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Date: 5/12/2021
CHICOPEE – The Chicopee School Committee met to discuss the future of wrestling and the effects COVID-19 will have on the sport on May 5. Assistant Superintendent Alvin Morton attended the meeting to speak on the approvals from the Reopening Task Force.
According to Morton, the task force came up with the recommendation of approval for Level 1 wrestling. This means team members can meet for socially distanced, individual aerobic and conditioning workouts. There will be no actual wrestling during practices and there will be no competitions.
“The nature of wrestling and the sport itself, the nature of the touching, the holds, even though they’ll be wearing masks those masks might not be able to stay on, so we just felt as though we would at least give the athletes the opportunity to at least have that Level 1,” said Morton.
Practices will consist of conditioning, running, drills and more. These were the same guidelines that fall football and cheer had to follow due to the virus.
The School Committee also discussed food waste within Chicopee schools and how it can be better managed. Chicopee Public Schools Director of Food Services Melanie Wilk spoke on this.
Wilk said COVID-19 stopped and changed many strides Chicopee had taken to prevent food waste. Chicopee was in talks with Rachel’s Table in February 2020 to start a pilot program at Fairview Elementary School where they would come to the school, take any leftover food and donate it back to the community. This program stopped due to the pandemic.
According to Wilk, Chicopee Public Schools is now in talks to start this program again in the fall.
“I feel like that’s a really good opportunity for us to donate any food that’s overproduced,” she said.
Wilk also said she hopes that schools will be able to go back to “offer versus serve” in the new school year. This was another way the schools worked to stop food waste that ended because of the pandemic. With “offer versus serve” students are able to decline some of the offered food that they won’t eat, thus eliminating a significant amount of food waste.
During the School Committee meeting, member Mary-Elizabeth Pniak Costello announced that she will not be seeking re-election.
“I also want to inform the voters of Ward 9 that I will not be seeking re-election to the School Committee and that was a very difficult decision for me to make. I want to thank Mayor Vieau and Mrs. Clark for their leadership in this very, very difficult time. This is a worldwide crisis. I want to thank the people of Ward 9 for their dedication and their help during my tenure and the teachers, the staff, the students and the parents. They’ve been wonderful,” she said.
Residents showed their support for Costello on Facebook.
“Thank you for being a voice for the residents, school staff, parents and students Mary Beth. Your shoes will be impossible to fill. I wish you the best on whatever your future may hold,” said Jeannie LisBeth on the meeting’s livestream.
Resident Grace Schofield also showed her support.
"Thank you Mary Beth Costello for all your service in our Chicopee Public School community,” she said.
Those interested in viewing the School Committee meeting in its entirety are encouraged to visit the ChicopeeTV Facebook page.
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After the meeting Pniak Costello sent the following message to Reminder Publishing, about her future plans to run for City Council.
“I have been certified as a candidate for City Council from Ward 9. I took out my papers on April 30 and returned them on May 6. I served on the Planning Board for 17 years. I was chairperson of the Planning Board for 11 years. I was a member of the Chicopee Council on Aging for 12 years, serving as chair for two years. Currently I am the vice chairperson of the Chicopee School Committee. I was elected to the School Committee in 1997. I am a graduate of Elms College. I have two masters degree from AIC. one degree is in criminal justice, the other degree is in public administration.”