In today’s daily 5 Things You Need to Know feature, ThisWeekinWorcester.com explores five important items and stories that Worcester and Central Massachusetts residents should keep a close eye on.
These five things can cover a whole range of subjects and issues that we feel are pertinent to understanding what’s going on in the city and the cities and towns surrounding Worcester.
In today’s edition — Wednesday, Jan. 29 — a new chicken offering at a fast food restaurant never fails to make people go nuts, the WooSox establish a foundation, designs for the Crompton Skatepark are being revealed, Clark hosts a lecture to commemorate the 19th amendment and Becker College has been awarded a grant for a mental health career scholarship.
Going McWild Over the New McGriddles
The general population may not pay attention to the latest research paper on colon cancer treatment, or know who our legislators are, but dang it, we’ll go hog-wild when a Popeye’s opens or McDonald’s announces new breakfast sandwiches. And McDonald’s did just that.
Starting yesterday, McDonald’s breakfast lovers have some new options around here. These choices have been available in pockets of the country for years, but not in Worcester County. The wait is over!
Customers can now choose Chicken McGriddles and McChicken Biscuit breakfast sandwiches for a limited time. They are available as early as 6 a.m. for fans looking to get a jump on their mornings, and always 7 days a week. A staple long-beloved by McDonald’s Southern customers, the two menu additions now give everyone the chance to enjoy McChicken for breakfast, too.
A McGriddle is a soft, warm griddle cake with the sweet taste of maple, paired with the McChicken. The McChicken Biscuit is what you think it is: a McChicken on a biscuit.
A Milestone in the Path to Polar Park: the WooSox Foundation is Established
In the sometimes-frigid depths of winter, thoughts of baseball can warm up our veins a bit. The Worcester Red Sox officially announced the establishment of the new WooSox Foundation on Tuesday at the Worcester Public Library.
At the ceremony, the Worcester Red Sox also announced two of its first beneficiaries, both in the area of education, which includes the library and the Worcester Public Schools.
“As the philanthropic arm of the team, the WooSox Foundation will seek to create meaningful, wonderful opportunities for children and adults in the city and throughout the region,” said Steve Oliveira, director of Worcester operations, in a statement. “We have the capacity to make dreams come true for families, and we relish that opportunity.”
The Worcester Public Library Foundation received $25,000 and the Red Sox announced a “WooSox Scholars” program that will provide $40,000 annually to Worcester middle school students for college scholarships.
The Big Reveal: Check Out the New Crompton Skatepark Design
Pillar Design Studios, Weston & Sampson and the city of Worcester are presenting three different skatepark concepts from the Crompton Skatepark.
Take a look at these new design ideas on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at Sacred Heart-St. Catherine of Swedish Parish, 596 Cambridge St., Worcester, from 6:30 PM to 8 PM.
Crompton Park on Quinsigamond Ave. was named as the site of the new skate park earlier this month, six months after the Worcide DIY skate park at Washington and Plymouth streets was demolished.
Clark Hosts “Rhetoric and Reality: Women Voters Since Suffrage”
To commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment, Clark University hosts “Rhetoric and Reality: Women Voters Since Suffrage,” a talk by nationally recognized expert Christina Wolbrecht Ph.D., on Thursday, Jan. 30, at 11:45 AM in the Grace Conference Room, 1st floor of the Higgins University Center, 950 Main St., Worcester.
Wolbrecht, professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame and director of Notre Dame’s Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy, is a nationally recognized expert on women’s suffrage and co-author of “A Century of Votes for Women: American Elections Since Suffrage.” Her 2016 book “Counting Women’s Ballots” won the Victoria Schuck Prize for the best book on women and politics from the American Political Science Association in 2017.
The talk is free and all are welcome.
Becker Awarded Grant for Mental Health Counseling Students
Becker College has been awarded a $30,000 grant from the Reliant Foundation to fund a Mental Health Career Pipeline Scholarship for students enrolled in the college’s Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling. The grant helps to address the shortage of mental health professionals in the greater Worcester area by supporting students in the program.
“The Mental Health Career Pipeline Scholarship will provide our students with the financial support they need to complete their education and training,” said Dr. Beth Greenberg, associate professor of psychology and program coordinator for the Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling. “At the same time, it will continue to provide valuable and much-needed mental health services to the community, particularly for residents of Leicester and surrounding towns, where those services are limited.”
The college’s master’s program is the only graduate mental health counseling program in the state that maintains an on-campus clinic, open to the public, where graduate students provide counseling services to community residents under the direct supervision of licensed mental health professionals. Located on its Leicester campus, the Community Counseling Clinic at Becker College offers counseling for children, adolescents, and adults for a low fee of $15 per session, roughly equivalent to most insurance co-payments. The program is unique to Becker and the only master’s level mental health counseling program in the state that gives graduate students an opportunity to work with members of the community experiencing mental health issues.
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