This one's about high schools . . .
Jun. 5th, 2006 09:10 pmAll news stories from the Greater Boston area in the last few days
WALTHAM -- A Waltham High student faces charges she used her car as a battering ram, smashing her boyfriend's car and hitting four students Wednesday morning in the high school parking lot.
The rampage began around 11:40 a.m. when Caroline Fernandez, sparked by her boyfriend's jealousy, smashed the windshield of Vinny Alonge's Honda several times with a crowbar, police said.
She got into her own Honda, drove away and returned a few minutes later, according to police. She revved the engine and smashed it into Alonge's car, which was then propelled into a Mazda owned by teacher Michelle Brown. Witnesses estimated her car was going as fast as 50 mph.
None of four students who were hurt suffered life-threatening injuries, police said. Neither Fernandez nor Megan Batista, a passenger in her car, were hurt.
Fernandez, 17, of 10 Browns Ave., who sports a tattoo with her own name, fled after the episode, but turned herself in to police shortly afterward.
She denied smashing the windshield and alternately blamed the crash on a pothole and a bump in the road, according to police.
According to police, Alonge said he and Fernandez, who have been dating for about six months, had argued because she had been talking to another boy.
Student Robert Vanaria told police Fernandez smashed the windshield, dropped the crowbar and yelled to Alonge, "How do you like your car now?"
MANCHESTER, Mass. --Don't give your principal the finger.
That's the message for a Manchester-by-the-Sea teen who was forced to sit out his graduation, despite taking his case to court.
Gregory DiGiovanni Junior made the obscene gesture toward the principal during the Manchester-Essex Regional High School prom.
He was suspended for ten days, including yesterday's graduation.
His parents didn't think the punishment fit the crime. Their lawyer argued their son's case before Salem Superior Court Judge Howard Whitehead yesterday.
But Whitehead ruled in favor of school administrators.
The school's lawyer argued that if students were allowed to be (quote) "grossly disrespectful" to staff, discipline would break down and education would be compromised.
DiGiovanni's lawyer said his client regretted what he did.
DiGiovanni will still receive his diploma.
BOSTON -- A 16-year-old Mattapan youth, who told his lawyer he feared for his own life, allegedly smuggled a disassembled 12-gauge shotgun and seven rounds for the weapon into a Boston public high school, where it was discovered yesterday, officials said.
The teen, whose name was not released because of his age, was arrested at the Edward G. Noonan Business Academy , where he is a sophomore, officials said. The academy is housed in the former Dorchester High School. It is one of the Boston public schools where metal detectors are used to screen students for weapons.
Officials are investigating how the gun got past metal detectors, said John Sisco, chief of school police. The Noonan Academy has had a walk-through metal detector since it opened at its present location in 2003.
MIDDLETON - The senior class was gathering in the Masconomet field house yesterday morning to rehearse for tonight's graduation ceremony when a MedFlight helicopter landed on the football field nearby, interrupting their chatter.
Some peered through the doors as the chopper touched down. Most, like Alex Bassett, had no idea who was being flown to the hospital.
Then class adviser Michael Novello walked in and broke the news: Senior Amanda June Reyes, 18, who was set to graduate with her classmates tonight, had been badly injured in a car accident. She was in the helicopter.
"It was instant shock and sadness and confusion," class president Sean Bickerton said. "Some people broke down. A lot of her friends had to leave."
The class called off rehearsal.
Reyes, of Topsfield, was in critical condition last night at Massachusetts General Hospital being treated for a head injury. [NB: She is still hospitalized. Some of my students knew her because they worked with her]
BRIGHTON -- A baby was found in a toilet at Brighton High School yesterday, touching off a homicide investigation and a search for the mother, police said.
Police described the tiny body as a "fetus" but said it was unclear exactly how old it was or what gender or ethnicity it was because it was jammed in the toilet, after possibly being flushed, police said. Earlier last night, it still had not been removed as police examined the scene.
A school janitor who reported the tragic discovery in the third-floor girls restroom at 5:33 p.m. found the body under a pile of toilet paper as he tried to unclog the toilet.
School Department spokesman Jonathan Polumbo said the school's headmaster, Toby N. Romer, was at the school last night assisting police. He could not be reached for comment.
Brighton High School has 1,265 students, 680 of whom are female, according to the Massachusetts state Web site.
Police fear for the safety of the mother, who they suspect may be a teenager and may need medical attention after giving birth without the help of a doctor.
Now, my thought is this: On the TV show Boston Public, all of these things would have happened at the same school in the same day.
WALTHAM -- A Waltham High student faces charges she used her car as a battering ram, smashing her boyfriend's car and hitting four students Wednesday morning in the high school parking lot.
The rampage began around 11:40 a.m. when Caroline Fernandez, sparked by her boyfriend's jealousy, smashed the windshield of Vinny Alonge's Honda several times with a crowbar, police said.
She got into her own Honda, drove away and returned a few minutes later, according to police. She revved the engine and smashed it into Alonge's car, which was then propelled into a Mazda owned by teacher Michelle Brown. Witnesses estimated her car was going as fast as 50 mph.
None of four students who were hurt suffered life-threatening injuries, police said. Neither Fernandez nor Megan Batista, a passenger in her car, were hurt.
Fernandez, 17, of 10 Browns Ave., who sports a tattoo with her own name, fled after the episode, but turned herself in to police shortly afterward.
She denied smashing the windshield and alternately blamed the crash on a pothole and a bump in the road, according to police.
According to police, Alonge said he and Fernandez, who have been dating for about six months, had argued because she had been talking to another boy.
Student Robert Vanaria told police Fernandez smashed the windshield, dropped the crowbar and yelled to Alonge, "How do you like your car now?"
MANCHESTER, Mass. --Don't give your principal the finger.
That's the message for a Manchester-by-the-Sea teen who was forced to sit out his graduation, despite taking his case to court.
Gregory DiGiovanni Junior made the obscene gesture toward the principal during the Manchester-Essex Regional High School prom.
He was suspended for ten days, including yesterday's graduation.
His parents didn't think the punishment fit the crime. Their lawyer argued their son's case before Salem Superior Court Judge Howard Whitehead yesterday.
But Whitehead ruled in favor of school administrators.
The school's lawyer argued that if students were allowed to be (quote) "grossly disrespectful" to staff, discipline would break down and education would be compromised.
DiGiovanni's lawyer said his client regretted what he did.
DiGiovanni will still receive his diploma.
BOSTON -- A 16-year-old Mattapan youth, who told his lawyer he feared for his own life, allegedly smuggled a disassembled 12-gauge shotgun and seven rounds for the weapon into a Boston public high school, where it was discovered yesterday, officials said.
The teen, whose name was not released because of his age, was arrested at the Edward G. Noonan Business Academy , where he is a sophomore, officials said. The academy is housed in the former Dorchester High School. It is one of the Boston public schools where metal detectors are used to screen students for weapons.
Officials are investigating how the gun got past metal detectors, said John Sisco, chief of school police. The Noonan Academy has had a walk-through metal detector since it opened at its present location in 2003.
MIDDLETON - The senior class was gathering in the Masconomet field house yesterday morning to rehearse for tonight's graduation ceremony when a MedFlight helicopter landed on the football field nearby, interrupting their chatter.
Some peered through the doors as the chopper touched down. Most, like Alex Bassett, had no idea who was being flown to the hospital.
Then class adviser Michael Novello walked in and broke the news: Senior Amanda June Reyes, 18, who was set to graduate with her classmates tonight, had been badly injured in a car accident. She was in the helicopter.
"It was instant shock and sadness and confusion," class president Sean Bickerton said. "Some people broke down. A lot of her friends had to leave."
The class called off rehearsal.
Reyes, of Topsfield, was in critical condition last night at Massachusetts General Hospital being treated for a head injury. [NB: She is still hospitalized. Some of my students knew her because they worked with her]
BRIGHTON -- A baby was found in a toilet at Brighton High School yesterday, touching off a homicide investigation and a search for the mother, police said.
Police described the tiny body as a "fetus" but said it was unclear exactly how old it was or what gender or ethnicity it was because it was jammed in the toilet, after possibly being flushed, police said. Earlier last night, it still had not been removed as police examined the scene.
A school janitor who reported the tragic discovery in the third-floor girls restroom at 5:33 p.m. found the body under a pile of toilet paper as he tried to unclog the toilet.
School Department spokesman Jonathan Polumbo said the school's headmaster, Toby N. Romer, was at the school last night assisting police. He could not be reached for comment.
Brighton High School has 1,265 students, 680 of whom are female, according to the Massachusetts state Web site.
Police fear for the safety of the mother, who they suspect may be a teenager and may need medical attention after giving birth without the help of a doctor.
Now, my thought is this: On the TV show Boston Public, all of these things would have happened at the same school in the same day.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-06 01:36 am (UTC)...this almost makes sense, except that school is where the incident occured...
no subject
Date: 2006-06-06 01:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-06 10:14 am (UTC)I agree with you that her license should be taken away. Period.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-06 01:38 am (UTC)The mother fears for her own safety if she should be identified, I suspect.
I feel awful for the poor janitor. What a horrible shock to find as you're going about your job.
no subject
Date: 2006-06-06 12:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-06 01:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-06-06 03:09 am (UTC)(Interestingly, not the teachers, most of whom I respected, and the rest of whom I tolerated. They had real jobs, unlike the administrators).
no subject
Date: 2006-06-06 01:32 pm (UTC)Our poor school system. I hadn't realized that graduating in 1994 was a bygone age. When a snowy car accident caused the only death I remember in 4 years, and the worst life-crisis was an unplanned pregnancy.