Jodi Gajadar at Williams College Wins 2007 Rockefeller Brothers Fund Award

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The Rockefeller Brothers Fund has announced the award of a 2007 Fellowship for Aspiring Teachers of Color to Williams College junior Jodi Gajadar. Each year, 25 college juniors are selected to receive up to $22,100 over a five-year period. Fellows complete summer teaching projects between their junior and senior years, and teach in public schools for three years after graduation. Gajadar was born in Kingston, Jamaica and grew up in Otego, N.Y., where she attended Unatego Junior-Senior High School. She said she chose Williams College for its academic rigor, collegial atmosphere, and generous financial aid. "I was looking for a school that would be both academically challenging and rewarding, and Williams fit that description," she said. She is a double major in history and psychology, and an active public preacher for the North Adams Jehovah's Witness congregation. She has spent her summers working in the Human Resources Office at Hartwick College. After Williams she plans to earn a master's degree in education and teach at a rural public high school. "Most public attention focuses on the plight of inner-city schools," she said, "but rural schools have problems that need to be addressed as well. Having a skilled and enthusiastic teacher can make a difference in the life of a student even when the school district does not have enough funds for state-of- the-art equipment. I intend to be one of those teachers." She believes that schools would benefit from greater community involvement. "Not enough people see the work that teachers do as an investment and are unwilling to give of their resources when needed," she said. Family and community support is especially critical when districts cannot fund enrichment programs on their own. Senior Marlena A. Elmore, who graduated from Williams this year, received a 2006 Fellowship during her junior year. Elmore lives in Milton, Mass., where she graduated from Milton High School. "Williams has been great to me both academically and financially, including winning the Gilles David Adams 1967 Scholarship that supports Williams students who want to go into the teaching profession," she said. She majored in American Studies with a specialization in race and ethnicity. During the summers following her freshman and sophomore years, Elmore worked for the breakthrough program Summerbridge Cambridge, where she taught literature, creative writing, and Harlem Renaissance history to public middle school students. She also served as social studies department chair. During the summer following her junior year, Elmore was a Williams College Undergraduate Research Fellow. She did research on Zora Neale Hurston, the Harlem Renaissance writer, and the way black female identity is captured in writing. Elmore will spend one year in Duke University's Master of Arts in Teaching Social Studies program, and will teach in Durham public schools for two years after completing her degree. She wants to see increased funding for disadvantaged public schools. "The U.S. educational system should aim to bring forth the potential of every student: white, black, Asian, Hispanic, rich, and poor," she said. "Unfortunately, schools that educate minority and poor students do not have the resources and cannot provide opportunities to allow their students to bring out their potential. While I do not believe funding is the only answer, I do believe that it is an essential factor." Established in 1991, the Fellowships for Aspiring Teachers of Color initiative is a key component of the Charles E. Culpeper Human Advancement program.
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Sweetwood Owner Withdraws Williamstown Zoning Request

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — For the second straight year, the owners of the Sweetwood senior living facility have backed off a plan to ask the town's permission to convert some of its units to multifamily housing.
 
On Tuesday, the Planning Board, which had scheduled a public hearing to vet the proposal, learned that the landowner had withdrawn its request to petition May's annual town meeting to create an overlay district for the Cold Spring Road (Route 7) property.
 
For a couple of years, New Jersey-based CareOne, through its local representatives, have told town officials that Sweetwood's current model, which does not offer more advanced care for seniors as they age, is not sustainable.
 
The Sweetwood complex, which is adjacent to the grounds of the Mount Greylock Regional School, was built on a special permit that allows "assisted living" facilities on the property.
 
CareOne has been asking for zoning changes that would allow multifamily housing — i.e. regular apartments — at the site, a use that is prohibited in that zoning district.
 
Property owners are allowed to take zoning requests directly to town meeting, but the process still mandates that the Planning Board hold a public hearing on such requests prior to the May meeting.
 
"As we saw in a message this morning, the landowner has withdrawn their petition," Planning Board Chair Peter Beck said at the outset of Tuesday's meeting. "So we'll have nothing to act on. … We'll stay posted and see what comes next."
 
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