Salem honors unified sports state champions and dozens of retiring staff

The Salem School Committee opened its June 22 meeting by honoring four athletes from Salem High School’s Unified Sports team who achieved state championships: Marissa Bel Diaz (Division I shot put), Nyall McManis (long jump and 100m), Mara Lascowski (javelin) and Eric Sheihaj (javelin). The superintendent framed Unified Sports as an inclusion initiative that “breaks down barriers” and praised the coach for creating a culture of empathy and belonging.

The committee also recognized a large cohort of retirees across classrooms, food service, custodial and facilities roles, reading names and years of service and presenting small tokens of appreciation. The administration said the retirees present represented a combined 317 years of service to the district. Several retirees came forward to accept thanks from the committee.

These recognitions were taken out of order early in the meeting so honorees and family members could leave after being recognized.

No formal actions or votes were tied to the recognitions aside from the earlier procedural vote to take these items out of order.