James Bairaktaris 2/6/23 James Bairaktaris 2/6/23

TEAM Westport Announces 2023 Essay Contest: “The Dialogue Challenge: Effective Engagement on Race, Ethnicity, Religion and LGBTQIA+”

TEAM Westport, the Town of Westport’s diversity engagement committee, has announced the topic for its 2023 Teen Diversity Essay Contest. Now in its tenth year, the contest asks teens to address “The Dialogue Challenge: Effective Engagement on Race, Ethnicity, Religion and LGBTQIA+”. Prior years’ challenges which tackled topics from ‘White Privilege’ and ‘Black Lives Matter’ to ‘Micro-Aggressions’ and ‘Stereotypes’ have drawn widespread attention and engagement in Westport and beyond. Students attending High School (Grades 9-12) in Westport or who live in Westport and attend High School elsewhere are invited to participate.

The Westport Library is co-sponsoring the event and winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Library targeted for 6pm on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. Entry deadline for the essay contest is 11:59 pm on Friday TUESDAY, February 28, 2023 . Subject to the volume and caliber of entries received, at the discretion of the judges, up to three cash prizes will be awarded. The first prize is $1,000, second prize is $750, and third prize is $500.

This year’s prompt which is available along with contest entry rules online at www.teamwestport.org or www.westportct.gov/teamwestportessay, is as follows:

Team Westport’s Mission is to make Westport a more welcoming community with regard to race, religion, ethnicity, and LGBTQIA+. In order to achieve its Mission, one of TEAM Westport’s goals has been to promote opportunities for people to come together in dialogue to better understand each other’s experiences, decrease bias, and learn what we have in common. Meaningful dialogue depends on a good faith effort to set aside preconceived beliefs or what we think we know about other people.

In 1,000 words or less, reflect on your own interactions with people who have different racial, ethnic, religious, and/or LGBTQIA+ identities and/or perspectives. What kinds of conversations were particularly helpful in prompting you to rethink your beliefs or opinions, perhaps causing you to change your mind or enabling you to better understand others' points of view? Based on these experiences, what specific actions would you suggest that individuals, schools, and/or Town entities in Westport take to promote good-faith dialogue, reduce bias, and foster understanding?

“With the controversy and misinformation surrounding dialogues on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from National to Local levels, there is nothing more important than what works for effective connection and genuine understanding,” stated TEAM Westport Chair Harold Bailey, Jr. “Now at the advent of our first decade of the Teen Diversity Essay Contest, TEAM Westport welcomes the opportunity for Westport youth to weigh in on this critical question.”

First Selectwoman Jennifer Tooker said, “I encourage the youth of our town to participate in discussions and programs that will enhance their experience in Westport, and ultimately, in the world beyond. I am confident that through their words, they will demonstrate that Westport is a community that welcomes conversation.”

“The Westport Library has made a fundamental commitment to creating and supporting inclusive communities, spaces, collections, and programs,” commented Westport Library Director Bill Harmer. “The annual TEAM Westport essay contest supports and extends our obligation to social justice, and ensuring a culture where all people are welcomed, valued and encouraged to succeed.”

ABOUT TEAM WESTPORT: With members appointed by the First Selectwoman and partners from the leadership of key Westport organizations, TEAM stands for Together Effectively Achieving Multiculturalism. TEAM Westport has developed a unique role by engaging the community in and drawing attention to issues surrounding multiculturalism and diversity -- making the invisible, visible. In addition to initiatives it implements directly, TEAM Westport partners with a wide range of municipal government and community institutions. Examples include co-programming with the Westport Library, the Westport Country Playhouse, Westport Schools, Westport Police, the Westport Museum, the Interfaith Clergy, the Interfaith Council, Westport MOCA, Westport Pride, AAPI Westport, Westport Housing, Westport P&Z Affordable Housing Subcommittee and the Levitt Pavilion.

J.C. Martin 2/6/23 J.C. Martin 2/6/23

The State Of Westport is FABULOUS Says First Selectwoman Jen Tooker

More than 100 people filled the Westport Library's Trefz forum on Sunday to hear the First Selectwoman and Board Of Education Chair Lee Goldstein give residents a comprehensive report on the state of the town including a detailed presentation on all things education and schools related.
Photos and story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

The town officials were introduced by the moderator, Tony McDowell a former president of Westport Sunrise Rotary a co-sponsor of the event along with Westport Rotary, a second Westport based club of Rotary International and the Westport Library.

The primary themes of Tooker's presentation were five matters of strong concern to Westport residents. They included: Traffic and Pedestrian Safety, The Longshore Park Capital Improvement Plan, Downtown Revitalization, Flood Mitigation and Stream Management, and Quality of Life issues including diversity and inclusion, emotional wellbeing which Tooker said was a concern due to the widespread effects of the pandemic. Alsoaddressed by the First Selectman was public safety and policing, noting the achievements of the Westport Police Department and our Chief Of Police Foti Koskinas who was recently recognized by CNN as a Champion for Change along with the department "for their community policing strategies and techniques which are setting the standard across CT and well beyond."

When it comes to the issue of traffic, Tooker was candid, saying there are some things we can correct but others we cannot. She did mention one important achievement saying "Most notably we were awarded $450,000 through the Federal Safe Streets and Roads for All Action Plan Grant. This will help us continue to be strategic in making improvements to our traffic issues. A shout out to Fire DC Nick Marsan who led the effort to obtain this grant.". There is now a report on the issue available on the town website.

Downtown improvement plans were conceived by the Downtown Plan Implementation Committee (DPIC) and are available on the town website at: https://www.downtownwestportct.com.

As for the Longshore Tooker spoke about a "10 year plan is currently under consideration which wold include " pickleball courts, paddle courts, better vehicular and pedestrian circulation, pool renovation and a clubhouse for the golfers among other improvements."

Flood Mitigation and Stream Management is a high priority said the Selectwoman, "given we are a coastal community with the beautiful Saugatuck River running through us - along with 7 streams." AS for these issues Tooker said, "As you can imagine, this work is complicated and long-term in nature. I want to thank DPW, Conservation and P&Z departments for their leadership."

Tooker also provided an update on affordable housing efforts including Suzy's House, a town-owned building leased and operated by Homes With Hope, saying " In addition to these renovations, the Town deed-restricted it for 40 years so it could be officially counted as affordable housing. This was a win-win-win. Homes with Hope is able to fulfill their mission. The Town is able to increase their affordable housing. And young women will have a safe and nurturing place to live. We will continue to look for opportunities like this as the conversation around affordable housing continues." Also a topic was the recent efforts to support our sister city of Lyman (pronounced Lee Mon) in Ukraine, telling the audience, "This was driven by two men who grew up in Westport, Brian and Marshall Mayer who have founded the non-profit Ukraine Aid International. They reached out to me to see if we could help. Dan Woog and a group of concerned and active residents were also on that initial call. Not only did they immediately get on board to help, Dan became the master communicator and fundraiser behind the effort. He’s been amazing. We’ve raised over $250,000 of private money from you – our incredibly generous community. Our police chief and fire chief are providing supplies that are obsolete to us, but vital to them. We’re in regular communication with the Mayor and Police Chief in Lyman."

Photos and story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

Tooker also touched on enhancing the towns tech capabilities which include efforts by town resident's Cliff Sirlin and Stefano Pacifico in their goal of making Westport "the tech startup hub of Connecticut, saying, "Westport is the home to many technology businesses, leaders, entrepreneurs and investors. Startup Westport (which is what we are calling this initiative) will build on our reputation and network to grow the local ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation in information technology and related fields.", also mentioning the newly launched DiscoverWestportCT.com which provides a portal to the many great reasons to live and do business in Westport.

BOE Chair Goldstein lead off the discussion providing a detailed report on the current status and activities of the Westport Public School system. She spoke about the importance of Westport's highly regarded educational system as one essential reasons for the recent growth and high desirability of the town as a premier place to live in Fairfield county.

Goldstein addressed the need to increase the education budget which is now at just over 136 million dollars for 2023-2024, saying, in part, "over the past three years, we have seen explosive growth in our elementary student enrollment. Since fiscal year 2020, we’ve increased 262 elementary students, which has worked out to 13 more classroom sections. She informed the audience of the many accolades awarded to the Westport school system in both academic and athletic achievement. Said Goldstein, "We see state and national - arts awards, newspaper and literary magazine and student science journal awards, individual and group student awards, teacher awards, best school district and individual schools first place rankings by niche and usa today and us world news, sports championships for both our girls and boys teams, coaches awards, music awards, achievements in world languages, financial literacy, academic awards in every discipline – the list goes on and on…"

Also addressed were the effects of the pandemic on students and staff including the increase nationally of "anxiety and depression rates among young people [which] are skyrocketing". The school sytem's efforts to address these issues include "…an increase in the total number of school psychologists, comprehensive training in dialectical and cognitive behavioral therapies for all school psychologists, counselors, and social workers, and continued partnerships with kids in crisis, liberations and Westport human services. We have also successfully implemented Effective School Solutions, which provides intensive, in-school clinical support, for 20 students at a time at Staples, and extending to both middle schools next year."

At the conclusion of their prepared remarks, Tooker and Goldstein engaged in a question and answer forum with inquiries from the audience submitted to the moderator McDowell.

Photos and story By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

J.C. Martin 2/6/23 J.C. Martin 2/6/23

Compo Beach Dogs and Their Humans Enjoy a "Balmy" Sunday Afternoon

With the frigid temps and sub-zero wind chills ending on Sunday and the mercury reaching the high 30's Compo Beach once again became the busy playground for dogs and their pet parents which it normally is on nice sunny Sunday afternoons.
Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.

Although high 30's is not the perfect temperature visitors were heard commenting on how pleasant it was to actually exercise themselves and their pets without the risk of frostbite! The dogs seemed unconcerned by the freezing water, diving in to chase tennis balls and each other. Dog breeds at play included a pair of Red Merle Mini Aussie Shepherds and a grey Labmaraner, which is a hybrid breed and is a mix between a Labrador Retriever and a Weimaraner and a black German Shepherd puppy. Even a couple of adorable children were enjoying being outside for a change.

Low tide made for quite the buffet for throngs of seagulls who were seen feasting on what were most likely slipper shells, or slipper snails are an important shorebird food source which are easy pickings as they have only one shell and don't require being dropped from high above onto rocks or the parking lot as is required by the gulls to enjoy the Sound's clams and mussels.

They day came to an end with another spectacular Combo Beach sunset.

Photos By J.C. Martin For WestportLocalPress.com Click on an image to enlarge and open gallery.