On Thursday, June 7, at 10 a.m. Berkshire Bank will present a $35,000 check that will fund the first year of the Berkshire Bank BEST (Berkshire Environmental Schools Teams) Project to the Center for Ecological Technology (CETsm) and its public school partners, including Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA).
The grant check will be presented at the Lanesborough Elementary School on Summer Street. Sixth-grade students from Lanesborough will present highlights of environmental projects from the current school year.
The grant is the first of three annual grants that will fund “learning laboratories†where students throughout Berkshire County are actively engaged through their science and technology curriculum about local and global real-world environmental issues and solutions. The Berkshire Environmental Schools Teams (BEST) Project will begin in the 2007/2008 school year with Lanesborough Elementary School, as well as Conte Middle School in North Adams and Muddy Brook Elementary School in Great Barrington.
CET will work with a team of staff and teachers from each of the participating schools to modify and incorporate into their existing Science and Technology curriculum an environmental program tailored to their local needs and interests. Topics of study include waste management (recycling, composting and waste and toxics use reduction); energy (efficiency, renewable energy and climate change); and school habitat (biodiversity and water resources).
In each subsequent year, additional schools will have an opportunity to become environmental school partners and participate in the Berkshire Bank BEST Project.
For more information contact Nancy Nylen (nancyn@cetonline.org) or Cynthia Grippaldi (413.445.4556 ext. 25 or cynthiag@cetonline.org); or contact Peter J. Lafayette (413-447-1722 or plafayette@berkshirebank.com) from Berkshire Bank.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
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Pittsfield Considers Repairing East Part Cemetery
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Historical Commission will consider grant opportunities for repairs to East Part Cemetery.
A resident reached out to the city with concerns about degradation in the half-acre burial ground at the top of Williams Street. East Part Cemetery was established in the early 1800s and has about 300 interments.
“It's a nice old cemetery, and basically, (the resident) had had concerns that the stone wall had taken some damage, the gravestones have taken some damage, and was wondering if there's anything that could be done to repair the gravestones and the wall," City Planner Kevin Rayner told the commission on Monday.
In cooperation with cemetery leadership and residents, the Historical Commission will consider applying for Community Preservation Act funds to support repairs. West Part Cemetery, on the other side of Pittsfield, has previously used CPA funds for revitalization work.
The 1080 Williams St. property is owned by the city and managed by the Pittsfield Cemetery Commission. Rayner presented photos of broken and overgrown gravestones, parts of the stone wall collapsing, and knocked-over obelisks.
Some aspects could use general maintenance and restoration, he observed.
According to the Pittsfield Cemetery and Crematory's website, East Part Cemetery was established around 1808 on land owned by Nathan Webb, who permitted and authorized its use as a public burying ground.
In 1842, Nathan Webb's son, also named Nathan Webb, deeded the property to the Methodist Episcopal Society of Pittsfield as a public burying ground, and in 1893 the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Society transferred their control of the cemetery to the Proprietors of the Pittsfield Cemetery. Their action was confirmed by the Berkshire Probate Court.
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