School Start-Time Committee: More Time Needed for Study

The Westport school system’s committee studying the controversial issue of adolescent sleep time and school starting times says it needs six to nine additional months for its work.

In a progress report prepared for Monday’s Board of Education meeting, the School Start-Time Committee said it agrees that adolescents need more sleep, that the issue is complex and multi-faceted, and that scientific evidence is inconclusive.

“The scientific literature does not provide a clear answer regarding school start time,” the committee said.

It also agreed that “the community needs to understand the problem and be actively involved with determining a solution.”

“To deal effectively with this issue will require more time,” the committee said. It said if the Board agrees, it would issue a final report between July and October 2004, depending on the pace of its remaining work.

The committee, co-chaired by Dan Sullivan, principal of Green’s Farms Elementary School, and Angela Wormser, principal of Bedford Middle School, has met 10 times since Sept. 30.

Its charge is to examine, develop and make recommendations for school start time for all Westport schools.

It was formed after the Board of Education this year ordered classes at Coleytown Middle School and Coleytown Elementary School to start half an hour earlier to save money on transportation costs.

The cost-saving measure produced an outcry from parents and was hotly debated during the recent Board of Education election.

In its progress report, the committee suggested that the issue was even more complex than the educators initially believed.

“As we learn more about the topic, more areas of issues appear,” the report said.

The committee said its remaining tasks included reviewing parent and staff surveys from Coleytown Elementary and Coleytown Middle School and conducting community forums.

It also said it wanted to calculate costs and implications of various start-time options as well as conduct a “scientifically randomized” telephone survey to determine community support for various school start time options.

Hartford Courant Editorial: Westport’s Action on Cheating Should be a Model

The Hartford Courant, in an editorial, has praised the reaction of Westport’s Staples High School to reports of cheating among its students.

It wrote: “Cheating among high school and college students is at an all-time high. Technology makes it possible, even tempting. Term papers and fake diplomas are offered for sale with abandon on the Internet. Copyrighted music is available with a click of the mouse. Electronic gadgets are capable of providing information from anywhere and using it without permission or attribution.

”Young people raised in this milieu seem not to understand or care that passing off someone else's work as one's own is plagiarism. File sharing, the practice that has the music industry in an uproar, is illegal but nonetheless rampant. It's sharing, said students at a recent high school journalism workshop. How could that be wrong?

"In some ways, this cavalier attitude is encouraged by well-publicized breaches of ethics by adults in the corporate, political and financial arenas.

”John J. Brady, principal at Westport's Staples High School, is doing something about this disturbing trend among young people by making cheating an issue. He was prompted by an essay in the school newspaper chronicling 'epidemic' cheating at the school, followed by examples of elaborate cheating schemes among students driven by academic competition.

”A funny thing happened on the way to a culture change at Staples High: The students welcomed the honest talk about the difference between pursuit of knowledge and pursuit of grades. They are involved in forming strategies for making cheating socially unacceptable. Parents and teachers are part of the effort, too.

”Westport's recognition of the seriousness of this issue and its intelligent attempt to address it should be a model for Connecticut and the nation. Parents and educators don't do children any favors by failing to teach them that hard, honest achievement is the most satisfying route to success.”

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Westport’s Sean Mulcahy to Play in Blue-Grey Game

He missed his last game at UConn due to an injury, but Westport’s Sean Mulcahy will play in a posteason all-star game that serves as a showcase for NFL scouts.

The 2000 Staples grad will play in the Blue-Grey game on Christmas in Troy, Ala., according to today’s Middletown Press.

The 6-6, 295-pound defensive tackle started in 37 straight games for the Huskies before having the streak ended in the final game of the season at Wake Forest due to a recurring neck injury.

Mulcahy recorded 37 tackles and four sacks this season. He played in all 45 games during his career before the neck injury, from which he has fully recovered, according to coach Randy Edsall.

Stop & Shop Issues Cookies Recall

Stop & Shop, which has a store in Westport, is recalling more than 6,000 boxes of its store brand assorted party cookies because nuts and milk not listed on the label pose a life-threatening risk to people allergic to those ingredients.

The recalled cookies were sold in 16-ounce, clear plastic containers in bakery sections of the chain's stores in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island. The UPC code on recalled products is 002000-043476.

Among the unlisted ingredients in some of the cookies are ground peanuts, pecans, cashews and whole milk, the Food and Drug Administration said.

No illnesses have been reported.

People with recalled cookies should return them to the local Stop & Shop for a refund; call 1-800-767-7772 for more information.

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New Asthma Study Finds Westport Children Among Lowest at Risk

A new study has found that children in Westport schools and Connecticut towns with similar socioeconomic characteristics have the lowest risk for asthma.

The report was conducted by a North Haven nonprofit organization, Environment and Human Health, Inc.

Among its authors was Nadine Schwab, supervisor of health services for the Westport school system. She is also an associate clinical professor of nursing at Yale University.

After conducting interviews with school health nurses across the state, the group found Windham County has the highest rate of asthma among elementary school children in Connecticut.

Children from urban school districts, such as Bridgeport and Hartford, also have high asthma rates. Westport and other towns in its education reference group (ERG) had the lowest rates.

The statewide rate is 9.7 percent, or one in 10 Connecticut children -- higher than the 7.8 percent rate found in a 1999 study.

"Children in urban areas get more asthma as do children in the poorest areas of the state," Schwab said.

The federally funded report calls on school districts, the state as well as the federal government to do more.

"The federal government needs to fund more research and send more money for treatment to states with the highest rates of asthma in the country," Schwab said.

Dr. Mark Cullen of the Yale University School of Medicine, said, "The most striking thing that we were able to show is an extension of what we learned last time; which is that schools in poorer school districts have more asthma."

He added, "Our study did not address home or community environments, but did demonstrate that a high proportion of Connecticut's schools have environmental problems, such as water damage, roach and pest infestations, indoor renovations, pesticide use and idling buses, which may contribute to or exacerbate asthma."

"If one extrapolates the percentage of students from K-5, who have been found in this study to have asthma, to the entire student body in Connecticut in grades K-12, then one can estimate that approximately 64,000 school children in Connecticut have asthma," said Nancy Alderman, president of the nonprofit group which made the study.

"These are extraordinarily high numbers to which attention must be paid."

The complete report is available at the Environment and Human Health, Inc. Web site.

Staples Coach Petroccio: “Nothing Can Take Away the Spirit of Our Young Men”

Staples football Coach Marce Petroccio, coming off of a 13-1 season that saw the team win the FCIAC title and end up in the state championships, has issued a public expression of thanks to the community for its support.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their tremendous support this year,” he said in a message posted Tuesday on the Staples football Web site.

“Students, teachers, administrators, parents and the community have been such a big part of our success.

"The coaches on this staff have done an incredible job and are without a doubt the best assistants in the country. We couldn't have done it without them.

“Although things didn't turn out quite the way we would have liked, nothing can take away the tremendous spirit of our young men.

“The trust, loyalty and unselfishness that was exhibited time and time again this season by our players are lessons we can all learn from.

“To them, the program always came first. Their unselfishness is what I am most proud of. They are a tremendous group who learned a lot about themselves and each other.

“You can't learn these lessons from a book or a computer, you learn them through experience.

“Finally, I know the memories of yesterday’s (Monday’s) game are painful, but in time we will talk about all of your unbelievable accomplishments and how you rallied an entire town together for 14 weeks. I love you men.”

Staples Schedules Annual Candlelight Concert

The 63nd Annual Candlelight Concert will be presented by the Staples High School Music Department on Friday and Saturday evenings.

There will be a 7 p.m. performance on Friday and a 6:30 p.m. and a 9:30 p.m. performance on Saturday.

The Friday performance and the first Saturday performance are sold out.

An announcement reminded residents that due to the construction at Staples High School, the 6:30 performance on Saturday is a half hour earlier than in previous years to allow for construction traffic congestion.

The Symphonic Orchestra, the Symphonic and Sophomore Bands, the Staples Chorus and Chorale and the Staples Choir will perform.

Each group will present individual performances with all singers joining forces with the orchestra for the traditional processional, “Sing We Noel”, and the finale, “Hallelujah Chorus."

For tickets, send a self-addressed stamped envelope indicating the number of tickets, the specific concert, and alternate time and date if the first choice is not available.

Requests should be mailed to the Music Department at Staples High School 70 North Ave., Westport, attn. Candlelight Concert. Tickets are available only by mail and may not be picked up personally at Staples.

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