Emily Pillemer and Ryan Sheehan hold the Touchdown Club's Ostergren Award trophy.

Charles Skidmore, principal of Arlington High School, sent the following update May 10, to parents and guardians. This update includes information about winners of the Ostergren awards, math tutors and MCAS.

Ostergren Award

The Ostergren winner in 1950, Philomena Reid, with the 1982 winner, Dina Scianna.

The Touchdown Club provided the following:

Ryan Sheehan: The following gentleman has been described by one of his coaches as one of the most dedicated loyal players he has ever coached.

His coach said that not only has this young man made himself better by constantly going to the gym and making himself stronger but has also worked to make himself a better student and made the honor roll for the first time this year both first and second quarter. This young man has shown great character on and off the field helping coach youth baseball. He has accumulated 8 varsity letters.

He has two letters in football, a 4-year letterman in hockey and a two-year varsity baseball player. He was a GBL all-star in football this year and was in the top ofthe league for interceptions. He led his hockey team in points this season. He was chosen to participate in the all-star game in hockey this year and also chosen as all league. His peers chose him as an assistant captain on this year's tournament hockey team. He is undecided as to whether to attend Nichols to play Baseball or Becker to play Hockey. Dedicated to any team he has played on this year's Male recipient is Ryan Sheehan
 
Emily Pillemer: The following young lady is this year's winner ofthe Fredrick V. Ostregen A ward. She is loyal to her team has shown great athletic ability has demonstrated great character on and off the field and has shown consistent athletic and scholastic ability. She is a three­sport athlete, lettering 4 times in soccer, three in basketball and three in lacrosse.

A GBL all star 3 times in soccer, basketball once and lacrosse twice. She has been elected captain for all three sports. She was a member of the Div 2 North Champions girl soccer team last season. She has been chosen as an Eastern Mass all star.This year the Boston Globe and Boston Herald chose her as an all scholastic for soccer. She took two advanced placement classes this year in American Studies and Psychology. She will be attending Tufts University in the fall. This year's female recipient is Emily Pillemer.

Math Tutors
The AHS Math Team has established a tutoring program.  Tutors are available in all subjects.  This is a great opportunity to start studying for finals.  Scheduling is flexible, whatever time works for students.  If students have no time after school, arrangements during directed studies, or over the weekend, can be made. For more information, contact the Math Team at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , or stop by Mr. Bookston's room.

Math MCAS
The Math MCAS for students in Grade 10 will take place on Wednesday, May 21, and Thursday, May 22.

1960s Day
Many thanks to 11th Grade History Teacher, Melanie Konstandakis, for organizing a 1960s day on Friday May 9. Students in several eleventh grade classes met in small discussion groups with several of us old-timers who recalled the 1960s. It was a nice bit of oral history that allowed for some interesting discussion between teachers and students.

Final Exam / Important Date Schedule
Please see the attached schedule of important dates. I am attaching it as a Word and a PDF file. This document outlines important dates for seniors and underclassmen through the end of the year.

Italian Adventure
Come to Tuscany, Italy, next February school vacation, February 14th to the 22nd, 2009. This is an adult tour led by Marie Raduazzo (RAD). It includes: roundtrip flight from Boston, one (1) hotel stay in Tuscany, full breakfast daily, one lunch, two dinners, 24/7 bilingual guide, Tuscany tour, Florence tour, and four (4) included half-day visits to a spa and more!Visit Lucca and Pisa if you wish. The program fee is $2594 per person / double occupancy. Email Rad at AHS if interested at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it Come! You won’t be disappointed. Group size is limited. P.S. Families are welcomed! Featured Spa: “Grotta Giusti” in Tuscany.

 Goings-on At AHS

My first job

I got my first job when I was twelve years old and one of the things I looked forward to with having money of my own was buying my mother a nice gift for Mother’s Day. After several weeks of sleuthing for the perfect gift for my mother in downtown Boston stores, I decided on a set of boxed, fancy green guest towels - a little touch that I thought would “swank up” our house in case some dignitary ever visited us. I was very excited as Mother’s Day approached, knowing that I had a far better gift than any of my three brothers, and I anticipated a great deal of “what a good son you are” praise and recognition for my efforts.

 My mother was and is a practical woman who lived through the Great Depression and she hated waste or unnecessary spending, something I knew even at a young age, but didn’t think applied to gifts. On the big day, she opened her gift and when she saw what it was, she put it down quickly and said, “We don’t need these.” Before the day ended, my mother convinced me to return the towels and get my money back, and that’s how I finally earned my praise for being a good son on that particular Mother’s Day -- by promising to return a gift that offended my mother’s sensibilities. For year afterward my mother would preface the opening of any gift I gave her with, “It’s not towels, is it,” much to the delight of my brothers. It was a tough way to learn a lesson about buying gifts that suit, not the giver, but the receiver, but it has lasted a lifetime.

Pearl Buck once said, “Some mothers are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together.” I suspect that’s the hardest part of motherhood, getting children to realize that scolding comes from love too. I wanted to take this Mother’s Day weekend to acknowledge the wonderful mothers I meet on a regular basis at the high school. You support your children so wonderfully – from bringing in the forgotten homework or lunch to sitting in cold, rainy weather to support them on the sports field – it is a pleasure to see. And, I am sure there is the occasional scolding – from love, of course—to make sure that your children are doing what they need to do. I thank you for all your hard work, because we benefit from it on a daily basis by having bright, caring, and cooperative students in our classes. It is a pleasure to teach in Arlington, and the hard work of mothers in this town is one of the reasons for it.

Happy Mother’s Day to the moms, aunts, grandmothers, and guardians who mother all of our AHS students!

One person has commented on this article.

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Great email, Mr. Skidmore! You always seemed the practical type. Thanks for all that you do for Arlington.

 Posted 2008-05-14 09:07:12

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