MAYOR WALSH JOINS 35 MAYORS IN FIGHT AGAINST SEX TRAFFICKING

MAYOR WALSH JOINS 35 MAYORS IN FIGHT AGAINST SEX TRAFFICKING

U.S. Conference of Mayors Targets Demand for Paid Sex, Highlights National Legislation

BOSTON - Monday, June 22, 2015 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today reinforced his commitment to combating sex trafficking in Boston through comprehensive demand reduction and prevention. At the 83rd Annual Conference of Mayors in San Francisco, Mayor Walsh joined 35 mayors from across the country in signing a resolution calling for aggressive anti-trafficking interventions to end demand for sex buying and mitigate the associated public safety, economic and health risks to our nation’s cities.

“Human trafficking is a crisis that is plaguing our communities, in Boston, and across the nation,” said Mayor Walsh. “We must do everything we can to raise awareness and put an end to this heinous crime, by working together to allocate much needed resources to victims and survivors. We must continue to seek justice, safe communities and programming to help those who have been affected.”

Focusing on eliminating the demand for sexual exploitation, the resolution urges that all anti-trafficking strategies hold both sex buyers and pimps accountable for fueling a deeply damaging industry and provide services to help exploited people leave the industry. In addition to citywide strategies, the mayors also called on the federal government to quickly implement the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act (JVTA), which will direct much needed resources to help law enforcement target buyers and support victims.  

JVTA is the first comprehensive bill to address the domestic trafficking of American citizens, providing funding for survivor services, as well as new tools for law enforcement to investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes.

The mayors also advocated demand reduction as a pragmatic, effective way to eliminate the sexual exploitation. Sex buyers drive the illegal, harmful enterprise and associated criminal and societal challenges, including drug addiction, street violence, and gangs, according to the resolution.

“Every day, sex buyers make the choice to perpetuate a deeply damaging industry that hurts vulnerable people and harms our communities,” said Ziba Cranmer, Executive Director of Demand Abolition, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit working to reduce the demand for purchased sex. “Holding buyers accountable for their choices while supporting survivors exploited by the industry is critical to the safety and well-being of individuals in cities across the city. Take away the buyers, and we take away the abuse.”

Mayor Walsh is among 11 mayors in a network launched in February called Cities Empowered Against Sexual Exploitation (CEASE). Catalyzed by Demand Abolition, these cities are committed to reducing the demand for buying sex in their communities by 20 percent within two years. Many cities have already implemented tactics to end demand for illegal commercial sexual exploitation and many mayors are focused on reducing this harmful industry locally and nationally.

During the Conference, Mayor Walsh also sponsored a resolution equity in medical research, which builds off the 1993 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Revitalization Act, a law mandating that women and minorities be included in clinical trials funded by the NIH. This new resolution calls on the federal government and other funding agencies ensure that the design of clinical studies includes a consideration of the sex of the subject, adequate participation of women, including women from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, and the reporting of sex-stratified findings, and that medical device and pharmaceutical labeling should carry a disclaimer or warning label if clinical testing did not include adequate numbers of female subjects.

Other resolutions sponsored by the Mayor focused on common-sense gun legislation, paid-parental leave policies, addressing the nation’s wealth gap and economic security and increasing Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding for underserved populations. For more information on the Annual Meeting or the resolutions sponsored by Mayor Walsh, please visit: usmayors.org.

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES BOSTON TO HOST 2018 U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS ANNUAL MEETING

MAYOR WALSH ANNOUNCES BOSTON TO HOST 2018 U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS ANNUAL MEETING 

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. - Monday, June 22, 2015 - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced that Boston has been named the host city for the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) 86th Annual Meeting in June 2018. 

"The City of Boston is honored to be selected to host the 2018 U.S. Conference of Mayors," said Mayor Walsh. "I look forward to showing my colleagues and their families the rich diversity of all that Boston has to offer. I want to thank USCM President Stephanie Rawlings Blake of Baltimore and CEO of USCM Tom Cochran for their continued support.”

“We are pleased that the nation’s mayors will be convening in Boston for our 2018 summer meeting,” said USCM CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran. “Mayor Marty Walsh has been an active and engaged member of the Conference, particularly in the area of income inequality. We look forward to continuing our conversation on identifying effective ways to close the wage gap in this city, which has been a leader on the issue.”

An estimated 200 mayors will gather in Boston for the four-day session, led by Mayor Walsh as the host city mayor. Boston last hosted the USCM Annual Meeting in 2004, and the City is excited to highlight our evolution as a hub of innovation, cultural celebration and economic vitality since that time.

USCM is a nonpartisan organization, which represents cities with populations of 30,000 or larger. Each year, USCM hosts its summer meeting in a different city, creating a forum where leaders can share best practices and shape a national agenda that meets the needs of the nation’s metropolitan areas.  More than 250 mayors from across the country attend the four-day event to discuss issues such as education, transportation, criminal justice, energy and jobs. Guest speakers are featured throughout the event and have included The President and Vice President of the United States, key Congressional members and corporate leaders.

About The U.S. Conference of Mayor:

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are nearly 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. Like us on Facebook at facebook.com/usmayors, or follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/usmayors.

RED SOX TO HONOR HALL OF FAME ELECTEE PEDRO MARTINEZ AND RETIRE HIS NUMBER 45 DURING PREGAME CEREMONIES ON TUESDAY, JULY 28

RED SOX TO HONOR HALL OF FAME ELECTEE PEDRO MARTINEZ AND RETIRE HIS NUMBER 45 DURING PREGAME CEREMONIES ON TUESDAY, JULY 28

BOSTON, MA – The Red Sox today announced plans to retire Pedro Martinez’s number 45 as a tribute to his exceptional career in a Red Sox uniform and in honor of his upcoming induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  The ceremony will take place at Fenway Park before the Red Sox-White Sox game on Tuesday, July 28, just two days after the right-handed pitcher is enshrined in Cooperstown, NY. 

The number 45 will be the ninth on the right field facade of Fenway Park, joining Bobby Doerr’s #1; Joe Cronin’s #4; Johnny Pesky’s #6; Carl Yastrzemski’s #8; Ted Williams’ #9; Jim Rice’s #14; Carlton Fisk’s #27; and Jackie Robinson’s #42, which is retired throughout Major League Baseball.

“To be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame upon his first year of eligibility speaks volumes regarding Pedro’s outstanding career, and is a testament to the respect and admiration so many in baseball have for him,” said Red Sox Principal Owner John W. Henry.

“And baseball fans admire Pedro for more than his remarkable career accomplishments. His dynamic personality, love for the game, his fearlessness coupled with humility, his passionate, competitive spirit, and his ability to squeeze every ounce of talent out of a small frame were reasons so many fans connected with him. For me personally, he was one of the most incredible pitchers I’ve had the privilege of watching, and one of the reasons our ownership group arrived here in 2002. We very much look forward to honoring Pedro's remarkable career this July.”

Martinez’s jersey number will be retired exactly seven years after Jim Rice’s number 14 was retired on July 28, 2008.  

A three-time Cy Young Award winner and eight-time All-Star, the electric Martinez spent seven seasons with the Red Sox beginning in 1998 and was a key part of the 2004 team that brought a World Series title to Boston for the first time since 1918. 

  

During his 18-year major league career, the right-hander went 219-100 with a 2.93 ERA and 3,154 strikeouts in 2,827.1 innings.  His career .687 winning percentage ranks second among modern major leaguers (since 1900) behind only Whitey Ford’s .690 mark (more than 250 decisions). 

Among pitchers with at least 2,500 career innings in the majors, only Nolan Ryan (.204) has a lower opponent batting average than Martinez (.214).  Since the live ball era began in 1920, no pitcher has a lower opponent on-base percentage than his .276 mark.

With the Red Sox, Martinez went 117-37 with a 2.52 ERA.  He has the best winning percentage in franchise history (.760) and also tops club records (min. 1,000 innings) with an average of 11.0 strikeouts per nine innings and a .206 opponent batting average.  Among Red Sox all-time leaders, he ranks third in strikeouts (1,683), sixth in wins (117), and seventh in ERA.

In his tenure with Boston, Martinez was the major league leader in winning percentage, ERA, opponent batting average, opponent on-base percentage (.261), opponent slugging percentage (.317), opponent OPS (.578), and WHIP (0.98).  He also led all American Leaguers in strikeouts per nine innings, the only AL pitcher to average at least a strikeout per inning during that stretch.

He was the starter, winner, and Most Valuable Player of the memorable 1999 All-Star Game at Fenway Park on July 13.  He struck out the first four batters he faced:  Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa.  After Matt Williams reached on an error, he struck out Jeff Bagwell.  Williams was then caught stealing to end the inning and the seal the performance.

In his career, Martinez led the major leagues in ERA on five occasions, including 1997 with the Expos (1.90) and four times during his first five years as a member of the Red Sox: 1999 (2.07), 2000 (1.74), 2002 (2.26), and 2003 (2.22).  He won the AL’s strikeout title in 1999 (313), 2000 (284), and 2002 (239).

Martinez, now 43 years old, finished within the top four in AL Cy Young balloting in six of his seven seasons with the Red Sox (the exception coming in 2001, when injuries limited him to 18 starts).

He was the unanimous winner of the American League’s Cy Young Award in back-to-back seasons – 1999 and 2000.  Winning the AL pitching Triple Crown in 1999, he fanned a Red Sox-record 313 batters in 213.1 innings, and set an MLB record that still stands by striking out 37.5 percent of the batters he faced.  That year, he also set a big league record striking out at least 10 batters in eight consecutive games.

His 1.74 ERA in 2000 is the best single-season mark by an American League pitcher over the last 46 seasons (starting in 1969).  In 2000, he established modern major league records for lowest opponent average (.167), lowest opponent on-base percentage (.213), and WHIP (0.74). 

Signed originally in 1988 by the Los Angeles Dodgers, for whom he played in 1992 and 1993, Martinez also played for the Montreal Expos (1994-97), the Red Sox (1998-2004), the New York Mets (2005-08), and the Philadelphia Phillies (2009).

He is tied for the Red Sox record with 11 starts over four seasons of postseason play with Boston, and compiled a 3.40 ERA in his 13 total postseason outings with the club.  He is also the franchise’s all-time leader in wins (tied, 6), strikeouts (80), and innings pitched (79.1) in the postseason.

The last game of his Red Sox playing career was his World Series victory in Game 3 in St. Louis in 2004.  The last game of his Major League Baseball career was also in the World Series, for the Phillies versus the New York Yankees in 2009.

Since his retirement, Martinez has spent his time working with his charitable foundation, The Pedro Martinez and Brothers Foundation, which he created in 1998. The organization focuses on providing educational opportunities both in the classroom and through baseball in the Dominican Republic and United States. 

Martinez returned to the Red Sox organization in January 2013 and has spent the last two and a half years as Special Assistant to the General Manager.

Baker-Polito Administration Pledges Funding to Allow for Full Redevelopment of Union Station

Baker-Polito Administration Pledges Funding to Allow for Full Redevelopment of Union Station

$12 million commitment fills remaining gap to realize vision of modern intermodal transportation center

SPRINGFIELD – Today, Governor Charlie Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito committed the remaining funds necessary to reach the total goal required to complete the redevelopment of Union Station in Springfield.  Lt. Governor Polito joined Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Congressman Richard E. Neal and Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack for today’s announcement.

The $12 million commitment is a combined sum from the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation that brings the total amount of federal, state and local funding to $88.5 million, the amount needed to achieve the complete station redevelopment project.

 “With access to the east-west and north-south interstate highways, and corresponding rail corridors, the city of Springfield is strategically situated at the transportation crossroads of New England,” said Governor Baker.  “The funding we are pledging today will allow for the redevelopment of Union Station to capitalize on those connections, and rebuild the station into a regional transit hub that provides more options in a modernized building with space for new economic activity and growth.”

When complete, the revitalized Union Station will have 66,000 square feet of leasable commercial space, a 26-bay open-air bus terminal, a new six-level parking garage, a completely renovated terminal building, a reactivated passenger tunnel and a new ADA-compliant rail boarding platform.  The redeveloped Union Station is expected to support approximately 200 permanent jobs. 

“Springfield plays a key role in the regional economy, and by providing this funding support, we are sending a strong signal that we value this city’s importance to the region, and can see its future potential,” said Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito.  “In addition to serving as a transit hub, Union Station also holds the promise of sparking a revitalization of the surrounding neighborhood.” 

The Springfield Redevelopment Authority is the owner and designated developer of Union Station, and has been leading efforts to advocate for resources to advance this project since 2010.  Initial construction efforts began in early 2014, and this $12 million commitment will ensure that an economically viable infrastructure project, that has the potential to fuel economic development, will be fully operational in 2016.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno stated, “I would like to thank Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito for this significant grant that will allow for the full redevelopment of Springfield Union Station. With substantial money secured by Congressman Richard E. Neal this grant will allow for a full build of the planned two phase redevelopment. When completed the region will have a modern Intermodal transportation center and Springfield will have long time vacant building completely redeveloped.”  

“Nearly 38 years ago to the day, I stood in the grand concourse of Union Station and talked about its place in our city’s history, but how it could also become a significant part of Springfield’s future. Roughly four decades later, after a considerable amount of time and effort, that vision has become a reality. With today’s final funding announcement, we are one step closer to the completion of a new $90 million intermodal transportation center that has the potential of transforming the city’s north blocks. I look forward to the historic re-opening of this iconic structure in the fall of next year,” said Congressman Richard E. Neal.

“I’m excited that we can help push this project over the last funding hurdle so that Union Station can begin a new era as a transit hub for Springfield and the region, and that can also lead to new partnerships that will result in the development of transit-oriented development, new economic activity, and more transportation choices for region,” said MassDOT Secretary Stephanie Pollack.

“The redevelopment of Union Station transforms a once dormant, blighted property into a vibrant mixed-use multimodal regional transit hub, creating new opportunities and supporting existing development efforts in the city. The $2.4 million in MassWorks funds leverage MassDOT’s available federal funding, and will ensure the completion of this regionally significant project,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Jay Ash. 

Of the $12 million, $9.6 million has been allocated by MassDOT from Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality federal funding, the remaining $2.4 million, which represents a required match to leverage the federal funds, has been allocated by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development through the MassWorks Infrastructure Program. Construction is expected to reach full build out and be complete by the fall of 2016.

Governor Baker Releases Opioid Working Group Recommendations

Governor Baker Releases Opioid Working Group Recommendations

Administration targets serious reforms to combat opioid epidemic

BOSTON – Vowing to change the way the Commonwealth treats and even thinks about substance addiction, Governor Charlie Baker today released the findings of his Opioid Working Group, a comprehensive report detailing 65 actionable steps to curb the deadly opioid epidemic.

The findings by the 18-member Working Group include short and long term action items to be implemented between now and the next three years, some requiring legislative action and funding and some will be achieved through partnerships with private industry and federal leaders.

“Opioid abuse is a public health epidemic and I applaud our working group for producing these recommendations based on a comprehensive analysis,”said Governor Baker.  “The solution to eradicating opioids is not a one-size-fits-all approach, and will require all of us to rethink the way we treat addiction.  Today’s announcements are a first step and we will aggressively pursue reforms to save lives.”

“This epidemic has already torn apart too many families and communities in the Commonwealth,” said Lt. Governor Polito.  “This report contains recommendations that were carefully and thoroughly collected from every corner of our state and we look forward to taking swift actions to combat the opioid epidemic.”

“While opioid addiction is an urgent problem, it is also a chronic medical disease, not unlike diabetes or heart disease,” said Marylou Sudders, Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services and Chair of the Working Group. “The solution requires a strong public health approach focusing on prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery. We must also target education and awareness about the potential misuse of opioids to students and their families.”

“The opiate crisis is impacting families from every community across the Commonwealth,” Attorney General Healey said. “Today’s report is a roadmap to comprehensively addressing this public health crisis and offering help to families who truly need it. I want to thank Governor Baker, Secretary Sudders, and every member of this commission for their collaboration, dedication and leadership on this issue. Now the real work begins to implement these recommendations.”

The announcement comes just days after the launch of a statewide public service campaign to alert parents about the dangers of prescription opioid misuse by their kids. The report calls for additional public awareness initiatives to decrease stigma of the disease.

The cost of implementing the initiatives will currently be $27 million in Fiscal Year ‘16, which will be paid for through a combination of new state funds, MassHealth, and reprioritization of existing state and federal grant funds.

The Commonwealth started addressing the opioid epidemic in 2004, when 456 individuals died of opioid overdoses.  Since then, more than 6,600 members of our communities have died, in addition to an overwhelming amount of hospital stays, emergency department visits and human suffering.  According to the Department of Public Health, there were over 1,000 estimated unintentional opioid related deaths in 2015, representing a significant increase from the estimated 967 deaths in 2014.  The number of opioid-related overdose deaths was nearly triple the amount of motor vehicle-related injuries recorded in 2013.

Key Initiatives:

Prevention: Support substance use prevention education in schools, medical communities, all communities

·       Provide state funding for evidence-based opioid prevention programs in schools

·       Create a public awareness campaign focused on reframing addiction as a medical disease

·       Appoint addiction specialists to state medical boards of registration for medicine, nursing, physicians assistants and dentistry

·       Partner with a chain pharmacy to pilot statewide drug take-back program

·       Implement a training program about neonatal abstinence syndrome and addiction for DCF and improve outreach to prenatal and postpartum care providers to increase training on screening, intervention and care for substance use disorder (SUD).

·       Encourage the American College of Graduate Medical Education to adopt requirements for pain management and substance use disorder education**

Intervention: Require manufacturers and pharmacies to utilize data, dispose of unused medication

·       Improve the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) and ensure data compatibility with other states

·       Require PMP data to be submitted within 24 hours by pharmacies*

·       Require timely reporting from the state of overdose death data to the public, including requirements for emergency medical service providers to submit overdose data to the state

·       Promote the Good Samaritan Law

·       Improve affordability of naloxone through bulk purchasing*

·       Amend the civil commitment statute (Sec. 12 of Chapter 123) to include SUD as a criteria to allow for the involuntary transport and assessment of an individual at substantial harm by reason of substance use disorder

Treatment: Create new pathways to treatment; acknowledge addiction as chronic medical condition

MassHealth

·       Develop a statewide database of available treatment services accessible to clinicians and consumers by phone and internet

·       Expand mobile emergency service programs to support individuals in crisis

·       Enroll uninsured patients receiving certain treatments in MassHealth or other insurance

Department of Public Health

·       Add 100 new treatment beds by July 2016. Expand access to patient navigators

·       Create a pilot program for walk-in access to a trained clinician in community-based outpatient provider settings

·       Create a pilot program to make recovery coaches available in emergency departments and hot spots

Department of Corrections

·       Transfer women civilly committed under Section 35 from the correctional facility at MCI-Framingham to a hospital operated under HHS

·       Increase treatment beds for civilly committed patients under Section 35

·       Bulk purchase opioid agonist and naltrexone therapies for correctional facilities

Group Insurance Commission

·       Review GIC insurance plans, removing fail-first policies and prior authorization protocols that may impede access to treatment

Recovery Support: Recovery is not a one-size-fits-all approach; create multiple entry points to treatment and recovery

·       Certify and register alcohol and drug-free housing to increase accountability and credibility

·       Expand community coalitions to address the opioid epidemic

·       Enforce and strengthen requirements that all licensed addiction treatment programs accept patients on methadone or buprenorphine medication

·       Remove barriers to integration for treatment by creating a consistent public behavioral health licensing policy (through review of DPH, and DMH programs)

·       Establish revised rates for residential recovery homes, effective July 1, 2015

·       Establish a single point of accountability for addiction and recovery policy within HHS

·       Report publicly on progress of implementing working group’s recommendations

·       Increase federal support for substance abuse prevention, intervention, treatment, and recovery efforts uniquely tailored for our veterans**

*requires legislative action in Massachusetts 

**requires federal action

Click here to read the Working Group’s Action Plan and full report.

18 Members of the Working Group:

·       Marylou Sudders, Secretary of the Executive Office of Health and Human Services

·       Maura Healey, Attorney General

·       George Bell, General Catalyst Partners

·       Monica Bharel, MD, MPH, Commissioner of the Department of Public Health

·       Honorable Paula M. Carey, Chief Justice of the Trial Court

·       Bill Carpenter, Mayor of Brockton

·       Colleen Labelle BSN, RN-BC, CARN, Program Director of the State Technical Assistance Treatment Expansion Office Based Opioid Treatment with Buprenorphine (STATE OBOT B) program at Boston Medical Center; Executive Director of the Massachusetts chapter of the International Nurses Society on Addictions.

·       Alan Ingram, Ed.D., Deputy Commissioner, Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

·       Judy Lawler, Probation Officer, Chelsea District Drug Court

·       Joseph D. McDonald, Sheriff, Plymouth County

·       John McGahan, The Gavin Foundation

·       Honorable Rosemary B. Minehan, Plymouth District Court

·       Fred Newton, President & CEO of Hope House, Inc.

·       Robert Roose, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer of Addiction Services at the Sisters of Providence Health System

·       Cindy Steinberg, National Director of Policy & Advocacy, U.S. Pain Foundation; Chair, Policy Council, Massachusetts Pain Initiative

·       Ray Tamasi, President and CEO of The Gosnold on Cape Cod

·       Steve Tolman, President, Massachusetts AFL-CIO

·       Sarah Wakeman, MD, Medical Director, Substance Use Disorders, Center for Community Health Improvement, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

廣教學校歡送五名高中生畢業 明年慶祝一百歲

 廣教學校畢業生和僑委會副委員長信世昌（前左五）等嘉賓合影。（周菊子攝）

(Boston Orange 周菊子波士頓報導) 中華廣教學校昨（廿一）日下午在泰勒街校址舉行畢業典禮，歡送五名高中生畢業，請僑界從今年九月起和該校一起歡慶一百歲，預定2016年4月8日舉辦一百歲生日慶祝會。           

            廣教學校董事會董事長蔡倩婷，校長曾秀芬與嘉賓一一致詞，發畢業證書給池安妮，郭榮臻，武皓康，謝穎彬，司徒仲賢等人，並邀請社團首長頒發獎學金。

 廣教學校校長蔡倩婷（左一），畢業班老師宋成珍（右起），校長曾秀芬，
畢業生池安妮，郭榮臻，謝穎彬，武皓康，司徒仲賢一起切蛋糕，
慶祝畢業。（周菊子攝）

            其中的池安妮還以790分的成績獲得SAT主題考試最高得分獎。武皓康獲得紀念蘇瞱初最高榮譽獎。司徒仲賢則在因故缺課數月，卻仍能勤奮補足功課，達到畢業要求中，成為榮譽畢業生。

            蔡倩婷在致詞時，鼓勵學生繼續求學，將來別忘了回學校做義工，還報告廣教學校將從今年九月起，展開一百週年慶祝，預定2016年4月8 日辦慶祝會。

           

廣教學校董事陳毓禮陪同廣教學校畢業典禮嘉賓，僑委會副委員長信世昌，
經文處處長賴銘琪，僑教處處長張景南，波士頓華僑文教
中心主任郭大文，僑教專員陳永豐等人昨日坐在貴賓席。（周菊子攝）

廣教學校校長曾秀芬請畢業生的家長，老師起立，接受眾人致敬。她強調，學生們能順利完成學業，家長的支持，老師的教導，僑團的捐款贊助經費，缺一不可。曾秀芬還透露，二年前該校大改課程，以及教學方法時，很多人都擔心學生是否能適應，如今有五名學生高中畢業，他們感到非常驕傲。

            正好在波士頓主持全美華文網路教學研討會的僑委會副委員長信世昌，僑教處處長張景南，專員陳永豐等人，由波士頓僑教中心主任郭大文，駐波士頓台北經濟文化辦事處處長陪同出席，使得廣教學校今年的畢業典禮格外隆重。

紐英崙中華公所主席阮鴻燦拿出他媽媽幫他找出來的畢業證書，
證明1974年他十三歲時從廣教學校畢業。（周菊子攝）

            信世昌指出，全美之內有百年歷史的中文學校的確不多，紐約，加州等地，約有四，五個。波士頓的廣教學校即將慶祝百歲生日，彰顯了傳統。他鼓勵學生要心存感激，不論將來發展如何，要能感激父母，老師的教誨，堂堂正正做人。他也簡述自己從師大中文系畢業，歷任中文老師，修得博士學位後，再回母校師範大學任教，去年才借調到僑委會擔任副委員長，負責推動僑教，他希望和廣教學校保持合作關係，為下一代教育努力。

            經文處處長賴銘琪以廣東話致詞，指出自己上一次的畢業典禮，已是廿五年前的事。他勉勵學生體會父母，老師的用心良苦，將來要繼續好好讀書，孝順父母。他也保證，政府會支持廣教學校。

  廣教學校揚琴古箏合奏表演。（菊子攝）

            廣教學校今年的畢業典禮，在校內師生精心策劃下，和往年相比有不少變動，一是限制入場人數，二是精簡表演節目，會場內秩序因而大好。

            昨日的廣教學校畢業禮，由冼愛心擔任司儀。表演節目包括余紹祥指導的醒獅，李平指導的青少年樂團以揚琴古箏合奏“瑤族舞曲”，“鄉間小路”，“步步高”。譚家明，譚美寶以小提琴，鋼琴合奏Oscar Rieding，以及Joe Hasaishi的曲目。會中還放映了池安妮和郭榮臻代表畢業班製作的視頻“廣教經驗”。

            在畢業典禮中，廣教學校頒發了品學兼優獎，ISEE

 廣教學校董事長蔡倩婷（左一），校長曾秀芬（右一）邀請蘇李煥珍（左二）
頒發紀念蘇瞱初最高榮譽獎給武皓康（右三），還邀武皓康的爸爸
武文逢（左三），母親黃美蘭（右二）一起上台分享榮譽，也指出昨日
是父親節，武皓康得獎，可算是送給父親的一份最好禮物了。（周菊子攝）

最佳表現獎，波士頓安良工商會，波士頓洪門致公堂，至孝篤親公所，黃氏宗親會，李氏宗親會，華埠退伍軍人會，波士頓華埠獅子會等團體獎學金，紀念蘇瞱初特別榮譽獎及最高紀念獎。

            

       

 廣教學校董事陳毓禮（左）頒獎給SAT主題考試最高得分的池安妮（右）。（周菊子攝）

冼愛心（左起），廣教校長曾秀芬請陳毓禮頒獎給得到
ISEE最佳表現獎的劉銳然。（周菊子攝）

  波士頓華埠獅子會新任會長謝如鍵（右一）代表該會頒發獎學金。（周菊子攝）