Category Archives: Staples HS

Roundup: Timari Rivera, Polo Ponies, Free Range Children, More

Posted on January 11, 2021 | 1 comment

It was a gorgeous sunrise on Soundview Drive this morning.

Let’s hope it foretells a better week ahead than the last one. (As for that “red sky in morning” stuff … there’s no rain or snow in the forecast.)

(Photo/Susan Ford)

The family of Timari Rivera — the Staples High School senior who died last week — has released his obituary:

Timari Raquan Rivera, 17, was greeted in heaven on Monday, January 4, 2021 from his earthly home.

He was born August 5, 2003 to Timothy Rivera and Anglie Edmounds in Bridgeport. He attended local schools and began his love of the game at age 6, when his pediatrician suggested that if his mom didn’t put a basketball into Timari’s hands, he would.

His passion for basketball grew from PAL league, leading him to play in several leagues – including Weston Wilton Travel Team, NE Playaz, and CT Elite AAU, but his varsity position with the Staples High School Wreckers remained his primary focus.

Timari was a math whiz, fluent in basketball statistics, and loved pottery. He enjoyed spending time with family, friends, playing 2K, and every teen’s passion, eating. He was set to graduate from Staples this year.

In addition to his parents, left to cherish the memory of this “gentle giant,” are stepfather Devin Robinson, big little brothers Taurean and Tyron Rivera, 9 additional siblings, nephews Amir and Tristian Rivera, bonus niece Marlo Perkins, and a host of family and friends.

A private Service of Celebration will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, January 12, at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, 729 Union Avenue, Bridgeport. Friends may greet the family from 9 to 10 a.m. at the church. The family will proceed to a private interment immediately following service.

The family wishes to thank those who have expressed their love and condolence in various ways. It is truly appreciated. To plant memorial trees in memory, click here.

Timari Rivera

Seen yesterday at Sherwood Island:

(Photo/Mary Sikorski)

Photographer Mary Sikorski reports that the riders’ jackets said “Yale Polo.”

So that’s why they look like 3 Wise Men.

Those kids playing on Saugatuck Shores are so adorable, you could just eat them!

(Photo/Les Dinkin)

And finally … on this day in 1972, East Pakistan officially renamed itself Bangladesh.

 

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Posted in Beach, Children, Sports, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Evan Stein’s Radiologists Rise To The COVID Occasion

Posted on January 9, 2021 | 16 comments

In the early days of the pandemic, New York hospitals were scrambling.

Unsure how to fight COVID-19, they were overwhelmed by patients. Some were being treated in temporary tents. Doctors had to get out of their comfort zones, and help.

At Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, administrators asked department chairs to free as many residents and attendings as possible to serve on coronavirus floors.

Director of neuroradiology Dr. Evan Stein jumped in to help. Radiologists are not experts on an infectious, airborne disease. Yet the situation was dire.

Dr. Evan Stein

Stein reworked his schedule, operating his department with as few doctors as he could. He partnered across disciplines to do things they’d been asked before.

His message to his staff was simple: The hospital and community need our help. We must do whatever we can.

And not just residents. “I made it clear that I would ask our attendings and technologists to step up in ways we’d never asked them to before,” he says.

Stein knows how to solve problems. At Staples High School, the 1992 graduate captained both the math and wrestling teams, and was very involved in WWPT-FM.

He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University — in just 3 years — as a bio-chem major. He now lives across the street from NYU Medical School, where he earned his MD/Ph.D degree.

A  story on the American College of Radiology website — titled “The Meaning of Grit” — describes his work.

At Stein’s suggestion, Maimonides created a team of residents and physicians to place central lines and bring simple procedures directly to patients, at bedside.

That would eliminate the need to transport them “through areas of unknown levels of infection … and keep IR suites available for more urgent procedures.”

Stein oversaw the residents still in his department, and also those on the line team. Meanwhile, he ensured that the radiology residents’ education continued.

Two weeks later, Stein was asked if radiology residents could act as medicine interns on CVOID floors and in the new surge ICUs. That was a vast increase in responsibility.

Stein’s residents rose to the occasion. He worried about their time away from their radiology duties. But, he realized, many were “exercising skills in competencies — communication, systems-based practice, and patient care to name three — that they don’t always get to practice.”

Despite feeling added stress, the radiologists handled it well. They — and Stein — learned plenty.

One of the first lessons was among the most important: “Our residents had the intangible characteristics of grit and determination.

“This virus creates a lot of fear in people. At first I didn’t appreciate how big of an impact that would have on me and the residents. But they all rose to the occasion and contributed a tremendous amount to patient care.”

(To read the entire American College of Radiology story, click here.) 

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Posted in Education, People, Staples HS

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Remembering Jerry Brooker

Posted on January 7, 2021 | 3 comments

Gerard “Jerry” Brooker — longtime chair of the Staples High School English Department, and an avid social justice advocate — died peacefully on New Year’s Day, surrounded by family. He was 84 years old, and lived in Bethel.

The Queens native earned a doctorate in education. He spent over 4 decades as an educator, the last 25 as chair at Staples.

Dr. Jerry Brooker

His passions were children in need, and the promotion of peace. While at Staples, he was involved in hunger issues. In 1988 he led a student trip to Russia, which included meetings with counterparts there.

After retiring, Dr. Brooker continued his passion for education, traveling, and writing. He set foot on all 7 continents.

He also enjoyed watching nature, entertaining, being with family and friends, reading, and sharing his joy of life.

He was predeceased by his brothers Kenneth, Robert and Wallace, and sisters Joan and Gertrude, and infant Eileen. He is survived by his sister Eileen Olm (Bill); his wife Sheila; his children and their spouses Jessica (Jamie) Couture, Suzanne (David) Remington, Kevin (Jill), Jay (Jennifer) and David Brooker; 9 grandchildren, 2 great-granddaughters, and his beloved nieces and nephews.

Due to the pandemic, a celebration of life will be held at a later date.

To leave an on-line condolence, click here.

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GoFundMe Page Honors Timari Rivera

Posted on January 7, 2021 | Comments Off on GoFundMe Page Honors Timari Rivera

COVID has prevented the Staples High School boys basketball team from being together on the court.

But they and their parents have come together to help the family of Timari Rivera, their teammate was died suddenly Sunday night.

A GoFundeMe page has been set up by the Staples Boys Basketball Association, to help Timari’s family with funeral and other costs.

Wrecker captains Lucas Basich, Sean Clarke and Derek Sale write:

Timari was an inspiration. He was a passionate student of the game and a leader on and off the court. Timari loved being part of Wreckers basketball and was happier cheering on and encouraging his teammates than celebrating his own personal success. Timari Rivera was a big man with an even bigger heart.

In memory of Timari, we are asking for donations to help his family through this difficult time.

Click here to contribute.

Timari Rivera

 

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Marpe, Scarice Address Capitol Attack

Posted on January 7, 2021 | 33 comments

In response to yesterday’s insurrection at the US Capitol, 1st Selectman Jim Marpe said:

As the chief elected officer of Westport, to watch the behavior and the blatant abrogation of responsibility by the Chief Elected Officer of the United States was discouraging and disgusting.

I am embarrassed for our country. Thankfully, as a community, our local elected officials regularly participate in a civil and respectful process that gives me hope and confidence that our democracy can and will survive.

In addition, Superintendent of Schools Tom Scarice wrote to parents:

I watched the events at the Capitol today with utter disbelief and abject sadness.  By now I’m sure you’ve read countless comments and reflections about the lawlessness and violent attack on our democracy incited by the reckless behaviors and comments of some of our elected officials, including our sitting President.  All I can add to this commentary is my condemnation.

My purpose for addressing the school community is to reassure parents that our team will be ready to receive our students Thursday and serve them in the most professional manner. This is our calling, among the noblest of professions.

Our team is working this evening to make certain that faculty and staff have resources assembled to support their work tomorrow and beyond. Each building principal will meet with faculty and staff to prepare them for the day. Highest among our priorities is to assure each child that they are safe in the school environment.

Thomas Scarice (Photo courtesy of Zip06.com)

Each level will work to maintain an age-appropriate approach. The elementary level will not initiate group discussions on this topic but will be responsive to individual students as the need arises. We cannot make assumptions about how parents prefer to approach such topics with our youngest learners. As a result, we will be responsive in nature. If conversations and questions persist, and an elementary teacher needs to briefly address the class, parents will be informed so that they can appropriately follow up with their child.

The middle school level will address the events of the day in their social studies classes, primarily with a civics lens. It is likely that middle school students have encountered a good deal of unfamiliar historical and political language today related to the process of certifying the election, and the manner in which the behaviors at the Capitol have been characterized by the media, and also social media.

Additionally, the natural inquisitive nature of early adolescence typically sparks dialogue about current events. Our social studies teachers are being provided with tools and resources to facilitate discussions while providing context for our students to comprehend the events of the day, and the implications as we move forward. Any student in need of additional intervention will be addressed through our support staff at the middle school level.

The high school level will also address these events in social studies classes.  Teachers will facilitate the discussion as students generate the questions. Our high school students are close to voting age. Among the relevant topics for classroom discussions are the process of elections, the constitutional role of Congress in presidential elections, and the idea that the events that transpired today are more about our democracy than politics. Alternative spaces will be provided for students during lunch waves and throughout the day to provide support when needed on an individual basis.

This is an emotional time and there will be a range of strong feelings from anger to sadness and fear. There will also be a great deal of confusion on the part of our students. Our high school community is just beginning to grieve the loss of a beloved classmate and the lingering emotional impact of the pandemic remains.  We will aim to validate our students’ feelings and questions, while doing our best to work through some very complex issues.

These strong feelings will be experienced by both students and adults. In my experience, these are the times when the humanity of our work intersects with our professional responsibilities. We are an organization composed of people and we bring all of our strengths and imperfections to our work every day. We will not be perfect, but we will answer the call and bring our professional best to serve your child tomorrow and beyond.

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Posted in Children, Education, Local politics, Politics, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Staples Wrestlers Tackle Tough Jobs

Posted on January 7, 2021 | 10 comments

High school winter sports are on hold until January 19. Basketball courts, hockey rinks, swimming pools — all are quiet.

The Staples High School wrestling team can’t practice or compete either. But they’re not taking the layoff lying down.

The Wreckers keep in shape by lifting. Not in the weight room, of course — that’s closed too.

Instead, the grapplers lift treadmills. Sofas. Pianos. You name it — if you’ve got a moving job (or any other work), they’ll do it.

And the service is free. (Donations to the wrestling program are gratefully accepted, for sure.)

Need a stone wall dismantled and moved? Call the Staples wrestling team!

The wrestlers form one of the tightest, most cohesive teams at Staples. (Their sport is one of the toughest, too.) Much of that is built on the foundation laid by Terry Brannigan. The former Staples wrestler’s son TJ graduated last spring after a stellar career. His second son Eamon is a junior on the squad.

As part of Brannigan’s effort 3 years ago to boost the morale of what was then a flagging program — and introduce the community to the team and sport — he realized that strong, enthusiastic teenagers could fill a need.

Facebook’s Westport Front Porch page often featured requests for help with jobs no one seemed to want to do. They were heavy, messy, small or required a truck.

One day Brannigan responded: “I know 30 fit, polite and responsible young men who are happy to do it: the Staples wrestling team!”

Quickly, someone asked how much they’d charge. He replied, “Nothing. If you’re happy, just say something nice about the team. If you feel like making a tip, it will go to the team.”

That was 100 jobs ago.

Among the wrestlers’ jobs: moving a chicken coop. This was before the pandemic, which is why they’re not wearing masks.)

The first request was to clear wood and brush from a yard, left there by an unscrupulous contractor. The homeowner could not pay what Brannigan calls “extortion prices” of area companies. After the wrestlers’ final trip to the dump, she tearfully said, “you’ve restored my faith in this town.”

Word spread. Soon they were working nearly every weekend. Along the way, they met “the nicest people,” Brannigan says. “And we’ve had a great time.”

They have moved, cleaned and transported everything imaginable. The heavyweights do the heavy lifting; the light guys maneuver in tight spaces.

Since the pandemic struck, they’ve done a booming business moving treadmills. Some are ordered online, delivered to the garage, and need to be brought downstairs. Others are bought from someone in town, and must be transported.

“We’ve gone up and down and around obstacles no one else would touch,” Brannigan says.

The wrestlers put the treadmills together too, if needed. One of their favorite jobs was for a 103-year-old military veteran, who was excited to get back to exercising.

The wrestling team specializes in bringing big items down small spaces.

The list of jobs is long. The teenagers have moved hot tubs, patio furniture and a chicken coop. They maneuvered a piano down stairs that a professional mover would not touch (“without even touching a wall,” Brannigan says proudly).

They’ve planted 900 tulip bulbs, fixed awnings, removed snow too, took apart a stone wall, and broke down the Remarkable Theater after a concert.

Each time, Brannigan says, “we make a friend. We receive a donation. Most importantly, they meet our athletes.”

It’s a fun event for the boys. They meet at Brannigan’s house or the diner for breakfast before work, or have a donut afterward. (Hey — the season has not yet begun!)

Most weekends, 2 crews work. Sal Augeri helps Brannigan supervise, but the bulk of the work is done by the teenagers. Five have pickup trucks; one has a trailer.

It takes money to run a sports program, beyond what the athletic budget provides. The wrestlers are earning funds to pay for extra coaches, equipment, and some of the extras that make their program one of the best in the state.

Now all they need is a season. They certainly earned it.

(Need some help? Email terrybrannigan5@gmail.com or call 203-644-8403.)

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Posted in People, Sports, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Candlelight Vigil For Timari Rivera

Posted on January 5, 2021 | 5 comments

Relatives, teammates, classmates and friends from Westport and Bridgeport mourned Timari Rivera last night.

A candlelight vigil at Longshore paid tribute to the Staples High School senior. He died Sunday at home, from a recurrence of a medical condition.

He was best known at Staples for his basketball talents. After being sidelined as a sophomore with a health issue, Rivera captained last year’s junior varsity, and also saw varsity time.

An ankle injury cut that season short too. Head coach Colin Devine had big plans for the 6-7 senior this year. The season has not yet started, due to COVD-19.

Dave Ruden, whose Ruden Report covers FCIAC sports, lauded Rivera’s “lovable disposition and tireless work ethic.”

Devine told the Ruden Report: “He was a very, very good basketball player, a great teammate, a beloved member of our basketball family and the entire Staples High School community.

“He was a gentle giant with a great heart and loved his teammates, loved the game of basketball and was a true student of the game.”

Timari Rivera wore #44. His Staples basketball teammates hold up 4 fingers on each hand.

Staples senior Dylan Goodman took these photos of the vigil for her classmate. Click here for more images; click here for the full Ruden Report story.

Making the “L” hand sign, for “love.”

(Photos/Dylan Goodman)

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Staples Mourns Death Of Timari Rivera

Posted on January 5, 2021 | 3 comments

Timari Rivera, a senior at Staples High School, died suddenly from a previously existing medical condition.

A 6-7 native of Bridgeport, he was a member of the Wreckers’ basketball program. Tryouts for this year’s team have been postponed by COVID, to January 19.

A scouting report on social media said he had “the unteachables in D1 size and strength and a soft touch….an excellent target and a scoring threat.”

School officials are providing support to Timari’s friends and classmates, and to the Rivera family.

No further information is available at this time.

Timari Rivera, on the sideline …

… and the court.

 

 

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Sam Zuckerman: Staples High Senior, International President

Posted on January 2, 2021 | 2 comments

In the spring of 2017, Bedford Middle School 8th grader Sam Zuckerman got an email from Annie Glasser. The Conservative Synagogue youth group director said there was an opening for a 9th grade representative on the local United Synagogue Youth board.

Sam was not the only one Annie contacted. But he was the only one to respond. He got the job.

Sam spent his Staples High School freshman year watching older members lead. In 10th grade he was named to a religion and education position on the board. It was out of his comfort zone, but he learned a lot more about leadership.

Sam Zuckerman

Last year, as a junior, he became chapter president. Despite challenges like staff turnover and the pandemic, he grew the group.

Last January, Sam broadened his involvement beyond Westport — way beyond.

He applied for a spot on USY’s international general board. He’s not the first Westporter on it — senior Even Siegel served too — but it was “eye-opening” to have an influence far beyond his home town.

In May Sam added another post: president of the New England USY region. He helped organize a convention with upstate New York and eastern Canada chapters, and worked on outreach.

All of that work prepared him to run for the top USY job: international president.

Sam got signatures. He videotaped a speech. He developed a platform, stressing inclusion of smaller regions, addressing mental health issues of members, and opening communication with other Jewish youth groups.

And he won.

He’s now in charge of 15 regions, with over 350 local chapters. There are 20,000 members in USY.

“A year ago, I was only a Westport chapter president,” Sam says. “I didn’t see myself being where I am. But I’m looking forward to leading an organization I love.”

United Synagogue Youth logo

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Remembering Marty Mellin

Posted on January 1, 2021 | 11 comments

Longtime Westport resident Martin Mellin died on December 22, 9 days before his 68th birthday. He contracted COVID-19 while recovering from knee surgery in the hospital.

His son Ethan wrote this tribute:

Dad, I love you so much. Whether it was school, sports, music — anything — you were my #1 fan. You gave me everything I could ever need in life and more, just because you cared and to show me you loved me.

Marty Mellin and his young son Ethan.

By high school, when my friends thought of you the first image that came to mind was your lawn chair on the sideline of one of my sports games. It was a running joke, but I see now that you took pride in your reputation, because it signified how present you were for every moment in my life.

Marty Mellin and Ethan, at Staples High School baseball team’s Senior Day in 2014.

As a kid, you were in that lawn chair for every baseball, football and basketball game since I could walk. You would beg to read my school essays — no matter how boring — just because you were proud.

As an adult, you always called me just to ask about my day, work, the stock market, Yankees, Giants, Kelsi, Lyla — it didn’t matter what we talked about.

“Just tell me what’s going on,” you would say. All you wanted in life was to see Jedd, Julia, and me be happy and be loved, because at the end of the day our family brought you more joy than anything else in the world.

I think that is the hardest part about losing you. There are so many beautiful things in our lives left to look forward to that I know would have made you so freaking happy. Julia’s high school graduation; the start of Jedd’s law career; retiring and growing old with Mom now that us kids are all grown up, Kelsi’s and my wedding. becoming a grandfather…

Marty Mellin with his family.

It’s hard to imagine a life where you aren’t around for these things, and it’s going to feel pretty empty for a while. But I know that we will all carry you deep in our hearts for the rest of our lives. So while it crushes my soul that we won’t have any more moments together in person, I have to remember that you will still be watching and loving on us every single day. I love you, Dad.

========================================

To “06880” readers:

Just as we thought he was better and days from coming home after knee surgery, things rapidly took a turn for the worse.

On December 16 my dad was placed on a ventilator. That night was the last time I got to hear his voice.

Six days later he passed, suffering no physical pain.

In the US, 3,238 other lives were cut short by this pandemic the same day as my dad. Like him, each of those numbers is a person — someone with a story, a family, friends, a future they will no longer see.

Marty Mellin with Jedd and Ethan.

It breaks my heart. We are so close to the end of this awful year, but we can’t become complacent and give up on the things that we know will save lives — that will prevent even just one more story like this one.

Wear a mask. Social distance. Be with family if you can do so safely, but don’t let the pain of missing your loved ones today potentially lead to a lifetime without them.

I would sacrifice anything in the world to have one more day with my dad.

What would you sacrifice to be with yours?

Marty Mellin is survived by his wife Nisa, sons Jedd (Staples High School Class of 2012) and Ethan (Staples ’14), and daughter Julia (Staples ’21).

(Hat tip: Jeff Mitchell)

Marty Mellin and friend.

 

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