Newburyport Schools: Signs of the Times

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Signs of the Times

For those of you brave and generous souls who put Menin signs on and around your property, I'm cruising around trying to pick them up. If I haven't gotten to you yet, please take the sign down and leave it on your front porch or somewhere I can see it without arousing the neighbors' suspicion that I'm breaking and entering. And finally, if I haven't gotten the sign, call the cell at 978 270 4595, or the home phone 978 499 3883 and simply leave a message and address.

Later tonite, when I can catch my breath, I'll post my thoughts about the election, and the challenges ahead.

I plan to keep the blog active for a number of reasons, and will be changing the look of it somewhat (removing re-election references, etc.) although I will not remove any posts. I will be adding some new links, both local and national, and figuring out how to post a steady stream of national articles about education.

Again, to those of you who held signs- and I can count'em on one hand- Nancy Earles, DeDe Allen, Frank Moore, Julie, Noah and Linnea Menin, the dynamic duo of Margaret and Merle Forney, someone over in Ed Cameron's campaign, Kris and Katy Van Dine, Jack Murphy- if I've forgotten someone, and you actually want to get credit for it, let me know by e-mail.

Because of having the privilege of serving the last two years of Vickie Pearson's term, I have run three city-wide races in six years. I don't know how the At-Large councilors do it.

Me, I'm going to stick where my skill match is best suited to the challenge- the School Committee. I've no interest in running for City Council or Mayor; which I believe directly correlates to the feeling in the community about my suitability for those positions. The next step "up" the ladder would buy me a window seat on the Peter Principle express; and I get travel-sick way too fast for that.

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NATURE OR NURTURE?

Menin was born in the Bronx, to a National League family, who taught him early on that real baseball fans rooted for any team that beat the Yankees. His parents fled to the northern suburbs in the great mid-sixties diaspora.

An indifferent student prior to college, he was an early participant in the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate program, passing the exams and earning the diploma through West London College. He has a Bachelor's and a Master's in SpEd. He also has a CAGS in Dispute Resolution from UMass.

A trained Montessori teacher, he has worked in Lower and Upper Elementary classrooms in two Montessori schools; and has 10 years of classroom experience working with students from 1st grade through middle school.

Much of his professional career has been in human services, including more than fifteen years as an Executive Director for a regional agency serving the homeless, and a start-up national association of consumer litigators. He has also served as the Executive Director of the Family Self-Sufficiency Center, Inc., in Salem, MA; as well as performing the same role for the Disability Policy Consortium for three years.

Bruce co-wrote several grants to help start the Newburyport Learning Enrichment Center & the Youth Commission, where he was the founding Chair. He has served on the Revenue Task Force, the Newburyport Youth Commission, the Skateboard Park Siting Task Force, and is in his third term on the School Committee. He has also been elected to the Charter Review Commission.

As proof no good deed goes unrewarded, some misguided and anonymous individual successfully conned the American Red Cross, Northeast Division into naming Menin a Community Hero in 2010. Hopefully, the bar will be raised a little higher in future years.

A freelance writer for nearly 30 years, Menin has published locally and nationally. He has co-written plays that have been performed in Newburyport at the Random Acts Festival, three times at the annual New Works Festival, and in the North Port Festival in New York. He has co-written some songs with EJ Oullette and some of the new artists down at Whole Music in Byfield, and has seen his poetry and short stories in print and on the Internet. No one else has reported seeing them, however. He also spent five summers as a Naturalist on a whale watch boat running out of N.H.

He has two children, and has lived in Newburyport since 1991.

The Fine Print

Disclaimer:
No post placed on this page should be construed as representing the views of any other individual School Committee member, nor does it in any way represent the Committee as a whole.

We do not endorse or recommend any product that might be advertised on this site; we do not assume the responsibility or liability for any products or claims made by following links on this site. We do not assume liability or accept responsibility for any products, claims, or materials of questionable taste that may be linked to, intentionally or accidentally, by using the search engine provided.

This is a forum for the exchange of information and ideas. It is an opportunity for the community to raise concerns about the challenges faced by the schools in Newburyport, to ask for my response as both a sitting School Committee member with nearly ten years on the Committee, (as in, a record to run on) or my position on new challenges we have yet to face.

We welcome comments that ask questions or provide feedback on the substance of the initial posting. We do not expect, nor will we allow comments that are defamatory towards any public official or any member of the community; we are not liable for such comments, and reserve the right to remove them; or edit your comments should there be any substance left once the threats, profanity and all-around nastiness have been surgically removed.

Please feel free to e-mail me directly if you have questions you do not want to raise in this public forum, although I do reserve the right to post an answer if I feel the question is relevant to our community dialogue about schools. I would do so without identifying the source of the question.

Finally, any threats that are directed at my family or me will result in a mess of legal trouble for anyone so inclined.

Have a nice day. We are not liable or responsible if your day is not a nice one, however.

Hey, Attorney Griffin- did I cover everything?

The Mission of a School Committee Member

I believe that public service is both a privilege and a responsibility. I have had the opportunity to serve for nearly ten years; I believe we are ready to move the Newburyport School system into the 21st Century; providing the best possible education for all of the children of Newburyport. More than that, I believe that the Schools have a great deal to offer the larger community.

As a School Committee member, I have always been guided in my decisions by two important facts:

My constituents do not vote.

My role is try to address the needs of all the 2,ooo plus students in the system, and those few students placed outside the system in an equitable and proportional way.

According to the Educational Reform Act, it is the role of School Administrators to administrate, and for School Committees to set policy, budget resources, and ensure that the system has a vision of excellence.

Newburyport Schools

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Signs of the Times

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NATURE OR NURTURE?

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The Fine Print

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