Author: Nicole Abrams

  • Arlington High School hosts first multicultural night

    Nicole Abrams

    Arlington High School hosted its first-ever student-run multicultural night.

    The event, held on April 9 with a crowd of people of all ages, included student clubs and cultural organizations, food from local restaurants, and cultural performances in the auditorium.

    Swaga Jha, a junior at Arlington High School, is one of the founders of this event and one of the co-leaders for the South Asian Affinity Group. Jha, along with Anoushka Shesh, another co-leader for the affinity group, started working on this project in the fall.

    “My whole idea throughout this was learning through immersion rather than just learning through being talked at, you know?” Jha said.

    Jha said she wants to ensure that the multicultural night becomes an annual event. “I think such an important piece of celebrating our identity is making sure that we remember our culture,” she said.

    Chelsea Walsh, a social worker at the high school, was one of the advisers who helped the students plan the event.

    Walsh said Jha and Shesh reached out to all of the schools in Arlington and their Parent Teacher Organizations, made sure to post the flyer for the event on parent Facebook groups and gave their flyers to local businesses to spread the word about the night.

    Jha’s internship with the Arlington Human Rights Commission allowed her to reach out to other town affinity groups for the event, Walsh said.

    ‘It’s hard when you do someone else’s vision to see what it’s going to be like,” Walsh said, “but now that I’m here, this is the coolest thing. I’m just really grateful.”

    Hannah Stern, a senior, and Victoria Lessa, a junior, two of the leaders for the Latino Student Union, presented their group at the event. The student union was formed last year by two seniors, Lessa said.

    “They left the club to us, so we could continue making space for all the Latino people, and for people that always wanted to learn about Latino culture,” Lessa said.

    The Latin Student Union also organizes events like dance classes with other affinity groups at the school and hosts parties that allow them to show off their culture, Lessa said. She said the group always does something for different Hispanic holidays with the school.

    The student union also participates in inclusion workshops where students cook foods from different countries for students to try, Stern said.

    “We welcome anyone that wants to come,” Lessa said of the student union. “They don’t have to be Latino. If they have some type of interest, we’re always here.”

    Maya Venkatesh, a senior and a co-leader for the Young Feminist Alliance, also presented her club at the event.

    Venkatesh said the club has discussions, does outreach and has a monthly newsletter where it tries to raise awareness about various issues.

    Their display at the event focused on intersectionality and showcased different books focused on that topic.

    “I think it’s just a really good environment,” Venkatesh said about the club. “It’s really nice to have a place where I can come talk with other women my age, and some older women, about these issues.”

    Ivanina Nedeltched, Deana Nedelteched and Nikola Koleb, the leaders of the Eastern European Club, presented their cultural club that started this year. Deana said this was their first major event.

    “We try to bring awareness and celebrate the Eastern European cultures,” Koleb said. “We’re all Bulgarian, so that’s what we brought to the table today.”

    Their table had different foods for people to try.

    “Everyone’s so sweet,” Deana said, “There’s a lot of love.
And a lot of love for food, too.”

    The night ended with six performances, including a violin player who played traditional Jewish melodies, a woman who performed a Hindi dance, a Mandarin class that performed a Chinese square dance, and an Afghan student and piano teacher who played the piano.

    Arson Fahin, the Afghan piano teacher who performed and spoke at the event, is a student at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Fahin said he was invited to the event by his student Subhan Sulaimani, who is a sophomore at the high school.

    Fahin said he arrived in America just days before the Taliban took over and banned music in Afghanistan.

    “Anytime I get the chance to tell, especially younger people, about what’s going on in Afghanistan it’s really meaningful to me,” Fahin said.

    Deanna Witter, a paraprofessional at the Gibbs School, runs a culture club at the middle school. Witter said the Gibbs School also has a culture night, but mainly families with sixth graders show up to those events. “Here, I think we’re gonna get a bigger mix,” Witter said.

    “I always support people having a better understanding of the diversity that is available to us,” Witter said.

  • Pro athletes Pat Connaughton and Miles Robinson help fund court renovation at Arlington Boys & Girls Club

    Special jersey pre-sale period ends on April 6

    As someone who grew up playing soccer, Max McKersie valued public parks.

    When McKersie realized that there weren’t many accessible urban areas to play sports, he started the Arlington Boys & Girls Club Court Initiative, a project that will give the community a newly renovated court for basketball and futsal, a smaller, fast-paced version of soccer.

    The court will open to the public May 17. It had not been updated since the 1980s, according to the initiative website.

    The $70,000 project is funded by foundations run by professional soccer player Miles Robinson and professional basketball player Pat Connaughton, both of whom are Arlington natives.

    The project included a workshop last month with Design FC, a nonprofit brand that supports youth, that allowed kids to design soccer and basketball jerseys. The jerseys are available on the initiative website for $53.

    Indoor court to get upgrade

    All funds from the sale of these jerseys will go to the 2027 renovation of an indoor court at the Boys & Girls Club, which is estimated to cost over $200,000. The art on the jersey will be incorporated in a mural by artist Megan Barnes as part of the court.

    McKersie said he believes people tend to rally behind projects that are reflections of them and their own childhoods. “It’s great to see people show that they care about their background and where they came from, and they’re willing to give back,” McKersie said.

    Mironko Productions and Kirch Films are making a documentary about the court with a focus on the theme “access to play.”

    “The big message is that through the documentary, these spaces don’t just create great athletes, like Pat and Miles,” McKersie said. “They create storytellers, artists, teachers, coaches.”

    Derek Curran, executive director of the Arlington Boys & Girls Club, said the basketball/futsal court will be the first of its kind in Arlington and that the renovated court will be safer.

    “The current court has some cracks in it, as courts do when they’re almost 40 years old,” Curran said. “So, all those cracks will be filled.”

    Curran said that he appreciates Robinson and Connaughton for giving back to their community by funding this initiative through the Miles of Change Foundation and the Pat Connaughton Foundation. Attempts to speak with Robinson, who plays for the FC Cincinnati soccer team, and Connaughton, a guard for the Charlotte Hornets NBA team, were unsuccessful.

    “There’s tons of soccer players, there’s tons of basketball players, there’s tons of kids that we have walking in this building every day that will benefit from this project,” Curran said.

    Norman Capital Investments is a sponsor for the initiative, helping to cover the expenses for things like the jerseys and the documentary.

    “We’re recreating a space for kids from all backgrounds and all situations, where they can grow, thrive and and also have a place where they can make good decisions,” said Norman Kilavatitu, the investment company’s founder.

    Kilavatitu said this project is personal for him as someone from a single-parent home who relied on spaces like the Boys & Girls Club. “Being able to give back to clubs like this and give back to communities is really, really important for all the kids who are in the same situation as me,” Kilavatitu said.

    Places like the Boys & Girls Club and sports courts are great for both kids and families.

    “It shows how crucial having spaces like the Boys & Girls Club and these courts are to the community,” McKersie said.

    This story, published April 4, 2026, is part of a partnership between Your Arlington and the Boston University Department of Journalism. The featured image is a YourArlington graphic.

  • ‘Yes’ supporters celebrate success of $14.8 million override in Arlington at party

    Nicole Abrams

    Members of the “Yes for Arlington” campaign gathered Saturday night at American Legion Post 39 to celebrate voters’ approval of a tax override.

    The approval of the override will allow the town to assess an additional $14.8 million in real estate and personal property taxes to fund the town and school budgets.

    According to the town website, Arlington has had a structural deficit for years in which the growth in cost has outpaced the growth in revenue. The town asked voters to approve tax overrides in order to maintain town services.

    More than 70 percent of people voted in the annual town election on March 28 to approve the override with 9,666 people in favor of it and 3,775 people opposed.

    Jeff Thielman, a co-chair for the Yes campaign and the chair of the School Committee, said he was stunned by the results.

    “The voters considered all the data and information that we provided,” Thielman said, “And they voted yes in an overwhelming number.”

    If the override failed, there would have been significant reductions across town, including layoffs within the fire department and police force, reduced staffing in inspection services and the likely closure of Fox Library, according to a memo from Town Manager Jim Feeney.

    “I think the lesson here is that you have to level with the voters, give them the facts, explain what’s at stake, and they’ll make the right decision,” Thielman said.

    Liz Exton, a School Committee member and one of the three field managers for the “Yes” campaign, said she was thrilled with the results as they started coming in.

    “This campaign worked incredibly hard, and so these are the results that we were hoping for,” she said.

    Campaign volunteers spent eight weeks knocking on doors and reaching out to voters to give them information on the override, Exton said. Their teams made contact with 10,000 homes, according to the campaign. That is half of all Arlington households.

    ”Arlington really showed what we care about today,” said Laura Gitelson, another field manager for the campaign and a member of the School Committee.

    Gitelson said she is proud of Arlington schools and everything that they have achieved.

    “I think we’ve done incredible work, and I would hate to see us lose the resources that have allowed us to do that work,” Gitelson said.

    School Committee member Paul Schlichtman said the results are “better than anybody could have hoped for.”

    Superintendent Liz Homan said that the results were “very affirming.” As superintendent, Homan explained to parents what the implications would be if the override was not passed.

    “We were going to have to cut 70 teachers if it didn’t pass,” Homan said. “And in future years, those cuts would have been a lot deeper.”

    The schools also would have had to reinstate fees for athletic and music programs, she said. “It’s just more burden on families to need to pay for things that right now the school can cover,” Homan said.

    The town manager said he was overwhelmed with joy when he heard the results. “As a dedicated public servant, it’s very rewarding to know that the people who we serve appreciate the work we do and, frankly, value the work we do,” Feeney said.

    This story, published on March 29, 2026, is part of a partnership between YourArlington and the Boston University Department of Journalism.

  • Candidates speak to Arlington voters at candidate forum

    Candidates speak to Arlington voters at candidate forum

    Candidates for town office answered questions from constituents at a forum Wednesday night.

    Candidates on the March 28 ballot for School Committee, Select Board and Board of Assessors spoke at Arlington Town Hall at the forum, which was sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Arlington, a nonpartisan grassroots organization, and Envision Arlington, which engages with the Arlington volunteer community. The candidates for the Arlington Housing Authority did not speak at the forum since one of them was not present.

    Candidates for the School Committee races at Town Hall on March 18./PHOTO BY NICOLE ABRAMS

    “I think it is important that they be seen and that they be heard,” Carolyn Parsons, the League of Women Voters co-president, said about the candidates, “and that they can talk a little bit about themselves to introduce themselves but also to answer questions that are of public concern.”

    School Committee

    There are three seats open for three-year terms and one seat open for a one-year term.

    Paul Schlichtman, Laura B. Gitelson and Elizabeth R. Exton are all running for re-election to three-year terms.

    Shaun D. Berry, Crystal S. Haynes Copithorne and Dimitry Missiuro Vasilyev are running for the one-year term.

    The candidates spoke about the tax override, which will be on the ballot, and how it will affect Arlington Public Schools. The override would increase property taxes by $14.8 million to help fund the town and school budgets.

    Schlichtman said that even if the override is successful, the committee will have to make cuts.

    “This is a partnership,” Schlichtman said, “and we listen to the principals, the parents, the teachers, the school community before we make any kind of cuts.”

    Berry said that she is in support of the tax override.

    “I have been out there canvassing, talking with constituents, and encouraging everyone to vote yes, so we don’t have to make any more of those cuts,” Berry said.

    Candidates were also asked if the committee should develop policy about artificial intelligence in schools.

    “I think we need to have a robust policy around AI,” Copithorne said, “and also teach students as part of a media literacy campaign program curriculum to make sure that they understand the dangers of AI because this will be part of their world.”

    Exton said that the committee needs to ask when AI should be used and when it shouldn’t.

    “There needs to be trust for teachers to make choices,” Exton said. “There are some very effective ways teachers can use AI to differentiate instruction and modify lessons to appeal to students’ interests.”

    Select Board

    Two candidates are running for two open three-year terms on the Select Board, whose responsibilities include adopting town policies, reviewing the annual budget and overseeing traffic issues.

    Joseph A. Solomon, a first-time candidate, served two years as president of the Dallin Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization, is a Town Meeting member from Precinct 16 and is vice chair for the Capital Planning Committee.

    Diane M. Mahon is running for re-election. Mahon serves as chair of the Select Board and is a Town Meeting member for Precinct 14.

    The candidates were asked what actions they would take to reduce or eliminate the budget deficit, so that another override is not needed in three years.

    “I think looking at budget problems as only cuts is not necessarily the right framing,” Solomon said. “
I would look for more increased revenue sources.”

    Mahon said she would advocate for continuing the hiring freeze the town manager and superintendent implemented in November.

    Mahon also said she would push for regionalization on equipment purchases, maintenance, public safety and other issues, as well as state aid.

    “I don’t want to look for any solution that carries onto the back of our town employees,” Mahon said.

    Board of Assessors

    Mary Winstanley O’Connor is the only candidate for the three-year seat on the Board of Assessors, which assesses all property in town.

    O’Connor, who chairs the board, is seeking re-election to her seat, which she has held for almost 25 years.

    O’Connor cited the importance of Arlington’s senior tax deferral given the override vote. The tax deferral allows residents 65 or older to postpone the payment of any or all of their property tax.

    “Many of my parents’ generation worked hard so that they could pass down to their children something to inherit,” O’Connor said. “But for seniors who are struggling, this is a perfect way of easing up some of their cash burden.”

    After the forum

    After the event, YourArlington asked two candidates for their thoughts on how the event went.

    Copithorne said that she is excited for the future. If elected, she will be the first person of color to serve on Arlington’s School Committee.

    “I thought it was an extraordinary opportunity to hear about the breadth in all of the experiences we’ve had on the board and for the public to learn a little bit about how the School Committee has made their decisions thus far,” Copithorne said.

    Solomon said he appreciated the way that the event was formatted.

    “I think it’s great that it gives people an opportunity to ask interesting and unique questions about what our leaders are going to do in town and get real, in the moment answers,” he said.

  • How Christine Anastos’ cancer diagnosis led her to create a cause for good

    How Christine Anastos’ cancer diagnosis led her to create a cause for good

    After Christine Anastos was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, she spoke with women who were suffering with cancer and listened to their stories.

    Many of them had young children, so they didn’t have the luxury of taking a break and putting themselves first, said Anastos, who lives in Arlington.

    Anastos, an environmental engineer, also realized that not everyone could afford the same programs she received at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute or its Zakim Center for Integrative Therapies and Healthy Living. She thought about the disparities within the health care system and considered what she could do to help others.

    During the pandemic, when Anastos had time to walk along the beach and contemplate, she decided to act. Last year, she started Connect & Thrive, a public benefit corporation that helps cancer patients access support and healthy-living products and services that are not covered by insurance.

    Friends and family can support cancer patients by purchasing e-gift cards and donating to crowdfunding campaigns, which are called Kitty Funds. The recipient can use the funds to buy services and products geared toward helping the mind, body and spirit, including counseling, meditation, music and exercise from over 500 partners.

    One of the programs offered there is Sole Sisters, which helps women heal and find community support through walking. It was started by Laura Boulay of Minnesota, a friend of Anastos who is the founder of One Million Women Walking, a virtual women’s walking community.

    “I would say the nature of that collaboration was really about solidifying the words around not only her journey to this place but how to make the words, the actual copy on the website, connect with women who are in this really incredible journey with cancer,” said Boulay, who helped Anastos create the messaging on the Connect & Thrive website.

    The site has an “Educate” section that includes articles, research studies, videos, and podcasts about cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

    Boulay said she admired Anastos’ ability to jump into something new and her commitment to helping others.

    “She’s unbelievably passionate about this work,” Boulay said, “deeply, deeply committed to easing someone else’s journey.”

    Keira Kotler, a San Francisco resident and the CEO of Everviolet, an intimacy apparel company with pieces for women facing breast or gynecological cancers, is another vendor who works with Anastos.

    Everviolet was born out of Kotler’s own experience trying to find comfortable clothing to wear while recovering from breast cancer treatment.

    “She really gets the quality and the beauty of our collection and how much we’re making an impact in women’s lives,” Kotler said.

    Kotler said she admires the amount of care Anastos puts into the vendors that Connect & Thrive partners with.

    “Christine just puts her entire heart and soul into everything that she does, and she’s really creating this platform as something that other people can benefit from,” Kotler said.

    Tommi Jaakkola, an electrical engineering and computer science professor at MIT, said he acted as Anastos’ sounding partner for ideas related to Connect & Thrive.

    “I guess CAT is a culmination of that experience translated into action,” Jaakkola said, “and hopefully something that really makes a difference in people’s lives.”

    Jaakkola said that Anastos has put a lot of work into CAT and puts 110 percent into everything that she sets her mind to. “CAT is a translation of all that motivation and inspiration into something that would benefit a much larger number of people,” Jaakkola said.

  • Charles Coe honored at an open mic night at Robbins Library

    UPDATED: Friends and poets gathered Tuesday to perform at an open mic night to remember the late poet Charles Coe.

    Regie Gibson, Massachusetts’ inaugural poet laureate, kicked off the event, which was presented by the Beehive Poetry Group at the Robbins Library.

    Gibson and other participants recited Coe’s poetry as well as their own work that they dedicated to him. A guitarist, saxophonist and bassist performed with two of the acts.

    Originally, Coe was supposed to appear beside Gibson at the event, but he died last November, said Steven Rapp, a volunteer with the Beehive Poetry Group.

    Gibson and Jean Flanagan, Arlington’s poet laureate, formed the idea to make the night a tribute to Coe.

    “I think it surpassed anybody’s expectations. 
I think it’s really super,” Rapp said. “You can really feel the energy. It’s a really good crowd.”

    Although Flanagan was not a personal friend of Coe’s, she said she admired his work.

    “He had a real gift of getting to know people,” Flanagan said. “He had so many friends. Every time I heard him read, I thought he was fantastic.”

    Gibson said he did not want to do the event by himself but felt he could revive Coe’s spirit by having people read poetry by Coe and in memory of him.

    “The event had to change because of his death,” Gibson said, “but as you can see, it was such an outpouring of love and respect for him that I was really happy to be part of this.”

    Gibson had been friends with Coe for over a decade.

    “If you met Charles Coe, you were a friend,” Gibson said.

    Before his death at age 73, Coe had talked with Gibson about helping him with work for the Office of the Poet Laureate.

    “He was a dear friend,” Gibson said, “and he was a person who understood music, understood literature, understood psychology, understood cooking. Just a wonderful individual to be around.”

    Gibson said the event “felt like it was a healing.”

    Gibson concluded his set with a rendition of the first movement  of John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme,” a jazz album that he spoke with Coe about a lot.

    “I guess this is what I think of when I think about him and the love he held,” Gibson said.

    Coe was a writing teacher and was the city of Boston artist-in-residence in 2017. He died last November at his Cambridge home while being treated for prostate cancer.

  • Wildlife advocates say Arlington’s efforts to prevent bird entanglements in fishing lines aren’t working

    Laura Kiesel dreads the approach of spring.

    The founder of Save Arlington Wildlife says she fears the return of fishing line waste littering Arlington parks and injuring and killing wildlife. She says she gets reports of animals, mostly birds, entangled at least weekly or biweekly outside of winter.

    The town’s efforts to combat this problem are doing little to prevent birds from getting fatally injured, Kiesel said. Last October, she said, it took two hours for town workers to rescue a screech owl, shown in the main photo, badly entangled in a tree at Spy Pond.

    Many of the animals are almost impossible to save and usually die without medical intervention. 

    Wildlife rehabilitators who can help injured birds are few and far between. According to the wildlife rehabilitator directory on the MassWildlife website, there are none who take in birds in Arlington.

    The Arlington Department of Recreation will install fishing line waste receptacles at all waterbodies that are under the jurisdiction of the Parks and Recreation Commission this spring, according to a memo from Natasha Waden, director of recreation and community services.

    “Fishing line waste will be regularly collected, sorted, packaged and periodically sent out to Boat US Foundation’s Reel & Recycle,” Waden wrote in a statement to Your Arlington. She said she was too busy to speak with a reporter this week.

    Save Arlington Wildlife and some residents proposed a temporary ban on fishing at Menotomy Rocks Park last year, but the commission rejected it. Instead, the commission decided it would be better to focus on education, the installation of fishing line waste receptacles, tree trimming, and partnering with local fishing organizations and business, Waden’s memo said. The commission also plans to form a new group to work on the problem this year.

    Kiesel said she was sad that the town did not pause fishing and has seen little improvement in the past year after the commission installed receptacles.

    “Every week I was out there at Spy Pond cleaning up yards and yards of fishing line,” Kiesel said.

    Fishing lines get caught in the trees when anglers cast their lines too high. Lines are caught up in trees, bushes, fencing and on the ground just 20 to 30 feet away from the receptacles, Kiesel said. Many of these receptacles had been knocked down and were spilling their contents onto the ground, she said.

    “We continued to get animals reported to us on a weekly to biweekly basis throughout the whole time these receptacles were up,” Kiesel said.

    Christopher Wilson, a Tufts University administrator and angler from Arlington, said he goes to various parks in Arlington and collects discarded fishing line.

    “I’m not being paid for any of this,” Wilson said. “I just do it because it’s the right thing to do.”

    Retrieving lines requires special gear and takes a lot of work, Wilson said.

    “I can get most of the stuff I see in an hour and a half, but I’ll come back a couple months later, and it’s covered again,” he said.

    Wilson said he believes that a fishing pause is a good plan.

    “The idea is you have a pause to allow the fish population and the bird population in that area to recover a little bit, to improve the health of the ecosystem there,” Wilson said.

    Jim Lagacy, an angler education coordinator for Mass Wildlife, said he supports fishing but also supports a temporary pause if the resource is being abused.

    “We want all waters open,” Lagacy said. “I think it’s a wonderful way to engage in nature, but when people abuse it, then there has to be recourse to any action, especially when it causes harm to wildlife.”

    Because fishing lines are made of plastic, they don’t break up easily.

    “It just doesn’t break,” Lagacy said, “and the birds get tangled in it, and they end up dying.”

    Kiesel said cleaning up fishing lines and seeing the impact on entangled birds takes a toll.

    “It’s very, very traumatic to rescue these birds or to know that they’re dying,” Kiesel said. “It’s very upsetting for many of us.”

    This story, published on March 7, 2026, is part of a partnership between Your Arlington and the Boston University Department of Journalism.