5 Things: ULTA Beauty Grand Opening, Foxboro Against Diabetes 5K, STEM Teacher of the Year & More

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1. Expect Showers and a Possible Thunderstorm Friday in Foxborough

Today’s weather in Foxborough, according to the National Weather Service based in Taunton, calls for showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Patchy fog before 3 p.m. High near 67. South wind 5 to 8 mph becoming light and variable. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible. Friday night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. Patchy fog after midnight. Low around 48. North wind 7 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80 percent. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

2. ULTA Beauty to Celebrate Grand Opening at Patriot Place Friday

ULTA Beauty, the country’s largest one-stop retailer for beauty products and services, will open the doors to its newest location on Friday at 9 a.m. at Patriot Place. Guests are invited to celebrate all weekend with free gifts, free makeovers, free consultations from experts in cosmetics, skin and hairstyling and entertainment. A complete list of the weekend’s events is listed below.

Additionally, the Patriots Women’s Association will be on hand to help celebrate the ribbon cutting and will shop for items to be donated to the Women’s Lunch Place. The special ribbon-cutting ceremony will commence at 8:45 a.m.

The 10,000-square-foot beauty store in Patriot Place’s South Marketplace will be ULTA Beauty’s eighth Massachusetts location. It will offer more than 20,000 products across a variety of categories, including cosmetics, fragrance, hair care, skincare, bath and body, and salon styling tools. The store will also include a full-service beauty salon.

ULTA Beauty Grand Opening at Patriot Place Schedule

Friday, May 24

8:45 a.m. – Special ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Patriots Women’s Association

9 a.m. - Doors Open

All Day - The first 100 shoppers will receive a gift card worth anywhere from $5 to $100. The first 100 shoppers will receive a complimentary Gift Bag. Enter to win great prizes from Patriot Place tenants including: Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro, Victoria’s Secret, Trader Joe’s, CBS Scene Restaurant & Bar, Pro Shop Collection and more.

5 to 7 p.m. - DJ Dera spins today’s hottest music.

Saturday, May 25

10 a.m. - Doors open

All Day - The first 100 shoppers will receive a gift card worth anywhere from $5 to $100. The first 100 shoppers will receive a complimentary Gift Bag. Enter to win great prizes from Patriot Place tenants including: Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro, Victoria’s Secret, Trader Joe’s, CBS Scene Restaurant & Bar, Pro Shop Collection and more.

Noon to 2 p.m. - AMP Radio will be on site to celebrate the grand opening with music and giveaways.

Sunday, May 26

11 a.m. - Doors open

All Day - The first 100 shoppers will receive a gift card worth anywhere from $5 to $100. The first 100 shoppers will receive a complimentary Gift Bag. Enter to win great prizes from Patriot Place tenants including: Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro, Victoria’s Secret, Trader Joe’s, CBS Scene Restaurant & Bar, Pro Shop Collection and more.

3. Foxboro Against Diabetes 5K Run/Walk Details and Road Closures

Foxboro Against Diabetes is reminding all runners and walkers the 13th Annual Foxboro Against Diabetes will take place Saturday, June 1st with an after race party at Lafayette House at the corner of Washington and Pine streets in Foxborough.

The race will begin at 10 a.m. at the Invensys cafeteria on Neponset Avenue.

There is still time to register online. Checks should be made payable to FAD. 

This event is held in memory of Shannon Hurley and all proceeds are donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. For more information, visit www.FoxboroAgainstDiabetes.com.

Expect Detours on Race Day

Due to the high number of participants and to provide safety to runners and motor vehicles, there will be some detours and road closures during this event.

Chestnut Street - from Payson Road to Mechanic Street - will be closed (eastbound) from 9:50 to 11 a.m. The westbound lane of Chestnut Street, from Mechanic to North streets, will be closed from 9:50 to 10:20 a.m. and Mechanic Street traffic traveling inbound from the center will be detoured east on Chestnut to Cocasset streets, from 9:50 to 10:30 a.m. Baker and Bird streets will also be shutdown from 10 to 10:30 a.m., and Neponset Avenue will be closed to traffic from 9 to 11 a.m.

The Foxborough Police Department will be assisting with these road closures.

If anyone is interested, or has questions or concerns, contact John Hurley at (508) 269-4259.

4. Patriot Place Events

Here’s a look at what’s happening around Patriot Place today:

5 Wits Salutes Heroes: All military personnel with a valid military ID receives free admission and their family and friends will receive $2 off each ticket. Family and friends must accompany military member to receive discount.

11 a.m. - Spring Fever - Creation Station: Join Patriot Place for hands-on art activities that explore a wide range of art media and tools.

9:30 p.m. - Trailer Trash at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill: Come and sing along to all the songs you sing in your car while no one is looking. Put on a pair of boots and a cowboy hat if you like, or just come as you are, and enjoy a night of great music and fun.

5. Kelly Powers Named Massachusetts Teacher of the Year by The Hall at Patriot Place

The Hall at Patriot Place presented by Raytheon announced this week that Kelly Powers, a computer science teacher and department chair at the Advanced Math and Science Academy (AMSA) in Marlborough, has been named The Hall’s Massachusetts STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) Teacher of the Year.

“Together with our partner, Raytheon, we are committed to promoting STEM education throughout our region,” said Hall executive director Bryan Morry. “Kelly has such an obvious and deep commitment to all of her students and also to STEM education as a whole. We chose five finalists who were all outstanding, but the work Kelly is doing to promote STEM education through her engagement with students and colleagues is extraordinary. We are proud to recognize someone who is having profound impact on STEM in Massachusetts.”

Powers is the inaugural winner of the award, which recognizes a Massachusetts teacher who is making significant contributions to STEM education. She will receive a $5,000 grant to be used for STEM education and will be honored at the 2013 Massachusetts STEM Summit held at Gillette Stadium in November and in a pregame ceremony at a 2013 New England Patriots game.

“I am thrilled to be honored by The Hall and the Kraft family,” Powers said. “It’s very exciting to be selected and to have the Krafts not only help to promote STEM education, but also to recognize STEM teachers for the work we all do trying to impact today’s students through engaging activities and initiatives.”

Powers has introduced several new programs to her school, including the GEMS Program (Girls Engaged in Math, Science and Computer Science), which involves high school seniors mentoring middle school girls in mobile app development.

Additionally, she worked with a UMass-Lowell professor to write curriculum in robotics and Java with AR drones, which is now fully in place at AMSA and brought a NASCAR STEM initiative called the Ten80 Racing Challenge to the school.

She also launched the Technovation Challenge program at AMSA. The program is a science-education non-profit that helps engineers, scientists and high-tech professionals bring cutting edge science, technology and engineering to high school girls and underprivileged minority children and their families.

A team of students from AMSA recently won the regional competition and traveled to compete nationally in a competition during which the students developed a mobile phone application.

Powers, who is co-president of the Computer Science Teachers Association and founder of the Boston chapter, has previously been recognized with the National Center for Women in Technology (NCWIT) Aspirations in Computing Educator Award and with the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council (MTLC) Technology Leadership Award.

All full-time, active and certified K-12 classroom STEM teachers in a state-accredited Massachusetts public or private school were eligible for the 2013 STEM Teacher of the Year Award. Nominations were submitted by someone with direct knowledge of the teacher’s impact in his or her school.

A committee comprised of STEM professionals and staff from The Hall, the Patriots and Raytheon selected five finalists who were interviewed individually by the committee before the committee selected the STEM Teacher of the Year. All five finalists will be honored at the 2013 Massachusetts STEM Summit.