Our First Look at Phase Two

Last May, the kids of the Perkins School attended a ceremony. There, they saw a check, a check that was enormous in more ways than one. First it was big enough that both Senator Kerry and Mayor Menino had to hold onto it. Then, it was written for the sum of twenty-two million dollars. That's a huge amount of money!

The money will help build Phase 2 of Old Colony's renovation. Even though it's a bit hard to imagine what it will look like from drawings--they are what we have at the moment.


Look carefully on the right side of the plan. That's Phase 1, which is getting closer and closer to being done every single day. A little higher up and a little more to the left is Phase 2. It's the section with bits of peach, orange and green--with letters all over it. That won't begin for a while, but it's next.

Most importantly, what's in the middle?

We are! The Michael J. Perkins School! That means that we get to watch the process all over again, but now from different sets of windows. We have a second chance to catch up on all we missed!

Congressman Stephen Lynch...

Talking about Old Colony

When asked to sum up his childhood in Old Colony in just a few words, Congressman Lynch paused for a moment, then made his list: “Love, family, intergenerational families, pride…some hardship, and the American Dream. Those words embodied a lot of what went on in Old Colony every day.”

“Living in Old Colony was a wonderful experience,” said Lynch, who moved here as a young boy. “Like many others, we had six kids in our family--some had even more. There was never a problem getting up a baseball game, but my best memories were over at Carson Beach in summer. Some of the greatest friendships I have come from here as well. Old Colony really did shape me.”

How? “Growing up with so many kids around and having the hierarchy of the neighborhood based on age, you had to learn to get along. To deal with the push and shove of daily life.

“You know, we got the “welly” cheese and lived in subsidized housing, but I never really realized we were struggling until I ran for public office and listened to people talk about their issues” he said. “Sure, growing up I knew there were a lot of problems for a lot of reasons, from poverty to alcohol, and later the drugs.

“But I've come to understand that for many of the families living there today, much of that tension was driven by substandard housing--fifty years later, the development was showing its age. When Old Colony was built, we didn't know about the hazards of lead paint or asbestos. Old Colony was originally built for workers during the war (World War II). It wasn’t designed for the needs of children or families. So the tension was made worse by this environment. It’s got to get to you when you’re packed in like sardines.

“I take pride that the new design recognizes the needs of kids and senior citizens and people with disabilities. I’m proud that we’re making better use of the beautiful location near the beach. I think families will realize that they are important and haven’t been forgotten. And, that resources are being put into place that will improve the quality of life for them and their children. There is going to be a real tangible difference in Old Colony."

Mr. Brawer's Contest is Here!

Sometime at the end of this year or the beginning of next, Old Colony's new Community Center will open its doors and turn on its lights for all of us. By then, you will be able to look at its roof and see something else to celebrate. There will be solar panels to help provide the building with safe, renewable energy. These solar panels will use photovoltaic cells to change sunlight into electricity that will help power the building.

So here's the question for this first round of Mr. Brawer's Contest:

HOW DO PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS WORK TO PRODUCE ELECTRICITY?

Mr. Brawer is CONVINCED that if we really try, we can understand how this 21st technology works. Let's prove him right. After all, we have a whole school of people who know what Evacuation Day is, even though most people in Boston don't!

So let's tackle this problem and learn some important high school science. Another thing our kids know is that the way you learn is to wonder and guess, ask questions and look for information to answer them.

Here's a good starting question for you: What comes out of sunlight? Mr. Brawer mentioned something about photons. Also, that we have Albert Einstein to thank for figuring out how they work. We can't ask Mr. Einstein. Unfortunately he died in 1955.

But if you have any ideas about this, send them in to: mr.brawerscontest@gmail.com. By the way, ANYBODY can help us work on this problem--kids, parents, construction workers on the site, our readers from around the world, anyone. If you know the answer--GREAT! Even a guess or a partial explanation is fine. We can work together and build bits of information together until we get the answer!


Remember the email address is mr.brawerscontest@gmail.com. He's waiting for you!

Thank You, Very Much!

As we mentioned last week, Suffolk Construction was busy over the summer, not only building the new homes in Old Colony, but also fixing and painting the Perkins School. The second graders in Ms. Sweatt and Mrs. Murphy's classes were busy last week too. The kids thought the construction company and the painters deserved a official "thank you." So, yesterday they got one, second-grade style.

Mr. O'Toole of Suffolk and Mr. Schinazi of the painting company, Senices Enterprises, started out in Ms. Sweatt's class. As they folded themselves in student-sized chairs and waited, one girl overheard that Mr. Schinazi had painted the school.

"Did you do it all by yourself?" she asked. "No," he answered, "I would still be painting if it was just me. There were four of us." Four men painting the entire inside of the school seems amazing enough!



Once all the kids were assembled, two of them presented the men with a giant, beautiful card--with pictures and everything. Since everyone in the class wrote (and illustrated) a card, other students also had something to share. Mr. O'Toole and Mr. Schinazi had a pile of thanks to take back to work with them.





The pile got bigger after a visit to Mrs. Murphy's class. Some students stood and read their thank-you notes. After each one, everybody applauded. He didn't think anyone could hear, but Mr. O'Toole leaned over to Mr. Schinazi and said, "It's fun, isn't it?" Mr. O'Toole and Mr. Schinazi left with a stack of cards and letters.











We can't show you all of them; here are just a few. Remember, you can click on any picture to make it bigger.

Mr. Brawer's Contest is Coming!

It's the third day of school. Teachers are still learning names of new kids. They are still passing out supplies. And we just learned on Friday that the Perkins is going to have a new kindergarten class of 23 kids that started on Monday!!!! That makes three of them.

While the school is settling down for a year of learning, the blog is going to give you your first glimpse of a feature that you will see all year:

Mr. Brawer's Contest

At certain points throughout the year, our Principal, Mr. Brawer, is going to ask a question. And ANYBODY can try to answer it--kids, parents, construction workers on the site, anyone. If you know the answer--GREAT! Even a guess or a partial explanation is fine. We can work together and build bits of information together until we get it!

A contest usually has a prize at the end of it, doesn't it? What is the prize for winning this contest?


Only Mr. Brawer knows!

IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! PART 2

Dateline:

September 8, 2011,

8:15 a.m.











Now that the kids actually are back, we can report accurately on what they saw.

This is the view from the front door. Still a construction site, but it's really getting there.











New kids might not have known about the construction site and the progress made over the summer.

But hopefully they saw the Perkins banner right over their heads in the hallway...



























Kids who were returning, however, noticed something else right away. The inside of the school had a new paint job!



















Thanks to Suffolk Construction Company, clean white walls!
Bright blue trim! And doors of both colors!

The kids' reactions?

"It looks less oldish."

"More blue."

"Comfortable."

"It feels like there is more light because there isn't a lot
of dark red brick that you see from the window."

The architects will be glad to hear that last one.

IT'S THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Well, only sort of. This post is dated September 8th, the first day of school, but it had to be written the day before. Teachers have been busy setting up classrooms and lesson plans for the last little while, but the kids are coming in today.

Boy, will they be surprised at the changes. What a difference a summer makes!


The construction site across the street is starting to feel very finished.

And, thanks to Suffolk Construction Co., the inside of the Perkins School is looking fantastic!

Curious? Stay tuned for pictures, and the kids' reactions, tomorrow.

A Photographic Tour of "New" Old Colony 27

Photographer Kate Schulinn has spent a few days on the site capturing its people and machinery at work. We had started with her first session from late March and are now moving to the one she did in July. A picture a day. (You didn't think we'd leave you hanging all summer, did you?) The workers have made a lot of progress, haven't they?

You can see more of Kate's work (and a greater variety of subject matter) at her web site: http://momentsmatterphotography.com.

A Photographic Tour of "New" Old Colony: 26

Photographer Kate Schulinn has spent a few days on the site capturing its people and machinery at work. We had started with her first session from late March and are now moving to the one she did in July. A picture a day. (You didn't think we'd leave you hanging all summer, did you?) The workers have made a lot of progress, haven't they?

You can see more of Kate's work (and a greater variety of subject matter) at her web site: http://momentsmatterphotography.com.

A Photographic Tour of "New" Old Colony: 25

Photographer Kate Schulinn has spent a few days on the site capturing its people and machinery at work. We had started with her first session from late March and are now moving to the one she did in July. A picture a day. (You didn't think we'd leave you hanging all summer, did you?) The workers have made a lot of progress, haven't they?

You can see more of Kate's work (and a greater variety of subject matter) at her web site: http://momentsmatterphotography.com.

A Photographic Tour of "New" Old Colony: 24

Photographer Kate Schulinn has spent a few days on the site capturing its people and machinery at work. We had started with her first session from late March and are now moving to the one she did in July. A picture a day. (You didn't think we'd leave you hanging all summer, did you?) The workers have made a lot of progress, haven't they?

You can see more of Kate's work (and a greater variety of subject matter) at her web site: http://momentsmatterphotography.com.

A Photographic Tour of "New" Old Colony: 23

Photographer Kate Schulinn has spent a few days on the site capturing its people and machinery at work. We had started with her first session from late March and are now moving to the one she did in July. A picture a day. (You didn't think we'd leave you hanging all summer, did you?) The workers have made a lot of progress, haven't they?

You can see more of Kate's work (and a greater variety of subject matter) at her web site: http://momentsmatterphotography.com.

A Photographic Tour of "New" Old Colony: 22

Photographer Kate Schulinn has spent a few days on the site capturing its people and machinery at work. We had started with her first session from late March and are now moving to the one she did in July. A picture a day. (You didn't think we'd leave you hanging all summer, did you?) The workers have made a lot of progress, haven't they?
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You can see more of Kate's work (and a greater variety of subject matter) at her web site: http://momentsmatterphotography.com.