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Guest Column: We Are Too Great to Hate

By James F. Birge, Guest Column
01:56PM / Saturday, November 03, 2018

As the president of a public institution of higher education, I have the unique opportunity to hear from many voices of those who represent the next generation. It should come as no surprise that there are myriad concerns coming through in those voices about the state of our country. Between the Trump administration's seeking to restrict Title IX's definition of gender to "a person's status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth," bombs being sent to officials affiliated with the Democratic Party, and shooting violence fueled by the increasing volume of hateful, racist, anti-Semitic, and ideological propaganda

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Mount Greylock Regional High School Teacher Wins $10,000 Kapteyn Prize

01:38PM / Wednesday, October 31, 2018

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation announced today that

Jeffrey Welch, a social studies teacher at Mount Greylock Regional High School, has been awarded the 10th annual James C. Kapteyn Prize for excellence in teaching. He will receive a $10,000 award for study or travel to enrich his teaching, and the school will receive a $2,000 grant in his name.

In his 21 years at Mount Greylock, Welch's teaching assignments have ranged from core world and U.S. history classes to topics in a wide variety of disciplines, including conversational Italian, psychology and introduction to the law. He has directed the spring musical since 2000 and has served as the

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Mount Greylock School Committee Hears about School Improvement Plans

By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
02:37AM / Friday, October 26, 2018

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Mount Greylock Regional School District's three schools have a lot in common as they plan for future improvements throughout the PreK-12 district. The Transition Committee, which governs the newly expanded region through the Nov. 6 election, at its October meeting heard presentations from the principals at Lanesborough Elementary, Williamstown Elementary and the middle-high school about each building's School Improvement Plan. And in each case, the plans touch on social development, technology and curriculum — specifically science in the two elementary schools. The SIPs are the product of each building's School

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BCC Honors Academic Achievement at Upcoming Convocation

02:10PM / Friday, October 19, 2018

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College will recognize the academic achievements of 120 students during an Honors Convocation Program on Thursday, Oct. 18.

Each honored student ranks in the top 5 percent of the college with a grade point average of 3.75 or better in courses totaling at least 12 credits.

Massachusetts

Rebekah L. Baker, Alexandria T. Brandon, Michelle M. Briggs, Laurie A. McArthur, Kelsy M. Nixon, Cameron J. Winter

Tracy M. Stoddard

Emily M. Linendoll

Shannon M. Gwozdz, Michaela M. Larkin, Melissa L. Pantano, Lillian R. Sartorius, Kia Yang

Ramsey A. El Taieb

Stephanie J. Rogers

Shaina R. Benham, Deidre S. Brainerd, Oksana O. Dix, Jessie C. Downer,

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Accreditors to Visit BCC's Nursing Program Wednesday, Public Meeting Scheduled

By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
02:24AM / Friday, October 19, 2018

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — BCC's nursing program will be reviewed for accreditation during a site visit on Wednesday. The Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing's review includes a public forum on the accreditation process. ACEN has a full day scheduled and has set aside 1:45 until 2:45 p.m. to hear from the public on any questions, opinions, or concerns about the program. "It is just an open conversation ... they look at stakeholders and the community is a stakeholder," said program adviser Ann Tierney. "They really want it to be a free-flowing conversation." Tierney said program officials won't even be on hand during the

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Mount Greylock Building Committee Nixes Overflow Parking Proposal

By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
11:21AM / Monday, October 15, 2018

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — An evenly divided Mount Greylock Regional School Building Committee last week decided not to spend time and money looking at the creation of overflow parking on the north side of the new middle-high school. At issue was a patch of land currently occupied by trailers related to the $64 million building project. As construction winds down, construction manager Turner Construction plans to remove the trailers and return the land to its natural state. Over the years, there have been occasional discussions about whether that land -- currently covered by gravel -- could be kept as an alternative parking area for special events, especially since the newly

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BCC Names Interim Director of Nursing

Staff Reports,
10:29AM / Friday, October 12, 2018

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Christine Martin is taking over as head of the nursing program at BCC. Berkshire Community College named Martin the interim director of nursing on Thursday. The appointment comes a month after former director Tochi Urbani resigned from the position in the midst of trouble with the program's accreditation. Martin is no stranger to the program. She has taught at the college since 1993 and has worked as a tenured Professor in the Practical Nursing Program as well as the Associate Degree Nursing Program, an Adjunct Clinical Nursing Faculty member, an instructor of the Bridge Course called LPN to RN Mobility, as a CPR Instructor, and as an

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Williamstown Town Manager, School Building Committee Members Clash over Permit Fees

By Stephen Dravis, iBerkshires Staff
03:56AM / Friday, October 12, 2018

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Town Manager Jason Hoch on Wednesday explained to the Mount Greylock School Building Committee his rationale for assessing permitting fees on the district's $64 million addition/renovation project, including his words in an oft-quoted December 2015 email. At issue is about $154,000 billed to the regional school district for permitting. In fact, the town is owed about $295,000, based on its standard permit fee schedule, but about half of that has been passed through to subcontractors on the school building project. Hoch appeared before the committee on Wednesday to discuss the larger portion, the $154,000 which some argue should be

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Berkshire Education Task Force Developing Models for Collaboration

By Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
01:13AM / Tuesday, October 09, 2018

LEE, Mass. — The Berkshire County Education Task Force has completed its initial mission of determining options for local schools facing difficult economic and academic futures. Now, it's hoping to offer pathways to school officials as they decide whether and how far to proceed toward the task force's solution of a single countywide school district. William Cameron, task force member and retired superintendent of the Central Berkshire Regional School District, presented the coalition's goals to the meeting of Region VI of the Massachusachusetts Association of School Committees last week. The task force last met on Sept. 22, he said,

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County School Officials Press Legislators on School Funding Formula

By Tammy Daniels, iBerkshires Staff
03:52AM / Tuesday, October 02, 2018

LEE, Mass. — Local school officials pressed members of the Berkshire delegation to make education funding a priority in the coming legislative year. And the legislators urged them to keep up the pressure. "The pressure we feel at home can translate into action at the State House," said state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, explaining that when they speak with legislative leaders, "I can go and say this is the most important issue in Pittsfield." But while the Pittsfield representative is a firm believer in grassroots activism, she said the critical part of the equation is finding new revenue. "We're underfunding

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