Scores of high school students went to the prom Saturday night and
then roamed the Vineyard looking for a party, and in the course of that
night, at least seven figured out they were in some kind of trouble and
needed a ride home.
It would be the ideal night to kick off another season of SafeRides, but the student-run service that gives kids in trouble a free ride home won't be up and running this New Year's Eve. The service officially starts up Jan. 10.
The Vineyard's winning season ended on Saturday afternoon with a narrow 25-20 loss to Nantucket. The annual Island Cup match at Nantucket was a decisive game for the Vineyard, the last hurdle the team needed to clear in order to advance into post-season play.
In the first half, when winds gusted close to 30 knots, both teams managed one touchdown. Nantucket's extra point gave them a 7-6 lead at halftime. The wind factor was most apparent after the Vineyard's touchdown when Ben
Two months after a district court judge ordered a culinary arts teacher at the regional high school to pay back $20,000 he allegedly stole from the school, the Vineyard schools superintendent says he doubts aspects of the police investigation, including estimates of the money involved.
Superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash says he is convinced the teacher, Peter Koines, is actually paying back more money than he took.
Teenagers who found themselves in trouble and needing a free ride home this year telephoned the SafeRides hotline at nearly twice the rate they did last year, according to statistics released this week.
The figures compiled by SafeRides of Martha's Vineyard show ridership jumped sharply compared to the numbers from last year. In the 20 weekend nights that the teen-run service operated this year, drivers picked up and drove home 177 of their peers. On average, that's about nine young people ferried home each night.
They stepped outside the classroom walls. They coached youth basketball and soccer teams. The wrote poetry and read it aloud at a downtown coffeehouse. They watched what was going on in the world around them, and they spoke out.
For the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School Class of 2003, there was little time for gripes about having nothing to do on the Island.
Wednesday, Sept. 3: Freshman Orientation Day at Martha's
Vineyard Regional High School. It is gray and oppressive outside, the
dark sky a harbinger of later months, when yellow buses will gather the
Island's teenagers from street corners and the ends of dirt roads
before sun-up.
Last week, weather like this would have been a tragedy. But this
morning, it's a comfort to the ninth graders: whatever their fate
within these walls, no one is missing a beach day.
Thirty-four seconds remained on the clock. The Manchester Essex Hornets had just scored on a quarterback sneak to put them within two points of the Vineyard in the Division VI Super Bowl. The Vineyard defense, in a moment reminiscent of their playoff match against East Boston, faced a game-threatening situation in the final seconds.
With five seconds left in the biggest game of his life, with crazed
fans screaming at him from every direction and with everything riding on
his right foot, E.J. Sylvia delivered.
Increasing tensions at the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School between immigrant and non-immigrant students prompted administrators this week to hold a one-day workshop for 25 students aimed at raising awareness about cultural intolerance and prejudice.
