The host for the morning was Brittany Decker, news reporter for WGGB, who did a fabulous job! In addition to highlighting all the wonderful things our students do at BHS, she was gracious enough after the newscast to pose with our students who requested pictures. Thanks go to Mrs. Vigneux, BHS Principal, for coordinating the visit and to the staff and students who came so early to be a part of the day! If you'd like to the video footage from the morning, click here to go to WGGB's web site.
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| WGGB's Brittany Decker with our Oriole Mascot and students at BHS this morning! |
Some Safety Notes
Dr. Nancy Spitulnik, Superintendent of the Northbridge Public Schools, shared a very important message with her families that bears passing along to you:
As you may have seen in the news, two young
children in Franklin died a few days ago when they suffocated in a cedar chest
that locked automatically, trapping them inside. These chests were
recalled by the manufacturer a number of times since 1987, and replacement
locks were provided to prevent this problem. However, many of these
unmodified chests are still in homes, and people are not aware of the potential
danger. See the information below about checking your cedar chest and
obtaining free replacement locks. Hopefully we can prevent any more
tragedies.
“Between 1912 and 1987, Lane and Virginia Maid manufactured and sold an estimated 12 million cedar chests. Cedar chests made during these years latch shut without having to depress a button. In recent years, several children have suffocated inside chests with old style locks. As a result, Lane has launched several successful programs concentrating on lock replacement. However, there are still an estimated 6 million chests that need the locks replaced. The chests are often handed down through families, and it is likely that many were purchased second-hand. (Chests manufactured after 1987 already have the new safety lock.)
Lane is providing new locks, free of charge, that will prevent entrapments because they do not automatically latch shut when the lid is closed. The new locks are easy to install by consumers in their homes.
To prevent another tragedy, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Lane are urging consumers to check their “Lane” and “Virginia Maid” brand cedar chests. The brand name “Lane” or “Virginia Maid” is located inside the cedar chest. If the lid latches shut without depressing a button on the outside of the chest, the lock needs to be replaced. Consumers should have the chest's serial and style numbers, which are branded on the outside bottom or outside back of the chest, available when contacting Lane.
“Between 1912 and 1987, Lane and Virginia Maid manufactured and sold an estimated 12 million cedar chests. Cedar chests made during these years latch shut without having to depress a button. In recent years, several children have suffocated inside chests with old style locks. As a result, Lane has launched several successful programs concentrating on lock replacement. However, there are still an estimated 6 million chests that need the locks replaced. The chests are often handed down through families, and it is likely that many were purchased second-hand. (Chests manufactured after 1987 already have the new safety lock.)
Lane is providing new locks, free of charge, that will prevent entrapments because they do not automatically latch shut when the lid is closed. The new locks are easy to install by consumers in their homes.
To prevent another tragedy, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and Lane are urging consumers to check their “Lane” and “Virginia Maid” brand cedar chests. The brand name “Lane” or “Virginia Maid” is located inside the cedar chest. If the lid latches shut without depressing a button on the outside of the chest, the lock needs to be replaced. Consumers should have the chest's serial and style numbers, which are branded on the outside bottom or outside back of the chest, available when contacting Lane.
Contact Lane toll-free at (800) 327-6944 anytime or order
the free replacement lock online at http://www.lanefurniture.com/CustomerService/Lock-Replacement.aspx
.”
In other safety news, I would like to thank the parents and guardians who came to our most recent round of Coffee and Conversation with the Superintendent gatherings and learned about revisions to our Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan and our new Emergency Operations Plan. I appreciate your interest and feedback on both plans. Both plans will be presented to the School Committee for approval in February. If you would like to see drafts of the plans, you can find links to them on the main page of our web site, www.belchertownps.org.
As a way to increase communications about issues of concerns as well as a way to push out information to the community, we have established a Twitter feed, @Belchertownps. Feel free to follow us for updates of all sorts. Please understand that we will not be checking the feed for Tweets being sent our way on a regular basis, so if you have issues and concerns it is best to contact the appropriate school or my office by phone or email. All of that contact information can also be found on our web site.
If you have any questions or comments about this blog post, please feel free to call my office at 413.323.0423 or send an email to superintendent@belchertown.org.
Just a reminder - no school on Monday due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Enjoy the long weekend!
Best regards, Dr. Judith Houle, Superintendennt of Schools
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