Posted onJanuary 8, 2025|Comments Off on Scarice: Important Updates On Social Media, Smartphones And Students
Superintendent of schools Thomas Scarice says:
Greetings and Happy New Year!
As you settle back into routines following our winter break, I would like to flag an important event for all parents on Wednesday, January 29, at 7 p.m. in the Bedford Middle School Auditorium.
This engaging and insightful conversation will explore the impact of social media on our children’s mental health and well-being, while offering practical strategies for creating healthier digital habits. All families are encouraged to attend this important event to better understand the influence of social media and how we can work together to support our youth.
Max Stossel is an award-winning artist, and the founder of Social Awakening: an organization dedicated to helping young people survive and thrive in the modern world.
Before working in this field, Max was a media strategist with an extensive background in social media.
He ran social media for big brands, and later worked for a social media company. He has spent the past 10 years speaking with over a million students, parents, and educators around the world about social media’s impact on our lives, and creating resources to help manage that impact.
In addition to this invitation, I would like to provide an update on the steps the district has taken, and will be taking, to further consider my recommendation to restrict access to smartphones and wearable technology across all grade levels during the school day.
On September 20 I met with all Staples faculty members in small groups to discuss my recommendation and solicit their feedback. My recommendation was widely supported by faculty, provided that the district supply the necessary tech tools for implementation of the curriculum where smartphones and related technology have been used.
On September 22, all Staples students attended grade level assemblies to hear Dr. Delaney Ruston’s presentation discussing the rising addiction to social media in youth.
On the evening of September 23, Dr. Ruston discussed ways that parents can address screen-time issues with their children, in a parent workshop at the BMS auditorium.
In the coming weeks:
On January 28 and 29, Max Stossel will lead grade level student assemblies at both middle schools sharing his insights. I attended Max’s keynote address to New Canaan High School students, and have complete confidence that he will deliver a powerful and engaging message to our middle school students.
An opportunity for parents to share their feedback on this recommendation will be scheduled in a “town hall” style setting. A similar event will be scheduled for students.
A site visit will be scheduled to Wilton High School for a team of faculty, students and administrators. Wilton High implemented a smartphone ban in early November during the school day, and there is a great deal that we can learn from their experience.
We are moving deliberately through this process so that the school community can learn about the impact of smartphones and wearable technology on student well-being and academic performance. This event with Max Stossel is a vital part of that effort, offering valuable insights and practical strategies to help our community understand the risks and challenges posed by these technologies.
We are committed to making informed, thoughtful decisions that prioritize the health, well-being, and educational success of our students.
I encourage all parents to join us on January 29 as we continue this important journey together.
Comments Off on Scarice: Important Updates On Social Media, Smartphones And Students
As our nation’s housing crisis worsens, Americans want to help.
We donate funds, clothes and toiletries to organizations that work with unhoused people. We hope this lightens their burdens.
Two Staples High School students have given them light — literally.
Last summer, rising senior Shreyas Gorre and sophomore Rohan Sareen were looking for a way to use their engineering skills to help the community.
The teens designed a solar-powered lantern. Incorporating lights, wires, batteries and solar panels, they provide safety and comfort for people living many hours a day in darkness.
But how could 2 teenagers produce solar-powered lanterns?
With a 3D printer, naturally.
Rohan Sareen (left) and Shreyas Gorre, with solar-powered lanterns.
In November, Shreyas and Rohan invited residents to the Westport Library. There, they taught attendees — some of whom had no experience with the MakerSpace — how to assemble the lanterns. In addition to 3D printing, the project included soldering and circuitry.
Shreyas and Rohan know the MakerSpace well. They serve as senior coordinator and technology coordinator, respectively.
In late December — thanks to the Library Makerspace’s Ultimaker S5 and brand-new Bambu P1S 3D printer — the devices were finished.
Eight solar-powered lanterns were distributed to Open Doors, the Norwalk-based nonprofit that provides services to unhoused people.
The volunteers “loved seeing their printed parts turn into something that can truly improve lives,” Rohan says.
“It is incredible to see the work you have done have a real impact on the community,” Shreyas adds.
The 2 friends hope to run this program again this winter, with an updated lantern design and more volunteers. Anyone — of any age — interested in joining the program should email rohanjsareen@gmail.com or shreyasgorre@gmail.com.
Contributions to cover the costs for materials of these lanterns, and help fund similar projects at MakerSpace, are always welcome. Click here to donate.
MORE LIGHT: This is not Shreyas Gorre’s first community-minded venture. Last spring, “06880” profiled his work with Serve2Sustain.
The non-profit workd with local tennis clubs to collect used balls. They’re sent to a facility where machinery separates materials for reuse. They then go to RecycleBalls and Laykold, which supplies tennis courts for events like the US Open. Click here for that story.
As we prepare to close out 2024 and head into winter break, I want to take a moment to wish everyone a joyful holiday season and a happy new year.
My wife Kerry has taught kindergarten for many years. Every December I hear stories about the boundless excitement her 5-year-olds bring to the classroom.
Teachers across our district face the unique challenge of channeling this energy while maintaining focus during this time of year. Please join me in extending extra patience and appreciation to our incredible faculty and staff as they guide our students through this exciting final week of the year.
Below are a few important updates from around the district:
Greens Farms Elementary School Swatting Incident Last Week
Greens Farms Elementary School experienced a “swatting” incident last week, when a false report of a potential threat was made.
While such situations are deeply unsettling, I want to commend the extraordinary response from the GFS administration (Principal Brian Byrne and Assistant Principals Adelia Eddy and Chris Breyan), the faculty, staff, and our invaluable partners at the Westport Police Department.
In moments like these, it’s crucial to treat every situation as real until proven otherwise. Our emergency response system was put into practice, and the collaboration between GFS and WPD demonstrated exceptional coordination and professionalism.
Greens Farms Elementary School
I also want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the parents who were waiting in the parking lot for holiday events during the incident. Your patience and cooperation set a remarkable example for our entire community.
Unfortunately, these types of challenges are a reality of our time. However, through careful preparation and strong partnerships, I remain confident in the safety measures we have in place to protect our students and staff.
Smartphone/Wearable Technology Update
Last spring, I recommended restricting access to smartphones and wearable technology during the school day across all grade levels. While this approach is solidly in place for grades K-8, we have maintained the current system at Staples High School, which allows limited access during non-instructional periods, as we evaluate our next steps.
This fall, I engaged with all Staples faculty in small groups to gather their input. While some opinions varied, a strong majority supported moving toward greater restrictions on smartphone use, including a full ban during the school day.
I had intended to host a couple of “town hall” events for parents and students on this matter, but there was a change in a nearby district and it gave me pause.
In November, Wilton High School implemented a full smartphone ban. Their experience has provided us with an opportunity to learn before finalizing any changes in our district.
Wilton High School has generously offered to host a site visit for a team of Staples faculty, administrators and students. This visit will likely take place in late January. After that, I will host the town hall events for Staples parents, and for students, that was originally planned for October/November.
I have also reached out to the Inklings faculty advisors (the Staples student newspaper), and asked that they send a student reporter to chronicle the site visit to Wilton High School.
We will take the time to learn, listen, and thoughtfully plan for the best path forward.
A Bold Strategic Vision for AI in the WPS
Last night, I presented a bold recommendation to the Board of Education: to position the Westport Public Schools as a national leader in public education’s artificial intelligence revolution.
AI tools are rapidly transforming how we live, work, and learn. These tools are here. In just a few years, they have moved from futuristic novelty to mainstream necessity. As educators, we cannot afford to remain on the sidelines.
This was delivered as part of an update on the district strategic plan. I recommended that the district adjust priorities, and make the appropriate use of AI a focal point of district innovation.
We must ensure that AI augments — not replaces — the fundamental aspects of education and cognitive development.
My charge is to return to the Board of Education in the coming months with a clear strategic vision for teaching and learning in the era of the AI revolution. I enthusiastically welcome that challenge!!
I will return to the school community with updates. Additionally, I will seek community partnerships, in search of expertise among community members and educational consultants on developing a bold vision and action plan for our students and schools.
My best to you and your family this holiday season.
(Education is a regular “06880” beat. If you enjoy our coverage of Westport schools — grades K-12, public and private — please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
The Westport Library was packed last night with entrepreneurs (current and future), tech types, and friends and fans of our town’s best and brightest recent Staples High School graduates.
Startup Westport’s “Young Innovators” forum featured 4 alums — none over 25 years old — and an only slightly older venture capitalist.
Dylan Diamond (CEO of Saturn Technologies), Max Hammer and Josh Karol (CEO and CTO, respectively, of CrowdVolt), and Whop CTO Jack Sharkey chatted with Molly O’Shea about the challenges, perils and joys of starting — then running — a multimillion-dollar business while still in college.
Or making the decision to drop out, to do so.
Panelists (from left) Max Hammer, Jack Sharkey, Josh Karol and Dylan Diamond, with moderator Molly O’Shea. (Photo/Kara Curtis)
The money they’ve raised is mind-boggling. So is the creativity they’ve shown, the detours they’ve taken, and the humility with which they talk about their work (which, in all 5 cases, is also their passion).
All gave enormous credit to Staples’ computer science program, which offered the tools to code, create and collaborate.
Diamond noted that then-principal John Dodig and instructor Dave Scrofani provided important backing, when certain administrators wanted to shut down his iStaples app.
(It gave students easy access to schedules, classmates and grades. Now, as Saturn, it’s used by students in 22,000 schools nationwide. Coming soon: colleges.)
Their career paths have already taken them to big companies like Tesla. But the panelists prefer entrepreneurship.
“Shoot for the moon,” Sharkey said. “If you miss, you can always get a job.”
“The opportunity cost in high school and college is so low,” said former University of Pennsylvania student Diamond, adding that young people have great insight into “how to build things.”
1st Selectwoman Jen Tooker (far left) read a proclamation honoring Staples’ computer science program. From left: former principal John Dodig, instructors Dave Scrofani and Joanne Klouda, department chair John DeLuca. (Photo/Dan Woog)
The 4 learned the financial side of entrepreneurship along the way (including the importance of giving equity to new hires, at the start).
The young entrepreneurs all echoed Diamond’s advice: “Hire people smarter than you. Don’t pretend you know everything. It’s okay to say ‘I don’t know.'”
“Don’t get too attached to resumes,” Kozol added.
It has not always been easy. During COVID, when schools were closed, Diamond’s user base quickly dropped to “zero.”
But he and his classmates quickly learned the importance of pivoting.
Now Diamond is on his way to making Saturn “the world’s most fun personal calendar.” Google and Microsoft will never know what hit them.
(“06880” often highlights the success of Staples graduates, of all ages and types. If you enjoy this coverage on your hyper-local blog, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
At 15, Dylan Diamond built an app. Now, his Staples High School classmates had an easy way to view their schedules and grades.
Most people would have stopped there.
Diamond rolled it out nationally. It’s evolved into Saturn — a must-have calendar and time management app for high school and college students.
Customizable and shareable, it includes classes, clubs, sports practice and games, concert and show rehearsals, and more.
Dylan Diamond
As CEO of Saturn Technologies, Diamond oversees 100-plus employees, at its New York headquarters.
Long before he earned a dual degree in computer science and engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, Diamond’s Staples Class of 2017 teachers and classmates knew he’d go far.
Diamond is just one of a remarkable crop of recent SHS grads who are creating companies, raising tens of millions of dollars in funding, and redefining entire industries.
Max Hammer graduated a year before Diamond. He too went to Penn, where he majored in international relations and affairs.
Today, Hammer and classmate Josh Karol — a fellow 2016 Staples grad, who earned a degree in compueter science and mathematics at Emory University — are CEO and CTO, respectively, of CrowdVolt.
Max Hammer and Josh Karol.
Their start-up solves a problem bedeviling their generation: how to exchange rave and EDM tickets, without the hassle of buying them of Facebook Marketplace or Reddit, or paying high fees on other sites.
How serious are they? Hammer and Karol are backed by Y Combinator — the most prominent start-up accelerator in the world.
Jack Sharkey is even younger than those three. The University of Texas computer science and business grad — now CTO of Whop — is a 2018 Staples alum.
His platform connects buyers and sellers in the digital economy, focusing on influencers and content creators.
Jack Sharkey
Whop secured $17 million in a Series A funding round. Investors — including Insight Partners, the Chainsmokers fund and Peter Thiel — valued the startup at $100 million. With a million customers and 3,000 sellers, Whop has facilitated $100 million in transactions.
Like Diamond, Hammer and Karol, Sharkey got his start in Staples’ computer science program. He created an app offering schedules, sites and other info on all 27 sports played at any of Connecticut’s 183 high schools — including varsity, JV and freshman.)
Next Monday, November 25 (6:30 p.m., Westport Library), they’ll all pay it forward.
The 4 creative, hard-working entrepreneurial superstars will be featured at Startup Westport’s Young Innovators Forum.
Molly O’Shea
The Staples connection continues with the moderator. Molly O’Shea
A 2014 Staples grad who earned a BA in design and entrepreneurship at New York University, she’s a venture capital investor, and founder of Sourcery, the VC deal and startup trend newsletter.
Previous Startup Westport forums focused on women and minorities.
Now, Westport’s public-private tech and innovation partnership shines a spotlight on a new group of entrepreneurs. All are younger than 26.
Next week’s Young Innovators Forum is open to all ages.
“We are excited to welcome Staples High School students, their parents, alumni and all other Westporters for an evening celebrating the success of these extraordinary, home-grown innovators — and to hear how they journeyed from classrooms here to the pinnacle of innovation,” says Startup Westport co-founder and president Cliff Sirlin.
The panelists will discuss the challenges they’ve faced, the creative solutions they’ve pioneered, and how Westport and Staples shaped their journeys.
Hammer looks forward to inspiring others, and building connections — just as he did, a few years ago here.
Diamond adds, “The mentorship I received, and the encouragement to build products that served the community, were hugely motivating. I’m thrilled to return, to share my experiences.”
O’Shea — who is coming from California to moderate the evening — notes, “Each of these companies has achieved incredible milestones and legitimacy.
“This is not just a typical panel. They’ve collectively raised from top-tier Silicon Valley firms, hit significant growth, and reached product market fit.”
And, looking back at her alma mater, O’Shea says, “I’m excited to support Staples’ growing role in tech.”
(The Young Innovators Forum is free, but registration is required. Click here for details.)
(“06880” often highlights the success of Staples graduates, of all ages and types. If you enjoy this coverage on your hyper-local blog, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
For most of us, that’s a subjective question. Our answer depends on a wide range of factors: how much sleep we got, the weather, the news we just heard, our most recent interaction with a partner/child/colleague/boss/barista.
Lisa Hu may not know how you or I feel, individually.
But she does care — a lot — about how all of us feel, together.
The Westport resident is a founder of The Real Feel. The startup gathers quick, anonymous input once a day from users, about how they’re feeling.
Using emojis, it takes the pulse of how we — everyone — feels. Using public polling, AI and data/content analysis, it figures out why we feel that way.
The Real Feel shares those insights (anonymously) with businesses and government agencies. It’s one more way for them to make decisions, Hu says.
Though she started her professional career with Accenture and Reuters, she is no stranger to start-ups or entrepreneurships.
Lisa Hu
She was the first US employee of a British company that worked with augmented reality and computer vision in the early AI days, then created a platform that connected the supply and demand sides of veterinary medicine.
She met her husband, and had a child, in San Francisco. Both East Coast natives, they were ready to come back. They’ve settled in Westport, and love it.
“The space, the people, my daughter’s CCDC pre-school, the beauty, the beaches, the safety — everything is great, and super-convenient,” she says.
“I’m meeting lots of people. And I’m excited to meet more.”
The Real Feel is, Hu says, “the first real way to track Americans’ moods each day.” It uses a visual heatmap and AI capabilities to break down sentiment across gender, age, race, political party and other demographics.
Each week, the platform generates data reports. That allows customers to make predictive analyses, based on macro trends, consumer behaviors and preferences.
Marketers can understand customer segments, Hu says. Banks can correlate feelings with the stock market. Governments can understand how citizens feel. Other target audiences include tech firms and media organizations.
That, of course, is how Real Feel is monetized: by selling both the online reports and raw data.
Real Feel screenshot.
The methodology blends simple random sampling (sourced from panel vendor partners), while Real Feel members provide first-party data by answering weekly questions.
Combining both sources ensures a representative sample across general demographic groups, Hu says.
The questions are general. They are not on the lines of “How do you feel about the election?”
In the beginning, the data is like an early season batting average: It’s volatile, because there are so few at-bats.
With time — and more data points — it becomes much more accurate.
In other words: It’s more than a feeling.
(There are many local start-ups, and “06880” covers them regularly. If you appreciate this — or anything else on our hyper-local blog — please click here to support our work. Thank you!)
Optimum’s outage last night — affecting thousands of customers in the tri-state area — had many Westporters fuming.
And not just at the lack of internet and TV service.
Calls to the company went unanswered.
Some users heard a recording that they were experiencing a “higher than average” volume “due to the COVID pandemic.”
One caller — okay, I — heard the spectacularly unhelpful suggestion to go online, at Optimum.net.
Service has now been restored. Let’s hope their call volume is down too.
Even with everyone stuck at home, because of the pandemic.
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Westporters love our US Postal Service clerks.
From time to time, we give shout-outs to extra-special efforts. Here’s one more, from Karen Como:
“On Friday, Ruben went above and beyond for me.
“I had to return a skirt to a fly-by-night company. He found the smallest (least expensive) envelope. He folded the skirt for me, put it in the envelope, helped me attach the address with his tape, and found me the cheapest way to send it.
“Then he advised me to call my credit card company to report what I feel is a scam.
Hot on the heels of the rescue of 5 kittens from a Post Road East storm drain, comes another animal-saving story.
Once again, the Westport Fire Department and Animal Control played big roles.
Larry Hoy reports: “Yesterday morning, my son Colin Hoy and his girlfriend Zoe spotted 4 little feet hanging from the storm drain grate on Quentin Road, next to Gray’s Creek.
Trapped raccoon …
“They realized the tide would soon rise, and drown the little feller.
“Quick action by Westport’s Bravest freed the little varmint. Then Animal Control came to insure its safety.”
Well done, Colin, Zoe, the WFD and Animal Control!
… and the “grate” rescue. (Photos courtesy of Larry Hoy)
Gabriella S. Izzo died peacefully at her Westport home on Sunday. She was 87.
The native of Ielsi, Campobasso, Italy came to the US with her family in 1947. She was educated in Norwalk, and graduated from cosmetology school. She was a hairdresser in Darien for over 50 years, until her retirement in 2020.
Gabriella was a talented chef, and gave home-grown grape jelly, fresh tomato sauce, homemade sausage, Christmas cookies and Easter pies to family, friends, co-workers and cherished clients.
She honored Ielsi by cooking and baking traditional recipes for special holidays. As a longtime member of Assumption Church, she volunteered for many years. She was a member of the Catholic Daughters until it disbanded.
Gabriella was predeceased by her husband of 57 years, Joseph, and brother Nicholas Testa. She is survived by her daughter Lisa (George) Stanton of Westport, son Joseph (Jennifer) of Wilmington, North Carolina, and daughter Felicia (David) Smith, of Westport; grandchildren Melissa (Edward) Carter, Jeffrey Stanton, and Timothy and Kevin Izzo, and many nieces and nephews.
Calling hours are tomorrow (Wednesday, September 4, 5 to 8 p.m., Harding Funeral Home). A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at Assumption Church at 10 a.m. on Thursday, September 5. Interment will follow at Willowbrook Cemetery.
Condolences may be left online at www.hardingfuneral.com. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Gabriella’s name to Assumption Church.
Gabriella Izzo
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Don’t call them “birdbrains.”
Every spring, for years, birds know to return to the same spot at the Playhouse Condominiums.
There — atop a fire alarm, underneath the protected parking garage — they build their nest.
The mother sits on the eggs. Eventually, they hatch.
They hang out for a couple of months, doing whatever birds do all day.
At night, they sleep.
And next spring, the baby will return to do it all over again.
And finally … as soon as you saw the raccoon rescue story (above), you knew this was coming:
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Michael Rapaport is well known across the country, as an actor, advocate and comedian.
Westporters know him as our neighbor.
On September 15, we won’t have to travel far to hear him speak. He won’t have too far to go either.
That night, Rapaport headlines a United Jewish Federation event at Stamford’s Rippowam Middle School.
He’ll speak candidly — and humorously — about his Jewish heritage, and how it’s shaped his life and career. A Q-and-A will follow.
Tickets are $75 through September 3, then $100. Sponsorships (including cocktails, light bites and a meet-and-greet) are $500 per couple. Click here for tickets, and more information. Questions? Email dianesloyer@ujf.org.
Michael Rapaport
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Anyone can use any of the Westport Library’s many (VERY many!) resources.
And anyone can attend any of the Library’s “Anyone Can Use…” classes. They provide basic instruction, in a wide range of areas, on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to noon.
No one has to pay. They’re free! But … registration is required.
Upcoming classes include
Anyone Can Use: Candid Foundation Directory (September 4): Unlock the potential of your nonprofit’s fundraising efforts by learning how to use the Foundation Directory, a powerful tool with more than 265,000 grant-maker profiles. You’ll also learn how to enhance your organization’s visibility through the GuideStar platform. Click here to register.
Anyone Can: Save Money on Streaming with Your Westport Library Card (September 18): With your card, you can install Hoopla, Freegal and Kanopy, and their many movies, TV shows and music. Click here to register.
Anyone Can Use: Social Media for Marketing (October 2): Join a hands-on workshop exploring the nuances of Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, along with cutting-edge creator tools like Canva, CapCut and ChatGPT, to elevate your brand’s online presence and storytelling capabilities. Click here to register.
Anyone Can Use: Nexis Uni (October 16, 11 am-12 pm): Nexis Uni is a trove of information spanning centuries and continents, offering everything from Supreme Court rulings to contemporary corporate insights. Click here to register.
Westport Animal Shelter Advocates rescued one of them yesterday evening. Two more were found in a trap at 10:30 p.m.
WASA has set traps, monitors them every hour, and is fostering the kittens. They’ve gotten great help from the Westport Fire Department, which moves the heavy grates.
WASA is still working to save the remaining 2 kittens, and their mama.
(Photo courtesy of Westport Fire Department)
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Many companies are aware of the importance of cybersecurity.
Many non-profits are not.
But the threat of disruption to services, damage to the people they serve, and the erosion of public trust is as real to organizations as they are to corporations.
A special “Cybersecurity for Non-Profits” meeting is set for the Westport Woman’s Club on October 9 (breakfast networking 7:30 a.m., program 8:30 a.m.).
Bill Siegel — co-founder and CEO of Coveware, a cyber incident response firm — will speak.
For nearly a decade, Westporters have been generous supporters of Catch a Lift.
The non-profit was founded in memory of Army Corporal Chris Coffland, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. The organization has helped over 13,000 combat-injured veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq regain mental and physical health through gym memberships, home gym equipment, personalized fitness and nutrition programs, and a peer support network.
Giving money, time and personal support, Westport has welcomed Catch a Lift to town. They’ve visited our gyms, our police and fire station, the VFW, and our homes.
The 10th annual Connecticut fundraiser is September 9 (Patterson Club). The golf event is sold out, but tickets are still available for the after-golf event (4:30 to 7:30 p.m.).
You’ll be inspired by Catch A Lift Fund veterans, as they describe their triumphs over significant obstacles, on their journey to healthier futures.
Click here for details. Questions? Email jdrew@catchaliftfund.com.
Catch a Lift veterans and volunteers, at Birchwood Country Club.
Recent elections have shined a light on the importance of administering fair and transparent elections.
Some states play games with the democratic process.
Connecticut is not one of those.
Even in light-voting elections — like the August 13 primaries — state officials watch closely, to ensure fairness.
This month, our Secretary of the State — Norwalk’s own Stephanie Thomas — randomly chose 39 precincts to audit results.
Westport’s District 136-1 is number 39. All ballots cast in the Republican primary will be hand counted, to ensure that tabulators did the job accurately.
Fortunately, that’s not too labor intensive. Only 30 or so votes were cast.
If a district in our town is randomly chosen in November … well, that will take quite a bit longer.
Waiting for voters. (Photo/Dan Woog)
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We don’t know whether this guy overstayed the 60-minute limit, got nailed for parking beyond the sign, or both.
But the message is clear: No matter what kind of car you drive, you can’t escape The Law.
Former Y’s Women president Arlene Bloom died Monday. She was 91.
The Massachusetts native earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Boston University, and embarked on a career in education.
After 20 years in the classroom, she focused on teaching teachers how to accommodate differences among students in the classroom, without making anyone feel as if they did not belong.
She and her husband Herb lived in Massachusetts and Illinois, before setting in Westport. In every new place, Arlene made connections, started bridge groups, enhanced speaker series, and attended plays.
Her family calls her “a devoted and passionate friend,” who spent hours on the phone listening to and helping others. She had “2 abiding characteristics: the love of friends and family connections, and the importance of urging young people to aspire, reach high and know they can create worlds of betterment and impact.”
In addition to her leadership with Westport’s Y’s Women, Arlene was president of her Illinois chapter of the League of Women Voters, and an avid bridge player.
Arlene is survived by her daughter Sarah (Jamie Raskin), son Kenneth (Abby Meiselman), and grandchildren Hannah (Hank Kronick), Tabitha (Ryan Vogel), Phoebe and Lily. She was predeceased by her husband Herbert and grandson Thomas Bloom Raskin.
And finally … today is the 61st anniversary of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s momentous “I Have a Dream” speech, at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs & Freedom.
How far have we come? And how far do we still have to go?
(From Michael Rapaport to “Elf” auditions: If it happens here, or involves Westporters, “06880” will let you know. Please let us know you appreciate our work. Just click here to donate. Thank you!)
In just 2 years, Startup Westport has gone from a concept, to a thriving, well-known and high-achieving entity.
Just like the ideas it hopes to spawn.
Startup Westport is the town’s public/private tech and innovation partnership. Its events, programs and online presence, draw entrepreneurs and investors together.
The other day, Peter Propp and Cliff Sirlin — 2 of the group’s founders — stopped by the Westport Library.
There — on the same stage where several of their presentations have drawn SRO crowds — we chatted about Startup Westport.
What makes Westport a tech and innovation hub? Who makes up that segment of our population, and what exactly are they doing? How is Startup Westport helping, and what’s ahead?
Click below for our wide-ranging discussion. You’ll see why Cliff and Peter — and so many others — are so excited about the future.
(Click here for information about Startup Westport’s next forum on September 24: “Sustainable Success: Start-up and Investor Perspectives on B Corp and Public Benefit Corporations.)
One day last week, I logged on to my computer as usual, at 5 a.m. (“06880” gets up early.)
Instead of the familiar image I’d seen every day for several years, I was greeted with something quite different.
It wasn’t the Blue Screen of Death. But it might as well have been.
Chrome had disappeared. I was prompted to install Microsoft Edge as my default browser.
I could log on. But everything was gone: All my emails. All my documents. All my photos.
My entire online life — which, sadly, is about the same as my real life — had vanished into some (I feared) irretrievable corner of cyberspace.
The more I tried to make sense of it all, the more my computer threw me indecipherable curveballs.
Why would I want to open, randomly, Dropbox? Or Skype, which I haven’t used since Zoom became a thing?
I searched for “restore computer to earlier date.” The instructions worked fine — until they didn’t.
“No restore date available,” the box reported matter-of-factly. Sure enough, the only date it listed was that same day.
Normally, I would contact my go-to tech guru/genius/psychiatrist, Jamie Berger Katz.
But it was (by now) 5:30 a.m. Way too earlier to call her, unfortunately. (Though I did consider it. And more than briefly.)
I texted instead. “Mayday! Mayday!” I said. Then, to impart extra urgency, I described the situation — a computer version of “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.”
Jamie Berger Katz
But terror-filled questions blasted my brain. What happens if Jamie likes to sleep in? What if she is on vacation, in some place like Tenerife? How long should I reasonably expect to wait to hear back — and what if she never calls?
So I did what any normal person does in that situation.
I turned to Facebook.
On the Westport Front Porch page, I described my dilemma. I sought a calm but urgent tone, yet probably came across as teetering on a ledge (with one foot already off).
I urged/pleaded anyone with any expertise to please call.
It was 5:45 a.m. Though Facebook never sleeps, most Westporters do. My hopes were low.
At 6:30, Jamie texted me. She was happy to help!
I described all the weird stuff. She listened.
Then she said, “Take a deep breath. You’ll be okay.”
She had one request. She wanted to have her morning coffee, before tackling my case.
Of course!
I would have been happy to bring her coffee, if she wanted it. I would have made her breakfast too. But she was good.
Soon enough, Jamie called back. Through the magic of technology, she sent a link that gave her power over my screen.
I watched, impressed, as the cursor moved magically up and down. Upon commands from a few miles away, new screens opened, then closed.
“Somehow, everything is in a TEMP file,” Jamie announced. “Your computer doesn’t recognize it’s you. We’ll get it back to where it does.”
That sounded good. Of course, “we” was really “she.” I was just along for the ride.
In fact, I felt like a rider in a driverless car. Also, a patient awake during brain surgery.
Throughout it all, Jamie reassured me. “Everything is here. You haven’t lost anything. It’s all good.”
(I do back everything up on Carbonite. But I still wanted that stuff here, not in some cloud — which, I know, is not even an actual cloud.)
Soon enough, Jamie’s magic was done. “We” restarted my computer. The familiar log-in screen appeared. In a few seconds, so did my regular Chrome browser.
Everything was there. My thousands of photos. My tens of thousands of documents. My millions of emails.
Whenever anyone posts a request for computer help on Facebook, Jamie Berger Katz’s name comes up.
I’ve used her often, in non-emergency situations. She’s never failed me.
Apparently, many other Westporters love her as much as I do.
So — for many very selfish, but nonetheless valid — reasons, Jamie Berger Katz is this week’s Unsung Hero.
And if you’re ever in need of your own hero, you can find her at 203-984-3834; jbkatz@gmail.com, and/or click here. Her company name is Personalized Tech Support.
But wait! There’s a second Unsung Hero this week.
In the middle of my conversation with Jamie, I got a call from Sam Disraelly.
He’s with Your Tech Department (the name of his Wilton-based cybersecurity company), and he was very concerned.
I told him I was already in good hands.
His hands, it seems, are also quite good.
Not only was he willing to help — he followed up.
Twice. Just to see how I was doing.
I’m doing fine, now.
I am happily joyfully gleefully back on my computer, which looks just like it did before.
So I’d like to add Sam Disraelly to Jamie Berger Katz, and honor both as Unsung Heroes of the Week.
(Unsung Hero is a weekly “06880” feature. To nominate a hero, email 06880blog@gmail.com. To support our work, please click here. Thank you!)
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Before working in this field, Max was a media strategist with an extensive background in social media.
This was delivered as part of an update on the district strategic plan. I recommended that the district adjust priorities, and make the appropriate use of AI a focal point of district innovation.
Hammer looks forward to inspiring others, and building connections — just as he did, a few years ago here.
Soon enough, Jamie called back. Through the magic of technology, she sent a link that gave her power over my screen.
