Ian Tryon grew up surrounded by backhoes and bulldozers, hallmarks of his family’s bustling construction business. Today, he’s the fourth generation to work for Tryon Construction, the excavation and site work company his great-grandfather founded in Monterey. When offered the job, Tryon was surprised to learn how much he enjoys working alongside his grandfather on job sites and learning the business side of things. Providing skilled labor to accomplish projects for people in his community has been an equally rewarding part of the job. Since September, on-the-job training has given Tryon a solid foundation to build on: “I am thinking about going to college for construction management,” the high school senior says, pointing to the value of his internship experience. “Using school time to do hands-on work matters for students, because it provides the flexibility to figure out what jobs they like and don’t like—which is the key to figuring out what they want to do in life.” 

For the past semester, palm oil production has been on the menu for the Green Global Climate Crew (GGCC)—a concerned group of fifth- and sixth-grade students who meet on Wednesdays during lunch and recess. Since September, they have been learning as much as they can about the controversial agricultural commodity and educating their classmates at W.E.B. DuBois Middle School in the process. “We have been researching the effects of palm oil production, such as deforestation, and making posters about products that use unsustainably produced palm oil and providing [more ethical] alternatives,” said sixth grader Lola Gordon-Bloom. By the numbers, 50% of all packaged food contains palm oil—from Cheerios to Nutella, and dozens of others in between. Choose wisely!

On Friday, January 16, first semester Digital Journalism students got a behind-the-scenes look at how The Berkshire Eagle takes shape each day. Two dozen 7th and 8th grade students toured the production facilities;  learned about the role and history of the daily newspaper as a staple of Berkshire County news; and met with reporters about their day-to-day responsibilities which include a shared commitment to a constitutionally protected free press. Stay tuned for more news (as it’s fit to print) as a new group of middle-school students explores related content during the second semester.