By James Kinneen
Hometown Weekly Reporter
For creating a seven-part video series designed to help people understand caring for the elderly free of charge, the Westwood Media Center has been awarded the Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce’s (NVCC) Paul Smith Award for Outstanding Volunteerism.
In a release, the NVCC said in part: “Our selection committee was impressed by...
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FBC presents poster to COA

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Recently, Christine Keddy, Associate Pastor for Family Education and Outreach at the First Baptist Church of Westwood, presented a framed poster of decorated handprints, created by a multitude of Westwood youth, to Lina Arena-DeRosa, Director of Westwood’s Council on Aging. It was decided that the colorful poster will hang in the hallway of...
Downey School webcast inspires thousands
Teaching children to be inclusive and compassionate is an ongoing mission in the Westwood Public Schools. When educators at the Downey School had the chance to make those principles resonate with the help of technology, a picture book and a dog, they seized the opportunity.
“This all stemmed from our ‘Same and Different’ curriculum, which...
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Woman’s Club holds Christmas party

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The Woman's Club of Westwood recently held their annual Christmas party with lots of food and festive holiday decorations. The members were dressed in their Christmas attire and looking forward to a fun time.
The Club had invited Duane Sullivan, who was raised in Westwood and attended the school system, to perform. Sullivan...
WHS Sophomores pitch in for seniors
A number of Westwood High students, teachers, and staff took part in a project last month to clean up the yards of some local senior citizens. The effort, spearheaded by the sophomore class, is part of a multi-year effort to help the community. The class of ’21 first conceived of the project as freshmen and...
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The drive of Judy Brown

By Linda Thomas
Hometown Weekly Correspondent
Her alarm clock went off on time.
But it didn’t matter.
She missed the bus anyway.
It was the beginning of the school year 1975, and Nancy Maloof Winn was starting her freshman year at Westwood High School.
She grew up over by the railroad station on Juniper Ridge Road, about a 4½-mile walk...
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COA hosts holiday luncheon

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By Alex Oliveira
Hometown Weekly Reporter
The Westwood Council on Aging hosted their annual Holiday Luncheon this past Wednesday at the NorFolk Golf Club.
With light streaming in off the fairways and across the packed dining room, 135 senior members of the Westwood community, town representatives, the police department and the North Pole enjoyed a...
Courageous conversations punctuate professional development day

During an extraordinary professional development day for Westwood teachers and staff, six students took to the stage of Westwood High School’s auditorium to talk openly about their perceptions of being students of color in a majority-white school district. Their appearance highlighted a day-long examination into race, which was guided by civil rights leader David Johns....
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Westwood schools hold winter concert

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By Alex Oliveira
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Students from the Westwood middle and high schools held their winter concert on Wednesday night in the high school auditorium. With the help of a spectacular light crew, singers, string instrumentalists, horns and percussionists transported the audience for an hour to a land of wintertime wonder.
The middle school...
Garden Club holiday party warms hearts

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By Alex Oliveira
Hometown Weekly Reporter
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Thomas Philbin takes LBE award
Thomas Philbin, Westwood's Energy Manager, was honored at the Massachusetts State House on December 6, 2018 with a Public Sector Individual Award in the 12th annual Leading by Example (LBE) awards. These awards, given by the Baker-Polito administration, recognize those who promote clean energy and sustainable initiatives. Additionally, Philbin was awarded congratulatory citations on the LBE award...
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Westwood residents contribute to Elite football success

On Dec. 2nd, at Dexter/Southfield in Brookline, MA the sixth, seventh and eighth grade Massachusetts Elite football teams won their way into the Elite 8 of the FBU National Championship.
This year’s eighth grade team features six athletes with Westwood connections. Five of the players are from Xaverian (Matt Defeo, Alex Saunders, Cole Jette, Michael Oates...
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Troop 62275 Brownies visit science lab

Girl Scout Troop 62275, a 3rd Grade Brownie Troop in Westwood, recently visited the lab of Life Biosciences in Cambridge.
The scouts were interested in visiting the lab to learn more about science, see it in action, and talk to a few female scientists about their careers, what they studied, and what they do on a...
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Murder and intrigue at Westwood Library

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By Alexander Oliveira
Hometown Weekly Reporter
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Neil Martino here for a purpose

By Linda Thomas
Westwood Hometown Weekly Correspondent
A ribbon of tracer fire cut through the night sky over the Green Zone in the middle of Baghdad.
It was a black October night in 2005. The air was cool.
Bullets were flying everywhere. No one knew where they were coming from. No one knew what was going on.
One soldier,...
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New Life to collect houseware donations

New Life Furniture Bank of Massachusetts will be collecting new and gently used housewares at its truck on Thursday, December 13, between 10:00-2:00 at the Keller Williams Realty office on 680 High St (Route 109) in Westwood.
New Life is a 501(c)3 organization that provides high-quality, gently-used household essentials and furniture at no cost to...
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Model UN Club shines at WHS
After seven years of advising the Model UN Club at Westwood High School, Chris Hilton decided this year to do something different. The faculty advisor for the group had long been one of the few with an insider’s view of what the students were doing, year in and year out; he believed that needed to...
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Librarians make recommendations at Book Buzz

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By Alex Oliveira
Hometown Weekly Reporter
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Stern Math jumpstarts early learning

Math can be hard at any age, but for Kindergarten and first grade students, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed learning new mathematical concepts for the first time. For many, this is their first foray into abstract thinking. Tools that can transform those lofty concepts into concrete processes can make all the difference. That’s exactly what...
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The Ultra living the dream
