also to love literary analysis and difficult writers.”

From WHS, Shope earned her B.A. from Brown University and am MFA from Syracuse University. Shope is also a textiles artist.

Wellesley will always claim Vanessa Mártir

She may not have been raised in Wellesley, but the town will always claim A Better Chance program alumna Vanessa Mártir as one of its own. Her stirring essays have appeared in publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Poets & Writers, and numerous anthologies. Moderator Hinchcliffe called Mártir, “a novelist, poet, and playwright, as well as our social conscious, and the voice that calls out to our better selves.”

Roots and Wings, Wellesley
Author Vanessa Mártir, left, and retired WHS English teacher Brooks Goddard.

In order for the audience to understand her experience, Mártir told the story of where she came from. “I am from Bushwick, Brooklyn. Not the Bushwick, Brooklyn of today that everyone wants to live in. I am from Bushwick when it was a pile of rubble,” as a result of the blackout of 1977 and its resulting riots, as well as the crack epidemic of the 1980s. “We lived among that, and also these burnt out buildings that they just left there because no one cared enough about us to do anything about it, for years,” she said.

While she was very smart, Mártir’s behavioral issues at her New York City middle school got her into trouble. “I got into a fight with a girl, and I knocked down two of my teachers trying to get to that girl,” she related. During an intervention of sorts, a guidance counselor recommended that Mártir apply to the Wellesley ABC program. Once at WHS, micro-aggressions abounded in the hallways. “Let me hear you tawk, Rosie,” demanded students who didn’t know what to make of this brash, confident girl in their midst. Everything they knew about Mártir’s accent they’d learned from actress Rosie Perez in the movie White Men Can’t Jump. 

The anger that catapulted her over two teachers back in Brooklyn still simmered. Until her English teacher, Brooks Goddard, gave her a copy of The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Until that novel, Mártir had never read anything that even came close to resembling her life experiences. It was life changing. While in college at Columbia University, Mártir took every Latino literature and culture class she could.

Although Mártir will always be a fighter, of that girl from long ago she says, “I am no longer that angry, I now have words. Now these fists have a pen.”

Brooks Goddard, ever the gentleman

The clock was ticking, and WHS retired WHS English department head Brooks Goddard (and co-legend along with his wife, Jeanie) was scheduled to say a few words. But he demurred, giving up his speaking time so that others might have their moment in the spotlight, unhurried, before the library closed. Suggesting everything of import had already been covered by others that evening, Brooks choked up as he said, “I followed the legend [referring to Crockett], and I married a saint.”

The bright future of Wellesley High writing

The evening closed with a special treat, a reading of original poetic works by Derek Jiminez and Maya McNeill, both WHS class of 2023.  “Our two young Wellesley High poets promise a noble continuation of writing glories,” Jeanie Goddard said in her introduction of Jiminez and McNeill. “How lucky, lucky, lucky, we all are to have them.”

Roots and Wings, Wellesley
WHS poet Derek Jiminez. When he is not writing, Derek is captain of the track team and a star hurdler who has committed to Occidental College in California.

 

Roots and Wings, Wellesley
WHS poet Maya McNeill. She has already published a poem in the collection To My Kin. When she is not writing or performing, McNeill works at City Hall in Boston. She has applied to several Historically Black Colleges for next fall.

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Filed Under: Education, Embracing diversity, Entertainment, Wellesley High School

Sara Campbell, Wellesley

Wellesley A Better Chance program to celebrate 50th anniversary

September 27, 2022 by admin Leave a Comment

Wellesley ABC

Filed Under: Education, Embracing diversity

Wellesley Business Buzz: Go pink for Ellie Fund; Stretch Lab cuts ribbon; Wellesley Books author visits are back; Real estate renaissance; Soccer signups

September 26, 2022 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

The latest Wellesley, Mass., business news:

Wellesley goes pink for the Ellie Fund

Ellie Fund, WellesleyBe on the lookout for Wellesley retailers who are honoring National Breast Cancer Awareness Month by turning the town pink with decorated storefronts, and pink-themed events in support of the Ellie Fund.

The support of the Ellie Fund takes place across Wellesley for the entire week of October 1-8. As part of the Wonderful Wellesley campaign to invigorate shopping in town, shops and restaurants will be stepping up and stepping out to turn Wellesley pink for Ellie Fund. Starting October 1 and throughout the month, stores like Natureworks, Isabel Harvey, Sara Campbell, Kenzie & Hope, and more will be decked with pink window displays and balloons. Look for employees at Roosters and The Cottage wearing Ellie t-shirts donated by Custom Ink. Others will be donating a portion of sales on a specific day(s) to Ellie Fund.  Some businesses will be rounding up each sale and donating to the charity.  More information here on Wellesley Square participants and Linden Square doings.

The Ellie Fund’s mission is to provide essential support services for breast cancer patients to ease the stresses of everyday life, allowing the focus to be on family, recovery and healing. The foundation provides transportation to medical appointments, light housekeeping, nutritional and grocery assistance, childcare reimbursement, nutritious prepared/delivered meals and integrative therapy services free of charge. No proof of financial need, residency, or citizenship is required. To donate to the Ellie Fund, click here.

“Ellie Fund is near and dear to Wellesley businesses and our customers. We are looking forward to Wellesley Goes Pink to raise the awareness and funds needed,” said Demian Wendrow on behalf of the Wonderful Wellesley campaign. Wendrow is the President, Wellesley Square Merchants’ Association and Owner of London Harness and TUMI Wellesley.


StretchLab in Linden Square under new ownership

It’s not a stretch to say that Dr. Jamie Snead is qualified to assess the safety and efficacy of a studio that offers one-on-one stretching as a way for clients to stay limber and prevent injuries. Jamie (as he prefers to go by in the studio) is not only chief of orthopedics at Sturdy Memorial Hospital in Attleboro, he’s also gone through the StretchLab training program, which he proclaimed, “pretty intense.”

StretchLab Wellesley
StretchLab owners Dr. Jamie Snead (wearing hat) and Kelly Snead (wielding scissors) at the grand opening. Local luminaries attended including Select Board member Beth Sullivan Woods (far left, in bright blue) and Lise Elcock from the Charles River Regional Chamber.

The idea behind the one-on-one stretching is that certified “flexologists” work with clients individually to identify tightness and body imbalances, and customize a stretch routine. The goal is to experience the freedom that comes with having a wider range of motion and flexibility.

Jamie, along with his spouse and business partner Kelly, came across a StretchLab franchise when they were on vacation in Arizona a couple of years ago. They tried out a sample stretch and were impressed. “When we got back here we looked into it, and ended up buying the existing Wellesley Linden square franchise,” she said.

One of the flexologists gave my twitchy hip flexors a 30-minute workover while I was there for the studio’s grand opening. Although I still need a hip replacement (they’re flexologists, not miracle workers), I came away feeling that my joints benefited from the attention. Most importantly, the young woman working with me listened. As she stretched me out, there was no pressure to endure any pain, and she made no sudden movements during the session.

Business: StretchLab
Location: Linden Square, Wellesley (across from the CVS drive-in)
Phone: 339-217-0217


Sign up now for Wellesley Youth Soccer

Wellesley SoccerRegistration is still open for Wellesley Youth Soccer’s pre-K through third grade in-town programs and for the additional professionally led development program for grades pre-K through fifth grade.

Sign up today at www.wellesleysoccer.org or email admin@wellesleysoccer.org


Wellesley Books author visit

In-person author visits are back at Wellesley Books, so I stopped in to see best-selling dynamic author duo Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone on their tour to promote their joint effort, A Merry Little Meet Cute. With frank scenes about mental health struggles, the progressiveness of sex work, queer self-acceptance, and more, the holiday-themed novel isn’t your average rom-com romp. What it does have in common with that genre is romantic fiction fun, hi-jinks, and hilarity.

Julie Murphy (left) and Sierra Simone (right) spoke about their holiday rom-com, A Merry Little Meet Cute, at Wellesley Books
Julie Murphy (left) and Sierra Simone (right) spoke about their holiday rom-com, A Merry Little Meet Cute, at Wellesley Books

 

Julie is the author of the Y/A book  Dumplin’ (and its Netflix adaptation starring Jennifer Aniston), about a self-proclaimed fat girl who takes on her small Texas town’s annual beauty pageant. Sierra, as she delicately put it at the reading, writes “a little on the spicier side. I tend to write a little more of the forbidden stuff.” Medieval bodice rippers that include ancient and sexy secrets are right in her wheelhouse.

It all started in the back of a van

Julie and Sierra were a kick at the sold-out reading, treating the audience to the story of their own best-friends origin story. Like so many meet-cute tales, theirs started in the back of a van at the start of an authors’ tour. Julie had agreed to go on tour, but had a laundry list of misgivings. “I’m not very good with strangers. And I’m not very good at sharing a room with people I don’t know. I like my privacy,” she revealed to the audience.

Prepared to hate Sierra, her tour roomie, Julie had her lead all prepared. “Hi, I’m Julie Murphy, and sometimes I snore,” she said by way of self-introduction.

“That’s ok,” Sierra said. “I have narcolepsy, and I can sleep through anything.”

That was eight years ago, and they’ve been best friends ever since. A Merry Little Meet Cute got its start when the pair retreated to a little cabin in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma, right before Christmas. It was a place where Julie and Sierra found they could let themselves work in their own rhythm. “These little cabins were always decorated for Christmas, and it really set a mood,” Julie said.

And out of that mood came A Merry Little Meet Cute, which Sierra said is a plus-size rom-com about “an adult content creator who has partnered with an adult entertainment producer with a heart of gold. His work producing adult films isn’t as lucrative as he needs right now. So he figures what if to make a quick buck he breaks into the holiday movie business?”

Of course, the star of the squeaky-clean Hallmark-type movie has to keep her regular gig in adult film-making a secret. Of course, someone on the set knows her secret. Things just might get so steamy in the town of Christmas Notch that snow begins to melt.

Note: Sierra’s Y/A chops notwithstanding, this is not a book for your young adult reader. A Merry Little Meet Cute is strictly for the 18+ year old crowd.

BOOK: A Merry Little Meet Cute
AUTHORS: Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone
PUBLISHER: HarperCollins


What’s behind Wellesley’s ‘Real Estate Renaissance’?

The Charles River Regional Chamber on Oct. 6 (12-1pm) presents an online panel discussion on Wellesley’s “Real Estate Renaissance,” the topic of a recent Boston Globe article written by a reporter who interviewed non other than Mr. Swellesley among other locals. The online session is free for members, $20 for non-members.

Wellesley’s real estate action has included new restaurants and retailers, new multi-family developments, plus the early stages of bio labs.

Presenters

  • Scott Faber, senior VP of investments, Lincoln Property
  • Amy Frigulietti, assistant executive director, Town of Wellesley
  • Elizabeth Holmes, director of corporate services, R.W. Holmes Realty
  • Joel Kadis, co-CEO & partner, Linear Retail Properties

MORE: Wellesley’s amped-up restaurants scene


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Filed Under: Books, Business, Embracing diversity, Entertainment, Fundraising, Holidays, Shopping

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Rick Cram, leader

Wellesley schools round-up: MassBay land acknowledgement; we get schooled by school construction managers; Dana’s new project is shovel-ready

September 22, 2022 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

MassBay land acknowledgement plaque installed

 

MassBay Community College last week unveiled a permanent land acknowledgement plaque in a ceremony attended by chiefs of three native tribes. MassBay is believed to be the first community college in Massachusetts to make this public acknowledgement with a permanent marker and a ceremony of reconciliation and healing. During the ceremony the college announced an Indigenous People Scholarship had been formed for current and future MassBay students, for which fundraising has begun.

MassBay, land acknowledgement
Photo by MassBay Community College

“Today Indigenous people became visible,” said Chief Ladybug (Croatan) Native Heritage New England and Program Chair for Health Studies at MassBay. “As a Massachusetts indigenous person, today’s land acknowledgement that MassBay Community College campuses sits on land that belongs to the Nipmuc, Pawtucket, and Massachusetts tribes was historic for me, my family, and my tribe. Acknowledgment is the first steps to our tribal healing.”

Nine tribes were present at the gathering including Croatan, Ponkapoag, Mi’kmaq, Mohawk, Cherokee, Blackfoot, Wampanoag, Natick Praying Indians, and the Nipmuc. Chief Black Wolf of the Nipmuc, Chief Eagle Rising (Mi’kmaq) from the Great Lowell Indian Cultural Association, and 8-year-old Sophia Wise Owl (Ponkapoag) all spoke at the ceremony of gratitude for this acknowledgement.

“We are proud to hold this important ceremony and to give proper recognition of the land on which our college sits,” said MassBay President David Podell. “As our plaque reads, we cannot change the past. But what we can do and will do is to is honor the land, the ancestors, and the indigenous traditions as we at MassBay use this sacred land as a communal place to nurture learners to move forward and make a more inclusive world.”

Chief Caring Hands of the Natick Praying Indians summed up the Ceremony by saying, “I leave you with a truth: a people honor themselves when they honor its original people.”

Donations to the MassBay Indigenous People Scholarship Fund can be made by visiting www.massbay.edu/give, using the dropdown menu.


Swellesley editors are residents, but we need to clean up our act

 

While walking in the Hunnewell School area, we came across a different sort of sign affixed to the chain link safety fencing that encircles the construction site.

Hunnewell School sign

Dang, by mid-morning today we’d already used foul language, loitered, and did one other thing on this list, which we’ll leave to your imagination.


Dana Hall groundbreaking

 

Dana Hall is another step closer to a major renovation of its Upper School Classroom Building, the school’s largest academic space, which dates from 1956.

Dana Hall, Wellesley, construction
Board of Trustees Chair Courtney Caruso ’05; Head of School Katherine Bradley; and Campaign Steering Committee Chair and Manton Foundation Trustee Sandy Niles, break ground on the Upper School Classroom Building project.

“Our students have been at the heart of all our decisions, discussions and desires,” Head of School Katherine Bradley said at the groundbreaking event. “We knew we needed a learning environment that would meet their needs and provide the space where they could explore their interests, engage with new challenges and realize their fullest potential.”

The project, designed by Dario Designs, is being funded by private philanthropy. Last fall, the Dana Hall announced a historic $15 million gift from the Manton Foundation, with $10 million designated to support the Classroom Building. The project’s general contractor, CM & B construction management, estimates a 15-18 month timeline for completion.


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Filed Under: Dana Hall School, Education, Embracing diversity, Hunnewell Elementary School, MassBay

Wellesley High grad now interim METCO director

September 9, 2022 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley Public Schools has appointed Karsten Cash, a 1991 Wellesley High School graduate, as 2022-2023 interim director of the local METCO program he once took part in.

(Post updated on 9/12/22 with comments from Cash.)

He replaces Cynthia Russell, who after working as the school system’s K-12 director for the past 2 1/2 years and our Middle/Elementary coordinator for 17 years, recently resigned to return to Pennsylvania and be closer to her family.

Cash recently served as director of student support services at METCO’s headquarters. METCO enrolls students who live in Boston in suburban public schools on a voluntary basis.

His family represents three generations of METCO participants, including his in-laws, wife, and brothers. He’s also a current Wellesley METCO parent.

Cash has served on the Friends of Wellesley METCO board as scholarship committee co-chair.

Asked by email if he’d ever imagined himself working the the Wellesley school system after attending grades 10-12 here, he replied: “I absolutely did! Our METCO director was very supportive,  strict,  and encouraging. These were the same qualities that I experienced from all of my Wellesley teachers and staff.  The teaching and cafeteria staff on up to the principal were always very friendly and held high expectations  for me. Also, the relationships that were built with the adults in the building inspired me to attain the professional levels that I’ve achieved so I could give back to the communities that gave me so much. I always knew that I would be in the position to give back!”

Among Cash’s goals in his new job will be having “conversations with all district administrative leadership so that I KNOW that they all understand the history and impact of the METCO program on all of our students and families. I would also like to learn about their hopes and dreams for DEI in our community and how we can lock arms to ensure all of our goals are achieved.”

The METCO program in Wellesley falls within the public school system’s Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, led by Interim Director Jorge Allen.

Though Cash emphasizes “the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion does not solely rest on the shoulders of the METCO Program or the DEI director. It takes bravery and a willingness of all of us to step outside of our comfort zone to become an ally to all of our underrepresented populations. It also requires the adults to build trust and collaboration as well.”

“Wellesley Public Schools is not a school district with a METCO program,” Cash added. “WPS IS A METCO DISTRICT!”


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Filed Under: Embracing diversity, Wellesley High School

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