Last modified: Sunday, October 11, 2009 11:56 PM EDT

Davis Rohnstock poses along Lynn

Shore Drive this past July. (Item
Photo / Reba M. Saldanha)
Tierney helps launch of Marshall speaker series

By Laura Paine / For The Item

LYNN - After nearly a year of brainstorming ways to curb youth violence, Lynn-based
attorney Jim Carrigan is spearheading a new speaker series at Marshall Middle School,
which recently kicked off with a visit by Congressmen John Tierney.

Carrigan said he hopes the program will give students the chance to choose a path leading them
to success instead of falling into the cycle of crime and gang activity that is prominent in the area.

The idea for the series was formulated after a city-wide summit was held last year to discuss an
increase of crime in Lynn. The summit included members of the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), state and Lynn police gang units, District Attorney
Jonathan W. Blodgett and people from the probation department. As part of the meeting, thermal
maps were placed on the walls to show the different concentrations of crime throughout the city.

“If you look at the crime in Lynn, you can see by looking at the thermal maps there is significant
crime in the Marshall School area, so they suggested that we provide an alternative to crime and
joining a gang,” Carrigan said.

After meeting and brainstorming with members of the Lynn community as well as the middle
school faculty, Carrigan met with Marshall Principal Richard Cowdell.

“I talked to him about bringing some resources from the city to Marshall Middle School, both
public and private, and he was all ears,” Carrigan said.

Cowdell then implemented an advisory program in an effort to improve communication between

the teaching faculty and their students. It was out of the advisory program that the speaker series
was born, with the aim of bringing in members of the community who have found success in their
professional lives to impart knowledge about their chosen profession.

Students meet with their advisors before the speakers come in to discuss the issues that will be
addressed, such as the best way to get into college, and they later write about the speaker and
what they learned in their journals.

“All of the teachers are involved and have around 14 advisees that they meet with three times a
week. They meet for 27 minutes, first thing in the morning. They talk about listening skills, good
eye contact, interviewing techniques, and how to accept criticism,” said Tina Beaulieu, the social
worker at Marshall.

The students got their first chance to implement their skills with Tierney’s Oct. 2 visit.

“Congressman Tierney spoke about the importance of listening...to people who are trying to
help...to parents and teachers,” said Cowdell.

Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr., North Shore Community College President Wayne Burton, Lynn
School Superintendent Catherine Latham also addressed the students. State Rep. Robert Fennell,
and School Committee members Maria Carrasco and John Ford were also in attendance.
“The kids were really wonderful last week,” Carrigan said. “They were as attentive as they could
possibly be and listened to every word. “The Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Latham, told the kids
she was a graduate of Easton Junior High, which is now Marshall Middle School, and that really
caught their attention. We try to make the kids believe that success is achievable for them. Some
of these kids lead really tough lives.”

Despite the challenges the students face, Cowdell said the students were gracious to their guests.

“Our initial panel of speakers reported being very impressed by the attentiveness and maturity of
the students,” said Cowdell.

Carrigan said he is pleased with the program’s success.

“It’s marvelous,” he said, adding his love for government inspired him to get involved with the
program. “I’ve been bringing speakers into the schools over the years and it really inspires the
kids and gets them thinking about things that are positive.”

Carrigan has already enlisted a number of speakers for the remainder of the series, including
Fennell, Bella English of the Boston Globe, Judge Albert Conlon of Lynn, Judge James Lemont of
Lynn, and Magnolia Contreas, a professor at Salem State College who was named one of the 100
Most Influential Individuals in the Massachusetts Hispanic Community by El Planeta, the largest
Hispanic newspaper in Massachusetts. Carrigan is also working with Lori Berry, the executive
director of Lynn Community Health Center, to bring in faculty to discuss their work in the medical
field. Clancy and Tierney also have agreed to return to speak to the students.