Lynnfield 1-18-18

2 WEEKLYNEWS.NET - 978-532-5880 JANUARY 18, 2018
INDEX
Classifieds ...........................................................................14-16
Police Log ...................................................................................4
Real Estate ..........................................................................14-16
Religious Notes ..........................................................................8
Seniors .......................................................................................6
Sports ....................................................................................9-12
Letter to the editor
Quick action during flood
Last Tuesday, Jan. 9, the
water pipe in the basement
of the Reedy Meadow GC at
195 Summer St Lynnfield
burst from the extreme cold
and there was 41/2 to 5 feet of
water in the basement and I
called the Lynnfield Fire Department
and Center Water
District. The South Station
Fire responded under the
leadership of Lt. Jim Alexander
and his crew and they did
a tremendous job pumping
out our basement in quick
fashion. Ken Burnham from
the Water District and and
his men also did a great job.
I am extremely thankful to
both Lynnfield Departments
for there fast and professional
service.
Donnie Lyons PGA
Professional-Director of
Golf Town of Lynnfield
Lynnfield resident is the
featured vocalist for Amazon
Prime’s new hit TV series
Local resident Noel Smith
is the featured vocalist for
Philip K. Dick’s “Electric
Dreams” - Amazon Prime’s
new hit TV series that premiered
on January 12th.
Noel’s haunting and unmistakable
vocals can be heard
throughout Episode 2 (AutoFac)
and in the trailer for
all shows in the series. The
series itself touts an all-star
cast with top Hollywood talent
like Bryan Cranston and
Steve Buscemi. Each episode
tells a different story and
that explores fantasy, humanity
and a future no one
could have imagined.
Noel worked with composers
Mark Isham who did
the music for the ABC series
“Once Upon a Time” and Brian
Transeau who composed
and developed the music for
the blockbuster movies “The
Fast and the Furious” and
“Monster”.
Lending her voice to big
picture projects is nothing
new for Noel. Recently,
she recorded for the movie
“Solace” starring Anthony
Hopkins and Collin Farrell.
In addition, Noel sings for
the international a-cappella
group Naturally 7 and her
songs have been placed in
high-budget video games.
Noel maintains a private
voice studio in Lynnfield
and is on the voice faculty at
Walnut Hill School for Performing
Arts. She directs an
in-house recording choir, Vox
Futura, for Futura Productions
located in Roslindale,
where they record for major
films, video games and tv.
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Lynnfield yoga teacher making
a difference in Lynn schools
By Gayla Cawley
As part of their education,
students in Lynn Public
Schools are being taught to
remain calm and deal with
stress through the district’s
yoga and wellness initiative
with the help of a Lynnfield
yoga teacher.
“This program is part of
our work to facilitate the social
and emotional wellbeing
of our students,” said Superintendent
Dr. Catherine
Latham in an email. “I have
received much positive feedback
from teachers and students.”
Michael Geary, assistant
director of curriculum and
instruction-health, said the
Lynn Public Schools Yoga
and Wellness Initiative is in
its third year. He said physical
education teachers have
received professional development
to incorporate yoga
within classes — those teachers
are subsequently able to
teach students how to improve
flexibility and muscle
tone through yoga poses and
exercises.
“Yoga by definition is the
union of body and mind, and
another purpose of the Yoga
and Wellness Initiative is to
teach students how to remain
calm in stressful situations,”
Geary said in a statement.
Geary said the initiative
has expanded to include regular
education teachers at
Thurgood Marshall Middle
School and Lynn Classical
High School. Next year, the
initiative will be expanding to
other elementary regular education
teachers and students.
“The decision was based
on research that shows
mindfulness increases energy
and improves mood while
relieving stress and tension,”
Geary said. “Teachers at
these schools (Thurgood and
Lynn Classical) have discovered
different methods to include
mindfulness into their
everyday instruction.
“These methods include
controlled breathing and
meditation techniques, which
are designed to increase oxygen
in the brain, calming the
nervous system and releasing
stress. Intentional breathing
energizes the brain to allow
students to learn for extended
periods of time.”
Providing teachers with
that professional development
has been Sharon Marrama,
a certified yoga instructor
and owner of Here
Comes the Sun Yoga — Marrama
also works with other
school districts, including
Lynnfield. She has been
practicing yoga for six years
and teaching for about five.
Colleen Peterson, a PE/
health teacher at Lynn Classical,
said she started yoga
in her curriculum last year
PHOTO | OWEN O’ROURKE
Sharon Marrama teaching a yoga class at Lynn Classical High School.
after receiving extensive professional
development from
Marrama.
These days, Peterson said
students are dealing with
so much between school and
their personal lives, and
therefore, have a lot of stress
and anxiety.
“It’s like a release,” Peterson
said.
But it’s not just PE/health
teachers incorporating yoga
and wellness into their classrooms,
Peterson said. She’s
seen a lot of other teachers
doing a lot of the little things
with their classes, including
aspects of mindfulness and
meditation.
Marrama said the school
administration has been completely
behind the initiative,
which makes it so successful
in Lynn. She educates teachers
about yoga and wellness,
and those teachers can then
bring those techniques into
their classrooms.
She said teachers don’t
have to incorporate an entire
yoga or meditation class —
she teaches them about little
pieces, such as yoga moves at
desks, movement and brain
breaks to use if things become
unsettled in class.
Horman Carcamo, 15, a
freshman at Lynn Classical,
said yoga has helped him to
keep calm during stress. He
said it feels good to do the exercise
and poses.
Victor Garcia, 15, a sophomore
at Lynn Classical, said
yoga in school has helped
him calm down and focus. He
said he runs track, and it also
allows him muscle relief.
Through the curriculum,
Marrama said students learn
how to breathe and calm
themselves — by inhaling,
she said the part of the brain
that becomes energized is
activated and by exhaling,
the part of the brain that becomes
relaxed is activated.
So, she said by exhaling a little
bit longer, a relaxed state
of mind can be created.
Marrama said she also
works on teaching two things
— “let it come, let it go, let it
flow, which teaches students
to let things come to them,
accept it and let it go, and
also that they are in charge
of what happens to them.
“The other thing that I
think kids get out of this is
yoga is a philosophy as well,”
Marrama said. “I also teach
in my yoga classes a component
of whether it’s peace,
love, kindness, honesty, understanding,
compassion,
gratitude. I’m teaching them
to live yoga on and off the
mat and that’s what I think
this is doing.”
Joshua Hernandez, 14, a
freshman at Lynn Classical,
also talked about how yoga
relieves his stress and allows
him to feel more calm.
Freshman Bruce Leng,
14, said he was dealing with
personal problems before he
started yoga.
“After that, I felt a lot of
weight lifted off my shoulders,”
Leng said.
Marrama said yoga can
be settling for kids, a way for
them to become more centered
and focused, and to deal
with anger and emotions.
“I’m not going to say take
a yoga class and you’re going
to become a great student,”
Marrama said. “I think (it)
brings a mindset. I think
when you practice yoga on
a regular basis, it brings a
different mindset. You learn
how to control your feelings
and your emotions. You learn
to center yourself. You learn
that you’re important.”