News, events, children’s activities in Newton, MA.
I found some beautiful fall planters in Boston and my friend Zoe Forbes of Fleuri Designs did one for me as well in Newton, MA. I have more of her designs here and here. Here are some ideas to bring flowers into your garden this fall.
Beautiful window box and container gardens in Back Bay, Boston
What: Join us for the launch of a new fitness class: YogaBox™! It combines strengthening, conditioning, stretching, core work and cardio for a fun and time efficient workout.
We will be using the heavy bag, boxing gloves and wraps, and a yoga mat.
What is it exactly? I made a video with clips from the YogaBox™ Open House class.
You start with a half hour of heavy bag work with Marc in which you learn to punch the heavy bag and the punches of boxing (jab, cross, hook). You’ll alternate with cardio exercises off the bag like burpees, jumping jacks and push ups. (You can go at your own pace and rest when you need to.)
Next comes 45 minutes of Vinyasa yoga with Dawn working the core and stretching the muscles in an invigorating and dynamic flow. Dawn boxed for one year and has designed the yoga around releasing the muscles used for the first part of YogaBox.
Where: Nonantum Boxing Club at 75 Adams St
Who Is Teaching It?: Dawn Davis for Yoga and Marc Gargaro for Boxing
Marc Gargaro is a certified Level II USA Boxing Certified coach and licensed Professional trainer as well as a licensed boxing promoter. He was an accomplished amateur boxer for several years and was a finalist in the Heavyweight Division of the 2005 USA Northeast Regional Championship Tournament as well as a Lowell Golden Gloves semi-finalist in 2007. He has extensive experience in strength and conditioning programs and sport specific training.
Dawn Obeidallah Davis brings a rich set of experiences to the teaching of yoga. She is a Developmental Psychologist, a mother of three, and is trained in both the Baptiste and Elemental yoga traditions. In addition to her expertise and formal training, Dawn brings great enthusiasm to teaching yoga, celebrating the joy of life through movement and breath. A soulful teacher, Dawn helps students cultivate energy in an energetic yet systematically calming way. She is a former Harvard Medical School faculty member and is the author of scientific articles on child development. Dawn received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from The Pennsylvania State University, and has trained in Elemental Yoga with Bo Forbes and in Baptiste Power Yoga with Coeli Marsh.
When:
Tuesday at 9 am – 10:15 am (75 minutes)
Thursday at 7 pm – 8:15 pm (75 minutes)
Cost: $100 for 5 classes (never expires)
$25/drop in
Questions: Contact Marc Gargaro at 617.340.3700 or info@
We hope you will come to check out this new fitness class! First class free for anyone NEW to Nonantum Boxing Club. If you are not new to Nonantum Boxing Club, you can earn a free class by bringing a friend who is!
Jamie Chaloff of Dreamfar High School Marathon will speak at The Rotary Club of Newton Speaker Series on Wednesday, October 15, 2014 at the Braeburn Country Club. Join us for lunch at noon followed by Ms. Chaloff’s presentation. All are welcome to attend Rotary, however they do ask that you pre-register.
Dreamfar High School Marathon (DHSM) is New England’s first high school marathon training program. They are a Greater Boston-based program that teaches high school students that anything is possible, even completing a marathon. With hard work, perseverance and guidance from dedicated mentors, student runners realize their potential as they train for the Cox Providence Marathon. They teach students realistic goal-setting and the value of commitment and teamwork – skills that ensure success in the classroom, on the road, and beyond.
Victories, such as running their first mile, motivate and empower students to accomplish more; challenges, like training in the cold Boston winter, teach them the power of dedication. Over the past three years, significant improvements have been seen in student runners’ academic achievement, classroom attendance, physical & mental health, and life skills. Information about Dreamfar can be found here.
For information and/or reservations about attending Rotary, please contact Susan at RotaryNewtonMa@gmail.com.
GLAD Promotes the Creation of Middle School GSAs with New Video and Online Resources
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders today launched a campaign to encourage the creation of more gay-straight alliances (GSAs) in middle schools across Massachusetts and in New England.
“Young people are coming out at a younger and younger age,” said Vickie Henry, director of GLAD’s Youth Initiative. “It’s critical to have resources in place to support them and to educate their peers, so they can go through coming out safely and in a positive way.”
GSAs Can Make It Better is a one-minute video created to be shared online and shown in schools, at conferences, and as part of workshops. It outlines the documented benefits of GSAs, including the role they play in cutting down on transphobic and homophobic remarks; helping transgender and gender non-conforming students feel safer; and educating teachers, administrators and students about LGBTQ issues.
The video and resources, including a primer on the right to form GSAs, can be viewed here.
GLAD has partnered with Boston Alliance of LGBTQ Youth (BAGLY, Inc.), GLSEN Massachusetts, Greater Boston PFLAG, Hispanic Black Gay Coalition, the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth, and True Colors: Out Youth Theater and the Theater Offensive to create the campaign.
LGBT middle school students are significantly more likely than their high school peers to experience verbal and physical harassment and assault, with 35.5% of middle school students reporting regular physical harassment compared to 21.4% of high school students. Yet while 52.6% of LGBT high school youth have access to a GSA, only 6.3% of LGBT middle school youth do.
Throughout the school year, GLAD will be making available online content that educates and encourages the creation of middle school GSAs. GLAD will also provide assistance to any students who are having difficulty forming a GSA due to their school administration’s resistance or who believe their school is not treating an existing GSA the same as any other club.
Through strategic litigation, public policy advocacy, and education, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders works in New England and nationally to create a just society free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, HIV status, and sexual orientation.
Newton is composed of 13 villages loaded with classic New England charm. Each village has a distinct character, but all have their own elementary schools, pedestrian-friendly shopping centers, parks and playgrounds. More than 25% of households have school-age children and many kids ride their bikes or walk to school, which are known as some of the best in the state.
While Newton is already has a solid base of employers — Boston College, Newton-Wellesley Hospital, Trip Advisor and UPromise, to name a few — the city and neighboring Needham are developing a technology hub dubbed the N-Squared Innovation Corridor to attract even more tech companies. It’s also less than 45 minutes by commuter rail or express bus to downtown Boston.
Each year, the Boston Marathon runs through Newton. Heartbreak Hill, one of the most dastardly difficult legs of the elite 26.2-mile race, is located near City Hall. But the bigger heartbreak for most people is Newton’s lack of affordable housing. Home prices rose sharply the past year and even starter homes run from $500,000 on up, says local realtor Michael Spurr.
The Top 15 (a.k.a. Who Beat Us?)
1. McKinney, Texas
2. Maple Grove, Minnesota
3. Carmel, Indiana
4. Castle Rock, Colorado
5. Kirkland, Washington
6. Columbia and Endicott City, Maryland
7. Clarktown, New York
8. Ames, Iowa
9. Rochester Hills, Michigan
10. Reston, Virginia
11. Eagan, Minnesota
12. Woodbury, Minnesota
13. Centennial, Colorado
14. Irvine, California
15. Newton, Massachusetts
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Noon to 5 pm
City Hall (inside and on back lawn), 1000 Commonwealth Avenue, Newton
This festival celebrates Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese cultures and more. Taste varieties of Asian foods. Enjoy performances from different Asian Cultures, activities and more. For more information visit here.
As you may know, there have been sporadic cases of Enterovirus D68 reported in states across the US and it appears to have now reached New England.
The Enteroviruses are a common class of viral infections which cause a variety of illness such as “hand, foot and mouth”. This particular strain is different in that it causes cold like symptoms, but can also cause wheezing and respiratory distress. Most children who get the illness will have symptoms closer to those of a cold. The severe respiratory distress is still quite rare. Children at higher risk of lung problems with this infection are those children with asthma, lung diseases, and former premature infants. There are no antibiotics or anti-viral medicines that work for this illness, but supportive care and asthma medicines can help a great deal.
Here are some links to additional resources from the CDC & AAP.
Reports of a Severe Resperatory Virus on the Rise
CDC: Enterovirus D68
Graphic on What To Do To Prevent Enterovirus D68
KATHY MARCHI FROM THE NEWTON PARTNERSHIP
TO SPEAK AT THE ROTARY CLUB OF NEWTON
Kathy Marchi from The Newton Partnership will speak at The Rotary Club of Newton Speaker Series on Tuesday, October 7, 2014 at the Braeburn Country Club. Join us for lunch at noon followed by Ms. Marchi’s presentation.
The Newton Partnership was formed in 2006 under a federal grant as a collaboration of Newton organizations to offer wellness programs for Newton’s youth and their families, plus staff and parent education and much more.
While still grant funded for fitness programs to youth, including a mentoring program for middle and high school students, they have since formed a non-profit organization and absorbed the Newton Child Care Scholarship Fund at the request of the City.
Their largest public event is “Touch A Truck” which supports the Scholarship Fund, and was held on September 21st.
All are welcome to attend Rotary! For information and/or reservations, please contact Susan at RotaryNewtonMa@gmail.com.
What: Make Way for Ducklings Store Grand Opening Celebration
Where: 8 North Market Building, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston, MA
When: Sunday, October 5th 2-4pm
Cost: FREE
Description: Families are invited to join in an afternoon of fun and celebration of Boston’s rich culture surrounding children’s literature, art and imagination. Make Way for Ducklings will be hosting free activities, entertainment and more throughout the afternoon.
Activities include:
More Information here.
Last weekend the brand new Newton Nomadic Theater launched it’s inaugural production “Faith Healer” by Brian Friel to full houses and fabulous reviews.
“Three luminous performances are at the heart of this elegant production. It was a pleasure to experience this powerful and strangely haunting play in an intimate setting right here in Newton. Theatre at its best is cleanly staged, excellently acted and touches themes that have you thinking and talking about the experience days later. NNT’s innaugural production hits all those marks. If the concepts of sophisticated theatre and Newton don’t naturally go together in your mind, then see this show and be moved by the talent and excellence that is right here in our community.” – Jennifer London
“Newton Nomadic Theater is brilliant” – Click here for full review
The Newton Nomadic Theater’s mission is to bring high quality, simply staged theater to interesting and unusual locations in and around Newton.
“Faith Healer” starring well know Boston area actors Billy Maleady, Linda Goetz and Dave Rich opened this past weekend ( Sept 26) in an intimate and little know recital hall at Carriage House Violins in Upper Falls
Oct 3, 4 it will move to Gregorian Rugs in Lower Falls. We’ll create a temporary theater within the beautiful Gregorian showroom.
Oct 10, 11 it will move to the chapel in the historic First Baptist Church’s chapel in Newton Centre. This is particularly apt since the play tells the story of an itinerant faith healer, his wife and manager as they move from church hall to church hall in rural Scotland Wales and Ireland.
The gorgeously written and mysterious “Faith Healer” is brought to life by first rate cast with powerful performances across the board.
Be sure to see this fantastic production from Newton’s new theater company. Find out what people are talking about and help launch a new theater company here in Newton. You won’t be disappointed!
To buy tickets in advance, go here.
