Pittsfield - Today, State Senator Benjamin B. Downing (D-Pittsfield)and State representative Daniel E. Bosley (D- North Adams) announce that two North Adams schools, Silvio O. Conte Middle School and Drury High School, have been awarded a Student Conflict Resolution Experts (SCORE) grant in the amounts of $6,987 and $10,000 respectively, for Fiscal Year 2008. The SCORE program is administered by the Office of Attorney General Martha Coakley.
"Oftentimes, peer groups can be effective mediators by being living, breathing role-models for good decision-making," observed Downing. "These programs empower students and teach our youth the skills necessary for becoming not only effective mediators, but also successful members of society. I am glad that Attorney General Martha Coakley has chosen Conte Middle School and Drury High School for this auspicious program."
The SCORE program is a student mediated violence prevention program created and funded by the Attorney General's Office in collaboration with local community mediation programs and school communities. The SCORE program emphasizes respect for self and others while highlighting productive strategies for resolving conflict and disagreement without the use of violence. Since 1989, more than 5,000 Massachusetts students have been trained as peer mediators. These students have mediated over 25,000 conflicts in schools across the Commonwealth with a 97% success rate.
Representative Bosley stated, "I am grateful that Conte Middle School and Drury High School have been selected for this program. Particularly in middle school and throughout adolescence, peer relationships play an important role in shaping their development in society. With the implementation of a successful program like SCORE, any students seeking mediation can benefit from a more comfortable atmosphere in which to resolve their issues while those serving as mediators can improve their social interaction skills while also positively contributing to their peers and schools."
This year, Attorney General Martha Coakley is offering a training program as well as the program grant. For additional information on the grant program, please visit: http://www.ago.state.ma.us/index.cfm .
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Pittsfield ConCom OKs Weed Treatment for Pontoosuc
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Pontoosuc Lake will be treated for weeds with a contact herbicide on Thursday, June 17.
Last week, the Conservation Commission OK'd a request for Diquat treatment on 53 acres of the lake.
"We have four non-native and invasive species, three of which we are controlling with the use of herbicides, and if we didn't do that control, the weeds would take over the lake and the shore," explained Lee Hauge, president of the Friends of Pontoosuc Lake and Lanesborough's harbormaster.
"All the shorelines would be unusable for swimming and even fishing, and you'd only have the center half of the lake, where you could do any boating or swimming if you could get out there."
Pittsfield and Lanesborough equally share the management of the lake and associated costs.
Hauge explained that underwater weeds were harvested for almost 20 years, and it was successful in making the lake accessible for swimming and boating, though over the years, he said, the process favored the propagation of Eurasian milfoil, which spreads by fragmentation.
"And so the result of that 20 years of harvesting control was the lake being choked by Eurasian milfoil, and the native desirable weeds were choked out of being able to grow because of the proliferation of the milfoil," he said.
The application is for 53 acres, and Pontoosuc will need to be treated again in August. This will require permission from the ConCom.
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