Category Archives: Staples HS

Unsung Hero #312

Posted on November 29, 2023 | 6 comments

Like many Staples High School students, Zoe Alpert took lessons at the Next Street driving school.

Her program allowed her to earn a license 4 months after getting her permit — with at least 40 hours of road practice.

At the start, she drove around her neighborhood. But she needed experience with real driving: merging onto highways, facing all the situations that challenge new drivers once they’re on their own.

Zoe’s parents are Food Rescue US volunteers. They pick up excess healthy food from local donors — markets, stores and restaurants — and deliver it directly to area social service agencies like pantries and shelters that help feed the food insecure.

On Saturday mornings Zoe accompanied her father as he gathered food, and brought it to Stamford.

That sparked an idea. The Staples junior signed up for Food Rescue missions in Greenwich, Stamford and Fairfield.

Zoe Alpert, in action: delivering crates of food.

Volunteering with Food Rescue was “an amazing way to support those in need, while also getting plenty of behind-the-wheel practice and gaining confidence as a new driver.”

Food rescue has shown Zoe the great disparities in access to food, even in Fairfield County. The more she drove, the more appreciative she became of her abundance of food — and the more she realized that many Westporters take this for granted.

One rescue stands out. On the way from Costco in Norwalk to the New Covenant Center in Stamford, she delivered an enormous amount of food: fruits, vegetables, muffins and salads.

As she handed the last crate to a volunteer, kitchen workers rushed eagerly toward it.

“I’ll never forget seeing people so enthusiastic for something as simple as a banana,” Zoe says.

“It was a severe reminder to me that food is extremely scarce for way too many people. They don’t have the luxury of taking it for granted. I saw an immediate, direct impact.

“I will never forget that day. I look forward to every food rescue, and the pleasure of seeing the faces of people the food is helping.”

A full load, for Zoe Alpert.

Zoe looks forward to continuing to work with Food Rescue US. But she also wants to spread the message to other teenagers getting their permits: You can get great driving practice while also helping out our communities.

Congratulations, Zoe! You are this week’s Unsung Hero — for your volunteer contributions, your creative idea, and your passion for spreading the word.

Anyone in Fairfield County interested in food rescue — whether new drivers or experienced ones — can click here. For more information, contact Haley Schulman: haley@foodrescue.us; 800-280-3298 ext. 10.

Food Rescue US operates around the country. For a location near you, click here.

(Do you know an Unsung Hero? Email 06880blog@gmail.com. Want to support “06880,” so we can keep posting stories like this? Please click here. Thank you!)

6 Comments

Posted in Environment, Local business, Restaurants, Staples HS, Teenagers, Unsung Heroes

Tagged , ,

Westporter In Israel: “October 7 Changed Everything”

Posted on November 29, 2023 | 8 comments

When sirens sounded in the distance in the early morning of October 7, Ariella Torv woke briefly in her Tel Aviv apartment. Then she went back to sleep.

The 2011 Staples High School graduate had lived in Israel for 6 years. She’d heard sirens before.

But an hour later, at 7:30 a.m., they blared directly above her.

Ariella’s building has no bomb shelter. She ran to the stairwell, where other residents gathered. Soon, sensing no danger, they headed to their apartments.

Ariella Torv (right) and her mother Denise, when she visited Israel this fall. Denise returned to Westport a week before the Hamas attack.

Ariella planned to go back to sleep. But a worried friend texted: “Are you okay?”

“This is serious!” she thought. She texted her boss, who told her: “Pack a bag. Go to a friend’s house, with a shelter.”

Ariella took her scooter to the building nearby. When she arrived, she learned the extent of the horror happening just 2 hours away.

Arielle and her friend spent the day glued to the news.

“I never experienced anything like that,” she recalls. “Israelis who are very used to things like this were scared. So I was scared.

“I’m very liberal. I vote Democratic. I thought I understood one of the world’s most complex situations. I thought a 2-state solution was possible.”

Now, she explains, “October 7 changed everything. I’m still processing it. It feels like the longest day — like that day is still happening.”

Empty cribs and beds symbolize the Israelis — including many children — held hostage by Hamas.

Growing up, Ariella’s family observed the High Holy Days. But they were not particularly religious.

After graduating from the University of Hartford with a degree in communications, she moved to New York for a job with the Ogilvy ad agency.

On a 10-day Birthright trip to Israel in 2017, she fell in love with the country and culture. She signed up for a 6-month internship with a Tel Aviv tech startup. She grew to love even more the people and energy of Israel.

She decided to stay.

“At 24, I didn’t understand what it meant to move to a foreign country,” Ariella says. “it took 3 years to really feel at home.”

A serene scene, not far from Ariella’s Tel Aviv apartment, belies a nation at war.

Gradually, she learned about the nuances of life there. Over the past few months she attended protest rallies against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and  his judicial reforms.

Then came October 7. She watched in real time as people living on kibbutzim called, pleading for the army and police to help.

“It’s insane to think about that,” Ariella says. “I can’t move past that day.”

She did not go to work for nearly 3 weeks. She was not alone. Friends and colleagues could not focus either. Two and a half hours away, 200 hostages huddled in tunnels.

Reminders of the hostages are everywhere in Israel.

At night, Ariella checked the locks on her apartment door obsessively. She had to take photos on her phone, to prove to herself she was safe.

Ariella had planned to return to Westport for Thanksgiving. It would be her first trip back in 13 months.

She felt torn. “I didn’t want people to think I was running away,” she says.

But friends said, “Be with your family. Gather strength from them. They want to see you. Remember, this is a difficult time for them too.”

Being in Westport is “very weird,” she admits. “I love being home, hugging my mom, seeing my nephews. But I feel disconnected. My head and heart are in Israel.”

One morning, out buying milk, a tire made a strange sound. She looked for an escape route. Then she realized: “I’m safe.”

It is hard to talk with family and friends about what Israel is going through. “It’s all so overwhelming,” Ariella notes.

“I have so much to say. But I don’t know how to say it.”

Many people in Westport are concerned about what’s happening. She is inspired by blue ribbons and posters of hostages on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge, and Israeli flags on many lawns.

She sent photos to friends in Israel. “They love it!” she reports.

Ribbons and flyers on the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge buoy Ariella Torv. (Photo/Jennifer Wolff)

At the same time, Ariella says, there is plenty of “misinformation,” in Westport and throughout the US.

She has no idea what will happen when she returns to Israel next week.

“I’m a bit scared. After the ceasefire, we’ll go right back to war. We have a mission.”

A soldier and his scooter, on the streets of Israel. (Israel photos courtesy of Ariella Torv)

But she also knows she will be welcomed “Israelis treat people like family,” she says. “For the past few weeks, they welcomed me into their home for Shabbat dinner. They invited me to sleep over. We text each other all the time.

“Israel is incredibly strong. It’s inspiring how regular citizens turned into warriors, fighting to protect their land.”

She never considered not returning.

Does Ariella have a message for “06880” readers?

“Israel will live,” she says firmly. “I have full faith in the country, and the IDF. There is no left or right now. Every Israeli is united, for the country.”

Soon, Ariella Torv returns to her adopted home, to join them.

8 Comments

Posted in Politics, Staples HS

Tagged , ,

Baked By Belle; Served With A Back Story

Posted on November 27, 2023 | 2 comments

Isabelle Ricks fell in love with baking as a freshman at Staples High School. She quickly got good. Everyone — even her boyfriend’s French mother — said her pastries and cookies were great.

But life was not all sugary and sweet.

In college, academics and recipe testing were put on hold due to anxiety. Then Isabelle was hospitalized, with a mysterious reaction to medication.

Physically and emotionally sick, she needed something joyful. Once again, she began baking and decorating cookies.

Today, Isabelle is again a full-time biology major. She’s an aspiring doctor.

Her business — “Baked by Belle” — is thriving too. And starting next year, she’ll give 10% of all profits to a mental health foundation.

Isabelle Ricks’ Halloween treats …

But back to 9th grade. Isabelle and her sister Madison spent late nights in the kitchen, baking whatever they could with whatever ingredients they found.

“Many ill-made apple pies and melted cookies later,” she understood the science behind baking. She turned her parents’ Westport home into a makeshift test kitchen.

Her first challenge was to perfect chocolate chip cookies. It took a while, but she finally found a recipe that worked.

She knew she had a hit when her brother John-Austin told her to stop baking, because he couldn’t stop eating them.

… and chocolate chip cookies.

In 2021, after graduating from Staples — and playing on the soccer team, and working at Elvira Mae’s — she headed to Sacred Heart University.

Her anxiety medicine caused a disabling reaction. The skin on her arms, legs and necks attacked itself, leaving painful wounds.

Isabelle was hospitalized, biopsied, and poked and prodded by doctors who had never seen her symptoms.

Her anxiety, meanwhile, had to be treated with different trial medicines. Panic attacks tormented her.

When she finally returned to school, baking and decorating sugar cookies became her stress reliever. It was creative, and she barely felt any anxiety doing it — especially while her favorite Harry Potter movies played in the background.

As she worked hard to heal her mind and body, she appreciated her talent as a baker.

Buoyed by her biggest supporters — her siblings; her parents Tyler and Brianna; her boyfriend Max and his family — she packed bags of cookies to deliver to customers, then started an Instagram account.

Isabelle Ricks kicks back.

Now — looking ahead to a career in medicine, and a side gig baking — Isabelle says, “I cannot wait to see what the future holds. I am so happy to be able to share my story with anyone who wants to listen.”

“06880” has shared many stories with young people who overcame adversity.

This is one of the sweetest.

(To contact Isabelle Ricks, email bakedbybelle@yahoo.com. Her Instagram is @bakedbybellect. Hat tip: Betsy Kravitz)

(“06880” is proud to showcase the highlights of Staples graduates. If you enjoy reading about them, please support our work. Click here — and thank you.)

2 Comments

Posted in Local business, Staples HS

Tagged ,

Friday Flashback #375

Posted on November 24, 2023 | 11 comments

I-95 (aka the Connecticut Turnpike or Thruway — though definitely not the “John Davis Lodge Turnpike”) has been part of Westport for so long that its path through here, largely paralleling the railroad tracks, seems foreordained.

Of course, it was not.

In 1951 — when planning for the highway was underway — 2 different routes were proposed.

One was very similar to what was ultimately decided — though it appears a second, or alternate, exit was included, at the Compo Road South/Greens Farms Road/ Bridge street intersection. (Greens Farms Road was further south then than it is now.)

But a northern highway was also considered.

Two proposed routes, from the October 18, 1951 Westporter-Herald. Click on or hover over to enlarge.

It would veer off just after the Norwalk border. It would rip through Treadwell Avenue and Kings Highway South, cross over Post Road West (with an exit by Birchwood Country Club), then head east at Riverside Avenue (another possible exit).

The “expressway” would continue just south of Post Road East (known at the time as State Street East), obliterating residences in its path through Hillandale Road, then just south of Greens Farms Elementary School (another potential exit), and on eastward through Maple Avenue South.

At the Fairfield line, the highway would continue at what is now its current location.

Legend has it that the more southern route was chosen because the governor — a Westport resident — lived on Easton Road, closer to the northern path.

The governor’s name?

John Davis Lodge.

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

50 Years Ago This Week:

The Staples High School boys soccer team, coached by Albie Loeffler, earned its 5th consecutive state title (a Connecticut record).

Jimmy Manning headed in a beautiful cross from Kenny Murphy in sudden-death overtime to defeat #1-ranked Manchester. The upstaters had a perfect record going into the state final.

Staples finished 13-1-5.

(Every day, “06880” covers the Westport of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Please click here to help support our work. Thank you!)

11 Comments

Posted in Categories, Sports, Staples HS, Transportation

Tagged , , , ,

Ethan Walmark: Westport’s Music Man

Posted on November 24, 2023 | 27 comments

When Ethan Walmark was 18 months old, he was placed on the autism spectrum. He began receiving services, like speech and occupational therapy.

At 3 years old, his Stepping Stones teacher told his parents: “Take away Ethan’s music. When he listens to it, he goes into his own world. You want him to be in our world.”

They were stunned. Allison Ziering Walmark’s father was a professional musician. When she was pregnant with Ethan, she and her husband Michael sang to him every night.

“From the day he was born, even though he was always happy, whenever he heard music, you could almost see a magical transformation,” Allison recalls.

“He became one with the music. At Music Together classes, we got a sense he was trying to figure out the melodies and rhythms.”

She and Michael thought it would be cruel to take away something he loved so much, and showed so much talent for.

They not only ignored the advice — they added the amount of music in his life.

Young Ethan Walmark.

“Music is the universal language,” Allison says. “It brought him immeasurable happiness.”

Ethan began music therapy with the Connecticut School of Music, plus private piano and keyboard lessons.

The next year, Bobbi Burns — another Stepping Stones teacher– excitedly called Allison.

Bobbi said that when she played Little Richard’s “Itsy Bitsy Spiker,” Ethan sang the melody — then chimed in on the harmony too.

“That’s never happened before!” the teacher said. “He’s something special!”

At Kings Highway Elementary School, Ethan learned the upright bass. He performed in musicals, and sang with the chorus.

But that’s just part of Ethan’s story.

When he was 6 years old, a YouTube video of you playing “Piano Man” went viral.

He performed live on the “Today Show.”

He became one of only 14 people worldwide — and the youngest — to receive a “Genius of Autism” award. Then he won it again.

The Huffington Post named him 1 of 20 “Child Prodigies.”

He helped Yoko Ono flip the switch to light the Empire State Building blue for World Autism Awareness Day.

Meeting Ethan before a concert, John Mayer said, “Hey, I know you! You’re the internet sensation!”

Ethan’s performance of “Eminence Front” rocked a Who show.

He appeared on NBC’s “Today Show” and CBS’s “Early Show.” He sang the national anthem in front of 25,000 fans at Red Bull Arena.

As a 12-year-old Coleytown Middle School student, Ethan followed Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Billy Joel and Elton John at the 1st-ever Autism Awareness Gala Fundraiser at the Kennedy Center in Washington. 

He brought down the house. He performed 4 songs, closing with “You are the Sunshine of My Life.” Ethan dedicated it to his sister Eliza, who was in the audience.

When CMS was remote during COVID, he taught himself to play guitar. (He can really shred.)

He joined School of Rock. He formed a band — and great friendships — with other musicians there.

Ethan Walmark, on the keytar.

The Walmarks looked forward to Staples High School, where Ethan could join the outstanding music program.

It did not disappoint. Now, as a senior, Ethan has truly found his niche. He has been embraced by the Music Department staff and students.

He is a member of the Tri-M National Music Honor Society. From freshman year on, he has sung with the elite Orphenians group. He’s a Choralaire, a charter member of the A Cappella Club, and pianist for the Jazz Ensemble.

Ethan Walmark (center) with (from left) Rohan Wadhwani, Curtis Sullivan, Max Ardrey and Ben Herrera. They performed Billy Joel’s “The Longest Time” at last spring’s Staples Pops Concert.

Ethan was selected for the Connecticut Music Educators Association All-State Treble Chorus, and is a 2-time CMEA Western Region Mixed Choir honoree.

He’s won 5 straight School of Rock All-Star competitions, as a keyboardist and vocalist. He plays in 3 bands, all over the tri-state area.

You can see Ethan in one of them — Strictly Business — tomorrow (Saturday). They play from 7 to 11 p.m. at 314 Beer Garden, in South Norwalk.

And in the classroom, Ethan is a consistent Honor Roll student.

Ethan Walmark shreds it.

Ethan has auditioned at several top contemporary music colleges.

“Ethan’s story should inspire — and be a lesson for — any parent with a child, whether neuro-divergent or neuro-typical,” Allison says.

“Advocate for your child. Do what your gut tells you. Advice is nice. But only you know your child.”

(To see a collection of Ethan Walmark’s music videos, click here.) 

(“06880” often highlights outstanding young Westporters. If you enjoy these stories, please support our work. Just click here — and thank you!)

Ethan Walmark, on vocals.

27 Comments

Posted in Entertainment, Staples HS, Teenagers

Tagged , , ,

Roundup: Lyman Police Aid, Westport HR Hire, HS Dodge-a-Cop …

Posted on November 21, 2023 | 5 comments

The Westport Police Department’s latest donation of excess used equipment — including communication devices, and much-needed hats — has been delivered to their counterparts in our sister city of Lyman, Ukraine.

It is much needed, as the war grinds on and heads into a second winter.

NOTE: Donations to Lyman are always welcome. Click here; then click the “I want to support” box; then select “Support for the City of Lyman.” Scroll down on that page for other donation options (mail, wire transfer and Venmo.)

Lyman police officer, with a Westport Police walkie-talkie — and hat.

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

The town of Westport has hired a human resources director.

Candice Holley’s appointment is effective immediately.

She has over 20 years’ experience in human capital and human resources implementation, with a strong background in talent acquisition, recruitment and retention.

Most recently, Holley served as an independent HR consultant. Previous positions include vice president, people and operations, for the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, and global director, human resources, with Barnes Group.

She graduated from Seton Hall University with a degree in social and behavioral Sciences. She also attended the University of Mississippi to earn a degree in Psychology, and the University of Cincinnati for political science.

Candice Holley

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

One of Westport’s favorite holiday toy drives — the Westport Police Department’s, in partnership with the Police Benevolent Association and Police Athletic League — is open for donations.

Toys will be provided to children in need throughout Fairfield County, and at area hospitals.

Officers will accept new, unopened and unwrapped toys — and cash donations — in the ASF Sports & Outdoors parking lot (1560 Post Road East), between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., on the next 2 weekends (Saturday and Sunday, December 2-3 and 9-10).

There will also be toy collection boxes at:
• Westport Police Department, 50 Jesup Road
• ASF Sports & Outdoors Store, 1560 Post Road East
• Awesome Toys & Gifts, 429 Post Road East
• The Toy Post , 180 Post Road East

Questions? Contact Craig Bergamo by phone at (203) 341-6000, or
email (cbergamo@westportct.gov).

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

More than a dozen teams — each including Staples students, and at least one Westport Police Department officer — battled last night, in the high school fieldhouse.

A portion of the large group of students and cops. (Photo/Dan Woog)

It was all in good fun. The annual “Dodge-a-Cop” event was a way for teenagers and cops to meet and bond — and for the Westport Youth Commission to raise funds for the Homes with Hope and Westport Woman’s Club food pantries.

Kevin Godburn, longtime Youth Commission member through the Department of Human Services (2nd from left) with (from left) members Jake Shufro, Cabry Lueker (president) and Anaam Olasewere (secretary, Dodge-a-Cop manager). (Photo/Dan Woog)

Gault Energy and Mitchells co-sponsored the evening, which included prizes, pizza and drinks.

And plenty of good, clean, cops-and-kids competition.

The winning Dodge-a-Cop team included Corporal (and Westport PAL president) Craig Bergamo (right). (Photo/Cabry Lueker)

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

Club 203 — Westport’s social group for adults with disabilities — celebrates the holidays next week.

The party is set for MoCA, next Monday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. It’s a “hoedown,” so Western-themed attire is suggested.

There’s square dancing, a Western photo area, food and giveaways. Parents are invited to stay and celebrate too.

Click here for reservations, and more information. Questions? Email club203ct@gmail.com

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

Westporter Rosie Jon — who paints with her toes better than nearly anyone can using hands — celebrates 10 years as an artist with her first-ever exhibition.

It’s set for the gallery at Green’s Farm’s Church, from December 1 to January 12.

Opening night begins at 6 p.m., and includes a chance to watch Rosie create her beautiful art, and a Q-and-A.

Attendance is limited. Click here to register.

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

Speaking of art:

The Westport Library welcomed Norm Siegel last night.

The noted local artist discussed his new exhibit, “Visual Curiosities.” It’s on view through January 8.

Norm Siegel (far right) with (from left) admirers Nina Bentley, Miggs Burroughs and Lynn Untermeyer Miller, last night at the Westport Library. (Photo/Carole Erger-Fass)

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

Today’s “Westport … Naturally” subject is getting ready for winter, at Winslow Park?

Are you as industrious?

(Photo/Tracy Porosoff)

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

And finally … on this date more than 80 years apart, 2 key entertainment events happened.

In 1877, Thomas Edison announced his invention of the phonograph: a machine that can record and play sound.

In 1959, disc jockey Alan Freed, who popularized the term “rock and roll,” was fired from New York’s WABC radio over allegations he had participated in a payola scandal.

(Art, music, kids, Town Hall — it’s all here in the Roundup, just like every day. But all this stuff takes time and effort. “06880” relies on reader support. Please click here to help. Thank you!)

5 Comments

Posted in Arts, Children, Police, Staples HS

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Candlelight Concert Tickets Available December 1

Posted on November 20, 2023 | Comments Off on Candlelight Concert Tickets Available December 1

For 83 years, the Candlelight Concert has been the Staples High School music department’s gift to the town.

With its “Sing We Noel” processional, “Hallelujah Chorus” finale, and wondrous performances by the choirs, orchestras and bands, Candlelight is timeless.

But there is always something new, too.

This year, it’s the world premiere of a specially commissioned piece.

“I Found the Light” is a collaborative creation by a pair of Class of 2000 graduates: composer Jake Landau and poet Emily Garber. Afterward, it will be shared worldwide.

That premiere — and the rest of the much-anticipated concert, including Vaughan Williams’ “Greensleeves Fantasia,” “Ose Shalom” by John Leavitt, and Leroy Anderson’s classic “A Christmas Festival” — is Friday, December 15 (8 p.m.) and Saturday, December 16 (3 and 8 p.m.).

Tickets will be available to the public at 9 a.m. on Friday, December 1 (online at www.staplesmusic.org. There is a maximum of 4 tickets per order.

There is no charge for Candlelight tickets. However, donations to support the music program are graciously accepted.

Veteran Candlelight-goers know: Tickets sell out fast. Mark your calendar now for 9 a.m., December 1.

 This year’s Candlelight poster was designed by Staples art and music student Shivali Kanthan.

Comments Off on Candlelight Concert Tickets Available December 1

Posted in Arts, Staples HS, Teenagers

Tagged , ,

Easing Toxic Achievement Culture: “Greet Your Children The Way Your Dog Greets You”

Posted on November 20, 2023 | 6 comments

“No one ever says, ‘I love this toxic achievement culture,'” Jennifer Wallace notes wryly.

Yet it persists.

It pervades Westport. It’s a pernicious, seemingly inescapable part of our daily lives.

Which is why hundreds of parents headed — “on a school night” — to the Westport Library last week.

Earlier in the day, 50 school counselors, mental health professionals and others who work with youth were there too.

Both audiences heard Wallace — a journalist, and author of the best-seller “Never Enough: When Achievement Pressure Becomes Toxic — and What We Can Do About It” — describe exactly the lives they live every day.

More importantly, she offered insights and strategies to lower the toxic temperature.

Wallace walks the talk. The high-achieving mother of 3 teenagers who lives on New York’s Upper East Side, and a Harvard graduate (more on that later), she knows first-hand the daily pressures that young people face.

She knows how adults — wittingly and unwittingly — reinforce those pressures.

And she knows Westport. She sees communities like ours all over the country.

Wallace’s appearances were a joint effort of the Westport Public Schools and Westport Together. Superintendent of Schools Thomas Scarice and several Board of Education members joined the morning and evening audiences, where Staples High school counselor Deb Slocum moderated the discussions.

Among a litany of specific examples and key points, Wallace offered a few main thoughts: Share your values with your kids; build your life around it. Show them people they know who you believe live successful lives, and define that explicitly. Don’t neglect your own relationships and connections either; they matter.

And for kids, “mattering” — the belief that they matter to their friends, their family, their school and community — is the ultimate key to “success,” whichever ways one defines those terms.

A full house packed the Westport Library’s Trefz Forum to hear Jennifer Wallace (right).

Wallace’s audiences nodded knowingly at many points of her presentations. “At least once a day,” she said, “you should greet your children the way your dog greets you.”

That means “not asking ‘how did your math test go?’ or saying ‘get ready, we have to leave soon for your next activity,'” Wallace said.

“They already know that you care about those things. They need to know that you care about them — that they matter to you. They don’t need to feel ‘I’m only as good as my schedule.”

And, she added, “The difference between a 91 and a 99 is a life.”

Wallace said there is nothing wrong with setting high standards and goals. Many high achievers thrive in those environments. The danger comes from making love and acceptance conditional on those achievements only.

Veteran Staples school counselor Deb Slocum (left) moderated the discussion with Jennifer Wallace.

Success comes in ways far beyond acceptance to highly selective colleges, for example. She had harsh words for the US News & World Report rankings, for everything from their subjectivity and secrecy to the effect they have on students, parents, high schools and colleges.

Wallace offered evidence from her research that the rank, prestige, size or type (private or public) of a college has a “negligible effect” on success in life. (Those factors are more important for students of color, and first-generation college students, she noted.)

What does count is whether students feel valued on campus by professors and peers, and through activities.

“It’s not where you go to college, but how you go,” she said. “Invest in the child, not the logo.”

Of course, she went to Harvard. She had strong words for what it does well and poorly, and downplayed the importance of that school in her eventual success.

Wallace said her family does not talk about college at home. And her children have not attended Harvard reunions with her and her husband.

A major source of tension and worry, in many Westport families.

Wallace does not blame parents for the intensity with which they’re raising their kids. A litany of factors fuels parental fears that their children will not have the same opportunities they did.

But the reality, she said, is that students at high-achieving schools are 2 to 6 times more likely than others to suffer from anxiety and depression, and 2 to 3 times more likely to abuse drugs and/or alcohol.

A parent’s job, she continued, is to “build a life your kids won’t need drugs or alcohol to escape from.”

Parents want to offer their children “a life vest in a sea of uncertainty,” Wallace said. Too often though, that life vest “is leaded. It’s drowning too many kids.”

Wallace’s parting words resounded with her audiences. “Think about your child in 20 or 30 years. What is the story you want them to tell about their childhood? And what was your role in that story?”

The Westport Public Schools and Westport Together will continue the community conversation that Wallace began. Interested high school and middle school parents are invited to meet on Wednesday, November 29; elementary school parents on Wednesday, December 6. Both sessions are from 9 to 10 a.m., in the Staples High School library.

(“06880” is your source for local journalism. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

6 Comments

Posted in Children, Education, Library, Staples HS, Teenagers, Westport life

Tagged , , , , ,

Missing Teen Found Safe

Posted on November 19, 2023 | 14 comments

The search for a missing Staples High School freshman is over.

And the news is good.

Thanks to shared information by law enforcement, and social media platforms, the Westport Police Department tracked Max Yeater to a New York City library near Grand Central Station.

Detectives reunited the 15-year-old with his family at 5 p.m. today.

Westport Police thank the public, their law enforcement partners and the media for helping bring Max back to Westport.

Max Yeater, from a photo distributed yesterday after his disappearance.

 

14 Comments

Posted in Police, Staples HS, Teenagers

Tagged ,

Help Find Max: Please Share This Flyer

Posted on November 19, 2023 | 10 comments

The family and friends of Max Yeater — the missing Staples High School freshman — ask “06880” readers to share this flyer on social media with friends in New York City and Vermont.

You can forward this post, or click here to save the poster as an image.

 

10 Comments

Posted in Police, Staples HS, Teenagers

Tagged