Award-Winning Writer to Visit MCLA as Spring 2025 Visiting Writer

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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) English & Philosophy Department will host acclaimed author Kelly Link as the Spring 2025 Visiting Writer. 
 
Link will present "An Evening with Kelly Link" on Thursday, March 13, at 6 p.m. in the Center for Science & Innovation Atrium. This event is free and open to the public. 
 
According to a press release: 
 
A MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize finalist, Link is the author of numerous short fiction collections, including
"Stranger Things Happen,""Magic for Beginners," "Pretty Monsters," "Get in Trouble," and "White Cat, Black Dog." Her debut novel, "The Book of Love," was published last year to critical acclaim. 
 
In addition to her writing, Link is a distinguished editor of multiple anthologies, including The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror series, as well as the young adult collections Steampunk! and Monstrous Affections. She is the co-founder of Small Beer Press, co-editor of the occasional zine Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, and owner of Book Moon, an independent bookshop in Easthampton, Mass. 
 
This event is sponsored by the MCLA English & Philosophy Department. 

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Clarksburg Students Write in Support of Rural School Aid

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

Mason Langenback calculated that Clarksburg would get almost $1 million if the $60 million was allocated equally.
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Eighth-graders at Clarksburg School took a lesson in civic advocacy this week, researching school funding and writing letters to Beacon Hill that call for fully funding rural school aid. 
 
The students focused on the hardships for small rural schools and their importance to the community — that they struggle with limited funding and teacher shortages, but offer safe and supportive spaces for learning and are a hub for community connections.
 
"They all address the main issue, the funding for rural schools, and how there's a gap, and there's the $4 million gap this year, and then it's about the $40 million next year, and that rural schools need that equitable funding," said social studies teacher Mark Karhan.
 
A rural schools report in 2022 found smaller school districts cost from nearly 17 percent to 23 percent more to operate, and recommended "at least" $60 million be appropriated annually for rural school aid. 
 
Gov. Maura Healey has filed for more Chapter 70 school aid, but that often is little help to small rural schools with declining or static enrollment. For fiscal 2027, she's budgeted $20 million for rural schools, up from around $13 million this year but still far below the hoped for $60 million. 
 
Karhan said the class was broken into four groups and the students were provided a submission letter from Rural Schools Advocacy. The students used the first paragraph, which laid out the funding facts, and then did research and wrote their own letters. 
 
They will submit those with a school picture to the governor. 
 
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