Staples Players’ spring production is “Twelfth Night.”
People might think: “Teenagers doing Shakespeare. I’ll pass.”
Don’t!
For one thing, Players is no ordinary high school troupe. Their near Broadway-quality shows always entertain, excite and inspire.
For another — and this is key — this “Twelfth Night” is not really Shakespeare. It’s a big, bold musical, filled with singing and dancing.
Ben Herrera as Malvolio, with “Twelfth Night” ensemble.
It’s funny. It’s fun. It’s accessible.
And it zips along: 12 songs are packed into a quick — and very engrossing — 90 minutes.
Players directors David Roth and Kerry Long knew they were taking a risk. “Twelfth Night” — whether familiar Shakespeare, or an unfamiliar musical — is a tough sell.
(From left): Charlie Watson, Matthew Bukzin, Jackie Peterson and Henry Carson in “Twelfth Night.”
But they loved Shaina Taub’s music. They knew that the cast recording was popular with theater people. (When the Public Theatre debuted the show in 2018, the New Yorker called it “less an interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedy than a block party sprinkled with iambic pentameter.”)
And when the directors announced it this winter, they challenged Players cast members to listen to the jazz-funk-pop score with open ears.
The next days, the young actors were singing in the halls. (Click below for senior Sophia Betit, singing during rehearsal.)
During their 65-year history, Players have tackled Shakespeare before. Roth and Long directed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in 2005, and “Romeo & Juliet” 3 years later.
As with much of The Bard’s work, despite being over 400 years old, “Twelfth Night” remains timely.
The plot deals with “our perceptions of gender — what it means to be a man or a woman, and how women are perceived in society,” Roth says.
(After a shipwreck, a woman dresses as a man to get a job. And of course, there are love complications.)
Quinn Mulvey as Viola. (All photos/Kerry Long)
“The message of the show is about walking in another person’s shoes, and seeing how the world perceives you,” Long explains. “There’s not a lot of equity.”
“Twelfth Night” is not “Mamma Mia!” or “Grease.” But — like those Staples Players blockbusters — it too will thrill audiences of all ages.
“We want to expose people to shows we love,” Roth says. “Take a 90-minute leap of faith with us!”
(“Twelfth Night” performances are March 17, 18, 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m., and March 19 and 25 at 3 p.m. Youngsters 12 and under get a sweet swag bag, including a coupon for a free ice cream cone donated by Saugatuck Sweets, plus a button proudly announcing “My first Shakespeare!”
(Click here for tickets, and more information. Click below to hear the original cast recording music.)
(“06880” is your hyper-local source for Westport entertainment news. Please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
The dangerous stretch of Cross Highway between North Avenue and Bayberry Lane is slated for improvements.
Residents can review proposals at a public information meeting next Tuesday (March 14, 7 p.m., Town Hall auditorium).
1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker, Department of Public Works engineering staff and other town officials will discuss and answer questions regarding the proposals, and any potential impacts to the neighborhood.
The design engineer will participate online, with data and drawings.
Proposed concepts range from minor traffic sign upgrades to complete intersection reconstruction. They include, but are not limited to:
Adding crosswalks in key areas
Construction of new and/or repair of existing sidewalks
Adding revised signage along the right-of-way
Relocation of utility poles
Installation of traffic signals
Roadway widening at the intersections to realign approach and turning lanes
Installation of roundabouts at the intersections
Bridge replacement over Dead Man’s Brook.
For questions about the project, call town engineer Keith Wilberg at 203-341-1128, or email kwilberg@westportct.gov.
A recent 3-car accident at the intersection of Cross Highway and Bayberry Lane. (Photo/Westport Fire Department)
“I drove by the Linxweiler Homestead house at 655 Post Road East (between Fresh Market and McDonald’s) — given to the town in 1981 — and saw 10 or so red ribbons on trees in the front and side of the property. This is normally an indication that the trees will be eliminated.
“Very strange. There seems to be too many to be ‘sick’.”
The tree warden has not responded to a request for comment.
Trees with red ribbons by Linxweiler House: the view from Post Road East …
The #7-ranked Staples High School boys basketball team easily dispatched #26 Manchester last night, in the first round of the state Division II tournament.
The score was 74-39, and the game was not even that close. But what the large crowd will remember most happened a few seconds from the end.
The Redhawks coach substituted in a player with a developmental disability. A Staples player fouled him softly, but deliberately, at the 3-point line, giving him 3 free throws.
He missed them all — not by much — but the referee detected a lane violation on the third. The young athlete sank his 4th attempt — swish! — to the roar of both teams, and fans on both sides of the gym.
The win advances Staples to the round of 16. They host #23 RHAM — an upset 61-52 winner over Enfield — tomorrow (Thursday, March 9). Game time is 6:30 p.m. (Hat tip: Jordan Schur)
Television producer/filmmaker/author Natasha Rogoff talks about her debut book, “Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia” tomorrow — and the public is invited.
It’s a true story from the mid-1990s, when the Soviet Union renounced communism and moved toward democracy. Amid bombings, assassinations and a military takeover of the production office, Rogoff and a talented Moscow team of artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers and puppeteers brought laughter, learning and a new way of seeing the world to children in Russia, Ukraine and across the former Soviet empire.
The Westport Library event (March 9, 10 a.m.) is sponsored by the Y’s Men of Westport and Weston.
Jeremy Schaap — award-winning journalist, author, host of ESPN’s “E:60” and “Outside the Lines,” and a 1986 Staples High School graduate and current Westporter — spoke at the Westport Rotary Club’s lunch meeting yesterday.
Schaap — son of legendary sportscaster and writer Dick Schaap — described growing up immersed in the New York sports world when the Yankees, Mets, Jets and Giants loomed large.
Yet he called Mike Tyson one of his most fascinating interview subjects. They’ve spoken over 100 times, and “he’s the athlete that most let you into how he was thinking.”
Schaap was interviewed by his longtime friend Karl Mergenthaler (Staples ’87), Westport Rotary Club president.
Jeremy Schaap, at yesterday’s Westport Rotary Club meeting at Green’s Farms Church. (Photo and hat tip/Dave Matlow)
Young LGBTQ+ people are making their mark on Westport, and the world.
Now they’re eligible for a scholarship, up to $1,000.
Sponsored by Westport Pride, it is open to anyone who has planned or been part of activities or organizations in the LGBTQ+ community; anyone who feels their experiences as a young queer person has shaped their perspective as an aspect of themselves, or LGBTQ+ individuals who produced art that highlights the history, struggles or triumphs of the LGBTQ+ community.
All 3 Westport selectwomen visited Staples High School on Monday, to celebrate Civic Learning Week. The goal is to empower students to become active, engaged members of their community.
In a meeting moderated by seniors Scarlett Siegel and Spencer Yim, Jen Tooker Andrea Moore and Candice Savin answered questions from students. Topics ranged from the structure of town government to efforts to address sustainability, traffic and other areas.
Members of the Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society assisted with the event.
Celebrating Civic Learning Week (from left): Superintendent of Schools Thomas Scarice, moderators Spencer Yim and Scarlett Siegel, and selectwomen Jen Tooker, Andrea Moore and Candice Savin.
And finally … David Lindley was not a household name. But the session guitarist played on some of the most famous recordings by Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, Rod Stewart and others. He performed on his own too.
Lindley died Friday, at 78. He had suffered from kidney trouble, pneumonia and other ailments. Click here for a full obituary. Click below to hear his work:
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Posted onMarch 5, 2023|Comments Off on Squash Grows At Staples
The Staples High School gym — and many away ones — rocked this winter. Fans flocked in, and roared their support, as the Wreckers chased their first FCIAC championship since 1963.
Girls basketball and wrestling drew plenty of spectators too. In the fall, the stands fill for football and soccer; the big spring draws are baseball and lacrosse.
Athletes in other sports, meanwhile, pursue their passions virtually unnoticed. No one other than a devoted parent attends, for example, a squash match. Few teachers ever ask students,, “How did the squash team do yesterday?”
But boys and girls squash flourishes at the high school — well, at their home courts in Norwalk, anyway.
In just 8 years, the program has grown from 1 to 4 teams (boys and girls varsity and junior varsity). Both varsities just competed in the national tournament.
The Staples girls team competed at nationals: Lilly Weisz and Rebecca Schussheim (captains), Rebecca Schachter, Gena Frucht, Sophie Smith, Annika Reddy, Anna Diorio and Rhiya Anand.
And they’re doing it with a coach who — less than a decade ago — helped form that first club.
In his first 2 years at Staples, Shane Fries played soccer. But his father — a longtime squash player — had introduced him to that sport. As a junior, Fries and Mia Krishnamurthy started Staples’ first squash team.
“It’s a great game, with physical, mental and technical aspects,” Fries says.
“You can’t power your way through. You have to concentrate hard. And there’s a steep learning curve.”
Though squash is played 1-on-1, it’s a team sport. Seven players compete for their school; whoever wins the most matches gets the victory.
The Staples boys team that competed in the national tournament (from left): Oliver Grodman, Aidan Zer, Dhilan Patel; captains Ariston Liu, Brett Lampert, Ben Saxon and Ryan Salik; coach Shane Fries.
When Fries helped start the club, only a couple of players knew the game. Most were tennis players, looking to stay in shape in the off-season. That’s still the case with some, but more freshmen come out each year with squash backgrounds.
It is not an official Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference sport. Staples competes in the FairWest League, against schools from Fairfield, Darien, New Canaan, Greenwich, Harrison, Rye, Scarsdale, Bronxville and Briarcliff Manor. It’s the largest public school conference in the country.
Fries’ route to coaching began while he was still in high school. His senior internship was with Squash Haven, a non-profit program in New Haven that combines teaching and playing with academic support.
Fries captained his team at New York University, where he majored in computer science and minored in finance. But he continued volunteering with Squash Haven.
He worked from home during COVID as a software engineer, and began coaching part-time at Intensity in Norwalk. He met high school and middle school players there.
When the Staples job opened up this season, Fries jumped in.
Running a squash program is not easy. Intensity has only 4 courts. The increasing number of players puts a premium on practice time.
And because the courts are in a private facility, the cost to play can be high. That could deter newcomers.
Fries hopes to get more financial support from Staples’ athletic department, to give as many players as possible a chance.
Ariston Liu, in action.
Despite the challenges, Fries shepherded the boys and girls teams to strong seasons. They showed well at the national tournament in Philadelphia last month, competing against the top teams in the country.
A national tournament appearance did not generate much buzz at Staples.
But for the several dozen squash players, the love — and “intensity” of the sport — is all they need.
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Posted onMarch 3, 2023|Comments Off on “Lux Freer” Premieres — And Earns Honors
“Lux Freer” — Triple Threat Academy‘s award-winning, locally shot and produced independent film — enjoyed a pair of premieres last month.
The plot involves Lux, a middle-class non-binary teen who feels like an outcast in their new town of rich jocks and beauty queens, until a wishing well and the most popular guy in town offer a view from the top of the social ladder.
A private screening at the Sacred Heart University Community Theatre included 21 cast members (22, counting Sophie Walther, who Zoomed in from the UK).
Cast and crew of “Lux Freer,” at the SHU Community Theater. In front: co-producers Cynthia Gibb and Jill Johnson Mann.
Staples High School 2022 graduate Echo Bodell — who stars as Lux Freer — flew in from the Savannah College of Art & Design. Echo, a non-binary songwriter/ actor, plays the non-binary protagonist, Lux Freer.
Jean Louisa Kelly — recently seen in “Top Gun: Maverick” — was there, with her daughter Josy Pitaro (Lux’s villain).
Cameron Mann — who played a pivotal role in “Mare of Easttown” — joined assistant costume designer Zoe Mann (aka his twin). Their older brother Jamie Mann (“Country Comfort”) — who in addition to acting in the film, choreographed the big dance number — could not make it. He’s at the University of Michigan, studying musical theater.
Watching proudly were director/co-producer Cynthia Gibb and writer/co-producer Jill Johnson Mann. Gibb — another Staples graduate — began acting at 15, in Woody Allen’s “Stardust.” She went on to great fame, in “Fame.”
“Lux Freer” reminded her of that joy. She appreciated sharing the magic of film acting with her Triple Threat Academy students.
Director Cynthia Gibb has worked with Echo Bodell for years. Here the star is, on the big screen.
“Lux Freer”‘s world premiere was Saturday, at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival. Bodell and several other cast members joined Gibb on the red carpet.
The film won Best USA Film and Best First-Time Director at New York’s Cinematography Awards in December), and followed up with Honorable Mention for Best LGBTQ Short Film at the Los Angeles Indie Short Fest last month.
At the actual “red carpet” in Los Angeles (from left): Jennifer Ryan (Miss Savannah), Leanna Mitev (Linah Freer), director Cynthia Gibb and Echo Bodell (Lux Freer).
“Lux Freer” was created during Triple Threat Academy’s summer film camp. Students — novice and professional actors — collaborate with a professional crew to create a film, gaining experience in front of the camera and in crew apprentice roles.
Gibb calls the cast “a blend of professional actors with impressive credits, and many making their screen debuts.
“It is also a blend of the ‘popular kids,’ and those who exist on the fringes of the social strata.
“At the beginning, there were clichés. By the end, we were one big film family. It was life imitating our art.”
“Parts of the script are inspired by actual scenarios experienced by Echo on their challenging journey to live in a way that is true to themself,” says Johnson Mann.
“After the film wrapped, Echo told us that those were the best two weeks of their life. They stepped into the spotlight timidly on Day 1, and strutted out a new person on day 10.”
Several trans teens in the cast also found acceptance, like-minded friends, and a new confidence, the writer/co-producer adds.
Next up: another independent film, this summer. Details will be announced soon.
(Click here for more information on Triple Threat Academy, including enrollment.)
(Westport is an arts town — and “06880” covers all the arts. Please click here to help support us what we do. Thank you!)
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Ice may have been a contributing factor in a motor vehicle accident that upended this morning’s back-to-school routine at Staples High School.
A Jeep — reportedly driven by a teacher — smashed through the side of the building into a culinary classrooms. Classes had not yet begun.
Incredibly, the vehicle crashed directly through windows and doors, missing adjacent brick walls.
But the driver reportedly hit a gas line to a stove.
(Photo courtesy of social media/Photo Nate Goodman)
There were no reported injuries. Police and fire vehicles raced to the scene, through the usual North Avenue morning traffic jam.
(Photo courtesy of social media/Photographer unknown)
Students and staff were held outside, as fire officials checked for gas leaks. At 8:30, students and staff were allowed back in the building.
Police continue to investigate the cause of the accident.
(Photo courtesy of social media)
It was quite a beginning, after 11 days away. School was out last week for winter break. Monday was a professional development day; yesterday was a snow day.
Tomorrow’s important affordable housing community conversation — “The Impact of Connecticut State Statute 8-30g: What We Can Expect for 2023” (Monday, February 27, 7 p.m., Westport Library) — will also be livestreamed on the Library’s website. (Click here for the link).
Panelists include State Representative Jonathan Steinberg, Westport town attorney ira Bloom, Planning & Zoning Commission chair Danielle Dobin and Connecticut Center for Ending Homelessness CEO Evonne Klein. The event will be led by Westport Representative Town Meeting moderator Jeff Wieser.
The session was organized by a diverse group of RTM members, all interested in finding out more about the controversial state housing regulation: Nancy Kail, Seth Braunstein, Ross Burkhardt, Jimmy Izzo, Sal Liccione, Matthew Mandell, Liz Milwe and Claudia Shaum.
It will be followed by a Q-and-A, with audience members. The session will also be posted online, for those who miss it live.
Last night, the Staples High School boys basketball team avenged their regular season overtime loss to Wilton, in a big way.
The Wreckers dominated the Warriors defensively, and rode a balanced offense to a 53-43 win in the FCIAC quarterfinals at Fairfield Warde.
The victory vaults them into the league semifinals for the first time since 1996. The 4th-seeded Westporters’ opponent on Tuesday’s semi will be #1 Ridgefield. The Tigers downed New Canaan 47-33 in their quarterfinal. It was their 16th win in a row — following a 61-54 loss last month to Staples.
The Wreckers and Ridgefield tip off Tuesday (February 28, 7:15 p.m.) at Wilton High.
The 2023 Staples High School boys basketball team.
Mark this Donnerstag — Thursday — on your calendar.
La Plage offers a dinner tasting of world-class wines from iconic German estates. A 5-course menu marries those selections with their own New England offerings. Click here for the menu.
The special meal begins at 6:30 p.m. (March 2). The cost is $145 per person. Click here for reservations.
And finally … on this date in 1616, Galileo Galilei was formally banned by the Roman Catholic Church from teaching or defending the view that the earth orbits the sun.
Of course, we know better today. Galileo’s discovery is now taught all over the world, except perhaps in Florida.
(PS: Happy belated birthday to George Harrison. He would have been 80 years old yesterday.)
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Posted onFebruary 25, 2023|Comments Off on Roundup: VersoFest, Staples Basketball, MoCA Open Mic …
VersoFest keeps upping its game.
The 4-day music, media and more festival at the Westport Library has just added a musical oral history with drummer/writer/music historian/label owner/publisher/collector/archivist Miriam Linna.
The founding member of the Cramps, Flamin’ Groovies Fan Club leader, co-founder of Norton Records and Kicks Books, and mastermind of Kicksville Radio, will be interviewed by Queen Bee Christine Ohlman.
Miriam will also DJ the Smithereens concert Friday evening (March 31), and host a Norton Records/Kick Books table at the VersoFest Record Fair. She’ll have the familiar R&B, rock ‘n’ roll, primitive grease on hand, as well as memorabilia from the Norton/Kicks archives never seen anywhere before.
The record fair (Sunday, April 2, 11 a.m.) includes a discussion panel. On hand for the “breakfast nosh”: Kid Ginseng (Kraftjerkz Records), Karen Ponzio (New Haven Independent Arts Writer), Alec Cumming (“Snap Crackle POP!” on WPKN), Dooley-O (hip-hop legend), and Eric Holland (WFUV). The moderator is Dave Schneider of the Zambonis.
The music oral history and record fair are free. For the full VersoFest schedule, ticket information and more, click here.
The date of the next Westport volunteer trash pick-up — on Elaine Road (Compo Road South, between I-95 and the train tracks — has been changed. The new day and time is Saturday, March 4, 11 a.m. — not Sunday.
Elaine Road serves as the entrance to the water sewage treatment plant, and public access for boat and kayak launches, along with Animal Control. It attracts plenty of I-95 trash too, from vehicles and their irresponsible drivers and passengers.
All volunteers are welcome. Bring garbage bags, and dress appropriately.
The Staples High School boys basketball team is enjoying one of its most successful seasons ever.
Today (Saturday, February 25, 5 p.m., Fairfield Warde High School), the Wreckers begin their quest for the FCIAC championship with a quarterfinal match. Ranked #4, they face #5 Wilton. Last month, the Warriors won 69-68, in a thrilling overtime game.
MoCA’s first open mic night in October was a great success.
An encore performance — called “MoCA Some Noise” — is set for April 6 (5 to 7 p.m.). Local (aspiring) performers are invited to share their acoustic music with the community. Cocktails and drinks will be available for purchase.
The cost is $5 to perform, $10 to attend. Both fees are waived for MoCA members.
Click here for information, tickets and an application form.
And finally … writer Anthony Burgess was born on this date, in 1917. He is best known for “A Clockwork Orange.” And the movie version by Stanley Kubrick is best known for …
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But Staples Players’ productions always come with a twist. Next month’s show by the award-winning high school troupe is a catchy, contemporary musical version of the Bard’s romantic comedy.
They’ve been excited about it, ever since rehearsals began.
Last week, they got an added jolt: Composer Shaina Taub came to the Staples stage, to chat — and sing — with the cast.
The visit started as a shot in the dark. Co-director Kerry Long reached out on Instagram, noting that Taub’s friend Justin Paul — composer of “Dear Evan Hansen,” “The Greatest Showman” and “La La Land” — is a Players alum.
Taub’s schedule is packed, but she graciously agreed to visit.
Shaina Taub (front row, center, hands clasped) enjoys a sing-along with Players. Andrew Maskoff is at the piano. (Photo/Kerry Long)
The Westport teens related to her stories about growing up as a musical theater kid in Vermont. She described the importance of her extended theater family at Central Park’s Delacorte Theater, and the daunting task of writing an adaptation of Shakespeare after a call from the Public Theater.
Long and co-director David Roth led a Q-and-A session. A question about her writing process brought this advice about getting something — anything — down: “A C+ song on paper is better than an A+ song that hasn’t been written.”
Then the real fun began: a sing-along around the piano.
“There’s something amazing for theater kids to sing songs with the person who wrote them,” Long says.
“Our students are obsessed with the music. They all the know the words to every song, even if they don’t sing it in the show.”
Shaina Taub (left) with Sophia Betit. The senior plays Feste in “Twelfth Night” — the role Taub originated in her own show at the Public Theater. (Photo/Kerry Long)
Taub is now an accomplished composer and actor. But she went right back into “theater kid” mode, singing and bopping joyfully with the young cast.
It was a magical 90 minutes.
Then — the moment it was over — rehearsal began.
Shaina Taub could surely relate.
(Staples Players perform “Twelfth Night” at 7:30 p.m. on March 17, 18, 24 and 25, and 3 p.m. on March 19 and 25. Click here for tickets, and more information. Hat tip: Jill Johnson Mann)
(Staples Players is where teenagers meet Shakespeare — and Shaina Taub. “06880” is “where Westport meets the world” — and you read all about it. Please click here to support your hyper-local blog. Thank you!)
Westporters have plenty of fundraising galas to choose from.
All are worthy. Nearly all are well-organized, and fun.
But for inspiration and impact, few compare with A Better Chance of Westport’s Dream Event.
ABC — the program that provides both a home and an educational opportunity for up to 8 outstanding and academically-gifted young men of color each year — celebrates its 20th year on April 1 (7 p.m., Pinstripes at the SoNo Collection, Norwalk).
There are cocktails, dinner, entertainment, a silent auction — all important elements at many fundraisers — plus bowling at Pinstripes’ 12 lanes.
But what sets the Dream Event apart from many other galas are the speeches. Hearing about A Better Chance’s life-changing power — directly from those involved — is well worth the ticket price.
Funds are used for housing, tutoring, transportation and other expenses that getting the ABC scholars through Staples High School, and on to college.
Tickets available for cocktail/dinner only or cocktails/dinner and bowling. Click here for details.
The Weston History & Culture Center (aka Weston Historical Society) celebrates by co-hosting a lecture. “Powerful Voices: Connecticut Women Changing Democracy,” with Sarah Lubarsky, director of the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame.
The free event is is set for March 15 (7 p.m., Weston Public Library).
Among Connecticut’s most powerful women: suffrage advocates Alice Paul and Isabella Beecher Hooker, prominent firsts like Ella Grasso and Denise Nappier, and social activists like Helen Keller, Anne Stanback and Estelle Griswold.
Helen Keller lived for many years on the Westport/Easton border.
A celebration of life service honoring Peter Nathan is set for March 12 (11 a.m., Fairfield County Hunt Club). The former Representative Town Meeting member and longtime civic volunteer died last month.
Peter’s friends and family will share memories, and celebrate his impact on everyone he met. Attendees should wear bright colors, to contribute to the spirit.
The raised runway event — held in the Westport Library’s Trefz Forum on March 4 (7 p.m.) — showcases the town’s fashion and beauty merchants. The Westport Downtown Association-sponsored event also raises important funds for Homes with Hope.
Click here for more information. VIP tickets include light bites, DJ and gifts.
Those are the numbers Staples Tuition Grants want you to know.
And act on.
Since its founding in 1943 — 80 years ago — the non-profit has helped thousands of graduates with financial need achieve their dreams of higher education.
There was one grant that first wartime year: $100. David Hughes leveraged the important aid to earn a bachelor’s degree from Harvard. He added a master’s, Ph.D. — and stayed on, as a professor of music.
David Hughes’ writeup in the 1943 Staples yearbook.
Last year, STG provided 4,000 times that amount — $400,000 — to 108 graduating seniors, and Staples alums already in college. Grants ranged from $7,500 to $1,500.
The money did not fall from the sky. It came from nearly 700 individuals, families and organizations. They contributed to over 80 named awards, and to Staples Tuition Grants’ general fund.
Now there’s a new one: the 80th Anniversary Community Award.
It’s accepting donations for just 80 days — from last Thursday through April 30. Contributions can be made in increments of $80: $80, $160, $320, $800, $8,000 — whatever feels right.
Donations can honor a teacher, coach, administrator, student, loved one, friend — or, say, the entire graduating class of 2023. “In honor” donations will be recognized at this year’s award ceremony.
The $100 awarded to David Hughes in 1943 went a long way. Harvard’s undergraduate tuition in the ’40s was about $400.
This year, tuition alone is $52,569. Add room, board, other fees and more, and you’re talking real money.
In-state tuition at the University of Connecticut is $18,524 — without room, board and other expenses.
Many Westporters can afford the full boat. Many more can’t.
Staples Tuition Grants honorees gathered in 2021. (Photo/Pamela Einarsen)
But — whether you have children of college age or not; whether you graduated from Staples, or college, or not — think in terms of $80 increments.
Staples Tuition Grants hopes many Westporters, and former residents, do.
If so, then in 80 days from now, a number of worthy graduates will be a bit closer to a college education.
It’s something that could serve them well, for their next 80 years.
To donate to the 80th Anniversary Community Award, click here. For the Staples Tuition Grants home page, click here. To read the backgrounds and biographies of the 80-plus named awards, click here.
After the 2018 Staples Tuition Grants ceremony, pediatrician Dr. Albert Beasley and his wife (3rd and 4th from left) posed with 4 former patients (from left): Nicole Greenberg Donovan, Dan Woog, Dan Donovan and Lynn Untermeyer Miller. Dr. Beasley has since died, but his named award lives on. (Photo/Paddy Donovan)
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