McCarthy Towne 50th Anniversary

Presentation at the entrance

In 2021, Alice entered 5th grade at McCarthy Towne Elementary school, one of five elementary schools in Acton. When I applied for school, I only considered the location, location and location: near our new home and Emily’s school. I had no idea the differences between McCarthy Towne (McT) and Merrian when I found both shared the same location on Google Map.

But we are really lucky because Alice has excellent class and ESL teachers. 2022 is the 50th anniversary of McCarthy Towne elementary school. Jolie voluntarily signed up for the preparation for the anniversary and we had the opportunity to review the history of McT.

Back to 1971, McT was a Pilot school with new ideas of art integration (learning through art), and teaching methods without the fixed textbooks. “Controversial pilot school” was mentioned in the old newspaper. Then, I could not imagine the first principal, Parker Damon, was in his position for 30 years! I love his words:

Your elementary school years may be over, but waht you have learned and done will be with you always. Dare to be true to your past, your future, your self

PARKER DAMON, FIRST PRINCIPal OF MCT, 1971-2000

As newcomers, we do not share the old memories with other parents, and staff who were in the history of McT. When Jolie scanned all the old documents and photos and made a slide deck for McT 50 the anniversary, we feel very lucky to join this school when Alice starts her whole new life and learning journey in the US.

Here, I want to share Jolie’s work using the old documents and photos:

Celebrate!McCarthy Towne School 50th anniversary, by Jolie Wu

Download the PDF File

First Score in First Season

Alice in ABYS jersey

It should be spring in the New England area, but it was high to 88 ℉ today. Before coming to the US, I almost did not intentionally try or learn any sports. However, I found everyone may find the most favorite one after trying. For example, we never thought about why Alice likes soccer. I barely remember she tried soccer when she was in Taiwan.

One month ago, Emily’s rowing teammate’s Mom encouraged Alice to join the Acton-Boxborough Yang Soccer (ABYS) team, and Alice was happy to accept this invitation. The story afterward was: Jolie paid a fee to join ABYS league and bought the jerseys, shorts, socks, shin guards, and soccer shoes.

The game today started at 12:30 pm. Emily and I arrived at the field at 1:40 pm. For the laypeople like us, we felt bored watching two groups chasing the ball. Then, suddenly, Alice showed up near the goal line and finished a close-range shot. Wow~ We could not believe we just saw Alice’s first goal in her first soccer season!

Witness for Alice’s first goal, Liberty Field, Boxborough, MA

Crying in H Mart

First Edition Cover

When Emily and I visited the library, she told me the recent hot book is “crying in H Mart”. Coincidently, I saw this book on the Rapid Read display shelf. This is the reason why I picked this book for my reading. I finished reading this book in 2 weeks because it is in the “Rapid Read” display and needs to be returned within two weeks.

The author, Michelle Zauner, is an American Korean whose mother came from South Korea. Korean foods play the connection between the daughter and mother. It also represents the finding of her “identity” after the author’s mother passed away due to stomach cancer. There are many comments and sharing online, and anyone can easily find good introductions for this book.

H Mart is a Korean Asian supermarket in the US. If I were not here now, the feeling might not be so vivid to me. Furthermore, we are also new immigrants to the US, although all of my family are not the second generation yet.

The culture that we shared was active, effervescent in my gut and in my genes, and I had to seize it, foster it so it did not die in me…If I could not be with my mother, I would be her.

Near the end of the book, Zauner

Interestingly, Michelle Zauner is also the “Japanese Breakfast” singer which previously visited Taiwan. The cover of her debut album of “Psychopomp” is her mother’s photo. Her mother’s passing away is her mother’s end, but she also finds herself and the new in her writing and music performance. The intriguing relationships between the author and her mother seem one traditional type in Asian culture. Probably not every reader can appreciate and understand this kind of situation. Finally, this is still a good book to read for me!

May the Force Be With You

Recently, I began to watch STAR WARS on Disney+. Frankly, Jolie had bought all Star Wars series on Apple TV with my Taiwanese account. I never figured out how the real story is though I know it is a very famous serial movie. When you do have time to enjoy life, you can also start watching good books and great movies.

In Episode III, Revenge of Sith, Anakin asked Yoda about his nightmare regarding the loss of PADMÉ AMIDALA. Yoda replied as follows:

The fear of loss is a path to the dark side

Death is a nature part of life

Rejource for those around you who transforms in to the Force

Mour them, do not. Miss them, do not.

Attachment leads to jealousy

The shadow of great that is

Master Yoda also concluded the above challenge: Train yourself to let go of everything you feel to lose.

I would say that this is similar to the concept and mind sents when I cared the terminal patients in the past ten years. Easy to understand but hard to practice.

Peeps Diorama

BAB (Bromfield Acton Boxborough) PEEPS-TACULAR Contest

Emily attended the Rowing Team this spring. The first activity of the rowing team is Peeps Diorama. Actually, I googled “Peeps” and understand it is one kind of marshmallow, which is very popular in the US. You even can find it on Wikipedia, which says:

Peeps are marshmallows sold in the United States and Canada that are shaped into chicks, bunnies, and other animals. There are also different shapes used for various holidays.

Finally, I understood it is using Peeps to create a theme in terms of Rowing or Book titles. Therefore, Emily created a “Row in Amazon” and Alice had a “Harry Potter” using Peeps.

We might be the first one to submit the Peeps diorama. Though this is a small community competition, we did enjoy all the delicate works and were surprised by the enthusiastic participation and creativity.

Go to Ablum of Peeps Diorama