Category Archives: Teenagers

“Students Speak”: Teen Volunteers Change Lives — And Their Own

Posted on April 23, 2026 | 1 comment

Jonathan Dobin-Smith is a Staples High School senior, and regional director for Circle of Friends. The non-profit involves children, teenagers and adults with autism and disabilities in a full array of inclusive social experiences.

In the fall, Jonny — who received Circle of Friends’ Mildred H. Schwartz Scholarship for Outstanding Volunteering and Leadership — heads to the University of Chicago. He writes:

No place epitomizes the meaning of “community” quite like Circle of Friends, on a Sunday afternoon. Volunteers, instructors and neurodivergent participants burst through the door in a torrent of excitement.

Neurodivergent kids often find themselves feeling left out. They aren’t invited to birthday parties or playdates, and have a hard time creating lasting friendships.

At COF, teen volunteers spend time with our friends one Sunday per month. We schedule weekly 1-on-1 playdates separately with our neurodivergent buddies.

Walking in the door for the first time as an 8th grader, I was nervous. I had no experience working with kids with special needs. My brother had been the president of Staples’ COF chapter, and I was anxious about filling his shoes.

However, the fantastic community of volunteers and organizers make everyone feel like they belong. What was once anxiety quickly turned to excitement.

Jonny Dobin-Smith (right) and fellow volunteer Aiden Lapatine, with their friend Shai during a baking activity.

Being a part of this year’s senior class of volunteers has been a huge honor. But as our senior class heads off to Emory, Michigan, Vanderbilt, Chicago and other great schools, we leave behind a group of amazing buddies looking for new friends.

COF only works when teens in our area step up to help. I hope that everyone reading this will consider volunteering, or encouraging a middle or high school student they know to volunteer.

Getting involved with COF isn’t just a chance to positively change someone else’s world a little. It’s an opportunity to change your own, in a meaningful way.

Volunteering with COF is super flexible. There’s an opportunity to participate in group events one Sunday per month. That’s enough for plenty of volunteers. Many others also participate in my favorite program, Home with Friends, where volunteers are paired with a buddy who they visit each week, in a way that works for the volunteer’s schedule.

Volunteers easily balance activities like rowing, lacrosse, football, Players and academics with this discrete time commitment.

In 9th grade I began visiting my buddy, G. A highlight of my time with G was Halloween, when I got to relive all the best parts of trick-or-treating.

G had a buddy to go out with that night, and I had the greatest time showing him “the best streets” for candy. We had a blast.

Volunteering with COF is truly impactful. Showing up to befriend someone who feels disconnected or lonely changes their world. Being present to go for a walk, play video games, grab ice cream or play a little basketball provides an opportunity for connection and engagement. Seeing your buddy’s face light up when you knock on their front door feels amazing.

Getting to know them, and their families, is even better. Whether you volunteer for 1 year or 4, you’ll become a part of the family in the best way.

Mischpacha is a Yiddish word that means “extended family.” As part of COF, you become a part of the mischpacha.

Circle of Friends volunteers (from left)  Sammi Dreizen, Juliet Jannes, Elijah Falkenstein and Jonny Dobin-Smith.

Volunteering with COF requires no previous experience — and everyone is welcome. You don’t need any special education training or past involvement with special needs or disabilities to get involved. Just an interest in being friendly and making a difference.

The program is run out of a synagogue, but people of all different religions participate as friends and volunteers. During the recent Purim holiday, some of my friends from Staples who are Christian and Muslim helped pack gift boxes.

Volunteering with COF allows students to be creative. From creating science workshops to an entire baking program, if you have an interest that will work for the group, Freida Hecht, COF’s executive director, will encourage you to pursue it.

This is such a fun way to provide engagement during Sunday Circle events and lean into your own interests. There’s even a new leadership program next year that will award college credit to volunteers.

 

Working with an organization so dedicated to changing lives has been an honor. I encourage you and your families get to experience it, too!

COF wants to meet the needs of every family that contacts them for help. But that only happens when enough people show up.

If you are curious, you can learn more about volunteering at https://www.circleoffriendsct.org.

Our annual Evening of Recognition, which raises programming funds for the entire year, is coming up Sunday, May 3. I very much hope to see you there.

(“Students Speak” is a regular “06880” feature. Any student living or studying in Westport or Weston can submit a piece. Email 06880blog@gmail.com. To support this local blog, click here.)

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Micah Soloshatz Goes “Beyond The Mic” — Big League

Posted on April 21, 2026 | 4 comments

Writing a book is an impressive achievement.

Writing one of over 300 pages on the story of baseball, through interviews with nearly 2 dozen broadcasters — including Huge Names like Bob Costas, Chip Caray and Suzyn Waldman — is very impressive.

And to do it while just a junior at Weston High School — well, that’s the equivalent of throwing a perfect game and winning the World Series with a walk-off grand slam.

But it’s what Micah Soloshatz has just done.

“Beyond the Mic: Behind the Scenes Stories from America’s Best and Brightest Broadcasters” was published earlier this month.

Micah Soloshatz, and his book.

Icons of the broadcasting world — many of them Ford C. Frick Award winners (their equivalent of a Cy Young) — shared never-before-told stories with Micah. They offer advice for aspiring baseball broadcasters.

As a new season begins, the book is a perfect companion to watching your favorite team.

So what’s “Beyond the Mic” — or, more appropriately, beyond Micah?

The book began in 2023 with an 8th grade “Launch Class” project at Indian Hill Middle School in Cincinnati, where he lived then. (His family moved from Westport, when he was in 1st grade.)

Students picked a subject they were passionate about, and created a research-based project.

Baseball is Micah’s passion. He lived just 20 minutes from the Reds’ Great American Ball Park. During COVID — when he couldn’t go to games — he became an avid radio listener.

Cincinnati has a rich baseball history. It’s where the professional sport was born (the 1869 Red Stockings were the first “openly salaried” team). So Micah contacted Reds play-by-play voice John Sadak  public address announcer Joe Zerhusen.

Micah Soloshatz with (from left) John Sadak and former Reds star Barry Larkin. In 2021 he joined their TV broadcast team. 

Both were generous with their time. Micah realized this could become bigger than just a school project

With the confidence of a star athlete, he approached Reds’ legend (and Baseball Hall of Fame inductee) Marty Brennaman. Slowly, the book idea took shape.

For the next couple of years — continuing after a move to Weston — Micah pursued the top broadcasters in baseball.

He met Dave Sims — now the Yankees’ play-by-play commentator — when he worked with the Seattle Mariners, at the team’s hotel.

Micah and Dave Sims.

Again like an athlete, the more Micah worked at his craft — in this case, interviewing — the better he got. He honed his questions — different for each subject — and grew more comfortable asking them.

His young age was not a deterrent.

“People were so open and generous with their time,” he reports. “They saw me as someone who wanted to learn about what they do. I hope I lived up to it.”

Micah Soloshatz with Marty Brennaman. The legendary broadcaster called Cincinnati Reds games from 1974 to 2019.

Costas — the 29-time Emmy Award winner with MLB Network and NBC Sports (and the host of 12 Olympic Games) — was the biggest get.

Micah sent him a letter. The broadcaster called back. They spoke via Zoom for well over an hour.

There were in-person moments too. Philadelphia Phillies PA announcer Dan Baker invited Micah to Citizens Bank Park. He toured the media room, and watched on the field as Baker worked the game.

The 21 interviews include those who not yet in the majors, like Nick Curran of the AAA Louisville Bats and Jeff Dooley of the AA Hartford Yard Goats. Micah wanted to share their stories too.

New York Yankees broadcasters John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman. (Photo courtesy of Suzyn Waldman)

To prepare for interviews Micah used SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) archives, the Baseball Hall of Fame, ESPN, MLB.com, YouTube — anything he could find.

At the end of each session Micah asked advice, for himself and other aspiring broadcasters.

Many said something like: It doesn’t matter what sport. You may not know anything about boxing or lacrosse. But say yes to every opportunity — and then learn everything there is to know.

The bulk of “Beyond the Mic” is transcriptions of the interviews. But Micah includes a fascinating, in-depth history of baseball broadcasting (it began in 1921, at Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field), along with a glossary and very extensive bibliography.

It’s a home run. Micah’s 8th grade teacher should be very, very proud.

(“Beyond the Mic” is available on Amazon. Click here to purchase.)

(“06880” regularly covers sports, the media, the accomplishments of teenagers — and, like today, their intersection. If you enjoy stories like these, please click here to support our work.)

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Posted in Media, Sports, Teenagers, Weston

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Westport Tech Museum: Way More Than Toys In The Attic

Posted on April 20, 2026 | 13 comments

Westport is filled with hidden gems. Haskins Preserve, the pedestrian path on Compo Cove, the miracle auto repair workers at Vautrin and J&J, any dish at Jeera Thai … not everyone knows about those jewels. But everyone should.

Yet perhaps the coolest — and most secret — of all is inaccessible to nearly everyone.

There — in the attic of a private home — Jay Babina runs the Westport Tech Museum.

You can tour it online. And on Facebook.

Because it’s in his parents’ house (Jay is finishing up his first year at Manhattanville College), it’s not open to the public.

But one of the great perks about publishing “06880” is the chance to go where almost no one else can.

I’ve posted twice about Jay’s Westport Tech Museum (click here and here).

I’ve described his astonishing collection of over 500 computers, video games, calculators, cameras, radios and more.

Just a portion of the Westport Tech Museum. (Photo/Jay Babina)

From a Commodore Amiga 1000, Osborne 1, Apple IIe and original Macintosh, to a 1910 Edison light bulb that still shines, and a 1905 crank telephone that still rings, Jay has scoured the world (and eBay) to find rare, important, classic, quirky and historic products.

The other day, I paid my third visit to what may be the most astonishing private museum in America.

Jay — who haunts the internet with the tenacity and instincts of Kojak, Columbo and Jessica Fletcher combined — proudly showed off a host of new acquisitions.

He began with the most beautiful object in his collection: a hand-painted horn from an early Thomas Edison phonograph.

That was impressive enough. But then Jay picked up a wax cylinder — the precursor to “records.”

I was astonished.

But I was even more gobsmacked seconds later, when Jay placed the cylinder on the phonograph — and played it.

Music recorded well over a century ago filled the attic. I could have ended the tour right then, and been thrilled.

But Jay had much more to show.

Decades after the phonograph — as LP records were being replaced by 45s (kids: ask your grandparents) — the transistor revolutionized radio.

Of course, Jay had a transistor radio.

Of course, it was one of the first ever produced.

Of course, he also had a very early transistor. That’s how Jay rolls.

Transistor radio (right); transistor in a plastic cube (left).

Soon, we got into the “modern” era. (Still: Kids, ask your parents.)

Jay recently added the first commercial beeper pager (a 1964 Motorola Pageboy) to his collection.

The first two-way messaging pager was the 1995 Motorola Tango. But — because Jay does not do things half-heartedly — he has it in a pre-release version, when it was called SkyTel. He searched for 5 years, and finally found it on eBay.

Who remembers answering machines? A better question: Who remembers the very first ones — with little tape reels inside?

Jay does. (Even though he was not born for another 3-plus decades.)

His museum now includes the first consumer residential answering machine: the 1971 Phone-Mate 400.

It was complicated. Callers had to be instructed what to do.

It still works. Unfortunately, Jay’s Tech Museum lacks one thing: a landline to plug it into.

The first answering machine included separate tape reels for the outgoing message, and incoming calls. 

Then came an early cellphone with camera …

… and one of the first VHS recorders …

… plus another item Jay searched for for years: a Sony Walkman. This 1980 model was the first in the US; it came a year after the device took Japan by storm.

Jay showed me — and explained, in historical detail — an HP35 (the world’s first scientific pocket calculator, the “slide rule killer” that some feared would lead to the decline of math skills across America); a Rocket e-book reader, which retailed for $499 and debuted 9 years before the Kindle, and a PalmPilot, with a whopping 128K of memory.

Of course, Jay also found an original box.

There are plenty of original iPhones floating around.

But who has an original bag (rear in photo below), issued by Apple only to customers ordering on the very first launch date (June 29, 2007)?

Jay Babina, of course.

Every item has a back story. And Jay tells them all well.

Of the Commodore home computer, he describes the company’s price war with Texas Instruments.

Commodore slashed the price from $525 to $49. They lost $300 million in one quarter, and went bankrupt in 1994.

Jay has a Commodore (below) and a TI99. Both have dial-up modems. Both still work.

Jay is fascinated by failure.

In 1995, Nintendo’s Virtual Boy — a 32-bit tabletop console, marketed as the first to display stereoscopic 3D graphics — caused headaches and eye strain. It was a spectacular flop.

His Westport Tech Museum celebrates it all: failures and successes. Innovation and improvement. Products that look silly, and those that are beautiful.

Which brings us to one of the newest items on display in Jay’s attic: David Pogue’s just-published sweeping and mammoth (608 pages) book, “Apple: The First 50 Years.”

(All photos/Dan Woog, unless otherwise noted)

Like Jay, he is obsessed with both the broad arc of technological history, and the countless unique, often overlooked stories that contribute to it.

Pogue spent 2 decades in Westport.

Somehow, he never found his way up to Jay’s attic.

Now — as a regular contributor to “CBS Sunday Morning” — would be a great time for him to check it out.

But if he does, both he and Jay may never come down.

(“06880” often shines a light on remarkable young Westporters. If you enjoy stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

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Posted in History, technology, Teenagers

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Dave Goldshore: Behind The Decision To Step Back From Basketball

Posted on April 13, 2026 | 1 comment

Dave Goldshore is an intense coach.

In 4 years, he built the Staples High School boys basketball team into a Connecticut powerhouse.

On a Saturday night last month, the Wreckers were one game away from a momentous achievement: an undefeated (27-0) season, and the program’s first state championship since 1937.

It was a very intense moment.

Dave Goldshore reacts to a great play, in the state title game … (Photo/Ryan Allen)

But as overtime against West Haven began — with several thousand raucous fans packing the Mohegan Sun arena — Goldshore felt serene.

“I was calm,” the coach — who had spent all winter prowling the sideline, barking orders, displaying every emotion from joy to anger, encouragement to frustration, for all to see — recalled last week.

“Win or lose, this group — players, staff, managers — had done all they could. They were leaving everything on the table. I felt a great sense of pride and accomplishment.”

That overtime period ended with the teams still tied.

So did the second OT.

It took 3 overtimes — the longest in state basketball finals history — before the game was decided.

West Haven celebrated wildly. Staples — the team that had captured the town’s heart with their talent, grit and exciting, fun style of play — slumped in despair. They were one game shy of perfection; 3 overtimes away from the ultimate goal their coach had driven them toward ever since the final game of the previous year.

… and a different reaction, near the end. (Photo/Ryan Allen)

For the seniors, it was a goal Goldshore had set the day he was appointed head coach 4 years earlier, when they were rising freshmen.

Three weeks after this year’s heartbreaking loss, he called a team meeting. Just as the seniors were moving on, he would be too. After 9 years with the program — 5 as an assistant, the last 4 as head coach — Goldshore was stepping down.

Goldshore is a basketball guy, through and through. He captained his Horace Greeley High School team in Chappaqua, New York; served 3 years as a student manager (including key recruiting responsibilities) at the University of Michigan, then assisted as Somers High before moving to Westport.

He went into the technology staffing business with his father, but never lost the coaching bug. He joined Staples coach Colin Devine’s staff, then earned his “dream job” in 2022 when Devine began pursuing administrative options.

Goldshore instilled core values, like a culture of accountability. He worked with Westport’s youth basketball program. His very first year, he led the Wreckers to the state Division II, after a dramatic, last-second comeback in the semis.

The next year Staples lost in overtime, in the FCIAC (league) final. That was particularly poignant: Just 15 minutes before getting on the bus, Goldshore learned that his father had died.

Dave Goldshore, shortly after being named head coach.

Last season, the Wreckers opted to move up to Division I. Star player Sam Clachko was injured late in the year, but Staples captured a huge prize: their first FCIAC title since 1963.

This year — a season that galvanized the entire town — they made it 2 in a row.

Accomplishments like that don’t come easily. Staples coaches sign seasonal, 3-month contracts. But building and maintaining a program is a 12-month commitment.

Goldshore jokes that he had his own permanent table at the diner, for Sunday morning meetings with individual players. In addition to planning and preparation, constant communication with players throughout the off-season is essential for program-building, chemistry and success.

“Talking to kids is so important,” he notes. “It’s everything: making sure they’re doing their work, if everything is okay with school and girlfriends, mental health issues, college challenges …”

Other — but by no means all — tasks include going to youth games, building relationships with younger players and families, organizing camps — “doing everything possible to keep the Staples basketball culture alive and well.”

And once the season begins, the intensity ramps up exponentially. Goldshore says that from late November through March, he has 2 jobs: his business, from 8 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and basketball, from 2 p.m. to 10.

Coach Dave Goldshore (front, center), players and coaches celebrate their 2nd straight FCIAC championship. (Photo/Diane Lowman)

He also has a wife and family. His daughter is in college. One son is playing baseball as a freshman at Trinity College; the other is still at Staples. Personal sacrifices for them are real.

Goldshore began thinking about the future after this year’s Division I semifinal, when the Wreckers were headed to the championship.

After the heartbreaking defeat, he took time to finalize it. Goldshore wanted to be sure it was “the right choice, for the right reason — not an emotional one.” It’s time now, he says, “to make sure that my family — my nuclear family — is safe and well and healthy.”

Still, the emotional toll of his decision is real.

He will miss many things — and not just the practices and games.

“Being there for these kids, with no judgment and complete honesty … it’s so time-consuming. But in the most wonderful way possible.”

Goldshore has no plans to coach in the near future. But, he notes, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Coach Dave Goldshore, in action. (Photo/Ryan Allen)

He looks forward to watching the program “keep trending upward.” He is confident that administrators will hire someone with “very capable hands. There are plenty of great candidates on our staff who can do an amazing job — and even take it to new heights.”

It will be “difficult” for him when practice begins again next November, Goldshore admits.

“I love Staples basketball. The games are the hardest part, and in some ways the least enjoyable.”

He’ll miss “all the times with the coaches, laughing, crying, strategizing and learning.”

Most of all, he’ll miss the players.

“I’ve learned so much from them. This 50-year-old man became a better, more self-aware person because of 15- to 18-year-olds. I’ll miss all that, for sure.”

Goldshore says he is “excited about the future. I look forward to being a fan.”

And, this most intense coach — one who exudes energy on the sideline, runs demanding practices, and helped turn Westport into a basketball-crazy town — says, “I’m at peace with my decision.”

(Every day, “06880” often readers behind the scenes of Westport stories — sports, arts, politics and more. If you enjoy coverage like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

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[OPINION] “Westport Music Teachers Changed My Life”

Posted on April 8, 2026 | 17 comments

Darin Brunstad grew up in Westport, and graduated from Staples High School in 1985. He and his husband David are raising 4 children in upstate Connecticut. Darin writes: 

Whitely, Lipson, Weigle: Westport music teachers who saved me.

I think of them often these days, as my own young kids wend their ways through public school music education: choir, sax, clarinet and trumpet.

I started out labeled “gifted” — an early program which sent us to help classmates learn skills we had already mastered.

I liked helping. But by 3rd grade my life settled into the reality of a bad check- writing, alcoholic, unemployed stepfather; a clinically depressed grandmother caretaker, and a mother who was gone 12 hours a day beating her head bloody against the glass ceiling on Madison Avenue.

I changed elementary schools 6 times (including Kings Highway, Saugatuck, Coleytown and Burr Farms). Each was a progression of barely tolerable experiences, save the last one, which was more “Lord of the Flies” than anything else.

Burr Farms was one of Darin Brunstad’s several elementary schools. (Computer image by Steve Katz)

I was chubby, dirty and unkempt. I combed my hair and saw fleas stuck between the teeth. I was afraid of bathrooms because of The Terrible Thing that happened in one. So much shame and fear to keep locked away.

I also had more concussions than a child is supposed to have. (Shoutout to the Assumption kids — that was me who starred the windshield when my Grandma hit your school bus head on).

This probably fried my brain a bit. But I think most of my academic apocalypse had to do with being the new kid too many times.

Mrs. Whitely was the music teacher at my last elementary school. She had long gray hair she wore up, and glasses on a chain. I don’t think I ever saw her smile.

She was mocked and derided by students, yet somehow managed to expose us to such amazing things: outdoor winter concerts, fiery depictions of “Night on Bald Mountain,” barbershop quartets. She pulled off an excellent performance of “Solomon Grundy,” with the composer in attendance.

My first time on stage singing in her choir, watching her hands guide us along with such intensity, changed me.

The rest of the world disappeared. There was only that moment of creation — something I didn’t quite understand yet, but enjoyed immensely.

I was a boy soprano who could sing higher than any girl. Taunts of “faggot,” plus recess bullying, made me quit. I withdrew further, and spent recess volunteering in the cafeteria.

Three years of a music desert followed, as things got worse both at home and school. Even my main tormentor started feeling sorry for me, knitting his brows and saying, “Are you depressed? You seem depressed!”

By Long Lots Junior High I was too skinny, and desperately tried to make my increasingly tall and lanky body fold into itself to remain completely unnoticed.

But into a cramped basement music room with arena seating, all the way in the dark back corner of our school, came Alice Lipson. She was petite, and had hair all the way down to her waist.

Alice Lipson (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)

She tried diligently to teach us heathens about music theory, using Mozart’s “Symphony #40 in G Minor” to illustrate codas, themes and whatnot. There were even handouts. None of that made much sense to me, but the music — the music — grabbed at me.

Mrs. Lipson corralled a gaggle of reluctant 9th graders, and built an immense choir with an ambitious repertoire.

We were rowdy and disobedient, but somehow she coaxed amazing sound out of us. Some teachers in the audience at our concert actually cried. This thing we were doing not only centered me in my chaotic world, but it could affect others too?

By 10th grade at Staples I was fiercely hiding in the closet, and numbing myself regularly with alcohol. I skipped school, lied a lot, and barely passed anything.

Darin Brunstad, sophomore year.

But high school brought George Weigle — an exacting and immensely gifted choir director.

We sang double choir magnificats, spirituals, and put on huge holiday productions. We sang in Latin, Hebrew, German. The professionalism he required of us made us capable musicians, and better people.

Dr. Weigle was nearing the end of his career. He had little patience for nonsense, and famously less for “mediocrity.”

Dr. George Weigle (Photo/Lynn Untermeyer Miller)

But you’d be wrong to mistake his constant look of intensity and focus as a scowl, even as he looked down at us over his glasses.

In December of sophomore year I came to school late, after a young man I knew took his life. I had spent the previous night trying my best to comfort his mother, and had helped clean up the mess so she wouldn’t have to see it when she returned from the hospital.

I wandered into his choir room and just stood there, still in shock. George Weigle quietly dismissed the 108-voice group and led me into his office. I think he talked to me for an hour.

1984-85 Orphenians.

More than anyone, George Weigle taught me the beauty of that intense moment of silence, after the conductor makes eye contact and right before he raises his baton.

Discipline, focus, intention. Then the sharp intake of breath as he raises it up.

What happens after is always a blur to me. After hours of rehearsals I get lost in the music, barely remembering anything before the final sweeping cutoff motion.

Lost in a beautiful way, though. I just go somewhere else. Somewhere happy.

Darin Brunstad’s senior portrait …

What would I have had if I hadn’t been given this gift of music by these teachers? What would have become of me? Yet my love of music endures, and is integral to my mental health. I can’t imagine life without it.

My husband and I adopted our kids from foster care later in life. l’ve witnessed how music smooths the rough places for them, but those will be their own stories to tell someday.

,,, and today, with a flower he found on the sidewalk.

So to all the beloved music teachers: If you see a kid who is struggling, music may be the answer. Maybe there’s a kid who acts out because they can’t read music and is embarrassed. That was me.

Don’t give up on them. Everything you do is important. It can even be life-saving. Every beginning squeak, scratchy string or flat note can lead to something profound and permanent.

Thank you Mrs. Whitely, Mrs. Lipson, and Dr. Weigle.

George Weigle conducts the 1984 Candlelight concert production number. Darin Brunstad is in the center; he played the father in “Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.”

(“06880″s Opinion pages are open to all. Email submissions to 06880blog@gmail.com. To support this hyper-local blog with a tax-deductible contribution, please click here.)

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Posted in Arts, Education, Looking back, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Youth Commission Member Reflects; New Members Welcome

Posted on April 5, 2026 | 1 comment

Jack Thompson is a junior at Greens Farms Academy. He’s also a member of the Westport Youth Commission.

As the town body solicits membership applications for the 2026-27 school year, Jack reflects on his time on the board.

When I joined the Westport Youth Commission in September of 2024, I could never have imagined how it would impact me in so many ways.

I attended both the general meetings and project meetings each month. However, attendance is where my contribution ended. I would arrive, listen, and leave.

From time to time I would market the commission at my school by making an announcement. In reality though, I really wasn’t very involved.

That, however, changed fast.

In the summer of 2025 I sat down with both Kevin Godburn (director of Westport Youth Services) and Dr. Jill Greenberg (adult member of the WYC) to discuss a new project idea.

With the first selectman post up for election, now was the time to connect students with local politicians. Different ideas were floated. until we settled on a conversation-style event with the 3 candidates.

I would be the leader — guiding, managing and executing the project with the support of my fellow commission members. I went from being an attendee at meetings to leading a fast-paced, all-hands-on-deck project.

I ran the weekly core team Zoom meetings with Jake Shufro, Lee Shufro, Kevin Godburn and Dr. Greenberg, and kept everyone updated on what needed to be taken next.

I learned a great deal from the mentorship of Lee Shufro and Dr. Greenberg. Each meeting I improved and kept everyone on track, ensuring that the day’s agenda was covered. In the end, all our hard work paid off. The event was a tremendous success.

Jack Thompson (left), with fellow Youth Commission member Jake Shufro at the first selectman candidate’s forum.

One lesson among many I have learned is that it’s crucial to jump in from the start. I wish I had gotten involved in projects earlier.

Ultimately, though, I was able to participate in a very meaningful way. If there’s one thing people can take away from my journey on the Youth Commission, it is that any student who joins has the ability and opportunity to make a true, lasting impact.

Applications for the 2026-2027 school year are open; just click here. The deadline is May 1.

(“06880” regularly highlights Westport’s teenagers, and their accomplishments. If you enjoy coverage like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

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Roundup: Osprey, Cybersecurity, Admin …

Posted on April 3, 2026 | 1 comment

It’s official: Carolyn Doan — Westport’s unofficial osprey spotter — says that the Fresh Market osprey is back.

The actual first raptor of the spring was spotted earlier, by Gray’s Creek. An earlier report of the osprey at the tall perch next to Terrain turned out to be a hawk.

Their mates will no doubt join them soon. We’ll see them building nests, fishing for food, and — hopefully — tending their young.

Carolyn Doan usually has a high-powered lens. This was taken with her iPhone. (Photo/Carolyn Doan)

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“Your State, Your Business” — the program that brings high-ranking officials to the Westport Library to share their work with business owners and residents — continued Thursday.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong — the third speaker, in the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce series — opened with “Law School 101,” which set the stage for the civil legal and constitutional law discussions that followed.

Key topics included the role of the AG here, and differences with other states; high profile issues like personal data and privacy, and cases Tong has filed on behalf of the state and its citizens.

The “Your State, Your Business” series — sponsored by the Westport Weston Chamber of Commerce — wraps up April 13 (11 a.m.). Click here for more information, and to register.

Attorney General William Tong, at the Westport Library. 

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Congratulations to Ignacy Nieweglowski, Sahil Vora, Rohan Sareen, Ezra Schwartz and Kevin Cano!

On Sunday, the Staples High School students captured first place in the Lockheed Martin CyberQuest Competition.

And they snagged gold for the second year in a row.

In the annual capture-the-flag competition, students take on a wide range of challenges designed by professional cybersecurity engineers. They include multi-step intrusion scenarios, steganography, reverse engineering, operating system exploitation, packet analysis, web vulnerabilities and social engineering.

The event was held at Lockheed Martin’s Sikorsky headquarters in Stratford. Facing teams from across the region, the Stapleites worked collaboratively through 3 hours of intense problem-solving.

Following last year’s win, the students grew Staples’ cybersecurity program, and formed a larger team.

In addition to this year’s first-place finish, the B and C teams also placed in the top 5. The B team included Anit Arvind, Tucker Eklund, Srihan Popuri, Maadhav Subramaniam and Jonah Frey, while the C team was Joey Carpenter, Cora Barrett and Nora Ismael-Bakkali.

Up next: the national semifinals. Go Wreckers!

From left: Ignacy Nieweglowski, Sahil Vora, Rohan Sareen, Ezra Schwartz, Kevin Cano.

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Speaking of Staples: Congratulations to the 24 band, orchestra and choir programs who participated in the recent Connecticut Music Educators Association All-State Festival at the Hartford Convention Center.

The 3 days included rehearsals led by guest conductors, culminating in a final performance.

Staples All-State Festival musicians included

Band: Justin Jendrock, Gargi Karve, Dylan Taylor, Christian Green (horn in orchestra)

Choir: Veronica Albee, Josie Caricato, James Donoghue, Beckwith Fipp, Catherine Herbert, Abigail Kim, Josephine Lewertoff, Jasmita Mani Lorenzato, Lyla McEntee, Sophia Macris, Christian Michaels, Denver Razza, Helen Root, Ari Sklar, Samantha Skopp

Orchestra: Kirthana Gowthaman, Isabel Jo, Isabella Mariani, Ayush Rudra, Chloe Wong

Staples’ All-State Festival musicians (missing James Donoghue and Josephine Lewertoff).

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“06880” is Westport’s full-service blog, and the Roundup is where you can find nearly every service: upcoming events, achievements, obituaries.

The other day, we helped a Westport firm find a summer intern.

The New England Consulting Group received inquiries from several outstanding applicants. They extended an offer to a Staples graduate.

Now they’ve got another opening. This is for a part-time, experienced administrative assistant. For details, contact Applicants can contact Susan Owen, CFO: seo@necg.net (put “part-time admin at NECG” in the subject line), or call 203-297-9389.

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The other day, Scott Smith enjoyed an annual visit from a pileated woodpecker.

“It likes to dine off the rotting logs I use to frame my backyard compost heap,” Scott says.

“It’s a beautiful bird — and big!”

It’s also today’s “Westport … Naturally” featured photo.

(Photo/Scott Smith)

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And finally … on this date in 1865, Union forces captured Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederate States of America.

(You can’t raise a Kane back up when he’s in defeat. But you can click here, to support “06880” with a tax-deductible contribution. Bells will ring, and we will thank you!)

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Posted in Environment, Local business, Staples HS, technology, Teenagers

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Westport Teen — And Town — Support Surgical Trips

Posted on March 31, 2026 | 5 comments

Miri Levin is a senior at Hopkins School. She has lived in Westport since she was 5 years old. Miri writes:

I stand 3,400 miles from home, dressed in surgical scrubs and a mask that hides my age and inexperience.

The operating room lights are bright. I feel at once comfortable and unnerved.

The scene is relatively familiar. I have been volunteering with the International Esperanza Project for 4 years.

But our surgical staff is makeshift by American standards. My mother, an accredited surgeon, will be performing reconstructive surgery after a gunshot wound to the eye.

I — a 17-year-old high school student — will be responsible for handing her the vital tools she needs. I shake off my discomfort, and arrange the surgical tools on a metal tray that stands within my mother’s reach.

Miri Levin and friend.

IEP provides high quality medical care to Guatemalan citizens who lack these resources. Every September I travel to Patzun, Guatemala with my mother to offer free medical care to individuals and families with circumscribed access to quality health care.

Our patients live in poverty, and frequently suffer from long-neglected health issues that have festered over time.

On any given day I move between numerous roles, taking and monitoring patient vitals, stocking operating rooms with surgical supplies, and soothing anxiety in children who may be visiting a doctor for the very first time.

International Esperanza Project takes a break.

My work with IEP forces me to engage with my greatest personal challenge: a sometimes haunting sense of self-doubt. While the imposter syndrome was certainly justified in my role among such experienced individuals, I often question whether I have the competence and experience to chase the accomplishments I want to call my own.

But by committing myself to stepping away from the familiar, whether geographically or intellectually, I can now call “positive risk-taker” as part of my identity.

The organization and compassion that Team Hope put forth during one week is unbelievable. From seeing thousands of clinic patients to performing hundreds of surgeries, the team blends seamlessly together even if most of them just met.

It doesn’t matter where you’re from, or where you’re going. If you come to Guatemala, you join a family. One that has dance parties during late night hospital trips, and one with some of the most gentle teachers out there, supporting and guiding you through a high stress environment that can be hard to adapt to.

During the most recent trip, we posted about a little girl suffering with childhood eye cancer. Both eyes had been removed at a young age, and her family could not afford prosthetic ones.

Within 24 hours, the Westport community raised $6,000. It was unbelievable to see how a group of people could be so generous to someone so close to my mom and me, yet so far from them.

I am so excited for the International Esperanza Project to come to Westport, this time in person. The event is April 2 at Hudson Malone (6 p.m.).

It is an honor being given the opportunity to speak about how much this trip impacted me. Now I have friends all over the world, and most importantly, so do all the patients.

Interested in attending the April 2 event? Email floralevin@drfloralevin.com.

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Remembering Perrin Delorey, At 18

Posted on March 20, 2026 | 7 comments

Perrin Delorey was a 10-year-old Westport Little Leaguer, ice hockey player and Cub Scout. He died in June of 2018. following a car accident after visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Perrin’s memory has been kept alive by his family, friends, Little League and Staples Tuition Grants. On Wednesday, his father James posted on Facebook:

Today is our son Perrin’s 18th birthday.

Perrin was a thoughtful young man with a great future ahead of him. Angela and I talk about him all the time, as do his little sisters, Mireille and Elodie. He truly is present in our family of 5.

Perrin Delorey earned a Little League game ball in May 2018.

Perrin’s friends and classmates are now high school seniors, making plans for career, public service, university. It is both difficult and wonderful to see all of their accomplishments these last 8 years – performing in school plays, excelling at athletics, making music, volunteering in our community, climbing mountains, becoming Eagle Scouts, becoming adults.

These dreams and hopes are like those we had for Perrin, and what we have now for Mireille and Elodie.

Perrin at McGill University.

This year Perrin’s classmates, led by his “identical cousin” Philip, have created the Perrin Ryan Delorey “Do Your Best” Award, a Staples Tuition Grant that – because of the generosity of so many – will be given in perpetuity to help students pursue their dreams of higher education.

The award is modeled, in part, on Westport Little League’s Perrin Ryan Delorey Sportsmanship Award, presented not to the “best” player, but to the player who works the hardest to improve and help their teammates.

Perrin Delorey at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, with Ted Williams. He was a big Boston Red Sox fan.

We are so inspired by all the recipients of this award, and look forward to the continued adventures of Perrin’s peers as they enter adulthood.

What will they teach us? Where will they take us? What will they teach others? What kind of families will they build? How many people will they help? Who will they love?

We had all these questions and great expectations for Perrin, and now have them for his little sisters.

Perrin in a Princeton shirt, from his aunt Francesca Ryan.

Today, on Perrin’s 18th birthday, please, if you can, take a deep breath, say Perrin’s name out loud, and do your best to help someone else’s dreams come true.

(To donate to Perrin’s Staples Tuition Grants award, click here. Then choose “The Perrin Delorey ‘Do Your Best’ Award,” from the drop-down menu — it’s near the bottom of that list.)

Perrin, with his Cub Scout Eclipse Award.

Perrin at the Westport PAL Rink at Longshore …

… and at his mother Angela’s Hamilton College hockey rink. 

Perrin with his godfather, Professor Triadafilos Triadafilopoulos, at the University of Toronto.

At Yale Bowl, for the Yale-Harvard game.

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Posted in Children, Sports, Staples HS, Teenagers

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Toquet Hall: Touring The Town’s Teen Center

Posted on March 13, 2026 | 2 comments

As a homeschooled middle schooler, Quinn Fitts was vaguely aware of Toquet Hall.

Yet until, as a Staples High School freshman, she heard youth board members of the town’s teen center talk about an upcoming “’20s Night” — 1900s, not 2000s — she had never gone.

But she climbed the stairs to Toquet (it’s in one of those if-you-know,-you-know locations, in the alley between the Post Road and Jesup Road by the Westport Book Shop).

Toquet Hall’s funky exterior.

Quinn walked into the wide-open room, with couches, a stage, video games and snacks. She played table games, and card games.

“It was pretty cool,” she recalls.

Toquet Hall: the view from the stage.

Two years later, Quinn is on the Toquet Hall youth board herself.

They meet weekly. They plan, and run, events. “It’s a great way to get involved in the community of Westport,” she says.

And to offer fun, low-key activities to middle and high schoolers here.

As the youth board has done for nearly 3 decades — ever since the center opened in 1998, in a 19th-century building that was once an opera house — they’ve tried to get the word out that it is a great place to hang out.

Plenty to do for everyone, at Toquet Hall.

One of the first big events Quinn helped with was “Spicy Twos” — a “Hot Ones”-esque evening. More recently, she worked on another “20s Night.”

On Friday, March 20 Toquet Hall is open from 5 to 10 p.m., for board games, card games, video games (there’s a Switch, Wii, and 3 types of Smash Bros), pool, or just talking with friends.

Pool, video games, and much more.

The next event (Saturday, March 21) is “Jeopardy Night.” In the works: a “Star Wars” movie.

And of course, there is music.

The Townies get ready to play.

Toquet also offers events for middle schoolers. (Tonight — Friday — there’s a Super Smash Bros. tournament, from 7 to 9 p.m.). And it’s open for drop-ins after school for that age group too.

Quinn is part of Staples Players. Her friends enjoy Toquet Hall (and serve on its youth board).

She wants other friend groups to come too.

“It’s a fun place to hang out,” she notes. “We don’t have other places where you can just exist for free, except the library.”

For more information, including a calendar, click here. The Instagram is @toquethall.

(“06880” often covers Westport’s youth scene — plus everything else in town. If you enjoy stories like this, please click here to support our work. Thank you!)

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