Berkshire Community College Welcomes New Staff Members

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College has announced the addition of five new staff members: Meghan Callaghan, Jennifer Filippi, Erin Lynn, Matthew Palardy and Seth T. Tuper. 

Callaghan joins BCC as Dean of Teaching and Learning. She will lead the Division of Teaching and Learning Innovation. She arrives from Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC), where she worked in several roles over the past 13 years. Her responsibilities included coordinating the Office of Community Engagement, expanding outcome and assessment work into the co-curricular, serving as BHCC’s Massachusetts Community College Council union president, being a founding member of the Center of Equity and Cultural Wealth and, most recently, serving as the Associate Director of Academic Innovation and Distance Education.

She received a master of arts degree in Critical and Creative Thinking from UMASS Boston and a bachelor of arts degree in English Literature from Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington. She will be relocating to the Berkshires with her partner and two aging cats after living in the Boston area for the past 15 years.  

Filippi joins BCC as an Accountant in the Business Office. Filippi was most recently an assistant accountant for the Town of Dalton and has more than ten years of accounting-related experience, including payroll, billing, accounts payable, bank reconciliations, collections, purchase orders and various reconciliations.

Filippi is also familiar with the Massachusetts Management Accounting and Reporting System (MMARS) through her experience working at the Dalton and Pittsfield town halls. Currently a student at BCC, she anticipates graduating in December 2022 with a major in business management and continue on to MCLA to obtain her accounting degree. 

Lynn joins BCC as Director of Academic Operations. With nearly 18 years of experience in student affairs, she most recently served as an academic learning specialist at the New York College of Podiatric Medicine (NYCPM).

Lynn began her career at Arkansas State University, working first as an administrative assistant, then as an academic advisor and finally as student outreach coordinator. She then moved to New York to be the Director of Retention and Student Success at LIM College prior to her position at NYCPM.

Lynn earned a bachelor of arts degree and a master of arts degree in sociology, an education specialist degree in community college administration and, in 2021, was awarded a doctor of education in educational leadership. She is moving to the area with her fiancé Alan and her dog Lea, and she has an adult son in graduate school in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Palardy joins BCC as Tutorial Assistant after 11 years as a community tutor at BCC specializing in humanities and social sciences. During that time, he developed innovative ways to impart academic, organizational and research skills to BCC students and was named BCC’s Tutor of the Year in 2014.

Parlady has also worked as a private tutor for students in high schools and in other colleges, homeschooled students and taught English-language learners. Palardy is currently completing a master of arts degree in philosophy through St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry while regularizing a bachelor’s degree by testing equivalency through Excelsior College. He serves as a liturgist for Traditional Latin Mass communities in the Diocese of Albany and a coordinator of international discussion groups concerning philosophy, politics, religion and culture. 

Tuper, a lifelong resident of Berkshire County, joins BCC as Institutional Security Officer. Tuper graduated from St. Joseph Central High School in Pittsfield in 2003 and attended Castleton State College from 2003–2007; he continues to work on completing his bachelor of arts degree in psychology.

tuper is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, with 14 years in the Massachusetts Army National Guard and four state activations for emergencies. Tuper has more than 20 years of experience in emergency services, with the last 10 years specifically dedicated to the security field.


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Pittsfield Police Arrest Maine Murder Suspect

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Police arrested a man on a warrant for murder in Maine after a pursuit Friday that prompted Pittsfield schools to enact a brief lockdown.

Keith Thorpe, 42, of Bangor is wanted in the homicide of 39-year-old Virginia Cookson, who was found dead in her home Wednesday. 

Police posted on social media that officers were actively tracking a stolen vehicle from in a neighboring state earlier in the morning. Thorpe was caught near Euclid Avenue after making contact with a cruiser.

Thorpe is also being charged with numerous motor vehicle offenses and is expected to be arraigned at Pittsfield District Court and to extradited to Maine.

"As a precaution during the motor vehicle pursuit, all local schools were asked to shelter in place and based on the location of Taconic High School, that school was locked down," the Pittsfield Police Department wrote in a press release.
 
"The school safety actions lasted approximately five minutes."
 
A post-mortem examination was conducted Thursday on Cookson at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta, Maine, and her death was determined to be a homicide and an arrest warrant was issued for Thorpe for murder.
 
Just before 4 a.m. on Friday, the Pittsfield Police responded to a single motor vehicle crash near the intersection of West and Onota Streets. The car was unoccupied and items within led officers to believe that the operator may have been Thorpe, sparking an unsuccessful area search.
 
A few hours later, police responded to a report of a stolen vehicle on West Housatonic Street, and a "be on the lookout" was broadcast.  Around 8:30 a.m., the stolen vehicle was located and officers were led on a motor vehicle pursuit that included the areas of West Street and intersecting streets.
 
"The suspect vehicle crossed the center divider, passed cars in a no-passing zone, and failed to stop for police," according to police.
 
"It should be noted that school bus operations were active at this time. The vehicle was eventually stopped in the area of Euclid Avenue after making contact with a police vehicle. No significant injuries were reported."
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