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

Residents Oppose Van Tour Plan for Edgartown

Megan Dooley

By MEGAN DOOLEY

A passionate group of Edgartown residents spoke out against allowing tour buses on narrow town streets, asking the selectmen at a public hearing Monday to preserve and promote a walking culture downtown instead.

Interim Fix at West Tisbury Intersection

Megan Dooley

Following a road safety audit held earlier this month between state and local representatives regarding the dangerous intersection at State and County Roads in West Tisbury, the state has gone ahead and installed permanent reflectors in the area, without first informing town officials.

“We had just had a meeting with the state about what to do about that intersection, and then the state went ahead and did that,” said executive secretary Jennifer Rand yesterday.

Teachers Sign New Contract

Megan Dooley

After a year of talks that both sides said took longer than usual in these economically straitened times, the All-Island School Committee and the two Island teachers’ unions have inked a contract that will hand teachers an approximate eight per cent increase in pay and step wages over the next three years.

Hail the Once and Future Book

Megan Dooley

For those who may have forgotten, the paperback novel is a lightweight paper unit with words printed on actual (not virtual) pages. In the age of the e-book, it’s difficult to imagine that this simple concept was once a ground-breaking advancement in the world of literature. But 75 years ago, it was.

Insider for High School Post; Islander for Oak Bluffs School

Megan Dooley

After a lengthy candidate search for an assistant principal to replace Neal Weaver at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, school officials have opted to hire an interim candidate internally.

Matt Mulowski, an English and English as a second language [ESL] teacher at the high school, as well as the director of the high school’s alternative STAR Program, will act as the temporary assistant principal for the coming year. He began working yesterday.

Menemsha Harbor Opens for Boaters

Megan Dooley

The Coast Guard began work in the Menemsha harbor Wednesday to remove several sunken boats, and the harbor has been reopened to recreational boating, as the town takes steps to restore function in and around the village after the fire that destroyed the historic Coast Guard boathouse early last week..

The charred remains of the boathouse and wooden pier leading out to the West Dock remain largely untouched, but town officials and employees, in conjunction with the Coast Guard, are working diligently behind the scenes to facilitate the reconstruction process.