Marblehead anti-discrimination group welcomes new members

MARBLEHEAD – A Marblehead High student and the adult advisor for the high school’s Team Harmony are the new members of the town’s 11-member Task Force Against Discrimination.High school student Ben Katzman is a high honors student who has played football, hockey and lacrosse. He enjoys playing guitar, acts as a mentor to a boy at the Boys & Girls Club in Lynn and has worked with the Marblehead organization Making Ends Meet, donating gifts to less fortunate children during the holiday season.”Even in a town like Marblehead, I have encountered many acts of anti-Semitism,” he wrote in his application letter. “Knowing how bad this makes me feel, I imagine that it is the same way for others who have experienced acts of prejudice – whether because of race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation.””I would like to help assess this problem in Marblehead and work to educate students and other residents.”Loren Weston, a lifelong resident of Marblehead, uses the Anti-Defamation League’s A World of Difference program in her work with Marblehead High’s Team Harmony group and she has already worked with the Task Force.”I would be honored to become a member myself,” she wrote. “Personally I believe that all people should feel that they belong in the community they live in regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or socioeconomic status.”Weston works as a certified professional co-active coach and she serves as a director of the Share-Help-Empower (SHE) Network, which assists women in crisis and transition.Both candidates were recommended by Task Force member John Whipple, a former selectman. Selectman William Woodfin praised the Task Force’s 25 years of service. “When discrimination raises its ugly head, they give it the boot,” he said.Board members also appointed Bruce Krasker to the Zoning Board of Appeals as an alternate member and announced that they are seeking additional members for the Fair Housing Committee.