Speaker 1: Time now is eight oh seven, which means it's time
Speaker 1: for Night Side with Dan Ray.
Speaker 2: I've been Kyle Bray WBZ, Boston's News Radio. Thanks for
Speaker 2: joining us night Side, Dan Ray.
Speaker 3: I'm don Yourazy Boston's News Radio. Kyle Brah, I love you.
Speaker 3: Sign off. I've been Kyle Bray. Hey you are still
Speaker 3: Kyle Bray, no doubt about that. Thanks very much, Kyle.
Speaker 3: Stay dry tomorrow with all the weather that's coming in
Speaker 3: hope all of you stay dry as well. It sounds
Speaker 3: like they're talking about them monsoon tomorrow here in New England,
Speaker 3: and that must be the weather the Red Sox are
Speaker 3: experiencing tonight out in Cleveland, Ohio. I often called the
Speaker 3: Mistake by the Lake. My name's Dan Ray. There are
Speaker 3: no mistakes on Nightside. No, we do everything intentionally here
Speaker 3: myself and Rob Brooks. Rob is the producer of this program.
Speaker 3: He is back in broadcast headquarters Central Location. Well, we
Speaker 3: really shouldn't tell him where you are, Rob, but you
Speaker 3: know they probably know anyway. That's okay. Yeah, the best, Rob, Yeah,
Speaker 3: the best. Anyway. Rob does a great for us, and
Speaker 3: he was telling me he's got to work tomorrow. Rob.
Speaker 3: I hope you get in and out tomorrow nice and easily,
Speaker 3: without all of the role that Ron and I help.
Speaker 3: All of you have something to do tomorrow that's indoors.
Speaker 3: It's as simple as that. But if you stick with
Speaker 3: us all the way until midnight tonight, we will get you.
Speaker 3: Tonight is April twenty fifth. It's eight months till Christmas.
Speaker 3: I know you've got all your Christmas shopping done, no problem.
Speaker 3: We have four interesting guests in our first hour, and
Speaker 3: then we will get on to some other topics at hand.
Speaker 3: There's a movement up on Beacon Hill to try to
Speaker 3: end life without parole. I guess at some point we're
Speaker 3: going to get to the point where anyone gets convicted,
Speaker 3: we'll just give them a time out in their room.
Speaker 3: But we'll talk about that. At nine o'clock. We're going
Speaker 3: to start off and we're going to learn a little
Speaker 3: bit about Irish dancers. In Irish dancing. Irish dancers, and
Speaker 3: I guess probably from dancers from all over the world
Speaker 3: have just come back US. Irish dancers have just come
Speaker 3: back from the World Irish Dance Championships in where else Dublin,
Speaker 3: Ireland joining us now is a teacher and a student
Speaker 3: who are participating, and I guess they call this event
Speaker 3: the worlds. Molly Francis Lutwyn is a dancer, teacher and
Speaker 3: owner of a dance studio, and Francesca Santorum is one
Speaker 3: of the dancers. So let me start with Molly Francis
Speaker 3: luck when Molly, how popular is Irish dancing? I know
Speaker 3: you folks are located in New York State. I know
Speaker 3: what it is. I wouldn't dare attempt it, but it
Speaker 3: certainly looks like you have to be pretty athletic to
Speaker 3: be a successful Irish dancer. And is it fair to
Speaker 3: call them Irish step dancers or is it just Irish dancer.
Speaker 3: Let's let's clarify that first of.
Speaker 4: All, so you can call them Irish step dancers or
Speaker 4: Irish dancers.
Speaker 3: Yes, perfect, So I see these folks, and of course
Speaker 3: all of us have experienced river dance, and which is
Speaker 3: which is Irish dancing? You've got to be really in
Speaker 3: good shape here athletically. These these people are more than
Speaker 3: these They are more than dancers. They're athletes. Correct.
Speaker 4: Yes, it's a very athletic sport. It's extremely hard and
Speaker 4: it takes a lot of precision, precision in practice These
Speaker 4: kids practice up to seven days a week prepping. You know,
Speaker 4: their whole world revolves around it at that level of
Speaker 4: going to the world, so it's really a high level
Speaker 4: for it. Like you were saying, at what.
Speaker 3: Age do you introduce kids who really want to be competitive?
Speaker 3: Obviously it can be taken up by anyone, but I'm
Speaker 3: assuming if by time you're fifteen or sixteen that that
Speaker 3: window has probably closed. What time hockey players have to
Speaker 3: start to start skating as early as three? Back?
Speaker 4: Go ahead, tell me, yes, we actually have a tiny
Speaker 4: top class and we take dancers at three years old,
Speaker 4: and actually we do. There's adult dancing is huge, and
Speaker 4: Irish dancing you can be any age. The Irish dance
Speaker 4: community spans all different ages and levels.
Speaker 3: But in terms of the competitive dancers, I assume this
Speaker 3: is something that someone like Francesca, who I'm going to
Speaker 3: talk to now, probably started at a very early age. Francesca,
Speaker 3: you were one of the dancers on the trip with
Speaker 3: your dance teacher and coach, Molly Francis Ludwin. When did
Speaker 3: you start doing this activity?
Speaker 5: Seriously, I started our dancing when I was four years old,
Speaker 5: so I've been doing I'll know.
Speaker 3: No that's great, that's great. And as you got older
Speaker 3: and you became more serious, what is it about the
Speaker 3: sport that that that allowed you or compelled you to
Speaker 3: take it as seriously? I know kids start piano less
Speaker 3: is when they're five or six, and by seven or
Speaker 3: eight they're done and they're not concert pianists. What what
Speaker 3: drew you into this, uh, this competition or we I
Speaker 3: guess we could call it a sport, but what what
Speaker 3: what is about it that that has that has drawn
Speaker 3: you into this high level of competition?
Speaker 5: So I would say as I got older, the more
Speaker 5: dance competitions I did, and the better I got with
Speaker 5: the result, I definitely was encouraging to keep going and
Speaker 5: then see like the best I could get, And my
Speaker 5: mother really pushed me to do the best I could.
Speaker 3: It's okay, that's okay. Parents. Sometimes I'm sure she pushed
Speaker 3: you in a in a supportive way. Is that your
Speaker 3: first trip to Ireland last weekend?
Speaker 5: No, I've actually been there twice twice.
Speaker 3: Okay, I've I've been there a few times myself. I
Speaker 3: actually have dual citizenship, so I I believe me, I'm
Speaker 3: very very much aware of just the difficult this this sport.
Speaker 3: I mean it's it's not an easy sport to uh,
Speaker 3: you know, to to really accomplish. I mean you you're
Speaker 3: an accomplished dancer. What do you hope to do with this?
Speaker 3: Is this something you're going to carry on and become
Speaker 3: a teacher or a coach or how where will this
Speaker 3: sport take you?
Speaker 1: Yeah? For sure.
Speaker 5: I mean I already help a little bit with Molly
Speaker 5: teaching some of the younger girls team dances, and I
Speaker 5: really enjoy it and hopefully one day maybe I could
Speaker 5: be in river dance or like some sort of professional
Speaker 5: dance company.
Speaker 3: Very nice and last questions, Francesca, for you, has this
Speaker 3: helped you? My understanding is you're still in high school.
Speaker 3: Are you're a junior or a senior?
Speaker 6: I'm a senior senior.
Speaker 3: Do you know at this point where you if you're
Speaker 3: going off to college next fall?
Speaker 1: Yes?
Speaker 7: I am where you're going?
Speaker 5: If I could ask Junny Cortland.
Speaker 3: Okay, now, do they have any sort of a program
Speaker 3: there where you can continue to to compete and perfect
Speaker 3: perfect your your your vocate your avocation here?
Speaker 5: They don't have an IRSTS program, But the college is
Speaker 5: only like forty minutes away from Francis Academy. So I
Speaker 5: would hope to continue to try to get to Francis
Speaker 5: Academy in practice.
Speaker 3: All right, let me come back to your to your
Speaker 3: teacher and your coach, Molly Francis. Letwin Molly, what what
Speaker 3: advice would you give to a family that has a
Speaker 3: young girl or a young boy who might be interested
Speaker 3: in the sport. Obviously we reach a pretty wide audience here.
Speaker 3: We're heard in most of the eastern the US. How
Speaker 3: is there a website that parents can go to? You
Speaker 3: know you're located, I know in Syracuse, we're in Boston,
Speaker 3: but there's a lot of people in different places, is
Speaker 3: here and in Canada and elsewhere who are listening. Is
Speaker 3: there some sort of a national or an international website
Speaker 3: that people can go to to get information as to
Speaker 3: what Irish step dancing programs might be available in their
Speaker 3: their area.
Speaker 4: Yeah. So, Actually, if you go to the c l
Speaker 4: r G website, c l RG is our organization, and
Speaker 4: we also have the North American Irish Dance Teachers Association,
Speaker 4: which you can look up your local like what dance
Speaker 4: schools are near you. There's a registry there and if
Speaker 4: you just google Irish step dancing clergy. It would bring
Speaker 4: you to local schools.
Speaker 3: But I think, what does what does c l r
Speaker 3: G stand for?
Speaker 4: It's it's a it's a Gaelic word. I'm not going
Speaker 4: to try to say it right now, but it stands for.
Speaker 3: By the way, I'm picking up a little bit of
Speaker 3: a Canadian accent with you. Are you Canadian?
Speaker 4: Yes, we're actually close. We're close to the Canadian border.
Speaker 4: I heard that two hours.
Speaker 3: Yeah, did you grew up in Canada?
Speaker 4: No, Syracuse my whole life.
Speaker 3: Okay, well, we're with the word. When you pronounce the
Speaker 3: word organization that is that's always a tip up. Well,
Speaker 3: thank you both for joining us. This was an international
Speaker 3: phone call. I wasn't sure if we had an Irish
Speaker 3: stepped an American Irish step dancer and an American Irish
Speaker 3: step dancing coll coach with roots in Canada. But thank
Speaker 3: you both very much. Fringe Casca, best of luck as
Speaker 3: you go off to college. Your parents must be very
Speaker 3: proud of you and Mollie. Thanks very much for your
Speaker 3: time tonight as well, and keep on dancing.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much for having us.
Speaker 3: Okay, good night, folks. When we get back, we're going
Speaker 3: to talk about something that I'm more comfortable with. I
Speaker 3: don't think I could ever be an Irish step dancer,
Speaker 3: but I can eat pizza. The largest pizza festival in
Speaker 3: New England returns to Boston City Plaza in June, and
Speaker 3: we're going to talk about it with the co director
Speaker 3: of the Boston Pizza Festival, something we all can participate in.
Speaker 3: Right after the break here on Nightside. You're listening to
Speaker 3: WBC Boston's news radio right here on WBZ ten thirty
Speaker 3: on your AM dial. Pull down our iHeart App, our
Speaker 3: new and improved iHeart App. That way you can make
Speaker 3: us your first preset, and you can. We will only
Speaker 3: be a fingertip away wherever you travel around the world,
Speaker 3: or wherever you happen to be around the world, anywhere
Speaker 3: in the world you can. You can literally you're a
Speaker 3: fingertip away. If you get my drift, We'll be back
Speaker 3: on Nightside Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's
Speaker 3: news Radio. If there is the universal food of food
Speaker 3: that everybody loves, I think it's pizza. And once again
Speaker 3: we will have the largest pizza festival in New England
Speaker 3: this year on Boston City Hall Plaza on Saturday, June
Speaker 3: twenty first and Sunday, June twenty second, the first couple
Speaker 3: of days of summer. Perfect timing with us as Gene
Speaker 3: Carlo Natali. Gen Carlo, I've hoped I pronounced it tali correctly.
Speaker 3: Is that be the correct pronunciation?
Speaker 7: Yes, yes, you said it perfectly.
Speaker 3: All right? You were the co director of the Boston
Speaker 3: Pizza Festival. How long has the Boston Pizza Festival been
Speaker 3: gracing our fine city? How many years?
Speaker 2: We started in twenty sixteen, and obviously COVID stopped us
Speaker 2: for a little bit, but we're back in action. So
Speaker 2: this is our fifth year back here at City Hall Plaza,
Speaker 2: so we're so excited.
Speaker 3: All right now, Look, even if it was COVID, I
Speaker 3: would have been there for the Pizza festival. What's the
Speaker 3: genesis of it? I know you're at City Hall Plaza,
Speaker 3: which is very close to the Boston's North End, which
Speaker 3: have the best pizza places in the world as far
Speaker 3: as I'm concerned. How was it that someone at one
Speaker 3: day woke up and said, you know what this city means,
Speaker 3: we need a pizza festival, and a bunch of people said, yeah,
Speaker 3: you're right. How did it start? What is the genesis
Speaker 3: of the Boston Pizza Festival.
Speaker 2: I'm so happy that you shouted out the North End.
Speaker 2: I'm a North End kid. I'm born and raised in
Speaker 2: the North End. So thank you for doing that. We
Speaker 2: we love kidding me. So the pizza. The pizza festival
Speaker 2: originated so my family and I my father's from Naples, Italy,
Speaker 2: and in Naples, Italy, they have the largest pizza festival
Speaker 2: in the world. And as a family, we would always
Speaker 2: go to Italy every summer and that was like our
Speaker 2: family to do. Every year we would we would go
Speaker 2: to the Naples Pizza Village, which is the biggest pizza
Speaker 2: festival in the world. Later on in life, as I
Speaker 2: started getting into events and festivals and thinking of concepts,
Speaker 2: my business partner and I were like, you know, let's
Speaker 2: do a pizza festival. And my business partner Raft said,
Speaker 2: you know, they've got to be a pizza festival already,
Speaker 2: And sure enough, we looked it up in Boston didn't
Speaker 2: have one. Next thing, you know, we were at City
Speaker 2: Hall booking the plaza and there it was. It was
Speaker 2: like the green light was from there and then we
Speaker 2: never stopped.
Speaker 7: So I cannot.
Speaker 3: Believe with my great friend Tom Menino, having been the
Speaker 3: great mayor Tom Menino, I might say, God rest his soul,
Speaker 3: that he was mayor for twenty years and one of
Speaker 3: us didn't say, Hey, let's have a pizza festival. What
Speaker 3: an opportunity we missed. By the way Naples. I was
Speaker 3: in Naples last summer with some nightside listeners. We did
Speaker 3: roam and then went down to the Amalfi Coast. I
Speaker 3: don't know if you ever been in the Naples airport.
Speaker 3: I'm sure you've been there many times. We showed up
Speaker 3: there as bus load of us at four am in
Speaker 3: the morning and we couldn't get into the terminal. It
Speaker 3: was packed. It was I thought to myself, we're never
Speaker 3: going to get out of Naples, which wouldn't have been
Speaker 3: a bad thing after all, when you think about it.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't have been there for the for the pizza festival,
Speaker 3: but it was fright as they didn't open up I
Speaker 3: guess the employees didn't show up until four am in
Speaker 3: the morning and they didn't open up the lines, and
Speaker 3: it was like we were there for half an hour
Speaker 3: and nothing was moving, and I'm thinking to myself, we're
Speaker 3: going to be stuck here. So that's my memory of
Speaker 3: Naples Airmployer and it was a.
Speaker 7: Lovely definitely, it was lovely.
Speaker 2: Definitely controlled chaos at that airport for sure, oh man.
Speaker 3: And well, anyway, so tell us about the specifics. It's
Speaker 3: on the plaza so you can't miss it. What are
Speaker 3: the hours during the day. I assume there's a cover
Speaker 3: charge to get in. Tell us how it works. I
Speaker 3: got a lot of pizza lovers, I'm sure listening and
Speaker 3: are writing this all down.
Speaker 2: Absolutely So we'll be there Saturday and Sunday, June twenty
Speaker 2: first and second from eleven am to six pm. And
Speaker 2: this year we have a ten dollars cover but in
Speaker 2: that ten dollars comes two slices of pizza, any any toppings.
Speaker 2: You can use those tickets to, you know, redeem those
Speaker 2: tickets at any pizza EA. And it really is, you know,
Speaker 2: a celebration of pizza. But it's it's an event that
Speaker 2: you know from my eyes and you know my perspective.
Speaker 2: You know, we bring everybody together. You know, everybody loves pizza.
Speaker 2: And honestly, if you don't love pizza, I don't know
Speaker 2: if I can trust you. But for the most part,
Speaker 2: everybody loves pizza. It's a really good family gathering. It's
Speaker 2: become a staple in the city of Boston.
Speaker 7: And yeah, I just can't wait we have these.
Speaker 3: Put let me make sure I understand this, Okay, I
Speaker 3: want to make sure my audience gets it. So ten
Speaker 3: dollars per person, adults or children. It's a ten dollar
Speaker 3: charge per person? Correct?
Speaker 7: Correct?
Speaker 3: Okay? Like nobody kids under two? They I hope they're
Speaker 3: not gonna eat a lot of pizza. Is there like
Speaker 3: one of those things where kids under a certain age
Speaker 3: are free? Or is it? You know if you walk
Speaker 3: in with it?
Speaker 2: Yeah, children five and under don't won't pay it, won't
Speaker 2: need a ticket.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, don't bury the lead here, gian Kala, we
Speaker 3: got it. You know, there's a lot of families out
Speaker 3: there where they for twenty dollars a mom and a
Speaker 3: dad and a couple of kids under five, they're golden.
Speaker 3: So how many pizza vendors? How many shops are going
Speaker 3: to be set up on the plaza?
Speaker 7: You know?
Speaker 3: I mean, obviously you'll have I'm sure many, But what's
Speaker 3: the what do you think you'll have in terms of
Speaker 3: vendors there?
Speaker 2: We'll have thirty different pizza rias. Some coming all the
Speaker 2: way from Italy and fifty six vendors total, so you know,
Speaker 2: we'll have dessert, we'll have gelato. We have so many
Speaker 2: other additors other than pizza. But the cool part of
Speaker 2: this year is we have a pizza festival from Italy
Speaker 2: joining us we're hosting. It's called Pizza Avico and they're
Speaker 2: from the peninsula of Sorrento in Vico Quinca, Italy, and
Speaker 2: they're a really world renowned pizza festival and we're so grateful.
Speaker 2: They're bringing the top pizza makers in Italy and they're
Speaker 2: going to be a part of our event this year.
Speaker 3: I've been in Sorrento. Beautiful city. I really hi, very
Speaker 3: some very nice shops in Sorrento. By the way, have
Speaker 3: you been in Sorrento.
Speaker 7: Yes, I love it. There's nothing like those nights in Sorrento.
Speaker 3: Yeah, really it really is. So look, I assume that
Speaker 3: you'll be able to perhaps purchase a beer or two
Speaker 3: if you want at the festal yes, absolutely, just want
Speaker 3: to make sure in case. I don't want anyone to
Speaker 3: suffer from dehydration. Okay, you know, I'm just I'm a
Speaker 3: pretty thoughtful guy here and I want to make sure
Speaker 3: everybody's happy. Well, this is great. Saturday June twenty first,
Speaker 3: Sunday June twenty second. How big a crowd do you
Speaker 3: think you're going to get? In all honesty, you're talking.
Speaker 2: About you know, last year we did twenty five thousand
Speaker 2: people over the weekend, and this year, you know we
Speaker 2: we should be you know, right around those those numbers,
Speaker 2: and you know, increasing our marketing efforts and partnerships and
Speaker 2: some really cool activations. It really is going to be
Speaker 2: a great event.
Speaker 3: I'm sure you and they were night side listeners right
Speaker 3: now who are marking it on their calendar, on their calendar.
Speaker 3: So I thank you so much for you amazing tonight.
Speaker 3: I loved Italy, I love pizza, and you sound like
Speaker 3: a great guy, and it's going to be a fabulous event.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much for joining us tonight and spending a
Speaker 3: few minutes.
Speaker 2: And please be my guest, come eat some pizza with us.
Speaker 3: You know, if I'm in town that weekend, you know
Speaker 3: I'm going to stop by and I'll find you. I
Speaker 3: will find you no matter what. Okay, I will buy
Speaker 3: my tickets, but I will find you nonetheless. Thanks Gincla.
Speaker 7: I appreciate it. Thank you having wonderful evening.
Speaker 3: Thank you you too, Bonaie. Thanks. We will take a
Speaker 3: break right after the eight thirty news. We're going to
Speaker 3: talk about a very serious effort. It's called Hope for
Speaker 3: I got to get the precise name here. It's Haymakers
Speaker 3: for Charity. It's a Haymaker's charity event. It's a boxing
Speaker 3: program at Haymakers for Hope is what it's called, at
Speaker 3: the MGM Music Hall right next to Fenway Park. We're
Speaker 3: going to talk with one of the boxers, Ben Heller,
Speaker 3: who is boxing and is involved in this because of
Speaker 3: some medical issues with his wife and his mom. It's
Speaker 3: a great story and we'll talk with Ben Heller right
Speaker 3: after the break, and then later on I'm going to
Speaker 3: talk about a Massachusetts crisis in mathematics for our students.
Speaker 3: It's not getting better in Massachusetts. We'll explain both right
Speaker 3: after the news at the bottom of the hour. My
Speaker 3: name is Dan Wright.
Speaker 2: With Dan Ray on Boston's News Radio.
Speaker 3: All right, welcome back everyone. There is a an event
Speaker 3: coming up that we want to make you aware of.
Speaker 3: It's been an event that has been around for some time,
Speaker 3: uh and the event is next we'll actually strike that
Speaker 3: it's May eighth. Let me double check and make sure
Speaker 3: that is not this Saturday, and it's not next It's
Speaker 3: it's a Thursday night if I'm reading my calendar correctly. Here, Yeah,
Speaker 3: Thursday night at the MGM Music Hall right by Fenway Park.
Speaker 3: It's called Haymakers for Hope. It's also rock and Rumble
Speaker 3: fourteen with us is one of the PIP participants. Ben Heller, Ben,
Speaker 3: Welcome to night Side. How are you?
Speaker 1: I'm great, how are you?
Speaker 4: Thanks for having me good.
Speaker 3: I've watched some of your video and I've have a
Speaker 3: bumping into the street. I'm not gonna want to fight you. You're
Speaker 3: you're a you're a boxer. You have done this. You
Speaker 3: have not done this your entire life. But you're taking
Speaker 3: it very seriously and for a great cause. Your wife
Speaker 3: is a warrior. You mentioned she was diagnosed with h
Speaker 3: with breast cancer and has an aggressive form. First of all,
Speaker 3: how she doing today?
Speaker 1: She's doing pretty well today. She she is, like I said,
Speaker 1: a warrior and battles real hard every day. We've got
Speaker 1: three teenage kids and she makes it a priority. Uh,
Speaker 1: she makes a priority that just to be in their
Speaker 1: lives as normal as possible, and so she's she's a
Speaker 1: mom first and foremost and running around with the kids
Speaker 1: and she's doing she's doing really well.
Speaker 3: Okay, now, when did you take up boxing? If you
Speaker 3: don't mind, you're fifty years old. I looked at the video. Uh,
Speaker 3: and and you look like you clearly can handle yourself
Speaker 3: in the ring. I'm very impressed. Uh, this is uh
Speaker 3: the this is a serious activity. You work in real estate,
Speaker 3: you're a real estate advisor. When yeah, I know why
Speaker 3: you box, But how long have.
Speaker 7: You done it?
Speaker 3: Because you look like you're pretty accomplished to me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've been trained. So I participated in last year's event,
Speaker 1: and I didn't start training specifically for that. My oldest
Speaker 1: daughter had asked me about boxing. You know, I've been
Speaker 1: a boxing fan my whole life. We were talking about it.
Speaker 1: There's a gym down the street from our house, and
Speaker 1: we kept driving by it. She wanted to go in.
Speaker 1: So she and I went in one day and just
Speaker 1: you know, did a couple of classes and there's she
Speaker 1: and I and then I kept going with it, and
Speaker 1: you know, seemed to be good.
Speaker 7: Enough at it that they.
Speaker 1: Threw my hat in the ring for Haymakers given my
Speaker 1: story with my wife, and so I trained last year
Speaker 1: and ended up raising two hundred and eighty thousand dollars
Speaker 1: last year for my fight. And the fight didn't win
Speaker 1: with my hand being held above my head, which feel
Speaker 1: like I had some unfinished business. So I got an
Speaker 1: opportunity to do it again this year, and so I
Speaker 1: just kept training through and here we are. You know,
Speaker 1: I was a middle brother of three boys, so I
Speaker 1: saw a lot growing up, but I was never trained
Speaker 1: out of box.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I did the same thing as a kid. I
Speaker 3: grew up in the city, not the mean streets of
Speaker 3: the city, but I grew up in Boston and everyone
Speaker 3: you know, I'm a little older than you are, and
Speaker 3: every once in a while you got into a beef
Speaker 3: and that's the way you settled it. Back in those days,
Speaker 3: you weren't pulling out a gun or a knife or
Speaker 3: anything out. And I boxed one time, just for a minute.
Speaker 3: I'm not going to buy you with the story, but
Speaker 3: it was on TV. I was anchoring the early newscast
Speaker 3: on Channel five, and when the rock First Rocky movie
Speaker 3: came out, boxed for a minute. It was exhausting, and
Speaker 3: I was in pretty good shape. I got to tell you,
Speaker 3: I have great respect for anybody who boxes because you know,
Speaker 3: and again you probably trained for it, you know, how
Speaker 3: to breathe better and all of that. But it's an
Speaker 3: exhausting experience. How do you raise the money? Do you
Speaker 3: have people supporting you? What can we do to help you?
Speaker 1: Well, you know, it's it really is a you know,
Speaker 1: it takes a village. Our community has really come out
Speaker 1: for Amanda and me, and it's been a lot of
Speaker 1: a lot of people from all, you know, corners of
Speaker 1: our life have come forward and just made the donation.
Speaker 1: You know, some people as little as twenty five bucks
Speaker 1: in some pretty sizable checks. But it's been a you know,
Speaker 1: really humbling to have our community come out and show
Speaker 1: us love and support. And everybody always wants to know
Speaker 1: what they can do, like what can we do to
Speaker 1: help you? And you know, this is really what people
Speaker 1: can do because you know, Amanda and I are you know,
Speaker 1: we're trying to live a normal life, trying to fight
Speaker 1: this with everything we've got. And at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, who we're raising
Speaker 1: money for, you know, they funded the development of the
Speaker 1: drug that is keeping Amanda alive today. And so like
Speaker 1: these dollars really do matter. It's not like it goes
Speaker 1: into this bay the thiss that you know, you don't
Speaker 1: know if it ever makes a difference. But this, you know,
Speaker 1: this was in Boston. The woman that started this research
Speaker 1: project that ended up developing into sassaitusm MAP, which is
Speaker 1: the name of the drug that Amta is on. Like
Speaker 1: it was born here in Boston, and it's like it's
Speaker 1: really close to us, and it really makes a difference.
Speaker 3: So people who are listening tonight, can they just donate
Speaker 3: directly to the charity or do you have a specific
Speaker 3: place they can donate which is associated with your event
Speaker 3: this' upcoming.
Speaker 1: If you look up Haymakers for Hope and it lifts
Speaker 1: all the fighters, Ben Heller's there and you can donate
Speaker 1: through me and that way it goes to Breast Cancer
Speaker 1: Research Foundation. Each fighter can nominate any sort of cancer
Speaker 1: charity they want, but Breast Cancer Research Foundation is what's
Speaker 1: really near and dear to us. And we've become very
Speaker 1: involved in the organization, and Haymakers for Hope is an
Speaker 1: extremely well run, compassionate organization, And you know, I really
Speaker 1: am so grateful to have the opportunity to do this again.
Speaker 1: It's you know, boxing is a really difficult thing to do.
Speaker 1: But when I sort of put it in the context
Speaker 1: of fighting for one's life, you know, against cancer, getting
Speaker 1: in the ring is really nothing.
Speaker 3: No, well, it's something. But I do understand that the
Speaker 3: larger fight that you're going to win here is for Amanda.
Speaker 3: So if they just go to the website Haymakers for
Speaker 3: Hope dot Org, I assume that's a correct at it
Speaker 3: or and then they.
Speaker 1: Read it and then yeah, and then Benjamin Heller and
Speaker 1: you can say, you know, donate here, and you know,
Speaker 1: I appreciate everything. If we between last year's fight and
Speaker 1: this year's fight, we're at about four hundred and sixty
Speaker 1: thousand dollars, So I really want to be able to
Speaker 1: get the half a million dollars, which is way more
Speaker 1: than I ever expected. And it's just like I said,
Speaker 1: it really makes a difference. And you know, there's a
Speaker 1: new study that's been you know, a grant that's been
Speaker 1: given an Amanda's honor at Breast Cancer Search Foundation from
Speaker 1: last year's site, and we really want to make sure
Speaker 1: that we give them every resource they have to go
Speaker 1: out and try to find a cure. You know, we're
Speaker 1: not giving up hope.
Speaker 3: So again, this is a Thursday night, May eighth, seven thirty.
Speaker 3: I assume that it's open to the public. It's a
Speaker 3: public event. I'm I'm assuming a matter of fact, that's true.
Speaker 1: You can you can buy tickets on the same website.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've gone right here to your website, which is great.
Speaker 3: There's a there's a picture of you, of you the donation.
Speaker 3: It's at the MGM Music Hall everybody. There's where you
Speaker 3: get tickets and it says donate to Benjamin, which means
Speaker 3: that you make the donation to your to the charity.
Speaker 3: Do you have any idea who you'll end up fighting
Speaker 3: that night?
Speaker 7: I do.
Speaker 1: I think I've met him before. His name is Parker Willard.
Speaker 1: He's a god but my age, a couple of years
Speaker 1: younger than me. Tough guy. You know, I've done a
Speaker 1: lot of time fundraising. I gotta I gotta spend these
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks training some more. He's gonna give
Speaker 1: it as all.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 1: He fought before too, and he's got a cause that's
Speaker 1: just as important to mine as mine. So we're gonna
Speaker 1: give it all in the ring for a good cause.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, for for six minutes, we're gonna
Speaker 1: sort of forget that we're amateurs and go out there
Speaker 1: and pretend that we're this is what we do for
Speaker 1: a living.
Speaker 3: But it's uh, also it's great. Is it two three
Speaker 3: minute rounds to three two minute rounds?
Speaker 1: Three rounds?
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's okay, that makes more sense, uh, Ben, you know,
Speaker 3: look it sounds like such a great cause. Congratulations to
Speaker 3: having the courage to get into the ring. And we
Speaker 3: wish you and your family and especially Amanda's just all
Speaker 3: the luck in the world. So they can they go
Speaker 3: haymakers for hope. Find your name, Benjamin Heller. Uh and
Speaker 3: and you you're you're in the ring, but your family's
Speaker 3: in the ring with it with a bigger fight, so
Speaker 3: you know, god speed, you know, watch out for those
Speaker 3: those right hooks. That's the best advice I can give you.
Speaker 3: And donate it, and I should say hopefully so my
Speaker 3: listeners we'll check it out and maybe make a donation.
Speaker 3: Thank you again.
Speaker 1: Well, I really appreciate it. It's honored to be on
Speaker 1: the air with you. And you know, I'm a kid
Speaker 1: from the city of Boston too, and I really appreciate
Speaker 1: it so thanks, I.
Speaker 3: Hope, I'm more honored to have you on the air
Speaker 3: if the truth, you know, because you're doing something that
Speaker 3: very few people ever get an opportunity to do in
Speaker 3: their life, and it really does put the sport in perspective.
Speaker 3: So all the luck in the world. I'm sure it's
Speaker 3: going to be a great night for you and for
Speaker 3: your family and raise a lot of money. Thank you,
Speaker 3: my friend, we'll talk again.
Speaker 1: Okay, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
Speaker 3: Very welcome. Ben, Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Who's going to
Speaker 3: get in the ring the age of fifty second time?
Speaker 3: If you go to the website Haymakers for Hope, there's
Speaker 3: some video and this guy has trained. Let me tell you,
Speaker 3: he's not the sort of person you want to get
Speaker 3: into a disagreement with. He's going to be prepped and
Speaker 3: ready for May eighth at the MGM Music Hall at
Speaker 3: Fenway Park. We'll take a quick break and we'll be
Speaker 3: right back and we're going to finish up and we're
Speaker 3: going to talk about unfortunately some lower than expected scores
Speaker 3: in mathematics for our students here in the Cormwaltha, Massachusetts.
Speaker 3: So what can we do to get those scores up.
Speaker 3: We'll find out. Coming back on Nightside, It's Nightside with
Speaker 3: Dan Ray on.
Speaker 7: Boston's news radio.
Speaker 3: All right, we're wrapping up our last quick conversation of
Speaker 3: the night. We're going to be talking with Genesis Corella.
Speaker 3: She's a senior policy analyst at ed Trust. Genesis, welcome
Speaker 3: to Nightside.
Speaker 6: How are you good, evening, Dan? I'm doing well.
Speaker 3: How are you okay? I think I know what senior
Speaker 3: policy analysts would mean. But what is ed Trust? I'm
Speaker 3: sure that's some sort of a trust. Tell us about it. So.
Speaker 6: Ed Trust is a national organization and we're submitted to
Speaker 6: dismantling racial and economic barriers and set it in the
Speaker 6: American education system. Our approach centers on the analysis of
Speaker 6: data to identify opportunity gaps, indicating for policies that promote equity,
Speaker 6: and working closely with the range of stakeholders to help
Speaker 6: sort of shift the narrative and build momentum around urgent
Speaker 6: needs for systemic improvement.
Speaker 3: Gotcha, are you on a headsetter on a speakerphone by
Speaker 3: any chance? Or no? I'm just having a.
Speaker 6: Little tough you know, I'm just on my phone.
Speaker 3: Sorry, Oh great, Well, if you then talk right into
Speaker 3: the mouthpiece. It's going to be much better. Okay, that's okay,
Speaker 3: that's going to Yeah, you sound much better already already.
Speaker 3: Oftentimes people hold that mouthpiece a little about their mouth,
Speaker 3: or they hold it a little below their mouth, and
Speaker 3: it doesn't sound quite as good when they held it
Speaker 3: right to their mouth. So just please continue to do
Speaker 3: that for us. So the state of math in Massachusetts
Speaker 3: is not good. Tell us why. It's a data driven
Speaker 3: look at Massachusetts math crisis and what can be done.
Speaker 3: Look like all states kids have suffered as a consequence
Speaker 3: of COVID, but we haven't bounced back yet in Massachusetts.
Speaker 3: Tell us what needs to be done.
Speaker 4: Correct.
Speaker 6: So right now, more than half of Massachusetts students aren't
Speaker 6: meeting grade level expectations in maths. So, for example, just
Speaker 6: forty one percent of third through eighth graders that are
Speaker 6: exceeded expectations last year on them. Past and outcomes are
Speaker 6: even more concerning for our black, Latino multi lingual learners,
Speaker 6: students with disabilities, and students from low income backgrounds. And
Speaker 6: it's not just about test scores, it's about opportunity. Without
Speaker 6: strong math skills, students are going to struggle on other subjects,
Speaker 6: use confidence and thinks see your options after high school.
Speaker 6: The issue is complex and there's lots of different factors
Speaker 6: that are sort of contributing to this decline that we're seeing.
Speaker 6: But some of the recommendations that we're putting forth in
Speaker 6: our most recent brief one is establishing a permanent seat
Speaker 6: funding streams to support ongoing development, implementation and evaluation of
Speaker 6: high quality instructional materials. Implementing mandatory statewide early numeracy assessments
Speaker 6: to identify struggling students and provide timely interventions that are targeted,
Speaker 6: which is sort of nearing some of the success that
Speaker 6: we've seen in literacy screenings at closing learning gaps. And
Speaker 6: the last is just to expand invest in professional development
Speaker 6: to deepen mass content knowledge, sort of build on those
Speaker 6: skill sets that teachers have to effectively implement the curriculum.
Speaker 3: Now, I know that you probably are aware. It looks
Speaker 3: to me, I'm not sure if you're I think you're
Speaker 3: in Rhode Island. Correct, no problem, But we're talking obviously
Speaker 3: about Massachusetts, and I assume that you are familiar that
Speaker 3: Massachusetts last November voted to eliminate mcasts as a graduation requirement.
Speaker 3: The test will still be administered, but obviously the stakes
Speaker 3: will be much less. Do you think that's a good
Speaker 3: development or poor development in your opinion?
Speaker 6: That's a great question. So at ed Trust, we believe
Speaker 6: that a rigorous, uniform statewide graduation standard of course, paired
Speaker 6: with some strong state oversight, is really essential to ensuring
Speaker 6: that all students, regardless of the district that they attend,
Speaker 6: have equitable access to high school graduation. And so removing
Speaker 6: a standardized graduation requirement means that every district is able
Speaker 6: to choose their own and students are being held to
Speaker 6: different standards and have different preparations for life after high school.
Speaker 6: And so we see that as a real equity issue
Speaker 6: at ed Trust.
Speaker 3: So, okay, you just gave me an answer. I didn't
Speaker 3: understand that I heard the words. Is it a good
Speaker 3: development or a poor development overall?
Speaker 1: In your opinion, a poor development?
Speaker 7: Okay.
Speaker 3: My next question then, is one of the things that's
Speaker 3: coming down the line that all of us need to
Speaker 3: be concerned about, not only those of us who are
Speaker 3: out of school, but particularly those of us who have
Speaker 3: kids in school, artificial intelligence. What needs to be done
Speaker 3: to make sure that kids in poorer communities are given
Speaker 3: as many opportunities to be aware of artificial intelligence, how
Speaker 3: to use it and use it properly as kids in
Speaker 3: more affluent communities. Because that's something that concerns me, to
Speaker 3: be really honest with you.
Speaker 6: Yeah, that is sort of an emerging issue area. And
Speaker 6: it's not just because in rural schools there's disparities among
Speaker 6: various geographyes, income levels, And it really comes down to
Speaker 6: sort of acknowledging this emerging area and sort of keeping
Speaker 6: up with the twenty first century trends, ensuring that teachers
Speaker 6: are really well equipped to teach AI and sort of
Speaker 6: support students and using it well and effectively, and as
Speaker 6: well as state really strong state guidance to ensure that
Speaker 6: there's guardrails in place to ensure that AI is being
Speaker 6: used adequately by students in an age appropriate way.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the concern is that that's the latest thing, and
Speaker 3: it has applications in mathematics, but it also has applications
Speaker 3: in other areas in English writing skills and all of that.
Speaker 3: And you know that kids who are in the who
Speaker 3: were challenging schools, whether it's the private schools or whether
Speaker 3: it's the exam schools in some communities, they're going to
Speaker 3: be challenged, But I just don't want to see other
Speaker 3: kids who are in more you know, traditional schools fall
Speaker 3: by the wayside. And I hope that those of you
Speaker 3: who have a much greater voice in you know, education
Speaker 3: and education policy that I do. I hope that you guys,
Speaker 3: you folks, keep them in mind. And I suspect from
Speaker 3: what I what I've heard from you is that you
Speaker 3: will correct.
Speaker 6: I appreciate that. Yes, I think AI can be a
Speaker 6: very powerful tool, but as sort of with any new
Speaker 6: emerging technology, it needs to be used responsibly and shouldn't
Speaker 6: take away from the real critical learning that students should
Speaker 6: be exposed to.
Speaker 3: If folks want to get more information about what your
Speaker 3: group does and the reports that you've written, is there
Speaker 3: an easy website because there are a lot of people
Speaker 3: who are very interested in the issues that you're involved in.
Speaker 3: Is there a website that we can direct people to.
Speaker 6: Yes, you can read our leadst brief on the map
Speaker 6: I say that ed trust dot org backslast Massachusetts. You
Speaker 6: can sell us on LinkedIn and Twitter at trust m
Speaker 6: A and V are also on Bluesky at trust in m.
Speaker 3: A okay, so it's ED trust So it's just capital
Speaker 3: E and then you know as education the abbreviation E
Speaker 3: lowercase D, capital T lowercase r U, s T dot org,
Speaker 3: slash Massachusetts. Want to make sure that you know some
Speaker 3: of these are case sensitive, and I don't want people
Speaker 3: to be frustrated. It's a capital E and a capital T,
Speaker 3: but all one word ed trust E, D T, r U,
Speaker 3: s T, capital E, CAPITALT dot org. Thanks so much, Genesis.
Speaker 3: I I appreciate it. The work you're doing is very important,
Speaker 3: and I hope people appreciate that. And we've got to
Speaker 3: make sure that every kid, whatever their social economic background is,
Speaker 3: gets a good education, as good an education as possible,
Speaker 3: and whether they will end their education with the high
Speaker 3: school diploma or they will go on beyond that, everyone
Speaker 3: has have that opportunity to take advantage of whatever is there,
Speaker 3: because not only do their lives depend on it and
Speaker 3: their futures depend on it, but my social security check
Speaker 3: depends on it. I want to have everybody contributing so
Speaker 3: that all of us can retire and be comfortable. So
Speaker 3: I'm joking when I say that, but I think you
Speaker 3: understand the point I'm trying to make thanks so much.
Speaker 3: I appreciate your time, Genesis.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 6: Have a great night.
Speaker 3: All right, bye bye. All right. When we get back,
Speaker 3: we're going to talk about a development in Massachusetts which
Speaker 3: troubles me, to be honest with you, we picked up
Speaker 3: a story earlier this week out of the State House
Speaker 3: News Service, in which some legislators out there, the more
Speaker 3: progressive legislators, you know, the folks who wanted to get
Speaker 3: rid of capital punishment many years ago, their progeny now
Speaker 3: would like to get rid of life in prison without parole,
Speaker 3: which to me is crazy. We will be talking with
Speaker 3: a lobbyist for this bill. His name is Daniel Delaney
Speaker 3: of the Delaney Policy Group. He knows we're going to disagree,
Speaker 3: probably on the substance of the conversation, but I'd like
Speaker 3: to give him an opportunity to present his arguments. And
Speaker 3: I also want to hear your phone calls and your
Speaker 3: reaction to this idea, because I think it is a
Speaker 3: dangerous and crazy idea. We'll be back to Night's side
Speaker 3: right after this