1. Wellesley Public Schools
40 Kingsbury Street
Wellesley, Massachusetts 02481 Superintendent’s Bulletin
www.wellesley.k12.ma.us/district/bulletins.htm
Bella T. Wong Bulletin # 33
Superintendent of Schools May 21, 2010
The Superintendent’s Bulletin is posted weekly on Fridays on our website. It provides timely, relevant
information about meetings, professional development opportunities, curriculum and program development,
grant awards, and School Committee news. The bulletin is also the official vehicle for job postings. Please
read the bulletin regularly and use it to inform colleagues of meetings and other school news.
Dear Colleagues.
Although Matt Brown is not a Wellesley student, many of our students, families, and staff have been deeply impacted by
the news of Matt's accident and have closely followed his progress since. Even if you do not know Matt personally, you
cannot help but be moved by his strength of character and find yourself rooting for him. The following article, "Injured
Hockey Player, Buoyed by Friends, Returns to School", written by Travis Andersen, published in the Boston Globe on
May 13, 2010, tells about Matt's return to school last week. The story so nicely captures Matt's youthful celebration of
life and the importance of community. I thought it was a story very much worth repeating in case you haven't heard it
already.
NORWOOD - Norwood High School hockey player Matt Brown received a warm welcome when he returned to school
yesterday to visit friends and teachers, four months after an injury during a game left him paralyzed.
It was the 16-year-old sophomore’s first time back at the school. About a dozen students and administrators greeted
Brown and his mother, Susan, as they exited the van. They applauded and shouted, “Welcome back, Matty!”
After laughing with his sister, Kelley, 14, and three teammates in the parking lot, he went to the school’s audiovisual
room, where he delivered a message to the student body on the school’s closed-circuit television system. “Hello,
Norwood High”, he said. “I just wanted to say thank you to everyone.” Brown told his classmates that their outpouring
of support has given him strength during his rehabilitation. “It’s good to be back. Thanks, guys”, he said.
Susan Brown also thanked the students and told them to encourage her son to continue his stretching exercises as he
works to regain mobility. “It’s up to you guys”, she said. “If he needs a kick, give him a kick.” She then helped Brown to
move his left hand slightly to show the progress that he has made.
She later told reporters that she cried on the night of May 6, when he son said he could feel the bottom of his left foot for
the first time since the injury. “He said, ‘Do that again; touch it again.’” she said.
Brown also visited his Spanish class yesterday, where he was mobbed by friends, including sophomore Jackie Walsh,
16, who put her arm around him and said, “You look so good!” Teacher Katlyn Bohan told Brown the class has missed
him terribly. “Class is just not the same,” she said. Sophomore Kyle Dolan, 15, one of Brown’s teammates, said the
best part about having him back is “just being able to hang out and talk with him.”
Sophomore Andrew Stover, 16, said he was happy to see Brown’s smile again. “I’ve been kind of missing ‘the flow’” he
said, referring to Brown’s formerly puffy hairstyle. And Brown has been missing his friends and teachers. He told
reporters after visiting class that his friends have helped him reach the point where he can return to school. “There’s so
much going through my mind right now,” he said. “It’s kind of amazing.”
His sister, Kelley, a freshman at the school, said she was not surprised by the dozens of friends who greeted him
yesterday, sometimes with a kiss on the cheek.
2. Residents have rallied behind Brown and his family since the injury, raising money for his medical care and sending
countless cards and messages. George Usevich, Norwood High principal, said yesterday that community support
remains strong.
“Matty is a special young man”, Usevich said, calling attention to the pin on his suit jacket bearing the number 3, which
Brown wore on his hockey jersey. Usevich said he wears the pin every day.
Brown plans to alternate between attending classes and home tutoring, beginning this fall at the latest, his mother said.
Her eyes welled up when she told reporters what she has learned from her son since his injury. “The statement that
we’re stronger than we thing we are is really true,” she said.
Enjoy the weekend.
CALENDAR
May 1 – 21 Open Enrollment Period for Employee Benefits
Friday 05/21 Peebles Scholarship Application Deadline
Monday 05/31 Memorial Day – No School
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Professional Development from TEC
The Education Cooperative (TEC) will soon be recruiting the third cohort for the Teaching American History program.
This will be an exciting year focused on “The Story of American Freedom: Citizenship and the Changing Meaning of
Democracy.” Courses begin in the fall of 2010.
This grant funded professional development program includes:
• 3 Free graduate credits (3 additional credits available
• A $500 Stipend
• 135 PDPs
Loads of resource materials, including free and forever access to WebLessons
Historians from Harvard University, MIT and Holy Cross College
We encourage applications from TEC district teams of 2‐5. Applications will be distributed after April vacation week.
Please take a look at the TEC TAH wiki: http://industrialrevolution09.pbworks.com/
The side show featured on the home page highlights some of the historical field experiences of last summer.
Michelle LeBlanc, TEC’s Teaching American History Project Director, would be delighted to come and talk in detail about
this intensive program and to share the amazing wealth of resources created by participating teachers. Contact Michelle
directly at 781‐326‐2473 x 107.
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5. Are you taking a maintenance medication?
Do you want to lower your prescri ption costs?
Are you tired of running to the p harmacy every 30 days?
If yo u a nsw ered “YES” to a ny of th e abo v e que stio ns, he lp i s o n the way !
As part of your health insurance benefit, Town employees can have generic and brand name
prescriptions filled (and refilled) by mail order.
The Human Resources Department will be offering workshops to explain these benefits to
you and how you can take advantage of them to lower, and pos s ibl y e l imina te, your
prescription costs.
Please plan to attend one of the following workshops: **
Wednesday, May 26th at 3:30 in the Arnold Room, second floor, Wellesley Free Library
Wednesday, June 2nd at 3:30 in the Arnold Room, second floor, Wellesley Free Library
Thursday, June 3rd at 3:30 in the Arnold Room, second floor, Wellesley Free Library
To enroll or for further information, call 781-431-1019, ext. 2246 or e-mail to
hr@wellesleyma.gov.
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