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Students at Housatonic Valley Regional High School perform their songs that won national recognition this year. On left, Manny Matsudaira of Cornwall and Kyle McCarron of Kent sing ‘Blessed is He.’ On right, Andy Delgado, Katelin Lopes, and Tess Marks perform the ‘Battle of Trenton.’
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FALLS VILLAGE—Two different student teams from Housatonic Valley Regional High School have won national recognition for blending their historical knowledge with songwriting.
The five students, who are all juniors, presented their award-winning songs Monday to the Region 1 Board of Education. The songs were created for a contest offered by the Hamilton Online Education Program, sponsored by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
Kyle McCarron, Manny Matsudaira, Andy Delgado, Katelin Lopes, and Tess Marks all worked with Peter Vermilyea, chairman of the Social Studies Department at HVRHS, as well as music teacher Thomas Krupa in the song creation.
“Students use primary source documents to write a song in the style of Hamilton the musical, to capture the essence of a person, an event or a theme in American history,” Vermilyea told the board. Ten groups from around the country were chosen as competition winners and our school had two of them.”
The students won an all-expense trip to New York City to spend three days and two nights. They and will see “Hamilton the Musical” on Broadway, have a Q and A with the cast, and get a behind-the-scenes tour of the Museum of Broadway.
The students explained how they used primary source documents for the lyrics of their song and blended together traditional melodies with rap sections.
Marks, Lopes and Delgado spoke about their song, the “Battle of Trenton” in which they chose “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine and a letter by Henry Knox that he wrote to his wife, Lucy.
“We used those sources to pull out information about the battle and be truthful in our song, but we also took specific lines from each and put them into our song,” explained Marks.
Lopes said the song follows a path from a melody, into a rap and then back into a melody.
“This signifies the Battle of Trenton and the somber beginning of it to the exciting win for the Army and back into its melody,” Lopes said.
A video of the song can be seen here.
The other group of McCarron and Matsudaira created “Blessed is He” and they said they wanted to focus on the Native Americans and their struggles with the Revolutionary War.
“We focused on the Battle of Oriskany. We used letters from Philip Schuyler and letters from a Shinnecock tribe,” explained Matsudaira. “We used those two as alternating opinions on the matter and creating a song out of it. We also used hymnals from the time period as the melody of our song.”
McCarron said that his group also used the melody-rap-melody pattern. The melody was the Native American’s plea and the rap was the argument between the Shinnecock tribes and the Army.
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GOSHEN — With or without a car, getting around the Northwest Corner can be a challenge.
At its April 4 meeting, Northwest Hills Council of Governments (COG) heard presentations on how to improve road safety, comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, and increase senior transportation options in the rural Connecticut.
University of Connecticut’s Safety Circuit Rider Program tracks road safety data and compiles reports through the Training and Technical Assistance Center. Safety Technical Associate Jason Hughes provided a summary on how municipalities can take advantage of these resources to make safety improvements.
In addition to traffic reports, towns can receive free rental equipment to improve road safety including radar guns, speed feedback signs, pavement marking reflectors, and range finders.
Training sessions are held regularly to educate municipalities on best practices.
“Let my team help your team,” said Hughes.
The next course to educate town employees will be held April 25 in Bristol and will focus on ADA policies, self-assessments, and transition plans.
Department of Transportation (DOT) ADA Coordinating Engineer Katherine Hedberg reviewed municipal requirements when it comes to ADA compliance.
Hedberg’s presentation showed that per U.S. Census Bureau data, more than 26% of Connecticut adults 18+ live with a disability.
There are seven items that need to be in compliance for public entities with more than 50 employees (including school staff): Designation of an ADA Coordinator; Accessibility to public services; Provide public notice of accessibility; Adopt a grievance procedure; Conduct a self-evaluation; Make evaluations publicly available; Develop a transition plan to come into compliance.
Falls Village, the one town in COG with less than 50 town employees, is not required to designate an ADA Coordinator, adopt a grievance policy, make self-evaluations publicly available, or develop a transition plan. These steps are recommended by DOT.
DOT’s goal is to make all town and state sidewalks ADA compliant with curb ramps by 2034.
“When alterations happen to roadways, such as resurfacing, curb ramps are required to be updated at that time,” said Hedberg. She added that bus stops, parking, push buttons for road crossings and sidewalks must also be in compliance, or noted on a transition plan.
At the April 4 meeting, Hedberg noted that seven COG towns have yet to designate an ADA Coordinator and eight COG towns have not completed self-assessments.
Municipalities can access sample transition plans and self-assessments through DOT, and more information will be provided at the April 25 training in Bristol.
For senior transportation services, DOT’s Richard Nakatsuka shared information on a grant matching program to offer rides to the elderly. Each year, up to $5 million is allocated at the state level for this purpose, and towns are eligible for funding based on the percentage of senior residents and total land area.
Combined, COG towns can receive up to $506,688 in matching funds to put toward elderly dial-a-ride transportation. The funds are intended to be used for day-to-day operations including driver salaries, gas expenses, and vehicle upkeep.
Nakatsuka said town can apply individually, jointly, or through the COG.
“We really want the COGs to work with towns to... look at potential opportunities for coordinating service,” said Nakatsuka.
The deadline to apply for funding for the next fiscal year is May 15.
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NORTH CANAAN — Eversource has announced plans to cut branches and trees near powerlines in the coming months.
First Selectman Brian Ohler reviewed the proposal and the April 1 Board of Selectmen (BOS) meeting and described the vegetation management plan as “pretty aggressive.”
Tree work is done to prevent damage to powerlines in town. Property owners with compromised trees will receive advance warning before work is one on their land.
“They do have to knock on your door, provide literature, ask for your permission. You can say ‘no,’” explained Ohler.
Eversource is expected to begin cutting May 1 and should be completed by July 1.
Tom Zetterstrom suggested consulting with the town’s Tree Warden before any work begins. This has been done in the past and can prevent otherwise healthy trees from being removed.
“Obviously ash trees, we’re not favoring those... but a good hickory that’s not going to fall down for probably 50 years, we want to leave it,” said Zetterstrom.
BOS agreed to this proposal and invited Zetterstrom to sit in the vegetation plan review as well.
Last month, BOS implemented the “Adopt-a-Garden” program to partner with landscapers in an effort to beautify North Canaan. Ohler reported at the April 1 meeting that all town garden beds have been adopted by licensed companies. Additionally, Tallon Lumber offered to donate mulch for each garden.
Each adoptee will meet with the Beautification Committee to learn the history of their newly adopted garden bed before presenting a landscape design for the committee to review.
Adoptees will be required to clean, plant, and maintain the beds. A placard will be placed in each garden to show the name of the landscaper responsible.
In honor of Earth Day, the annual North Canaan Clean Up will be Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers are asked to meet at Town Hall at 9:30 a.m. to participate.
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SHARON — Sharon Hospital’s Registered Dietician Coleen Curr RDN will present a nutrition class for the public on Wednesday, April 17 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the hospital in the vestibule near the wound care unit. The class will be specifically focused on the benefits of an anti-inflammatory diet.
Following the class, Virginia Billups, an exercise program leader certified by the Arthritis Foundation, will guide participants through an exercise routine. Walk-ins are welcome or registration can be made by calling 860-364-4237.
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