Class of 2020 Lead Paragraphs
Abigail Chen
For my lead I was an assistant coach of the Natick summer town team. As an assistant coach on the swim team I had numerous responsibilities. One of my largest roles was guiding the younger children to their races on time and giving them helpful advice before and after their races. It was important to motivate the kids, especially before their races. I would help plan the practices with the coaches and worked with them on the swim meet line ups. If there was someone missing the day of the meet, which was quite often, I would be one of the first people to know and would be tasked with switching around the line up. It was a rewarding experience for both myself and the kids because I was able to make this summer a mistake free season and I got to know the kids extremely well.
Katherine Kelly
For my lead project, I was captain of my Relay for Life team. As a captain, I had the responsibility of organizing a team, attending meetings, making sure everyone had fulfilled their roles, and encouraging ways to fundraise. I think that the event went well because each member on my team had raised their required amount and our team as a whole was able to stay for the entire event. As someone who has family members with cancer, I think that Relay for Life is an amazing event to not only fundraise but also to respect and honor those who have fought, or continue to fight, cancer. I was honored to be able to take a position as a leader on my Relay for Life team because I was able to realize how much fundraising for cancer truly helps those who are suffering and their loved ones.
Gabriella Pagnini
For my lead project I was a team captain for the Relay For Life in June. The relay was at Natick High School. As team captain, I was responsible for coordinating team fundraising, and pre event details. I went to four team captain meetings to prepare for the event. Relay was a huge success! My team raised over $500 for the American Cancer Society. This organization is very important to me because of family and friend connections. American Cancer Society is a great organization that supports individuals with cancer. Event attendance was not as strong this year as it was in the past, so I hope that attendance increases in the coming years. I hope that Relay continues to be a successful event!
Julia Reinach
For my lead project, I was a summer reading discussion leader for The Poet X. The Summer Reading discussions occurred on September 13 from 9:20-10:00 am, however I spent a lot of time over the summer reading the book, creating questions and forming a presentation. Throughout this process of being a discussion leader, I read the book, thought of discussion questions, answered emails from students regarding the book, found supplemental activities to do and stayed in contact with the Summer Reading Committee. My work on this project has made an impact on both the kids who had to do the summer reading discussions, on the teachers so they didn’t have to plan a lesson and on myself, because I learned a lot about how to best lead a “classroom” and how to facilitate meaningful discussions even when people didn’t want to talk. Throughout this process, I was able to communicate with my teacher partner if needed, and the leaders of the Summer Reading Committee to answer any questions. I would say that it was a success, and one student that I didn’t think would participate said something very profound about the impact of football on his life. I would definitely recommend this project because it was fun, I got to read an interesting book and also see the impact of this book on students.
Miranda Eschtruth
For my lead project, I created a lesson plan for one of the summer reading books, Americanized, and led one of its in-school discussions. Over the summer, I read the memoir and created thoughtful discussion questions, which I then uploaded to Google Classroom so that the students reading Americanized had ideas of what to think about as they read. To ensure engagement with the content, I uploaded to the Google Classroom four times over the summer. My posts ranged from 90s playlists based on the music the author listened to when she was younger, to brief timelines of the U.S.’s immigration policies to help students better understand the complex issue of immigration in this country. All this work led up to a final in-school summer reading discussion on Friday, September 13th. I helped guide the students through the discussion and explore their thoughts and opinions about the text. Besides benefitting the summer reading department by helping facilitate a discussion, I like to think having me as a discussion leader had a positive impact on the students, as I am a peer as opposed to a teacher. As a high schooler who has participated in these discussions in the past, I felt like I could better connect with the students than an adult would have, particularly considering puberty was a major theme in Americanized.
Genevieve Girard
For my lead project I led one of the summer reading book discussions at Natick High School for the book Gulp by Mary Roach. To do this, I first read the book and then I drafted a number of discussion questions about it. Throughout the summer I posted questions and new articles and readings related to the text to a Google Classroom that students reading this book had access to. These questions and articles allowed students to get a better understanding of the text and to dive deeper into the questions that it focused on. Then, in September I created a Google presentation that would be the basis for the reading group discussions on Gulp. This presentation included an ice breaker activity, a rapid review of the book, and discussion questions. On September 13, I led a group of students in a discussion of the book. Other teachers and adults led similar discussions with other groups using the presentation and questions that I had created. I believe that my work helped out the teachers who had to lead the discussions, as they didn’t have to come up with questions or material to talk about. Furthermore, I believe that it allowed students to better understand the underlying messages of the book.
Brooke Lallensack
On September 13th I got the opportunity to lead the summer reading book discussion for the book Hey Kiddo by Jarrett K. Krosocza. I read the book during the summer and created questions relating to the book. I worked hard to make the questions deep and insightful in order to elicit a thoughtful conversation from the students. Durning the discussion, I let the table groups talk about each question and share out so that there was less pressure, and they could bounce ideas off each other. Most participated, but It was difficult to keep such a large group engaged and to get the students to think insightfully about the questions. Overall I think it went smoothly and it was a great experience leading a lesson and guiding people's thinking.
Harrison Jung
For my lead project, I led the summer reading book discussion for the book Scythe by Neal Shusterman. To accomplish this, I first read the book over the summer and then I drafted a number of discussion questions about it. The book was an enjoyable read with important themes of immortality and personal sacrifice. Then, in September, I created a Google presentation that would be the shared template for all of the reading group discussions on the book, Scythe. This presentation included a quick ice breaker activity which included name tags, a rapid review of the book through a book trailer, and a comprehensive list of discussion questions. On September 13, I led a group of students in a discussion of Scythe. With the discussions, students could share their personal thoughts with one another and debate on the different meanings in the book. Students thoroughly enjoyed discussing the book with one another and passionately shared their own opinions and thoughts on the book.
Monish Kotturu
For my lead project, I co-led the Morse Institute Library Fall Book Sale with Riley Hansen. We gathered six National Honor Society members and organized hundreds of thousands of books of different categories (fiction, history, children’s, etc.), assisted customers in finding their favourites, bagged and transported their collections to their cars, and cleaned up after the sale. The project was a total of 14 hours of organizing the books, heavy lifting, and assisting the customers. It was very tiring but I had a lot of fun. Our hard work was paid off by the total collection of $11,772.16, which went towards the library for all museum passes, speed reads, teen programs, and programs for kids and adults. This sale raised one of the highest funds in the history of all book sales in the Morse Institute Library. Overall, this project was a great success and the library staff was very surprised and pleased by our efficiency in organizing and cleaning up the sale.
Riley Hansen
For my lead project, Monish Kotturu and I led a group of National Honor Society members in helping run the Fall Book Sale at the Morse Institute Library from September 19th-22nd. We led the group in setting up tables and boxes that held hundreds of books, aiding customers in finding books, and with replenishing the tables and shelves books were stocked on. The event ran smoothly, and we helped raise over $10,000 for the Morse Institute. Although this project was very physically demanding due to the amount of running around that is required and the heavy lifting of books, I believe that it turned out to be very successful. The librarians were ecstatic to have so many volunteers assist them with running the sale, and were very delighted in just how profitable the sale was this year.
Alicia Paglia
For my lead project this year, I organized the summer reading discussion of the novel Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown. I spent time over the summer months reading the book and keeping up to date with a Google Classroom page in which I created extension activities and additional information for students reading my book to dive deeper into the novel's world. I crafted a list of similar books with summaries, found videos that explained some of the more complicated social issues in the book, and created discussion questions that enabled lively and interesting conversations on September 13th. I really enjoyed this opportunity as it gave me the chance to see what the summer reading discussions I'd participated in throughout my schooling look like from the other side. I was able to use what I'd learned from my past experiences to create a better discussion, and was sad when the bell rang and it was time to go! Overall, I think that all parties involved with this project gained a lot from the time put into it, and I'm so glad that my work was able to make a positive impact on underclassmen who may now look at reading in a new light.
Madison Dunn
For my lead project, I ran a table at open house for Mentorship and other club representatives that may not have had tables. This occurred on October 3rd from 6-8:30. To prepare for this project, I talked to lots of mentors who I was able to recruit to help with the table. I also sent emails to National Honors Society members letting them know they could talk about their clubs as well, even if they are not current mentors. I also created signs and posters for parents to see what our table was meant for. At open house, I was at the table and parents were allowed to come to the table to learn about mentorship and ask questions. Many parents were interested in this club as it is relatively new to NHS and many of them had questions about how their students can join and how their students can join as this is a club that you have to be accepted into. I was also able to recruit a few other students to talk about their clubs. This had a large impact on the parents because they had many questions that we were able to answer and many parents left saying that they were going to try to encourage their students to join.
Sophia Kovatsis
For my lead this year I organized volunteers for Pam's Run -- a nonprofit organization’s fun-run held in October each year. This year, it was in Wayland on October 20, 2019. I was in charge of recruiting volunteers, organizing t-shirt sizes for everyone, and communicating directions between volunteers and the event’s staff. I attended meetings once a month to organize how the race would occur, and prepped runners’ bags as well as volunteer information to go along with their shirts. On the day of the race, I helped organize t-shirts to be picked up by the volunteers and the course map for where volunteers would stand to direct runners. One challenge that I faced was recruiting. It was hard for high schoolers to commit to something so far in advance, so I had to turn to other outlets to find volunteers. One thing that went well was the event itself. All volunteers arrived on time and knew what they were doing, and it was easy for them to grab the information they needed to help out on the course.
Alanna Mariano
For my lead project, I was the captain for an Alzheimer’s Walk team. It was on September 22nd in Cambridge, MA. I was in charge of organizing the team roster, fundraising, ordering T-Shirts and organizing forms. I spent 3 hours organizing and 2 hours on the walk day. As a team, we could have begun fundraising earlier, in order to raise more money. We also could have used other ways of fundraising, as we only reached out to friends and family. From this project, I learned that when people come together as a community, we can make an impact on many people's lives. Personally, I have been affected by this disease, as my Nonno passed away from it, so having the ability to help families also struggling with this disease was rewarding.
Danielle Cohen
For my lead, I collected donations for Circle of Hope in Needham. At Circle of Hope, they collect donations for different homeless shelters in the Boston and Metrowest area. They collect many goods, but for my project, I collected winter gear. I set up a box in the lobby of my dance studio for about 2 weeks asking for donations. Every day I would collect all the new donations and sort them out by what they were. My family and I also donated a bunch of stuff along with all the stuff donated at my dance studio. When we brought all the donations, they were super grateful because going into the winter they are going to need lots of winter gear to donate to the homeless. Overall this project was super rewarding and I hope all the donations are given to people who need them and it makes them smile. I definitely plan on doing this again next winter if I get the opportunity to do so.
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.
Camilla Samuel
This year for my lead project, I coordinated volunteers for 8th Grade Parent Night in January. I worked with Mr. Garry to find tour guides and panelists for the event. We met in person ahead of time to discuss the information I would need to communicate to about twenty student volunteers. The night of, I arrived early to help set up the lobby with signs, and was in charge of directing volunteers. I was able to lead two groups of parents around the building, showing them important locations, telling them basic information about the school day and student life, and answering any questions they may have had about the school. The parents were incredibly thankful for our time and were introduced to the community in which their children will be spending the next four years. Last year, I participated in the parent night for assist hours, but it was exciting to be able to help plan the event this year.
David Drew
This year I took the lead on the Justin Bailey food drive, which took place on January 4th, 2020. The project is in remembrance of Justin Bailey who died his senior year at Natick High School. This year I took the lead to organize the project. It was my job to send out the message of this event as well as what Mr.Bailey wants the Natick Hockey community to get out of it as well. Before the event I sat down with Mr. Bailey to gage the direction in which he would like the project to go, and why it is important. From there I was able to take my notes and create a small write up on what Mr. Bailey though it was important for everyone to know. The event wasn’t just about his son, yet getting a new generation of students to take on the project and help others in need. This is how the legacy of his son will be carried on. After that email was sent out and I talked to all the boys hockey teams, I informed both the boys and girls coaches of both Natick and Milton who we would be playing that night to inform them of the event. People were told to bring in food which would be donated to the Natick Food Pantry. After that was done, I set up a google doc where kids on the JV hockey team could sign up to help out in collecting the food from people who walked in and sorting it into the food into their respective bins. There wasn’t much done that could have improved the project, but we could have had more participation from the JV1 and JV2 hockey team. I completed most of my part of the project at home when it came to organizing the event, but the project itself took place at the Natick Hockey Rink.
Rayna Carner
On Dec 18, 2019, I led Natick High’s Sevens’ Not Enough A Cappella group in caroling at Mary Ann Morse nursing home. Preparation involved gathering a packet of carols, and teaching songs and harmonies at a cappella rehearsals on Sunday nights. On the day of the gig, about 15 Sevens’ numbers traveled around various rooms at Mary Ann Morse singing and spreading holiday cheer. The residents were great listeners and many expressed their gratitude. It was so rewarding to know we had spread cheer and provided a change of scene for some of the older members of the Natick community.
Delaney Ross
For my lead project, I coached a first-grade boys intramural soccer team with Zach Henderson. This experience allowed me to give back to Natick Soccer Club which was the first organization that I played soccer for. Our season began in September and ended in November. We held practices every Wednesday and games took place every Saturday at Ben Hem Elementary School. As a coach, I was responsible for sending out emails telling the parents the schedule of the week, planning practices, running practices, and coaching games. We focused on teaching the kids the fundamental skills of soccer such as passing, shooting, and the basic rules of the game while still having a lot of fun and playing games. From this experience, I was able to build relationships with younger players in Natick by teaching them something that I love.
Joseph Colasacco
For my senior year lead project, I was one of the coordinators for TOPSoccer. TOPSoccer is a program where high schoolers teach special needs children how to play soccer. This event was every Sunday morning from September to November from 11-12:30. Throughout the process of the project there was a lot of preparation. We had to recruit volunteers, match up athletes with volunteers (buddies), set up drills, and run sessions weekly. I mainly recruited volunteers that were on the Natick Soccer High School teams because they are a great group of people and are enthusiastic towards the sport. After we did that we had to see which athlete would benefit the most from which volunteer. During the actual sessions, I would get there early and set up different drills for the day. We would set up drills like soccer bowling, obstacle course and red light green light games. Then once the athletes got there we would divide them into groups to make sure all the athletes were in a comfortable environment with their buddies. At the end of the day we would coordinate a big game between the athletes and I would referee; making sure each kid got the ball and enjoyed playing. I have been a part of TOPSoccer since I was in eighth grade and am proud that I was selected to be a coordinator for this year. It has been an amazing experience and I believe that I have impacted all of these children's lives because TOPS allows them to be in an environment where they can express themselves and play a game they enjoy. Overall, TOPSoccer is an amazing program that helps kids with special needs learn the game, work with others, and have fun. Being able to lead it has been a great experience for me. My lead this year allowed me to teach kids about the sport that I love - and in return they have given me one of the best experiences of my life.
Jason Chase
For my lead project, I led a group of 12 year old club baseball players through four hours of baseball workouts and practices on February 22nd at Metrowest Sportscenter in Ashland, MA. In an effort to gain structure and have a successful session, the volunteer team recruited from Ashland High School and my baseball team and I showed up early and had a planning session. This planning session revolved around the kind of workouts that we will be running the kids through and the schedule for when we will be doing hitting, fielding, and other activities. Once we got into the activities everything went smoothly as we were able to go by the script and keep the kids busy. Overall, this was a great experience helping younger kids better themselves while enjoying themselves.
Zachary Henderson
I did my project at the Ben Hem Elementary School soccer field during the fall soccer season. For my project, I coached a boys first grade intramural soccer team with Laney Ross. We had practices on Wednesday’s and games on Saturday’s. This project started around mid-September and ended early November. I impacted the players on my team because I was able to teach them basic skills for the game of soccer and I did that while having fun so they were able to build an enjoyment for playing soccer.
David Mega
For my lead project, I organized a board book and toy drive over the course of the last month for the 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 infants and toddlers to kindergarten-aged kids. I approved the project with the school, sent out emails to friends and family, as well as many families in the hockey program to spread the word about the drive. I collected around 300 donations and delivered them to the school over February break, spending time with students and faculty. 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 school. However, this decreases the supply of books at the school throughout the year, so my lead project helped provide the school with many books for students in and out of the classroom.
Madison Hymes
For my lead project, Gabby Lam and I co-led organizing a bake sale at Natick High School to raise money for the Natick Service Council. With this money, we purchased materials such as plates and streamers and created birthday kit boxes for children whose families cannot afford to throw them a birthday party. The Natick Service Council organizes ways to help the Natick community, and this was our project within their larger mission. Our responsibilities before the bake sale were filling out forms from the office to find a time for the bake sale and communicating with the superintendent to approve our idea. After the bake sale, we purchased the items and put the packages together. Overall, this project went very smoothly and was very beneficial because we were able to help children celebrate their birthdays!
Juliana Green
This past summer, I taught a class on how to make reusable menstrual pads at a school called Starfish International in The Gambia, West Africa. I have sewn for years so I wanted to share a hobby of mine in a way that could help others. Menstrual hygiene products are not easily accessible in The Gambia and so often female students will miss up to a week of school each month due to their menstrual cycle. To begin this project, I reached out to the daughter of the head of the business center at Starfish via email. By reaching to her, I was able to get a sense of what materials were needed at Starfish and answer some of the questions I had about how to go about the project. After that, I researched the materials needed for the pads and determined that the best materials to use would be cotton, flannel, and fleece. I made a prototype of the pad so that I would be prepared to teach the class. Sewing can be confusing because you sew on the wrong side of the fabric and then end up turning it inside out. I’m glad I did a prototype because I ended up doing it wrong and the flannel ended up on the outside when it was supposed to be the middle layer. Once I was set on the design of the pads, I collected fabric. I reached out to JoAnns Fabrics about hosting a fundraising event outside their store so I could ask customers if they would be willing to purchase these fabrics while they shopped and then donate them to my fundraiser. I went to the JoAnns store in Natick to talk to the manager but was then prompted to call their human resources department. I got stuck in a cycle of being told to call other departments. The process was very frustrating and I never got a final answer on permission to do the fundraiser so I wasn’t able to host this event. Instead, I collected scrap fabrics from my house and received fabric donations from family members. This experience taught me the importance of planning far in advance because setting up events can take a lot of preparation. Teaching the class at Starfish was so much fun, I loved it! We had three sewing classes. On the first day, I wrote out the step by step process for making the pads on a whiteboard and each girl copied the steps into their notebook. I explained to them the purpose of each of the three layers of fabric and the mentors at Starfish explained the process of washing the pads in order to prevent infection. The rest of that day was spent cutting fabric for the pads. It was very chaotic because there were about 25 girls all trying to cut fabric at once when we only had about four pairs of scissors. Once we moved on to sewing though, completing the pads didn’t actually take that much time. I helped the girls with sewing when they needed it and showed them where to stitch and when to turn the fabric. I really enjoyed spending the time working with the Starfish girls and getting to know them. Two of my best friends, Aisha and Ndey Fatou, were in the class so it was really fun. Within the next two days, every girl in the class finished one pad, some girls even finished two! The day after the class, one of the girls came to Starfish and told me that she was wearing her pad right then. It made me so happy to see she was actually using the pad and that the time I had spent putting this project together was worth it because the girls were benefitting from the pads. I talked to Ndey Fatou recently and asked if she uses her pad. She said she doesn’t because she gave it to her friend, but that her friend loves it! This project meant so much to me because it was my first time employing sustainable development techniques and it was amazing to see that it made an impact. I really believe in sustainable education, I think that teaching developing communities how to provide for themselves is so important. The reason I taught the class on how to make reusable menstrual pads instead of bringing a bunch of pre-made pads was so that the Gambian girls would learn how to make the pads. Then they would be able to make more pads for themselves in the future, and teach their siblings and peers how to make them too. This approach has a greater long term impact than if I had just brought 25 pads for each of the girls in the class. Teaching this class definitely confirmed that I want to pursue an education and a career path in international development. After coming back from The Gambia, teaching this class has also led me to so many other amazing opportunities. I was given the chance to teach a professional development class for teachers at our school on how to make reusable menstrual pads and share my experience in The Gambia, as well as work with students in the Northstar program to help them get community service hours by making pads for the Starfish girls. I really enjoyed both of these experiences!
Maxine Garbacz
For my lead project, Liz Rosas and I coached a group of 7th and 8th grade gymnasts. We coached these girls on February 22nd and 29th from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at Gymnastics Express in Natick. For this project, Liz and I had numerous responsibilities including contacting the gymnasts and their parents, researching effective workout plans, creating a workout, and contacting Gymnastics Express. We reached out to coaches at this gym to plan a successful practice for the kids. During the workouts, we explained and demonstrated what tasks the girls had to compete and we assisted anyone struggling. Overall, this project was a great success because the girls seemed to enjoy themselves and were motivated to exercise.
Class of 2021 Lead Paragraphs
Elli Gurguliatos
For my lead project, I lead an event within my church community making cards for seniors living at the Hellenic Nursing home. The goal was to make greeting cards with positive messages in both Greek and English to bring joy to the elderly without the obstacle of language barriers. I organized the time and space, advertised, and purchased supplies for the event. On Sunday, March 1st, after service, parishioners visited the table I had set up and helped me make colorful cards, with messages like “we are thinking of you”, “we love you”, “σε αγαπάμε”, etc. It was wonderful to see both little kids and older adults participating to spread love. During the event, several adults with parents in the nursing home expressed their appreciation for our service, and kids were making cards while thinking lovingly of their Yiayia and Papou. In total, we exceeded my goal and made over 100 beautiful cards, which I mailed to the nursing home.
Ashna Hille
During this time, my sister and I have been amazed by the mobilization of our community to support each other and wanted to use some of our time in quarantine to contribute to the effort. We decided to perform a Quarantine Benefit Concert on Tuesday March 31st to raise money to support local businesses who have been forced to close their doors due to the COVID-19 crisis. After a week of rehearsing eight songs to sing, my sister and I performed the concert by streaming the video on Facebook and Youtube. Our fundraising goal for the concert was $500, but we received an overwhelming response and resulted with a total of $1405. With the money raised, we bought gift cards from local businesses in our area, to have a little money coming in even when services could not be provided. We then distributed these gift cards to some donors randomly, and encouraged them to give them to anyone who is still working during this time to fight the virus: doctors, nurses, grocery store workers, truck drivers, etc. In order for this event to go smoothly, I collaborated with my dad—who helped us with the tech for the concert—to test the microphone and the cameras for the livestream. Furthermore, I chose the songs for the concert, printed out all of the lyric and chord sheets, and communicated with a recording company to purchase a license to be able to sing one of their songs. I also handled thanking all of our donors, purchasing gift cards from local businesses, and distributing them to some of our donors. I am now in the process of planning our next concert!
Abigail Hayes
As my lead project, I helped Juliana Green fundraise for the Boston Marathon. She is running the marathon and donating the money she raises to the Change the World Club that will help low income kids be able to travel to the Gambia in West Africa. Both Juliana and I spent 2.5 weeks in the Gambia this past summer working with the girls there to learn how to sew, make soap, and take a photography class. As a fundraiser, I set up a night at California Pizza Kitchen where I would make flyers and advertise it and people go in with the flyer and a certain amount of the money raised will go towards the money Juliana is raising. Setting up this fundraiser was extremely benefitting for me because I had to communicate by phone, email, and in person to work out the logistics and make the night happen. I really enjoyed helping Juliana raise the money she needs and we get to see the direct result of what we are doing. Since the marathon was cancelled due to COVID-19, the money that was raised still went towards Starfish however she obviously didn't run.