DALTON, Mass. — Lucas A. Wildrick and Sheffield M. Drewry have been named valedictorian and salutatorian, respectively, for the 2023 graduating class at Wahconah Regional High School.
Both students will speak at graduation ceremonies on Sunday, June 4, at 1 p.m. in the school gymnasium. The valedictory speech will be titled, "Facing the Road Ahead" and the salutatory address will be titled, "Life is a Highway."
Wildrick is the son of Stephen and Rachel Wildrick, both of Dalton. His academic program included honors and Advanced Placement coursework. He is active in Wahconah's athletic program, participating in cross country running, basketball and baseball throughout high school. He has coached community youth in baseball and basketball and has also helped out at summer youth sports camps. He is a member of the Youth Advisory Board, Rotary Interact, Best Buddies, and Quiz Team. He is also a member of the National Honor Society, volunteering at numerous community events.
He received the Rensselaer Institute of Technology's Computing Medal and Scholarship Program and its Innovation and Creativity Award, and the Superintendent's Academic Excellence Award. He has been recognized with several school awards in math and science, is a John and Abigail Adams Scholarship and Stanley Z. Koplik Certificate of Mastery Award recipient. He was also selected as the Norman "Pop” Smith Youth of the Year.
Wildrick plans to attend the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in the fall to study sports management.
Drewry is the daughter of Candace Hall of Becket. She pursued an honors and Advanced Placement curriculum. She is active in the many service projects sponsored by the National Honor Society and serves as the Wahconah Chapter treasurer. She is the president of the Student Council, the captain of the swim team, a member of the Unified Track team, a co-president of Best Buddies (a mentorship program for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities) a member of No Place for Hate, a president of Green Umbrella and Wahconah's Environmental Club.
She serves as the student representative for the Equity and Diversity Committee and the Central Berkshire Regional School Committee meetings and is a senator for Massachusetts Girls State. Additionally, she is a lifeguard for the town of and a private and public swim instructor. Drewy was actively involved in service projects outside of school. She successfully petitioned to change Christopher Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day in the community. Additionally, she participated in the Undergraduate Pioneer Research Program in which she researched and wrote an article titled "Election related fear in present day America: The impact of electoral violence on voter turnout and voter registration."
Drewry received the Harvard Club of Western Massachusetts and the Citizen Scholar Book Award from the University of Vermont. She has been recognized with several school awards in math, science and history, was recognized as an AP Scholar with honor and is a John and Abigail Adams Scholarship and Stanley Z. Koplik Certificate of Mastery Award recipient.
She plans to attend Boston College in the fall and is majoring in environmental science.
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Pittsfield Community Development OKs Airport Project, Cannabis Amendment
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Community Development Board has supported plans for a new hangar at the airport and a change to the cannabis ordinance.
Lyon Aviation, located in the Pittsfield Municipal Airport, plans to remove an existing "T" style hangar and replace it with a new, 22,000-square-foot hangar. The existing one is said to be small and in poor condition while the new build will accommodate a variety of plane sizes including a larger passenger jet.
"There's no traffic impacts, there's no utilities to speak of," Robert Fournier of SK Design Group explained.
"I'll say that we did review this at length with the airport commission in the city council and this is the way we were instructed to proceed was filing this site plan review and special permit application."
The application states that the need for additional hangar space is "well documented" by Lyon, Airport Manager Daniel Shearer, and the airport's 2020 master plan. The plan predicts that 15 additional hangar spaces will be needed by 2039 and this project can accommodate up to 10 smaller planes or a single large aircraft.
Lyon Aviation was founded in 1982 as a fix-based operator that provided fuel, maintenance, hangar services, charter, and flight instruction.
This is not the only project at the Tamarack Road airport, as the City Council recently approved a $300,000 borrowing for the construction of a new taxi lane. This will cover the costs of an engineering phase and will be reduced by federal and state grant monies that have been awarded to the airport.
The local share required is $15,000, with 95 percent covered by the Federal Aviation Administration and the state Department of Transportation's Aeronautics division.
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The seasonal road closed because of flooding caused by what was initially thought to be from a beaver dam that was located on the Pittsfield stretch.
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The Traffic Commission OK'd additional bus stops and multiple items in the former General Electric neighborhood at its first meeting of the year. click for more