For the Record ...

Monument Choir Uplifts Patients and Staff At Fairview

The Monument Mountain Chamber Choir, led by choral director Julie Bickford, brought their musical spirit of the season to Fairview Hospital on Wednesday morning.  Despite the school delay due to snow, the students came to the hospital and sang pieces of well known Christmas and traditional choral favorites.

“The beauty of the music brought tears to my eyes,” said Emergency Department Director Donna Sena, who heard the music from the floor below and came up to see the Choir sing on 2MS. “It was beautiful and uplifting to our staff and to our patients.”

While most patients stayed in their beds and enjoyed the festive songs wafting through the halls, the group did see patients passing on and off the elevator.  One patient, who was on a bed returning from a medical procedure, opened the elevator to what appeared to be her own personal carolers.  Instead of stopping the choir, a bright smile lit the patient’s face and she lifted her arms to conduct the choir.  “You did very well for us all, thank you!” said a nurse, who had been caring for the patient.

 

The Senior Citizens Fall Festival took place on Wednesday, November 12 at Monument.  Monument’s Concert Band, directed by Jeff Stevens, Jazz Ensemble, directed by Jeff Stevens, Chorus, directed by Julie Bickford, and Orchestra, director, Juraye Moran performed beautifully.  Three hundred some seniors then proceeded into the cafeteria and were served Yankee pot roast, red potatoes, butternut squash, and carrot cake served by 45 PATHways students (PATHways is a community service organization open to all students in grades 9-12 who are interested in promoting healthy lifestyles and responsible choices through education, volunteerism, and community action).  Thank you to Mrs. Graham, Mrs. Roy and Mrs. Houghton for their student advisement.  One senior citizen who attended the event wrote a thank you note to the school, “Thank you for another opportunity to be with our youth.  This is a day to bridge the generations.  The diversity of music reflects the beauty of our humanity.  I liked how the chorus brought together Christian, Hebrew and Asian prayer and culture. The Jazz Band jolted anyone who was not attentive.  They were great. The concert band made me fee global.  What a wonderful opportunity to create such harmony.”

Congratulations to the following students who received the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship from the state of Massachusetts.  They were awarded the scholarship based on their MCAS scores:  Alanna Astion, Morgan Balfanz, Jodi Barry, Emilyn Bona, Jessica Brown, Janet Butterworth, Molly Clark, Nick Cutter, Buddy Ferris, Erica Frighetto, Claire Gennari, Gregory Gniadek, Nathaniel Grant, Keelynn Harris, Keeley Hebler, Sandra Hernandez, James Kelly, Jeremy Kogen, Jillian Larkin, Anna-Lucia Lister, Zane Martin, Kevin Mercer, Aaron Moser, Ryan O’Rourke, Andrew Pepper-Anderson, Jordan Piazza, Simon Pringle-Wallace, Nora Randolph, Anna Rogovoy, Gabriel Rossman, Kendall Rybacki, Cindy Schmelkin, Maya Serkin, Christopher Spratt, Matthew Szwyd, Emily Ury and Eva Ward.

Congratulations to the MMRHS Boys Cross Country Team for their second undefeated season.

Monument Mountain TV (MMTV) begins it’s seventeenth year of television programming.   Faculty member, Paul Kakley who initiated MMTV, continues to serve as advisor.  In 1991, the towns’ cable area formed the CTSB, our public access television station.  The summer prior to the 1991 academic school year, Monument Mountain hosted a drum competition and Mr. Kakley was asked to video tape the event.  Mr. Kakley brought a student to learn the video process.   During the taping Paul asked the student if he would like to form a student run a television program to be aired on public access TV.  The student brought four of his friends and the history of MMTV began.  Originally, students videotaped programs; in 1994 MMTV went live.  MMTV airs each Sunday at 6:30pm.  Shows consist of school and national sports, student profiles, school wide initiatives such as Project Sprout, the Shakespeare Fall Festival, the Spring musical, school wide issues and interviews, and live cooking demonstrations.  Each January MMTV hosts the cerebral palsy telethon.  Our  students work all of the functions of the program including producing to directing, teleprompting, graphics, and  floor managing.   Most of the students who start in the program stay with it through graduation.  Students relay that they feel as though the MMTV crew is a family.   After the show they eat together at Arizona Pizza and many times Mr. Kakley cooks lasagna, his famous macaroni and cheese, his famous seafood Alfredo or baked meatloaf.  The Sunday prior to Thanksgiving Mr. Kakley and his students arrive at the studio at 3pm and enjoy a communal Thanksgiving Dinner, a long held tradition of MMTV.  All students are invited to join the MMTV crew at the start of the school year.

Project Sprout:  Bringing student grown organic food into the lunch room…Project Sprout invited Monument faculty to enjoy some organic potato leek soup made with fresh Project Sprout vegetables during lunch today!  Sarah Steadman cooked up the most delicious soup to enter the school building.  The tasting was held in Ms. Roy’s classroom which has a fully equipped kitchen. Earlier, Ms. Roy and Mr. Sean Flynn taught Ms. Roy’s “Foods” class how to prepare ribs marinated in apple cider and chicken breast marinated in maple syrup and mustard.  Students prepared all the side dishes as Ms. Roy worked with students to learn the food pyramids.

If you have some good news, please send an email to thomas.roy@bhrsd.org