It's right outside of our learning commons. And um the children came up with her ideas of what what's important at Cherry Brook. And um all of these ideas in a box were sent to Joanne Hunter um the artist and she put them together. So we have the building blocks of Cherry Brook here. Um recesses. They got Cherry Brook. Most people said Yeah, most kids say recesses their favorite part. So we have soccer ball. We have um a sled because they all the a lot of children remember sledding at Cherry Brook. Um we have hands with friendship balloons because we always entered the school with a balloon arch and then the star for CIS to see for middle school and then honey the bear with the graduation cap in high school. So it's it was a wonderful opportunity for all our children and I can't thank um the can art council enough for their for their support and um donation.
I think uh what the board and the district administration and all our teachers are doing um I think I think that's likely. So anyway, that's all I had to say. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Miss Marquez, hello. Good evening, everybody. Um let's see. So again, echoing what Mr. Jones said, "I got to attend some um eighth grade promotion ceremonies last week. Um, Gateway, TCA, and Excellencia." So, it was really nice to see all the families there. I admit I did shed a tear or two because it really warmed my heart some of the speeches from the students. And then, um, what I loved what they did at Excellencia is, um, one of the teachers got up and expressed like something good about each one of those students. And it was just so cool to just see like their faces light up or them you know giggle amongst amongst themselves at like you know whatever been an inside joke.
It's the ultimate way to launch your summer. Also coming up, the Girls Incorporated Leadership and STEM program from July 21st to 24th. Ashlin is partnering with Girls Incorporated Eureka Metro West to offer a 4-day STEM and leadership program for girls aged 13 to 15. Participants will engage in hands-on workshops and public speaking, leadership, and creative design, culminating in a team project to design a model dream community using recycled materials. The program runs 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with lunch included. Limited spots are available, so register soon. The Africa Exchange Project, Friday, June 6th, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Corner Spot. Join this free, family-friendly evening filled with music, games, and delicious treats. Sudden Odd Behavior will perform live. Clover Road Brewing will be pouring local brews and Sub-Zero Ice Cream will be flash freezing fun right before your eyes. Learn how the Africa Exchange Project is supporting clean water, education, and healthcare in Tanzania, all while enjoying a vibrant community night out.
It's the ultimate way to launch your summer. Also coming up, the Girls Incorporated Leadership and STEM program from July 21st to 24th. Ashlin is partnering with Girls Incorporated Eureka Metro West to offer a 4-day STEM and leadership program for girls aged 13 to 15. Participants will engage in hands-on workshops and public speaking, leadership, and creative design, culminating in a team project to design a model dream community using recycled materials. The program runs 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with lunch included. Limited spots are available, so register soon. The Africa Exchange Project, Friday, June 6th, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Corner Spot. Join this free, family-friendly evening filled with music, games, and delicious treats. Sudden Odd Behavior will perform live. Clover Road Brewing will be pouring local brews and Sub-Zero Ice Cream will be flash freezing fun right before your eyes. Learn how the Africa Exchange Project is supporting clean water, education, and healthcare in Tanzania, all while enjoying a vibrant community night out.
Any questions? I know we're not supposed to do it during public comment, but I thought I'd ask. Thank you. Okay. Thanks, sir. Okay. Uh the next thing on our agenda is herbicide waiver request um for Ashlin Aberum. Who's going to be talking about that? Raj, he's here. Ryan Coron. Okay. Uh Ryan, can you um are you able to unmute? Uh yeah. Yeah, I think I can you hear me? Um yeah, if you could just speak up a little bit. Yeah. Uh definitely. Um so hi everybody. Uh I'm very excited uh to see the the Ashlin Arboritum kind of moving forward in this space and we're we're looking forward to planting uh several thousand perennials and uh trees in this area uh that was formerly a brownfield site. Um, so my company, Partaricological, we work with uh invasive species management um to and kind of restoring native vegetation and habitat space.
And with that, I'm very excited to um recognize and uh welcome all of our Cherry Brook friends here for our spring um Cherry Brook celebrate. So, when I call your name, I'd like you to come up and stand next to the streamer. You all know who I am. Um um Ari [Applause] come over here. So, Ariello or as we know, Ari um is being recognized for one of our bare necessities of showing integrity and flexibility. Ari is an enthusiastic, joyful and absolutely wonderful kindergarten stu student. Ari is always able to exhibit flexibility with changes in her routine that may differ from her peers. She continuously brings a positive attitude to school with every thing that she does. I can always count on Ari to do the right thing as she is a self-motivated, responsible and able student. Ari is truly a ray of sunshine and a joy to have in class.
But so it was it was really cool to see it was great to to see and meet the the principles assistant principles and kind of see them in their element and interact with their their students their families and their staff. Um so that that was cool. I hope to uh get out to the schools more often in in the next school year. Um, aside from that, yesterday I attended the Copper State Education Alliance. They had a great briefing on special education and I was, you know, featuring our very own Mr. J. Man, as well as Representative um, oh, Sim Stephanie Simichek and some another board member who's very active in the the uh, uh, DD community. Um, so was her name is Steel, but also we had some of our own team here. Our exceptional student services team was there. I got to sit with Dorothy and with Gretchian, so that was cool.
The library book sale will be June 13th and 14th at the Ashlin Public Library. Support your local library and score great finds at the Friends of the Libraries 2-day book sale. Fill a bag with books, DVDs, or puzzles for just $5. Plus, enjoy free kids crafts and more at the farmers market on the 14th. Proceeds benefit library programming. Fall field hockey registration is now open for grades 1 through six. Ashlin youth field hockey is now accepting signups for the fall 2025 season. Players will join the Commonwealth Youth Field Hockey League with weekly practices and Saturday games. Register by June 13th to save $15. Other exciting news, the Metro West Chess League will be starting summer 2025. Future Grand Masters, take note. A new regional chess league is launching the summer with weekly Friday matches. Schools will send four player teams to compete at the Future Masters Chess Academy in Ashland.
The library book sale will be June 13th and 14th at the Ashlin Public Library. Support your local library and score great finds at the Friends of the Libraries 2-day book sale. Fill a bag with books, DVDs, or puzzles for just $5. Plus, enjoy free kids crafts and more at the farmers market on the 14th. Proceeds benefit library programming. Fall field hockey registration is now open for grades 1 through six. Ashlin youth field hockey is now accepting signups for the fall 2025 season. Players will join the Commonwealth Youth Field Hockey League with weekly practices and Saturday games. Register by June 13th to save $15. Other exciting news, the Metro West Chess League will be starting summer 2025. Future Grand Masters, take note. A new regional chess league is launching the summer with weekly Friday matches. Schools will send four player teams to compete at the Future Masters Chess Academy in Ashland.
Um, so I met out with Becca on on site um and kind of looking at the invasive species that are there. Um and uh we we have some uh that are very prevalent with a deep root system uh that are are very difficult to manage organically. Um, so we our preference, you know, didn't get into this to use herbicide or anything, but uh we use it as a tool in a in very uh minimal situations to control some of these invasive species uh that that uh have these kind of deep elastic root systems. So if you continually hand pull it, you could go three or four years without actually making a major impact. Um so we're advocating for an herbicide that we use regularly in our work called Tricopure 3A. Um this this herbicide uh has a pretty short halflife about 30 days. U it's used as a selective herbicide.
We are all better for knowing her. I cannot think of a better person to be celebrated for this award. Ari and Mrs. Diel was written by Mrs. Ariel. [Applause] [Laughter] [Applause] So, Axel is in Mr. O'Brien's class in kindergarten. He's being recognized for showing integrity. Axel rides to school every day with a smile on his face. He consistently shows kindness and compassion, always thinking about others before himself. Axel is an excellent role model for all of his classmates. He is truly valued and appreciated member of our classroom and school community. Congratulations, [Applause] Axel, Bailey Brady. [Applause] Bailey is in Mrs. Lancaster's kindergarten class. She's being recognized for respect and other various necessities. Bailey has followed all the attributes that the students have learned and worked on throughout this year and since the first day of kindergarten. One of those attributes is respect. The definition of respect posted in classrooms is being kind to others even when they are different from you or when you don't agree with them.
And um just, you know, eye opening to see kind of where where education for our special needs students has has been and come from and where we're at. And you know, and the sad reality is we don't have we can't count right now on on our federal or our state to come and help these students. So, we have to do the best that we can um with the resources we have in our communities and I know that our team is working hard on that. So, I look forward to meeting with Gretchen and with Dorothy to um to learn more about what we're doing. So, um, there was that and I am going to a schoolboard conference coming up this weekend and looking forward to learning some more more stuff about being a good school board member there and especially about uh school district education financing.
Learn more at futurechessmasters.com/mwl. The senior open house will be Thursday, June 12th from 9 to 11:00 a.m. Join us for a morning of connection and celebration at the Ashlin Community Center. Explore activities, meet staff and volunteers, and enjoy giveaways, games, and light refreshments. For other town updates, we have the yard waste collection, which will be Monday, June 9th. Used Mark barrels or paper bags, no branches or brush. For electronics recycling day, this will be Saturday, June 7th, 9:00 a.m. to noon at the DPW. And for the water quality report, the 2024 report is now available online and also in mailboxes. And for this week's community shoutout, this goes to the Galani family. This week's shout out goes to a wonderful family that has made a huge impact on the town of Ashland. The well-known Galani family does it again with a generous donation of a lot on Main Street that they have donated to Habitat for Humanity.
Learn more at futurechessmasters.com/mwl. The senior open house will be Thursday, June 12th from 9 to 11:00 a.m. Join us for a morning of connection and celebration at the Ashlin Community Center. Explore activities, meet staff and volunteers, and enjoy giveaways, games, and light refreshments. For other town updates, we have the yard waste collection, which will be Monday, June 9th. Used mark barrels or paper bags, no branches or brush. For electronics recycling day, this will be Saturday, June 7th, 9:00 a.m. to noon at the DPW. And for the water quality report, the 2024 report is now available online and also in mailboxes. And for this week's community shoutout, this goes to the Galani family. This week's shout out goes to a wonderful family that has made a huge impact on the town of Ashland. The well-known Galani family does it again with a generous donation of a lot on Main Street that they have donated to Habitat for Humanity.
It doesn't affect grasses um or uh birds or like a lot of the insect life. Um, like there's a lot of tests that we've kind of worked through. Of the hundreds of herbicides that are out there, we we we've come down to this being like the the least impact um with the most benefit. Um, so we're proposing that we do an initial removal organically with hand hand work on site and then for the resp sprouts that come back up from that root system. uh doing two targeted applications ahead of the planting that we're going to do this fall so that uh the native species once they are planted don't have that extreme competition of the existing invasive species. Um all right and um I see that um Becca Solomon's on who's our conservation agent. Do you need to add anything into this discussion Becca? I have raised hands.
Every school day, Bailey shows respect for others by looking for ways to be friendly and to volunteer, to be a partner with someone who may feel left out. She wrote she wore a shirt today that said, "Friends make everything better." By being a respectful friend this year, she has made everything better for her classmates, schoolmates, and staff and school. Congratulations Laya. [Applause] Laya. Laya is in first grade in Mrs. class. She's being recognized for our rare necessity of integrity. Vla is positively an amazing student. She has consistently put forth her best effort on every task throughout the entire year. Laya is an excellent role model for all her classmates. Not only is she a hard worker, but she is continuously kind and supportive to those around her. She radiates positivity and goes out of her way to uplift those around her. Laya, thanks. Ly, thank you for bringing so much sunshine into our lives.
So, that's that's kind of my big thing, especially we've got budgets coming up. So, um, that is it. Thank you so much. Thank you, Miss Marquez. Um, I just would like to attest to the promotions. I got to attend um several ones, but it's beautiful to see in action what it looks like to for kids to feel empowered. Some of those speeches, I mean, we had bilingual speeches. We had literally students, specific students, sharing his story on how he's been to seven different schools as an eighth grader and he did not find a home until he found our school district. So, to me, that is what this work is about. This is what happens when we prioritize our students over anybody and anything else is no matter what their experiences are, no matter what's happening to them on the outer world, they at least feel safe.
This generosity will make it possible for a wonderful wonderful family to enjoy enjoy all that Ashlin has to offer. Great schools, open space and recreation, a strong safe community with services for all. Lastly, some happenings at the Ashlin Public Library. For adult events, we have Ma Jang on Wednesday, June 4th at 6 p.m. and the Fix It Clinic at the Ashlin Public Library, Saturday, June 7th at 1:00 p.m. For children's events, we have the Messy Art Story Time, which is Thursday, June 5th at 10:30 a.m. and summer reading kickoff party, Saturday, June 7th at 10:00 a.m. A big thank you to our town manager, Michael Herbert, and the town staff for putting together this newsletter. And thanks to you all for tuning in. This is Hi Silver with WACA, wishing you a good night and go clockers. Okay, I'm just going to reread the um community shout out again because I kind of had a couple slip ups there just in case.
This generosity will make it possible for a wonderful wonderful family to enjoy enjoy all that Ashlin has to offer. Great schools, open space and recreation, a strong safe community with services for all. Lastly, some happenings at the Ashlin Public Library. For adult events, we have Ma Jang on Wednesday, June 4th at 6 p.m. and the Fix It Clinic at the Ashlin Public Library, Saturday, June 7th at 1:00 p.m. For children's events, we have the Messy Art Story Time, which is Thursday, June 5th at 10:30 a.m. and summer reading kickoff party, Saturday, June 7th at 10:00 a.m. A big thank you to our town manager, Michael Herbert, and the town staff for putting together this newsletter. And thanks to you all for tuning in. This is Hi Silver with WACA, wishing you a good night and go clockers. Okay, I'm just going to reread the um community shout out again because I kind of had a couple slip ups there just in case.
Right, Becca? Go ahead, please. Becca, can you hear us? Becca, can you hear us? Um, can you guys hear me now? Yes. Yes. Sorry, it was uh my mute uh button was disabled. I was unable to unmute myself. Um, I just wanted to add in, um, I'm also assisting with overseeing this. Um, some of the invasives, we are handpulling the ones that we can. Um, and the herbicide treatment is just for the ones that, um, it's just not feasible to do it by hand. Um, just for the board's information.