Massachusetts
Champion for diversity at Lexington elementary school wins Massachusetts Counselor of the Year award – The Boston Globe
Henry Wan, a school counselor at Harrington Elementary School in Lexington, was named the Massachusetts School Counselor of the Year at a packed school gymnasium on Tuesday in front of more than 400 students, teachers, school administrators, and government officials.
The surprise ceremony, hosted by the school in partnership with the Massachusetts School Counselors Association, which has been presenting the award for over 40 years, caught Wan completely off guard.
Wan thought he was there to broadcast a video from his “We All Belong Project,” an initiative he started four years ago that creates monthly videos featuring students and their families talking about their cultural backgrounds and what makes them unique.
Instead, school principal Jackie Daley turned the tables on Wan and told him they were also gathered there to celebrate him, a counselor known in the community as a champion for diversity and inclusion.
“As a person of color, I felt overlooked before in life,” Wan, a Chinese-American who grew up in Quincy, told the Globe. His parents moved to Massachusetts from Hong Kong and the counselor moved to Lexington eight years ago to work at Harrington.
“That’s why I’m so passionate about coming here and telling the stories of students,” he said. “They really are beautiful people with amazing things to contribute, and I don’t want any of these kids to be overlooked.”
Wan was chosen by an eight-person committee from a pool of 20 applicants state-wide. By winning the award, Wan secured $5,000 from Wellpoint, a health benefits company based in Woburn that sponsored the event. Wan and school officials will later decide what to do with the funds — the award is for enhancing school programming, equipment, or supplies.
The award also guarantees Wan a spot in the 2027 national competition for school counselors run by the American School Counselor Association. Winners will be announced at a gala in Washington in November next year.
Wan was nominated for the award by Daley, who said the counselor is “always extending himself” far beyond his duties, serving as a foster family liaison for the school district, helping kids in the foster care system.
Massachusetts School Counselor of the Year.David L. Ryan/ Globe Staff
Apart from the monthly video series that Wan edits and directs with students and their parents, his “We All Belong Project” also promotes gatherings with students from different backgrounds once or twice a semester to foster friendships and connections. The meetings often feature high school student guest speakers with learning differences who can serve as role models for kids in the groups with ADHD, dyslexia, Down syndrome, or other learning challenges.
“During her elementary years, my daughter struggled with anxiety, regulating her emotions, and she had a hard time opening up to adults,” said Meg Tabela, a Harrington parent and former PTA president who provided a letter of support for Wan’s application.
“I was shocked when I heard her talking openly with Mr. Wan over Zoom during COVID homeschooling,” she added. “I knew at that very moment how special he was and that he had gained her trust, something few adults had ever done.”
For Bob Bardwell, executive director of the Massachusetts School Counselors Association, counselors need to be celebrated and elevated in school communities because they play such a critical role in a child’s ability to learn.
“Especially now when mental health is so critical, if a kid can’t regulate their feelings and they can’t attend to school, then their teacher could be the best teacher on the planet, but that student won’t be ready to learn or can’t learn without the help of a counselor,” Bardwell said.
Patrick Tutwiler, Massachusetts secretary of education, who attended the ceremony, agreed.
“We need to remember that school counselors have a background that is clinical in nature, so they can not only help students navigate the ins and outs of the school day, but can also be the first stop, the first responder, if you will, for students who are having a mental health challenge,” he said.
Mariana Simões can be reached at mariana.simoes@globe.com. Follow her on X @MariRebuaSimoes.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Springfield bankruptcy attorney Andrea M. O’Connor has been named to the 2026 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list.
According to the firm, Andrea M. O’Connor of Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., has been named to the 2026 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the Bankruptcy: Consumer practice area, marking the fourth consecutive year she has received the recognition.
O’Connor’s practice draws on experience representing both debtors and creditors, serving as a Chapter 7 trustee and clerking for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts. The firm said she develops legal strategies tailored to her clients’ individual needs and goals.
O’Connor graduated magna cum laude from Western New England University School of Law, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Western New England Law Review. She is admitted to practice law in Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as before the U.S. District Courts for Massachusetts and Connecticut, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Beyond her legal practice, O’Connor serves as chair of the Bankruptcy Section of the Hampden County Bar Association and is co-chair of both the Western Massachusetts Bankruptcy Conference and the MCLE Bankruptcy Conference. She also serves on committees for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Before earning placement on the Massachusetts Super Lawyers list from 2023 through 2026, O’Connor was recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star each year from 2019 through 2022.
Super Lawyers is a peer-reviewed attorney rating service that recognizes lawyers in more than 70 practice areas. The organization says its selection process includes attorney nominations, independent research and peer evaluations.
Local News Headlines
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Download the 22News Plus app on your TV to watch live-streaming newscasts and video on demand.
Massachusetts’ recent smoky skies and hazy sunsets may look unusual, but experts say what we’re seeing is part of a growing pattern fueled by bigger and longer wildfire seasons.
The strange haze has lingered for two days — so far — thanks to a weather pattern bringing smoke straight from parts of Ontario, Canada, straight to New England.
NBC10 Boston NBC10 Boston
“A lot of the fires farther up north are burning longer and more intensely than they have previously, so that’s been a big change and may be why we’re seeing more of the smoke,” said James Urban, an associate professor in the Fire Protection Engineering Department at Massachusetts’ Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
It looks like Boston’s getting a break from the wildfire smoke that’s making the sky hazy enough that you can actually look at the sun, if briefly. But that break may not last. Plus, we’re looking at rain moving in this weekend.
He explained the nuances about how climate chance may play a role in what we’re seeing this summer.
“In general, drier conditions make things more flammable, but also, if you have a period before that of wet winter but not a lot of freezing, you may get a lot of plant growth, and then when it dries out in a drought, you get a lot of fuel that may ignite,” Urban said.
Why does smoke travel cross-country and change the color of the sky?
We went to a museum to find out more about what’s causing the unearthly images in the sky.
“With smoke, it’s driven into the air with the heat and then gets caught in the upper air current, so it travels over the mountains and comes straight across the country,” said Noreen Johnson Smith, president and CEO at Worcester’s EcoTarium.
Mass. or Mars? Photos of the eerie, rusty skies caused by Canadian wildfires
The way the sun looks has to do with how smoke scatters light.
“We’re seeing these bright orange and red suns because the blues aren’t able to reach our eyes at the moment,” said Murphy Florman, an educator at the museum.
How smoke affects air quality
An air quality alert for Massachusetts has been extended through all day on Thursday, with the Department of Environmental Protection saying in a statement, “elevated levels of fine particles [mean that] air quality statewide is expected to be unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
Massachusetts is under an air quality alert due to the Canadian wildfire smoke that’s made the skies dark and hazy and turned the sun into an “orange orb.” Here are the factors making the air hard to breathe for some and what medial professionals say about it.
Tufts Medical Center pulmonologist Dr. Sucharita Kher said that it’s important to be aware of the air quality where you live, especially if you’re going to be spending time outside. The conditions Massachusetts has been experiencing are especially harmful to those with heart or lung disease.
“The symptoms of that can be tightness in the chest, they can experience more wheezing, they can have more swelling in their airways leading them to cough more, produce more phlegm,” she said. “All of that ultimately leading to worsening symptoms of that underlying disease.”
Needham pharmacist Kevin Ryan said certain medications can help with symptoms, such as histamines like Claritin or Zyrtec, as is wearing an N-95 mask.
“If you feel like you’re doing fine outside, that’s great. If you if you don’t feel like you can breathe effectively, then limit your exposure,” he said.
Canadian wildfire, smoke map
BOSTON (WWLP) – The Massachusetts Broadband Institute (MBI) announced Wednesday that it is distributing 5,063 internet-enabled devices to 45 organizations across the state.
The statewide effort, administered through the Connected and Online program, aims to expand economic opportunity by increasing digital access. This program is a $31.6 million initiative funded through the U.S. Treasury’s Capital Projects Fund that provides Massachusetts-based organizations with laptops, tablets, and desktop computers to help residents access the internet.
Equipment provided through the program also includes supportive items, such as braille keyboards, intended to assist vulnerable populations.
Both Gateway Cities and rural communities are supported by the Connected and Online program, as residents are provided with direct access to devices through lending programs or resources at publicly accessible locations.
“The Connected and Online program opens doors for communities to access critical services and build relationships with their neighbors,” said Governor Maura Healey. “By partnering with trusted local organizations, we’re helping more people get online, access essential services, and connect to new educational and economic opportunities.”
To date, the program has provided nearly 32,000 devices and more than 13,000 pieces of supportive equipment. These devices have been distributed to hospitals, municipalities, nonprofits, public libraries, elder and youth aid groups, and workforce training organizations across the Commonwealth.
This latest award announcement follows a prior distribution launched by MBI on April 2, which included nearly 27,000 devices to over 200 organizations across the state.
“MBI is leveraging strong relationships with local and regional organizations to deliver digital devices for Massachusetts residents,” said MBI Program Executive Jody Jones. “The Connected and Online program is a statewide effort to expand access, increase digital skills training, and, at its core, expand the ability to connect to the internet.”
For a full list of awardees, visit broadband.mass.tech.org.
Local News Headlines
WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Download the 22News Plus app on your TV to watch live-streaming newscasts and video on demand.
All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WWLP. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WWLP staff before being published.
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