BROCKTON — A third attempt to arraign former roofer Matthew Will, 37, of Pembroke, who formerly owned Five Star Discount Roofing in Halifax, on 18 fraud and larceny related charges failed Monday, June 25, 2019, because he was not medically cleared for transport to Plymouth Superior Court, Brockton, by state prison officials, according to a source close to the investigation.

Will, who was in the custody of the Plymouth County Sherriff’s department, was quickly transported to a state facility, the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain, that has a state Department of Corrections-run prison ward, following police and Sherriff’s Department serving a search warrant on Will’s Furnace Colony Drive, Pembroke, rental home.

During the course of the execution of the search warrant, Will was found to be hiding in his attic and dogs were used to extricate him from the attic. According to a source close to the investigation, he is recuperating from injuries sustained from the dogs, which the source says he wrestled with and eventually fell through a ceiling from his attic into his living room.

Will had been on a lengthy run from the law, following skipping a Falmouth District Court date, two separate high speed chases in central Massachusetts, one leading into Rhode Island, then being released on personal recognizance by a district court judge who had not been made aware of Will’s history by prosecutors — and fleeing again.

He has been in the hospital almost continuously since his arrest Thursday, May 9, except for one hearing where his court appointed attorney, Charlotte Tilden argued unsuccessfully for his release in Wareham District Court. He was returned to Shattuck Hospital, and remains there as of press time.

Will has been indicted on the charges.

A Plymouth County grand jury returned the indictments against Will charging him with one count each of larceny of property over $1,200 by single scheme, state building code violations, employer failing to have workers’ compensation, money laundering and being a common and notorious thief. Will was also indicted on seven counts of home improvement contracting violations and three counts each of forgery and uttering.

Prosecutors say Will targeted some more than 50 mostly elderly homeowners, beginning in July 2018 at Oak Point, a 55-plus community in Middleboro, when at least 15 individuals began reporting that Will had defrauded them out of funds ranging from $800 to $12,000 by starting contracting work and not completing it, or simply taking the funds and absconding.

Will has multiple cases in courts in Falmouth, Plymouth and Wareham District Courts and he has 50 or more victims across the state.

The alleged victims have lost at least an estimated $250,000 in total and have been found so far in Kingston, Duxbury, Brockton, Plympton, Wareham, North Easton, Hanson, Falmouth and Pembroke in addition to Middleboro.

A joint meeting was held June 13 between Union 31 and the various Silver Lake school committees. The meeting began with a reorganization of the Silver Lake Regional School Committee. A unanimous vote named Jason Fraser and Eric Crone to continue to serve as chair and vice chair respectively of the Silver Lake Regional School Committee. The committee also voted to keep Paula Hatch as secretary as well as naming Michael Antoine assistant treasurer. Later in the meeting, Antoine was also named chair of Union 31.

Silver Lake Regional Middle School Principal James Dupille introduced science teacher Kathy Benash who heads up the science club and NASA project at the school as well as several of her students. Benash explained that through the NASA sponsored initiative, students were tasked with inventing something that would help society. Four groups of students presented their inventions to the committees. Among them were an epi-case, a phone case which would hold an EpiPen, as well as an astro sleeve, which would enable astronauts that cannot speak to communicate with other astronauts through an armband with built in speakers, screen, and keyboard.

Benash thanked the committee for their support and expressed how proud she was of her students.

Fraser addressed the students saying, “As a fellow science teacher, I just wanted to comment that each one of your designs and ideas are applicable today. As you were describing how they would improve lives of others,

I was already thinking of other ways they could be implemented into the workplace and into the marketplace. You guys all have marketable ideas right now standing in front of us today.” Fraser added, “I want to buy your products right now.”

Principal Dupille thanked Benash, who is retiring, saying, “It’s teachers like you, and we have some great teachers in these schools, that make all the difference, I think. The opportunities that these kids get at the middle school are a lot more than I did when I was growing up. So, thank you for everything that you’ve done and good luck with the next chapter in your life.”

Benash responded saying, “I am very happy as I retire that these kids are going to eventually take care of us. They’re amazing, amazing children.”

Superintendent search

Following the student presentations, the committees then turned their attention to the superintendent search. School committee member Laura Tilton put together a packet with data gathered thus far from the surveys that are open to Silver Lake students and faculty as well as residents of the three towns. Based on Tilton’s analysis of the data, financial management and curriculum development were of high importance to respondents.  Other items that were considered important included strong communication skills as well as understanding and recognizing good teaching.

Silver Lake has hired the Massachusetts Association of School Committees to aid in the search. Executive Director Glenn Koocher attended the meeting to go over and make edits to a mockup of the literature which would be distributed to potential candidates. The committee agreed to make changes to the mockup to better align with the issues constituents have pointed out as being of high importance to them. Committee member Leslie-Ann McGee suggested changing selection criteria to KSA’s or knowledge, skills, and abilities. The other major changes requested and agreed upon by the committees centered around the desire for a more aggressive timeline than the one suggested by Koocher.

Of concern was that a sitting superintendent might need to give anywhere from a one to three month notice at their current job. The committees were also eager to ensure that the incoming superintendent’s start date overlap with the final month of current superintendent Joy Blackwood’s tenure to allow for training. According to Koocher the only date that would be immutable would be the closing date for applications. Originally scheduled for September 22 the committee voted to move that date to September 16. Other notable dates include selecting the candidate by early November with a start date set for January 1.

Reorganization

After adjourning all but the Silver Lake Regional School Committee, the meeting continued with a reorganization of the various sub-committees. Tilton, McGee, and Gordon Andrews were named to a new sub-committee, calendar survey, that would brainstorm adjustments to the school calendar and would serve as informational only as no formal votes would take place until presented to the school committee in its entirety.

School start time discussion continues

Also discussed was the sub-committee school start times. Crone mentioned that in the last few months he has been contacted by three separate sets of parents about concerns over school start times. Crone said that based on a Facebook group focused on the issue, there appears to be just as many parents and students against the change as there are for it. While the existence of the sub-committee was deemed necessary, it is unlikely that it will even meet. Fraser explained, “This is more of a statement to acknowledge that there is research stating that our students at the middle school and the high school would benefit from a later start time though we don’t currently have the resources or the resolve to make that a reality here in the district.” Fraser continued, “This continues to be a topic of much discussion and there are several more schools this year that will be adjusting their start times so it is something that we should keep on the radar.”

Graduation

is a success

The success of the recent high school graduation was a source of laughs and good will during the meeting. Carl Pike of Kingston attended the meeting as a member of the public addressing the committee as follows, “I’d just like to take a quick minute to say that I was fortunate enough to attend both the high school awards ceremony and the high school graduation and I’d like to thank the school committee for the support and the leadership that they provide to our school systems. I thought that both of those occurrences were very well done and I think that a lot of times we hear people concerned about the funds that we spend on education; well there is two examples where we see what a great job we are doing and I for one, say thank you.”

Blackwood spoke fondly of the student tasked with introducing her at graduation. Graduating senior Joe Mirisola presented Blackwood with a diploma he designed for her to celebrate her time at Silver Lake.

Blackwood, who passed the diploma around, joked about how Mirisola had signed her diploma as he had given himself the authority.

Blackwood also told an anecdote about her decision to have herself and the teachers attending graduation sing a Jason Mraz song, Have it All, as a way of doing something special for the graduating class. Blackwood explained that she incorrectly assumed that the teachers’ microphones were turned on while, in fact, the only live microphone was the one she was singing into.

Laughing, Blackwood said, “I sang karaoke to over 1,000 people unintentionally but you have to have a sense of humor in life, right?”

HALIFAX — The Halifax Board of Selectmen met Tuesday, June 11, and held a highly unusual dog hearing, participated in a promotion ceremony for the Halifax Fire Department, and heard a proposal from a young man working to earn his Eagle Scout badge. The meeting was long, and the board was running behind schedule throughout the night, as new member Gordon Andrews learned the ropes at this, his second meeting, and Chairman Troy Garron, who is generally soft-spoken, began to assert himself as the board’s leader.

Dog will be euthanized if she returns to Halifax

Selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday night to order Gia, a German Shepherd, euthanized should she ever return to within the borders of Halifax.  Gia’s owner, Richard LeBlanc, is staying with his parents at the Twin Lakes Drive condominium complex.

The board heard from a number of witnesses including Animal Control Officer Noreen Callahan and Animal Inspector Brian King, before hearing an emotional, dramatic, long and uncomfortable plea from LeBlanc, who begged the board not to order his dog euthanized should it return to town.   LeBlanc told the board the dog is now with its original breeder in New Hampshire.

LeBlanc cited many personal problems including a sick parent and child as well as a divorce as explanations for the, at least three, dog bite incidents with his Gia. A Twin Lakes Drive neighbor says there are other, unreported incidents, as well.

Selectman Chairman Troy Garron, who let LeBlanc continue on despite warnings to stick to the point, appeared annoyed with him as did the rest of the board. LeBlanc’s attempts to convince the board not to order his dog euthanized should it return to Halifax did not apparently win him sympathy from the board.

The most recent incident with Gia occurred May 18, when Halifax Police and Fire responded to 360 Twin Lakes Drive for a report of a dog bite. The alleged victims were Beth Jenness and her dog, Clarence, a 7-year-old Austrian Kelpie.

“Jenness had a cut on her top lip, and her dog, Clarence, had visible marks on its right thigh,” according to a police report by Officer Michael Boncariewski.

A previous alleged attack by LeBlanc’s dog occurred Dec. 25, 2018. Barbara Sheehan, of Twin Lakes Drive, described walking her dog Bella on a cold and windy Christmas Day.

LeBlanc’s German Shepherd came from her left, she says, and attacked her and her dog while she was screaming for help.

Sheehan alleges that LeBlanc grabbed her arm, begging her not to report the dog, which has been banned from Twin Lakes.

She says she spent about $500 in veterinarian bills, for which LeBlanc reimbursed her.

“I was a little disappointed in how the Selectmen ran the hearing,” Sheehan said. LeBlanc spoke at length, she added, while she did not have much time to address the board.

“I am ultimately satisfied with the result,” she said.

LeBlanc, who was in tears on the way out of the hearing, vowed to appeal the decision to the courts, which is his right.

Fire promotions

Halifax Fire Chief Jason Viveiros was proud to announce the appointments, promotions and one 40-years-of-service award and pin to members of his department in front of Selectmen and family, friends and former firefighters. The Great Hall of Town Hall was filled as Viveiros spoke and Town Clerk Barbara Gaynor swore the first-responders into their new positions.

Thanking the audience, Viverios said, “Being a firefighter requires hard work, dedication and countless hours spent away from your family, training and responding to incidents. Our work requires us to leave at a moment’s notice and almost always at the most inopportune times. No firefighter would be successful in this career without the support and encouragement of their family and friends.”

He began by announcing the newest group of call firefighters to fill the ranks of the department, Jeff Arcieri, Andrew Jerome and Joseph Varraso, who were present for the ceremony and sworn-in by Gaynor, and Anthony Hardy and Quinland Murdock who were not present.

Of the three female members of the fire department, two were promoted from call firefighter to the rank of full-time firefighter, Bridget Ricciarelli and Abby Dubrawski.

“Both of these firefighters have been tremendous assets to our organization, they have earned their spot. They have worked extremely hard over the past several years completing their paramedic program while also filling shifts and always being there when we need them,” said Viveiros.

Peter Hogan, who has served the department since he was a cadet in High School, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

“Becoming a Lieutenant is the biggest transition any firefighter will experience in their career. You are tasked with the safety of the residents in our community, but equally important, you now become responsible for the safety of the firefighters assigned to you,” said Viveiros. “While he has only been in the position a short time, Lieutenant Hogan has clearly demonstrated his ability to lead and set an excellent example for others to follow.”

Finally, Captain Donald Crowell, who is retiring, received his 40-years-of-service award and pin from the Massachusetts Fire Service Commission.

“While I can’t imagine the changes he has seen in our department over the years, I can say for certain that he was a big part of making it the great organization it is today,” said Viveiros.

“You sure that’s me?” joked Crowell to laughter from the crowd.

The Fire Department enjoyed cake as the Selectmen returned to their regularly scheduled meeting.

Eagle Scout project

Jacob Oliveira is pursuing his Eagle Scout badge and asked Selectmen for permission to put a hand-built wooden donation chest for care packages for soldiers in Town Hall. He plans to build the chest with the help of his fellow Boy Scouts and scout masters.

The chest will have three separate compartments, one for nonperishable items, one for “cultural” items like books and CDs, and one for toiletries. Oliveira and the Boy Scouts will monitor the chest for donations and will send the contents as care packages to soldiers deployed abroad, he said to the board.

Selectman Gordon Andrews asked if Oliveira would be using social media to raise awareness of his project, and he responded that he is planning to.

The major question that the board had concerned the location of the chest, with Garron questioning having enough space and appropriate visibility, but Oliveira noted the chest was on wheels and could be moved.

It is tentatively going to be placed across from the Veterans’ Agent’s office in Town Hall. The board thanked Oliveira and Selectman Tom Millias complemented him on his presentation.

• The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Halifax Board of Selectmen will be Tuesday, June 25, at 7:30 p.m. in the Selectmen’s Meeting Room of Town Hall.

Plympton Selectmen held a brief meeting Monday, May 3, as well as had a tour of the basement of Town House and the second floor space once occupied by the police, who have moved to their new headquarters next door.

They discussed problems with the 1935 building, heard about mysterious problems with the new water filtration system at the Dennett Elementary School, and showed interest in a new shared service grant, if they are eligible after a waiting period from their last one.

Town House tour

Selectmen toured the basement offices of Town House along with the old Police Station, which will be renovated at some point in the near future to create more office space for town departments.

Jon Wilhelmsen, chairman of the Dennett Elementary School Committee, led the building tour.  He is a “jack-of-all-trades”,  according to Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy, and is being tapped for his expertise.

The Town House was originally built as a school in 1935. The space, especially the former police station, is odd, with various width walls that will likely be knocked out to convert many smaller rooms into an open space. Selectmen are considering one open room with a conference room for now until they decide on permanent uses.

The electrical panels in the building are old and need to be updated as well. Power disruptions occur due to the legacy equipment, which includes screw-in fuse boxes.

Selectmen also discussed the ongoing water leakage in the building’s basement, which houses the building department.

The structure may have mold and asbestos, and the extent of the problem is unknown. The drop-down ceiling tiles are brown and discolored in some places, and boxes in the offices show signs of water damage.

While many problems were identified by Wilhelmsen and selectmen, definitive solutions are still being worked out.

Filtration failure

Wilhelmsen, who is also chairman of the Plympton School Committee, reported mysterious news from the Dennett Elementary School. The Department of Environmental Protection- approved water filtration system recently installed to filter out impurities in the water, including lead, is not working, he said.

The manufacturer insists that it is working properly, but random testing of water samples is showing that it is in fact adding lead into the water, according to Wilhelmsen. No one is sure exactly why.

He said that students have never been drinking the water and that there has been no interruption to their bottled water program for students and staff. The water is not a danger to them, according to Wilhelmsen.

Selectman Chairman Christine Joy asked if there was any recourse in terms of a warranty or guaranty on the system. All options are on the table, Wilhelmsen said, and he appeared frustrated with the situation.

He also reported that the incoming kindergarten class size will increase by 10 students this fall, to 39, with the potential to go up. There will still be two teachers and two aides for the students. The school, which is small compared to surrounding schools, is preparing for a “growth spurt.”

Shared service grant

Plympton and Halifax continue to flirt with the idea of a shared service, and even though they received a grant recently to explore a shared fire department, that did not come to pass, Plympton may be eligible for a grant to explore a different avenue, after a waiting period from the last grant, said Dennehy.

Selectmen in both Halifax and Plympton have stated they are open to the idea of shared services, and a few have made it no secret that they would like to explore the idea of improving their senior service through a regionalized approach.

In Halifax, newly-elected Selectman Gordon Andrews has been a vocal proponent of regionalization, and Plympton Selectmen appeared open to the idea of exploring a shared service grant as well at their meeting. Dennehy said that “something” with seniors may be in the works if they were to get a grant.

Dennehy is investigating how soon the town can apply for a grant, if indeed they are eligible.

• The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Selectmen will be June 17, 2019, at 6 p.m. at Town House, unless otherwise posted.

BROCKTON — A Plymouth County grand jury has indicted roofer Matt Will, 35, a Pembroke resident who was doing business out of Halifax as Five Star Discount Roofing, on 18 fraud and larceny related charges May 24, District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz announced recently.

The grand jury returned the indictments against Will charging him with one count each of larceny of property over $1,200 by single scheme, state building code violations, employer failing to have workers’ compensation, money laundering and being a common and notorious thief. Will was also indicted on seven counts of home improvement contracting violations and three counts each of forgery and uttering.

Prosecutors say Will targeted some more than 50 mostly elderly homeowners, beginning in July 2018 at Oak Point, a 55-plus community in Middleboro, when at least 15 individuals began reporting that Will had defrauded them out of funds ranging from $800 to $12,000 by starting contracting work and not completing it or simply taking the funds and absconding.

But the case languished, as police and the Middleboro building inspector appeared to continue to give opportunities for Will to catch up with his work.

Eventually, Will had multiple cases in courts in Falmouth, Plymouth and Wareham District Courts as his theft allegedly spread beyond Middleboro, and the grand jury investigation revealed “a substantial criminal enterprise” involving 50 or more victims across the state.

In total, the alleged victims have lost at least an estimated $250,000 and have been found so far in Kingston, Duxbury, Brockton, Plympton, Wareham, North Easton, Hanson, Falmouth and Pembroke in addition to Middleboro.

Many of the district court charges will be dismissed against Will, as is typical when someone is indicted, and he will be arraigned in Plymouth Superior Court in Brockton at a later date.

Will was arrested Thursday, May 9, at his Furnace Colony Drive home in Pembroke, after a run from the law and a police standoff.

He first fled justice April 10 as the indictments against him loomed and after he missed a Falmouth District Court arraignment, then was arrested May 4 in Rockland following a dramatic escape from police after leading them on two multi-town high-speed chases in central Massachusetts into Rhode Island the night before, according to court records and police reports.

He was then released by a Hingham District Court judge, who was not made aware of the chase by prosecutors, according to audio of the hearing, was ordered to Wareham District Court by 4:30, but fled again and was finally re-arrested after a tense standoff with police in Pembroke.

As law enforcement personnel attempted to execute a search warrant at his Pembroke home, Will hid from police in his attic. Police used canines to extricate him from the attic, and he was injured after wrestling with the dogs and falling through the ceiling.

He was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth and released the next day – Friday, May 10 – to Plymouth County Correctional Facility. He was expected in Wareham District Court the following Monday, May 13, and when he was not transported there by the Plymouth County Sherriff’s Department, the Express learned that he was a patient Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain, where a Department of Corrections ward is located.

The Express has confirmed that as of press time, Will remains at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital, nearly three weeks after his arrest.

His condition is unknown.

HALIFAX — Halifax achieved a 7.8% voter turnout as 451 voters came out to choose the next member of the Halifax Board of Selectmen Saturday, May 18, the only contested race on the ballot in either Plympton or Halifax. In that contest, Gordon Andrews beat Melinda Tarsi 253 to 195.

Tarsi was disappointed with her loss, but said she was excited she did well. She plans to continue to serve the town on the Finance Committee, she said.

Andrews was sworn in to office in front of family and friends Monday, May 20.

His first official act as Selectman was to sign vendor warrants.

The board will reorganize at the next regularly scheduled meeting, May 28, and talk about their summer goals, Andrews said.

One of the policies he campaigned on, regionalization of the Council on Aging, received a warm welcome in Plympton Monday night, where Plympton Selectman Mark Russo noted that he’d be interested in exploring a similar concept.

Andrews also spoke about reopening talks for regionalization of the fire department and noted that most of Halifax’s mutual aid calls go to Plympton and Hanson, which would be logical places to start up talks or restart talks in the case of Plympton.

As for the shortage of volunteers in town, “I think we need to start walking around baseball fields and softball fields and asking around,” he said. “I’ll do it,” he added.

“If we don’t have volunteers, we have to pay for employees to do jobs,” he said.

He also said he will bring up with the board the idea of changing Town Meeting to a Saturday in an attempt to increase turnout, a change that would have to be voted on by Town Meeting. The board could place an article in the warrant, though.

Andrews plans on continuing to sit on both the Halifax Elementary School and Silver Lake Regional High School committees.

“I think I should be able to handle it,” he said. “I’ll see how it goes.”

HALIFAX — The people of Halifax held a two-night, 63-article Annual Town Meeting and 12-article Special Town Meeting Monday and Tuesday, May 13 and May 14. Most articles passed without much discussion, including a $24 million operating budget, but a “ban” on single-use plastic bags led to a standing vote because of a vocal minority of 18 who yelled their “no” votes.

Several hawk-eyed voters frequently came to the microphone to question increases in budget line items, or expenditures in articles they said were unusual or unnecessary, even veterans’ benefits.

Retiring Selectman Kim Roy received a lengthy standing ovation at the beginning of the meeting the first night, after she gave an emotional speech thanking the town for allowing her to serve. She was in tears.

The meeting was lengthy, but efficient. The moderator, Dennis Carman, was new to the job, as it was his first Annual Town Meeting and second Special Town Meeting.

A single-use plastic bag “ban” was adopted by the body, 84-18. Candy Kniffen, of the Beautification Committee and the former first female selectman in town, presented the article to Town Meeting.

She cited many governments at the local and state level, even entire countries that have enacted such laws. While the majority of Town Meeting supported the ban, the moderator required a standing vote to determine which side had won because the 18 voters opposed to the law yelled “no” so loudly he called for a standing vote to be certain.

Resident Jeffrey Bulger, of Brandeis Circle, spoke frequently against town expenditures of all sorts. At one point, he called the Veterans’ Benefits line item, 123, which had increased by $5,500 from last year a fund for town officials to play with. Kimberly King, a voter loudly opposed to Bulger’s position, moved the vote after a short clarification of how exactly that money is spent – it goes to veterans’ and their families – and the line item passed. Bulger was also one of the 18 voters most vocal in opposing the “bag ban,” and brought a lengthy handout for voters to read explaining his opposition to “bag bans.”

The Highway Surveyor, Steve Hayward, whose late father Ralph held the same position, was wearing his father’s suspenders as he asked the town for several pieces of equipment, including a truck he said he needs for himself for $30,000 and a Kubota-brand tractor or equivalent for $45,000, which was less than the amount asked for in the article.

He did not receive a $168,129 street sweeper that he requested, although he seemed in good spirits after the meeting. He said that he was pleased with how things went and thought he might get a street sweeper next year as the Finance Committee indicated in they may be more receptive in the future.

The Elementary School line item, 71, was amended up by $30,700 to $6,659,147 by Summer Schmaling, of the Halifax Elementary School Committee, because the school committee wanted a new bus. King spoke in support of the article, although the Finance Committee was not unanimous in its recommendation of the amendment. The article passed.

The future of the recycling center was discussed, with the costs of recycling soaring because China no longer buys our waste and state laws mandating recycling mean it costs more money each year to recycle. Some asked whether the Recycling Center should continue to be repaired at all and possibly eliminated. All items for the recycling center, including a new rug and cement slabs for roll-off containers at the center passed, though, as the items were necessary now, according to Hayward. As he put it simply, “If people want to keep walking around in mud, don’t vote for the article.”

The town’s soaring legal bills prompted Special Town Meeting Article 2, which proposed moving $20,000 from last year’s snow and ice budget into the Law Account. The number of lawsuits the town is defending itself against has ballooned and were listed for the voters on a handout.

At about $30,000,  Andrews v. Town of Halifax, a zoning dispute between Selectman-candidate Gordon Andrews regarding a development known as Amanda Estates abuting him on Elm Street, tops the list of the town’s legal expenses.

Andrews said on Town Meeting floor that the town does not need to be defending his suit and that the developer of the property in dispute should be defending it.

Town Administrator Charlie Seelig said that the town will have to find money to pay legal bills elsewhere, from line item transfers or the relatively depleted reserve fund as a last resort because the article failed.

Seelig’s contract was set for the next three years, raising it and bringing it more into line, but still significantly under, the salaries of Town Administrators with his skills, experience and qualifications nearby, according to Roy at the meeting.

A contract with the firefighter’s union with a $68,340 increase was passed, without discussion, representing a significant change in paramedic stipends and an overall 2% raise for the union personnel. Roy said this was an attempt to fight the 80% turnover at the department and retain and attract seasoned firefighters to Halifax.

A similar contract with the police officer’s union passed as well.

A number of upgrades to the town’s servers, backup batteries, telephones and other IT infrastructure also passed.

All zoning articles in the warrant were not addressed because the planning board didn’t hold a legally required hearing for the articles, Friday, and Monday shortly before Town Meeting. The board failed to get a quorum both times. Therefore, several articles were not considered by Town Meeting. They were not passed over; they were simply not addressed at all. They included such possibly controversial articles as those addressing multifamily dwellings and several marijuana articles, including a citizens’ petition on the location of marijuana establishments.

Five members of the Design Squad Global Club at Halifax Elementary School, from left, Kiera Ethier, Reese Helisek, Will Hinkley, Kai Martin, and Kullen Martin gather to recap their unique experience. (Photo by Kristy Zamagni-Twomey)

Back in 2016, a project known as Design Squad Global was launched by WGBH and funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation. The project was based on the PBS Kids show Design Squad that aired originally from 2007 to 2011.

As described on pbskids.org, “Design Squad Global empowers middle school kids to solve real-world problems and understand the impact of engineering in a global context.” Anyone interested in starting their own club can sign up via the website (https://pbskids.org/designsquad/) and be matched with an international partner club. A full club curriculum guide for either 6 or 12 weeks is available on the website and includes multiple hands-on STEM related projects to be completed by both partner clubs with results being shared with one another via pictures and video chats.

Recently, students at Halifax Elementary School had the opportunity to participate in a Design Squad Global club at their school led by teachers Lisa Whitney and Jen Reidy. The Halifax students were partnered with a school in Kenya.

Nicki Sirianni, the Outreach and Marketing Manager for Design Squad Global, explained, “Our goal is to get into as many pockets of the world as possible.” Design Squad Global is well on its way to this goal with over 700 clubs from 40 different countries, including 46 states in the United States. “We don’t ever want to limit who is allowed to use our materials. We have clubs in libraries, museums, boys and girls clubs, the YMCA, and also a lot of institutions and schools,” Sirianni said.

According to the Congressional Joint Economic Committee, only 14% of engineers in the U.S. are women with about 18-20% of engineering students being women. Likewise, according to the NACME (National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering), in 2013 minorities accounted for only 12 percent of employed engineers, a number that paled in comparison to their representation in the overall population.

While these numbers are up from past decades, clubs like Design Squad Global hope to encourage further participation in STEM fields from people of all backgrounds. Speaking to this issue, Sirianni said, “We want to make engineering relevant in their everyday lives. There are a lot of stereotypes about who is allowed to work in engineering and we want to break down those stereotypes. The whole purpose is to get kids really excited about engineering.”

Fourth grader Kullen Martin, fifth grader Kiera Ethier, and sixth graders Kai Martin, Will Hinkley, and Reese Helisek spoke to the Express about their experience in the Design Squad Global club at Halifax Elementary.

One of the first projects tasked to the Design Squad Global club was the creation of shoes from a variety of found materials including tape, Styrofoam, bouncy balls, foam, felt, bubble wrap, cardboard, batting, cloth, and sponges. Helisek described the differences in the Halifax students’’ approach and the Kenyan students.

“We tried to design them to be more functional so that we could actually wear them where theirs seemed like they were more focused on how they looked; a lot of them had really cool designs and colors.” Kullen Martin added, “The Kenyan students’ were more sandals for their weather where ours were more like boots and sneakers.”

Kai Martin explained another project, “We had one where we built a light pipe where we had to illuminate the inside of a cardboard box.” Ethier again stressed the Kenyan focus on design saying, “They looked like little houses. Again, with like the designing, we tried to make it functional and they tried to make it look good.”

While the Kenyan club and Halifax club came up with significantly different solutions to the same problem for some of the projects, this was not always the case. Helisek explained, “We did one where we had to shoot airplanes down the line and learn about turbulence. I was a little shocked that ours were extremely similar designs, our group and their group.”

The exchange of cultural information between the clubs was a focal point of the experience with both the Kenyan and the American students learning a lot about the way the other lives.

“They asked what the weather was right then and it was pretty cold then and I was telling them how our seasons are much more drastic than theirs. They looked a little surprised when we said how cold it was,” Ethier said. Hinkley added, “I think the reason they were so surprised was because Kenya is split by the equator so it is very warm. They have two seasons – the dry and the rainy season.”

Other differences also stood out to the groups. The Kenyan students were surprised to see that the American students were not wearing uniforms. Helisek was surprised by the age ranges in the Kenyan club saying, “I think they had from kindergarten to eighth grade. I was surprised that they had the younger grades and the older grades together.” Kai Martin added, “They were talking about how we took the bus to school and they said that they either walked or did chores in the morning or rode their bikes. They were surprised that we either took cars or rode the bus to school.”

The differences in languages spoken by the clubs also came as a surprise to both groups. For his part, Kullen Martin was impressed with the Kenyan students’ grasp of the English language saying, “Since you don’t really get to hear from people from another country often, you don’t really think they speak English as well or as fluently as they do so that was kind of cool.” Hinkley explained, “In Kenya they speak Swahili which is their national language, they speak English, and then they speak whatever their tribal language is.” The students reminisced about the Kenyan students attempts to teach them some words in their language, including jambo for hello.

A fun moment for both clubs came when Hinkley, who traveled to Kenya a few years ago with family, showed off some souvenirs from his travels during one of the video chats between the clubs. “I brought in a shirt [Kenyan soccer shirt], some money, a soapstone rhinoceros, and a bunch of animals that my grandparents brought me back many years ago,” Hinkley said. “I think they might have been the most surprised when Will had the stuff too, like the soccer shirt and the animals,” Helisek said. Kullen Martin added, “Will showed them he had just a random lego brick. They were sort of surprised when he pulled that out just to sort of see what we had as toys.”

For all the differences they discovered, the students definitely discovered some similarities as well in the form of hobbies and supervillains. “I didn’t know they could draw so well. There was this one kid that wanted to know our talents but then he showed us a picture of a drawing that he did of the joker and it was really good,” Ethier said.

When asked what was the best part of Design Squad Global was for them, the students emphasized both the cultural exchange and engineering aspects of the experience. Kullen Martin, who hopes to one day become a zoologist, said he was most excited about working with people in older grades, both at home and in Kenya. Older brother Kai, who would like to study architecture, said, “I thought the coolest part was the light pipe because we got to do something that hasn’t actually been put in place yet; that was the sort of thing that we really got to engineer and we might get to make in our later life.” Hinkley, who’s ambition is to become a civil engineer, said, “I enjoyed listening and learning from other people because other people had ideas that were so much different than mine. I learned some things from these people [motioning to his friends] but I also learned stuff from the people in Kenya.”

Both Ethier and Helisek were most enthralled by the opportunity to interact with people from another culture. Ethier who wants to one day become a veterinarian shared her thoughts.

“I think my most favorite part was interacting with the people in Kenya. The Facetime call was so amazing, I would never dream of meeting people in a whole different country. They were pretty funny and it was just cool how we got to talk to them.” Helisek, who hopes to become an elementary school teacher, said, “I liked how we got to interact with people from another country to see how they worked differently than we did.”