The Berlin
Cit itiz ize en
Volume 16, Number 31
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
www.berlincitizen.com
For some students, job pickings are slim
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Berlin students see improved CAPT and CMT results
By Daniel Jackson The Berlin Citizen
By Monica Szakacs The Berlin Citizen
When Kim Bosse started looking for work, she wanted to go into the retail business, “ringing people out.” She wanted to work somewhere at the mall or some place on Farmington Avenue. “You really can’t be picky when there are slim choices,” she said. The 17-year-old Berlin High School graduate applied to 10 positions, five in town, and five at the mall. But she had no luck. Bosse is not alone. While the Bureau of Labor statistics reported the national unemployment rate stayed at a flat 8.2 percent since its last figures came out in May, the number of un-
David Erwin, superintendent of Berlin schools, said he is pleased with Berlin’s results of the Connecticut Mastery Test and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test. “Our hard work in the middle school and high school is showing over the past years,” Erwin said. “For the most part, we either went up a tenth of a point or down a tenth of a point in a particular academic area compared to last year, but we still are
Photo by Daniel Jackson
Rina Patel operates the cash register at Roger’s Marketplace. The 21-year-old student See Job, page 5 attends the University of Connecticut.
above the state average.” Berlin’s CAPT and CMT scores match the trend of the state. Overall, Connecticut students did better in reading and writing. While students scored better on math and science in the early grades, that mastery declined in the higher grades, according to a Connecticut State Department of Education news release. The CMT is administered to students in grades three to eight, while the CAPT test is administered See Test, page 8
It’s training every Monday for volunteer firefighters By Daniel Jackson The Berlin Citizen
A firefighter practaces using spreaders to remove a car door from a wreck.
group trained for dealing with vehicle accidents, another group practiced CPR and another group traveled
See Training, page 10
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Photo by Daniel Jackson
When a car crashes in Berlin, shattering glass, twisting steel and possibly trapping victims inside, the volunteer fire department responds. Berlin Fire Chief James Simons said the volunteer firefighters in town can cut away a mangled car to get to a patient in 15 minutes. “Your success and your ability to survive hinge on the ability for these guys to extricate you,” Simons said. But skill like that takes practice. “You don’t see all this that goes behind it,” he said, motioning to about 40 firefighters gathered around three mangled cars lying on the grounds of the Town’s municipal garage, practicing maneuvers to stabilize cars and cut away
steel to rescue crash victims. This was not an unusual drill. The volunteer fire departments in Berlin train every Monday night. While this
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