August 29, 2023: The people's MCAS games

Today, we're hanging on to a few things in unexpected ways.

Let's take being hyper-local and environmentally low-impact. This is exactly what The People's Pint in Greenfield has done for decades. They've been a center for community through both their beer and their food, especially since most of their ingredients come from local suppliers. We get owner Alden Booth to elaborate on how they've been able to keep those foodways and brew-ways as near to their location as possible.

It's in the way we amuse ourselves in times of stress. Holyoke's Justin Dowd, the organizer behind Start Playing Games, a group that meets bi-weekly at The Brass Cat in Easthampton to play board games. He makes a list for us of fun board games that might get you through stressful times, like a move. Plus he has helpful suggestions for all those out there who have ever looked at a game's rule book and quavered.

And speaking of stressful times, school is about to be back in session. For primary and secondary students in the commonwealth, that means MCAS, or the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System. But is the test really comprehensive? And should it still be a graduation requirement for students across Massachusetts? This is what the Thrive Act seeks to address and to get into more of the details of what a shift in focus away from that would mean, we invite Max Page on the show. Max is the president of The Massachusetts Teacher's Union, the largest union not just in Massachusetts but in New England, and lays out how this change can affect students and teachers alike, as well as giving us more information about it's companion legislature: The Cherish Act.