hello and welcome to belmont journal i'm my crowley your host this week belmont journal is your source for hyper local news and community updates we also depend on people like you for help in reporting the news this is your news program so if you don't mind please send us news updates things happening in the community and please get involved we rely on you if you'd like to get involved please send an e mail to frederick rica lo at fred at belmont media dot org next we have a segment with gavin for all the new executive director of powers music school he's going to be talking about what he brings to the school and some of his priorities for the future had been at peabody for twenty years as a student and teacher and staff member i was looking for a new opportunity of a body as part of a very large university at johns hopkins and i was really interested in being part of an independent school that was not within a large organization and powers turned out to be the perfect fit for me but my goals are really to take what ours already has which is a fantastic faculty and staff and just brings some new ideas and some structure that i think coming from a large university there was maybe too much structure and too much for your bureaucracy but i feel like a place like ours can benefit from a little bit of that  but not too much of it so it's really just about putting things in place so that people can really excel at what they do which is to teach music to kids really i think the strength of place like power is the individual attention that our students get from their teachers that every student that comes through our doors is a unique individual and our teacher has worked very hard to tailor what they're teaching to each individual student so our class sizes are small and so that there's a lot of individual intention with attention within our group classes and then in the private lessons it really is one on one tailored curriculum that  change week in and week out depending on what the students needs and wants and desires are been around for more than fifteen years it's really been an amazing resource for the community in belmont and we do a lot not just for teaching classes and lessons on campus but we have a lot of programs in the community as well as a cool storytelling program our neighborhood concert series and the belmont open scenes program that all are housed under powers  i'm excited about powers and i hope that it for folks who have driven by our school which you kind of have to do every day around here if you've driven by and wondered what we're about and what we do  just come on in and say hello i think the future is very bright here i'm here with franklin tucker of the belmont tony and franklin what's on the belmont tony in this week while we're  and you should also know something just just as a background it's good that we're finally getting candidates right now because there is a there is a flood of towns and communities that are looking for good town administrator so this is our communities and mr sweet has already applied to one so everybody's moving around so it's a good chance to get some experience candidates who've got great reputations in their towns well so that's good to know that we're going to get a chance to meet them yeah so what's what's happening in sports what's happening in sports what was starting with the we just finished the fall season we're coming up with the winter season two teams that we should look out we should be on our radar energetic and i understand that we're coming back with a number starters plus a number of players from other teams or other clubs are coming in wanting to play for belmont so this could be a very big year for  s ice hockey and on the court and on the course we have a girls basketball which is they were a semifinalist in the north sectionals last year so they went very far and they're coming back not only with the first five players so all their starters are coming back plus their two people who were the first off the bench this is going to be a very good team and using and they're going to have girls from the freshman team that are coming off a couple of a state championship so this is going to be a very strong team and they have to be because they're no longer a division two team they're division one team so they're going to guess the big girls are great frankly so next up is a new global capstone class at belmont high school where our belmont youth are learning how to design their own social action projects project based class during which students will design and implement social action project either in the local community or in the greater boston area because i love to have you all introduce yourself and share what you want to change in the world if you have the power and you have the adult support so we have have a lot of activists come in and talk to kids that are all local activists there and they're working just in the local on the local level is here and all matter in the greater boston area and some that are also working nationally and internationally i  so so my basic advice to people is trust your own instinct trust your judgment trust the people around you trust the people who are in the communities where you want to make a difference talk to them about what needs to happen and get them involved and be accountable to them not to some you know company that says they're going to help you make a strategic plan and it was really great for the students to have are because she is a belmont high school graduate she's graduate from college and ends up in harlem in one hundred sixty four an ad and out of her experiences ends up creating this huge nonprofit organization that is now up to date built thirty five thousand units of affordable housing for people in poor communities really all you need to do is make a list of things to do and then talk to people you trust about ok can you tell me who the right people to talk to  four options that the architect has come up with for the project and do we know anything about the cost of the project well it's all going to depend on the final grade configurations which still won't be voting on until february so it's about three months away when they have to vote on the great configurations which will either be grades seven through twelve right through twelve or nine through twelve and they also have to decide is it going to be a minor renovation with a major addition a major renovation with a minor addition or all new construction and depending on what they decide it's going to range from either and these are preliminary estimates one hundred eighteen million dollars to as much as three hundred million dollars about five hundred dollars a square foot well it's a lot of money but it's also important to realize too that the state will be picking up a portion of the cost when it yes believes well thirty percent of that that's why this grant process is so important and it took us about ten years to get into the ground process with them s b a so it is very important so decisions are being made very front right and there's a lot of community meetings coming up which in my article and online and i mention all these community meetings that people should go to one of them that's coming up is december twelfth it's a really important meeting that people should go to there you begin to break out into working sessions and people will get to look at the designs and draw on the you know you know like draw on them and make suggestions bill of alo chairman of the building committee stresses he wants community input this is a community project that is what he stresses that's good to know yeah yeah it really is so stay tuned next well the in the police log this week i thought it would be worth mentioning there are like two or three incidents where packages got stolen from people's front steps or front porches and this is a problem that we're seeing increasingly every  right and not just in belmont right so the message police want to get out to residents is if you are expecting a package and you're not going to be home let a neighbor know to look out for it and secure it for you or leave a note for your delivery person you know please leave it on my back porch or back steps or better yet have the package delivered to your place of work and there are some online stores that are even offering secure places where you can pick up your  not know that so this you know and this is the thing mike in such a busy world that we're in everybody's just ordering online you don't have time to go into the stores however that's going to lead to my next very important story this week which is about the gifts of hope campaign to benefit the belmont food pantry well that's great and the reason i mention like how you don't you know some of your shopping you may want to reserve to shop locally because local businesses which i have on these this just poster  december eleventh all these local businesses in belmont center bells and whistle a fine wine toy shop of belmont cambridge where champions thirty pedals boutique everybody and the two new stores dietrich's and local route they're all having fun r fundraisers as part of the gifts of whole campaign to benefit the bone food pantry so that means that day december eleventh they're going to give a percentage of sales to the belmont food pantry now will this poster be in the paper so the people in the  windows you'll see it around know that this campaign mike has been going on for twenty years and in recent years we've raised as much as sixty five thousand dollars for the belmont for pets or it's really important because so many people depend on the belmont food pantry that was that was a great honor for patti and a very emotional time at town meeting everybody there i know you were there i was there we really appreciate patti's for it's very moving she said very moving words about all  the progress that they've made in twenty five years they're still looking for a permanent location currently they're in the basement of the mount hope church right here in belmont on lexington street but they are looking for a permanent location these funds that are raised through gifts of hope will help feed these families continue to feed these families it also helps them purchase gift cards to give to the families for the holidays so that they can purchase gifts for their for their families that's  think that we're having a telethon actually the this is a joint effort it's been going on for six years now between the belmont citizen herald and the belmont media center it's a telethon for five hours where we have i guess next up is the community calender hello i'm jane and this is your community calendar for december fourth through tenth belmont wastes no time getting in the holiday spirit this season so if you're looking to get festive you're in luck sign up for chop chop test kitchens holiday cooking workshop gave the gift of cooking and pass that gift along to kids will make delicious food gifts to give to family and friends plus a festive dish for your next holiday party this workshop is running on two separate dates this week the first for kids ages ten through twelve on tuesday december fifth from three thirty to five thirty pm and the second for kids ages six thirty nine on december tenth from one to three pm register online  on tuesday the fifth visit the habitat education center and wildlife sanctuary for a program titled going to the pines there are special places a habitat where tall pines grow small mammals salamanders and birds like these spots explore these areas and feel the soft pine needles under your feet register on the mass audubon website or by phone also on the fifth you can visit the beach street center for two different events throughout the day from one fifteen to two fifteen  street center member davis will give a presentation on peace in china in north korea one man's journey over twenty years as an architect professor and christian missionary working in china in north korea glimpse into a rare view into the realities of life in north korea as you hear about cells humanitarian work and from six to seven pm enjoy a free concert from the belmont community chorus this intergenerational chorus is mission is to unite singers from the belmont community and surrounding area in song this concert will have a variety of exciting vocal music from yesterday to today massachusetts rivers alliance is holding their annual meeting and dinner at the beach street center on wednesday december sixth from six to nine pm guest speaker gina mccarthy former administrator of the e p a under president obama will give a passionate and inspiring speech discussing the environmental challenges facing our country as well as suggestions for those of us working on these issues purchased tickets in advance and find more info on mass river alliance on thursday december seventh librarian nancy mccomb will be visiting the beach street center to demonstrate three resources free to public library card holders value line morningstar and weiss financial ratings these resources help with investment research learn about these options and which may be best for your needs from one to two p visit belmont books on thursday december seventh for reading of the names of dead girls by new york times and usa today bestselling author eric stat for the writer's bone podcasts this novel once again features detectives frank rat test as they track approved killer through rural vermont head to pine cones and needles on thursday december seventh for an adult making take craft learn how to make lavender felt dryer balls with lavender oils you can sign up by e mailing info at pine cones and needles dot com the spirit of the holidays can be found in math the russian school of mathematics is hosting a holiday magic math show that there are assemble my location on december ninth the event will take place from five to seven pm and the magic show will start at five thirty sharp bring your friends and family for this free event that is sure to be educational and entered and that's all for this week we'll see