e t c e t e r a
1. A number of unspecified additional things; 2. pl. additional items, odds and ends

MMA RECEIVES GRANT FOR TELESCOPE A$293,900 grant recently received by the Maria Mitchell Association from the National Science Foundation will be used to purchase a modern research telescope with state-of-the-art equipment for stellar photometry. The results will be used for undergraduate research purposes, education for island students and teachers and public outreach, Janet Schulte, MMA's executive director, announced this week.

Year-round open nights at the Loines Observatory on Milk Street will offer the general public and amateur astronomy groups chances to use the new telescope. The foundation has for several decades funded a highly regarded summer undergraduate research program at the association. Among many other association accomplishments, in 2002 the MMA's observatory became the first in the world to completely digitize its extensive photographic plate archive.

NO BIDS FOR FLYING CLOUD Abid deadline for prospective buyers of the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority's fast ferry Flying Cloud passed last week without the boat line's receiving a single offer.

The Steamship Authority paid $8 million in 2000 to build the 280-passenger Flying Cloud. The board had hoped the boat, which runs between Hyannis and Nantucket in one hour but has been plagued by repeated mechanical problems, would fetch $5 million on the resale market.

The SSA's governing board will now consider other options that may include trying to charter the Flying Cloud for a season or hiring a boat broker to oversee the sale.

NANTUCKET NEW SCHOOL BEGINS SCHOOL YEAR WITH THREE NEW TEACHERS Three new teachers - Joni Croswell, Linda Ballinger and Finnie Trimpi - have joined The Nantucket New School for the 2006-2007 school year.

Croswell, a graduate of Framingham State College with a degree in elementary education and creative and visual arts, is the school's new third grade teacher. She has previously taught elementary school in Lexington, Massachusetts and China, Maine. In addition, she has traveled extensively and taught children in Germany and Japan. Croswell joined her fiancé on Nantucket this fall and is excited about sharing her many skills and interests with her students.

Ballinger has called Nantucket home for twenty-seven years and is the school's new pre-kindergarten and kindergarten teacher. An apprentice of Andy Oates, Ballinger is a gifted weaver and a former head weaver at the Nantucket Looms. She has also dabbled in several other artistic mediums including photography and ceramics, worked as a yoga instructor and owned an organic farm. After being a regular substitute teacher at NNS last year, Ballinger is delighted to be a part of the NNS faculty.

Trimpi is the school's new art teacher and joins NNS after three years at the Nantucket Elementary School. After graduating from the University of Vermont with a degree in Art Education, with an emphasis on special education, Trimpi moved to Nantucket nine years ago. She was the head of children's programming at Nantucket Island School of Design and the Arts, ran the art program at the Nantucket Boys and Girls Club and was a pre-school art teacher. She is particularly proud of launching Nantucket's Pinwheels for Peace on International World Peace Day while at the Nantucket Elementary School.

"We are so pleased to welcome the three new teachers to NNS," said head of school Dave Provost. "They bring with them diverse talents and interests. Beyond being skilled teachers, they are fascinating people who inspire both the children and adults in our community."

HOSPITAL'S HOME HEALTH DEPARTMENT NOW KNOWN AS VISITING NURSES Brenda Johnson, RNC, Manager of what was once known as Nantucket Cottage Hospital's Community Home Health Department (CHHD), recently announced that effective immediately, the department will now be named Nantucket Cottage Hospital Visiting Nurses (Visiting Nurses). Johnson noted that the name change, which has been filed with the Town Clerk, "more accurately clarifies who we are and what we do." She emphasized that this is a name change only. The department will continue as before and with no change to personnel.

At the Hospital's Annual Health Fair 2004, the Community Home Health Department surveyed patrons and learned that there was only 21 percent name recognition. Johnson said, "We've known that there is confusion in the community about who we are and what we're all about, and we felt that it's time to identify ourselves appropriately."

Visiting Nurses will continue to serve community members of all ages who require at-home, skilled care from registered nurses, physical, occupational and speech & language therapists, dieticians, medical-social workers and/or home health aides. Post-partum, well-child visits are also offered through this department. Visiting Nurses work closely with the patient's family and physician to provide the needed services that impact quality of life for home-bound patients.

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