Martha's Vineyard Megan Dooley

Chappy Native Pens Kids’ Book, Talks About Growing Up Different

Megan Dooley | Thursday, December 17 2009 - 1:04pm

As a student at the Edgartown School, a counselor once told Chappaquiddick native Stephanie Duckworth-Elliott that she wouldn’t go to college, and implied that Ms. Duckworth-Elliott would not achieve in life. The young girl had a background and home life that already separated her from other kids her age — she was a member of the only Wampanoag family living on Chappy at the time, and raised primarily by her grandfather — and the counselor’s prediction made her feel even more detached from her peers.

Authors

High School Heads’ Up: Student Skiers Must Wear Helmets Whatever the Cost

Megan Dooley

Agreeing that it’s not worth the risk to send snow club students on their annual ski trip without some added protection against injury, the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School district committee voted this week to require all students to wear a helmet when they hit the slopes.

Fishermen Persuade Selectmen to Abandon Insurance Decree

Megan Dooley

Under pressure from a vocal group of fishermen, the Chilmark selectmen this week reversed a recent decision to require Menemsha leaseholders to carry extra liability insurance at their own expense.

A lively crowd filled the town hall meeting room at the selectmen’s meeting Tuesday night to protest the vote that was quickly approved in a 2-1 vote on Feb. 16. Selectman Warren Doty voted no.

Festival Finds Itself Sitting Pretty on Chilmark Sofas at Ten Years

Megan Dooley

It took the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival about three years to get into the casual character it has enjoyed for the past seven. In the first year, a black and white printout distributed the day before the Grange Hall screenings announced a one-day program consisting of a collection of shorts, a few features and some ethnic food. The next year, a move to the Katharine Cornell Theatre in Vineyard Haven eliminated the food; eating wasn’t allowed at the site, so the festival moved again.

Blogging for Klutzes, and More

Megan Dooley

A small group of Islanders spent the six-week winter term for the Adult and Community Education (ACE MV) program preparing for spring in Nicaragua. Some were busy studying the history of Latin America and the Caribbean; others enrolled in beginner Spanish or took a one-day training workshop for teaching the English language through the arts. Some took all three.

Klezmer Jam: Musical Mishmash

Megan Dooley

For a week during the holidays this winter, Michelle Jasny left the Island for a camp in the Catskills. Armed with her accordion, she joined some 300 people at KlezKamp, a weeklong retreat for klezmer musicians. Though she’d been playing for nearly a year, and also has a background in piano and guitar, Ms. Jasny was blown away by the intensity of the repertoire, and the music. “Some of this is very fast,” she said of the traditional Yiddish music. “We were playing like nine, 10 hours a day, so it was very intense.”

Parents Share Coffee, Ideas With Principal

Megan Dooley

It’s 8 a.m. on a cold and rainy Tuesday morning and regional high school principal Steven Nixon is seated at the head of a conference table in the school’s library conference room. He leans back casually in his chair as he speaks to a room full of parents about enrollment and scheduling. These are some of the same topics wedged between business and budget discussions at high school committee meetings, which are held in the same room, but today’s event is decidedly less formal.