Blood Drive to Support Gibbons 8th Grader

Mark Kotosky was diagnosed with leukemia on Oct. 29.

The Kotosky family will remember Oct. 29 for more than Hurricane Sandy arriving. Gibbons Middle School eighth grader Mark Kotosky was diagnosed with leukemia that day, said his mother, Ruth Ann. Next Tuesday, a blood drive will be held in Mark’s honor from 2 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Westborough Senior Center. Anyone who can volunteer for an hour or two is asked to e-mail Ilyse Levine-Kanji at ilyselevinekanji@gmail.com. “Ilyse wanted to do something, because Sam and Mark have been friends since they were three. We don’t like to ask for things. We’re from old school, where you just do for yourself. So, I said, ‘I would greatly support a blood drive. He used a lot of blood,’” Ruth Ann said this week. Rick Kotosky, Mark’s father, said he …

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Activity Fee Family Cap Reduced For Families Only With Gibbons Students

The school committee approved the change Wednesday night.

The Westborough School Committee has lowered the activity fee family cap for families with students just at the Gibbons Middle School. The new cap for these families is $400, which is a $100 decrease. The school board also voted Wednesday night to keep the interscholastics sports fee for those families at $200 per sport. The activity fee for all other activities was reduced to $150 per activity, from $200. School committee Chairman Ilyse Levine-Kanji said the board increased several fees last year for the first time in a long time. The school committee has since heard concerns that "some of the participation at Gibbons has been down this year, particularly in intramurals," she said. Statistics provided to the board Wednesday night …

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Support for 'Spring Greening' Drive Overwhelming

The drive led locally by Westborough Project 351 Ambasssador Connor Schoen has exceeded his expectations.

Gibbons Middle School eighth-grader Connor Schoen got called to the principal’s office – at the Armstrong Elementary School – last week. Schoen left with more donated clothes, footwear, baby items and books than he could carry in one trip to his parents’ car. “(Armstrong Principal John Mendes) said, ‘Get down here, there’s a ton of donations,’ Schoen says. “And we actually had to use a dollie and make a few trips to our car with the dollie to get the donations out. Because there were a ton of donations. Our car was stuffed to the point  where once we opened the trunk, donations were falling out.” The Gibbons and Armstrong schools, as well as Schoen’s neighborhood and a local hair salon, are hosting collection boxes for clothing, footwear, …

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It's a Good Gibbons Musical, Charlie Brown

The middle school's latest theater production starts Friday night.

A twist in the upcoming Gibbons Middle School theater production would make Peanuts pianist Schroeder smile. A live orchestra will accompany the students’ performances of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” set for 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $10 for adults, and $8 for children ages 13 and under. “In the past, we’ve done shows that have CD recordings. This is the first time at Gibbons Middle School that they will have a live orchestra playing with them,” says Director Tania Taylor. SkyRise Childrens Theater, founded by Zachary and Tania Taylor, is working with the Gibbons school for the third year. “We really thought that this was a fun show,” Tania Taylor says. “These kids are younger, like the characters are…

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Eighth-Graders Will Cruise on June 12

The class votes on its end of the year trip.

Eighth graders at Westborough’s Gibbons Middle School will take an evening cruise together in June. The class “overwhelmingly” voted to have a Spirit of Boston evening cruise as its end of the year trip, School Superintendent Marianne O’Connor told the school committee Wednesday night. The students chose this option over a Spirit of Boston day cruise or a trip to the Warren Center, O’Connor said. The results were announced Tuesday, she said. However, parents will receive information that the June 12 trip “is not a mini-prom,” O’Connor said. “This is not a ‘girls dressed up and the boys dressed up.’ This is a casual affair for kids to come out,” she said. “Everybody will be required to ride the bus, and everybody will be required to go home…

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TBH

11:59 am on Tuesday, February 19, 2013

This is termed in the tourist industry as a "booze cruise." And you are right...there are plenty of kids who will not be comfortable with this type of activity and will not go. This should be appropriate for all.   more ›

Gibbons Project Manager Could be Hired Soon

Repairs and renovations are eyed.

Westborough officials hope to hire an owner’s project manager for a potential Gibbons Middle School repair and renovation project “fairly soon,” school committee Vice Chairman Stephen Doret says. Doret told the school board last week that the Sarah Gibbons School Building Committee’s decision is “the first piece of the process.” In October, the Massachusetts School Building Authority approved Westborough's application related to a feasibility study, the project's first phase. The state will reimburse Westborough roughly 43 percent of the $375,000 study, Doret said in October. Voters at town meeting approved the funds to hire an owner's project manager and an engineer "to review what's required of the project," Doret said at that time. 

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Gibbons Student Part of State Service Day

Conner Schoen is this year's Project 351 ambassador from Westborough.

Gibbons Middle School eighth-grader Conner Schoen will represent Westborough on Gov. Deval Patrick's community service team today. Schoen is among this year's Project 351 ambassadors, all eighth-graders chosen by their school superintendents for their volunteerism, event officials said in a press release. More than 300 students statewide will attend a town hall meeting with Patrick at the State House this morning, officials noted. Patrick and the students then will do community service among five non-profit and educational agencies before returning to the State House to "reflect on the day and celebrate the legacy of" Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the press release said. Patrick launched Project 351 during his 2010 inauguration to celebrate …

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Gibbons Chosen for Nation's Report Card

Selected students will take either a reading or math assessment.

The Gibbons Middle School has earned a spot on the Nation's Report Card. A sample of Gibbons students will take either a National Assessment of Educational Progress reading or math assessment on Feb. 27, Principal Jack Foley told parents in a letter today. The letter is in Gibbons' Jan. 10 virtual backpack. The students also will answer "some background questions such as how often they use computers and what types of classes they take," Foley said. The assessment will take about 90 minutes, he said. Parents of the selected students will be notified by e-mail, Foley said. The principal asked that any parents who don't want their children participating should "notify me in writing or email" by Friday, Jan. 25. "The results are completely …

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Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: BINGO Team Ready for State Robotics Finals

Gibbons and Mill Pond students are on the team.

To the Editor: Westborough’s robotics team B.I.N.G.O. (Big Ideas Never Grow Old) qualified for the state First Lego League competition at WPI in Worcester on Dec. 15, after placing at the regional competition in Agwam on Dec. 8. BINGO team members are Gibbons and Mill Pond students Dhruv Ramanujan, Kavya Krishna, Krithi Krishna, Maya Mundelboim, Pranav Sharma, Troy Kanji and Vidhur Ramanujan. During several months of hard work, BINGO came up with the idea of building a website which could connect senior citizens who might be lonely with local students interested in community service.  They also built a robot, nicknamed “Falafel,” which moves on five wheels and includes line and color sensors. This is the second year the team has worked …

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Project Manager Sought for Possible Gibbons Renovation

Westborough school officials will advertise the post next week.

Westborough school officials are advertising for an owner's project manager will be hired for a potential Gibbons Middle School renovation project. The advertisement will run in the Massachusetts Central Register next week, school committee Vice Chairman Stephen Doret said Wednesday night. Doret said he hopes to have information available to residents before the March 16 annual town meeting. In October, the Massachusetts School Building Authority approved Westborough's application related to a feasibility study, the project's first phase. The state will reimburse Westborough roughly 43 percent of the $375,000 study, Doret said in October. Voters at town meeting approved the funds to hire an owner's project manager and an engineer "to …

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