Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

OXFORD – Oxford High School senior John Simkus has always had a passion for building bridges and now he will pursue this passion and attend UMass Amherst in the fall and major in Engineering.

Simkus, the son of Joanna and Rooney Simkus, grew up in Oxford, where he has lived his whole life with his parents and his twin sister Christina.

Focuses on Chapter 70 funding

by Becky Harvey

OXFORD - Oxford resident and mother Brenda Ennis has been a member of the Oxford School Committee for the past nine years.  She originally ran in 2004 because she wanted to be sure the school system to which she was sending her then-young daughter was the best it could be, but she soon realized that she was passionate about making it better for all.  Though Ennis believes that many improvements have been made during her tenure as a committee member, she knows that there is still much to be done.  Knowing this, she has decided to run for a fourth term.

award ceremony to be held April 29^th in the Great Hall at the State House in Boston

by Becky Harvey
Patriot correspondent

For the past ten years, the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women has hosted an event to recognize the “Unsung Heroines” of our commonwealth. The honor originally was given to only three to five women per year, but the commission soon came to realize the vast number of women from around the state who make enormous contributions that widely go unnoticed.  It soon changed its goal to try and recognize a woman from every town in the state, each year.  Members came to realize that with 351 towns in the state, there was nowhere in the state house to host such a large endeavor.  The goal now, is to have legislators from around the commonwealth nominate deserving women.  They aim to honor “about one hundred women a year,” according to Jill Ashton who serves the Director of the committee.  “This year we’re honoring 83 women.”

By Becky Harvey
Patriot correspondent

OXFORD - The School District of Oxford’s digital conversion conversation has begun.  The school department last week hosted a panel of experts in the fields of technology initiatives and digital conversions.  As Oxford moves toward digital books and a future with iPad apps for learning, the input from other school systems that have gone through the upgrade (so to speak) is valuable.  Thursday’s meeting offered the chance for Oxford residents to be involved in the planning.  Though no decisions were made this night, information was given and questions were answered.

By Becky Harvey
Patriot correspondent

OXFORD - After opening with a moment of silence to remember three men who served the town of Oxford for many years - James Dwyer, Jon Larson and Alphonse Vigeant - selectmen chairman, John Saad opened the selectmen’s meeting on March 26, which began with a presentation by Town Accountant Donna Foglio.  She first showed the town's revenue history since 2004.  She demonstrated that the revenues are now coming mostly from the tax levy and less than half coming from state aid.  As it always has been, educational costs were the largest expenditures in the town, followed closely by health care costs.  One thing that the FY2014 budget will address is previous losses of hours for town employees, including town hall and library employees.  The new budget proposal will allow a restoration of some of the previously cut hours.  Two of the town’s health insurers, Tufts and Fallon, have not increased their fees and costs for fiscal 2014, benefiting the town’s bottom line.  There were a number of capital  requests from different departments. adding up to a little over $1.25million.  The largest capital request, representing almost a full half of the value of all capital requests, was for $500 thousand for the repair of the town hall’s clock tower.  Zeneski  noted that leaks from the clock tower have caused massive damage to the memorial marble stones in the entryway of town hall.  Public works, Public Safety and the Schools also made request for different capital projects.  All told, the town has received requests for capital expenditures in the amount of $5,645,700 for the fiscal year 2014 budget.

School committee hears about all-call glitch 

by Becky Harvey
Patriot correpondent

OXFORD - High School Principal Kevin Wells entertained questions from the school committee regarding the new "No Fragrance Policy" recently implemented at  the  high school.  Elaine Ziemba, the school nurse, who was not at the school committee meeting on Monday night, had done a lot of research, much of which came from the American Lung Association, to come up with the new policy.  There will be an addendum to the student handbook next year.  The policy goes so far as to ban scented deodorants and sprays such as Axe.  Febreze will also no longer be allowed in the locker rooms.  Faculty will also be required to follow the new rules.

By Becky Harvey
Patriot correspondent

OXFORD - The superintendent of the Oxford schools, Allen Himmelberger, began the school committee meeting on March 11 with a Smartboard presentation of the school budget for 2014.  In his presentation, he reviewed two separate budgets, a mandatory and an optimal one.  Himmelberger stated that the lack of federal funding was making a marked difference in the budget, explaining the need for two proposals. 

Districts across the commonwealth have had to spend lots of money in their quest for Race to the Top.  Mapping the curriculum to match the national common core standards and complying with the new educator evaluation system has cost much.

Text and photos by Steev Riccardo

OXFORD – Last year when we visited the Oxford High School Art Department, one of the students whom art teacher Jaimee Taborda raved about was Anissa White, then a junior.

Taborda said that White “works very hard to make things happen,” and that her peers see her as very talented. The art teacher also said that White was “getting to be more of her own artist and not just doing what I ask her to do.” She described her as being very focused.

Here we are a year later, and Anissa White is more driven and focused and active than ever, not just in art, but in many other things as well.