Good morning, Hopkinton!

For those new to the site, this post is a daily update we call Hopkinton Today. We’ll have a quick recap of yesterday’s news, highlights for the coming day (except for now because everything’s been canceled) and maybe a video or two to brighten your day.

Yesterday’s big story was Gov. Charlie Baker extending the school closings through the entire month of April. Take a deep breath, fellow parents. We can get through this.

Today, Hopkinton Health Department director Shaun McAuliffe will appear on HCAM’s new show, “Hangout Hour,” which is on the cable channel (and streamed) at 2 p.m., to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Hopkinton Trails Club canceled a walk planned for the Fruit Street Trail this Saturday, as well as a Duck Pond Trail walk on April 4. The club had a good turnout for its Peloquin Woods walk this past Saturday — where social distancing was practiced — but ultimately determined that it was not appropriate to organize further gatherings at this time. The group encourages people to get out and enjoy the town’s trails on their own. For more information on the Hopkinton Trails Club and its walks, check the group’s website.

Back to the kids. With students stuck at home for the next five-plus weeks (at minimum), it is the goal of Hopkinton Today to help educate children in town and beyond. Here is today’s engineering lesson:

This video is from a couple of years ago but has been making its way around the web this week. It’s a clever Rube Goldberg-like cake server from Joseph’s Machines. Joseph noted that it took three months to create, so I will be encouraging my kids to design something like this while they are home from school for the next who knows how long.

And here is today’s combination history/music lesson:

People were weird in the 1970s. Clothes were weird. Hairstyles were weird. But a lot of the music was good — even some of the disco stuff. Exhibit A: “Shame, Shame, Shame” by Shirley & Company, which became one of the first international disco hits in 1975. Enjoy.