Governor, Department of Education Announce New Native American Studies Model Curriculum
Press ReleaseGovernor Ned Lamont and the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) today announced a new partnership with Connecticut’s recognized tribal nations to create a new Native American studies model curriculum.
This partnership and model curriculum stems from recently enacted legislation requiring school districts to include Native American studies as part of the social studies curriculum in the school year commencing July 1, 2023, and each year thereafter. This model curriculum and curricular resources, once finalized, will include the study of Native American tribes in Connecticut, including Northeastern Woodland tribes.
“Connecticut students deserve to have inclusive and accurate history lessons,” Governor Lamont said. “This curriculum is an important part of acknowledging our past and historical connections with our tribal nations. We are going beyond acknowledgment by building meaningful relationships with our tribal leaders and this curriculum effort is a prime example of that.”
“This partnership with Connecticut’s tribal nations is critical to ensuring the Native American studies curriculum development process is driven by Connecticut’s native and indigenous voices,” CSDE Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker said. “It is our goal to develop nation-leading educational resources and curriculum tools with subject matter experts in their fields and community members, while providing those resources at no cost to districts.”
“Native Americans play a critical role in Connecticut’s history and continue to play a critical role in Connecticut today,” CSDE Chief Academic Officer Irene Parisi said. “This is an opportunity to fully illuminate the historical and contemporary wisdom and contributions of Native Americans. The Connecticut State Department of Education is excited for this partnership and to curate cultural assets of each Connecticut tribe.”
Each of the five recognized tribes in Connecticut has its own individual story, and this curriculum will help students become aware of them.
Staff from the CSDE Academic Office plan to release this curriculum in June 2023 and have already begun meeting with officials from Connecticut’s tribes, as well as educators and other stakeholders to develop curriculum standards to inform curriculum resources and materials for the Native American studies model curriculum. Once completed, these curriculum resources will be made available on GoOpenCT, Connecticut’s digital library of open education resources.
Earthplace’s Harbor Watch Hosts Water Quality Symposium Thursday with local High-schoolers
Press ReleaseThe Harbor Watch team is proud to announce the return of the Annual Water Quality Symposium on Thursday, December 1, at Earthplace from 6:30-7pm. Throughout the fall season, 11 high school students from Fairfield, Norwalk, New Canaan, Stamford, Stratford, Weston and Westport participated in the River Research Program, focused on studying the water quality in Stony Brook (starting south of the Merritt Parkway in Norwalk to its discharge into Saugatuck River in Westport). These students will present their findings in a conference-style poster session to community members, municipal partners and local teachers.
During this six-week program, the students learned about important local water quality issues and what Harbor Watch is doing to help track down and mitigate sources of sewage pollution in natural waterways. They were also taught methods for bacteria and nutrient testing in water and were exposed to useful field and laboratory skills, data analysis, and presentation skills.
Presentation topics will include a seasonal comparison of bacteria concentrations in Stony Brook, a multiple year comparison of bacteria data of Stony Brook, and macro-invertebrate composition analysis in Stony Brook.
Nikki Spiller, Director of Harbor Watch says, “We believe that all our education programs are vital in providing students in our community with hands-on educational experiences to solve real-world problems. While in our programs, they are given the opportunity to explore a possible career path, develop a better understanding how their actions can impact the health of these rivers and Long Island Sound and gain critical thinking and analysis skills that can be used beyond the sciences.”
Frank Richard Mori, Westporter, Died
Frank Richard Mori, of Westport, CT, passed away peacefully on November 22, 2022, in the company of loved ones. Mr. Mori graduated summa cum laude Dartmouth College and went on to earn his master's degree from Harvard Business School. Frank was a titan of industry, starting as a manager at the General Foods Company and working his way toward what would be a long and distinguished career as President and CEO of Anne Klein and CEO of Donna Karan International, where he played an instrumental role in developing the foundations of the fashion industry as it is known today. He was a philanthropic man who served on the Board of Directors of the Stride Rite Corp., Barington/Hilco Acquisition Corp., Dillards Inc., and Horizons.
Calling hours will be held on Wednesday from 4 to 8pm in the Lesko & Polke Funeral Home, Fairfield CT. Funeral services will take place on Thursday at 11am in the Funeral Home, with a reception to follow. A private interment will be held on Friday in Putnam Cemetery, Greenwich, CT. To read his complete obituary, for travel directions or to sign his online guest registry, please visit www.LeskoPolkeFuneral Home.com
Published by New York Times on Nov. 29, 2022.
Westport Man Arrested for Possession of Child Pornography; Released on $150k Bond
Press Release
On August 15th, 2022, Westport Police initiated an investigation into the possession of suspected child pornography by a local resident after receiving a cybertip from National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). The images contained in the cybertip were confirmed child pornography and the supplier of the cybertip provided the name of John Minehan as the person allegedly responsible for downloading the content.
Along with the provided images and suspect name, NCMEC also provided an IP address of the device(s) used to download the content. Search warrants were executed to identify the subscriber of the IP address which confirmed the name on the cybertip as John Minehan of Westport, CT. The Westport Police Detective Bureau executed a search warrant at the residence on October 21st, 2022 and seized several items of evidence suspected of containing child pornography. A warrant was applied for and granted.
On November 28th, 2022, Mr. Minehan turned himself into Westport Police where he was charged with the Possession of Child Pornography 1st degree and released on a $150,000.00 bond with a court date of December 8th, 2022, at Stamford Superior Court.