Category: Monument Mountain High School

Starting Fresh

By Mickey Friedman April 3, 2015 Some in the Berkshire Hills Regional School District (BHRSD) look down their educational noses at our neighbors of the Southern Berkshire Regional School District (SBRSD). But the administrators, School Committee, teachers, students, support staff,…

Public Education

By Mickey Friedman December 13, 2014 My friend Matthew, a recent graduate of Monument Mountain, reminded me of Give-to-Give, a program that enabled students here to help students in impoverished Haiti. So when he felt a slight chill at school,…

Selfish, Greedy People

By Mickey Friedman November 9, 2014 The debate about the Monument Mountain HS renovation has sent me back in time. Dreaming my five block walk from Webb Avenue to P.S. 86. A small army of kids streaming from our apartment…

School Facts Not Fiction

By Mickey Friedman October 27, 2014 Michael Wise of the Great Barrington Finance Committee says I’m “unhelpful.” Alan Chartock calls the 955 of his fellow town citizens who voted NO last November “selfish” and “un-American.” They say the issue is…

Love and Lies

By Mickey Friedman October 20, 2014 I woke to learn from The Eagle that I’ve been instilling “anger and fear in the most financially vulnerable citizens of our community.” From the Berkshire Edge, I’m “short-sighted and selfish.” And “deceiving you.”…

NO, then YES

By Mickey Friedman September 30, 2014 I left the most recent meetings about the Monument Mountain High School renovation with heightened respect for Principal Marianne Young and Superintendent Peter Dillon, yet feeling sad that the School Committee had asked these…

Our New Fire-To-Farm-To-Table House

By Mickey Friedman September 18, 2014 Remember being told the old firehouse was a serious hazard to the town employees who worked there and the citizens who came to consult them? So why are our town employees are still working…

The One Room Compromise

By Mickey Friedman August 16, 2014 Monterey’s one-room schoolhouse is just miles from the much larger Monument Mountain Regional High School, but the expected operating costs of less than $162,000 for 2015 seems to engender as much controversy as the…

One Man’s Significant

By Mickey Friedman June 11, 2014 Significant. There are several definitions including “large enough to be noticed” and “very important.” So for one man, what’s significant is noticeable. For another, it’s an important change. The Berkshire Eagle reported that at…

Me and My Yo-Yo Ma

By Mickey Friedman April 8, 2014 I have a thing for purple. And pigtails. Hers were reddish-blonde. It was like I was in a movie. With a halo of light about her. And even though I was making my way…

Penguins Not Platitudes

February 16, 2014 By Mickey Friedman Ever since I took the trolley to the Bronx Zoo, I have felt a deep connection to the penguins. And I’ve always felt the penguins had much to tell, and much to teach me.…

The Best We Can Afford

February 9, 2014 By Mickey Friedman I went to listen on Wednesday night, and many spoke about the Monument Mountain High School renovation project. Clearly, the Superintendent, School Committee and teachers are committed to providing the best education they can…