Berkshire Waldorf High School Wins NASA Climate Change Internship

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STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Berkshire Waldorf High School life science teacher Lee Magadini has been awarded a year-long internship with the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, working with the Climate Change Research Initiative.

Magadini is one of four interns chosen from among thousands of applicants. As a NASA GISS CCRI intern, she will work directly with NASA scientists, lead research teams and develop STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) curricula. As an associate researcher at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and a STEM education expert, Magadini will integrate NASA education resources and content into her classroom while improving STEM education within her community.

During the fall and spring terms of CCRI, the research team of NASA Principal Investigators will lead graduate-level interns and high school educators to become immersed in a NASA science research area related to climate change. High school and undergraduate students will join the teams during the summer session.

Participating high school STEM educators will develop an Applied Research STEM Curriculum Unit Portfolio that integrates components of their research into a comprehensive unit plan utilizing NASA education resources and aligning NASA Science and STEM curricula to the Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards. The teachers will then incorporate the STEM curriculum into their classrooms and also provide community STEM outreach and engagement events related to their NASA research study.

As the primary life science teacher at Berkshire Waldorf High School for the past five years, Magadini has taught biology and earth science and led annual trips to study tide pool zoology on Hermit Island, Maine. She holds a master of arts degree from New York University in high school life science education, and also teaches at the Secondary School for Field Research, in partnership with the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and participating New York City public schools.


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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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