Education

By Carol Masshardt There are many things on the minds of the instructors and students on the final day of October at the completion of the Certified Nurse Assistant Program. At the Laboure Program, Kathleen Curran-Nigi is not new to challenges in running successful programs, and nothing deters her from the fierce belief in the group she has ushered, taught, motivated, and learned from in these past weeks. “Oh my God, they are an excellent group,” she said. “They come with so many stories and struggles.” The group of eight expected to graduate navigated COVID at a clinical site, managed primary responsibilities at home, worried about distant relatives, and still brought a sense of pride in completion that would rival those at any commencement. They [...]

South Boston is home to some outstanding professionals, and thirty-six-year-old Brittany Bushman is a prime example. She is the recent MVP and elite quarterback in the International Women’s Football Championship Games, having also been unanimously voted as the MVP for Team USA. Impressive awards aside, she is unfailingly polite, articulate and fiercely motivated to inspire others, including in her role as a biology teacher at Brighton High. “We are trying to overcome the notion that women can’t play football,” she explained, and no one can deny her leading that charge by example. “I started in fourth grade in Portsmouth, NH. and was the first female to go on and get a varsity letter,” she explained in a matter-of-fact way. “My mother (Cheryl Bushman) didn’t even [...]

There may be teachers who lost heart during the protracted and unpredictable COVID crisis, but John Provenzano is not one of them. In 1995 he had intended to paint a mural at the Boston Renaissance Charter Public School as an artist-in-residence and then return to what was, and is still, an accomplished life as a painter, but once there, his life changed. “The principal said, why don’t you paint in front of the kids. I thought now why would I do that? I’m naturally shy, but then I saw the curiosity of the kids, and I fell in love,” he said. He has served as the art teacher since and has developed a philosophy creatively based and deeply respectful of his K-6 students. “The learning [...]