Marblehead Public Schools - Marblehead Current

MHS Culture Feast a big hit, students produce video of event

1Jun

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Art, Community resources, Culture, Education, Local News, Marblehead Public Schools, Top Stories

MHS Culture Feast a big hit, students produce video of event

More than 150 students, families and residents came out for Marblehead High School's annual Culture Feast on May 19, organized by the METCO program. The night featured several live performances by students, as well as Kenyan singer, writer and activist Wangari Fahari. There was food from around the world, including food trucks Jamaica Mi Hungry, Bon Me and Cookie Monstah. MHS student Tamia Johnson produced a video piece about the evening. Her sister Tamya provided the voiceover. Students Piper Morgan and Alex Hersey recorded the footage. You can watch the video HERE. MHS students enjoy Culture Feast. COURTESY PHOTO

Current launches its comprehensive Election Guide

31May

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

About Us, Community resources, Local News, Marblehead Public Schools, Municipal Matters, Politics, Public safety, Top Stories

Current launches its comprehensive Election Guide

Marblehead voters head to the polls on June 20 to approve or reject a $2.5 million permanent override and elect many town leaders. The Marblehead Current has got you covered with its comprehensive Election Guide that features up-to-date information on the override question and races for Select Board, School Committee, Board of Health, Recreation and Parks Commission, Light Commission and Abbot Public Library Board of Trustees. You'll find news articles, candidate Q&As and statements, editorials and letters to the editors, plus clips of the League of Women Voters of Marblehead's candidate's forum, courtesy of Marblehead TV. Find the Election Guide HERE. The Current will accept election-related letters to the editors until 5 p.m. on Friday, June 16. To submit yours, click here or...

MHS alum to premiere political thriller at Warwick during reunion

30May

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Art, Culture, Education, Local News, Marblehead Public Schools, Politics, Top Stories

MHS alum to premiere political thriller at Warwick during reunion

Coming home for your 50th high school reunion can be a little intimidating. Less so for Greg Newberry, who will be premiering a film he wrote, produced and directed at the Warwick Cinema the same weekend as his Marblehead High reunion. A poster for Greg Newberry's movie. It will premiere at the Warwick on June 3. COURTESY PHOTOS The Warwick will screen “Who is Amos Otis?” on Saturday, June 3, at 1 p.m., followed by a Q&A with Newberry. Newberry now lives in Cincinnati where — when he’s not making movies — he works in advertising. “This will be the film’s first screening in a theater,” Newberry said. “It’s fitting that it’s at the Warwick, where I was schooled on film growing up.” Newberry remembers watching classics like “The Godfather” and “Cool Hand Luke” at the Warw...

MHS student honored for essay on antisemitism

30May

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Education, Local News, Marblehead Public Schools, Nonprofit corner

MHS student honored for essay on antisemitism

Marblehead High School student Jeremy Sorkin won third place in the Israel Arbeiter Essay Contest from the Jewish Community Relations Council and will be traveling to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum with other winners. MHS student Jeremy Sorkin wrote about antisemitism and how it hits home in Marblehead. COURTESY PHOTO Sorkin wrote about the persecution of Jewish people throughout history — and the antisemitism that still exists today. “Many swastikas have been found at my school and even on some of the sidewalks in my town,” Sorkin wrote. “This continued hatred from the war prevails to this day, and combating it is the next step that teens in my peer group, and even younger children should engage in.”

‘Don’t beat yourself up,’ Class of 2023’s top grads offer advice

30May

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Education, Local News, Marblehead Public Schools, Top Stories

‘Don’t beat yourself up,’ Class of 2023’s top grads offer advice

Marblehead High School’s valedictorian and salutatorian will both miss the ocean when they leave for college in Indiana and Colorado at the end of the summer, but they are looking forward to the next chapters in their lives. MHS Valedictorian Yasen Colón, right, and Salutatorian Cate Trautman organized a blood drive at school recently. COURTESY PHOTO Valedictorian Yasen Colón is heading to Purdue University to study aerospace engineering. Salutatorian Cate Trautman is going to University of Colorado Boulder and its engineering honors program. They’re both excited to have been named the students with the highest GPAs (grade point averages) in the MHS class of 2023 and to speak at graduation on June 9. “It’s definitely a great honor,” said Colón. “When you spend most of your Fr...

Local vets share their war stories at MHS

29May

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Education, Marblehead Public Schools, Top Stories

Local vets share their war stories at MHS

Just a few days before Memorial Day, five Vietnam veterans from Marblehead, some with Purple Heart medals, came to speak to students at the high school about their experiences and how war changed their lives. ‘War is an absurdity’ said veteran Buck Grader. CURRENT PHOTOS / LEIGH BLANDER The MHS juniors had just finished reading “The Things They Carried,” a collection of semi-autobiographical stories by Tim O’Brien about a platoon of American soldiers fighting in Vietnam. The students asked the veterans dozens of questions ranging from: How did you feel when you got your draft notice? Did you have a strong stance on the war? What was your role in the war? What was it like coming back home? Each veteran met with a group of about six students. Boyden Batty shared photos of himsel...

Village students return from Bournedale adventure

28May

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Education, Environment, Local News, Marblehead Public Schools, Top Stories

Village students return from Bournedale adventure

More than 180 Village School sixth-graders are back from the traditional four-day excursion to Camp Bournedale in Plymouth— the first time since 2019 that students have been able to go. The program is called VillageXperience. “Students missed out on so many social opportunities over the past few years. We hope that this Xperience will be one that they will remember for a lifetime,” said Village teacher Jonathan Heller, who helped lead the trip. Village students have been going to Bournedale for at least three decades. “There are Village staff and chaperones that attended Bournedale when they were students in Marblehead Public Schools,” Heller told the Marblehead Current. Scenes from the Village School students trip to the Bournedale Camp. COURTESY PHO...

Kids, parents pedal to school together on Bike Bus, joining international movement

23May

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Community resources, Environment, Life Style, Local News, Marblehead Public Schools, Public safety, Sports, Top Stories

Kids, parents pedal to school together on Bike Bus, joining international movement

Warmer temperatures are here, and the Marblehead Bike Bus is back on the road, with a peloton of young students pedaling through town on their way to school. Wyatt Wells, left, in orange, and Bowie Osborne, in blue, pedal to school on the Marblehead Bike Bus. CURRENT PHOTOS / LEIGH BLANDER “It’s fun,” said smiling fourth-grader Sadie Osborne last Friday morning. “I’m always very tired in the morning, and this wakes me up.” Marblehead dad Peter Fleming started the Marblehead Bike Bus last fall, joining a worldwide movement of neighborhoods and schools organizing groups of students and parents to bike to school in a group. “Bike buses are kind of magical things. They get more children and parents riding to school instead of driving,” Fleming told the Marblehead Current. “T...

Parent group pushing for $2.5 million override

23May

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Education, Local News, Marblehead Public Schools, Municipal Matters, Public safety, Sports, Top Stories, Town Election Guide

Parent group pushing for $2.5 million override

Local parents who support the $2.5 million permanent tax override on the ballot in the June 20 election are launching a “Vote Yes for Marblehead” campaign. “'Vote Yes for Marblehead' will be working in the coming weeks to advocate for the successful passage of the override,” the committee said in a statement to the Marblehead Current. “As residents, taxpayers and parents, we simply could not stand by silently while critical public safety and education services are at risk of being drastically reduced.” The override, which will fund the schools and other town departments, including police and fire, passed by more than a two-thirds vote at Town Meeting this month. School Committee Chair Sarah Fox is confident the Vote Yes committee is up to the task. “It’s a great group of energ...

Town to pick new School Committee members amid budget crisis

17May

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Education, Local News, Marblehead Public Schools, Municipal Matters

Town to pick new School Committee members amid budget crisis

The race for School Committee is one of the hottest contests in the town’s June election, with four people vying for two seats. A fifth candidate, Karen Tal-Makhluf, dropped out last week. She was the first person to announce a run back in March.“Since then, I have been encouraged to see four other candidates enter the race. Since I have no wish to detract from these candidates’ efforts and because I will also need to be traveling during much of the campaign season, I am publicly withdrawing from this year’s School Committee race effective today, but I look forward to continuing to help move our community forward both as a volunteer and as a parent,” Tal-Makhluf wrote in a statement.The remaining School Committee candidates are Paul Baker, incumbent Sarah Gold, Brian Ota and former School...