Two Plymouth Public Schools educators are being recognized this month for their work in science education, with a Plymouth South High School teacher receiving a national honor and the district’s science curriculum coordinator earning a state award. Jessica Meade, a teacher at Plymouth South High School, was named an outstanding educator in biomedical science by […]
Author Archives: Emily Spatz - Independent Staff
Posted inEducation
Retirees bring lifetimes of wisdom to local students
Sitting in the back of a classroom at Indian Brook Elementary School, Cathy Clifford Bowman quietly guides three kindergartners through a lesson on letters. Clifford Bowman, 72, doesn’t work at the school or have children in the district. But twice a week, she walks across the street from her home to help teachers and give […]
Posted inEnvironment & Health
3,000-mile trek for breast cancer awareness ends in Plymouth
A large blue bus covered in the faces of women diagnosed with a little-known type of breast cancer pulled into Pilgrim Memorial State Park on Thursday, concluding a three-week, 3,000-mile journey. Plymouth resident Laurie Hutcheson was the driving force behind what she called the “beautiful rolling billboard of a bus,” a cross-country effort meant to […]
Posted inEducation
Van Cott gets prison for theft scheme at schools
The former Plymouth Schools food service director caught in a decade-long scheme to steal equipment and food from the students’ lunch program was sentenced Wednesday to six months in prison by a federal judge in Boston. Patrick Van Cott, 64, appeared in a dark gray suit and stood to address the court before he was […]
Posted inEducation
An Indigenous history ‘not in the books’
About 600 middle schoolers got out of classes Wednesday to learn about traditional Wampanoag dance and culture – along with the tragic history of abuse for thousands of kids their age – at an hour-long assembly in the gym at Plymouth Community Intermediate School. The assembly was organized to coincide with Orange Shirt Day, an […]
Posted inPolice & Fire
RV crashes through downtown seawall
A recreational vehicle plowed through the seawall on Water Street Wednesday morning, leaving a gaping hole town officials say could take several days to repair. In the meantime, with a potential nor’easter threatening the coast this weekend, the town is installing temporary concrete barriers to protect the area, according to a spokeswoman for the Department […]
Posted inEducation
‘Very amazing’ whale watch brings back a field trip long lost to Plymouth students
A group of about 100 fifth-grade children milled about the boat with notebooks and pencils, writing notes and sketching their observations as they watched dozens of whales swim just feet away in the federally protected Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary. “Whale breath stinks,” said 10-year-old Zamara Moore, adding to the list of things she and […]
Posted inEducation
Public parking at school called ‘win-win’
Town officials are calling a planned $1.5 million transformation behind Nathaniel Morton Elementary School a creative solution to a growing shortage of downtown parking during the summer season. The town’s parking agency has worked with school officials to work out an exchange: Park Plymouth provides the money for a new and safer playground, enhanced landscaping, […]
Posted inEducation
Schools audit suggests oversight reforms in wake of Van Cott lunch program fraud
The bizarre story of Plymouth Schools’ former food services director, who dragged heavy refrigerators out the back door and stole food from the kids’ lunch program as part of a decade long larceny scheme, has raised questions of failed oversight since his 2025 arrest. On Monday, the elected members of the town’s School Committee heard […]
Posted inBusiness
Bert’s site wins approval to become outdoor venue
After months of delays for permitting and planning, the developer of the former site of Bert’s restaurant was cleared by town officials last week to start building an outdoor festival venue on the once iconic waterfront site. Scott Hokanson, owner of the health insurance firm Brabo Benefits, leased the abandoned property last year and has […]