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MARCH 4 10, 2010
wickedlocaldedham.com | GateHouse Media New England Vol. 1 No. 20 75

INSIDE TODAY
SPORTS, 11

OAKDALE OUTREACH

FISCAL 2011

Beaded Benefit
Fourth-grader raises over $800 for Haiti relief

Budget outlook positive

Keegan says town has been efficient with spending
By Edward B. Colby
STAFF WRITER

Boys hoops, girls hockey bow out

GROWING UP, 2

Author to share tips on raising kids in the city

TOWN HALL, 4

As Dedham officials have worked their way through demanding fiscal times the last few years, the 2011 budget has loomed as an even tougher obstacle. So when Town Administrator William Keegan presented his plan for the upcoming year, this was a somewhat surprising takeaway: 2011 should not be so bad. Giving his annual budget message last week, Keegan said that by and large fiscal 2011 has indeed turned out to be one of the most difficult years to prepare for. But through conservative planning by many boards, departments and his administration, Dedham is in one of the more enviable positions heading into the year, Keegan said. We anticipate having a balanced budget on July 1, 2010. Many of our collective bargaining agreements will be settled. The town is continuing to improve its capital infrastruc-

BUDGET, PAGE 9

87 Booth Road

Selectmen approve liquor license for Greek restaurant

EDUCATION, 18
DEDHAM TRANSCRIPT PHOTO BY ERIN PRAWOKO PHOTO BY SEAN BROWNE

Oakdale Elementary School Principal Holli Armstrong, top left, helps fourth-grader Abby Jenest, top right, sell her handmade bracelets to students. All money collected will go to a Haiti relief organization. By Edward B. Colby
STAFF WRITER

Kids get shock out of lesson

NUMBER TO KNOW
Approximate number of minutes that Anthony Hopkins was on screen in Silence of the Lambs, the shortest amount of time on screen for a Best Actor winners role.

16

bby Jenest says she was already making bead bracelets at home with her mom before an earthquake struck Haiti but the tragedy prompted her to take her craft to another level. After the mid-January disaster, I

watched a video (online), and I got really upset, so I asked my mom if we could do something, said Jenest, 10, who is in fourth grade at the Oakdale School. Two weeks of brisk recess sales later, that something a temporary bracelet shop set up in the Oakdale principals office added up to one big donation, topping $850, for Haiti re-

lief efforts. Besides the video, which she watched on Yahoo, the young fundraiser was motivated by the really pretty bracelets she saw her moms friend selling at Uniquely Global. Those were $10, so Jenest and her mother thought of selling theirs
BEADS, PAGE 9

A Dedham mans auto repairs went awry last Tuesday when a car he was trying to jump-start caught fire, with the blaze spreading from his garage to a room above it, a deputy fire chief said. The fire at 87 Booth Road started at 10:30 a.m. in the garage, which is attached to the house. When it was over, it had left roughly $200,000 in damage to the building and its contents, including two vehicles that were totaled, said Deputy Fire Chief John Fontaine. He said the man doing repairs was the only person home when the fire began, and that no one was injured. The man is staying with relatives, Fontaine added. Edward B. Colby

INDEX
Arts & Entertainment 15 Cable Schedule 5 Education 18 News 3-5 Our Town 2 Opinion 6-7 Police News 3 Sports 11-13

Schools to review bullying policy

By Edward B. Colby
STAFF WRITER

NATIONAL AMERICAN MISS

Not your average beauty pageant

Dedham teen sets eyes on state
By Andrea Salisbury
STAFF WRITER

Levels of punishment are supposed to be As a bill targeting school used, so that the same bullying advances through the bully cant continue to Legislature, the Dedham School wreak havoc on fellow Committee has committed to a new review of its bullying pol- students without the icy, beginning this coming consequences reachWednesday. ing a higher level.
John Healy said the policy subcommittee would get the ball rolling looking at the current policy at its meeting March 10 at 6 p.m. in the lower conference room of Town Hall. The full School Committee reconvenes there that night at 7 p.m. Cyberbullying has become a hot-button topic after a
Laurie Reisner

15-year-old girl in western Massachusetts committed suicide in January, reportedly after being taunted with text messages and on Facebook,
BULLYING, PAGE 8

COURTESY PHOTO

Dedham teen Laura Diraffaele will compete in July in the National American Miss pageant. This will be her third pageant.

Her eyes danced from word to word as she recited, in one breath, her introduction speech. I know every day will bring another challenge, but I am ready for whatever comes my way and I would be honored to be your 2010 National American Miss, Miss Massachusetts Junior Teen representing this state at the national pageant. I am Laura Diraffaele and I am a girl with dreams, the 14-year-old Dedham High student smiled and closed her purple binder with the National American Miss label. The Fourth of July weekend will be Lauras third National American Miss competition, and she has been planning for almost a year.
LAURA, PAGE 8

Thursday, March 4, 2010 Dedham Transcript wickedlocaldedham.com

FROM THE FRONT PAGE

LAURA
From Page 1

FOR BREAKING NEWS during the week visit wickedlocaldedham.com.

Want to Donate?
Checks can be made out to National American Miss, be sure to write Laura Diraffaele on the memo line, and mail to Linda Diraffaele, 277 Riverside Drive, Dedham, MA 02026.

When the pageant ended (last year), I was like, I want to do this next year, she said, opening her binder again and pointing to her speech. That next week I was already writing all this. Looking back, Laura said it was on a whim that she even got involved in National American Miss. One day we got a postcard in the mail that said, would you like to join the pageant? she said. It was a $20 entrance fee and if you didnt get in you would get $20 back. We figured, might as well see what happens. So we sent it in and we got a letter back saying, Congratulations, you are a state finalist. The first year, everything was rushed, said her mother, Linda Diraffaele. They got the acceptance late and had to fundraise to cover the $440 sponsorship fee, hotel cost and additional fees for each competition. But the friendships and confidence gained from the whirlwind weekend, Laura said, was worth the stress. When we first started it was a $20 fee and I was like, oh, what the heck, Linda said. And its turned into something that she really, really I love it, Laura said, taking over. It is the best thing that has ever happened to me. It has helped me to build confidence and I am not afraid to speak up in front of people. People used to bully me a lot. Now its like, No, I am done with this, I am not taking this anymore. Laura insists that National American Miss isnt a beauty pageant. It is about being yourself and it shows you how unique you are, she said. Who you are on the inside and not just beauty on the outside. The confidence gained is the big perk of participating in the pageant, Laura said. The statewide competition is spread out over three days and is held at the Marriott in Burlington. National American Miss has six different pageants depending on age, but the competition format is the same. The required com-

PHOTOS BY ANDREA SALISBURY

Some of the awards Dedhams Laura Diraffaele won in past National American Miss pageants. Diraffaele will compete in July in the 2010 National American Miss pageant.

petitions include formal wear, personal introduction, interview and community involvement. In addition, girls can

enter different competitions for a $50 fee, including casual wear and talent. Prizes include cash, passes to Disney-

Land and college scholarships. With this being her third year, Linda said they only had to pay half of the $440 for the sponsorship fee, but Laura still needs to raise $600 to cover the hotel, a new dress a formal purple number from Davids Bridal and the additional contest fees that are $50 each. Laura is doing it all herself. She wants this. I said youve got to raise the money, Linda said. So that is what she is doing. She is sacrificing every Sunday to help sell raffle tickets. From going door to door with a donation cup, to selling flowers and raffle tickets at the Dedham Square Country Market, to putting donation cups out at local businesses, the Riverside Drive teenager has been hard at work. Ive made about $100-

something so far, just doing all the fundraisers Ive been doing, Laura said. Last year we put out donation cups at a few businesses and I got $50 last year from that. We put them out at (places like) The Blue Bunny and Dedham House of Pizza. Every little bit helps, Linda added as Laura jumped from the table to search for her contest ribbons from the previous years. Her trophies are proudly displayed on her bedroom shelf next to a giant poster of Edward Cullen from the movie Twilight. She couldnt find the ribbons, but explained while her mom went on the hunt that the trophies and thank you cards were from her first year as a contestant. She was awarded the National American Miss sash and tiara last year for selling a page of ads. One page of ads,

Laura said, means youve reached the gold level. This year, she plans to reach diamond level nine pages of ads. For the state competition, the National American Miss program book is divided by region and contestant. The girls have until May to sell ad spots for local businesses. The ads start at $60 for a business card size and go up from there. Every page in the book can fit 10 business card-size ads. Laura explained that businesses can also combine their sponsorship efforts for a single ad and the National American Miss design staff can customize the advertisement. Pointing to an ornate quarter-page ad from last year for Dedhams 50s Diner, Linda explained that the diner gave them the logo and the words and the design team did the rest. Laura hasnt started selling ads for this years program yet, but plans to hit up businesses soon. The whole pageant theme is just such a wonderful opportunity to see her grow and mature. I would just love to see the entire town get behind her, Linda said, pointing to the various community efforts Laura has done with the Girl Scouts. It would be a good way for the community to help her out, because she is going to be representing Dedham. Linda turned to smile at her daughter who was thumbing through her National American Miss binder. There is really no one word that can describe this pageant, Linda said. Laura chimed in, Its like Im a girl with dreams and I have something I want to work for and accomplish through this pageant. Dedham Transcript editor Andrea Salisbury can be reached at asalisbu@cnc.com.

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BULLYING
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and bullied in school. What happened out there in South Hadley, thats every parents nightmare, every communitys nightmare, but its also every school committee and every superintendents nightmare as well, said Thomas Ryan. The Dedham school board devoted two hours of its meeting last week to bullying and cyberbullying, with nearly every principal speaking about the programs they have in place to prevent and deal with the abuse. After more than 90 minutes of discussion, parent Laurie Reisner came to the podium, asking the board to consider forming another subcommittee to review the policies that you have in place, take a very close look at them, and see if there is anything that we can do to improve them. Reisner brought up bullying at a School Committee meeting in July 2007, and then participated in a subcommittee that put new policies in place. For example, each incident of bullying is supposed to be documented. It seems like that is being done, Reisner said. Levels of punishment are supposed to be used, so that the same bully cant continue to wreak havoc on fellow stu-

dents without the consequences reaching a higher level, she added. That, I think, is a concern parents still have: what exactly is being done, how much do you really step it up, and whats the point where it get stepped up? School officials said repeatedly that they use progressive discipline as they respond to bullying with corrective actions including detention, suspension, community service, and education for bullies to try

What happened out there in South Hadley, thats every parents nightmare, every communitys nightmare, but its also every school committee and every superintendents nightmare as well.
Thomas Ryan

and ward off future incidents. The State House bill was approved by the Joint Committee on Education and is now before the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. The comprehensive measure would prohibit bullying at all school facilities; at schoolsponsored or school-related functions; on school buses; through school technology and electronic devices; and, importantly, at non-school-related locations and through

non-school technology or electronic devices, if the bullying affects the school environment. Its noting that it isnt just devices owned by the school, but through personal devices if indeed the bullying affects the school environment, said Superintendent of Schools June Doe. And, of course, I think every principal here can attest to the fact that thats what life in school is today, just an expansion of electronic devices. I think its good language, and I wish a speedy vote on this. State Rep. Paul McMurtry, D-Dedham, said the most significant focus of the legislation is just the act of prevention, and really to help children understand to be more respectful of each other. He said one negative aspect of the bill is that the school districts will be required to have and implement a bullying prevention plan for every student every year. The Senate passed an antibullying bill last session, but it was never voted on in the House. McMurtry said he hoped the House would take a final vote on this new bill in April. Its something that the speaker, Senate president and the governor are all supporting, and in favor of, and I would imagine that the action wouldnt be delayed, he said. Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336.

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