June 2007 High School Renewal Newsletter Feature

Barbara Locurto Retires

Fifty-three years in the Boston Public Schools: 13 as student and 40 as teacher and administrator add up to a long, successful run for IMPACT II Director at High School Renewal Barbara Locurto.

On May 17th nearly 200 BPS staff turned out for a fabulous Hail and Farewell at Madison Park Tech Voc High's miraculously transformed Lower Cafeteria.

Special Assistant to the Superintendent Kathi Mullin, BTU President Richard Stutman, BTU Vice President Pat Connolly, Madison Park High Headmaster Chuck McAfee, and BSAC School Committee Member Jewel Cash stood at the podium and reflected and praised Barbara's career. Her dedication, energy, and lifelong insistence on making education a meaningful experience for all was highlighted.

The afternoon's highlight was Westie's Maggie Hoyt as Roving Reporter. Teachers, administrators, and students took the microphone and told stories of Barbara's success at turning teachers into entrepreneurs, presenters, techies, and even activists.

High School Renewal's Clinton Rowe was a brilliant Master of Ceremonies. Barbara, a Red Sox fanatic, was surprised with bag of Sox paraphernalia from Clinton.

It was agreed by all that retirement will not quench Barbara's spirit or her commitment to students and teachers. She will always be involved.

June 2007 High School Renewal Newsletter Feature

IMPACT II CHESP Wrap-Up Scrap Book

For four years, Boston Public School students and teachers have built successful Community, Higher Education School Partnerships (CHESP) with the help of Service-Learning grants from Learn and Serve America and the Massachusetts Department of Education.

Hundreds of teachers and thousands of students have applied their classroom learning to solve real world problems. Together they've made a difference. More important, they have bonded with college students and professors, Vista volunteers, local historians, municipal workers, policemen and policewomen, hospital personnel, and advocates for the environment, the homeless, the needy, and more.

Pictures from the past school year 2006-07 illustrate how BPS high school students engaged in the acts of kindness and responsibility that really improve the quality of life for so many. We believe that these students and teachers will continue to learn to serve and serve to learn so that the spirit of Community Service Learning will endure.

Health Career Academy's Angela Capucci, recently named an "Ambassador in Education" by the MetLife Foundation, and her Latino Multicultural Advisory class include Casa Nueva Vida and Rosie's Place as partners.	Hebrew Rehabilitation Center patients and Boston International High students in Claudia Bell's class exchange stories about cultures and traditions.
Rosalia Chiulli's Physics class work on a design for "universal dwelling" at East Boston High and then volunteer for real work at a Habitat for Humanities building site in Dorchester.	Janet Platt's math students help the Boston Day and Evening Academy garden grow by designing and building a seedling rack.
Students in Karen Prussing's Science class learn about the Mercury Cycle and share information about mercury contamination in fish.	Maurice Lane's art students educate Charlestown High about HIV and AIDS with their traveling mural, silk screens, and linoleum prints.