I heard you when you said “it’s too new” and “we don’t know enough”. That was six months ago. I heard you when you said, “ Let’s wait and see how many people have reactions”. Here’s what we know as of today. Serious side effects are rare. Being a human…

Part 1 — Introduction I consider myself an amateur historian. I love diving into a rabbit hole and connecting threads of history to current affairs. My own family history and the intersection of race and religion constantly fascinate and frustrate my 21st-century sensibilities. In 2015, I dived into the world of politics when Bernie…

Through a 21st century lens — I was poking around archives.com and discovered a gem. It’s a town-generated historical account of Billerica. A committee was formed and evidently hired Reverand Henry A Hazan, A.M., a member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

What is a nuclear winter and why is the top Republican threatening it? — According to Live Science, nuclear winter is the theory of what will happen if humans launch a bunch of nuclear bombs at each other. The resulting climate change would prevent crops from growing, freeze lakes and rivers used for irrigation and fishing, and reduce the hospitable zone for human life. …

but be prepared for the backlash — According to Axios, President Biden is contemplating reworking our entire democracy in ways not seen since LBJ. Except they are wrong. President Regan reversed decades of progress to appease the far-right and the Evangelicals. He emboldened their fringe views, set the stage for George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George…

From March — September of 2020, I taught high school virtually while my two children attended school virtually. Asynchronous schooling was difficult but by bouncing between rooms, my 120 students and my 2 children had their needs met. In September, both schools implemented synchronized schedules. Each of my kids has…

A few years ago, my husband and I uprooted our family. We moved from the southeastern part of the U.S. to New England. Our first spring was a wonder of discovery as I learned that we had climbing roses, peonies, and lilac trees. Most of the plants in our new…

Humblebrag: I have the most amazing kids. We have real conversations and they aren’t afraid to tell me when I am wrong. — Last night I read about the Class Action Lawsuit against Epic Games for the misleading business practices in Save The World. I read a few articles by,….. And then the Complaint, the Preliminary Approval Order, and the Settlement Agreement. I came away from my research feeling like I had a…

Regarding the request by the DESE Commissioner to assume control of more urban schools — My name is Teresa English. I am a teacher at Lawrence High School and have children in the Billerica Public Schools. During the last year, the Superintendents of Lawrence and Billerica Public Schools have taken different approaches. Billerica has more students who attend in person by utilizing hybrid and remote…