Dear Lowell Public Schools Families, Faculty, Staff, and Community Partners,
One of Lowell's greatest strengths is the diversity of its people.
There are cultural events in our schools throughout the year, and the events especially blossom in the spring. As you will see in this newsletter, the celebration of Khmer New Year continued into May, which is also AAPI (Asian-American and Pacific Islander) month. Many of our schools hosted traditional activities such as the Butler Middle School's impressive traditional Cambodian dance performance made possible by the school's long-standing partnership with the Angkor Dance Troupe and the Washington Elementary School's immersive day of learning which included traditional Cambodian playground games and learning how to count in Khmer.
We also welcomed two very talented children's book authors to our schools who both live in Lowell. Chinese-American author Tracy Guan author of "Love is Mama's Hands" and "Lunchtime with Samnang" visited the Washington School to read to students as part of their AAPI celebration. And the Greenhalge Elementary School welcomed Brazilian-American author Zito Camillo da Silva, author of "The Buffoon Balloon" and "Dragon, Do You Believe it?" who interacted with their English Learner students in Portuguese.
The school year started coming to a close in May as Lowell High School honored their seniors for their academic and athletic achievements, awarding members of the class of 2023 more than $600,000 in scholarships. As we celebrate their achievements at this exciting time of the year and prepare for end of year celebrations, it is also important to remind our young people of the dangers of driving while impaired or distracted. Our partners from the Lowell Police Department, Lowell Fire Department, and Pridestar/Trinity EMS helped Lowell High School stage a very impactful mock crash simulation that will hopefully make all who witnessed it think twice before driving while impaired or distracted or getting into a car with someone who is.
Finally, as we close our season of celebrations and community events, please join us in the Irish Auditorium at Lowell High School on June 1 at 6 p.m. for an important community Substance Abuse forum featuring guest speaker, former NBA player Chris Herren. Our friends at the Lowell Community Charter Public School arranged for Mr. Herren to come to Lowell and the program is being presented in partnership with the City of Lowell and Lowell Public Schools. All members of the community are invited and interpretation services will be provided in Spanish, Portuguese and Khmer.
It is hard to believe the end of the school year is just three weeks away. Best of luck to all as we head into prom and graduation season!
Be Well,
Joel D. Boyd
Superintendent of Schools
In January, the Greenhalge Elementary School held a very successful family event dubbed “Braids and Fades,” where students could receive free haircuts from professional barbers and/or have their hair styled and braided by teacher Shalisa Lamb and Family Liaison Abby Phillips.
That event made Lamb realize how interested some of the students were in hair, so she created the DEI Hair Club, an after-school activity where participants learn about different types of hair, how it grows, how to detangle and style it.
“It gives the girls some self-confidence when they know how to care for their hair,” said Lamb.
In addition to the learning and creative activities, they also discuss career opportunities in the beauty industry.
On a recent afternoon, the club was visited by Leonidas Garcia, owner of Evolution Beauty Supply on Bridge Street.
She went to cosmetology school at the now defunct Blaine in Lowell, a 9-month, 1,000 hour program.
“The beauty business is about more than hair, it is about much more and there is a lot to learn,” Garcia said.
Twenty-five years ago, she started a small beauty supply store in Lawrence with $13,000.
“It is very hard when you don’t have a lot of money, but you can do it,” she said.
Garcia explained as a small business owner she had to learn all of the products, know how to handle inventory control, accounting, security, how to hire and retain employees, the best practices of customer service and so much more.
“My son was 13-years-old and loved to come to work with me,” she said. “Now he is 37. He saw how hard I worked in beauty and he worked hard.”
She displayed persistence and determination through tough times. She made the effort to go to beauty shows and meet with companies directly to get to know their products and to buy directly from them, cutting out the middleman. It was more work for her, but it allowed her to buy more product.
“I have used about 70 percent of all of the products in my store because I want to see how good a product is before I recommend it to my customers,” Garcia said. “To be a beauty supply owner you just need to know about business, but if you also know about beauty you can serve your customers so much better.”
She advised the students that if they are interested in starting their own beauty business like a store or salon, to have a plan, be responsible with money, and build up their credit. She took advantage of classes offered by the city for small business owners in areas like accounting to help increase her skills.
She built a strong customer base by being receptive to her customers’ needs, treating them with kindness and respect, and incentivizing them to send their friends to the store in exchange for free or discounted products.
“How you are seen matters,” Lamb told the students. “Be kind and be professional. Think about how you present yourself all the time.”
When Garcia tells the group that she is Dominican, a few of them excitedly perk up. They are Dominican too!
And that is part of what all of this about – representation. It is about showing the kids that there are people who look like them and have a similar background who have become very successful in their chosen profession.
Ever wonder what principals, teachers, social workers and all of your favorite school staff do AFTER school? Well, that's when they get to have recess! On a recent Thursday afternoon, Team Greenhalge climbed Christian Hill to take on Team McAuliffe in a serious game of kickball. There was some trash-talking and good natured ribbing, but for the most part everyone displayed kindness and excellent sportsmanship. Great job, adults! In the end, they played 4 innings with Team McAuliffe coming out on top in a 11-10 squeaker - must have been that home field advantage. The Greenhalge crew isn't acclimated to the higher altitude We are hoping this will be the first of many games. Any other schools ready to put together a team?
The Lowell Fire Department, Lowell Police Department, and Pridestar Trinity EMS put on an impactful mock crash on May 16 for Lowell High School seniors. Here was the scenario:
It’s prom night. Six students in two cars are driving around after a night of dancing, followed by some partying that included alcohol and/or vaping marijuana.
In the first vehicle, the kids decide they are hungry and want to grab some McDonald’s. In the second vehicle, traveling in the opposite direction, the crew is excitedly talking about a social media post and looking at their phones.
Before either driver can react, the two vehicles crash head-on in an impact so severe that two young ladies, who were not wearing seatbelts, are ejected from the vehicles. One has no pulse and is later pronounced dead on the scene. The other is critically injured and unresponsive.
The driver of the first vehicle had been drinking, but wearing his seatbelt. He emerges from the crash with minor injuries.
In the second vehicle, a passenger is trapped in the backseat and has to be extricated by the Fire Department using hydraulic tools, known commonly as the “jaws of life.”
The driver of the first car, who had planned to go to college and enlist in the U.S. Army, was instead handcuffed and hauled off to jail. He had killed his best friend. The driver of the second car was in the hospital awaiting tests to determine whether she was impaired and will be charged.
Thankfully, this scenario was a demonstration and all of the young people involved went back to school, washed the “blood” off of their faces and prepared for Honors Awards Night.
This eye-opening display was executed by the Lowell Fire Department, Lowell Police Department, and PrideStar/Trinity EMS, with support from Lowell High School, Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union, the Kiwanis Club of Lowell, the Lowell Health Department, UMass Lowell, and AAA. It marks the first time such a mock crash has been presented in Lowell.
Traffic crashes are the third leading cause of death for Massachusetts teenagers. This is primarily due to inexperience behind the wheel, lack of seat belt use and risk-taking behaviors, such as speeding and distracted driving. Alcohol can also be a factor in teen crashes, especially during prom and graduation seasons.
Following the mock crash, seniors were given the opportunity to try “drunk goggles,” which simulate what it feels like to be intoxicated. The students could not walk straight or catch a ball or frisbee thrown directly to them. Clearly, that is no time to get behind the wheel of a 2,000 pound weapon.
The first-responders who participated told students how devastating it is to have to knock on a family’s door at 2 a.m. and tell parents that their child, who they sent off to prom hours earlier, isn’t coming home. They urged the students to take precautions, wear their seatbelts, put down their phones, and call for a ride if they are intoxicated.
“This is not worth it for one night of having a good time,” said Lowell Police Officer Mindy Dower.
