Legacy of former New Bedford Mayor Kalisz taught to youth regarding importance of local government

The “New Bedford Votes Youth Empowerment Program” is not only getting the youth interested in local politics, but it is giving them paid jobs to work as poll workers during elections.

New Bedford election commissioner, Manny DeBrito and Ward 4 City Councilor Derek Baptiste took a different approach to spark interest into the youth during a poll worker training event.

Rather than going through the motions at a training session on a rainy Saturday morning that most likely none of the kids wanted to actually attend, Manny and Derek took this opportunity to deliver powerful messages to the kids about how local government changed their lives.

The kids were quickly engaged once the Ward 4 Councilor stood up and began speaking about his life journey. At one point he was almost brought to tears speaking on the trials and tribulations he has experienced growing up in a rough neighborhood.

The most touching part of the whole experience was when both men began speaking about former New Bedford Mayor, Fred Kalisz. They reflected on how Mayor Kalisz truly made an impact on their life and entire neighborhood from bringing busses full of kids to their first concerts and sporting events, to building basketball courts in their neighborhoods.

I felt like I had to ask them afterwards why they felt it was important to tell the kids about Mayor Kalisz.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by New Bedford Guide (@newbedfordguide)

What could of been a quick and boring training on how to be a poll worker, turned into a deeply meaningful conversation that will leave this group of kids with a much better understanding of how important the process of an election truly is.

I also believe it is important to clarify that neither Manny DeBrito or Derek Baptiste ever even remotely hinted as to who to vote for, or which political party is superior than the other. The entire premise was speaking on how a former mayor changed their lives and how they want to do the same for the next generation.

Want to learn more about the “NB Votes Youth Empowerment Program”? Checkout the video below!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by New Bedford Guide (@newbedfordguide)




Providence College Friars star Bryce Hopkins surprises kids at New Bedford Boy & Girls Club

The kids at the Boys & Girls Club of New Bedford couldn’t contain their excitement when PC Friars basketball star and projected 2nd round draft pick, Bryce Hopkins walked into the gym on Wednesday afternoon. He was accompanied with PC Friars woman’s basketball standout, Grace Efosa.

They spoke to the kids, answered a bunch of wholesome questions, and then played with them in the gym for about an hour. As I mentioned, the excitement and wholesome levels were at an all time high. Below is a video of the kids cheering for Bryce to dunk, he almost blew the roof off the gym when he threw it down!

Once all of the tee shirts were signed and most of the kids have been picked up by their parents, I asked Bryce and Grace for a quick interview. They were happy answer a few questions before they headed out to the Fall River Boys & Girls Club!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by New Bedford Guide (@newbedfordguide)

Big shout out to Southcoast Health, The Boys & Girls Club of New Bedford, and the Providence Friars for organizing all of this for the kids! There is no doubt that this made a bunch of kids weeks, and they will most likely be talking about this experience for a long time, especially if Bryce puts together a successful career in the NBA!




The fascinating and tragic history of Palmers Island in New Bedford

Tucked west inside the busy New Bedford Harbor lies an island that began with a grim history. The land was first used as an internment camp for indigenous people during King Philip’s War in 1675-76. Most of these Individuals were later sold into slavery in the West Indies after the war.

Almost 200 years later in 1843 when New Bedford was the whaling capital of the world, it was decided the harbor needed a lighthouse to help guide the hundreds of ships passing through on a daily basis.

Palmers Island, named after one of the first settlers of Dartmouth, William Palmer was deemed prime real estate for this project. On August 30th 1849 A lighthouse was built on the northern point of the island by Charles M. Pierce who was a local mason.

Like most of the United States lighthouses at that time, the lamps were fueled by world class New Bedford whale oil.

The island was much larger back in the day, and believe it or not in the 1860’s a hotel and dance hall was built on the south side of the island. The hotel survived almost 30 years but eventually closed down due to the illegal activity that began to take place from returning whalers.

After the hotel closed in the early 1890’s an amusement park was built on the island. The park failed after only a few years and everything was burned down in a fire in 1905. The lighthouse continued operating throughout the years with various “lighthouse keepers” working to keep the light shining.

It was a flawless operation until tragedy struck in September of 1938 when a hurricane hit shore.

A gigantic wave swept the lighthouse keeper Arthur Small into the New Bedford Harbor. In a heroic attempt to save her husband, Mabel Small, an expert boatswoman lost her life to the storm. Her body was later recovered on the shore of Fairhaven.

In 1963 a massive hurricane wall was built to protect the New Bedford Harbor which essentially deemed Palmers Lighthouse useless. For the next 36 years there were few attempts to renovate the lighthouse but it continued to be vandalized and remained dark through most of the 1990’s.

In April 1999 Hillary Clinton named New Bedford an official Millennium Community of the White House Millenium Council to “Honor the past and imagine the future”. It was decided that restoring palmers island lighthouse would be New Bedford’s mission.

After a full restoration project, a large crowd gathered on August 30th, 1999 to witness the relighting of palmers island lighthouse….. 150 years to the day after its first lighting in 1849.

Mayor Fred Kalisz famously said in a proclamation “This shall be remembered by the citizens of New Bedford as the day they reaffirmed their ties to the sea, and indeed, to the world.

The video below highlights how the island and lighthouse looks current day!




Bishop Stang Senior, Dartmouth’s William Kippe recognized by National Merit Scholarship Program

“President James Benson and Vice Principal for Academics Dan Dias of Bishop Stang High School announced today that William Kippe has been named a Commended Students in the 2024 National Merit Scholarship Program. A Letter of Commendation from the school and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC®) has been presented to one of our scholastically talented seniors.

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise. Commended Students were selected after placing among the top 50,000 students who entered the 2024 competition by taking the 2022 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®).

“Those being named Commended Students have demonstrated outstanding potential for academic success,” commented a spokesperson for NMSC. “These students represent a valuable national resource; recognizing their accomplishments, as well as the key role their schools play in their academic development, is vital to the advancement of educational excellence in our nation. We hope that this recognition will help broaden their educational opportunities and encourage them as they continue their pursuit of academic success.”

A member of the championship-caliber Golf team at Stang, William hopes to pursue a business degree in college and continue on to law school. “Everyone is so proud of William for his outstanding presence at Bishop Stang… Academically, athletically, and above all personally, he is a strong member of our community.”


Bishop Stand photo.




Massachusetts education officials release accountability results; recovery plans for New Bedford

Tackling learning loss & achievement gaps are the focus of district plans.

“The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) released the 2022–2023 statewide accountability results that include achievement and growth scores from both ACCESS and MCAS testing. The accountability results also measure progress in the areas of attendance, graduation and dropout rates, and advanced coursework.

For New Bedford Public Schools, accountability measures set a new baseline compared to 2019, the last time a full accountability report was issued. District results summarize scores seen across New Bedford schools with some schools landing above the state average and some below.

Interim Superintendent Andrew O’Leary noted, “MCAS offers a consistent measure of student achievement and compared to 2019 most of our schools have either maintained or seen a decreased number of students meeting or exceeding expectations. This very clearly demands a focused plan for recovery. We’ve got work to do.”

When compared to the pre-pandemic rate of English Language Arts (ELA) achievement for students in Grades 3-8, the percentage of students meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations has dropped from 34 to 24 percent.

Mathematics achievement has experienced a similar 10 percent drop, from 32 to 22 percent, for students taking the MCAS in Grades 3-8.

However, 10th Grade ELA performance has improved slightly during that same period, from 24 to 25 percent of students meeting or exceeding grade-level expectations. High school mathematics is down from 20 to 16 percent.

NBPS is building goals and targets starting from these accountability results, recognizing that learning loss and achievement gaps must be overcome.

Specific district actions underway this year include:

• A dedicated Academic Achievement Subcommittee to monitor academic progress
• Strategic professional development for all staff in culturally and linguistically sustaining teaching practices
• Prioritization of specific student groups who may need more support to meet and exceed grade-level standards
• Internal accountability systems overseen by a District Instructional Leadership Team
• Progress monitoring in partnership with MADESE’s Office of the Statewide System of Support
• Strategic support and monitoring of individual School Improvement Plans.

Although New Bedford Public Schools exceeded DESE’s targets set for improvement of chronic absenteeism, the DESE targets still represent a rate of chronic absenteeism that will make recovery from learning loss difficult to improve. “We need students in school every day for the 180 days of the school year. Even when a child has perfect attendance, they are in school less days than they are out of school during the 365 days of the year,” urges Interim Deputy Superintendent, Darcie Aungst. “Attendance matters.” “Our students are amazing and they can achieve at grade-level and beyond and good attendance is the first step in doing so.”

Families will be receiving their child’s individual state report cards in October and the Interim Deputy Superintendent, Darcie Aungst encourages families to partner with their child’s teacher and schools to ensure that all New Bedford students achieve at grade-level and beyond.

MCAS, as well as all other accountability measures for NBPS and for all of Massachusetts school districts, are published on the DESE website.”




Massachusetts education leaders planning to add more charter schools to New Bedford

According to reporting from the Boston Globe, Massachusetts education leaders are creating a new pipeline to develop and open more charter schools across the state. In a recently released article titled “Massachusetts education leaders hope to jump start a new era of charter school growth” they noted,

“The expansion will focus on districts with room to add new charter schools under state law, which limits the amount of school spending that can go towards charter school tuition. Those districts include Brockton, Lowell, New Bedford, Pittsfield, and Worcester.”

In 2016 there was a ballot question named the “Massachusetts Charter School Expansion Initiative”. This aimed to give the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education the “authority to lift the cap and allow up to 12 new charter schools or to expand existing charter schools each year”.

Over 2 million voters (60%) voted against this initiative in the 2016 election and it did not pass.

The Massachusetts Teachers Association was strongly campaigning against the idea of more charter schools in Massachusetts. After the landmark vote, MTA President Barbara Madeloni was extremely vocal,

“Our victory in Massachusetts sends a signal across the nation that public education is not for sale and that we can beat back the assault on our schools, colleges and universities.”

In the Boston Globe article they claim that “state education leaders and many policy experts have long considered charter schools a critical ingredient in helping academically struggling students”.

It is also known that Massachusetts has among the highest-performing charter schools nationwide. So the question is, should New Bedford and other Massachusetts cities look to add more charter schools to their community, or focus more on the public schools we already have in place?




Did you know these fascinating historical facts about Fort Rodman in New Bedford?

Standing tall in the southernmost point of New Bedford lies the historic “Fort Rodman” at Fort Taber Park. This military structure is named after Lt. Col. William Logan Rodman who was the highest ranking soldier from New Bedford to be killed in action during the Civil War.

He died leading his men in battle during the assault on Port Hudson, Louisiana, and is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in New Bedford.

Fort Rodman was built with granite shipped from Fall River, Massachusetts and Sullivan, Maine. It was built to serve as a link in the coastal defense system of federal forts in between Portland, Maine and Long Island, New York.

Before the granite fort could be completed, the Civil War broke out which halted the construction. Not wanting to wait in a time of war, Mayor Issac C. Taber decided to build a “earthworks fort” adjacent to the half built granite fort. This fort was armed and operational throughout the civil war while Fort Rodman was awaiting the finishing construction.

After the Civil war concluded, the war department ceased construction of Fort Rodman leaving the third tier incomplete. The unused granite blocks were then used to build the seawall which lines the beach that we all walk and enjoy today.

Checkout some beautiful aerial footage of how Fort Rodman looks today.




First time homebuyer? New Bedford event offers down payment assistance, FHA-backed loans, more

First-time homebuyer? You might want to attend this first-time homebuyer “house party” event at the Andrea McCoy Rec Center in New Bedford! The event will be on Wednesday, September 20th, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and the address is 181 Hillman Street.

Individuals and families are being encouraged to attend to familiarize themselves with the many resources being made available, including housing counseling, financial education, down payment assistance, and FHA-backed loans.

This event will be hosted by Mayor Jon Mitchell, other elected officials, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development New England Regional Administrator Juana Matias, the City’s Office of Housing and Community Development Director Joshua Amaral, housing counseling agencies, and state housing partners.

There is no pre registration required and the event is free!





City of New Bedford welcomes replica of Portuguese explorer’s tall ship, Nao Trinidad

“Destination New Bedford and Pope’s Island Marina welcome Nao Trinidad, a replica of the 16th-century tall ship that sailed with Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan’s fleet that circumnavigated the world. This year marks the 500th anniversary of Magellan’s historic trip.

“While at port, the ship is a floating museum and people are welcome to tour the ship, interact with the crew, and visit the exhibition on board,” said Ulises Custodio of the Spanish-based nonprofit, Nao Victoria Foundation. The ship will arrive in New Bedford on September 4th and will be open for tours at the marina from September 5th through September 10th from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. Tickets may be purchased in person at Pope’s Island Marina or online in advance. Purchasing in advance is strongly recommended.


Parking at Pope’s Island Marina is limited, especially on weekends. Visitors are advised to park in New Bedford’s historic downtown at the Elm Street Parking Garage. A short walk to New Bedford’s waterfront Pier 3 will take you to the New Bedford Launch, an affordable boat ride for the whole family that connects you with attractions, restaurants, and more for only $4.00 per person. Be sure to bring a camera — the launch will provide stunning views of the ship and New Bedford’s waterfront from the harbor, allowing passengers the chance to capture photographs before arriving at Pope’s Island Marina where the ship will be docked.

New Bedford is home to many restaurants offering fresh seafood, cultural cuisine, and waterfront dining. Restaurants accessible from the launch include The Whale’s Tail Clam Shack, The Black Whale, Mirasol’s Café, Merrill’s on the Waterfront, Fathom’s Waterfront Bar & Grill, and Acushnet Creamery. The launch also offers pick-ups and drop-offs in Fairhaven.

“The arrival of the Nao Trinidad is a great opportunity to educate visitors and residents about Magellan’s circumnavigation of the globe. The explorer’s Portuguese heritage resonates with the City of New Bedford’s Portuguese and maritime history,” said Ashley Payne, Director of Destination New Bedford.


“What better way to experience New Bedford than by enjoying any of our authentic Portuguese or seafood restaurants, learning about the City’s whaling, fishing, and Portuguese history at the New Bedford Whaling Museum and the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center, taking a stroll through the New Bedford Whaling Historical National Park, and finally, enjoying a scenic ride on The Launch to tour the tall ship at Pope’s Island Marina. When you come to New Bedford, you’ll realize you need more than one day to experience the City’s history, art, and burgeoning food scene.”

Those looking to extend their visit to New Bedford can make accommodations at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott or the New Bedford Harbor Hotel located just minutes away from New Bedford’s Pier 3.

Tickets for the tour are $15 for adults and $5 for children ages five to 12. Children under five are free. Family passes are available for $35 and include admission for two adults and three children.

For more information, contact Destination New Bedford at tourism@newbedford-ma.gov.”




The 5 best aspects of New Bedford according to residents

New Bedford may not be perfect and sometimes can get an unfair reputation, but it’s home to roughly 100,000 residents many of which quite enjoy the Whaling City. I decided to ask citizens a simple question, “What’s your favorite aspect of New Bedford?” and I received a ton of answers! There was a plethora of categories but I began to notice a common theme among them, so I present to you:

“The 5 best aspects of New Bedford according to residents”


New Bedford Whaling Museum photo.

5. The History
With the arrival of the railroad in 1840 and easier access to New York and Boston markets, New Bedford became the wealthiest city in the world. This is because New Bedford became “The city that lit the world” or to put it bluntly, we have a history of men that would jump onto wooden ships with spears and hunt massive whales to light the world. One could say that is a pretty interesting and unique history we have!

_____________________________________________________________________


Feast of the Blessed Sacrament photo.

4. Culture & Diversity

The diverse community makes New Bedford truly special. With a huge population of Portuguese it makes sense that we host the Feast of the Blessed Sacrament which is the largest Portuguese Feast in the world! New Bedford is also one of the largest Cape Verdean communities in America with roughly 8% of our population being of Cape Verdean descent. Many immigrated to New Bedford to contribute to our whaling history which has now given us a unique and diverse culture today!

_____________________________________________________________________


Aerial New England photo.
3. Waterfront

The Waterfront was an obvious answer for many. You can watch the sunrise at East Beach, the sunset at West Beach, take a walk along the ocean at Fort Taber or the Covewalk, and of course you can’t forget the fishing port which happens to be the largest in America!

_____________________________________________________________________


Zeiterion Theater photo.
2. Art & Entrepreneurship

The artistic and entrepreneurial spirit of New Bedford is really what sets it apart from similar cities. From the performing arts at the historic Zeiterion theater to the several art galleries and displays in downtown, we have become a destination for artists and creatives. Along with being a creative hub, many residents expressed their appreciation of how many locally owned businesses we get to enjoy in the area. Downtown as well as the Kilburn Mills host an insane amount of different local businesses, something you don’t see in every city!

_____________________________________________________________________


Facebook photo.

1. Food

What happens when you take a diverse, entrepreneurial city with rich history, and mix it with a huge fishing port? You get some crazy good restaurants! Easily the #1 answer I received from residents was the “food scene” and quite frankly, I have to agree. There are so many things I could say about the Food in New Bedford, from authentic Portuguese to the “fresh of the docks” seafood. I’ll leave you with this, you won’t find an Applebees in downtown New Bedford!