Morning Weather Report: Cold Day, Seasonal Night for Town Hall Tree Lighting

Today

Sunny, with a high near 42. Wind chill values between 20 and 30. West wind 9 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.

Tonight

Mostly clear, with a low around 27. West wind 5 to 9 mph becoming light after midnight. Town Hall Tree Lighting begins at 5 PM with festivities following.

Tomorrow

Sunny, with a high near 47. Calm wind becoming southwest 5 to 7 mph in the morning.

Tomorrow Night

Mostly cloudy, with a temperature falling to near 36 by 10pm, then rising to around 44 during the remainder of the night. Southwest wind 5 to 8 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

8 Homes Reported without Power after Wednesday Storms

With gusty winds and saturated earth, trees and limbs caused thousands of power outages across the State, according to Eversource - with only eight homes reported as “out” by 9:30 Wednesday night. No major road closures or flooding were noted in the community.

Governor, Department of Education Announce New Native American Studies Model Curriculum

Press Release

Governor Ned Lamont and the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) today announced a new partnership with Connecticut’s recognized tribal nations to create a new Native American studies model curriculum.

This partnership and model curriculum stems from recently enacted legislation requiring school districts to include Native American studies as part of the social studies curriculum in the school year commencing July 1, 2023, and each year thereafter. This model curriculum and curricular resources, once finalized, will include the study of Native American tribes in Connecticut, including Northeastern Woodland tribes.

“Connecticut students deserve to have inclusive and accurate history lessons,” Governor Lamont said. “This curriculum is an important part of acknowledging our past and historical connections with our tribal nations. We are going beyond acknowledgment by building meaningful relationships with our tribal leaders and this curriculum effort is a prime example of that.”

“This partnership with Connecticut’s tribal nations is critical to ensuring the Native American studies curriculum development process is driven by Connecticut’s native and indigenous voices,” CSDE Commissioner Charlene Russell-Tucker said. “It is our goal to develop nation-leading educational resources and curriculum tools with subject matter experts in their fields and community members, while providing those resources at no cost to districts.”

“Native Americans play a critical role in Connecticut’s history and continue to play a critical role in Connecticut today,” CSDE Chief Academic Officer Irene Parisi said. “This is an opportunity to fully illuminate the historical and contemporary wisdom and contributions of Native Americans. The Connecticut State Department of Education is excited for this partnership and to curate cultural assets of each Connecticut tribe.”

Each of the five recognized tribes in Connecticut has its own individual story, and this curriculum will help students become aware of them.

Staff from the CSDE Academic Office plan to release this curriculum in June 2023 and have already begun meeting with officials from Connecticut’s tribes, as well as educators and other stakeholders to develop curriculum standards to inform curriculum resources and materials for the Native American studies model curriculum. Once completed, these curriculum resources will be made available on GoOpenCT, Connecticut’s digital library of open education resources.

Earthplace’s Harbor Watch Hosts Water Quality Symposium Thursday with local High-schoolers

Press Release

The Harbor Watch team is proud to announce the return of the Annual Water Quality Symposium on Thursday, December 1, at Earthplace from 6:30-7pm. Throughout the fall season, 11 high school students from Fairfield, Norwalk, New Canaan, Stamford, Stratford, Weston and Westport participated in the River Research Program, focused on studying the water quality in Stony Brook (starting south of the Merritt Parkway in Norwalk to its discharge into Saugatuck River in Westport). These students will present their findings in a conference-style poster session to community members, municipal partners and local teachers.

During this six-week program, the students learned about important local water quality issues and what Harbor Watch is doing to help track down and mitigate sources of sewage pollution in natural waterways. They were also taught methods for bacteria and nutrient testing in water and were exposed to useful field and laboratory skills, data analysis, and presentation skills.

Presentation topics will include a seasonal comparison of bacteria concentrations in Stony Brook, a multiple year comparison of bacteria data of Stony Brook, and macro-invertebrate composition analysis in Stony Brook.

Nikki Spiller, Director of Harbor Watch says, “We believe that all our education programs are vital in providing students in our community with hands-on educational experiences to solve real-world problems. While in our programs, they are given the opportunity to explore a possible career path, develop a better understanding how their actions can impact the health of these rivers and Long Island Sound and gain critical thinking and analysis skills that can be used beyond the sciences.”