Littleton

Littleton Middle School Students Earn First, Second, Third Place Awards at State Science and Engineering Fair

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Littleton Public Schools
Dr. Kelly R. Clenchy, Superintendent
33 Shattuck Street,
Littleton, MA 01460

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Media Contact: Jordan Mayblum
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Littleton Middle School Students Earn First, Second, Third Place Awards at State Science and Engineering Fair

LITTLETON — Superintendent Kelly Clenchy is pleased to announce that several Littleton Middle School students earned first, second and third place awards at the Massachusetts Middle School State Science and Engineering Fair this weekend. 

The fair was held at Worcester Tech High School on Saturday, May 11. Six Littleton Middle School students competed in the fair with five science and engineering projects. 

Madeline Shea, an eighth grade student, received a first place award at the fair for her engineering project. Shea designed a device to measure the amounts of ozone and particulate pollutants in the air, and she also learned how to code and created three prototype devices for her project.

Brandon LaVoie, an eighth grade student, was awarded a second place award at the fair with his hovercraft project. LaVoie built a hovercraft and tested the effect of ground temperature on the lift and speed of the machine.

For her project on the effect of UV light in the degradation of watercolor pigments, eighth grade student Katherine McDonagh won a second place award. She built a UV light chamber for her project to expose selections of watercolor pigment to UV light. She then used Photoshop to measure red-green-blue color values in pigments that both had been exposed to the light and had not.

Aparna Deokar, an eighth grade student, placed third at the fair for a civil engineering project. Deokar tested her hypothesis to see if bioconcrete could be made with a fungal material instead of bacteria, which is added to fill any cracks that may form in the concrete. She made a control concrete block, a block with fungal mycellium and a block with non-activated mycellium. Deokar then used a compression machine to create cracks in the concrete blocks and measured the sizes of the cracks over time. 

“The depth of knowledge and understanding of science and engineering concepts that these students exhibited with these projects is remarkable,” said Valerie Finnerty, an eighth grade science teacher at Littleton Middle School. “Each one of them found rich topics, researched extensively and conducted their work with close attention to detail. It is so exciting to see them recognized for their hard work.”

Shea, LaVoie, McDonagh and Deokar are eligible due to their success at state and regional science and engineering fairs to enter the Broadcom Masters program, a national competition for students who earn top scores in regional and state science and engineering fairs.

“It is thrilling to see our students using their big-picture understanding of science and engineering to conduct such high-level, challenging research,” Superintendent Clenchy said. “Congratulations to each of these students. Your hard work and knowledge of these topics is exceptional.”

Earlier this month on Friday, May 3, seventh grade students Hannah Jonsson and Julianna Magin also placed third at a regional Middle School Science and Engineering fair in Lowell with their project, titled “OJ All the Way.” Jonsson and Magin compared the amount of vitamin C in frozen, fresh and concentrated orange juice.

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Littleton Public Schools Present First Set of Excellence in Teaching Awards

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Littleton Public Schools
Dr. Kelly R. Clenchy, Superintendent
33 Shattuck Street,
Littleton, MA 01460

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Media Contact: Jordan Mayblum
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Littleton Public Schools Present First Set of Excellence in Teaching Awards

LITTLETON — Superintendent Kelly Clenchy is pleased to announce that the Littleton Public Schools presented its first pair of Excellence in Teaching Award to two teachers last week.

On Thursday, April 25, Littleton ESL teacher Sue Pettengill and Russell Street School fourth grade teacher Nicole Patterson were each recognized for their outstanding work supporting their students and going above and beyond what’s expected of them. The awards are distributed annually to one teacher at each school who exemplifies what it means to be a teacher across several categories.

The award recognizes teachers’ ability to be deeply engaged and have a mastery of their subject matter. Honorees are also recognized for setting high expectations of their students, establishing learning environments based on mutual respect, addressing diverse student needs, utilizing creative and innovative techniques and remaining committed to improving themselves.

“Both of these teachers are tremendously committed to their students’ success above all else, and that dedication is on display in the way they work each and every day,” Superintendent Clenchy said. “Nicole and Sue embody all that it means to be an educator, and while they don’t do it for the accolades, we’re all extremely proud to honor them in this way and grateful for their shared energy and enthusiasm.”

Pettengill began her career in Hudson as an elementary school teacher before coming to Littleton to lay the foundation for an ESL program. In doing so, she worked to single handedly establish a program and personally worked with all of the district’s English Language Learners.

In the 11 years since, she has worked continuously to support students whose first language is not English, dedicating herself to supporting all of her students, especially those who are most in need of her help. In the two years they have worked together, one of Pettengill’s students went from both not speaking English and being non-communicative to presenting in front of his class and even reading the morning announcements at Shaker Lane.

Pettengill also serves as a mentor to newer teachers and is an integral part of Shaker Lane Game Night.

Patterson joined Russell Street School four years ago as a substitute teaching assistant before eventually becoming a full-time teacher. In doing so, she’s displayed a remarkable combination of passion and professionalism and established herself as an invaluable member of the Russell Street team.

She’s also stood out for her commitment to getting to know each of her students and helping them set goals for their personal growth, playing an instrumental role in building their confidence and self-efficacy. Patterson has built a reputation for her flexibility and collaborative spirit, first by accepting a transfer to fourth grade and then by volunteering to step into a team leader role after a colleague began her maternity leave.

Honorees from each school are awarded $500 to utilize for classroom materials or activities. The remaining two award winners will be announced next month.

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Littleton High School World Language Festival Raises $2,000

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Littleton Public Schools
Dr. Kelly R. Clenchy, Superintendent
33 Shattuck Street,
Littleton, MA 01460

For Immediate Release

Monday, March 25, 2019

Media Contact: Jordan Mayblum
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Littleton High School World Language Festival Raises $2,000

LITTLETON — Superintendent Kelly Clenchy is pleased to announce that Littleton High School’s World Language Festival raised $2,000 for student scholarships earlier this month. 

The biennial festival, which took place on Thursday, March 7, at Littleton High School, included cultural dances, musical performances, and a wide variety of culinary dishes. Admission to the festival was free, and food tickets cost $1 each. Most food items cost $3-5. 

All proceeds from the festival support the World Language Book Bag scholarship, an award given to between one and three graduating seniors annually who have excelled in their foreign language studies at Littleton High School. The $2,000 raised at this year’s festival will support scholarships for graduating seniors in 2019 and 2020. 

The festival was also held in celebration of National Foreign Language Week. All students who study a world language at Littleton High School are required to participate in either a cafe that serves food, dance, musical performance, travel advertisement, poster project, or character impersonation for the event. This year, students dressed up as characters including Julius Caesar, Athena and Augustus Pablo.

“The purpose of the festival is to promote study of foreign language and promote cultural awareness,” said Elizabeth Kelley, World Languages Curriculum Coordinator. “It’s a great event that gives students the opportunity to share and celebrate their cultures, learn something new about traditions from different regions and showcase their musical, dance and culinary talents.”

Student tables at the festival served cuisine from various countries and regions including Belgium, Russia, Mexico, Ethiopia, India, Thailand, Greece, Cuba, Italy, Poland, Brazil, Japan, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Morocco, Germany, China, St. Lucia, Norway, Portugal, France, Hungary, Denmark, the Philippines and the Caribbean.

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PHOTO: Groton Woman Arraigned Following Littleton Arrest for Allegedly Trafficking over 36 Grams of Heroin

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Littleton Police

Littleton Police Department
Matthew J. Pinard, Chief of Police
500 Great Road,
Littleton, MA 01460

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Media Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Groton Woman Arraigned Following Littleton Arrest for Allegedly Trafficking over 36 Grams of Heroin

 LITTLETON—Littleton Chief of Police Matthew Pinard and Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan have announced that Elizabeth Gapinski, 30, of Groton, was arraigned on March 4 in Ayer District Court and charged with trafficking over 36 grams of heroin.

Judge Margaret Guzman set bail at $500 cash and ordered the defendant to stay away from the location of the alleged offense. The next scheduled hearing in this case is May 8.

On March 1, 2019, at approximately 8:30 a.m., Littleton Police were contacted in response to a report that possible drugs had been located at a property on King Street, in the bathroom and cafeteria. The defendant worked for an outside vendor in the company cafeteria. Upon arrival authorities were informed that the defendant had allegedly been in possession of suspected heroin. The defendant then gave the officers her purse, which when searched, allegedly contained 46 individual bundles of heroin, which weighed approximately 54 grams. Police determined the amount of heroin and its packaging were indicative of drugs intended for sale.

This charge is an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent.

The prosecutor assigned to yesterday’s hearing was Assistant District Attorney Andrea Kelly.

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