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Posts published in “News”

Educational Support at the Mount

By editorialteam on April 11, 2025

Navigating Your Education with Learning Differences

By Desiree Leader
Staff Writer

Photo from iStock, credit: Andrea Rostek

In the American Public Education system, students with learning differences or disabilities may be able to obtain accommodations to acquire an appropriate public education. In many instances, that comes through an Individualized Education Program (IEP), which makes accommodations to help the students reach their educational goals. Although IEP’s aren’t done at the college level, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t support available for students. Those in need of services can contact the Disability Services office to see if they qualify for a 504 which makes accommodations for students who have a hard time accessing education.  read more

Future of Gardner Sludge Dump Raises Concerns for Local Residents

By editorialteam on April 11, 2025

By Wayne Jurgeleit
Assistant Editor

The toxic sludge in question.
Photo from sciencedirect.com

Sewage sludge, a byproduct of wastewater treatment, presents significant environmental and public health challenges. Wastewater and stormwater flow into treatment facilities, where solid wastes are separated from liquids through settling and then decomposed by bacteria. These processed solids—sewage sludge—contain numerous hazardous materials, including household, medical, chemical, and industrial waste.

Once treated, sewage sludge is dried and disposed of in landfills. This “chemical soup” is laden with toxic compounds, nanomaterials, hormones, and dangerous pathogens. When a landfill reaches capacity, the site is capped, and the extremely slow process of breaking down these substances to safe levels begins. While sanitation processes mitigate some health risks, chemicals like PCBs, flame retardants, heavy metals, and endocrine disruptors, many of which are carcinogens, are not filtered out. Additionally, landfills are vulnerable to leaks caused by severe weather and aging infrastructure. read more

(Archive April 2019) T.G.I. Monday

By editorialteam on April 3, 2025

Meditation Classes Aim to Improve Students’ Mental Wellness

By Eliana Mello | Observer Contributor

Image from pixabay

Meditation Mondays are helping students find healthy ways to manage their mental health and everyday stress.

Melissa Manzi, Mental Health Counselor, created this program as a way to help struggling students. “I want to do things for students that will help them cope with life,” she said.

The program includes 12 half hour sessions occurring from 12:30 -1:00 p.m. and are repeated again from 1:15 -1:45 p.m. This allows students to find time in their schedules to attend class. Students can attend as many classes as they want and in whatever order they please. read more

(Archives April 2019) Green Street Café Has A Heart

By editorialteam on April 3, 2025

Campus Cafeteria is the Go-to Option for Students

By Charlie Greco | Observer Contributor

MWCC Gardner’s Green Street Cafe entrance
Photo by Batsabee Torres

Faculty members and students are constantly on the run. There’s very little time between classes, part-time jobs and, of course, homework. The result is some students have very little time left to be able to sit and enjoy a wholesome home-cooked meal. In many cases, breakfast or lunch at the Green Street Café can become a student’s primary meal of the day.

Lynne Franciose, the Dining Services Manager, has been feeding faculty and students at for over nine years and knows that, though the café can’t replace mom’s cooking, quality and nutrition is  important and the goal is to come as close to “eating at home” as possible. Franciose talked about the unusual challenges of trying to “compete with mom.” She laughed and said, “We could never compete with mom’s home-cooked meals!” read more

(Archive March 2019) Library Migration Builds a Better Foundation

By editorialteam on April 3, 2025

By Sophia Schlegelmilch | Editor in Chief

The rest area outside the LaChance Library
Photos by Betsabee Torres

The LaChance Library aims to better serve students’ needs by migrating to a new library network this summer.  

Jess Mynes, Assistant Dean of Library Services and Technology, said MWCC is one of two schools joining the Higher Education Libraries of Massachusetts (HELM) consortium this year. The new network will give students and faculty access to a larger catalog of academic materials and will allow resource sharing between a growing number of Massachusetts college libraries. read more

(Archive March 2019) The MWCC Commute: You Won’t Get Far on Foot

By editorialteam on April 3, 2025

By Sophia Schlegelmilch | Editor in Chief

The MART bus station in Parking Lot B on the Gardner campus
Photo by Betsabee Torres

For MWCC students who can’t get to school by car, commuting can pose some major challenges.

“Forty percent of MWCC students don’t live in a community that’s served by MART,” said Dean of Students Jason Zelesky at a Transportation Information and Listening session in early February.

“We serve 29 cities and towns, most of which are not served by MART at all,” said Zelesky.

According to Shelley Nicholson, Director of the Brewer Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement, information gathered from several listening sessions and surveys indicated that the biggest obstacle for students who don’t commute by car is the conflict between class schedules and the MART bus schedule. read more

(Archive February 2019) Support Systems for Recovering Addicts

By editorialteam on April 3, 2025

By Alexa Russo | Observer Contributor

Ramsey Clayter, MWCC alum and creator of “The Link,” spoke about weakening the stigma of addiction through Narcan training, educational awareness, and holding more events on campus.

Narcan is a controversial topic, but Clayter believes Narcan training should be available for students who want to learn how to use Narcan. Narcan is covered under health insurances and is free with no prescription. “This would be an opportunity to save lives,” said Clayter. read more

(Archive February 2019) From Incarcerated to Educated

By editorialteam on April 3, 2025

By Sophia Schlegelmilch | Assistant Editor

Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Shirley
Photo by Betsabee Torres

Even prison walls can’t hold back MWCC’s mission to serve the educational needs of the community.

Since 2016, MWCC has offered certificates in Small Business Management to inmates of North Central Correctional Institute in Gardner and Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Shirley. 

According to Stephanie Marchetti, Director of Academic Support & Testing Services, the Small Business Management Certificate was chosen because it best supports the goals of these inmates upon release, many of whom want to start their own businesses as carpenters, electricians, or other trade professionals.  read more

(Archive February 2019) Can’t Sleep, Must Tweet: Limiting Screen Time

By editorialteam on April 3, 2025

By Brittany Eldridge | Observer Contributor

Some people find limiting screen time difficult.
Photo by Jeremy Keith from flickr

Despite studies connecting increased screen time with various health issues, college students cannot avoid technology.

In September, Apple introduced Screen Time, an IOS 12 feature, which provides Apple device users with daily and weekly reports. According to the Apple website, these reports show users  which  categories  of  apps  they  use  most  and  how  much  time  they  spend  in  each  app.  The feature lets users limit the time they spend on their device and on specific apps. read more

(Archive February 2019) Go Green: A Global Warning!

By editorialteam on April 3, 2025

By Dylan Cernoia | Observer Contributor

Photo courtesy of MWCC

It’s an undeniable fact that climate change is a major issue facing us today and MWCC is making moves to help students learn how to better respect the environment.

MWCC has an entire club dedicated to the environment called the Green Society. President of the Green Society and MWCC student Christine Nelson talked about the club’s main goals saying “We aim to problem-solve. I love that the Mount has wind turbines and solar panels to reduce the school’s fossil fuel usage. But there is more we can do for the environment.” read more