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Staples High School students have many possibilities.
Here’s one most have not heard of: the Connecticut Pre-Apprenticeship Training Program.
The free state Department of Transportation project offers work-based opportunities through Staples’ guidance department — and after graduation.
Virtually, students learn about real-life trades: carpentry, electricity, ironworks, masonry and engineering.
Students will be placed in Westport Department of Public Works internships — with the possibility of paid employment later.
They earn OSHA 10-hour, flagger and CPR/First aid/AED certification. They’ll be eligible for resume review, interview preparation, and to receive employment opportunity notifications.
The program is aimed at seniors who want to enter the workforce after graduation, and juniors hoping to explore the workforce and/or an engineering trade after high school.
The program runs Wednesdays from 12:30 to 2 p.m., from March 3 to May 5.
“This is perfect for kids who don’t want to spend their work life behind a computer, or who are unsure about college,” says Staples counselor Victoria Capozzi. “It’s great too for potential civil engineers.”
For more information, email vcapozzi@westportps.org.
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Former State Senator Toni Boucher’s husband, Henry “Bud” Boucher, died on Sunday, suddenly and peacefully.
An Air Force veteran who worked as an energy, finance, insurance and healthcare management consultant, he was very involved in Wilton organizations like American Legion Post 86, Wilton Rotary and Knights of Columbus.
A socially distanced wake will be held this Saturday (January 30) from 9:30 to 11 a.m., with a limited seating service to follow at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Wilton. The service will be livestreamed on YouTube and the church website.
For a full obituary, and to leave online condolences, click here. (Hat tip: JC Martin)
Henry “Bud” Boucher
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Just a few months after its Transformation Project was complete, COVID forced partial closure of many services.
But the recording spaces have been as active as ever.
Verso Studios — the new name for its media studios — was used recently by Ports of Spain. The cutting-edge New Haven band recorded, mixed and mastered a music video, “All You Can Carry.” It includes a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at a professional recording studio. Click below to see.
Verso Studios offers training programs and virtual drop-in clinics on podcasting and video production. For more information, email dbibbey@westportlibrary.org.
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Westporter Dave Briggs continues to score great interviews with on Moffly Media magazine Instagram feed.
Tomorrow (Thursday, January 28, 2 p.m.) the former CNN, NBC Sports and Fox News anchor chats with ABC News chief White House correspondent and “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl.
Search @ncdmag for the livestream.
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Yesterday’s snowfall was just a dusting.
But it was enough for Doug Fierro to make a snowman in his backyard. It sits — literally — “on top of the world.”
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And finally … today is the 136th anniversary of the birth of Jerome Kern. He composed over 700 songs, for more than 100 stage works. Nearly a century later, many still endure.
There is a light-hearted (and highly fictionalized) biopic of Jerome Kern called “Till The Clouds Roll By” starring Robert Walker as the composer, with Judy Garland portraying the singer Marilyn Miller plus Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shore offering cameos as themselves. One fact in the film is that Kern was late to the dock and missed taking the fateful trip of the Lusitania https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039035/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0