20 • COMMUNITY ADVOCATE • Friday, July 30, 2021
COMMUNITY SCHOOLS Shrewsbury student, town meeting member wins prestigious scholarship By Nance Ebert Contributing Writer SHREWSBURY - Max German is one of the youngest members of Shrewsbury’s elected town meeting body. Earlier this year, he also won a prestigious Truman Scholarship award, which recognizes dedication to public service. Upward of 1,000 applicants regularly vie for this scholarship. This year, German was one of sixty-two individuals chosen by the US Congress from across the country. As a winner, German receives a monetary award of $30,000 for graduate school. The President of Boston College, where German is currently completing his undergraduate studies, also called to congratulate German. After graduating Shrewsbury High School and attending Quinsigimond Community College German dropped out
Max German is one of Shrewsbury’s youngest elected town meeting members. He’s also a Boston College student and a winner of the Truman Scholarship.
to focus on his sobriety. It was then when he realized just how important community truly is. It has also played a key role in his recovery. “With sobriety under my belt, I had a fresh perspective,” he told the Community Advocate. German went back to Quinsigamond to study political science. During a summer internship, he led a voter registration drive across the state for the Massachusetts Democratic
Party. “This internship gave me great leadership experience and helped me identify what I want to continue doing,” German said. German’s efforts helped identify cities and towns with districts of lower voter turnout. He recruited volunteers who knocked on doors, asking residents to vote. “I was trying to empower community members within their own community,” he said. “However, the biggest shift for
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me was that I realized how important it is to be of service to others.” German managed a food pantry that was just starting up when he first returned to Quinsigimond Community College. After one more year, he then transferred to Boston College. Then came the Truman Scholarship. In the first round, there were almost nine hundred students that also applied. German credits his advisor, Kenji Hayao, in being instrumental with the whole process. “I knew this was a competitive process, and I also had my regular courses, papers, finals and life, in general going on,” German said. “It was pretty challenging, and I needed to stay very focused.”
Writing multiple application essays, some of German’s writing responded to a prompt asking about a public service activity. He specifically reflected on his experience being elected in 2019 as a town meeting member in Shrewsbury. Having now won Truman Scholarship recognition, German is looking to the future, contemplating law school and the impacts of policy on communities like his own hometown. “I will continue to help make Shrewsbury the best town it can be,” German said. “I want to strive to get to know it better, [to] talk to my neighbors about its schools, issues, taxes, etc. Community is essential. It builds a thread throughout our lives.”
Algonquin collects feedback on mascot search By Laura Hayes Senior Community Reporter NORTHBOROUGH/SOUTHBOROUGH - What do you think the new Algonquin Regional High School mascot should be? That was the topic of a survey launched by the high school on July 19. The survey closed on July 30, but community members can still share their thoughts on the mascot search by emailing MascotStudyGroup@nsboro.k12.ma.us. The survey asked respondents what mascot should replace the now retired “Tomahawk.” It asked what qualities respondents think the mascot should portray, and asked whether there are any specific features of Northborough or Southborough that could be considered as the mascot is developed. The Northborough Southborough Regional School Committee voted to retire the Algonquin Regional High School (ARHS) mascot, the Tomahawk, back in April. The Tomahawk mascot had been adopted after ARHS was created in 1959. Last spring, however, the school committee received a petition to change the mascot and the high school’s name.
The petition said that there was no record of the Algonquin tribe allowing the district to name its school and mascot after the tribe. It continued, saying the Algonquin name plus the Tomahawk mascot “perpetuate racist stereotypes, classifying Natives as violent and barbaric.” A Short-Term Study Group for Mascot Review was formed, and the group recommended that the Tomahawk be retired. Following the vote to retire, a Mascot Renaming Study Group was convened to study options for a new mascot. According to a letter sent to district families, the group is charged with identifying two or three potential new ARHS mascots. Those options will then be presented to the Regional School Committee. High school students will also have the chance to vote on the suggestions. The results of this month’s survey will be presented on Monday, Aug. 16 as a part of this process. There will be a web page at https://www.nsboro.k12.ma.us/site/default. aspx?DomainID=996 for anyone interested in following the Mascot Renaming Study Group’s work in addition to updates on social media.
