The Silver Lake High outdoor track and field teams competed against the Whitman-Hanson Panthers last week.

Both Lakers teams — the boys and the girls — had very competitive meets against Whitman-Hanson on Tuesday, April 5.

On the girls side, the Lakers won 71-65. The meet came down to the last event:  the 4×400 relay. The Lakers won that race — which won them the meet.

Caroline Gerety, Samantha Faherty, Megan Laliberte, and Riley Paskow were the winning relay team for the Lakers. The Lakers also shined in field events.

Messina Sheehan had a first-place finish in the javelin throw, Emily Hesketh came in first in both shotput and discus, Riley Paskow won the long jump, and Ella Bossio finished second in the high jump while Kera Becker came in second in the triple jump.

On the boys side, the Lakers lost a tight one: 69-67.

Jesse Ierardi won the 110 high hurdles and the 400 hurdles; Boyd Wechter won in both shotput and discus;

Michael Beauchesne earned a first-place finish in the high jump; Damian DeKarski took first in the long jump; Gavin McCarthy had the top time in the one-mile run; and DJ Gilmore won the javelin throw.

The Lakers next meet is Tuesday, April 26 on the road against Duxbury (3:30 p.m. start time).

There will be a Silver Lake connection on the Brockton Rox once again this summer.

Silver Lake High grad and Halifax native Michael Quigley is set to pitch for the Brockton Rox of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League this summer, the team announced this past weekend on social media.

The 2020 Silver Lake grad had a brief stint with the Rox at the end of the 2020 season — before he played college baseball. In it, he pitched two games and allowed two runs in four innings pitched. In his second appearance of the season, he pitched three scoreless innings.

After making six appearances for the Division 1 UMass Lowell baseball team as a freshman, Quigley has carved out a role as a regular in the team’s bullpen this season. As of the start of this week, he had already pitched in six of the team’s 16 games thus far. It was the third-most appearances by any pitcher on the team.

Quigley had a standout career at Silver Lake. He threw a no-hitter in his first career varsity start as a sophomore for the Lakers. And he was named Patriot League MVP his junior year. He was a four-year varsity player, but didn’t get to play his senior year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Plympton School Committee met virtually on Monday, Feb. 28. The committee and administration discussed next year’s budget. Committee member Jason Fraser shared good news on the Chapter 70 front. Fraser said that Governor Baker’s House 1 budget contained a “nice surprise” for Plympton. “This is from years of trying to be recognized for our small-town needs… but also due to the 20 percent enrollment increase,” he explained. He continued, “I think that the State is definitely stepping up to help us with that tremendous enrollment growth.” Fraser said that due to the increase in Chapter 70 funding, the town “wouldn’t show a net increase in funding the Dennett for next year.” Committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen said they would need to have a discussion with the Finance Committee to drive this point home. Fraser also said that due to something called being held harmless, even if the town were to see an enrollment decrease down the line, the town wouldn’t be held responsible.

Superintendent Jill Proulx shared an updated version of the preliminary budget with the Committee. Director of Business Services Christine Healy said that all shared cost positions, including a Human Resources Director and a Technology Technician, were now included in the budget. Additionally, Proulx said that Circuit Breaker, the State’s special education reimbursement program, was now estimated at 70 percent to get closer to what it will likely end up being. Additionally, there was an increase for ELL (English Language Learners) as well as a .2 added to the music position.

Proulx told the Committee that she had submitted a grant for $20,000 that would be used to offset the cost of a kindergarten teaching position. Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch also provided an update on grant funding. He said that they would be receiving a mix of grants at the State and Federal level including rural aid, ESSER funding, Title II A, Title IV, and special education allocations.

Regarding the current year’s budget, Healy said, “right now the budget is still supporting all of the activities within our building and some outside the building.”
Dennett Elementary Principal Peter Veneto provided a Principal’s Report saying there were 242 students currently enrolled. Veneto said that the DARE officer had completed his curriculum with the sixth-grade class and would soon be moving to the fifth-grade class. The intention is to provide DARE education to all grades before the end of the school year. The Assistant District Attorney will be holding an assembly on cyber safety in March for the older students at Dennett. CASA will be holding Winterfest on March 18. Veneto also said that they remain hopeful that they will be able to hold a talent show this spring provided the COVID numbers continue to move in the right direction.

Additionally, the Dennett is hoping to create a mural made entirely out of painter’s tape as an art project in early April. A similar one was made at Silver Lake Regional High School which Veneto called, “absolutely amazing.”

Proulx shared with the Committee a brief update regarding masking. The CDC is no longer requiring masks to be worn on school buses. Massachusetts previously removed the mask mandate for K-12 schools effective following February break. “Individuals may continue to wear them if they so choose and will be supported in that,” Proulx said. Lynch said that they had held a professional development day earlier that day. The focus was on inclusivity and relationship building.

The Silver Lake High girls’ track team has a new state champion.

She had a standout performance at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston on Wednesday, Feb. 16 last week. In fact, it was the best performance of her high school track career to date.

The Division 3 state championship meet was Summer Bejarano’s time to shine. She won the one-mile run; she broke her own school record on the girls’ side at the meet. She ran the mile in 5:06.28. It came a week after she set the school record in the event at the Patriot League championship meet.

She wasn’t the only Laker to have a strong showing at the championship meet either. Riley Paskow shone in the long jump, earning a second place finish. That wasn’t Paskow’s only event either; she earned a sixth place finish in the 300 meter run.

Samantha Waters also made it to the podium. She had a sixth place finish in the 55 meter dash; it’s an event where she holds the school record for the best time on the girls’ side. Emily Hesketh also made it to the podium. She shined in a field event:  shotput. Hesketh earned a fifth place finish in shotput at the meet.

The Lakers didn’t have anyone make it to the podium on the boys’ side at the state meet last week.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met briefly on Jan. 25, specifically to name an interim Chief of Police. In October, former Whitman Chief of Police Scott D. Benton was named as the interim Police Chief following Matthew Clancy’s resignation. Clancy left to serve as Chief of the Bureau of Capital Police in Maine.

“We had a brief meeting last night and decided to proceed with some arrangements that we had made previously to utilize a professional search firm to fill the position of Chief of Police and as such we felt that we needed to give our sergeants an opportunity to really show their stuff… and hopefully be contenders for the position through the search,” Selectman Chair Christine Joy said.

“We do have two extremely qualified sergeants that are working for the town,” Joy said. She then named both Matthew Ahl and Daniel Hoffman. “They both have gotten glowing reviews from both Chief Clancy and Chief Benton; so we are in a position where we are able to appoint one of the sergeants as the acting Chief of Police and I would recommend that we would appoint Sergeant Hoffman, who is the senior and supervising sergeant, as our acting Chief of Police effective immediately and until the town fills the position on a permanent and full-time basis,” Joy said. Selectman John Traynor seconded Joy’s motion. Selectman Mark Russo added that he wanted to give authority to Town Administrator Liz Dennehy to negotiate the terms of the employment.

“I would only say that I think that we, the Board of Selectmen, have in general advocated for and hoped for the opportunity for people to move up, particularly in Fire and Police and I’m thrilled that there is this opportunity for Mr. Hoffman to move up and take on more responsibility and for Mr. Ahl to take on more responsibility as well,” Russo said.

The Selectmen voted unanimously to appoint Daniel Hoffman as the acting Chief of Police.

Plympton Town Clerk Patricia Detterman has released the 2022 election calendar.  Nomination papers for election to town office are available now.  The last day to submit nomination papers to the Board of Election Registrars is Friday, April 1, 2022, at 5 p.m. at the office of the Town Clerk.  The last day to withdraw nomination papers is Wednesday, April 20, 2022, at 5 p.m.

Plympton’s annual election is Saturday, May 21, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Plympton Town House, 5 Palmer Rd.   The following offices will be on the ballot, and a question:

• One (1) Selectman for three (3) years

• One (1) Board of Assessor member for three (3) years

• One (1) Board of Health member for three (3) years

• Two (2) Finance Committee members for three (3) years

• Two (2) Library Trustee for three (3) years

• One (1) Library Trustee for two (2) years

• One (1) Moderator for three (3) years

• One (1) Planning Board member for five (5) years

• One (1) Planning Board member for three (3) years

• One (1) Plympton School Committee member for three (3) years

• One (1) Silver Lake Regional School Committee member for three (3) years

Question 1:  Shall the town vote to have its elected Town Clerk become an appointed Town Clerk of the town?  Yes___ No___

The Annual Town Meeting will be Wednesday, May 18, at the Dennett Elementary School, 80 Crescent St., Plympton, at 7 p.m.  The Special Town Meeting will be held at 8 p.m. within the Annual Town Meeting.

Citizens who wish to submit an article to be considered by the townspeople may submit their Citizens’ Petition by submitting a petition signed by at least ten taxpayers who support the article.  The completed petition must be submitted no later than March 28, 2022 for the May 18 Annual Town Meeting.