As some may or may not know, I am a graduate of Stoneham High School and played baseball and ran track (well...actually threw the shot put) while there and was all too dismayed to see what is befalling the sports programs at Stoneham High. I have my own opinions on why Stoneham is in the dire straits they're currently facing, who is to blame and whether or not the threats of cutting sports will be realized, but the people that care about the Stoneham school community aren't resting on their laurels.

The vote was successful last night in insituting a $200 per household trash fee that may or may not rescue the sports programs at SHS, but there's also a meeting set to be held in the Stoneham High School cafeteria Thursday, June 28 from 7-9 pm by the Stoneham Public Schools Foundation (SPSF), where they're hoping to form a committee to "raise the funds needed to restore athletic programs at the high school and music, art and PE programs at the Elementary and Middle School levels"

Visit www.stonehampsf.org for more details or if you're interested in helping out the Stoneham High athletes, musicians and artists of tomorrow...Congrats to Stoneham resident Chris Willard for getting the ball rolling on this one.

There's also an excellent grassroote movement started by fellow SHS graduate Jesse Haley, who has put together both a web site and a myspace page with the same simple slogan: Save the Spartans. The response has been overwhelming from alumni and people that care about Stoneham High sports, and for that everyone deserves a lot of credit -- now comes the challenging part where people must devote their time, skills and effort toward keeping the SHS sports programs going.