001[Music] hi and welcome to waca television's candidates night for the upcoming Ashland election I'm John featherson your host and we're here with Yolanda Greaves who is running for her fifth term for the board of selectman John thanks for having me Yolanda I have to say probably in the history of Ashlin you have to probably be one of the longest term public servants so thank you for all of your years of service you're very welcome and actually Joe manani who is currently sitting there is in his fifth term right now but he didn't he wasn't on the school committee that's true he did not spend time in school committee he did not spend time on school committee so you have been uh through the ringer for the town of Ashland and you want to step up
002for another three years well it was interesting back in the fall when I started thinking about the fact that my term was coming to an end and I mentioned it to a few people that I might not run or I was considered running I had a number of people say to me oh no you can't step down quite yet we like having you there we like your role we like the work that you're doing as a select board member and so I kept hearing that and as I thought about it that was one of the reasons that I ran there's also a couple of projects that I've been the champion of or have really participated in that are not quite done yet that I'm hoping to be able to see through and the two major
003projects are Route 126 back in 2013 we had passed the meal sales tax to do the 25% engineering for the road we then started going to Boston to the tip process and I went to a lot of those meetings when our project almost got pushed out a year or two I went to those meetings so I'm really invested in making sure that Route 126 gets finished and the other project that I've been working on is our current comprehensive plan process and that one again we're hoping to finish by next year so you're busy just a little you know and only because I pay atten I pay attention to you know select board as a former select you know you're on a lot of other committees just other than being on the select board like you're
004on MC your 495 partnership talk a little bit about that because you know it's a lot of work that goes behind it but maybe people don't appreciate all the work that you do put in for that yeah sure so since I've been on the select board I've had a little extra time I I do work full-time but I have a very understanding boss and when the seat for the Metro Regional collaborative C open no one else on the board at the time was willing to step up and I saw it as a learning experience so I started attending those meetings and it was very helpful I got to meet select board members and planning board members from other communities so a lot of conversation and so I've probably been sitting in that role as the
005Ashland representative to the metwest regional collaborative collaborative for probably 11 years and I'm in my fourth or fifth year as chair for that organization I am also the representative for mapc which is the metropolitan area planning Council 101 cities and towns and each city or town has a representative so I go to those quarterly meetings uh for about a year or two I was also on their executive committee had to step back from that as different things happened at work but I am on their finance committee uh I think that's it from a town perspective and then I'm also involved with the YMCA I'm on their board hopkington Center for the Arts I'm on their board so a lot of great things that I like to participate and I enjoy doing it and you know
006I I just just even this past weekend you were a Greenup Ashland I Greenup Ashland so you're always busy so I mean so so people can understand because either you you love the job or the job will will you slowly destroy you so I mean what what what uh keeps you motivated what keeps you challenged every day uh there's those good days and those bad days as you know when you sat there right there's the times when you get to congratulate people the Boy Scouts come for before you you honor them or you have different organizations you celebrate the people in town those are the really good days there are tough days as well when you have to make a decision and you understand that you might make half the people very happy with your
007decision and half the people are not going to like you because of that decision and that's a good day Som days yeah right um but I think it's I still just enjoy being able to support and help the town and keep things moving forward in our community now because you've been on the select board so long and you know the school committee before that I mean um it's an interesting conversation I think because ashin you know was always been a blue collar working you know class town and it still is but the demographics have changed over those 12 years oh well I it's funny I tell this story to people so when my husband and I first moved into town and it'll be 34 years Memorial Day wow that we've been in Ashland we moved
008into condos and Basha we were two young young married we we were working both in Boston and that's what we could afford and I would go running on Cedar Street wow okay now I go there and I wouldn't go walking on Cedar Street now because of the development that has happened there and that's what we're seeing in Ashland right Ashland is a desirable community and developers are coming in and they're building housing and people want to live here I mean if you look at Cedar Street from 1990 to now you have there was some condos there but the rest of the alanin trail condos and Tow houses came in on the other side of of the small Road you have all of the homes off of Cedar Street that were not there before blue J
009J and all that that was not there in and but someone made a decision to sell that to a developer the developer built those homes and we look at Apple Ridge same kind of thing right someone had that property they sold it and people are coming to ashin because we are a desirable Community we have good schools we are in a great proximity to at to Boston or Worcester or Springfield so people want to come here I mean the one cons and you know I think congratulations has to be said to you is ashin has had great schools you know you you and I have raised families and and our kids have gone on to good success and the one constant over I'm going to say 25 years has been our schools yes and that's
010made made us a desirable Community just for that but uh but you know ashin is always kind of uh been challenged on economic development y uh what are your thoughts on that so I think we've made some real strides in either bringing some businesses here and or keeping businesses here I look at the re re the redo of the gamewell building over on Pleasant Street that was someone who lived in town had a business in town took over that building and not only did he expand his business but he expanded it and brought in other businesses uh I think we're seeing that in other places as well now of course a lot of discussion is going on about the mill building that has a lot of office not office but there are a lot of
011businesses in there that um you know we might see either moving hopefully not moving completely out of town but we need to increase some of our business commercial space but someone has to build it MH so you did mention the mill building and the proposed 40b that's going in there uh your thoughts on the 40b and then like in anticipated timeline on all that so there is discussion going on and we have have um we are due to send a letter of comments back to Mass housing by the end of May so right now we're gathering information from the public asking them to give input give us their thoughts that's all being aggregated and at the select board meeting on May 15th it'll be discussed and we might not go into all the details that
012we're putting in the letter part of it is a Strate strategy thing and then that'll get sent to Mass Housing and that'll also the developer I'm sure will get a copy and then we hope that the developer will be willing to work with us good so goals and agendas for the next three years uh make sure Route 126 gets finished and we're hoping to see that this year uh complete the comprehensive plan and not only have a plan but have an implementation process so right now the goal is to have the plan written and presented at the spring 2025 five town meeting we've had our first FA phase of Engagement where we did ask people to fill out surveys and crowd mapping and we did focused forums and things like that uh in June and
013July over two nights the comprehensive plan committee there's 27 of us are going to review all that information with our consultant and start drafting goals visions and also focuses on each of the different sections of the co of the comprehensive plan I would expect sometime in August or September we'll start getting that back out to the public for their feedback for their second round of input Did We Gather and did we Implement and did we input all of their things will we capture everything will we be able to probably not but if we can get at least 90% of what we heard in the plan as to how people want to see Ashland in the future then that is a good um a good objective can I applaud that committee for the Outreach that they're
014doing I mean they they certainly are are asking and it's kind of back up to the residents of Ashlin I mean you they've got to you know if you don't speak up you don't get heard so I mean a little bit so we never have enough time here but uh 30 second elevator speech on why people should reelect you to your fifth term for the select board well I I believe that I've been doing some good work for the community I have experience and knowledge and keeping me there is going to help our community continue to move forward I'm always always available to listen uh I'm a phone call away I'm an email away and I think I've always shown that I'm willing to talk to people and take their input and see how we
015can use it to move our community forward well Yolanda thank you for stepping up again to serve our community Yolanda grieve running for the select board make sure you vote Tuesday May 21st thanks for having me John thank you hi and welcome to another segment of candidates night here on waa television we have another candidate running for the select board Makita Keegan uh Makita welcome thank you John tell everybody why you're stepping up and you want to serve the town of ashin well first John thank you so much for having me um always a pleasure thank you and um you know I I'll say this I am so excited to be running for a select board here in Ashland uh I've been uh volunteer in the community in many different capacities we can talk a
016little bit about that later but when the opportunity came up to put my hat in the ring to run for my very first office and to serve the town in a different capacity uh I thought long and hard about it and then I jumped in uh the reason why is because I want to make sure that Ashlin continues to be uh a town that's welcoming and wonderful for families and people to live and grow and for selfish reasons I would love to see my kiddo come back here and raise his family one day so um this would this is a different way for me to serve the community and uh if the people have me I'd be very honored to do so well I just have to share I've known Makita for quite some time
017and uh I was talking to a a for another former select board member uh even before when I was on the select board and he says did you hear about Makita I'm like no what oh she's running for select board and I'm my first initial reaction well good that makes sense that's that's a good choice so I mean I'm you know I've had the pleasure of working with you on you know big and small projects over the years and stuff like that uh I've always kind of liked your your way of the the way you think about things and you the way you process things so I mean I think it's going to be a good value added to the select board because you're a member of five and you also have to work with
018the town manager and you know sometimes it's you have to be a uh a rogue agent sometimes you have to be a team player sometimes you have to represent the people that uh you know are with an important issue and I I think it it'll be be a good mix for you but so but I'm in you know other than speaking about your you know your your son and your uh family uh what what motivates you I mean what what are you concerned about in Ashlin well it it's it's funny that you should ask that John I've been uh over the past few weeks uh meeting with different folks around town to find out what's on their minds about Ashlin um of course I want to make sure that this community uh like I said
019continues to be a place that we can all be proud of uh you know but we you know we have we have a lot of challenges ahead and a lot of tough decisions uh you know part of the reason why I'm running is because I think I'd like to bring or I hope i' bring a little bit of a a fresh perspective to things uh like I said this is my first uh turn at elective office um you know I think uh you know being able to have said that I have not run for office before uh but do keep the people that I serve in mind and people that I've been uh talking to over the past few weeks and I hope more and continued if I'm elected uh to make sure that those
020interests do have a voice but also that I can work collaboratively with uh hopefully my colleagues on the select board to be Innovative and to think of different ways to approach some of the problems that or some of the challenges I should say that face not just ashin but a lot of towns in the Commonwealth nowadays what do you what do you anticipate you know some of the challenges to be sure so um you know I think one of the things that people move to Ashland for is uh our our beautiful Green Space you know uh and uh it it there's a a balance between preserving our Green Space preserving our history and also uh you know there are folks who want to move to town because it's a great town right I don't think
021anyone wants to put a gate up at you know the front of our of our town but on the other hand we have to figure out a smart way to be able to uh you know provide housing uh for folks who are looking at it without taking away uh from uh what what makes ashin special you know and I think that's that's one of the bigger challenges and like I said we're not the only Community facing this in the Commonwealth darare say the nation um when I talk to people about housing and you know I think folks are aware of 40b issue and a few other things you know there's a there's a lot going on with that young people coming out of school half a million dollars in debt just at the at the
022jump you know you know want to want to buy a house want to buy a condo there's no way they can do that um but many of them can't do that right now uh you know we all talk about affordable housing even with uh you know what does that mean right um we want to make sure that our seniors can age in place and and and you know so there a whole bunch of competing well I wouldn't say competing directives I would say a lot of different needs that folks have and the question is what's the best way to address them for our community and and like I said it's not just an Ashlin problem we're not dealing with it in in isolation we're going to have to work with our state and federal Partners
023to figure out uh some of the Solutions or some of the things that we can do about these issues so we're not a vacuum so you know we we've talked a little bit about schools we talked about open space and green space uh you know with housing comes Transportation issues and everything absolutely uh what else on the Grassroots level you know are you concerned about in Ashland well I mean transportation is something that's near and dear to my heart uh when my husband and I moved to Ashland about 21 years ago now um yeah uh he was working in Framingham I was working in Boston we we were a one car family and one of the criteria is looking at we just looked at towns all along the commuter rail and we honed in on
024Ashlin for a lot of the reasons that I talked about earlier and the schools of course but the commuter rail figured prominently in our decision to put Roots down here I I've lived in downtown Ashland uh ever since we've arrived my house is like a 1520 minute walk from the train and that was intentional mhm you know uh so good how's that working out it well you know I don't work in downtown Boston anymore uh but you know I think don't get me started well I'm not going to I'm not going to take this opportunity to talk about the M MBTA and and specifically but I will say that we do need to improve service both uh to Boston to Wister and locally as well I know that our Transportation Authority is working hard to
025do that and I know that folks are looking at different sorts of solutions for teens and seniors to get around town easier and of course folks like me who just like to get out and walk around town and get to place to place without having to fire up the car engine so so yeah so it's ever evolving ever evolving no I just have to ask because I've had the pleasure of working with your brother over the years and he's a great guy but uh politics runs in your family a little bit well um I'm GNA stop you right there okay uh and say that um politics doesn't really run in my family no no Public Service runs about oh and there's there's a difference and and that's differ there's a huge difference I'm glad you
026brought this up because this is another reason why I'm I'm actually putting my hat in the ring um I've been I've always been about public service I come from a a proud tradition of of of family members who have not just run for political office but have uh worked within communities to uh enhance educational and economic opportunities for all people um so you know part of my very personal reason for putting my hat in the ring and and and stepping up into a different kind of service is driven by that I think politics obviously is the mechanism by by which things are done but we are those of us who are uh fortunate to be elected or who are running for office we are first and foremost public servants I couldn't agree more and if
027you don't understand that and you're in office or you're running for office you don't belong in office that's it that's it's very that's great yeah it's great because it is you're serving the public yeah some sometimes you're going to have to do things that you might not necessarily think well I don't think that's a really good idea but the public does so you have to do it well listen John you know I and now you're talking about leadership okay so that's that's another challenge in this sort of position you know and I walk around town and I talk to different folks who are thinking about voting and and getting more active you know I'm honest with them you know I say listen you know I want to hear what you have to say uh I
028want to make sure that interests are represented but I'm going to do the best I can to make the right decision for ashin am I going to get it right all the time no no no no the answer is no then that is okay and that's but but uh I hope that folks give me the opportunity to try to get it more right than wrong and when I do get it wrong I hope folks let me know about it uh so that I can do better next time it public servants are humans just like everyone else um you know and I think we for those of us who are in it for for those reasons we're doing the best we can to serve the public we care about that's great so I could talk all
029night but unfortunately we we can't uh but why don't you tell the viewing audience in 30 seconds or less you know why you're running and why they should vote for you well thank you John for having me you and uh yeah uh so you know I strongly believe like I said in public service and the reason why I'm running is for a few reasons um first off uh I want to serve the town in a different capacity than I have before I've volunteered on on many different boards and commissions and projects uh but being able to directly serve the residence of Ashlin in this capacity would truly be an honor for me um public service is probably one of the most uh meaningful things I think any of us can do uh I want to
030be able to be Innovative I want to be able to listen I want to be able to make sure that I can get more folks involved in public life here in Ashlin that's very important to me so uh on May 21st I hope that you consider me uh as a candidate for select board here in Ashland and I hope to be visiting you and your neighborhood very soon so that we can talk more in depth about the issues that you care about welcome back to w ACA television's candidate night now we have the honor of being joined by Trisha Kendall running for her second term on the planning board which is a big deal it's a big deal congratulations thank you for stepping up and running and welcome chur let's talk a little bit about
031why you want to commit another five years to the planning board here in Ashlin well that is a very good question and before you because it is a fiveyear term versus a threeyear term so it is a it is a big um chunk of time but before the um before the applications or the sign up even opened up I had thought about it I knew it was coming it didn't catch me by surprise my five years and so I had my decision made before it even opened up um to to run again and um I think a big part of that was just that there's a really I'm sure it's true of all the boards um but there's a really big learning curve on the planning board and I feel like after 5 years by
032no means do I knew everything but I feel like I have a strong enough base to actually start to um look at our bylaws more comprehensively okay and um maybe have um you know maybe to be able to contribute something that way like with that kind of experience to the board I think that's great uh you know just just so we can talk a little bit you know I've held many positions here in the town of ashin and I've held some on the state level too and the more I learn about public service the more I personally learn how important planning process is and and I'll tell you that 20 years ago I don't think I thought that but a lot of people oh what what's planning I mean planning is everything so I mean
033you and you talked about a learning curve uh you know from the planning board I think maybe that's the reason why it's a fiveyear term but and may maybe you agree or disagree having a plan and even if it's a bad plan is is better than not having a plan at all I mean uh what are your thoughts on that yeah absolutely I mean I think um the comprehensive plan which we have in process right now um that was really you know other members of the planning board um Anna and Kate that was really things that they were very driven to get going and I'm glad they did because with other responsibilities with um that I had and with sharing the board that was just not something I could add to my plate so I
034am really happy that they that they were so dedicated to that and that they wanted to set step up and be the primary force from the planning board on that committee for us I'm glad you brought that up because uh kudos to to them uh and we actually did a program here to talk a little bit about kudos to them you you have to give them credit I mean they they have been very publicly available and have been you know made themselves available to the why is it important and I I think it's common sense to you and I but to the viewing audience uh why is it important that you get the feedback from the public you know because we make I mean planning board makes some big decisions I mean almost almost all
035of our decisions are big decisions because either they're about about a project that's before us or they're about a change in our bylaws which affect all of us and we don't want to be winging those big decisions we want to have to make decisions based Bas on the knowledge of the community I mean our first our first thing is to obviously that we need to go um by the bylaws which are what we're voted into as Town laws by by town meeting by the residents um but you know those weren't put in place yesterday and towns change and so having that kind of updated feel about what the residents want where they want to go um helps us make it so that we're not just five people five elected people but just five people making
036those important decisions from the T for the town we want to make it we want to be representing people not just B5 people you know from Ashland I mean we're we're here tonight at the waca uh Studios which are right on the Framingham Town Line me personally I live on the Southboro Town Line my backyard is Southboro uh Ashlin is a couple different communities it's all one great Community but it's a couple different communities and I think that's you know from a planning standpoint from like my side of town like I have transportation issues on my time I certainly have retail issues on my there's no retail and there's no transport my side of town but over here you've got you know Market Basket you've got good access to Transportation so that piece has to
037be understood though too because some people you know if you live on this side of the Town you're like oh the transportation's good but on my side it's not so that is important like feedback for the planning board because I do have a quick walk to maybe the BTA station but uh so I mean that's why I think it's it's so important that you guys get that feedback uh I also wanted to know how uh covid has actually affected planning board meetings and uh you know with the invention of Zoom uh and you know maybe losing a little bit of public piece and or making it easier for public piece talk a little bit about that yeah I mean um we obviously transitioned to zoom when when we needed to I don't think anything Ian
038I mean Zoom really wasn't used before that I think in any meetings right it seems It seems impossible now um but yeah we we trans just into that but as we went through it in those years I think what we found is that our meetings kept getting longer and longer Ander and um when we were able to return to being in person all five of us six including our associate member all five of us wanted to return to in person and we're find that we're we're more efficient I think we understand each other better we certainly don't always agree sure but we understand each other better when you look and look at someone in in the face looking in the eyes and um but it has also been really nice to have the hybrid meetings
039and hold on to those to that more public accessible component because we have had times I think probably all of us on the board where someone couldn't attend because because they didn't feel well or they were out of town but they still could attend the meeting via VIA Zoom right and contribute so it's really been a it's really been a great thing we we still have technical issues once in a while we've had a couple Zoom bombs that have been not good um but the benefits I think are outweighing the the downsides of it so so we could talk all night but we've got other things to get to so why don't you uh tell the viewing audience uh why they should vote for you for another 5 years term for the planning board well
040well I think um you know I think it really goes back to the first things I was saying about being on the planning board because I did give it a lot of thought and I think though um I I felt like I had um built up a base of knowledge that you know when someone I think looks at the bylaws it's just very it's a lot to get to it's hard to understand it's very confusing and now I can start to look at those um um through the various projects we've been through and look at where instances where maybe it's repetitive maybe things are in conflict with another maybe things aren't really valid anymore or things are outdated or things need updating and so that's one of the things I would like to start to
041tackle in the next five years because I think you need that experience under your belt first to be able to see it and to start to look for those smaller issues not issues that are that should be coming out of the comprehensive plan um which which are meant to be a community decision but to look at our bylaws for those the cleaning up and the tweaking that needs to to happen um in order to make our path forward a little easier I think so not a glamorous undertaking but one that I an important one one that I think needs to be done yeah so she's Trisha Kendall running for planning board on Tuesday May 21st if you don't vote you can't complain folks thank you tra thank you good to see you you too back
042to waca candidate night now we're moving to the school committee candidates and we're joined by Mark Terry Mark thanks for coming tonight thanks for having me John Mark so you're up for your fourth term for school committee so you know at the end of that term it'll be 12E serving on the school committee kudos to you for doing that thank you so uh it takes a lot to be on the school committee and committing 12 years of of time to your community you know I first I congratulate you on but tell people why you're still motivated to do it I I love the work you know I think it's um one of the things for anybody who has kids in particular you're always looking at you know how do I make my my kids life
043better but this is an opportunity to do it for everybody every kid in Ashland um and you know just a commitment and belief that I've had was raised with about the value of public education so the idea that I have an opportunity to influence that um to contribute to improving it here um that's special and as long as as I keep feeling that way and it keeps energizing me you know keep doing it you know I I watched you know you guys operate through covid and my thanks and my congratulations to you guys that you operated through Co the way you did and ashin still has a great uh school committee but one of the biggest things that I I fear about as just a person you know still involved in you know public service
044is the mental health aspect of the kids that went through Co and went to school via Zoom your thoughts on that there's no question that's an issue John um you know no nobody knew what Co was going to do to us Beyond people who got Co right I mean we nobody envisioned what it would do to us as a culture how we'd adapt to it um and I don't think there's any question that the disruption to education the disruption to lives being isolated particularly for kids who are younger right um is it's a significant factor and there's no question that um our school district like every school district in the state and in the country is struggling with more kids who are struggling with mental illness there's no way around it it we are putting
045more resources to supporting those kids um but you know there just was no way to Envision what it would do and and I think you know Co and and that climate created some of it I think our world is just a more stressful world too and and um Co was a part of that not the only factor in it but you know we are we are we are in an environment now where I think the Stress and Anxiety that people experience everybody does whether you have mental illness in your life or not um presents new challenges and for people who do have mental illness I think that's just exacerbated for them um so it's a challenge and and I don't know that you know I don't know any more than anybody else does whether we'll
046ever get back to sort of what was before you know if we can even remember what that looked like well speaking of what was before you know shouldn't be buying green bananas you know I'm not getting any younger you're a little bit younger than me uh but how has education changed from when you and I were children to like now you know I think I think probably the biggest thing is back then it was one size fits-all MH right it was the teacher stood at the front of the classroom and told the kids what they to do you went through exercis on the board you did homework at your desk or worked on Tex but it was one lesson with the expectation that everybody could just absorb that and we understand kids so much better
047now than we did before um and quite frankly it's something that our I think our school committe I'll speak for myself but I think the committee as a whole and our leadership team hopefully our whole staff feels really good about is the degree to which we are working to differentiate education for kids on all sorts of basis whether it's a student with a disability learning disability whether it's just how people learn differently um that's something we do a lot better we've invested a lot of time and energy and um you know it's something you never be perfect at but I think more than anything else that the idea that um and it's something we we talk specifically about we are meeting every kid trying to meet every kid right where they stand ni and so
048when a kid comes in and says I'm great at this and I'm lousy at that we're trying to get them to get better in both of those um and trying to adopt a culture around that it's something we've been talking about for years um one of the things that we are trying to implement districtwide is something called individual Student Success plans and that's exactly the idea that they're built around is what student a needs and what student B needs they're different and what looks like success for them is going to be different but how do you get them to the best place that they can be for who they are and what they want to be um one day at a time you know one year at a time one year at a time uh
049you know because you you served so long for the you know the community uh Democrat trffic of ashin is continuing to evolve how has that uh you know impacted the schools yeah sure I think I think the biggest change is we have seen our um English language learner population um increase dramatically I remember when I was first elected the first school committee meeting I went to um we had I think it was Kathy silver at the time who was coming in and speaking to us about how things had changed and the numbers of students that were in um from the then called the ESL program now we talk about elll um in those programs those populations had changed dramatically and it's only continued um you know and it's it's a great thing from the perspective
050of having kids exposed to the diversity of other people other cultures and we try to create an environment that is welcoming um and supportive for everybody um but there are also challenges right I mean you've got students from all over the world speaking all sorts of different languages and we educate them all you know we have an obligation to and a challenge to We Will and uh so we we've invested a lot of resources from this community um in supporting students um that are El students we've hired a director of English language learning a couple years ago and that's been a great addition she's been um fantastic and trying to engage our population of people who don't speak English as a primary language you know so we try to reach out and say come in
051for this you know come into an open house that population historically up until the last few years just wasn't present and we weren't reaching them um and think I think we're doing a much much better job um in that area good cool we could talk all night about this because of all the great work you guys are doing but uh time constraints why don't you tell you know 30 seconds of why uh the public should return you to the school committee uh thank you John thanks for having me um you know I I'm happy to answer questions all night and then I get the opportunity to sort of you know say vote for me and and you know I'm not I'm not a prepared speech kind of person um you know what I'd say is
052I think my commitment and the school committee's commitment for a long time has been to do what's best for kids um and I hope that in each and every day and every time we we meet and we're talking about something of substance um we're focusing on that people don't always agree with us but if people can appreciate that we're doing what we think is best for kids um based on the information we have available um I feel good about that and and I continue I hope to continue to do that obviously not running opposed um so hope they have the opportunity unless there's a dramatic writing campaign but um you know that that's what I hope I bring to the table and and um what have contributed over the years you know but even though
053you're running on opposed you know a good way to thank Mark for his many many years of service is just coming out to the ballots and voting for Mark so Tuesday May 21st is an important day in the town and we thank you for running and best of luck to you we'll see you again in three years all right thanks again John thank you welcome back to the waca candidates night we're still talking with school committee members MERS and we're talking with Tina fanes uh who is running for your second term on the school board welcome and thank you thank you John nice to be here it's great to see you again uh you know I was talking to marter earlier and uh you and I uh met three years ago and we did a
054candidates night over zoom and Mark and I were just talking about the impacts of covid yeah o and kudos to the ashin school committee for getting our most treasured uh you know demographic our children through uh covid and we were talking about mental health aspects uh any comments on you know covid and the impacts on Mental Health on the kids yeah you know I think um having our kids learning disrupted in the way that it was um it wasn't just the academic piece that they missed out on it was the social social emotional peace that connection piece and being with their classmates being um out in the world and I think it definitely had an impact on kids Social Development um their ability to connect with one another and so I think there's um you
055know a bit of learning curve if you will in terms of their social emotional well-being and you know the behavior of being a student learning to be a student especially our youngest kids right who you know shortly you know as the pandemic was winding down and then shortly you know after the Pandemic those kids had most of them had never been into preschool as they were entering kindergarten many of them had you know never gone to Target with their parents right they weren't out in the world in the same way because things were closed down so I definitely think um you know it definitely had an an an impact and you know I think you know schools across Massachusetts across the country are all seeing it and uh one of the things I'm really proud
056of Ashen Public Schools is we put a big emphasis on social emotional learning and I think in many ways we're um in tune with um many of the needs of our kids but um you know there's room for improvement in in any system because kids needs are always changing too but Co absolutely had an impact on on that as well you know one thing I've always enjoyed watching your meetings and and with your background is uh special needs and uh spe you know special needs education let's talk a little bit about that and like what you focus on as a member of the school committee sure absolutely well you know as a as a member of the school committee you know all of us are there to to kind of look out for the needs
057of all of our students obviously special ed students are um one segment you know of students within um our Public Schools I am um fortunate to be the uh liaison from the um school committee to the ashack which is the Ashlin um specialed parents advisory Council and so I have the opportunity to sit in on their uh meetings typically twice a month um to hear concerns from you know parents of students with special needs um uh Britney uh who's our director of special education is also uh there at the meeting and so you know kind of we have a a a great working relationship with um the this the the CPAC um ashack to you know understand some of the needs of of our special needs students and you know those meetings aren't necessarily to
058talk about individual student needs it's more kind of the the systemic if you will um issues or roadblocks or challenges that that parents may be facing as well as you know uh just asking questions and what's going on with this program and have we had the opportunity to hire somebody for that position yet to kind of learn um you know what's going on from the administration but it's a great working relationship and I think Ashen is unique um in the relationships that our administrators have um kind of across the board with the school committee we work very very well together uh we don't always agree on everything but we're able to have respectful conversations I think it's healthy right um we're able to have respectful conversations you know around the issues that we disagree on
059and you know come to some consensus and I feel it's the same with the with ashack as well too you know they're able to share their concerns mostly with Britney I'm obviously there um you know to to listen and bring issues back to the school committee um I'm not an administrator so I don't have any say um you know kind of in in that decision-making process per se but I'm able to make sure that their voice is a part of um you know the conversation I am personally very proud to hear that ashack is still making an impact on Special Needs families lives because I remember when we first had those meetings years ago so why don't you tell a little bit of about people like so if somebody does have somebody's special needs in
060the in their family how ashack can help a little bit oh sure um you know I'm not a member of ashack per se but you know ashek is a parent organization and so anybody you know who has a student on an IEP or a 504 plan where they get services or accommodations from the school um it's open to it's and it's open to the public even parents who don't have students with special needs um to to learn about uh different programming in the school to share their concerns um to see you to connect with other parents which can be really valuable and important um and it's an incredible sense of support I think for parents who may be sharing the same struggles um to be able to connect with one another um and they're a
061great group they're a very involved group of parents um they're very powerful advocates for not only their own children but others uh and and so we're lucky here in Ashen that there's a really good working relationship with the administration as well so priorities for the next three years so we just you know went through the process of creating our new strategic plan for the district and so um you know kind of in in setting you know those priorities and looking at issues of equity um you know looking at um our curriculum and making sure it's as strong as it can be and that it's as up toate as it can be and we're really meeting the needs of all of our students um you know also making sure that we're managing our resources correctly and
062you know with our our buildings and you know they all need maintenance they all you know are are they are our students fitting in the buildings that they're in or you know how are we making sure that um you know our resources from from that perspective you know from the buildings perspective but also you know in in other areas that we're utilizing our resources appropriately um and then of course as we've already talked about social and emotional learning to make sure that the needs of not only our students from from a social emotional perspective but also our staff um and teachers because it's important to to make sure that everybody has the support that they need um to create the best learning environment for our kids talking about buildings and schools talk a little bit
063about the new school oh Mendes is beautiful um I wish I could say I had more to do with it I came on the school committee um as you know shortly after um all of the um the voting happened to to pass you know um the the budget issues for both that and the public service building I have been lucky to watch the process unfold I think it's it's a great building it's incredibly high-tech um I think it's uh it really state-of-the-art and the spaces in that building really allow for a lot of um you know unique learning opportunities in terms of you know students of different grades being able to share space and having lots of different learning opportunities and you know I know the staff are very happy to to finally have a
064beautiful new building well you know and the students and the families as well you know having an important staff is very very important you know because uh you know education has changed with that as well too you know with staffing needs and retaining staff and everything like that so talk a little bit about you know what Ashlin does to you know you know Ashlin had you know I've lived in ashin now for going on almost 30 years now and the ashin schools have always been the pillar of uh you know the society you know which is kudos to the school committee so talk a little bit about you know why it's a good place to work right I mean you know we have have incredible staff in in Educators in our buildings and you know
065Ash one of the things that again is unique about ashin is we have a lot of really long tenured staff and Educators in Ashland which is a testament to the fact that it is a good place to work um you know I think again even if there's not always agreement I think the unions in the administration have a very good working relationship again there are many areas where there's disagreement but they're able to be respectful disagreements and able to work through issues um you know to resolve things uh for the most part and you know we've actually just recently um you know gone through the process of renegotiating contracts none of them have been uh ratified yet so I can't necessarily speak to those but um you know it was a a Cooperative process uh
066you know where you know issues were brought to the table and there was a lot of discussion um about the needs of of teachers and staff not just teachers but our our esps our educational support professionals administrative assistants and um nurses the you know all all different areas so we could talk all night but we have time constraints so look into the camera and ask the people of Ashlin why they should reelect you for a second term to the school committee great thank you um well it's been a pleasure to serve on the school committee for the past three years and and I'm hopeful to be able to to do it again I'm looking forward to continue the work uh that I've been able to to start and be involved in um I've been a
067resident of ashon for 20 years and uh you know I've had two kids uh that are still going through the the school system one is a senior in high school this year the other is a sophomore um and so we've been in the Ashland Public Schools since the beginning um and take great pride in in the school system that we have here in Ashland and in the Educators and administrators that we work with and I've uh been very uh lucky to be involved in in conversations around how to make sure that our schools continue to be topnotch and you know be able to identify areas of of improvement um because anything there's always room for improvement in any system that we're in I Like It Tina thank you for serving your community thank you for
068joining us tonight and good luck to another three-year term on the school committee thank you John vote make sure you get out and vote on Tuesday May 21st hi and welcome back to waca candidate night we're still continuing with our school committee candidates and we have Marcy coverall who is actually appointed to the school committee now but running for your first term as an elected uh individual of the school committee so welcome to waca candidate night nice to have you here thank you John so a little bit of taste of what goes on with the school committee and you still want to do it for another three years let's talk about why what you enjoy about the school committee so um I have been serving on it for two three months now um and I
069like that I have a voice for the community I have four children in the school in various schools here been a long-standing uh Community member in Ashlin so I figured it's time to step up and you know make my voice heard and that of you know my colleagues and uh neighbors and friends we talk a little bit about and have a little fun with it uh so you've got four kids in the Ashland School System I do how do they like their mom being on the school committee uh they say what do you do on the school committee and I say oh I go I go to some meetings and talk about school so they're fine with it they're good with it that's that's good but you know having four kids in the Ashton school
070syst education is important to you and as we've talked tonight here on Canada tonight you know the one great thing about Ashlin over my time almost 30 years here in ashin has been the great public schools that we've had and I think that's one of the benefits that Ashlin is such a desirable Community for the that we do have great Public Schools tell me why we have great Public Schools I think it's the people okay I think the people make the school I think we have very very committed Educators Administration staff you know it's not just um you know one person that makes a school it's it's all the people rowing in the same direction and I think the kids feel that they feel that they care I think you know the curriculum's changed and
071the kid you know my younger kids tell me about how they have a morning meeting and everyone kind of talks about their day and get to know each other and I think you know focusing on the kids social and emot learning as well as their you know academic success is a huge part of what makes Ashlin successful and it starts like at paway I mean my kids all started at paway and now I've got you know one in high school so the foundation is set from a young age and continues I can confidently say all through you know each school I think you're a good you know a person to talk about this because you've got you know you know all all across the schools how has how have these changed education how has social
072media changed education and and what are your concerns as a school Committee Member and even as a parent yeah so um luckily i' I've managed to keep my younger kids off you know till till middle school but it has a huge impact I mean the kids can find something at a moment's notice um you know Ai and chat GPT are definitely in the mix now and you know I think there's going to be a lot of conversation about how you leverage the technology that's available to you and then use it to form your own thoughts and your own opinions and your own you know views on the world you can't just take something you know out of Google or or chat GPT or whatever it may be and I think teaching the kids how to
073think is a big deal and then you know I I applaud the teachers who put the phones in phone jail I know my kids will probably see this and you know argue with that but I do because it's a distraction and I think there's so much to be said in talking face to face and learning you know in a group and interactions with people are important and you know that doesn't come across in the tech you know if you're just using technology no I think you bring up a good point I mean how are you know and I'm going to sound like an old man here which I am but how are kids going to be able to communicate you know going forward a little bit you know like you know I work with a
074lot of kids and you know they were always looking at their screens and they're always looking at their phones and you know I grew up in you know like a more of a Catholic school education where you had to look somebody in the eye you know if you weren't looking them in the eye you weren't paying attention and stuff uh any concerns you know that impacts education or anything I'm sure it does I think that like I said the teachers are aware of it and you know thinking of ways that you can construct the academic you know environment in a way that they are having that conversation that you're pushing them to interact with each other that you're engaging in group projects from not only the high school but you know the younger grades too
075you know I had kids who have to get up I mean my my nine-year-old got up in front of his classroom last week and had to give a presentation so that's you know that's a big Testament to the teachers focusing on that in that communication I think as a parent too reinforce that um you know when you're at home and and um we always tell them like get off the text you know go go outside go play go talk to someone join an athletic team join a club all those things ashon offers are are important and and helpful to that that's all part of Education you know it's not just it's not just you know I mean do kids even have books anymore yes they do they have books I mean they don't always they
076sometimes you have to ask for them but they do have them and uh I have watched my children carry them and old school style so you can't you can get a book and there are a lot of books online too I mean I don't want to dismiss like you know Technology's been a wonderful thing as well um you know if you miss a day it's not the same as when you missed a day before you know you can access a lot of great information online and it's good for the teachers too you know they can post and keep track of the kids and their you know their progress and what they're doing and there's some really great data that um you know um Mike Kyra and Jim Adams have been mining through on how the
077kids are doing in their classes and then how they can tailor the learning which I'm learning about now that I'm on school committee and I think it's awesome so you know it it's both sides of the coin and it's a balance and we're all learning how to navigate it together so you were appointed to the school committee to fill a vacancy yes uh what's been your biggest surprise since you've been on the school committee uh that there's a lot that goes on uh in in Ashland and there's a lot of thought not that I didn't know there was a lot of thought but there's a lot of work that goes into all that thought and how the sausage is made and I think think you know understanding that there's a strategic plan that governs um
078you know the schools and the vision and you know that's just starting to unfold and the focus on data and measurement and how we're going to measure the success of Ashlin going forward um you know I I was pleasantly surprised that you know that's been pulled together and I think it's great any goals or benchmarks that you want to hit over the you know the life of your term coming up or I think my main goal is to support um the administration and the teachers in understanding their message um you know what they want to get across to the community and use the role to advocate for you know what they're trying to accomplish and also you know push back and ask questions as an informed parent and member of the school committee and and
079educate others into what you know the facts and circumstances around a topic are I mean I really just want to try to be an unbiased uh listener and advocate for the schools good so thank you for stepping up and serving you know an important demographic in the community take a minute to look in the camera and then ask the the voters of ashin to elect you and why why they should elect you okay um so thank you for having me tonight again my name is Marcy culverwell I'm very interested in um helping to further the Community creation of an environment where the students are really thriving and given all of the tools they need um to reach their best academic potential and their greatest um emotional and you know mental health and wellbeing so thank
080you for having me Marcy it it's a pleasure to have you here tonight best of luck thank you for stepping up and serving the community make sure that you come out and vote for Marcy on Tuesday May 21st and yes this will be my continually rant if you do not vote you do not get a chance to complain okay it you know one way you can thank Marcy for her service is coming out and you know casting a ballot from rcy the most important elections are your local elections and I have many year set here on the set at wacka and told you that Donald Trump or Joe Biden are not going to have as much impact that even Marcy can have on your family and your children you heard from the select board candidates
081a select board candidate can have more impact on the value of your home or the community that your children grow up in than you know a presidential candidate we heard you know tonight from uh Trisha Kendall uh talking about the planning board Trisha and her planning board can have much more effect than Senator Warren or Senator Mary can have on your family so never discount how important a local election is and make sure that you get out and vote on Tuesday May 21st thank you for watching waa candidate night I'm John featherson and we'll talk again real soon