BCD Announces Classics Day Winners

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On November 8, 2003 Berkshire Country Day School Latin and Greek students attended the Pioneer Valley Classical Association's Classics Day at Belchertown High School in Belchertown, MA, according to an announcement by Robert R. Peterson, Head of School. Students were offered the opportunity to learn more about the world of the Romans and Greeks by participating in many different contests and activities. The students attended workshops and entered many contests, with B.C.D.S. winners listed: In Latin, for the Oral Interpretation Contest, novice level, seventh graders Wilson Baer, Camille Coppola, Charlotte Crane, and Emily Ury tied for first place. The judge elected not to award second or third place prizes due to the excellent performance of these seventh graders. For the intermediate level, eight graders Dan Kleederman and Corey Silberstein tied for first place, and Caroline Ellis won second place. For the Advanced Prose level, tenth grader Liana Katz won first place, and ninth grader Andrew Crane won second place. In the Advanced Poetry level, twelfth grader Jamie Kraut won first place. In Greek, tenth grader Amanda Yasinski won first place. In the Catapult Contest-Marshmallow Division, seventh graders Ben Grossman Ponemon, Robin Hackett, and Joe Mangiardi came in third place with their catapult, "Agricola". For the Costume Contest-Middle School Division, seventh graders Jessica Langman and Rosie Taylor won third place for their costumes as Calypso and Hermes. In the Myth Certamen, seventh graders Wilson Baer, Buddy Ferris, Ben Tobin and eighth grader Todd Volkman won second place. For the Art Contest0Mosaics, eight graders Caroline Ellis, Margaret Esposito and Carina Kaufman won first place; and eight graders Sam Campoli and Dan Kleederman won third place. In the Model Division, seventh grader Carline Barry won second place; and seventh graders Emily Ury, Olivia Weinstein and eighth grader Liz Ury, won third place. For Sculptures, seventh graders Camille Breslin and Sarah Steadman won first place. In the Miscellaneous Division, eighth grader Maizy Broderick-Searpa won third place. Feature presenter, Odds Bodkin, a graduate of Duke University, entertained students with his music-filled storytelling. Mr. Bodkin has taught storytelling and imagination for seven years at Antioch New England Graduate School while pursuing a full-time career as a children's author and musical storyteller. He is renowned for his epic tellings of The Odyssey and The Rage of Hercules, which has earned him a national reputation, in Billboard's words, as "a modern-day Orpheus." Beginning in sixth grade, students at BCD enroll in Latin with teachers Eugenie Fawcett, Elizabeth Baer, and Marcia Jones. Mrs. Baer is also the Greek instructor, a subject that can be taken in ninth grader. Berkshire County Day School is an independent school for pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, with 335 students from Berkshire, Columbia, Hampshire and Rensselaer counties. Its Brook Farm Campus, for students through eight grade, is located one mile south of Tanglewood's Main Entrance. Its Winthrop Campus, for students in grade nine through twelve, is located one mile north of Tanglewood's Main Entrance at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute summer home.
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Pittsfield CPA Committee Funds Half of FY24 Requests

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A few projects are not getting funded by the Community Preservation Committee because of a tight budget.

The projects not making the cut were in the historic preservation and open space and recreation categories and though they were seen as interesting and valuable projects, the urgency was not prevalent enough for this cycle.

"It's a tough year," Chair Danielle Steinmann said.

The panel made its recommendations on Monday after several meetings of presentations from applications. They will advance to the City Council for final approval.  

Two cemetery projects were scored low by the committee and not funded: A $9,500 request from the city for fencing at the West Part Cemetery as outlined in a preservation plan created in 2021 and a $39,500 request from the St. Joseph Cemetery Commission for tombstone restorations.

"I feel personally that they could be pushed back a year," Elizabeth Herland said. "And I think they're both good projects but they don't have the urgency."

It was also decided that George B. Crane Memorial Center's $73,465 application for the creation of a recreational space would not be funded. Herland said the main reason she scored the project low was because it didn't appear to benefit the larger community as much as other projects do.

There was conversation about not funding The Christian Center's $34,100 request for heating system repairs but the committee ended up voting to give it $21,341 when monies were left over.

The total funding request was more than $1.6 million for FY24 and with a budget of $808,547, only about half could be funded. The panel allocated all of the available monies, breaking down into $107,206 for open space and recreation, $276,341 for historic preservation, and $425,000 for community housing.

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