2018-2019

Class of 2020 Lead Paragraphs:

Kendall Brumley

On April 27th, 2019 I participated and ran the 2019 NatickTHON. Throughout the year with the help of other members I we met everyday for a few weeks in the morning to plan and prepare for the event. My main job was to make sure everything was running smoothly and that all catering places were set. I made calls and got different companies to donate and support our event to donate money to Boston Children's Hospital. During the event I helped to keep everything going and also ran activities during the 6 hour dance marathon. This helped to raise almost $5,000 for Boston Children's Hospital.

Daniel Fritz

For my lead project, along with Pat Evers, I organized a food drive at Johnson Elementary School for the Natick Food Pantry. We worked with Kelsey Hampton from the Food Pantry and the principal of Johnson Elementary, Jordan Hoffman, to complete this project. We created a short PSA video to be shared with every classroom and then dropped off donation boxes in each room. The food drive lasted a couple of weeks and turned out to be very successful. We got hundreds of food items and personal care products that we then brought directly to the food pantry. This project has helped me understand the joy of giving back to the community and the importance of teamwork.

El Martinez

For my lead project, I collected bras, underwear, and menstrual products for female people in Massachusetts through Dignity Matters. They describe themselves as, " a non-profit organization that collects and supplies hygiene products and underwear to [those] who are homeless or otherwise in need, in order to help them stay healthy, regain self-confidence, and live with basic dignity.” I first became aware of this organization through my mother and I’ve assisted in their efforts before but this was my first time leading. I really believe in their cause and had planned to start fundraisers for my remaining years at Natick High. After getting my paperwork filled out; I created posters and hung them up to spread awareness. I submit announcements to the front office and then I brought in collection bins. I proceeded to pick up donations a few times a week and at the end, spent time sorting, bagging, and labeling all the items. I was happy to cap it all off by delivering them to the Dignity Matters Framingham warehouse where I learned more about the process in addition to all the specific places these products go. I hope to complete another fundraiser during my Senior year!

Audrey Klopfer

For my lead project I organized a bake sale with Bellis Min in order to support the society of women engineers. Bellis and I spent time gathering volunteers and food for the sale as well as securing a date and location for the event. On April 12th, the bake sale was held outside the cafeteria from 2:17 - 4:00 and went very smoothly thanks to the 13 people who volunteered to bring food and sell goods. The money we made from the bake sale was donated to the scholarship branch of the Society of Women Engineers. This branch works to give college money to young women in engineering in order to promote a greater diversity in the field. Overall, the sale ran smoothly and went really well.

Zoe Sullivan

For my lead, I ran a clothing drive with Fiona Daly for the Natick Service Council. For this project, we had to make a sign, and advertise beforehand so people were aware of the drive and had time to gather clothes. Throughout the week of May 20, we collected clothes in a box outside the office. The next week, we washed and organized the clothes before delivering to the service council. This benefits the families in Natick in need of new summer clothes and overall this project was a success!

Matthew Cunningham

For my lead project, Anthony Costarelli and I organized for a group of musicians at Natick High School to go and play some jazz for the kids at Memorial Elementary school. We had to meet with Mr. Chisholm, Mr. Harrigan, and send lots of emails to get this done. Originally we wanted to play at more than one elementary school, but the scheduling did not work. However, we have gotten the conversation started for next year, and it seems that the other schools would be interested in scheduling something then. The kids all had a good time (they were dancing out of the room as we played our last song). I'm happy that I could use my talents to entertain and also educate these kids. We talked with them a bit about different instruments and the genre of jazz, and we strongly encouraged them to join the program when they get the chance!

Jared Lista

For my lead project I found myself making a an online auction for the After Prom Party. I started out calling the auction company as they walked me through setting up the auction. I gained items through donations. I then spent time putting the items in the online auction, with pictures that I took and descriptions that I wrote. This took a lot of time, to make sure the descriptions were right and the pictures looked quality so that people will want to bid for them. Towards the time of the auction I wrote letters to be put in the Newsletter so that people were aware of the auction and would want to bid and help support the cause of the After Prom Party. After the auction, I sought out who got won what items and sorted it for people to pick them up.

Samuel Katzman

Last year I participated as a candidate in the Students of the Year program (SOY), a ten week fundraising campaign through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). For my lead project this year, I created the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Fundraising Club at Natick High School and recruited members. I encouraged the club to get involved with LLS and found three students, Shawn Thornhill, Adam Marcus, and Garrett Barth, who co-led a SOY fundraising campaign of their own. I mentored these students and spoke to the parents of other SOY candidates at the candidate training, sharing with them my experience with SOY. I coached team Redhawks for a Cure, and led frequent club meetings to spread the mission of LLS and encourage club members to contribute to our fundraising efforts. After eight weeks, team Redhawks for a Cure raised nearly $20,000. I am very proud of team Redhawks for a Cure for their devotion to their fundraising and their commitment to the mission of LLS: curing leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improving the quality of life of patients and their families.

Alanna Mariano

My project was for the benefit of families that cannot afford clothes for their newborns in the New Bedford area of Massachusetts. The clothes were brought to St. Luke’s hospital in May. With the help of my grandmother, who was a midwife, we contacted her friend who works at the hospital, where we were to bring the donated clothes to. We asked neighbors, family, and friends for any donations of newborn clothes that they would like to make to the hospital. After we collected the donations, we took them to the hospital. The feeling of reward lifted me as we left the hospital, knowing we had helped many families and children.

Ryan Cassidy

For my lead project, Caroline O'Connell and I hosted a youth Lacrosse clinic for boys and girls older than ten years old. The clinic took place Thursday, April 18th at the high school turf field. The clinic was run by multiple members of the Varsity lacrosse teams which made it very beneficial for the youth players. Before the clinic was hosted, Caroline and I created a registration form that was sent to all of the Natick youth lacrosse families. In addition to this, we coordinated with the athletic directors to reserve field time. Overall the project was very successful and we were able to donate food to the Natick Service Council.

Gabrielle Lam

For my lead project, I decided to run a food drive for A Place to Turn at my father’s restaurant, Shino, in Easton. I received fewer donations than expected; when I went to A Place to Turn, they weighed the donations to be about 63 pounds. Even though there were not many donations, the food drive was still successful because people in need received something that they might not have been able to afford. While organizing the food drive, I sent out emails to customers to ask for help and posted on social media as well. A Place to Turn really appreciated the donations. I had people helping me transport the donations from my father’s restaurant to A Place to Turn. Overall, the food drive was successful because I was able to give back to my community.

Anthony Costarelli

For my lead, Matthew Cunningham and I co-lead a jazz ensemble in playing for the Memorial elementary school. For several months, Matthew and I rehearsed with our combo several times each week to improve our skills as jazz musicians to reach a presentable level -- a presentable level being a level that even young kids (who are not familiar with the complexity of jazz music) could enjoy. Each week we practiced things such as sight reading, improvisation, communication, arranging, etc. The culmination of all of our work was a performance at the Memorial elementary school. However, our performance was not solely a music performance. Periodically we stopped and interacted with our audience, teaching them about what jazz itself is and additionally which instruments all the band members played. Our performance went well and we all had fun with it. There is, however, much we could improve upon. Firstly, we should have contacted the other Natick schools earlier -- we didn't realize how difficult it was for these schools to schedule extracurricular activities outside of their regular schedule, and so we were lucky to end up getting a date to perform during this school year. Also, we would have had more success if we catered our presentation about jazz music to younger audiences. It's not like we went into something deep and heavy on music theory, but even what we did was apparently too advanced. It was supposed to be that after our second song, I would go up and start talking to the children about jazz. This started off well; the kids were able to identify the genre that we were playing. However, when the question, "Does anyone know anything about jazz?" came up, this was apparently too much. About 5 kids in a row decided they wanted to talk about how they do jazz dance on Thursday evenings at a dance studio. It was very comedic in the moment because literally every kid I called on decided to talk about jazz dance despite my saying every time that that was different. Eventually, my band-mate Carol Compton came in and saved me by taking the mic and changing the subject slightly to just music in general. We knew we were dealing with a young audience, but we were just not quite aware of their mental capacities. Overall, it was successful. The kids enjoyed the music and the teachers and Memorial administration were very happy that we came. In fact, we're already working on setting up another gig with an elementary school lined because it was so popular.

Kathryn Riley

For my lead project, I helped Mrs. Fleming fold, label, and organize the t-shirts for the Special Olympics volunteers. Mrs. Fleming expressed that she may need help folding all of the t-shirts because it takes her a lot of time every year, so I emailed the National Honor Society members to see if anyone would be interested in helping folding t-shirts in the ACCESS classroom during block seven on Tuesday, May 28. I only found one other volunteer, but we were able to fold, label, and sort all of the t-shirts within block seven. I think that this project saved Mrs. Fleming a lot of time, which was especially helpful to her because she is so busy with all the other wonderful things she is doing to prepare for Special Olympics!

Felix Ferrucci

My lead project for Natick's National Honor Society I decided to organize a clean up on a park closely located to my house. Shaw Park has been an important part of land in South Natick for many years. As a group, we raked all the leaves, planted new flowers, and picked up any trash that was lingering around. This project helped show me that starting up your own community service project can bring a lot of joy to someone because you know you are helping the citizens of the town. This project was a success and Shaw Park has regained its beautiful home.

Luke Acton

For my lead, I did a food drive for the Natick Service Council with Alice Coudray. For the project, we promoted the drive and encouraged students at Natick High to donate through the use of emails as well as physical advertisements such as posters. With a box set up in front of the main office, Alice and I were able to acquire food items and other donations for NSC over the course of the week of 5/24. At the end of the week, the donations were then brought over to the Natick Service Council, where they would be used for those in need. Overall, I believe that our drive went well, as we were able to help those in need and positively benefit the community.

Stephanie McAuliffe

For my lead project I collected clothing for the non - profit Tailored for Success. This charity collects used men and women’s business clothing and lends them to those who are looking to get a jump start in there career whether that is through interviews or their first month of work. I started the drive at my dad’s office and also extended the drive to my family and friends. We collected a huge amount of clothing. The drive was also very meaningful, not only for those receiving the clothing, but also for those who were donating. Many of those who donated, donated the clothing of family who had recently passed away. Giving these clothes another meaning was their goal as they were looking for a new purpose for this clothing.

Victoria Norchi

I was a coach for a youth lacrosse team with Kayleigh Hacker throughout the spring season. We attended practices on Mondays and Tuesday, as well as games on Sunday's. We designed practice plans for practices and led the girls through various drills. We were able to connect with the players throughout our time coaching them, developing their lacrosse skills and confidence. Also, we extended the opportunity to volunteer with other teams to other varsity players. It was a great experience to pass on something I love to young girls in my community.

Max Weinhaus

I found my lead project through one of the organizers of the MetroWest chess club who was looking for a leader for the elementary school chess club. I reached out to him and the leader of ASAP at Memorial Elementary School. Starting from the first week in November, every Thursday afternoon, I taught chess after school at Memorial. My preparation for each week consisted of creating lesson plans and chess puzzles and activities. I developed my lesson plans from records of my old games and tactics from chess masters in order to create themes of the week. Throughout the process of my project, I connected with each student, giving him/her an opportunity to find his/her strengths, and I gave each student the opportunity to have a mentor. Every week, they benefited from having a consistent place where they could learn and play chess, connect with friends, and connect with a mentor. I did not recruit any people to help me. Next year, if I decide to return to this project, I may consider recruiting a co-leader as some weeks I had up 16 students. During these weeks, it was very hard to give individual attention to each student and give them the individual support and connection that I wanted to provide. Overall, I really enjoyed my lead project and the opportunity to connect with the students and I hope I gave them the same positive experience with chess that I had in my early childhood. I would like to make a shout out to the ASAP program and the amazing staff that I collaborated with in developing this program. They were amazing and I had tons of fun sharing this experience with them.

Brooke Dziadul

For my lead I teamed up with Rachel Deng to do a "wish-list item drive" for an organization named DOVE (DOmestic Violence Ended). The items will go to domestic violence shelters. The drive was completed outside of Donelan's supermarket in Wayland and it was extremely successful! We also received $280 in donations which was then used to buy additional items. Rachel and I were very happy to have had such success with this project.

Flora Bilis-Gruson

I did my lead project at the Johnson Elementary School on May 17th. For this project, my partner, Brooke Perault, and I baked home goods, such as cookies, brownies, rice crispy treats, etc. The goal of this drive was to raise enough money so that Wally The Green Monster, the official mascot for the Boston Red Sox can come to the Katie V 5K run. This drive was very successful and even though it was raining, people were very excited by the idea of seeing Wally at the 5K!

Carol Compton

For my lead, I collected a food donation for A Place To Turn. Albeit small, the donation contains many nutritious items that will hopefully help supplement meals for families in need over the summer when there isn’t school lunches. There are also a few “fun” items like cake and soup that are different than the normal items donated to food pantries. I encountered a bit of an issue with this project. Advertising was extremely hard for me, but I still managed to get a small collection, and this project taught me a lot about helping the local community out.

Adwaid Prakash

For my lead project, I ran a bake sale that consisted of selling Indian baked/fried goods. I ran this bake sale at a meeting of a North American Indian organization, which ran for ~5 hours on both May 25th and May 26th. The bake sale included me making banana fry’s, as well as set up a table with samosas and egg/veggie puffs. The table was set up on both days, and was popular at the meeting. If anything could have gone better, it would have been to choose a larger venue since people are interesting in helping towards this cause. I raised a grand total of $105 over a span of 10 hours by myself, with the money allocated towards the victims of the recent South Indian floods/hurricanes. Many people were struggling during these floods, and many people are still currently in a bad spot, since many people have lost their homes, businesses and schools. I decided to allocate the money I raised from this bake sale for this cause, because I have had close family impact by these floods, and I know how much people can benefit from this money, no matter the amount. I have already raised more money for this cause in the past, and adding on to these funds to help out all of the families and businesses is a very humbling experience, and has taught me about how small activities like running bake sales can cause a huge impact. Overall, this bake sale was a success, and I am happy with how it ran and how the money from this bake sale will be helping out many.

Madeline Verity

We did the middle school Model UN conference on Saturday, May 18. It took 8 hours on the day and 10 hours of preparation. We visited both middle schools, filmed an informational video, maintained contact with teachers from both middle schools, wrote a background guide, and had several planning meetings. Our project introduced the eighth graders to Natick High School - we gave them a tour. It also introduced them to the globally oriented social studies curriculum at Natick High School. Keith, Alicia, Jacob and I worked together on this project. Overall, we had a great time and I think the eighth graders gained a fun introductory Model UN experience and more comfort in the high school.

Reyn Ricafort

For my lead project, Lola Basiliere and I hosted a clothing drive at NHS, with all of the donations going to the Big Brother and Big Sister Foundation. The drive went from Tuesday, May 14 to Thursday, May 24, with preparation for the drive beginning on Monday, May 6. Lola was tasked with the overall advertisement of our drive, and I communicated with the organization to secure a pickup date for our donations. There was a donation box outside of the office, as well as a couple paper bags for the clothing drive. After the drive, Lola and I sorted through the clothes and made sure they followed the donation guidelines. We then folded each one, and arranged them based on their type. The clothes were received by the organization on Wednesday, May 29. Essentially, our clothing drive helps raise money for the Big Brother and Big Sister Foundation, which utilizes the money to fund their mentorship program. The mentorship program partners struggling children in the greater Boston area with adults who help them complete their education as well as become contributing members of their communities. Lola and I had a great time with this project, as it was a simple task at hand, but with a very big impact. We were able to complete the whole project ourselves, but are thankful for the donations of other students. We would love to partner up again with the Big Brother and Big Sister Foundation in the future.

John Donovan IV

For my lead project, I helped organize a trash cleanup at Pegan Cove Park on Thursday, May 30th. This area is known for significant litter and waste, so I decided a group effort would be most effective. In order to obtain the necessary tools for the cleanup, I contacted Keep Natick Beautiful Inc. and was supplied with pick up tools and loppers. After organizing various neighborhood volunteers, I set in place a plan of action, mainly focused on the park's shoreline. After five hours of work, we were able to remove almost all of the accumulated waste from the shores of Lake Cochituate in Pegan Cove. Although the work was taxing and tedious, the cleanup certainly improved the Pegan Cove trails for hikers and the surrounding community.

Caroline Fleming

For my lead, I was the captain of a NatickThon team. This was a fundraiser on April 27th for Boston Children's Hospital. The event raised more than 6,000 dollars for the hospital. Dance marathons take place around the US to unite high schools and colleges. Students who participate in the event gain leadership and teamwork while raising awareness for their local Children's Miracle Network Hospital, NatickThon's was specific to Boston Children's. My responsibilities of being a team captain included attending meetings leading up to the event and relaying that information to my team, raising as much money as possible, organizing a team, and encouraging them to do the same. During the 6 hour event, we are on our feet the whole time participating in games, dancing, revealing the amount of money we have raised, and most importantly, meeting and listening to the stories of miracle families.

Clay Napurano

For my lead project, I decided to do something that would actually make a visible change in the community. Every morning, I walk from the lot, and see all the trash on the side of the road. Every afternoon, I eat lunch outside the cafeteria and see all the trash under and around the benches and tables. So for my lead project, I organized and carried out a trash cleanup project that would take place outside of the high school. I contacted the Head of Facilities in Natick, Kevin Coxall, and met with him and another custodian in the custodial offices to discuss the cleanup, and they were both happy for the help. The project was intended to clean up areas around the high school such as the area outside the cafeteria, the path near dug pond and the baseball field, and the sidewalk from the junior and senior lots to the high school. I reached out to my peers, and was able to amass about 10 volunteers that worked for 2 hours directly after school on Wednesday, May 29th to clean up as much trash as possible. We separated trash and recycling, and much of the trash that we collected, especially on the path, had clearly been there for a very long time. We even discovered a hypodermic needle on the path; I promptly called up Coxall who helped by getting a custodian to safely pick up and dispose of the hazard. Overall, the project was a success, and I hope that the environment near the high school is cleaner, the custodians have less work to do, and the students and faculty are happy to see that the school is cleaner.

John Whelan

For my lead project, I organized and participated in a trash pickup in the woods across from the high school track. I got together a group of friends and some supplies, and we were able to fill multiple bags of trash. This took place on Saturday, May 25. We walked along all the trails and picked up all of the litter we saw. There were a lot of plastic bottles, food wrappers, plastic cups, cans, and nip bottles. It was a long pickup, but it was worth it to clean up the woods so that walkers don’t have to see litter all around. After the pickup, I disposed of the bags properly and now there is significantly less litter in the woods. It felt good to help the environment and clean up Natick a bit more.

Brenna McDonald

We did our project between April 15th and April 20th, working both from home and eventually at Boston Medical Center in the pediatric emergency department. Our goal was to arrange Easter baskets for people who otherwise would not be able to afford them and distribute them to these people while at the hospital. We purchased things to put into the Easter baskets like chocolates, small bunny stuffed animals, and small gift items such as nail polish, lip, balm, and baseball cards. We also worked on writing cards for the patients both for Easter and general cards to hopefully put them at ease with the scary experience of having to go to the hospital. The work we did had an impact on underprivileged people who go to Boston Medical Center and can not afford traditional Easter baskets or gifts. These people seemed extremely appreciative of what we provided them with which they would not have had access to otherwise, as we heard through people present during the delivery process. We arranged it such that despite the fact that we would not be there on Easter to deliver them, there were designated volunteers who would be present to deliver them and get them to the patients.

Logan Pfahler

For my lead project, I created a website for the nonprofit organization Natick Sons of Italy. Sons of Italy is a group based on supporting Italian heritage but works to improve the lives of everyone in the community. They run many charity events and hold pasta nights to benefit the community. Consistently meeting with the president of the organization, I worked with SOI to build a site to help promote what they are about and advertise their upcoming events. I also enlisted the help of some of my friends who have experience in web design to create side pages from templates to get multiple eyes on the project and to manage the work. The project started in January and finished in late May, with the site being published shortly.

Charlotte Verity

My lead project was May 6, 2019 at the Natick High School tennis courts, and I co-led with Rachel Schultz. This was a fundraiser for Sportsmen’s Tennis and Enrichment Center in Dorchester, which provides free tennis lessons for the youth of Boston. To plan the project, we had to conduct a planning session, create a poster and buy concessions to sell. On May 6 at 2:30 pm, we set up the table and played tennis, selling concessions in the process and raising money. The fundraiser ended at about 7:30 pm when all matches had finished. This project hopefully had an impact on the kids that attend Sportsmen’s Tennis free Friday night sessions because it allows the center to improve their program. To help us conduct this fundraiser, our teammates from lower grades volunteered to sit at the table and answer any questions about the fundraiser. Overall, we were able to make a significant donation to Sportsmen’s Tennis Center from the funds collected during our project.

Jacob Moldover

My lead project was a Model UN conference for middle schoolers. The conference was held on a Saturday in the library of the high school. This was a four-person lead project, and my primary role was putting materials together for the conference. This included working on information materials to teach the middle schoolers how to do Model UN, along with background guides for the topic of debate. This conference was a great learning experience for the middle schoolers. Model UN teaches important public speaking and negotiation skills, and hopefully the middle schoolers will continue on to join the high school club!

Tyler Jackowitz

For my lead project, I volunteered at Family Promise in Natick with Bailey Elder. Family Promise is an organization that houses homeless families in Natick in various churches in the metrowest area. During my lead, I helped volunteer at churches in Natick making and serving food to the guests who were attending for the week. We interacted with guests and were able to form a bond with the people who were staying with family promise for the week. It was a very rewarding experience getting to know lots of people who are no different from me. I was able to make friendships with kids who were guests even if we came from different backgrounds. We had a lot in common and it was clear that they valued our time together as much as I did. I am very lucky to have organized this lead project and I intend to continue my service with Family Promise in years to come.

Lola Basiliere

For my lead project, Reyn Ricafort and I ran a clothing drive at NHS and donated all of the proceeds to the Big Brother Big Sister Foundation. We began to plan our lead project on Monday, May 6th, and were in contact with the foundation to plan when the best time for them would be for us to have our drive and then have them pick up the delivery. The drive ran from Tuesday, May 14th to Thursday, May 23rd, and the box of clothes was picked up from the foundation on Wednesday, May 29th. We kept a donation box and paper bags across from the main office for the duration of the clothing drive. After the drive, we sorted through all of the clothes to make sure that they were all clean and gently used, and folded them based on what type of clothing they were into new paper bags. We ended up collecting several sweatshirts, tee shirts, shorts, pants, and scarves totaling up to 40 donations! We were both very pleased with how the project went, and hope to do another drive or partnership with the Big Brother Big Sister Foundation in the future!

Aidan Erickson-Mullane

For my lead paragraph this year, I orchestrated a food and can drive for the Natick Service Council. I worked with Patrick Frey to send out emails and put a labeled bucket outside the main office. This was through the week of May 13th to May 17th. We only collected food for a week because other groups wanted to do the same thing and we couldn't leave our box out. Our work impacted those who are not as privileged as us because we provided quality food to an organization that helps distribute food to those in need. We could have recruited Mr. Harrigan so he could make an announcement over the intercom so more people could know about our food drive. Overall, it was a successful food drive, collecting many cans and boxed foods to help those in need.

Ipsa Das

For my Lead Project, Camilla Samuel and I planned and hosted a student run art show at the Bacon Free Library in order to raise money for art supplies for the Boys and Girls Club. Our goal was to stress the importance of art education at the elementary level and in order to do so, we wanted to showcase the great array of art forms that our students have to offer. Viewers that came to our event were asked for monetary donations. From the money that we raised, we went out and bought art supplies that will be easy to use at the elementary level. We plan on taking them to the Boys and Girls club soon in order to increase youth participation in art. Through this process, I have learned the many parts that go into hosting a non profit even and have gained increased communication skills.

Brooke Perault

On May 17, I organized a bake sale near Johnson Elementary School to raise money to bring Red Sox Wally to the Katie V 5k next fall. Days before the bake sale, I spent multiple hours baking brownies, rice crispy treats, cookies and more. We were able to raise over $200 that day. The only thinking we could have done better was let Johnson families know more in advance than just 2 days before. Overall with the baking and the actual bake sale, I spent a total of 8 hours.

Delaney Ross

For my lead project, I coached a first-grade girl's intramural team with Zach Henderson. Growing up, I played in the Natick Soccer Club and thought that coaching would be a good opportunity to give back. Our season started in April and ends on June 8th. Practices took place every Wednesday at Lilja Elementary School and games took place every Saturday at Ben Hem Elementary School. As a coach, I was responsible for going to coaches meetings, emailing parents, planning practices, running practices, and coaching games. Throughout the year, the girls showed great improvement. During practices, we primarily focused on the fundamentals of soccer and by the end of the season, the girls showed that they mastered the basic skills of soccer such as passing, shooting, and the rules of the game. This experience allowed me to build relationships with younger players in the program and to have a lot of fun doing something that I love. I plan on coaching again in the future.

Samuel Hinrichs

For our lead project, Ben Kaplan and I organized a benefit concert to fundraise for the Natick Service Council. The concert, aptly named Concert on Common Street, was held at the Common Street Spiritual Center on the evening of May 10th. After meeting with the building owner, Ben and I promoted the concert on social media and amongst friends.The benefit concert highlighted different musical groups from NHS, including the a cappella groups Scalestorm and Seven’s Not Enough, as well as the student band Royal Flush. A benefit concert was the perfect service project for Ben and I, who are both passionate about music and our town. Overall, the concert was a huge success, with over 80 people in attendance. After just a 2 hour concert, $457 was raised for Natick Service Council. The staff at Natick Service Council were extremely grateful for the monetary support, which allowed them to buy the necessary supplies to aid the people of Natick.

Mackenzie Burgoyne

For my lead, I organized and led an obstacle course at Memorial Elementary School for the elementary students on May 10th. I chose to do an obstacle course as my lead because I knew it would be a fun and competitive environment for the kids where they would benefit by having fun and being able to exercise and release the built up energy

from sitting in school all day. In my preparation for the obstacle course I reached out to friends and classmates looking for volunteers to help, and I reached out to BOKS and staff at Memorial in order to get the appropriate waiver forms and equipment for the obstacle course. On May 10th for 2 hours I ran the obstacle course for about 38

kids with the help of my volunteers. It consisted of setting up, checking in the kids, explaining the course, running the course, cleaning up the equipment and checking kids out with their guardian. The entire project I believe was a great experience and a success because it ran smoothly and all of the kids had a lot of fun doing the course. I loved doing it because it put smiles on their faces after a long week of school and the following week I was told that the kids kept asking when they would get to do the obstacle course again.

Alexander Cohen

For my lead project, Lucas Singer and I volunteered at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston for the Mental Health Awareness Month Open House as co-leaders. This open house took place on Wednesday May 29, 2019 from 9:00AM-3:00PM. This annual event is a way for patients, who deal mental health illnesses, to be educated on certain services that will help their future. Lucas and I ran the main table, that checked clients in, provided them with guidelines for the event, and answered any questions or concerns they may have had. In order to make the day lively for the patients, they were given a sheet of paper and for every stamp they got at each table, they would receive a raffle ticket. Those raffle tickets were put towards a variety of prizes such as wireless headphones and gift cards. Throughout the open house, there were many activities being held. One activity I ran was a practice of meditation called Tai-Chi. The goal of this practice is to get the patients’ minds off of negativity and challenges, and allow them to focus on positive things in life and reduce stress hormones. This event is held for the clients and we had to ensure they were enjoying their time. It was very beneficial to be at the event because it gave me a perspective on people who deal with mental health illnesses every day. I wish this event was more than once a year, and I would love to volunteer again next year.

Lucas Singer

For my lead project, Alex Cohen and I volunteered to be co-leaders at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center for their Mental Health Awareness Month open house. The project was on May 29th from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. I was in charge of a table during the event. I coordinated many volunteers to make sure that patients and visitors would know the rules of the event. The goal for the patients was to go around the meeting room and collect stamps from different tables that were advocating for ways to help mental health. In the end, the patients could trade their stamps in for raffle tickets to win different prizes. There were many providers that came to the open house and I made sure they knew where their tables were and answered all their questions. There were different activities going on throughout the event and Alex and I lead an activity called Tai Chi. We practiced different movements that could benefit the body with less stress. We were organizing the sign-ups for screening slots (for there teeth) and then notifying people when it was their turn. We aslo handed out bags of toothbrushes and toothpaste to all of the event participants. We wanted to make sure all of the patients were having a fun time. Overall, the project went very well and I think the event impacted the patients in a positive way. This project helped me improve my organizational and communication skills. I really enjoyed this experience and I hope to do it again next year!

Camilla Samuel

Ipsa Das and I organized and coordinated a benefit student art show at the Bacon Free Library for our lead project. The reception took place on May 18th and the art remained on display for a week. During that week, we collected monetary donations that we used to purchase art supplies for the after school program at a local Boys and Girls Club. Before the event, we were responsible for finding a venue, organizing a date and time, creating flyers, contacting the school arts department to borrow easels for display, and finding student volunteers to lend us art for the show and help with setup and cleanup. I also contributed a few pieces of my own art that were on display at the library. The librarian was happy to tell us that visitors were impressed by the artwork, so the event seemed to be a success. Overall, I am pleased with how the art show turned out and how I was able to positively impact the Boys and Girls Club by providing the children with greater artistic opportunities. The project led me to realize how lucky we are to have access to art education in school.

Michael Gerovitch

For my lead project, on Saturday, May 18th, I recruited a friend to help pick up trash at Coolidge Hill, Park, and Woods. With gloves and trash bags, we walked around the area collecting various forms of litter including plastic and metal bottles, newspapers, and plastic bags. The cleanup was a success– we ended up collecting a total of three full trash bags in the 7 hours that we walked around. We contributed to the community by making the parks cleaner for the local residents; we rid the parks of plastics and metals that would not naturally decompose and were harmful to the natural habitats of local wildlife. This project was approved by Jeremy Marsette, head of the Natick Public Works department; I communicated with the department via email as well as in person.

Patrick Evers

I ran a food drive at Johnson Elementary school this month to raise food for the Natick Food Pantry. I worked with Kelsey Hampton at the Food Pantry and Jordan Hoffman who is the principal at Johnson Elementary to make the food drive work. I put a donation box outside of all the classrooms there and made a video with my friends Daniel Fritz to advertise the food drive. This video was shown to everyone at the school and got the food drive started. We ended up getting a lot of donations and we are going to donate all the food to the Natick Food Pantry at the end of May. From doing this I have learned the importance of organization and working with others to accomplish a goal.

Adham Abji

For our lead project, Justin Linden and I organized a fundraiser at Chipotle to support the American Cancer Society. The fundraiser was on May 21st, and the American Cancer Society received 33% of the sales that were made from 5-9. In the weeks leading up to the event, we shared flyers and spread the word about it. This led to $600 in total sales, so $200 was raised for the American Cancer Society. This was a great experience and an awesome way to raise money for a great cause.

Joseph Colman

For my lead project, I organized a collection of gently used baseball gear/equipment. I collected baseball equipment from May 21st to May 28th, from families around Natick who were able and willing to donate. All donations that I received were sent to the Pitch in For Baseball Organization. Pitch in for Baseball is an organization that collects gently used baseball equipment and provides boys and girls in America with the gear that they need to play baseball. I learned about the Pitch in for Baseball Organization from a friends mom. who has collected gear for the organization in the past. When I heard about this idea I immediately knew it would be perfect for me, because of my lifelong love for baseball. I visited the website and set up my collection instantly. I sent out an email to all the baseball parents that I knew and received many donations. This project was very important to me because I don't just love baseball, but I also love helping people in need, and that is exactly what I did with this project.

Madison Dunn

For my lead project, I co-led a fundraiser with Isabelle Dunn for Sereda Danceworks by running a flower and congratulation card sale. Leading up, Isabelle and I sent out an email looking for volunteers to assist on the days of the project. We also worked with the director of the studio to determine how we would obtain the flowers and materials to make the cards for the project. On May 10th, we made bouquets of flowers for 3 hours during Sereda Danceworks’ recital dress rehearsal. Our volunteers left after around 3 hours. We then stayed for a few more hours to clean up and set up for the sale the next day. On May 11th, we had volunteers help us sell the bouquets and congratulations cards to friends and family. Our volunteers stayed for 3 hours and after Isabelle and I stayed to clean up. Overall, the project was very successful as we were able to raise money for the studio, but also help families by giving a convenient way to purchase flowers and cards.

Delaney Jones

This project was done at the Whitney Place nursing home off of route 9. In order to do this project, I had to build a repertoire to perform, communicate with multiple potential site liaisons, put together a group of singers to perform, rehearse, and then perform at the nursing home. Our work impacted the residents at the nursing home. Many of them have little to no opportunity to leave the home to experience a performance such as ours, and for many of them it was a fun surprise that really made their week. People that helped me are named Jordan Mclaughlin, Sophia Gatto, Sadie Vaughn, and Liz Reichman. This experience was so amazing for all of us performers because we got to see how we can improve the lives of others with one of our passions, music.

Alice Coudray

For my lead project, I co-led a donation drive at school for the Natick Service Council. The NSC relies on donations such as food and toiletries to support the residents in Natick they help, and therefore Luke Acton and I wanted to help them out. They typically receive many donations throughout the holidays, but donations steadily decrease further along in the year. So, we made many posters and digital advertisements for our drive that would run for four days. After the drive, we brought the donations to the NSC building. We are very grateful for all of those who contributed.

Caroline O'Connell

For my lead project, I ran a lacrosse clinic with Ryan Cassidy to help youth players in the community improve their skills. The clinic took place on April 18 at the turf with current players from both the girls and boys varsity teams. I asked that players bring a canned food item to donate them to the Natick Food Pantry. My roll in the project was contacting current coaches in the youth program, booking turf time, and planning the drills for the girls participating in the clinic. The youth players enjoyed playing with myself and my teammates at the clinic. The clinic was able to collect 5 grocery bags of canned goods, which was appreciated by the Natick Food pantry.

Hayden Lee

My lead project this year was helping to conduct the cakewalk for Natick days. To prepare for the day I had gone to the informational Natick Day meeting and learned about what to expect during the day of the event as well as the process of getting ready for the event. I then got the food permit for the cake walk and filled it out with the help of Ms.Camiel and Ms.Conroy. I am doing this project with Justin and Jared Lista and they are taking over Senior year.

Nicholas Prunty

For my lead project, I organized group of students on Saturday April, 6th; to come together to help me run the Kids Workshop at the Home Depot in Natick. The Kids Workshop is an event in which families can gather to build and paint a variety of wooden project kits, for free! My responsibilities as a leader during this project were emailing other volunteers, making sure all volunteers came with appropriate materials (such as paint, tools, aprons, etc.), arriving early to set up, staying later to break things down, helping/encouraging kids throughout their time there, and making sure every kid/parent was having a good time. Since this event is free to all, thanks to Home Depot, myself and all the volunteers were able to make a positive impact on local families by providing them with a fun day to spend with each other; as well as providing them with a positive environment for their children to learn and play. At the end of the day we were able to provide over 200 families with the wooden project kits, and all we wanted in return was for them to enjoy their days. Overall this was a great experience because we were able to hear many stories, and see many families who aren’t as fortunate, have a good time without the stress of a price coming with it.

Joseph Colasacco

For my lead project, I coached a 2nd grade intramural soccer team with Zach Breton. I got the idea of coaching from my friends Dad. He reached out to me to because they needed one more coach in the 2nd grade age group. I thought this was a great idea for a lead project because it is unique and involves my favorite sport. The season started in April and ends on June 15th. Practices were on Monday at Memorial Elementary School and games were on Saturday mornings at Wilson Middle School. I had to schedule, prepare and plan out all practices and games. At practice we ran through different drills and strategies to help them play well as a unit in games. Since we are high school students the children seemed to be more comfortable with us. Playing comfortably allows athletes to become better because they are not nervous to try new things. I believe we have coached them very well throughout the season which has lead to many of them improving. Coaching these boys was a great way for me to give back to the program that I grew up in. This was such a fun project and I will most likely be doing it again next year.

Mario DeLuca

For my lead project, I organized the shipment and fundraising of 38 boxes of 3000 books that Natick High School is donating to the Starfish School in The Gambia, Africa. I started by visiting various shipping companies to find the best price and method for shipping the books. After visiting a few places, I ended up working with the UPS store in Natick to organize a freight shipment of the books on a pallet to The Gambia. Once we got the shipping process sorted, I began working with The Change The World Club to start fundraising. We had tables at various events at the high school to collect donations. Some of the events included step up night, Matilda, the POG community night, and the choir concert. Donors had the option to sign a box for $1, or sponsor an entire box for $100. We were able to raise over $1,000, but are still short of our $3,000 goal. We will continue to work towards our goal with additional fundraisers and will be able to ship the books once we have raised enough money.

Cara McDonald

This project was done before and on Easter at Boston Medical Center in the pediatric emergency department. Throughout this process, we gathered materials for making Easter baskets and festive treats. This had an impact on patients and their family and made their stay a bit more tolerable. We recruited people around the department and other volunteers in the hospital to donate items and assemble the baskets. Other volunteers also helped us deliver the baskets. This was a fun and rewarding project that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Keith Richards

For my lead project I organized a Model United Nations Conference for Middle School students from Wilson and Kennedy. Model UN is an educational simulation in which students can learn about diplomacy, international relations, and the United Nations. For this conference students represented countries in a committee designed to debate and solve problems within the South China Sea. Planning for this conference was incredibly extensive, hence why it was a 4 person lead project. Advertising was critically important and we created several flyers and ads. In addition we went to both Wilson and Kennedy after school to talk to history teachers about Mode UN and the upcoming opportunity. Realizing that students were not familiar with procedure for Model UN we also created an informational video about how MUN works and created a background guide to assist with research. The conference was a success and many of the students who attended expressed how much fun they had and they through simulation they became greater and more aware global citizens.

Shayna Delatano

For my lead project, Marina Lyon and I decided to run a book drive in our neighborhood to collect books for Aspire Health Alliance, an organization which helps children, teens, and adults with developmental disabilities. We collected books throughout the month of May and in total, we collected over 500 books! Through the process of our project, we first had to contact people in our neighborhood to see who would be willing to donate books. I took charge of picking up the books and sorting them once we collected all of them. We had volunteers drive the books to the building and help put them on the shelf and in storage. I think this project made a huge impact for the organization because we collected enough books to fill their bookshelf for months, which can be taken for free by anyone who may not usually have access to books. Overall, I'm glad I got to run this book collection and I think this will continue to help the organization for months to come

Marina Lyon

For my lead project, Shayna Deltano and I organized and carried out a book drive. The book drive lasted throughout the month of May. We organized the book drive in our neighbourhood and we had books dropped off at our houses and we picked books up from some houses. The books went to Aspire Health Alliances. We ended up collecting about 500 books. I was in charge organizing the volunteers and the logistics. I also picked up books and sorted them. I believe this made an impact on Aspire Health Alliance because there are many people that go there that cannot buy books themselves, so it gives them the opportunity to read. I am happy I go to health our this organization.

Katherine Kelly

On May 27, Stella Tavilla and I held a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. The Needham Soccer Club holds a tournament every Memorial Day Weekend so we decided to have our fundraiser their in hopes of receiving donations. With two family members recently being diagnosed with cancer, and just losing a relative to cancer last year, the American Cancer Society is a cause that I really want to support. In order to create our fundraiser, we had a couple classmates donate food and we created posters, donation bins, and supplies. We set up our table for about 3 hours and received quite a few donations. Throughout our time there, one woman donated and then she came back to tell us that her daughter was in remission from cancer for about five years. Her daughter is now a college student but she was previously a soccer player. Cancer is a very real and common illness that impacts so many individuals. Hearing her story reminded me the importance of fundraising for the American Cancer Society because they not only help cancer patients themselves, but also their families and friends that experience the suffering of cancer.

Maye Sohboff

For my lead project, I put together a small ensemble concert. It took place in the High School Auditorium on May 6th at 7:00 pm. In order to prepare for this, I first had to contact Ms. Guagenty in the front office to book a time to use the auditorium. I then contacted all of the student-run ensembles to see if they were interested in performing. The part of this project that took the most amount of time was putting together 130 programs. I had to figure out the order of the ensembles, what they each were playing and the composer/arrangers of each piece, who was in each group, put the information on the correct page in the correct order, and staple them. I also decorated the auditorium with lights. Altogether, this project took me 7 hours. I am really glad I was able to do this as my project because it gave me an experience of running a concert, which will be helpful later on when I become a band director.

Stephen Wong

For my lead project, I wanted to do something that had meaning for me. I finally

decided to collect used instruments, music and accessories. I know in my house there is a lot of music, cases, and accessories we no longer use. I figured it would be true in most Natick homes. I located a radio station in Worcester that collects and distributes musical materials to kids in the Worcester Public Schools who might otherwise not be able participate in school music programs. I worked with the band directors at the high school and middle schools and the owner of the local music store, Strike Up The Band, to place collection boxes and distribute flyers. Although I only got a few instruments, I received a lot of nice instrument cases, music, and accessories. All of these I cleaned up and, when possible, made the instruments playable. The radio station was grateful for the donations and I hope the project made a difference for some kids in Worcester. Although the National Honor Society Project has ended, I am going to continue to work with Strike Up The Band to collect instruments and donate them through the radio station.

Stella Tavilla

For my lead, Katherine Kelly and I ran a bake sale for the American Cancer Society. We picked to raise money for this association because we both have had people we know affected by cancer. On Memorial Day we set up a booth at the Needham Memorial Day soccer tournament to raise money. We got a lot of donations and we were there for 3 hours. I think it was pretty successful and we got to meet a lot of people who also supported our cause. One women came up to us to donate and told us about her daughter who got cancer when she was 11. She continued to tell us that she’s now 5 years cancer-free and is thriving in college. It was very special to hear her story and know that we were making a difference with our bake sale. Overall, very glad that I got to do this bake sale and help give back to an incredible cause.

Aishwarya Rajakumar

For my lead project, I ran a book drive, located at Natick High School's library. It was called the Benevolent Book Drive and it went pretty well. People often do not donate books when they think about donating clothing or shoes. Homeless shelters, orphanages, low funding schools also need books because children are learning how to read so I thought of hosting a book drive at our school, where lots of kids have an excess of unwanted books at their homes. Hosting a drive at the high school makes donating easy and accessible to people who might not otherwise think of donating their books. I created an advertisement that was played on the high school TVs and got a lot of donations, all of which were given to Big Hearted Books & Clothing Inc. because their donation site was easily accessible and they were willing to accept a large number of books. If I host a book drive again, I would discuss it more and spread the word rather than purely relying on advertising. Overall, I'm glad I was able to promote literacy and impact my community in a way that helped lots of people outside of just the school and support a cause I believe in.

Justin Linden

For my lead project, Adham Abji and I held a fundraiser at the Chipotle in Natick for the American Cancer society. On May 21st from 5:00-9:00 pm 33% of all in store sales Chipotle made from people who had a flyer for the fundraiser went to the American Cancer Society. Prior to the fundraiser, we had a month to spread the word and advertise the event. During that month Adham and I handed and sent out flyers promoting the fundraiser. Our work advertising the event led to a large amount of people coming out to Chipotle and supporting the American Cancer Society. That night we brought in $600 in sales to Chipotle and $200 of it went to the American Cancer Society. Both Adham and I were ecstatic that the fundraiser did so well and we raised so much money for a great organization.

Dhanin Thirumurugan

For my lead, I fundraised and donated $62 for Boston Children's Hospital through Natickthon and spent 6 hours on a Saturday supporting the event. I raised $62 by drawing and painting pictures of famous athletes including Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Isiah Thomas, and Micheal Jordan. I sold these paintings that I made to my friends and family for $10 each. I then organized a team and attended the Natickthon event on Saturday to support Boston Children's Hospital and to have fun with my peers and my teammates. Overall, this was a great and humbling experience for me and I certainly learned a lot from it.

Alicia Paglia

For my lead project this year I organized a Model United Nations conference with Madeleine Verity, Keith Richards, and Jacob Moldover. We started from scratch, picking a date for the conference, meeting with the heads of social studies at both Wilson and Kennedy, and advertising the opportunity to students in both 7th and 8th grade at the middle schools. The major part I played in this organization and development was behind the scenes, orchestrating registration, meeting with teachers at the high school and middle schools, doing research, and writing the background guide about the South China Sea to provide participants with adequate information about the topic. As the conference grew closer, I was tasked with assigning countries to everyone participating, fielding questions, and ensuring that all delegates were more than prepared for their first MUN experience! On May 18th we held the conference in the library of the high school, provided pizza and imparted our knowledge - it was a wonderful success and all participants thoroughly enjoyed their time. We would like to continue this conference into next year, hopefully expanding the number of participants.

Megan Blair

For my lead project, I hosted a fundraiser for Boston Children’s Hospital. The event was at my house and I got donations from local businesses in order to have a raffle and silent auction at the event. It was a great success as we raised about $7,000 for the hospital. Throughout this process, I have learned that I have a passion for giving back and helping others and will definitely continue to do so in the future. I hope that I made a small difference in the kids lives at Boston Children's and will definitely strive to continue this in the future.

Patrick Frey

For my lead project, Aidan Erickson-Mullane and I ran a can drive in the lobby of Natick High School for the Natick Service Council. We set up a large box decorated with posters from May 8th to May 17th spanning about a week and a half. In the process for setting up, I met with Ms.Conroy, Mrs.Hampton, and Ms.Crandall doing different forms and setting up a schedule for the building use. In an attempt to get more cans from the students, Aidan and I spread information about the drive through word of mouth. Soon, we set up the collection bins and through a week of drop offs eventually got about 6 bags full of cans for the Natick Service Council Pantry.

Justin Lista

For my lead project, I organized a Stop and Shop fundraiser for the After Prom Party. For my lead, I had to organize the event with Stop and Shop prior, plan the fundraiser, and send out a form to get volunteers to sign up. At the fundraisers on February 24 and March 9, I took on a lead role in organizing people on both sides of the store in order to maximize donations and gave them ideas on what to say when asking for donations. Both these events were from 10:45 to 4:00. After these events, I was the one to clean up everything and count and roll the money to be deposited in the bank. Overall, the event went really well. We raised the most money the APP has ever gotten from events like this. It really helped to make sure the After Prom Party got the money they needed in order to host the event again.

Harrison Jung

For my lead project, I lead a book drive for More Than Words at Wilson Middle School for the month of May. These books will be used by many teenagers and young adults in the Waltham and Boston area, not to read, but to sell. More than Words is a non-profit that empowers court-involved, foster-cared, homeless or out of school youths by helping them change their lives by taking charge of a business. My responsibilities included making posters, boxers, publicizing, and dropping books off. It went pretty well, but I think I would do it at more schools and libraries.

Amanda Mello

For my project, I co-lead a mother’s day movie at Brookdale Senior Living in Framingham with Allison Shapinko and Lily Wilson on May 12th. All three of us were in charge of preparing and organizing different parts of this event to create an enjoyable evening for the seniors who live in the assisted living home. In the process of conducting this event, I met with the director of the facility to work out a good time and space to organize the movie. I also made sure to create pamphlets that summarized the movie with pictures and the names of characters so that if they needed it, they could understand the plot of the film. Overall this event was very successful, many people came with their daughters/sons and others came alone or with friends. I really enjoyed running this event because it brought so many people together to honor mother’s day.

Monish Reddy Kotturu

During the weekend of May 18 and 19, I led a group of around ten National Honor Society members and coordinated with the sale manager to organize the Spring Book Sale at the Morse Institute Library. I gathered volunteers through forms and spreadsheets and assigned them various tasks (looking over different tables of the sale, customer service, etc.) to ensure a smooth flow of the sale. We organized thousands of books according to various categories, assisted the customers in finding their choices and bagging their books, and cleaning up after the sale. Together, we were able to raise $11,002.19, which made this sale the highest grossing May Book Sale in the history of the Morse Institute Library. All of this money went directly towards the library for all museum passes, speed reads, teen programs, and programs for kids and adults. This project was a very physically demanding one because we had to continuously stand and move around for nearly 14 hours, including Saturday and Sunday, and also do a ton of heavy lifting. Overall, I believe that this project was a huge success and the library staff was delighted to have so much money raised in support of library events.

Max Weisman

For my lead this year Sydney Rosenthal and I set up an obstacle course in the preschool to prepare them for special olympics. The actual obstacle course took place on May 6th, 8th, and 10th, but we met with the preschool principal Ms. Kinkead a few times, bought the materials we needed for the course itself, and did a dry run after school one day. The course helped the kids get more exercise at the end of their day and each obstacle was designed for a specific type of movement, whether it be with arms, legs, etc. It also gave the teachers a well deserved, albeit short, 5 minute break. For obstacles, we did hopscotch, a small course using the blue blocks in the preschool, jumping through hula hoops, and jumping to pictures of animals and making the noise of the animal, all before running to the finish line.

Alexa Gilbert

For my lead project, Madison Hymes and I did a coin drive fundraiser for Buddy Dog Humane Society in Sudbury, MA. First, we decorated a coin donation jar with colorful tape and created posters to hang up around the school to advertise it. After having the jar in the office for a week, we collected $140 worth of coins! Then, we had to go to the bank and exchange the coins for cash. We used this money at Petco. to buy certain items that were on the Buddy Dog’s wishlist on their website. Lastly, we drove to Sudbury, dropped off the items, and got to play with the dogs! This project greatly helped Buddy Dog because, without volunteers and donations, they would not be able to provide a high quality of care for the dogs. This project was extremely successful and I look forward to helping Buddy Dog in the future!

Ryan Cassidy

For my lead project, Caroline O'Connell and I hosted a youth Lacrosse clinic for boys and girls older than ten years old. The clinic took place Thursday, April 18th at the high school turf field. The clinic was run by multiple members of the Varsity lacrosse teams which made it very beneficial for the youth players. Before the clinic was hosted, Caroline and I created a registration form that was sent to all of the Natick youth lacrosse families. In addition to this, we coordinated with the athletic directors to reserve field time. Overall the project was very successful and we were able to donate food to the Natick Service Council.

Isabelle Dunn

For my lead project, I co-led a fundraiser with Madison Dunn for Sereda Danceworks by running a flower sale. Leading up to the project, Madison and I organized a group of volunteers to help us. We also worked to plan what we were doing with the director of the studio such as how the flowers were being supplied. On May 10th, we worked on creating bouquets of flowers for roughly 3 hours during Sereda Danceworks’ dress rehearsal. Our volunteers left after around 3 hours but Madison and I stayed to clean up, finish up the work for that day, and organize the next days work. On Saturday, we had volunteers help us to sell the bouquets as well as written congratulations which our volunteers cut paper shapes for. Our volunteers stayed for around 3 hours and after Madison and I stayed to clean up. I think overall the fundraiser ran smoothly and was a success. We were able to successfully raise money for Sereda Danceworks’ dancers.

Bailey Elder

For my lead project, Tyler Jackowitz and I hosted and ate with families from the Natick Service Council at Saint Patrick's Church in Natick. Our lead project entailed cooking and preparing a meal for around four families who are financially unstable and do not have a home. We then had the privilege to eat with the families and play with the little kids afterward. This lead project was especially meaningful to me because it proved that where you live does not define who you are, and your financial status has no effect on the person you may become in the future. I loved hanging out with the kids because they were oblivious to their situation and were just looking to have a fun night. Natick Service Council is a special place and it was heartwarming to see the sense of community and number of people willing to help others in need. This experience is something I will take with me, and I hope to continue my volunteer work at the Natick Service Council in the future.

David Mega

For my lead project, I organized a book drive over the last month for Epiphany School's Early Learning Center (ELC) in Dorchester. Epiphany is a school for at-risk, low-income students in the Boston area, and the ELC is a branch of Epiphany specifically for young children, ranging from around 1 year olds to kindergarten aged kids. I approved the project with the school, sent out emails to friends and family to spread the word about the drive, collected around 50 donations, and then delivered them to the school. The Early Learning Center at Epiphany often sends young children home with books to encourage reading outside the classroom since most of the students do not have the money or access to books once they leave the school. However, this decreases the supply of books at the school throughout the year, so this book drive helped provide the school with more books for students in and out of the classroom.

Madison Hymes

For my lead project, I worked with Alexa Gilbert to do a coin drive for buddy dog. I suggested Buddy Dog as the charity for us to raise money for because I have adopted two dogs from there. Buddy Dog is a non-profit organization in Sudbury that houses dogs and cats until they can find a more permanent home. For the coin drive, Alexa and I used a jar that we set up in the main office and created posters that we hung around the school. We ended up raising over $140 in coins!! Alexa and I counted up all of the coins and exchanged them at the bank. We then used the money to purchase items at Petco from the Buddy Dog wishlist including food, cat litter, and dog toys. We brought the items to buddy dog on May 21st and they were so grateful! Alexa and I visited the dogs that were there and they all seemed very sweet. I really enjoyed doing this project and I am so glad that our work was able to help the shelter and the dogs that we saw!

Jason Frey

On May 1st, Gabbie Pagnini and I led Step Up Night tour guides at Natick High School. To organize the tour guides, we got students to volunteer through emails, spreadsheets, and sign-ups. On the night of the event, we gathered all the tour guides in the lobby of the high school and directed them on how to give the tours. Throughout the night until 9 pm, we showed new students and their families around the school, key rooms and activities, and answered questions about the high school experience. Our work benefited the local community and future Natick High School students by both introducing them to the high school environment and preparing them for the transition into freshman year. Gabbie and I recruited Madeleine Verity, Greeshma Yarlagadda, Logan Pfahler, Stella Tavilla, Stephen Wong, Madison Dunn, Clay Napurano, Alice Coudray, Rachel Schultz, Mario DeLuca, Zoe Sullivan, Mackenzie Burgoyne, and Brooke Dziadul to help with the event. In all, it worked really well and was a success! Next time, however, the station should move closer to the auditorium so that families can see us more easily.

Bellis Min

On Friday, April 12th, I ran a bake sale at Natick High School for the Society of Women Engineers with Audrey Klopfer. The money that we raised will be donated to the organization for college scholarships. To make the event more productive, Audrey and I emailed the National Honor Society students to collect foods such as cookies, muffins, and candies. Around 15 people graciously signed up to bring foods, and 3 people, Gabby Lam, Nicole Sivak, and Laila Christian, stayed after school with us. Although we only made about $80, we were happy that we could contribute build a better environment for women engineer in which Audrey and I are interested. Overall, I believe that the project was meaningful and successful.

Zachary Henderson

I did my lead project at both Mathworks Field at Lilja Elementary School and at the field at Ben Hem Elementary School. For my project, I coached a 2nd grade girls intramural soccer team with Laney Ross. Throughout this Spring season, we held practice every Wednesday starting around the beginning of April from 4:00 to 5:00 pm and we had games that were also around an hour every Saturday starting around the end of April. Through this project, Laney and I helped these girls get better at their soccer skills, ranging from shooting, to dribbling, to passing, and even to communicating to each other. To help us out if we needed any help, we recruited some parents to help us if we needed help with substitutions during games or anything like that. Overall, it was a very good season and I think we helped these girls improve their soccer skills tremendously as they move their way to trying out for the Natick soccer travel teams.

Sydney Rosenthal

For my lead project, I worked with Max Weisman to create an obstacle course for the preschoolers at Natick High in order to train them for Special Olympics. We were in charge of creating and running the obstacle course for all of the preschool classrooms. We worked and had multiple meetings with the preschool principal Ms. Kinkead, who helped us create different obstacles that would be challenging for all different levels of children in the classrooms. After creating the course we stayed after school three different times in order to lead the children through it. Each class got to run through the obstacle course a few times and it was a good break for them as well as the teachers. It was very rewarding and exciting getting to see our project come to life when the preschoolers used it.

Emelyne Su

On Saturday May 18, Gabbie and I held a bake sale at Coolidge field from 1:00-5:30 pm to raise money for Hope for the Children of Haiti (HFC). To begin this process, Gabbie and I researched an organization to whom we wanted to donate money. After choosing HFC Gabbie and I contacted the organization itself and various people who would allow us to hold our bake sale. In turn, we ended up getting permission to hold our bake sale during the youth softball games at Coolidge Field. The days leading up to the bake sale, I spent some time baking cupcakes, making signs/posters for the event, and encouraging my friends to donate money or participate in our bake sale. We also sent out an email to members of NHS to see if they wanted to contribute baked goods to our event. Through the help of many NHS members and friends it helped to reduce the amount of work Gabbie and I needed to put into baking items. In addition many of our friends came by during the event to help us run the table and donate to HFC. We hope that our contribution and bake sale will impact the child in Haiti so they know that their are people all around the world who care about them and can be provided the necessities to grow and develop.

Isabella LeBrun

For my lead project, Brooke Lallensack and I collected feminine hygiene products for the Framingham Food Pantry outside of Stop and Shop on May 10th from 2:30 to 6:30. We were not expecting to get many donations as it was a rainy, cold day and not many people are willing to donate such products. We were pleasantly surprised however when we collected an entire laundry basket of items as well as many financial donations which we were able to use to buy more sanitary products. We knew we made the right choice to collect hygiene products when a woman came up to us with a bag of stuff she had bought and praised us for recognizing such an important issue that usually goes unnoticed. She even brought us pizza and water to thank us for doing it. Doing this lead project made me realize how much we are helping these women and how even the smallest donations can help someone out.

Zachary Breton

The lead project I took on this year was one of huge value to both myself and the kids I was working with. The experience was awesome for me because I got to have the experience of coaching children in the sport I love. The children obviously benefitted as they didn't have a coach for their team before I volunteered and then they got to learn the game from someone who has played soccer for 10+ years and been in the same position as them. I really hope to again be involved in coaching next year.

Greeshma Yarlagadda

Along with Brianna Sahagian, I co-led a craft sale at the Learning Express toy store in Needham on May 11th. Prior to the actual sale, I helped out by making some of the crafts/items that we would be selling. As per the actual sale, Brianna and I set up a table and some chairs outside the store and also recruited a few friends to help us. The money that we made from the sale (about $300) went to the Jimmy Fund, a non-profit organization that helps fund adult and pediatric cancer care as well as cancer research. Overall, the sale was a success as we were able to fundraise a lot of money for the organization.

Hanna Hayes

For my lead project, I co-led a bake sale with Jason Frey in which we donated the proceeds to the March for Our Lives organization. The March for Our Lives organization works on gun legislation, activism, and lobbying to create common-sense gun restrictions; the organization was created after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting in 2018. We held the bake sale after school on both April 29th and May 7th outside of the cafeteria. We had many people volunteer to bring in baked goods which we sold at the sale, as well as people who volunteered their time to assist us during the actual bake sale such as Mackenzie Capra, Nadine Guirguis, Alice Coudray, and Abby Blume. The bake sale would not have gone as smoothly as it did without all their help. In the end, our bake sale raised $114 which we donated to the March for Our Lives organization which we hope will aid them in working on gun legislation in order to make our school environment safer.

Rachel Deng

On Saturday, May 11th, classmate Brooke Dziadul and I ran an item drive/fundraiser outside of Donelan's in Wayland for Domestic Violence Ended, or DOVE. DOVE is an organization that provides shelter, aid, and a 24-hour emergency hotline for those suffering from domestic violence situations. We stood outside of the store and handed out copies of DOVE's wishlist to shoppers. By the end of the day, we had collected many bags full of non-perishable food items, baby products, and hygiene products, as well as over $200 in cash. Brooke and I then used the $200 to purchase more items for the shelter. A few days later, We drove down to DOVE's headquarters in Quincy to drop off the donations. We are both honored to have gotten the chance to help those in need, and we loved doing so on such a beautiful day. I am especially glad that we helped spread the word about DOVE to many people who also expressed interest in researching and helping DOVE themselves.

Brianna Sahagian

I co-led a project along with Greeshma Yarlagadda to help raise money for the Jimmy Fund. The project that we headed was a craft sale run out of the Learning Express toy store in Needham. I worked to create all of the crafts for 6 hours before the sale along with Matthew Kwan, and then held a 6 hour sale at the store to raise a total of $324 towards the Jimmy Fund. This project benefit the customers at the store, as they were able to donate money to a good cause while also grabbing a gift for birthdays or other events. The project also benefit those suffering from cancer by donating money towards new developments in the field.

Gabriella Pagnini

For my lead project, I worked with Eme Su to host a bake sale on May 18th. The bake sale was at Coolidge Field in Natick, and all of the donations received went to the nonprofit organization "Hope For The Children of Haiti". This nonprofit organization is working on opening a "food depot" to provide meals and other resources to the people of Haiti who are currently experiencing extreme starvation. Eme and I contacted members of the organization to share our plan with them, and we picked up a poster and pamphlets to share at our bake sale. We also asked National Honor Society students to make baked goods for our event which was really helpful. We hosted our bake sale from 1:30-6:00 at Coolidge field during two Senior League Softball games. There was a great turnout and we were successful! We raised $248 to support "Hope For The Children of Haiti". I think that the project went very well, as it was a super nice day out which drew many people to the fields. I am happy that I was able to contribute to a meaningful cause that supports many people in need.

Brooke Lallensack

Along with Bella LeBrun I organized a drive to collect feminine hygiene products for the Framingham Food Pantry. We collected items outside of Stop and Shop on May 10th from 2:30 to 6:00, and went in to the store to buy items with the money we were given. At first people did not seem to pay much attention to us, our first donor gave us a huge bag of items and even bought us pizza. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of donations we got and the abundance of products we were able to bye with the money. It is encouraging to think about how many women are going to benefit from the products.

Lily Wilson

On May 12th I ran a Mother's day appreciation event at Brookdale Senior Assisted Living Home in Framingham. I ran a snack stand to go alongside a Movie run by Amanda Mello. Before the event I baked Cookies and Cupcakes in preparation. We decorated the senior center with pink balloons for a inviting feel. The event lasted 2 hours and many residents came. The residents were very happy to have company on mothers day and enjoy a movie with snacks.

Kayleigh Hacker

For my lead project, I decided to co-coach a 7th/8th grade girls lacrosse team with Victoria Norchi. We attended practices every Monday and Tuesday night and made those practice plans with what we thought would benefit them most. Through demonstrating and playing with them, we added a mix of skills and fun and every time we were with them was an awesome experience. We also attended all of their home and away games on Sunday afternoons. At these games, we created lineups and managed substitutions, answered questions that came up while playing, and gave advice based on what we were seeing. In March, we began working with them during the indoor season and have continued throughout the spring season. We were very excited to begin coaching them since we are both juniors on the high school lacrosse team so helping out this age group of players directly shows us a change when we see them in high school tryouts next year! We saw a ton of growth of skills of these players, especially in the several girls that just started playing this year, and it was so rewarding to help them improve and grow their love for lacrosse!

Kennedy O'Keefe

For my Lead Project, I was director of technology for the NatickTHON fundraiser at Natick High School. The event took place on April 27th from 12 - 6 PM. Before the event I was responsible for sending out emails to teams and captains, managing donations, preparing a slideshow, and fundraising myself. The week before I attended daily morning meetings as well as meetings in the weeks before. For the day of the event I came in at 9:30 and was responsible for preparing the gym for the arrival of the dancers and miracle families. I decorated the gym as well as hung dancer signs and prepared food. During the event I was responsible for sign ins, leading events, and distributing food. The event was very successful with around 75 dancers in attendance and raising over 5,000 dollars in donations. The money is being donated to Boston Children’s Hospital to benefit the children in the hospital.

Allison Shapinko

For my lead project, Amanda, Lily and I decided to host a Mother’s Day Event at the Brookdale Senior Assisted Living Home in Framingham on May 12th, 2019. This event ran from 3:00 pm-6:00 pm at the Senior Center. In order to plan out this project, I went to the Living Center on May 3rd from 3:00pm-4:00 pm picking the movie we were watching and deciding what goods and decorations to bring on the day of the event. I also spent this time talking to the event coordinator Judy Cronenberg, on how to make sure the event ran smoothly for the Seniors. On the day of the event, I set up decorations and brought baked goods and drinks for them to enjoy. This event was extremely successful as I think it really brightened everyone’s day. I think it was great for the senior citizens who did not have Mother’s Day plans and allowed them to spend some time with their friends and watch a good movie together.

Julianna Green

For my National Honor Society lead project, I organized tours and a student panel for 8th Grade Curriculum Night at Natick High School which allows 8th grade parents to become acquainted with the high school and answers some of their questions they may have about the transition from middle school to high school. I worked with Ms. Finocchi to organize this event and I reached out to Natick High School students and got about 20 volunteers to give tours of the school, 10 students to answer questions on the panel, and a few students to guide parents through the halls. The event was held on January 10 from 6-9pm and was very successful. Parents approached me and other students after the event and thanked us for answering some of their questions and relieving some of the stress they had about their child’s transition to the high school. I was really glad to see that the parents appreciated hearing from the high school students.

Owen Goldner

For my lead project, I organized a trail cleaning at the Natick Hunnewell Forest near Lilja. Before the project, I had to email the Natick DPW to check that they were okay with my cleaning the trail on that day. On Saturday, May 11, I picked up trash along the trail and cleared some parts of the trail that were covered in leaves, helped by Jack Whelan and Michael Gerovitch. In total, we filled four garbage bags. My project helped improve the quality of the Hunnewell Forest and protect the wildlife in it by picking up trash, including plastic that could be a choking hazard to animals. It also helped the Natick DPW, who might have to clean the trail themselves if it became too dirty.

Mackenzie Capra

For my lead project I was a team captain for NatickTHON, which is a dance marathon event that raises money for Boston Children's Hospital. This event took place on April 27th in the Natick High School gym and lasted for six hours. At the event, we got to pay games, dance, and meet children and families from Boston Children's Hospital. As a team captain, I had to attend meetings, fundraise money, and make sure my teammates were doing the same. My team was able to fundraise almost $500, which will all be going to Boston Children's Hospital to benefit the kids and families there. I am glad I got to participate in an event that benefits such a great cause and enjoyed it as well.

Arleth Lopez-Maldonado

I did my project at Natick high because I thought it was important to bring awareness to students about kids who can afford school supplies. The whole program is about students in school of any grade giving back the things they no longer use so that others could use them too. Throughout the process I had to communicate with the organization and Barbara Fox who works with students who do the drives. I also had to write down the announcements and make sure i had the spot to put my box where people can donate when they want. I was able to recruit Abby Blume who helped with the posters and with the slide that is broadcasted on the TVs around the school. From the drive we were able to get a few supplies of markers and pencils but even just a little amount can help a few kids have enough supplies to do well in school. This was

my first time leading and facilitating a drive and I think it went pretty well overall.

Benjamin Kaplan

For my lead project, I wanted to do something related to music. I was talking with Sam Hinrichs, a fellow junior who didn't have a lead project yet, and we started talking about a way we could have a fun fundraiser that's related to music. We ended up deciding to do a benefit concert in Natick center, where all the proceeds we made would go towards the Natick Service Council. With our idea set in mind we needed to find a venue, get performers, and promote the show like crazy. We found an awesome venue, the Common Street Spiritual Center in Natick center, and ended up getting it for free! We invited my band, Royal Flush, as well as the two Natick High a cappella groups to perform. In between the big acts, we had our friends sing solo acts or duets. We had a lot of people show up to the concert and ended up raising over $450 for the service concert. I felt good about doing something fun for me, knowing it would benefit so many more people. Everyone who attended and performed had a blast, and we raised money for the service council too! It was a huge success.

Jadyn Jung

For my lead project this year, Grace Jung and I co-led a bake sale for the New England Korean School on April 28th at Natick Roche Bros. The New England Korean School is a non-profit weekend school organization dedicated to teaching students, from the age of 3 to grade 12, Korean culture and language. We decided to raise money for the New England Korean School in hope of decreasing the tuition fee to allow for more students to attend. After getting the approval from Principal Il Nam, I contacted the store manager of the Natick Roche Bros, Jim Laudy, to set the bake sale date. We had volunteers sign up for baked goods and to help at the actual bake sale. We had a total of 8 volunteers that signed up to bring baked goods. I stayed after-school to collect the baked goods that the volunteers signed up for. The day before the bake sale, we wrapped, packed, and made posters for the bake sale. The day of the bake sale, we got to the Natick Roche Bros and stayed from 8-4pm. We had a total of 7 volunteers that signed up to help us with the actual bake sale. We made sure to bring chairs, blankets, water, and snacks for our volunteers. Although, during the bake sale there was a short period of a rain shower, the sale was successful as we raised over $800. The bake sale was a great experience as we met lots of people who were interested in Korean culture, like Maria Robinson - first Korean-American ever elected into the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Overall, the bake sale was a success and I am proud in being able to help the non-profit weekend school organization that I currently volunteer at as an assistant teacher and have been attending for 14 years.

Grace Jung

For my lead project, I co-led a bake sale at Natick Roche Bros on April 28th. All of the money made went to the New England Korean School in Newton, where we graduated from last year after attending it for 13 years. A group of National Honor Society volunteers helped by bringing in various baked goods and helping at the sale. Jadyn and I also made some baked goods ourselves, cooked some Korean food, prepared chairs and a table, and designed posters with pictures we printed out. In the end, we made over $800 and in the process met the first Korean-American to be elected to the Massachusetts legislature, Maria Robinson. So, we were both very satisfied with the overall successful bake sale.

Alexander Boyajian

For my project, I planned and led a food drive to support the Natick Service Council with my Boy Scout Troop on May 4th. We raised 810 pounds of food! I worked with the service council, and coordinated with local newspapers to get the word out. I worked with my Boy Scout troop, and we handed out flyers to our neighbors and local businesses in Natick. The project went very well, and I am happy with how it turned out. This project impacted the service council and all the families that depend on the service council for food.

Rachel Schultz

For my Lead Project, I co-led a fundraiser with Charlotte Verity for Sportsmen's Tennis and Enrichment Center in Dorchester, Massachusetts. This project occurred at the Natick High School Tennis Courts on May 6th, 2019. Charlotte and I had many preparation hours, making posters, buying supplies, and planning the event. The actual match, which was played against Brookline High School, was from 2:30pm to 7:30pm where we set up the table, played our matches, and raised money by selling concession to parents, players, and other spectators. Our work has an impact on this tennis center and the children that it help. The center is designed around providing free tennis lessons on Friday nights to children from the Greater Boston area. This money will help them to develop their programs and obtain better equipment. We recruited the rest of the tennis team, which are students at Natick High School from all grades, to help us set up the table, take it down, and man the table while we were playing our matches. This lead project was overall very successful. We made a good amount of money that we will donated 100% to the tennis center.

Abigail Blume

For my lead project, I hosted a bake sale at Roche Bros to benefit the Freenotes Harmony Park research and projects to raise awareness around anxiety and music’s effectiveness as a treatment and to make music accessible to everyone. At the end of the sale, I had raised just over $350. I recruited the help of friends and fellow National Honor Society members to help both with baking and with running the actual sale. There was a significant amount of planning involved with hosting a bake sale at a location other than Natick High School, so I think that in the future I will partner with someone else to co-lead this project. In my opinion, the bake went really well and I am glad I was able to raise so much money for such an important cause.

Matthew Kwan

For my lead project, I co-led a drive with Ellen Kiernan to collect items for A Place to Turn. A Place to Turn is a non-profit organization that’s committed to being able to provide those in the MetroWest community with necessities, like food, toiletries, and clothing. We spoke with a representative and aimed to collect food and toiletries. With our local swim team, Ellen and I created a drive to collect as many items as possible on April 5th. We raised awareness through posters and emails to our fellow teammates and their families about what was needed. After collecting the items, we organized a group to help organize the items and donations from other patrons. It was a terrific experience, for example, we learned that they are a choice pantry, meaning they allow people to choose what they eat since some families have allergies, or some families eat more or less food. In total, we managed to collect over 161 pounds of food and toiletries for the community. The drive was very successful and will be able to support those who struggle with food security.

Jason Chase

For my lead project I coached a 13U AAU baseball team. Although I am only the assistant coach I ran practices, and warmups at the games. The games and practices were at Ashland High School and Metrowest Sports center in Ashland. The dates that I completed my project on was April 20th and 27th, along with May 4th and 5th. Throughout the practices I create a plan for what I will be doing each day and I ran the kids through drills and simulated games. At the games I am the first base coach and I ran the warmups before the game. My work had an impact on the children that are on the team because they got a better understanding of the game and improved on their skills as a baseball player. I recruited two other students from other high schools to help me with some of the drills as I brought them together and let them know what their responsibilities were. This project was very interesting and helpful to the kids that were involved.

Matthew Reardon

For my lead project, I was a team captain for Natickthon. This event took place on April 27th from 12-6 in the Natick High School gym. As a team captain I was responsible for sending emails to teammates about fundraising, forwarding emails from event coordinator to teammates, attending meetings, and fundraising myself. In total my team raised over $250 dollars with the help of my teammates, family members, and friends. As a result of my work on this project I made an impact on both the kids and families that are a part of the Miracle Network Program at Boston Children’s hospital because these donations go directly to them. Overall this was an amazing experience as we were able to hear the stories of the children and their families and support them through Dance Marathon.

Rebecca Walz

On April 10th, 2019 Chiara Morley-McLaughlin and I ran a clinic for middle schoolers interested in playing volleyball. We collaborated with ReacHigh, a volleyball clinic that runs out of the Natick Community Center. Chiara and I attended the last two days of the clinic that ran once a week. Then, we extended the clinic by one day and made it a tournament day, creating teams and helping the middle schoolers pick a position and to understand how the game of volleyball runs. This tournament day replicated what actual games would look like in high school so that the middle schoolers could see if they are interested in playing in high school. This also helped the kids look into their interest in volleyball. Having more experience playing volleyball, Chiara and I were able to improve their skills and give them tips that we have learned in our practices. This lead helped not only the middle schoolers but the Natick volleyball program. By improving their skills and knowledge of the game, we improved the middle school team’s strength and also solidified a bright future for the high school team.

Danielle Cohen

For my lead, I taught a class at my dance studio. The class was a hip hop class for students aged 7-9. At first, the kids were a little crazy because I am not their usual teacher but eventually they started listening. I started off the class by teaching a choreographed warm up. Then I moved into going across the floor where I had them do basic hip hop steps and then moved into harder ones. Lastly, I taught them a small combination which I had also planned before the class. They seemed to have enjoyed the combo even though it wasn't something they were used to. What would have made it even better was if I had accounted for the time where the students were talking into my lesson plan. I had planned it out nearly to the minute and I didn't realize that they would talk so much and that I wouldn't get through everything I'd planned. But other than that, I think the class went great and the kids enjoyed it.

Julian Brady

For my lead project, I led the setup and takedown of my church in order to host families through the organization Family Promise. I also hosted a dinner on 4/24. The setup of the church required efficiency and teamwork to move heavy furniture. I was joined by a few volunteers that were recruited through my church. We successfully made all the beds while keeping in mind the different family configurations that were staying during the week. On 4/24, I was very fortunate to receive a generous donation from Lola's in downtown Natick. They donated a tray of pasta, which was more than enough to feed all the families. I also served brownies and ice cream with fudge, which pleased the families with small children. Overall, the dinner made each family happy and went very smooth. At the end of the week, I led the restoration of the church. I had to remember where each piece of furniture went prior to set up to make sure the church was cleaned up correctly. We moved all the materials into storage and moved the furniture back into place. The takedown took a little longer than the setup but was successful, as was the week as a whole. I'm happy that I was able to help these families have a safe and comfortable week as they continue to try to get their own house.

Nicole Sivak

For my lead project, I co-led a food drive with Maxine Garbacz and Alex Gillott to collect donations for A Place to Turn. The food drive took place outside of Donelan's Supermarket in Wayland on April 28th and we delivered the donations on April 29th. I was responsible for designing and printing out flyers with suggested items to donate so it would be easier for people to identify what they could donate. As they walked in the store, they would grab a flyer and see how they could help. We chose to hold this food drive at a local supermarket because we thought it would be effective to reach out to the public instead of Natick High because it is often hard to remember to bring donations into school. This project was extremely successful and we ended up collecting around 20 full paper bags full of donations. The people who benefitted from this project were the people who rely on A Place to Turn because they now have a larger variety of food to choose from.

Ellen Kiernan

For my lead project, I co-led a drive with Matt Kwan to collect for A Place to Turn in Natick. A Place to Turn is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing families in the Metrowest community with food, toiletries, clothing, and other necessities free of charge. After reaching out to a representative we decided to collect food and toiletries. We organized a drive at our local swim banquet on April fifth. Before the drive we worked without teammates to raise awareness about the drive, we also made posters and sent an email to teammates and their families about A Place to Turn and their specific needs. After we collected everything we organized a group to go to A Place to Turn and help us sort and put the items we collected on the shelves. At A Place to Turn, we learned even more about their system and how they help families and that they are a choice pantry so that every family gets what they like. At the end of our drive, we were able to collect over 100 pounds of food and 61 pounds of toiletries. Our drive will provide families in the MetroWest community the ability to have food security and overall lead better lives.

Shawn Thornhill

For my lead I organized the 7 week Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Campaign with two friends of mine. These rigorous 7 weeks taught me time management. Balancing homework, campaign, family and friend time was very hard. Knowing I made an impact on someone else's life means the world to me. I also recruited sophomores to continue the RedHawks 4 Cure next year! Actions speak louder than words. Often people say they will do this and that to better the live of someone else, but once you actually do it, greatest feeling in the world. Concluding the seven week campaign, the only loser was cancer. Thank you to everyone who helped my team and I throughout this campaign, it means a lot to us and the patients.

Chiara Morley-McLaughlin

For my lead project, Rebecca Walz and I co-leaded a scrimmage for middle school volleyball programs. We worked with the coaches at the ReacHigh Volleyball Clinic to build upon what the players had learned. The scrimmage that we held was the first full game that many of those players had ever played. It was a good experience for them to learn about the game of volleyball and get a chance to play as if it were a real game. Rebecca and I volunteered at a number of the clinics leading up to our day of scrimmages. This helped us learn the strengths and weaknesses of the different players and get an understanding of the groups level of play as a whole. We were able to demonstrate the drills and the middle schoolers were able to see high school players in action. Additionally, we were able to offer good feedback to help the players improve. This session of scrimmages was able to give the players an idea of what a real game of volleyball was like. Additionally, it also helped them to improve their skills and learn about volleyball as a whole.

Julia Reinach

For my lead project, I was a team captain for Natickthon. Natickthon occurred on April 27 from 12-6 in the high school gym. Throughout this process of being a team leader, I forwarded emails from the dance marathon coordinators to my team members, encouraged people to donate and spread the word on social media about donating to my team. In total my team raised $467 dollars, which would not have been possible without the support and donations from my team members and their families, which I am very thankful for. My work on this project has made an impact on both the kids and families of those in the Miracle Network of Boston Children’s Hospital, as all of the donations received goes directly towards them. Throughout this process, my team members helped me and helped our team raise as much money as we could, and overall I would say it was a success. The actual day of Dance Marathon was full of energy and enthusiasm about being there and sharing in the same experience, all for the kids. In the future, I will become more involved in this process and organizing this event, as I learned how passionate I am about helping children and their families. Seeing the kids play with the balloons and the uncontrollable smiles that they had brightened my day and really helped me to see the direct impacts of the Dance Marathon program.

Sophia Kovatsis

For my lead this year I organized a fundraiser event for Boston Children’s Hospital on Saturday, April 27th. Our goal was to raise money for BCH so families who need help can be supported and research can be further developed to learn new ways to perform surgeries or new anesthesia. My team and I asked local businesses for donations, held weekly meetings, and asked possible donors to sponsor us. We have been planning this event since November 2018 and surpassed our goal of $5,000 for Boston Children’s. The event itself was an amazing experience, because everyone who had signed up arrived and had a great time supporting BCH and hearing stories of local residents whose lives were changed from the doctors and nurses who helped them throughout surgeries.

Fiona Daly

For my lead project, I lead a fundraiser dance workshop on April 28th. This workshop included stretching, technique and drilling class. In order to organize this, I had to contact the Greater Boston School of Dance in order to rent out a studio space, as well as plan a time and date that worked well for everyone. The studio kindly donated the space for the fundraiser! I recruited two of my dance friends to help me teach the students as well as arranged for one of my dance teachers to supervise. I also created a flyer to send out to everyone in my school. I raised over $100 for the National MS Society and I am overall very proud of how the project went!

Maxine Garbacz

For my National Honor Society lead project, I organized and planned a food drive with Alex Gillott and Nicole Sivak to collect donations for the Natick Food Pantry. The food drive took place on April 28th outside of Donelan’s Supermarket and we delivered the collected goods to the food pantry on April 29th. Along with both Nicole and Alex, I was responsible for calling numerous stores to determine where we could hold this food drive. We decided to hold this food drive outside of a local store rather than Natick High School because we felt like we would be able to collect more donations. In addition to this, I helped create flyers to hand out to people walking into the store to encourage them to buy particular items that the food pantry was in need of. This project benefited the food pantry workers, as they now had more goods to provide, and those who use the Natick Food Pantry as a source of food for themselves.

Erin Quirk

For my lead project I ran a field hockey clinic for girls ages 7-12. The clinic ran for 2 hours over April vacation. I had fun planning the drills and games and seeing the girls improve their skills. Natick does not have a youth field hockey program, so I thought it would be important to get younger girls interested in the game. I was able to gain skills in mentoring these younger players, such as patience and collaboration. I developed relationships with the players and I enjoyed being someone for the girls to look up to. This project also taught me leadership skills because I had to plan and run drills. I enjoyed this experience and I hope to run another clinic in the future.

Emma Koskovich

For my project, I taught my friends to knit and we sent scarves to Operation Gratitude, which puts scarves and thank you notes into care packages for troops overseas. I contacted the organizing to make sure that we could send in a group shipment and had a few meetings at my house to teach people how to knit. We ended up making 7 scarves that we could send in. Through this, I learned how to teach different people with very different learning styles. I also learned how easy it is to volunteer your time, as this project allowed members to get community service hours whenever, wherever they wanted. The only thing I regret is that a few people could not attend because their schedules did not allow them to come to my house to learn. If I were to do this again, I would create a schedule of learning times so that people to pre-register for a time that worked for them. I do believe this project was successful because not only gained community service hours, but gained a new skill that they can use late in life.

Abigail Chen

For my lead project, I organized a small group of people to volunteer at St.Patrick’s Manor, a nursing home in Framingham. We went in on January 21st, April 18th, and April 19th. I thought it would be a valuable experience to spend time with the residents at the nursing home for both the volunteers in my group and I. Before we were allowed to volunteer, a substantial amount of paperwork had to be done as well as a thorough orientation. As a group we assisted the arts and crafts at the nursing home, helped residents during bingo games, and transported them back to their rooms after certain activities were finished. During the bingo games and arts and crafts are when the residents have the opportunity to stimulate their minds, and we were happy to assist them in any way possible in case there were certain things they could not do. It was a fulfilling experience that left us feeling happy after each day we left the home because everyone there was so welcoming and it was great being able to spend time with the residents. Hopefully we will continue to go back there during our free time.

Adam Marcus

For my lead project this year, I co-led a fundraising team that participated in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Students of the Year initiative, an eight-week fundraising competition for high school students. Garrett Barth, Shawn Thornhill, and I organized a team, named Redhawks for a Cure, of 10 members to fundraise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and help them get closer to their mission of “curing leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma, and improving the quality of life of patients and their families.” Throughout the campaign, my team and I planned fundraising events, asked local businesses for donations, held weekly meetings, and asked prospective donors for donations. The team was guided by Maggie Johnson, the Students of the Year Campaign Specialist at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. During the 8 week fundraising period from January 17th to March 8th, our team raised nearly $20,000. I am very pleased with the result of our fundraising and I am satisfied in knowing that the money we raised will be used by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to research blood cancers and help the families of people affected by blood cancer.

Genevieve Girard

For my lead project I organized a drive to collect goods for A Place to Turn in Natick. A Place to Turn is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing needy individuals in the Metrowest community with food, toiletries, clothing, and other necessities free of charge. After reaching out to a representative from this organization, I decided to collect face wash, body lotion, and children and teenagers’ clothing, all of which they were low on. To accomplish this goal, I first decorated three different boxes and then reached out to various facilities about placing them there. I ended up putting one in the school, one in a supermarket, and the last in Longfellow Sports Club. I then made posters and hung them in different locations. Over the course of March and April I advertised for the drive and frequently checked on the three bins and collected any items that were in them. After the drive was complete and I had obtained all of the donations, I counted and bagged the items and then dropped them off at A Place to Turn. In total I collected over 200 pieces of clothing and toiletries. This will provide a large number of families with the clothing and toiletries that they otherwise couldn’t afford and will help A Place to Turn continue to serve the Metrowest community.

Mira Eschtruth

For my lead project, I organized volunteers and stage-managed for the Natick Arts Extravaganza on March 21st at Natick High. The Arts Extravaganza is an opportunity for parents, families, and peers from all Natick Public Schools to celebrate students’ artistic accomplishments, including art shows, speeches, and music performances. For a couple weeks leading up to the project, I worked with the choir, band, and drama directors to determine what needed to be done during the event and when. I then gathered volunteers from the drama department, specifically the stage crew, to help set up, usher, and run lights and sound for the event. I oversaw and directed the volunteers to ensure that everything progressed smoothly throughout the event, including setting up for the various musical groups, running a donation table, informing attendees about the schedule and directions, and working lights and sound for the stage performances.

Garrett Barth

For my lead project, Adam, Shawn, and I co-ran a fundraising campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I decided to take on this fundraiser to support my grandfather who is currently battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma. We led a team 10ish students to carry out the fundraiser while planning events, taking donations from businesses, and organizing auction items. While leading the campaign, I ran team meetings, frequently contacted Maggie Johnson (the fundraising campaign specialist from LLS), organized events (for example, one at Alex and Ani), contacted businesses, and directly raised money. Our campaign went really well as all team members were enthusiastic and engaged during our fundraiser. The fundraising program ran from January 17th until March 8th and in total my team raised close to $20,000. This money will be used by LLS to research cancer and to support the families of cancer patients.

Emily Gustus

For my lead project, I ran a basketball skills clinic for Natick travel players on February 19 at Wilson Middle School with some of my teammates. I asked that each player bring a few food items for A Place to Turn, a local pantry. My work included contacting people to get gym time, telling players about the clinic, prepping and planning, running the clinic, and delivering the food items to A Place to Turn. The young girls had a very fun time, learned a lot, and loved having high school players at the clinic. Also, we were able to collect 10 large paper grocery bags full of food items, which the food pantry greatly appreciated as it was a helpful donation to supply for people in need.

Nadine Guirguis

For my lead project, I led a group of students to volunteer at the Morse Institute Library's annual book sale. In order to stay organized, I had to email Ms. Sanchez, the book sale's organizer, and the volunteers. Being in contact with the book sale's organizer allowed me to make sure I had recruited enough volunteers for the book sale. Additionally, the book sale organizer needed to know the names and times in which the volunteers would be able to help and I kept track by keeping a chart and updating it as needed. To prepare for the book sale, we unpacked the books from the library's storage area and set them up on the tables. On the day of the actual book sale, I was responsible to maintain the number of books out on the tables and also putting everything away once the event was over. Overall, the event was a success and the volunteers were a benefit to the library as a whole since there were so many of us.

David Drew

For my lead I took on the job of being the organizer for the Justin Bailey Food Drive. The event was held at the William L. Chase arena. My first step in completing this project was to email all the Natick High School hockey coaches on both the girls and boys sides. The email was sent to inform all the team the date and time when the event was going to be held; as well a document attached to it with times to help organize shifts. Overall I believe that the project was a success. We were able to get participants from from both the girls and boys programs to help collect and sort the food. After all the food was collected and loaded into car, me and the rest of the player on Natick Varsity Boys Hockey team went to go unload the food. We brought the food to the Natick Food Pantry were it was unloaded and ready to be picked up by local families.

Rayna Carner

On December 18th, Delaney Jones and I led Seven’s Not Enough a cappella group in caroling at Maryann Nursing Home in Natick. We created a packet of some holiday songs, practiced them at two different rehearsals with timing and improvised harmonies. About ten of us made it the nursing home, and it was really rewarding to see how our singing lifted the spirits of all patients, some very sick. Even though our group is twenty two people, we realized that a smaller number is easier to travel with, and probably less intimidating for residents. At the end, our group reflected on the goodness we felt following our mini performance, and we may even try to return to the nursing home before next holiday season!