WESTFIELD — The colleen who will represent Westfield in the Holyoke St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 23 and in activities throughout the year is Jillian Battles, 17, a senior at Westfield High School. Members of her court are Jaiden Caban, McKenna Clark, Madison LeClair and Isabella Proietti. The colleen and her court were selected in a two-day interview process, culminating at the Sons of Erin Colleen Ball on Feb. 7.
HUNTINGTON — The Huntington Fire Department has two new canine members. “Duke,” a 3-year-old golden retriever owned by Assistant Fire Chief John McVeigh is training as a therapy dog for first responders. “Luna,” a 7-month-old Belgian Malinois owned by Firefighter Nicholas Perry is training for search and rescue. Both firefighters intend to make the dogs available to the wider community once fully trained and certified.
WESTFIELD — Although all 13 of the Allied Health students recognized in Westfield Technical Academy’s 18th annual CNA pinning ceremony on Feb. 14 have received their certificates as certified nursing assistants, their future goals in the health profession are diverse.
WESTFIELD — Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski and members of his administrative team surprised five teachers with decades of experience and one teacher new to the profession with this year’s Grinspoon Pioneer Valley Excellence in Teaching Award at their schools on Friday, Feb. 14.
HUNTINGTON — At the start of the Gateway Regional School Committee meeting on Feb. 12, which was moved to the Performing Arts Center due to the 100 residents that attended, Chair Jason Forgue asked for a motion to extend public participation to 30 minutes, instead of the 15 minutes normally allotted.