The Framingham High Jazz band performed at the Hatch Shell in Boston on Mother's Day. The Framingham High School jazz band was invited to perform at the Hatch Shell after their gold medal performance at the Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education state finals. Thanks to moms Cheryl Elkins and Stacy Berkson for the wonderful photos in this slide show and sharing the photos with Framingham Patch readers.

Framingham High School's Drama Company is staging the dark musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street this weekend. Thursday night is opening night. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. There are shows  Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 too. Tickets are $12 in advance online or $15 at the door. Purchase here. Mikey Russo and Erinn Harding have the roles of Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett.

Eshu Bumpus and Motoko brought stories from Africa and Asia to life for McCarthy Elementary School students. The first grade students giggled and laughed throughout the assembly. Part of the curriculum has students studying Japan and Kenya. Editor's Note: Click on the video link to watch an excerpt of the performance. The assembly and classroom programs were made possible by a grant from the Framingham Cultural Council awarded to teacher Doreen Leavey. The two storytellers can be booked via www.folktakes.net.  

Freedom Trail Scholars visited Dunning Elementary School fifth grade students earlier this year. Presented by the Massachusetts Teachers Association in partnership with the Freedom Trail Foundation, this interactive history program helps educate school children in and around Boston and throughout Massachusetts. The Freedom Trail Scholars program incorporates students into the program, letting them interact with the performers, read portions of important documents and declarations, and react to the historic events. A question-and-answer session follows each presentation.

Third grade students at Dunning Elementary School had a special treat last month. Each third grade class was visited by members of the Framingham High School International Club on April 24. The students presented information of various countries and cultures from around the world.   There were eight students, who joined the students and they taught words, played games, and read fairy tales from the Haitian, Hispanic, and Asian cultures, said  Dunning Elementary Principal Kimberly Taylor. "It was a wonderful experience for the third grades to have," said Taylor.

All three Framingham public middle schools competed in the 2013 Massachusetts Middle School Drama Festival over the weekend. About three dozen middle schools from Massachusetts competed Saturday and Sunday in the festival sponsored by the Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild. On Saturday Walsh Middle School hosted six schools. Walsh and Cameron Middle School both earned a Gold award during festival. Walsh performed I Never Saw A Butterfly. Cameron performed the Seussification of Romeo and Juliet. On Sunday, Fuller Middle School competed at Dover-Sherborn Middle. Fuller earned a Silver …

Middle schoolers face a tornado of questions every day. What do I wear? What if I wear the wrong thing? What do I look like? Will I fit in? Will I be popular? This afternoon, Fuller Middle School theater students will stage the play Hoodie by Lindsay Price as its entry in the 2013 Massachusetts Middle School Drama Festival, sponsored by the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild. Hoodie examines image & appearance in a vignette style and poses what may be the most difficult question of all – Do I stay in the clump or do I stand alone? The public is invited to watch the students perform the …

Earlier this week, more than 30 teams of elementary school students from Barbieri, Dunning and Potter Road showed what they think Framingham would look like 50 years from now in 2063 with LEGO blocks. The first, second and third students were participating in the town's annual LEGO League Celebration held at Fuller Middle School on Sunday, April 7. The event was organized by Jacqui Goldberg. *** Parents please add your photos to Framingham Patch's slideshow.

Answering questions such as "how does an airplane work" and "why is diabetes to hard to cure," 300 Framingham Elementary and Middle School students presented projects at the town's 15th annual iNight on Monday.  The event had multiple goals for its participants including providing real-world experience and helping students meet those with similar interests, Diane Modest, the event's director, said.  Students investigated questions of their choice before Monday's iNight and presented the results to more than 1,000 attendees. 

Tonight, Trinity Repertory Company will do a staged reading of Framingham High senior Bonnie Atterstrom's original play Revelation. Atterstrom was one of three students in New England to win the Trinity Repertory Company’s second annual Write Here, Write Now! Student Playwriting Competition. The competition was launched last year by Trinity Rep’s Education Department, and solicits 10-minute plays from high school students across New England. This year, nearly 100 students from across Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island submitted plays. “This year’s competition received the same number…

The challenge is to program a robot through a maze in the fastest time possible. It's not as easy as it seems. But Sunday afternoon, 15 teams from three elementary schools took up the challenge in the 2013 Robot Maze Challenge, sponsored by the Framingham Education Foundation. Working in small groups, students from Barbieri Elementary School, Dunning Elementary School and Potter Road Elementary School had three tries to get their robot through the maze, which includes road blocks, a car wash-like drive-thru and a golf ball quest. The students used a computer program and trial-and-error to …

Teens and teachers from Walsh Middle School attended the Anti-Defamation League’s A World Of Difference® Institute 19th Annual New England Youth Congress in Boston. The event brought together more than 1,500 middle and high school students and teachers from Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont to address issues of prejudice and develop strategies that build safer and morerespectful school communities. "It was a great experience to learn about all of the people who paved the way for us to have a better future, said Sophie Meltzer, a grade 7 student. "It taught us that being …

Two best friends get drunk one night and wake up wondering if they had sex. The girl and her gay best friend spend the rest of the day trying to figure out what happened the night before, in the original play written by Framingham High School senior Raissa Reis. "It's not what they think in the end," explained Reis about her 40-minute play which won the 2013 Sherwood Collins Playwriting Contest, sponsored by the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild. Last month, at the finals of the Massachusetts Drama Festival, Reis' classmates Connor Fallon and Olivia Wiles performed a 10-minute staged …

Middle school students at St. Bridget School will perform the play ChickenHeart, a hysterical Medieval melodrama, tomorrow, April 5 and Saturday, April 6 at 7 p.m. in the school hall. Tickets are available at the door - $5 for an adult and $3 for a student ticket. All are Welcome to come and enjoy the production. The middle school have been working diligently to prepare for this performance and are excited to open the doors to the community, said Erin Connors, director of advancement at the school. The production is made possible by dedicated teachers, parents and students who have …

In March, 33 students from the AP government classes at Framingham High visited Washington, D.C. During this trip, the students met with lobbyists from the National Education Association, former presidential campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill and  congressional chief of staff Mark Bayer. The students also visited the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court, the White House, the Smithsonian Institution, Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon. Chaperone for the March 14-17 trip was Framingham High teacher Christopher Martell. Along for the trip were: Colby Young, Jared Buchanan, Brad Tice, …

Trivia-savvy Framingham High students traveled to the WGBH studios in January to test their knowledge in the High School Quiz Show tournament. The slideshow of photos were taken during the taping of the show. The show aired yesterday, Easter Sunday at 6:30 p.m. on WGBH. Madeline Barowsky, Cornelia Bendel, Jason Shaffer and Kevin Connor faced off against the brightest students from Washusett High, answering general knowledge questions, during a taping of the annual High School Quiz Show series. Framingham High qualified in November by taking an oral test and placing in the top 16 out of the 90…

With their gold medal performance Saturday at the Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education state finals, the Framingham High School Jazz band has been invited to perform at the Hatch Shell in Boston on Mother's Day. Framingham hosted the state finals of the Massachusetts Association of Jazz Education (MAJE) over the weekend. Ten high schools competed at Framingham High, with multiple high schools earning enough points to qualify for the gold medal status, including Framingham High. This is the first time the Jazz band has earned a gold medal at the state finals. The band, under the …

Saturday, the Framingham High School Drama Company (FHSDC) learned it did not win the state's drama festival. FHSDC finished fourth. Framingham High was one of 14 schools to earn the right to compete in the finals of the state drama festival, last weekend. More than 100 high schools started the competition, sponsored by the Massachusetts Education Theatre Guild. Framingham High has qualified for the finals nine out of the last 10 years. This year, FHSDC performed Dark of the Moon in the finals. Framingham High seniors Mikey Russo and Olivia Wiles received excellence in acting awards at the …

Congrats to the Framingham High School Jazz band, who earned a gold medal in Saturday's state finals. The Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education state finals were held at Framingham High School Saturday, March 23. Ten high school's competed at Framingham High, with multiple high schools earning enough points to qualify for Gold status. Framingham Patch will have more photos and some video later this week.

Saturday, 24 teams of future problem solvers will compete in the Massachusetts Future Problem Solving Program (FPSP) State Bowl at Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Buzzards Bay, including two teams from Potter Road Elementary School, coached by Beverly Hugo. The Potter Road teams qualified for the state tournament after performing exceptionally well in their “Megacities” booklets, said Hugo. Only nine elementary school teams out of 37 fourth through sixth grade teams qualified for Saturday's State Bowl, said Hugo. Potter Road qualified two teams out of the nine competing at the elementary …