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Featured
The Mount Observer
Featured
Creative Writing at MWCC
By Daniel Dow | Editor in Chief
Greetings MWCC students,
Moving forward, the Mount Observer will feature a creating writing section spotlighting students’ poetry and short stories. In an effort to drive creativity and to interact with our community the paper will also post a writing prompt each month that is selected at random by rolling writing dice. Dice will be rolled to create a prompt for each of the five w’s (who, what, when, where, and why); the author will then need to use each of the rolled themes in their creative piece, which should be around 1000 words. When completed, your pieces can be submitted to mountobserver@mwcc.mass.edu and the journalism team will choose the most relevant, creative, and polished pieces to publish. All members of the college are encouraged to participate in this activity!
By Sophia Schlegelmilch | Observer Contributor
Image from Pixabay, edited by Thomas Hill Jr.
Students and faculty had the opportunity to discuss what defines fake news and how to distinguish reliable news sources during the Media Bias and Fake News Discussion Panel, the latest installment of the Tea Time Speaker Series.
The discussion included topics such as how to define fake news, how to spot reliable news sources, reporters’ objectivity, and racial bias in the media.
The panel consisted of Susan Goldstein, Professor of English and advisor to the student newspaper, The Mount Observer; Anthony Simollardes, editor for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette; Sam Bonacci, MWCC Communications Specialist; and Ellen Pratt, MWCC’s Distance Education and Outreach librarian. Professor Michelle Valois served as moderator.
By Zach Pavlosky | Editor in Chief
Violence, advanced technology, a volatile economy, and social justice movements are viewed by Dean of Students Jason Zelesky as being the main influencers shaping a new generation of students.
Generation Z is made up of students who were born between 1995 and 2020 and has also been called, “iGen”, “Gen Wii”, and “Net Gen.” Zelesky referred to them as “digital natives” which means that, from birth, they have been exposed to all manner of advanced technology. “A child is learning how to text before they can write with a pencil or crayon,” said Zelesky.
By Maurisa Weld
Peace is disturbed, it approaches.
“knock, knock”
Anxiety.
It takes over.
“knock, knock
”who is it?”
“anxiety.”
“no ones home”
Who is it?
The being who controls your thoughts.
No one’s home,
yet I feel something watching.
The being who controls your thoughts
makes your heart pound and hands sweat.
By Maurisa Weld
Devastated, the dinosaur drunkenly stumbled
into a half-dreaming parakeet flying lazy low.
Downward ascending deep to the dark floor went the dumb duo.
“DANGIT!” the dino yelled.
“Do you watch where you dawdle?” the bird chirped.
Devastated, the dinosaur drunkenly stumbled.
Parakeet darted to the canopy.
He perched on a twig too weak to hold him. SNAP.
Downward ascending deep to the dark floor went the dumb duo.
By Maurisa Weld
Everyone has an identity
that goes beyond first names.
Though no one wants to unlock their destiny,
for they are too busy kicking around, playing life’s games.
Fate is behind a locked door.
We wait in hopes to find a key on the ground.
Not changing who we are, making the same mistakes as before
we wait for the door to open when we could easily knock it down.
Pick up the pieces, life is a puzzle.
At first attempt you may not feel like a victor
but with perseverance you will defeat the struggle
and see you have made a beautiful picture.
By Alexa Nogueira | Observer Contributor
Photo by Brianna Stevens
As the fight to prevent more school shootings continues, students, Chief Kolimaga, and Dean of Students Jason Zelesky each give their perspective on campus safety.
On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the least safe and 10 being the most safe), the average safety rating across the Gardner and Leominster campuses was an 8.14. Students were asked to offer their different concerns and comforts about campus safety. One of the most common concerns among the students was how open both the Gardner and Leominster campuses are. “It’s a safe school, but it’s concerning that they let anyone wander in and out,” said Katina Grimson.
Colcannon
Submitted by Wendy Joubert
A traditional Irish dish made from mashed potatoes and parsnips with fried cabbage folded in. Colcannon is a perfect side dish for your St. Patrick’s Day meal. This recipe was made from ingredients found at Marty’s Market and in their produce boxes.
Ingredients:
Aunt Pat’s Irish Soda Bread
Submitted by Desiree Leader
My Aunt Pat was my favorite aunt, and I have many fond memories of her visits when I was a child. She was beautiful, with a gorgeous head of red hair, and so funny. Her visits filled our modest home with joy and laughter. One of the things that I loved about her popping by is that she often brought a loaf of her homemade Irish bread. Her daughter made it a few weeks ago for her mother’s celebration of life and was kind enough to share the recipe with me. I think I will make it tonight, slather a slice in butter, and make myself a nice cup of tea to go with it. Thank you for the memories, Aunt Pat.
By Princess Yeboah | Assistant Editor
Photo from MWCC
A capella singers went above and beyond by introducing essential black history to Mount Wachusett Community College Community on February 26, 2025 at 12:30 P.M. The performance, “And Now I See: Race, Racism, and American Music” was shown by a men’s a capella group, Ball in the House. They hospitably embraced the community with tunes originally sung by black singers and the history behind them such as “Hound Dog”, (Originally by Big Mama Thorton and sung by Elvis), “A Change is Gonna Come”, (Originally by Sam Cooke sung by Bob Dylan) “My Girl” and “This Little Light of Mine.”
By Benjamin Heffner | Staff Writer
Image provided by Theatre at the Mount.
Correction 3/25/25: A previous version of this article omitted that Melissa Gates was an Early Education major. This has been amended.
Theatre at the Mount’s (TAM) latest production, Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods, brings together several classic Brother’s Grimm fairy tales, including Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel. Their stories are all tied together in a storyline about a childless baker and his wife seeking to start a family who fall under the witch’s curse.