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  TOWN CLERK

Town of GREENFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS
Town Hall, 14 Court Square, Greenfield, MA  01301
(413) 772-1555

Fax: (413) 772-1542   email:maureenw@townofgreenfield.org

November 30, 2006

Greenfield High School Students
1 Lenox Ave.
Greenfield, MA   01301

Thanks to all for your assistance as poll workers for the State election on November 7th.   I received many compliments during and after the election from the voters of our community.   

In particular, your enthusiasm and interest in participation in the Election process were noted.  

Many people I spoke to were delighted to see youth involvement because there is so much voter apathy especially among young people, unlike the days when both young and old participated as voters. 

The Senior poll workers really enjoyed working with you.  They reported that you were quite helpful, courteous, respectful, and well versed in your role as election workers.

Also, thanks to Ms. Steinbring for her interest in educating students about elections and taking the time to help me put this plan together. 

Again, thanks for your willingness to participate, especially on a day when school was not in session.  I realize you could have easily chosen other activities rather than work the election.

GMS library reopens
on Nov. 6

The Recorder
(http://www.recorder.com/)
October 27, 2006
page 2

Recorder Staff

GREENFIELD — With the help of volunteers, the Greenfield Middle School library will reopen for students to use on Nov. 6.

The library has been off-limits for general student use this fall, because the librarian position was eliminated by budget cuts. Teachers have been able to bring classes into the library for study projects, but the inaccessibility of the library throughout the day has brought a lot of complaints from students and teachers, according to Principal Chris Collins.

This week, school officials met with prospective library volunteers and, if all goes as planned, the library will be open Monday through Thursday from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Collins said the school could still use additional library volunteers, especially on Fridays or early mornings. Last year, it was open from about 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. each school day.

For more information, call the Greenfield Middle School at 772-1360.

17 GHS juniors enrolled as poll workers

The Recorder
(http://www.recorder.com/)
November 6, 2006
page 1

By DIANE BRONCACCIO, Recorder Staff

GREENFIELD — Seventeen Greenfield High School juniors got a taste last week of what they’ll be doing behind the election scenes Tuesday, when they work with Town Clerk Maureen Winseck as Greenfield’s precinct poll workers.

“It’s a lot harder than it looks,” 16-year-old DG remarked after Winseck’s 40-minute presentation to students about the requirements of the job.

“It gives me a new respect for poll workers,” said ML, 17. “They have a lot of responsibility. I can’t wait to vote,” she added, “but this is close.”

Winseck said she has huge responsibilities as the town’s chief election officer, and as poll workers, “you’ll be assuming some of that responsibility as well,” she told Gail Steinbring’s American Studies/Advanced Placement History students.

Although none are old enough to vote, the students may now be election workers, with parental permission, because of a recent change in state law, said Winseck.

A few years ago, Winseck had brought in a few Greenfield High School student poll workers, but state laws back then would only allow 18-year-old, registered voters to work the polls. The legal change means more students can participate, and more will become familiar with the voting process before they come of age to vote.

Winseck said there is a statewide shortage of poll workers. “In Greenfield, we do have quite a few, but still not enough,” she said. “Typically, I have four poll workers for each of the nine precincts. But for larger elections, we need five to six workers per precinct, because things come up that you don’t even anticipate.”

For instance, Winseck once found a ballot from a previous election inside what should have been an empty ballot box. To open polls, she said, the clerk verifies that all locked ballot boxes are empty, that the ballots are correct for each precinct and that a precinct tabulator, which is run before the first ballot is cast, prints out a tape, with a “0” in front of the name of each candidate.

Poll workers at voter check-in tables must ask voters’ names “even if you already know them,” Winseck stressed, and must repeat the voter’s name and address “in an audible tone” to ensure accuracy.

“Voters are protective of their personal information, so they are offered a secrecy sleeve,” Winseck said, holding up a blue folder into which a ballot was inserted. She said sometimes voters attempt to feed the sleeve into the voting machines, which can cause a jam, so that’s one thing for poll workers to watch out for.

Another job for poll workers is to help direct voters who may have gone into the wrong precinct’s voting area.

“You can’t talk to them about any candidate,” Winseck warned. “On occasion, people will leave literature (in the voting booth) they got from politicians outside. So it’s a good idea to check the voting booths.”

If a voter makes a mistake on a ballot, poll workers can tell the precinct warden, who knows the process for handling a “spoiled ballot.” Winseck said voters who make mistakes have three chances to correctly fill out a ballot in the town’s “three strikes and you’re out” policy.

Sometimes, she said, ballots are rejected by the voting machine because they are “over-voted,” which means people marked votes for more than one candidate for each position. Or, if they circled a candidate’s name instead of filling in the marked arrows, the votes aren’t read by the scanner. Because of privacy issues, poll workers are to ask the voters to look for these mistakes on their own ballots.

“We cannot look at their ballots unless they ask us to,” said Winseck. “If they ask you to look at it, you should look at it with another person present.”

Another precaution against swaying a voter is to keep all campaigning at least 150 feet away from the voting place.

“If people come in wearing political campaign buttons or T-shirts with a candidate’s name, you need to let the (precinct warden) know,” said Winseck. “They will direct them to remove the (campaign) pin. Occasionally, we’ll send them to the restrooms, to turn their T-shirt inside out.

“They’re actually in violation of election laws, if they refuse to remove their political pins — they could actually be imprisoned,” she added, “although we haven’t had to do that yet.”

Winseck pointed out that the town has one voting booth set up to accommodate a wheelchair, but that the state hasn’t yet purchased other voting equipment to meet the needs of voters with disabilities. If they need assistance, two poll workers must accompany them to the booth, she said.

“What if a person comes in who doesn’t speak English?” asked L..

“Unfortunately, we don’t have any interpreters,” Winseck replied. “It hasn’t been a problem up until now, although I understand it has been a problem in the Springfield area. If it becomes a problem here, we’ll have to find someone who could interpret.”

Another issue to be aware of is the polling center evacuation plan, which was developed after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and gives procedures for securing voting machines and sealing ballots, along with emergency exits.

In case of a power outage, said Winseck, the town has a battery pack on which the machines could temporarily function; also completed ballots could be put into an “emergency bin” and either counted by hand or fed into the voting machine later, once the power is back on.

In humid weather, ballots can sometimes swell and jam the machines.

She told the students that residents who don’t return their annual town census forms may end up on the town’s “inactive voting list.” Some, whose residency is in question, may file provisional ballots. Provisional ballots, she explained, aren’t counted until the clerk’s office has determined that the person is an eligible voter.

Besides putting students to work as poll workers, Steinbring said the school registered about 28 new voters this fall. “I like to do voter registration twice a year,” she said. “Usually, more kids are registered to vote at the end of the (school) year, as more seniors turn 18.”

Student MG said she learned a lot from Winseck’s presentation. “It just sets up our situation, when we’re ready to vote,” she said. “Whoever’s in office right now will affect us and the decisions we make.”

G. who is seeking a career in science, said how politicians resolve the debate over stem cell research could affect what people will be able to study in science programs in colleges.”

Steinbring was in fourth or fifth grade when her mother, a poll worker, brought her to the polls one election day. “I thought it was the coolest thing,” she said.

You can reach Diane Broncaccio at: dbronc@recorder.com or (413) 772-0261 Ext. 277.

GHS class wants ‘News Wave TV’ to make splash

The Recorder
(http://www.recorder.com/)
October 30, 2006
page 1

By ARN ALBERTINI, Recorder Staff

GREENFIELD — If all goes according to plan, high school students will soon be broadcasting news across town on Cable Channel 15.

“The ultimate goal is to have what we put on the air here look just as good as Channel 22, 40 or 3,” said teacher Tom Bevacqua, who readers may recognize as a former weatherman for Channel 40.

“There really is no reason that can’t happen.”

“The only difference is (the students) aren’t being paid for this.”

Right now, the news program only reaches televisions in the high school.

To help the students get their News Wave TV program on the air, Greenfield Community Television recently gave a day-long training session on how to use its equipment. Technical director Scott MacPherson taught students how to use the in-studio cameras, how to work the control room (where the sound board is and where the director switches between which cameras are on air) and the editing equipment.

For the past six years, Bevacqua has taught in Greenfield, for a year at the middle school and the remaining five years at the high school. In addition to the news class, he teaches three geometry classes and one in meteorology.

When he’s not in the classroom, he works part-time as a weatherman for WHAI and for WSHM Channel 3, the CBS affiliate in Springfield.

He also writes a weekly weather column for The Recorder, which appears on Mondays beginning today.

It’s harder work being a teacher than presenting forecasts, especially dealing with the varying levels of ability from student to student in large classes, Bevacqua said.

But, teaching is also a lot more satisfying than reporting the weather, he said. “You see kids smile. You don’t forget faces. When I’m doing the weather, I know I’m addressing 10,000 to 20,000 people, but I’m looking at a camera.”

In Bevacqua’s news class, students learn poise, diction, how to shoot a story and how to report a story. Later this semester they’ll learn how to do on-air interviews.

“I would love to see these kids get jobs in television — and some of the kids will definitely be there,” he said.

“When they’re on camera it’s like they are talking to you. Some of them, without question, have the poise and have the confidence. It’s like they’re naturals.”

“I’ve had some of the shyest kids in school sign up and by the end of the class they’re on camera doing stories.” Seeing students make this transition is part of what’s gratifying about being a teacher, Bevacqua said.

Now that they have the training, students can check out one of six cameras and can sign up for time to use the studio or editing equipment.

Bevacqua and GCTV Executive Director Terri Cappucci hope to collaborate on a grant to buy new equipment for the high school.

“We have very basic equipment,” he said, holding up a home video camera, that serves as one of the high school news’ team’s cameras. “Basically it’s a digital camera with built-in mics.”

With the grant, the high school team hopes to have an in-house studio, similar to what’s at GCTV.

For Bevacqua’s class, most of the ideas for stories come from The Recorder. He said he clips out stories that students will be able to report on in the 50 minutes of class.

The goal is to produce stories that are 30 seconds long.

For one story about a reported regional shortage of dentists, one student posed as a dentist and was interviewed by his fellow classmates.

“We like to make it fun. Spice it up a bit,” said Senior Mark Dore, whose brother, Tym, played the fictional dentist.

Asked how she got interested in the class, senior Laura Burt said, “Around school I’m kind of known for being the loud girl with a good personality. It’s kind of fun to do on air.”

Bevacqua said, “I call her ‘one-take Laura’ ”

One time, she and fellow team members were trying to film a story about backed-up traffic on Silver Street. The police officer working a detail wouldn’t let them stop, despite their attempts to explain what they were doing, Burt said. Eventually, they had to drive by slowly several times to get a shot of the activity, she said.

“I like the fact you get to leave school and we get to (involve) ourselves in the activities of town that otherwise we wouldn’t be aware of,” said senior Jason Denison.

You can reach Arn Albertini at: aalberti@recorder.com or (413) 772-0261 Ext. 26