2020-2021

Class of 2021 Lead Paragraphs

Kate Connolly

For my lead project, I represented the Key Club at the first ever school-wide Equity Collaborative! It was a really wonderful experience that was super proactive and very necessary for us to all talk about. We first started with the amazing and passionate speech by Mr. Adams which was very engaging and so cool to have some of our fellow classmates participate in. Then, we followed up with a discussion, which started with a simple ice breaking of names and favorite food, and then we dived deeper into the important topic of racism using the MOO discussion acronym that Mr. Adams explained in his speech. Our conversation mainly revolved around how it is easy to post about activism on social media and to say that you are anti-racist, but to really make a change you need to act on it and really use your voice. At first it was a little hard to get the conversation going, because of course it is not an easy conversation, but it was extremely necessary and once we got the conversation flowing it was very productive and informative!

Ali Kammer

For my lead project I decided to gather a group of friends to help out with an online camp for students who are visually impaired. My mom works as a teacher for students who are visually impaired so I helped her on zoom to run activities and watch over the kids. I made fun activities for the students to do and helped them with some school work as well. I organized and led breakout room sessions as well. Not only was it fun for my friends and I, but I also learned different things like folding money a certain way so people who are visually impaired can tell the worth of each bill.

Ella Gerrard

For my lead project, I lead a group of students to clean up areas along the lake behind our school. In my marine science class, I had learned the impact of material pollution on bodies of water and wanted to investigate how this impacted us as a school. I got together some students to help me collect trash in and around Dug pond on two separate collection dates. Together we collected 12.7 pounds of material pollution. With this I was able to weigh each type of material and find what exactly ends up in our pond. You can contact me for more information on my study. This project worked to clean the areas around our school and make a better environment for students.

Vicotoria Laub

My day running groups in the equality co-op ran smoothly with lots of participation and complex conversations. The group I was assigned to for the first two blocks had really insightful conversations about the lecture and utilizing the MOO strategy. The second group paid close attention as I talked about the National Honor Society, leadership and character building, and celebrity involvement in social justice movements. I feel as if I acted as leader for conversation that made everyone feel welcome to be vulnerable and open in a safe space.

Cami Young

For my lead project, I brought in card making materials to the place that I work and had kids between the ages of 4 and 12 make cards that would be sent to an elderly home. I first talked to the kids and educated them about how many older people have struggled during the pandemic because they are not allowed many visitors so many have been lonely. Then the kids got to make cards for them on construction paper and I did this at a few of my shifts. Some of the younger kids needed help making them so I helped when they needed it, some of them also had illegible handwriting so I checked them all and remade a few of them. I think that this was a great way to connect multiple generations in our community and helped the kids sympathize with the older community and recognize some of the ways that the pandemic has affected them. If I could redo this, I would also bring the card materials to my tennis clinics so kids my age could also get involved but otherwise I thought that the project ran very smoothly.

Adelaide Braunhill

I led blocks 2 and 3 and also assisted my advisor, Mr. Wall, in blocks 1 and 2. We had a great discussion about using pronouns and encountering difficult situations of ignorance and frustration. I think it went really well. I think after our discussion we all left feeling better about handling difficult situations.

Helen Zhao

For my lead project, I gathered a small group of people to create wellness check-in cards to send to people. We spent an afternoon hand-crafting cards to mail and hand-deliver to people that we felt needed more recognition for their endurance and hard work. Covid-19 has been a very challenging time for everyone, and a lot of people have been struggling with managing the pandemic and their mental health at the same time. We created positivity cards, with thoughtful and inspirational messages custom tailored to the recipient inside. The receival of these cards was meant to bring a light to their day, and help remind them that they are loved, cherished, and valued.

Annika Sunsted

As a member of the Principal's Advisory Class working directly with Mr. Harrigan, we had a role in the Equity Collaborative which was a school-wide conference to promote a culture of anti-racism, inclusion and equity. On Friday, May 7th I went to two different classrooms to teach lessons for this event. In the first two blocks, I set up Jamele Adams' livestream and then led a discussion to debrief his presentation. We discussed topics of exclusion, identity, and respect. The second half of the school day consisted of more hands-on activities. I presented the PAC activity which involved topics of privilege in housing and unfairness among minority groups. Lastly, I helped set up the rock painting activity at the end of the conference where students expressed themselves and what they learned that day through art. It was a very successful event and I had a lot of fun working interactively with students from other grades, as this is something I haven't done since over a year ago!

Sophia Wick

For my lead project, I, along with Sarah Venditti, created and presented a workshop on Inequities in Natick on behalf of Key Club at the Equity Collaborative. I attended bi-weekly meetings with representatives from all of NHS’s clubs starting in December up until the Equity Collaborative showcase. In the meetings we worked together to plan and practice our lessons. For Key Club, we designed a lesson on inequities that exist in Natick, organizations that are working to combat them, and activities students can participate in to help. I created an activity where students in the workshop were assigned a local organization to research and had to come up with ideas of how to assist these organizations. On the day of the Equity Collaborative, I presented the workshop to a class and they created some amazing presentations on the different local organizations! I am so happy that I was able to contribute to making a difference in our school and in our community.

Nora Elbasha

I helped create the overall lesson with the other representatives, in addition to creating an entire presentation on Gender Expression and fluidity by myself. With this gender lesson, I held a few sessions where I taught the Peer Advocates, so that they too will be able to lead the lesson on the day of the Co-op. Because this lesson was quite intricate (and required plenty of time for research), I also recorded a video presentation that can be shown to classes for students who do not feel comfortable presenting this topic on their own. Plus, of course, I presented during the conference day as well.

I helped create the lesson with other PAC students, though I admittedly spent much less time on this one, since I am first and foremost a representative for Peer Advocates. In PAC, we also will be taking two hours to spray a top coat on top of all of the rocks from the conference.

Rebecca Speigel

This year for my lead project I helped lead an Equity Collaborative school-wide presentation. I was lucky enough to be paired with my close friend, Katie. Together we met after school to go over each slide show and figure out who would be presenting what. We felt confident in our work and could not wait for the presentation day. On the day, however, the students were so interactive with their conversations that we did not want them to stop. Overall the day was very successful and I hope the school continues to do this event in the future.

Mary Dougherty

For my lead project, I participated in the Equity Collaborative, a schoolwide event to educate students on how we as a school community can strive to be more equitable and understanding of others. To prepare for the event, I attended virtual meetings with other student presenters, and when the meeting time didn't work with my schedule I watched video recordings to receive new information about how the day would run. On the day of the event, I led discussions on Mr. Jamele Adams' presentation about how to apply the MOO acronym ("My History, Our Lives, and Our Future") to commonly seen inequities, as well as a discussion for Key Club, a community service club that I am the Vice President of, about specific inequities in Natick. The hands-on activities that my group completed were informational posters about local organizations in Natick whose goal is to help the effects of these inequities such as homelessness and food insecurity, as well as rock painting to portray the message that "equity rocks". I chose to participate in the collaborative because I wanted to represent Key Club to my peers, while covering important topics for our school, and I was really happy to be a part of it!

Yelisse Jarmillo

My Lead project was Co-lead with Kaitlyn Dempsey. While on vacation on the island of Maui Hawaii we spent three mornings picking up trash in nearby parks and beaches. Several of our friends and families joined us and collectively we were all able to pick up several trash bags filled with various types of trash. Other locals and tourists caught on to what we were doing and were inspired to also pick up a few pieces of trash as they walked by. It brought to my attention that even the most beautiful places on earth are not always handled with the respect they deserve. Much of the trash picked up was found hidden within the bushes and unfortunately a large portion of it was plastic. Although picking up trash may seem like an unpleasant experience it was truly satisfying. Knowing the pounds of trash we picked up were properly disposed instead of blowing into the ocean is very rewarding. Doing this lead project was a small act to give back to the beautiful community and island of Maui.

Patrick Fleming

I taught a class full of young kids (ages 6-12) in Wellesley in place of the head coach that could not make it. I set up and organized drills, games, and races for the class to participate in. We used hurdles and other track and field equipment. The kids learned more about the anatomy of the body, more about track and field, and more about how hard they can push themselves. My lesson was about self-production. At the end of the session, the kids knew they were able to push themselves and make themselves better by themselves. They knew that to improve, then it takes self-determination. I was happy to give some of my time to the youth.

Katherine DiPalma

For my lead project, I was a student leader in the Equity Collaborative. I first heard about it through the National Honors Society, and thought it was a really great way to help foster discussion at Natick High School. I helped co-lead a RLA presentation and discussion for Politics Club. It was a little nerve-racking because I didn’t want to misrepresent the club. However, it went really well. Our group did an excellent job diving into discussion, and I really enjoyed being a part of it. Hayden and I kept these discussions on track and flowing well. We talked alot about how respect played a huge role in political discussions, and the different climates of face to face vs online environments.

Bailey Gerson

For my lead project, I participated in the Equity Collaborative and represented the Principal’s Advisory Class at the first annual Equity Co-Op. In the weeks and months leading up to the Co-Op, I worked with other students in the Principal’s Advisory Class to develop a creative and interactive lesson to teach students about equity. I presented this lesson during Block 3 of the Co-Op. The lesson involved an activity in which two teams of students with access to different materials built cities. We then examined the inequalities between the two cities and connected it to the real world and the specific topic of redlining. I also led a discussion during Block 2 to recap Jamele Adams’ remarks and practice using the MOO technique to have complex conversations. Through this project, I hope the students developed a greater understanding of equity and how they can make a difference in creating a more equitable future for all.

Nick Melisi

I chose the equity collaborative because I felt that it was an event that was indicative of the beliefs of inclusion held by Natick High School and by myself, so I felt a deep obligation to participate in finding success for this event. For preparation, I attended as many meetings as possible, and watched the recordings of the meetings I could not attend, I thoroughly reviewed the slideshows and docs used to describe how the day would play out; however, for my portion where I represented National Honors Society during third period, I had a distinct lapse in memory from our meetings, so I reached out to a few of my fellow members to discuss what the plan was for third period. Then, I reviewed the slides I was to present and felt confident and ready to present on the day. As for the event itself, I felt confident going in and was prepared for the difficulty of the topics; however, I feel as though I was unprepared for the sheer lack of response I would receive. While the students talked amongst themselves I heard their great ideas and they were all successfully able to perform MOO(My history, Our lives, Our future) in conversation, but most were unwilling to share out in front of the class, but, with the help of the in-class teacher, I was able to begin a very productive conversation. Of course, I believe I should have done more of an icebreaker with the students so that they felt more comfortable sharing, and so I could better cement their names before I began presenting. Overall I would describe it as a strong success, but there are naturally some areas where improvement in the future could result in a greater success.

Caitlin Collins

For my lead project, I participated in the Equity Collab and represented the National Honor

Society. I led two presentations throughout the day. The first presentation was to recap Jamele Adams' speech and practice using the MOO technique to discuss complex conversation topics. The second presentation I led was to teach two of the four pillars of National Honor Society, character and leadership, and how they relate to social justice. These two qualities are important for Natick High School students to embody in order to create an environment of equity and inclusion in our school and our town. I hope that the students I presented to enjoyed the lessons and learned something new.

Adelaide Braunhilll

I chose to participate in the Equity Collab because I was interested in being a part of the discussion to promote equity at natick highschool. I prepared for the collaboration by attending meetings facilitated by Ms. Tramontozzi, Mr. Cesarini and Ms. Burns, as well as on my own with Ms. Tramontozzi. I represented the National Honors Society club and lead blocks 2 and 3 remotely with Mr. Wall. My lesson was about how the national honors society promotes its values and how we can look at celebrities using their voice for social justice. I do not think I would have done anything differently. My group of students was very small, there were only about nine of them, and they were very engaged and were lovely to spend the day with.

Andy Meeker

The Equity Collaborative immediately caught my attention because I saw it as the perfect way to hold myself accountable for the anti-racist learning and activism, and I loved how its main goal was to make the community we have here at Natick High more inclusive. Starting in January, I attended Thursday afternoon meetings to plan the event with my peers and our advisors. While everything seemed quite overwhelming and ambiguous, our lessons became more concrete and we became more confident with each meeting. I worked with two fellow NHS members, Elli Gurguliatos and Noah Sneed, to create a lesson that intertwined our organization's pillars with activism and social justice. We emphasized the role that leadership and character plays in your allyship to a cause and your dedication to unlearning your own racism and speaking up against injustices in the world. When the actual collaborative day rolled around, everything went well! Since I struggle with public speaking, I was proud of my ability to communicate all the ideas in my head to the class I was teaching. If I could've done anything any differently, I would've had the class spend more time discussing with each other, because that's when they were the most engaged. Overall, I felt like the Equity Collaborative was a success, and I hope the school continues to hold it in the future!

Mary McMahon

I first heard about the Equity Collab in March and encouraged a few girls from Girls Who Code to sign up. Francesca and Aiyina were amazing and decided to take charge of creating the presentation. For those representing Girls Who Code, we decided to discuss the gender gap in STEM and how the issue can be improved. The presentation included "spotlight" videos of women in tech, current statistics about the gender gap, and even data about gender ratios in Natick High School classes. It was a cool opportunity to present something I was passionate about and I am thankful for the experience.

Vinith Yedidi

I chose to participate in the Equity Collaborative for the National Honor Society club because I liked the message about complex conversations and how to deal with talking about sensitive issues. As a person of color in Natick, it's important to me that we talk about issues like race and gender openly so that we can make progress. To prepare for the Collaborative, I attended several meetings where we were instructed on the material we would be covering, including how to lead discussions about potentially sensitive issues. I then prepared on my own, practicing these conversations with friends and family. While I wasn't able to attend the Collaborative because I fell ill, I felt like I still contributed to the conversation and I hope that I can continue contributing in the future. If I were to do something differently, I would elect to present from a club that is nearer to me, such as music.

Tyler Mastromatteo

When I first heard about the Equity Collab it sounded like the perfect opportunity to give back to Natick High by leading and educating my fellow students. In the weeks leading up to the event I prepared for my presentation by closely reviewing the slides and rehearsing the points that I wanted to get across. I represented The Natick Choir Program and conducted a presentation regarding equity and inclusivity within the program. The focus of my presentation was how we as a choir can ensure, through music, that different cultures are appreciated and properly represented rather than generalized and appropriated. Furthermore, I spoke about how to carry out complex conversation and how to express and appreciate one's own identity. If I could change something about my presentation I would have designed it to be more interactive in order to let the audience more effectively understand the themes of the seminar.

hannak Takasaki

For my lead project, I participated in the Equity Co-op on May 7th. Beginning in the winter, I worked alongside three other students in the A capella club to create a lesson on diversity and multiculturalism in music. We met every week to design the plan, and discuss with others participating in the Co-op on how the day will run, as well as brainstorm the follow-up discussion after Jamele Adams’ speech. On the day of the Co-op, I led a class discussion following Mr. Adams' speech, in which we practiced using MOO (My history, Our lives, Our future). In the next block, I presented my club’s presentation to a class. In our presentation, we broke down the origin of a capella and challenged our current Eurocentric view towards a capella by finding videos of a capella groups around the world. The class shared out the videos they found, and we discussed how our perspectives had changed by watching the videos. Then, we moved on to discuss diversity in music in general, as well as how music can be used as a vehicle for social change. These discussions were extremely productive and successful, as the students shared many interesting perspectives and ideas with the class. Overall, the Co-op was very successful and provided a great opportunity to discuss important issues and practice meaningful conversations.

Amber Lavoie

Being a part of the Equity Collab for NHS Choirs, I helped to create a plan for our lesson, research and put together the presentation, I created a bullet points document to help the presenters prepare for the Co-op, and I led a question and last minute preparation meeting with the other NHS Choirs representatives. Our lesson was about identity in music, how to properly appreciate music, and how we can continue to educate ourselves through music and choir to be equitable and inclusive in a respectful manner.

Alex Cohen

For my lead project, I was a student presenter at the Equity Collab representing National Honor Society. I led two presentations throughout the day, one of which was a recap of guest speaker Jamele Adams' speech, where I led a class of freshmen through the M.O.O. (My history, Our lives, Our future) technique of having complex, difficult conversations. This was a very productive and successful presentation, the students were all very engaged and participated a lot. The second presentation, about the 4 pillars of National Honor Society and celebrities' roles as leaders, was with a group of sophomores, who were attentive but not very enthusiastic and didn't participate a lot. It was difficult to keep the momentum with this group. Overall, I'm pleased with how the day went, and how my presentations went. In the future, I would plan better for different types of audiences.

Noah Sneed

When I started participating in the equity collaborative, I simply saw it as an opportunity to get my lead hours done in a group setting and seemed like it wouldn't be a ton of work. However it was made very clear in the first meeting that this group had extremely lofty goals, and was hellbent of achieving them. When I first heard that we were going to run a school wide event that every student was going to participate in, I was in awe. I was on the team to prepare the presentation that would represent the National Honors Society for the equity collab along with Ellie G. and Andy M. As we bounced ideas off of eachother and discussed what activities would best get out points across, we settled on wanting to focus our presentation on the four pillars of the National honors society, specifically character and leadership. To tie down our presentation to real world events we decided to focus on character and leadership in social justice. The presentation went really well. It relied heavily on group discussions, and the class was extremely willing to participate. We were successful in teaching the kids how to deal with microaggressions, and how to get involved in local and even global causes. If I could join the equity collaborative again, I would in a heartbeat.

Antonio Arena

With a surplus of PPE inventory due to the pandemic, it had been very difficult for the Health Department to keep their storage organized and easily accessible to help those in need. We had organized a project which would organize and perform logistics for the Board of Health's inventory. The project was successful in completely revamping the inventory process for categorizing all the different types of resources within the storage facility. It is far more organized now with items systematically placed in groups and correctly labeled for easy access and helps the Board of Health perform their job far more efficiently.

Carly McCarthy

For my lead project, I worked with Emily Bubonovich to hold a food drive in my neighborhood. We spread awareness of our project by creating flyers and distributing them throughout. To collect donations we placed a bin outside and collected monetary donations. After collecting said donations, we went grocery shopping to buy items that were needed at Natick Service Council. Ourlead project was very successful, although we ran into a minor hiccup that the NSC is not actively collecting donations. Instead, we were able to bring our 50+ donations to a donation box at the Natick Roche Bros. Overall it was a rewarding experience knowing that our work paid off and will be able to help others.

Emily Cochi

For my lead project I was a student presenter in the Equity Collab. I led two presentations. One presentation was a recap of Jamele's speech, and the other was a presentation about helping create equity in Natick through groups like Family Promise and the Food Pantry. I think that it went well and I hope that if the students enjoyed the presentations and found them helpful.

Molly Healy

I think that the first half of the day worked well and for the most part students were open to answering hard questions that were often brought up. I had a junior class for this section so they were all respectful and mature about having different opinions than their classmates. Building off of the M.O.O presentation was a great way to start and get the students in the right state of mind for these hard and maybe uncomfortable conversations. The second part of the day which was club lead went well. I had a sophomore class which worked great because my group was talking about community service and they were all looking into community service to complete their junior year requirements. They were able to learn about three great local volunteer centers that all specialized in different things. I believe we were able to accomplish bringing awareness to these awesome places and maybe even encourage some students to volunteer or donate to these places over the summer and next year.

Amelia Weber

I chose to participate in the Equity Collab because I identified with the National Honor Society presentation on Leadership & Character in Social Justice, and I wanted to facilitate a discussion about it. I prepared for the collaboration by attending meetings and practicing the presentations. I thought about what I might be interested in learning about as a student watching the presentation, and chose to emphasize those parts. I wanted to ensure that the discussion was meaningful and vibrant. I made sure to think of conversation starters and topics to talk about. Both of the discussions I led were productive and we had many complex conversations. If I could have changed anything, I would have given more time for the discussions because they felt restrained by time, and by the end it still felt like we had more things to add.

Jei Lin Houston

For my lead project, I participated in the Equity Collaborative. I chose to participate in the Equity Collab because I loved the idea of leading my peers in discussions and activities I’m passionate about, fighting racism and hate. To prepare for the Collab, I attended all the planning and run-through meetings as well as practiced my presentations on my own time. The club I represented for the Collab was National Honor Society. We presented about how to be a leader in our community, especially when faced with difficult challenges. If I could change anything about my presentations that day, I would probably make changes to how I presented for the first half of the day. For the first presentation, I wasn’t as confident as I was for my second presentation and it was able to be seen when I presented the first half of the day.

Martha Jennings

I was very happy with how the Equity Collaborative day went. For my first class, I was pleasantly surprised by how enthusiastic and excited the students were to engage in meaningful and productive conversations using the MOO acronym. The students were so engaged that we ran out of time to complete the tough conversation. In the future, I think a longer amount of time for this activity would be amazing, as the students were interested in continuing. My second class, where I presented for the National Honor Society, was a little bit tougher. The students were quiet and hesitant to engage with the presentation. I was lucky enough to combine with another NHS student’s group for this, and together we did our best to get the students talking. Given the class we were assigned, I think we did a pretty good job getting them to talk about the pillars of NHS, even if they were not super excited about it.

Katherine Dimmick

In preparation for the Equity Collaborative, I attended virtual meetings, gathered materials, planned ahead with my partner, and practiced MOO discussions with my peers. Additionally, I read up on the history of equity, equality, and racism in the town of Natick. I presented a summary of Jamele Adams’s speech, led and directed several discussions with the MOO technique, represented National Honors Society in a second presentation, and led several more discussions regarding equity, action, and anti-racism. I was able to think on the spot for conversation redirection/ drawing connections while opening up a successful safe space for sharing personal experiences and tough topics. I believe that everyone left the classroom after our time together with a more open mind, more respect for one another, and heightened awareness.

Christian Popp

I chose to participate in the Equity Collab because I felt it was important to have complex conversations about the world we live in today. I think it's necessary to address the themes of racism, inclusion, and privilege that sometimes gets swept under the rug. The lesson I presented was on addressing privilege in society today. For my lesson, students were tasked with building the best city they possibly could. The catch was that one group had significantly less resources than the other. If there was one thing that I could do differently about my lesson I would preface that it is not a competition between the groups. I overall, think it went really well and students walked away with ideas to address their own privilege.

Sophia Gatto

For my lead project I was a presenter in the Equity Collaborative. I led presentations throughout the day. The first one was a recap of Jamele Adams speech and conversations about identity. The next presentation I was representing Game Changers and we talked about relationship violence, signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships and issues of equality between genders. We had open, productive conversations about these issues and how we can all do our part to identify and help fix these issues. I think that these conversations were great because we were able to touch upon many important issues and hear stories and how these issues affect our peers. I think it was a great first step in making everyone feel equal and respected in our community.

Katherine Canty

For my lead project, I prepared a presentation for the school to see about Game Changers,

which is a club that promotes safe and healthy relationship choices. I chose to participate in

the Equity Collab because it gave me a platform to teach my peers about what Game Changers

is and how people can detect healthy and unhealthy signs of a relationship. For the

presentation, I was asked to create the presentation and present it to a class. I met with one

other member of my club twice a week to work on the presentation and attend school wide

Equity meetings to prepare us for the day. My presentation focused on class wide discussions

and small group brainstorming to make sure everyone understood the content and could relate

it to their own lives. I am grateful for this opportunity to be able to teach students about how

serious and important healthy relationships are and provide them ways to help themselves and

the people around them.

Liz Reichman

I represented the Natick A Cappella Club in the Equity Collaborative. I chose to participate in

the Equity Collab because I am passionate about what the event stands for—promoting

diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism. Our presentation in the Equity Collaborative was

about diversity and multiculturalism in a cappella. To prepare for the Collab, I attended the full

group meetings as well as had meetings with our smaller team to create and refine the

presentation. During our presentation, we had students find a cappella videos from around the

world and had a discussion about our preconceived notion of a cappella. This conversation

then extended to the broader topic of how music can catalyze social change and what music

we are exposed to. Overall, our presentation went well and led to discussions that were

thoughtful and collaborative.

Joey Babson

For my lead project I chose to work on the equity collab. I chose to work on this in order to both educate myself and others on the various issues surrounding racism and race relations in our country. I had an extremely busy schedule which caused me to miss many live instructions, but I was able to prepare for the equity collab by rewatching all of the recordings, and preparing for the presentation. I represented the national honor society and helped students to better understand the 4 pillars of national honor society. My lesson was very discussion based, and students were prompted to talk about different issues around racism and what it really means to be a bystander. I was very happy with my presentation and believe it was an all around great experience for all.

Molly O'Donoghue

For my lead project I co-created a lesson plan for the NHS Equity Co-Op. My partner and I created a presentation based on the information we discuss in Game Changers, such as healthy relationships and domestic abuse. More importantly, our goal was to tie the values of a Game Changer to the values of equity, respect, and inclusion. In our lesson, we created entirely discussion based activities which addressed the topics of healthy relationships, power inequalities, and gender roles. Our goal was to create healthy conversations and debate in the classroom. The lesson was a huge success as we were able to get a lot of students to participate in complex topics.

Max Gargurevich

For my lead project I partnered with Luke Rader to organize a food drive for the Natick Service Council in downtown Natick. We collected all types of food items but with an emphasis on their highly requested items, and we were able to receive a fair amount of donations by spreading our food drive through word of mouth all throughout the school. We were able to collect about 5 full bags of food and a case of water, translating to about 50 pounds of donations. We were happy to bring in anything at all, so the amount we did end up receiving was exciting and we are glad our small portion could help make a difference for someone.

Grace Johnson

For my Senior National Honors Society Lead Project, I ran a church-based food pantry at

Trinitarian Congregational Church. The food pantry began as a response to the COVID-19

pandemic to help individuals and families struggling with food insecurity during this challenging time. A friend of mine and I have been running the food pantry together every Thursday afternoon. We are open for donations, which we carefully sanitize and organize in the allotted areas. In the case that we are short on an essential item, my friend and I make errands to stock up on all that is necessary. Most importantly, we are open to any individual or family that is in need of food, toiletries, or other essentials. To minimize covid risk, we developed a system where the individual fills out a paper with all of the items that they need that we use to create bags to bring out to them. We have several families that come regularly each week, but continue to see new faces as well. This project has been a big success and I’ve really enjoyed seeing how meaningful this project has been to many members of our community. The food pantry has given families some relief and a dependable source of essential items amidst this unpredictable time and I am happy to be a part of the effort.

Sage Martin

I created and organized the distribution of valentines to nursing homes. I have been doing this with my family since I was 8 years old and this year I was able to lead the project. Unfortunately due to COVID-19 restrictions we weren't able to individually hand out each of the valentines but they were all still distributed safely. I organized a dropoff of valentines that people had made and I consulted with all 3 nursing homes to find the safest way to be able to distribute them. This year we distributed 450 valentines that were distributed to 3 different nursing homes.

Yasmin Kusma

My senior lead service project was a co-lead with Lyssa Cunha. For this project, we first got in touch with our church youth leader to see if we could set up a little booth at the end of our youth service for people to write motivational cards for the Pathways Family Shelter in Framingham. Before we set up the booth, we went out and purchased different craft materials, such as colored pencils and markers, small papers, scissors, and stickers. Then during the service, we worked on setting up all the supplies on a little table so anyone could feel free to come and make a card. After the service we had many people come over to either write motivational or Mother's Day cards and decorate them as they seemed fit. In the end, we received a few dozen cards from the youth at our church and we plan on donating them to the shelter a bit before Mother's Day. Overall, this was an amazing bonding experience with my fellow peers and a great way to spread some love during these tough times!

Lauren Roberts

For my lead project, I tutored middle schoolers in the RLA who were struggling with their remote schoolwork. As a lead tutor, I worked with one other high schooler to tutor 2 middle schoolers for 5 days a week. This required me to communicate with the family and form a meeting schedule to help the students with their work via Google Meet. At these meetings, I was available for the students to help with classwork, homework, or to plan out their time effectively. Throughout this process, I developed many new teaching strategies and gained valuable experiences which made me more adaptable. Overall it was a great success. This tutoring positively impacted these students and made a very hard school year easier.

Justin Landis

For my lead project, I collected swim equipment, including paddles, fins, and goggles, to be donated to the Priscilla Project in Needham. I first contacted my local health club to ensure I would be able to set up a donation there. Afterwards, I set up a box for members of the club to donate items and also sent out an email to my local recreational swim team to spread the word. Less than a week after I started the drive, the donation bucket I set up was full and I had to empty it. The drive was initially set to last 4 weeks, but I extended it due to parents and team members needing more time to organize their donations. I believe my project was very successful. In total, I collected 6 bags of equipment and dropped them off at the project headquarters in late April. The donated gear will be given to swimmers in the New England area demonstrating need.

Liam Burr

For my lead project I organized a group to go drive down to Falmouth, Cape Cod to pick up trash on the beaches and help clean up the community before everyone starts coming down there for the summer. We were able to go to multiple beaches and there was surprisingly a lot of trash along the beaches and the pathways that we were able to pick up and help clean. I enjoyed doing this because I have a house in Falmouth and it is important that the beaches stay clean because these trash can end up in the ocean and cause more harm. This was important to me because I have spent most of my summers down in Cape cod and there has always been so much trash along pathways and along the beach and it is good that some of that is finally gone.

Nils Musshorn

For my lead project, I choose to help volunteer in the activities department of Mary Ann Morse Health Care center. I choose this because I have been a part of the staff for two years through working in the kitchen. This experience in the kitchen has helped me develop friendships with both staff and residents in this community. As covid-19 developed I witnessed the severity of this deadly pandemic first hand, losing many people who I had grown to know and love. Volunteering in activities allowed me to help residents see their families again after an extended amount of time of uncertainty. The facilitating of these visits has been truly rewarding.

Nanna Atake

For my lead project, I helped create a team to participate in Operation Gratitude. Operation Gratitude is an organization which helps bring supplies to soldiers around the world. My team made “quick release” bracelets out of paracord. These bracelets will be worn by soldiers and in a case of emergency can easily be disassembled and used. Along with these bracelets we wrote a thank you note for each bracelet, to show our gratitude for their service. This project went very well and I enjoyed being able to do a fun activity while also giving thanks to our troops.

Jiro Batt

The project of reorganizing town hall PPE which Antonio and I led at the Natick Town Hall was a great success. Our assistance in organizational strategy of inventory as well as the physical rollout of the strategy worked effectively and was clearly visible and appreciated. With an emphasis on a logical, straightforward layout, our group completely overhauled the previous organization of inventory into a much more intuitive layout. Furthermore, our group paid special attention to ensure that future additions to inventory can be effortlessly added to the correct location for easy future access.

Angeli Franz

For my lead project I decided to set up a recycling system at my job, as well as leading presentations to my coworkers on the importance of recycling. I had seen many customers often complain that we did not have a separate bin for recycling, and I myself know just how much paper we go through, and simply throw in the trash. This inspired me to set up bins in every department, as well as informing and encouraging my coworkers to use them. I was able to set up 8 bins around each department, and got some great feedback from many of my workers, as they too agreed that we throw away far too much paper. I am proud that this project was a success.

Lyssa Cunha

My community service project was a co-lead with Yasmin Kusma. We went to a local church, Waves of Revival in Framingham MA, and set up a booth for people to donate flowers and write cards to the Pathways Family Shelter in Framingham, MA. On the stand, we set up different stations for colored pencils, stickers, and many more to decorate the cards. The cards were of all different kinds, from encouraging and inspirational cards to Mother’s Day cards which we will be sending in the week of Mother’s day to all of the mothers in the shelter. We also encouraged people to bring flowers to give these mothers on Mother’s Day. We wanted to do something special for these families going through rough times, and we truly believe that this small gesture will surely brighten up their day. After service, we were left with a few dozen cards, one or more made from almost everyone that had attended. The project went very well and it will be very special to me for a long time coming. I hope everyone at Pathways Family Shelter enjoys all of the cards and flowers!

Jack Murphy

I did my project over Google Meet every Friday from October 2, 2020 to April 23, 2021, with a few weeks off for school vacations. Throughout the process of my project, I worked with a group of students on the Autism spectrum at McDevitt Middle School in order to help prepare them for the transition to high school. The students had expressed concern about going to high school, so the purpose of these groups was to make them feel less nervous about the transition. We would meet virtually, and have open group discussions about high school, and they were invited to share their concerns and worries regarding moving up to the high school. I would answer their concerns by talking about my personal high school experience to assure them that their various concerns were not something to worry about. I would share stories about high school, and talk about how much I enjoyed high school in order to help them become more excited, rather than scared, about the transition. I created presentations displaying some assignments from highschool I had enjoyed, in order to give them a more positive and exciting idea of high school. Outside of the meets, two friends and I created social skills videos demonstrating strategies to deal with problems that may arise in high school. I will use these videos before the end of the year as I continue to help these students prepare for their transition. My work had an impact on multiple middle school students on the Autism spectrum. Throughout my project, they made a lot of progress regarding their attitudes toward high school. Toward the beginning, the students would refuse to even discuss the idea of moving to high school. Currently, they are able to have full open conversations about high school, in which they express their own ideas and feelings surrounding the transition. They are currently able to express positive things about high school that they are looking forward to in these discussions.

Anna Sorber

For my lead project, Madison Woo and I reached out to family members and friends and formed a group of 9 people to help us clean up trash in Mass beaches. We planned three days of beach cleanup. As well as cleaning the beaches themselves, we also cleaned the area around the beach, including the parking lots. We were surprised by how much trash there was, especially since there have been less people on the beaches. We were able to accumulate a few bags of trash. Prior to our cleanup dates, Madison and I bought supplies like trash bags and gloves in order to prepare. The cleanup was really successful and it felt good to help the environment and have fun while doing so. I had a great time with others and am glad we could help make the world healthier.

Madison Woo

For my lead project, I partnered with Anna Sorber and organized a trash clean-up along different beaches in Massachusetts. We reached out to various people and formed a group of 9 people who were interested in cleaning up the beaches. We planned three days of trash clean-up, cleaning up trash on the actual beach as well as the area around the beach. Before arriving at the beaches, Anna and I bought supplies such as gloves and trash bags for everyone to use. There was much more trash than we expected there to be, so we were able to fill a few bags of trash. The clean-up was super successful and fun to do with the other volunteers. It was nice to know that I made a difference in the community and helped the environment be clean.

Lauen Blanch

For my National Honors Society lead Project, I got a group of my friends together to help me help the Natick elderly community. I assigned everyone a job that I knew that best suited them. To help the Natick elderly community we: did spring cleaning, brought items to savers, brought the yard waste from cleaning yards to the Natick dump, and bought groceries for them. Overall I would say that it was a success and I feel like we as a group learned how such little things we do to help someone would make a difference to them.

Luke Rader

I did my lead project with Max Gargurgevich and organized a food drive. We did this food drive for the Natick Service council that is downtown. We collected a multitude of foods. We made sure to put an emphasis on the items they needed. We were able to collect a lot of food through word of mouth. We collected 50 pounds of food and a case of water. We were both happy that we could donate any food that we were able to during these times and we were happy that it could make a difference in someone's life.

Kelly Pease

My lead project was working with the organization called TOPSoccer and I was a core volunteer. TOPSoccer stands for The Outreach Program for Soccer. It is an incredible organization that welcomes all athletes aging from Kindergarten to 18 years old that have mental and/or physical disabilities. Being a volunteer at TOPSoccer means that you get buddied up with an athlete and you encourage them and help them through fun and engaging activities having to do with soccer. Being a core volunteer takes on more responsibility like leading the activities, organizing volunteers, setting up the buddies for each session, etc. In either role, the work done by all volunteers is incredible and so touching. Many of the young kids at TOPSoccer would not have an opportunity to play organized sports if it were not for the volunteers that make the program possible. At the end of every session, you can see the joy in the athlete’s eyes and the pride in all of their accomplishments. As a core volunteer this year I have taken on more of the role of organizing the program from behind the scenes. I have worked really hard to recruit high school volunteers, to train and organize those volunteers, and each week following my own system of partnering up each volunteer with an athlete I see fit. It has been so moving to see each week the bonds between the volunteers and their athlete buddies grow stronger and stronger. I am so proud of all the volunteers in the program and so touched by how hard-working and resilient the athletes are every week. The overall culture of inclusivity and just pure joy has made me so grateful to be part of the organization and thankful I could be a part of its success.

Mario Botticelli

For my lead project I wanted to do something to bring together the community and make a difference. I thought that becoming a Co-Campaign Manager for LLS (Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) and lead a group of twenty four students to raise as much money as possible for cancer. I requited members, set meetings, organized fundraiser, and went to stores all over Natick and Framingham to ask for donation from big companies. Making an impact on trying to find a cure for blood cancer is one of the best feelings since you see the joy on the kids faces after you donate the money to them and their families. I loved doing this project and I can't wait for the next generation of students to lead the project next year.

Isaac Ripp

My lead project was in collaboration with my sister and we helped cleanup the Natick Coolidge Community Garden. Fiona created the garden last spring as a part of her gold award but it hadn't been touched since the winter. To start the project we got in contact with Patriot Mulch Natick and they agreed to donate some peat moss and fertilizer. On the day of the cleanup we went and picked up the mulch and brought it to the garden. We had organized a small group of friends to help us cleanup the garden beds and the surrounding area. The garden is behind an apartment building for the elderly so the garden is hopefully something they will get to participate in and we want to make their living space pretty and presentable. We noticed there was a whole bunch of leaves, it seemed like all the fallen leaves from the fall were still there. We started with raking up the leaves, I was surprised how many trash bags we filled with leaves because threw more than I thought. After we cleared out all the leaves we prepared the beds for when they plan to plant new plants later this spring. We had to tear up all the dead plants that didn't survive the winter and rip up weeds that had grown in. After clearing the bed we then mixed in the new bags of peat moss and fertilizer to give a new layer of soil for the new plants. The goal of this cleanup was to create a beautiful space for the ederly residents. There is hope they will be able to help us out with the planting once it gets warmer out.

Joe Connolly

April 25th I went down to cape cod with a group of boys and went from beach to beach around the Sippiswisset area and picked up as much trash as possible. We did this for about 4 hours. I enjoyed this project because it was fun to do with all my friends and we got to go down to Cape Cod. Also I go to these beaches in the summer so I felt like I was giving back to my summer community.

Zachary Eigenmann

For my lead project, I worked with James Drurey where we organized and helped teach a CADing class. We did this through our robotics team to pass on what we have learned to the newer generation of members. CAD or Computer Animated Design is an important aspect of the engineering design process as it allows us to completely plan out designs. While previous classes have been held in person, this year we had to hold it online due to COVID. This made it more difficult to teach the class however it went well introducing a program called Onshape. We would have liked a better turnout but the attendees got a good grasp on the basics of CADing and we will continue to help them out in the future. We hope that the class showed the benefits of CADing and encouraged them to plan designs more.

Elli Gurguliatos

My community service project was a Co-Lead with Allison Conwell. We organized and packed backpacks for the Backpack Program at the Natick Service Council, which provides necessary school supplies to families in need throughout the community to ensure that students have the best possible start to their school year. We organized the materials and worked on the project in August, packing over 175 backpacks for students in pre-K through high school. The project was very successful, and we helped fulfill a need in the community during these uncertain times. Each bag included supplies like notebooks, pens, pencils, binders, headphones, masks, etc. It was wonderful working with the service council, and to equip students in our community to be successful this school year.

Owen McGarry

My lead community service project aimed to increase awareness for and accessibility to the criminal record sealing clinic run by the Legal Services Center in Jamaica Plain. I accomplished this through researching Massachusetts laws that pertain to criminal records, organizing helpful information onto a flyer that directs to the Legal Services Center website, and recruiting friends to help post this resource in heavily trafficked public areas, such as bulletin boards in libraries. Having a criminal record causes people to face undue discrimination in finding housing, applying for loans, purchasing a quality vehicle, and applying for jobs. Even people who are charged with a crime and found not guilty will have this recorded on their record, forcing them to contend with these discriminatory practices. These challenges disproportionately affect communities of color because of overpolicing and racial profiling. I hope that by increasing accessibility to criminal record sealing resources this harm can be partially undone.

Kaitlyn Dempsey

On April 22, 23, and 24, while on the island of Maui, my lead project partner (Yelisse Jaramillo) and I spent these mornings with a group of my family and friends cleaning up parks and beaches of trash in the area. We filled up multiple trash bags and other tourists and locals were able to join in to help make a difference in the community. After days of cleanup, the area looked noticeably better, allowing the natural beauty of Hawaii to shine.

Ava Dunlap

For my lead project Idea I organized a fundraiser at Natick Muffin House on April 5th, 2021. First we made sure to have the correct amount of muffins and a jar able for donations that day. We made posters and posted flyers on social media to spread the word. Then we volunteered from 5am-2pm to help customers and sell them coffees, muffins, bagels, smoothies, etc while also collecting donations. All the proceeds and donations that day went to Gio Taboh's family inorder to support them throughout their son's death and help bring the family over to celebrate his life for the funeral. We ended up raising $2,200 in proceeds and $990 in donations. Therefore, this muffin house fundraiser raised $3,190 for the Taboh family.

Allison Conwell

My lead community service project was organizing and completing the backpack program at the Natick Service Council with Elli Gurguliatos. First, we compiled a list of necessary school supplies for students from pre-K to 12th grade. We assigned a backpack to each student and stuffed it with all of the required school supplies they will need throughout the year. Elli and I stuffed around 175 backpacks! Pre Covid-19, members of the community would sponsor 1-2 students and personally stuff their backpacks. However, since this was not possible, Elli and I were glad to step up to organize the program and stuff backpacks for students in need.

Megan Cuddy

For my senior lead project I led a group of seventh and eighth graders through a one hour lacrosse clinic, and a group of third and fourth graders through a 1 hour lacrosse clinic. This clinic took place on Sunday, October 18th and was at Memorial Elementary School. Before the clinic, I spent time planning out each of the practices, making sure the drills were age appropriate, included important aspects/skills of the game, while also having fun and remaining safe due to COVID-19.During the clinic, I helped to set up the field, set up and facilitate the drills, and help to clean up after the conclusion of the clinic. My work throughout the clinic left an impact on the third, fourth, seventh, and eighth graders, as they learned valuable skills to help improve their game, and they were able to have fun while doing so. I really enjoyed getting to coach the girls, and look forward to coaching them in the spring like I have the past 5 years.

Christian Leaderman

For my community service lead project, I did a co-lead project with Jake Dunlap. For our project we did lawn care for elderly citizens who have difficulty being able to complete it. We went through their yards and mow their lawns, hedge their bushes, weed wack what needs to be, and any other little things they may need doing. Jake and I have been working this service since April 15th and have accumulated a total of 10 hours of work.

Hannah Dohety

For my lead project I taught two dance classes for younger students at my studio. I spent time planning out each class and researching new skills and exercises to teach. During the classes we worked on stretching, strengthening, skills, and combinations. I think they went very well. I know every student very well and know what they are capable of which definitely helped. I think they also enjoyed the classes because it is a change from their normal schedule and they left knowing more skills. I hope to teach more of these classes in the future!

Sophia Wong

My senior lead project was building a website for the Bridewater-Raynham Educational Foundation during the summer (August-September). I first connected with Mrs. Cullen (the web design teacher) who connected me with the B-R Educational Foundation. From there, I was given some information about them, like their mission, who they were, and contact information. Other than that, I built the website completely on my own and designed it how I wanted to. Halfway through this project I had a meeting with Mrs. Cullen to check-in. After I built the website in Squarespace, I had another meeting with Mrs. Cullen and Christine Smith who works for the foundation. We discussed any changes that needed to be made and how the website looked. By using this website, it helped give people a place to donate to the foundation and become involved online, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a great experience to connect and help other people, and in the future I would look forward to doing something like this again.

Nathan Pravda

For my lead project, I planned and built a handicap accessible picnic table for the Bacon Free library. First, I designed the picnic table to make sure it complied with ADA guidelines, and I ordered the materials I needed. After picking up the materials, I assembled the table in my garage with the help from my father, some adults in my boy scout troop, and some fellow scouts. The project took us two weekends to complete, and when it was done, we transported the table to the library for the public to enjoy. My project helped improve the seating on the library's patio, as before, they had no tables and only two small benches. This table also provided table space for many of the handicap library patrons, and added more outdoor seating for the establishments across the street from the library. I had a lot of fun building the table, and I learned a lot about leading and coordinating people to complete the project. My hope is that the table will be widely used by everyone who visits the library.

River Taylor

For my lead project I was a project manager working with the Natick High School tutoring program. I worked alongside Elli Gurguliatos, Nova Robbins, Charlotte Keith, and Dylan Li. We organized the informational meeting for the potential tutors and matched up students interested in tutoring with the students in need of help with their school work. From doing this I believe it has helped underclassmen get to a better place with their classwork, as well as upperclassmen getting experience teaching others and being not only a leader, but a help and friend to the underclassmen.

Dayna Cohn

For my lead project, I created a week long day camp for the younger kids on my street. To begin this project, I planned out different field games that could be played socially distant. Some of the types of games we played were water fights and races. I think it went very well. The kids seemed to have a great time and the parents were very grateful because it allowed them to start to get back to work without needing to worry about their kids. While doing this project, I was able to bring a bit of normalcy back to a not-so-normal summer, support the parents on my street, and make the kids happy.

Sarah Venditti

For my lead community service project, I ran Connections activities for my peers in the ACCESS and ACHIEVE programs over the summer. Every Monday from July 6 to August 3 I ran activities remotely through Google Meet. I had the responsibility of creating activities that were able to function virtually and also be engaging and fun for my peers. Some examples of activities I ran included; a scavenger hunt, Pictionary, 2 truths and a lie, and drawing ocean animals step-by-step. My peers were able to maintain social connection over the summer through the 5 activities. Overall, the project went well and I really enjoyed spending time with my peers!

Lucy Vician

My community service project was Co-Lead with Taylor Kittler. For our project we collected and made holiday cards for children in hospitals. First, we designed and posted different social media posts to gather volunteers to make cards. Because of Covid-19 we had all volunteers make the cards on their own and then drop them off to us or we picked them up. On December 10th, we finished collecting all of the cards and made a bunch ourselves. Later that day, we sent them in the mail to an organization in Chicago that collects them and sends them to different hospitals around the country. The collection day went very smoothly and we collected over 50 cards. Taylor and I were so happy to be able to send out so many cards to so many deserving kids.

Ella Young

My project was a co-lead with Alison Fahy, in which we planned, hosted, and coached six 2 hour volleyball clinics at Forekicks in Norfolk for Natick girls volleyball players. All practices were safe, with COVID precautions taken very seriously (including masks worn at all times, social distance, sanitization of equipment, etc). The first hour of each clinic was for varsity players and the second hour was for junior varsity and freshman players. We acted as coaches for the girls, providing them with equipment, drills, games, and constructive criticism. These clinics gave players a chance to practice their skills despite the postponement of the highschool season, and gave those who cannot afford to play club volleyball a free alternative. The players received valuable instruction on how to improve their form and overall level of play, and had fun while doing it!

Kate Freitas

I participated in the Equity Collab to help improve our school community. The preparation for this day included many zoom meeting discussions, lots of planning, and gathering materials for each class. I presented the Principal's Advisory Class Equity Collab lesson, which instructed the kids to build the best city they can. One group was given more resources and opportunities, while the other barely had any. I think the lesson went very well because the students got to see the difficulties that less privileged communities face. This lesson was engaging for students, while still being educational.

Alison Fahy

My community service project was a co-lead with Ella Young. We planned, hosted, and coached volleyball practices for Natick girls volleyball players at Forekicks in Norfolk. Each practice was two hours long and they ran for six weeks during November and December. We helped players improve their skills by leading drills and scrimmages, and providing feedback. These practices were a free alternative to a club team, which some players might not be able to afford. The practices also allowed players to improve their skills despite the high school season being postponed. We made sure to follow CDC guidelines by social distancing, requiring masks at all times, and sanitizing balls and other equipment between each practice. It was a great opportunity to work with younger players and I hope to do something similar in the future!

Grace Hartigan

For my lead project, I teamed up with the Natick Girl Scout troops to make valentines for Nursing Homes in Natick. I sent out an email to all the Natick GS leaders asking their troops to make cards. I set up a donation box and got 387 valentines made! I delivered these cards to the 4 nursing homes in Natick: Mary Ann Morse, Eliot, Riverbend, and Whitney Place on February 11th, just in time for Valentines Day. It was an amazing, Covid safe project and I loved doing it and seeing all the thoughtful messages the young girls said. I was able to be a leader and organize a special project, especially during such a special time. My project went really well and I hope all the patients in the nursing homes enjoy the cards we made!

Ruth Barasa

I completed a project in the RLA tutoring program. I am a lead tutor on a team that schedules and caters an academic plan best suited to our given student. As a lead tutor, I was responsible for contacting the parents and the site liaison in order to keep them informed about the student’s educational progress and about any schedule changes.

Maya Stopka

For my senior lead project, I am a lead tutor for the RLA Tutoring Program, which provides academic support to middle school students who are participating in completely remote learning. As a lead tutor, I have communicated with my assigned RLA student and their parents, my fellow tutors, and the site liaison to schedule session times, clarify any schedule changes, and keep them updated on the student's academic progress. Additionally, I meet once a week with my assigned student to review challenging topics and occasionally teach new topics in order to get ahead.

Rose Currie

For my lead project, I used my leadership position in the Natick High School Band Board to set up an event on google meet to replace the old holiday concert. Two weeks before this event started I set up a secret "Santa" gift exchange but instead of gifts, we exchanged playlists. The participants shared a playlist that they have made or one they found enjoyable with other band members. During the meeting/event, we got about forty people to attend, new band members to alumni to friends of band members. It was was really good to share time to talk with new and old members of the band community that we haven't had all year. We also got to have some fun as well by playing games and just overall socializing. The feedback from the participants indicated an overall success and willingness to participate in future events.

Nicole Frail

For our lead project, we would organized a book/note drive. Our main goal is to collect a variety of books for younger aged children to be passed out after a hospital visit. Originally, we wanted to just collect books to be placed in the waiting room, but due to Covid, the hospital would be unable to display them. Therefore, we would collect books, and bring them to the Site Liaison where they can be kept and distributed periodically per patient. Additionally, we would hope for fellow classmates to make positive notes/affirmations that would be fun and

decorated to be placed inside a book. That way a patient can receive a book and a fun little note to lift their spirits. Moreover, this could be an opportunity for students to earn assist hours for others in NHS if they want to participate in making some notes. Then, we would advertise on social media, and possibly through email to spread the word of the drive to let people know. Next, we would distribute our emails to figure out how to get books/notes, as well as a

drop off box at the high school. Ultimately, this drive would last for 2 weeks before everything is collected, sanitized, and personally driven into Boston to be given to the Site Liason.

Ana Mazzola

For our lead project, we would organized a book/note drive. Our main goal is to collect a variety of books for younger aged children to be passed out after a hospital visit. Originally, we wanted to just collect books to be placed in the waiting room, but due to Covid, the hospital would be unable to display them. Therefore, we would collect books, and bring them to the Site Liaison where they can be kept and distributed periodically per patient. Additionally, we would hope for fellow classmates to make positive notes/affirmations that would be fun and

decorated to be placed inside a book. That way a patient can receive a book and a fun little note to lift their spirits. Moreover, this could be an opportunity for students to earn assist hours for others in NHS if they want to participate in making some notes. Then, we would advertise on social media, and possibly through email to spread the word of the drive to let people know. Next, we would distribute our emails to figure out how to get books/notes, as well as a

drop off box at the high school. Ultimately, this drive would last for 2 weeks before everything is collected, sanitized, and personally driven into Boston to be given to the Site Liason.

Julian Zadow

For my lead project I attempted to organize a fundraiser for the Natick High School Alpine Ski Team at Chipotle. This would raise funds for the team which would be used to buy new practice equipment. To do this, I had to fill out the Chipotle fundraiser, then find a date that worked in accordance with Chipotle, the team, and the town, and get the fundraiser approved by the Town Hall. Unfortunately, in the final steps of the project which included getting the financial information from the athletics department, a lack of responses from them meant that we unfortunately lost the fundraising spot with Chipotle. However, pending a cooperative effort by the athletics department, I hope to reattempt this fundraiser soon in order to benefit the team.

Halle Berkowitz

For my community service project I co-led a project with Alexandra McGrath. We collected

items to be organized into personal care and toiletry care packages for the women who rely

on Rosie's Place, a women's shelter in Boston. We were able to collect over 500 items and

organized those items into 53 individual care packages. Each care package is a resealable

gallon-sized Ziploc bag filled with a mix of toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, chapstick,

shampoo/conditioner, lotion, deodorant, and feminine care products, or bandaids, hand

sanitizer, socks, and wipes. I am so happy that our collection will be able to help out so

many women.

Michiba Toryu

For our community service project, Allen Cheung and I collaborated with our robotics

team to host an event introducing middle schoolers to various aspects of the engineering

process with respect to robotics. It was hosted virtually via google meet out of the Morse

Institute Library, where our robotics team usually meets. We gave participants a sample robotics

challenge and made them think about what types of strategies they would employ during the

game, designs they would use for the robot, parts they would build with, and methods they

would use to fundraise. Afterwards, we let our own team members present about how we

approached our robotics season this year, comparing it to the sample challenge that the middle

schoolers had planned for. We were able to show off computer-aided design software (CAD),

our engineering notebook, and the robot we built in action. Reflecting on the whole experience,

there were a couple of notable road bumps. For one, the advertising for the event could have

been better, and the link we used for the google meet ended up changing last second. This

meant that we didn’t get as many participants as we wanted. Also, since the event took place in

a virtual setting, it was harder to get people to talk and answer questions. In fact, only a couple

of our participants interacted regularly, and they did so through the live chat (not over voice).

Now I know how defeating it must feel to be a teacher during virtual class! Overall, I would say

that this event helped lay the framework for future opportunities to introduce more young

students to STEM and robotics.

Joseph Tarlin

For my National Honors Society lead project, I partnered with "Raising a Reader

Massachusetts" to host a book drive that was mainly for children. I sent out numerous emails

to 75 people and ended up collecting over 150 books that I ended up driving and dropping off

in downtown Boston. I even got featured on the organizations facebook page and I am glad

that I got to spend time doing something for the better of the community.

Allen Cheung

For our community service project, Mich Toryu and I hosted an online event introducing middle

school students to the engineering design process. We gave the students a simple robotics

challenge and had them go through the engineering process that our team goes through

almost every day. They would design, build, and gain funding. After they finish those steps,

we would let our robotics team present about what we have done so far in the robotics season.

Although the entire project went well, the promotion and organization of google meet was not

the best. We did not receive as many participants and we had to scramble around with the

google meet link as students.natickps.org emails can not join google meet links created by

people outside of the organization. Also, many of the participants had their cameras turned

off and only spoke in chat so we experienced how a teacher feels during remote blocks. All

and all, it was a great event and I believe that we were successfully able to promote STEM

and robotics.

Alexa Asgharzadeh

Our project was to collect childrens clothes and shoes for Cradles to Crayons. It was

extremely successful and we collected over 10 trash bags worth of clothes. We both

left bins outside our houses for a week for neighbors and Natick parents to drop off

clothes. We spread the word about our project through handing out flyers and asking

friends to donate. In the last week of February we brought all of the bags to the

Cradles to Crayons offices and dropped them off. We were able to provide clothes

and shoes for children in need during this tough year.

Nova Robbins

For my lead project I am working as a project manager for the Natick High School

tutoring program. In the project I am working with four other national honors society

members to set up an organized process for matching underclassman students in

need of academic assistance with upperclassmen. So far around 10 students have

asked for tutors and have been matched with a tutor. Overall I think this project has

been successful and I hope that in the future the project will continue to grow and

help more students.

Emma Hoffman

My lead project was a trash pick-up with Olivia Pendas. We noticed that there was a lot of

trash in the student parking lots and around the pond, so we wanted to help clean up the area.

I did advertising for the event, including making a TV slide, a morning announcement, and a

link in the Friday eblast. I also made a google form that students who wanted to come could

use to sign up. On the day of the event, I helped the rest of the students who wanted to

participate (around 10) to pick up trash. In total, we collected 10 bags and helped to make the

student parking lots a lot cleaner!

Layla Schulman

My project was to collect children's clothes and shoes for Cradles to Crayons. It was

extremely successful and Alexa and I collected over 10 trash bags worth of clothes.

We both left bins outside our houses for a week for neighbors and Natick parents to

drop off clothes. We spread the word about our project through handing out flyers

and asking friends to donate. In the last week of February we brought all of the bags

to the Cradles to Crayons offices and dropped them off. We were able to provide

clothes and shoes for children in need during this tough year.

Lily Kingdon

My community service project was a co-lead with Emily Arthur. We organized a sanitary

products and necessities drive for a Circle of Hope in Needham. A Circle of Hope works with

25 homeless shelters and clinics in Boston and MetroWest. They have many different sub

programs and projects to donate to such as the Welcome Baby program and the Dignity

Project. We collected products to donate to their general donation collection. We made flyers

and wrote emails to get the word out about our collection. We collected products like shampoo,

feminine products, sanitizer, face masks, hand soap, and because of the cold winter also some

blankets. We collected the products in a box in the lobby for two weeks in February, then we

dropped off more than 90 items we collected to a Circle of Hope in March. With the impacts of

covid, homeless shelters have been in desperate need of donations, so being able to donate

so many products to a Circle of Hope was great. I’m very glad we were able to help get some

necessities to those in need during a hard time.

Liz Rosas

I believe that my project went great. Before beginning the project I researched a few of the best

methods to go about cleaning up town centers. I got a small group of friends, Carly McCarthy,

Emily Bubonovich, Abby Hayes, and Angeli Franz and we got right to work. We separated the

garbage with the recycled materials and brought bags and wore gloves. Within the allotted time

we got a good amount of trash that was littered on the ground. I feel as though we helped the

community for the better, by helping keep it clean and I couldn’t have done it without my peers

to help me.

Max Freedman

I think overall this project had mixed results. I enjoyed connecting with my assistant tutors and

learning the skills of tutoring myself, however to be honest I feel somewhat disappointed with

our student’s progress. At first he seemed somewhat committed, but fully dropped off after a

few months. I would like to think that I helped him work through some hard assignments, but

his personal commitment was seriously lacking. Hopefully next year with a more normal

academic year he can get back on track.

Laini Schneider

For my lead project I coached a girls U14 hockey team. I organized and ran drills for the

practices as well as helping on the bench during games. The season ran from the fall through

the winter. The season was successful and the girls had fun being on the team and improved

a lot. It was great being able to teach younger girls about a sport I enjoy.

Sara Faigel

For my senior lead project, I created and collected cards for sick children in hospitals. I

reached out to neighborhood families with children ages 8 to 13. This year has been troubling

for many children and I feel that it is more personal that children write to other children as they

feel a connection to others their age. I also created get well cards for the children myself with

friends. All of the cards collected were sent to the Cards for Hospitalized Kids Organization

where they will be distributed to hospitals across the country!

Caitria Catania

For my lead project, I was a lead tutor for the RLA Tutoring Program which allows middle

school students to get academic support and help remotely. Being a lead tutor, I had to organize

a schedule alongside my fellow tutor and organize ways to assist and communicate with my

students and their parents. I originally tutored one girl but I was reached out and asked if I

could help her little sister. I emailed my students every morning before our session and held a

tutoring session three times a week to go over any challenging topics and help out as much as

I can.

Holly Browning

The Outreach Program Soccer, TOPSoccer, has greatly impacted me throughout my high

school experience and offered a wonderful opportunity to give back to my community.

TOPS is a nationwide program that is designed for children with physical and mental

disabilities. Passionate about promoting inclusiveness by sharing my skills, I volunteered to

be on my town's TOPSoccer executive leadership team in my sophomore year and I have

spent many hours participating and organizing this amazing program. As a “core” volunteer,

I arrange the volunteers (buddies), plan the stations, and am the lead voice at each session. I

mentor and encourage the high school volunteers to be enthusiastic and engage each athlete

in the activities as much as possible. One child with Down’s Syndrome, named Marko, stands

out as starting the program three years ago and was hesitant to participate in any of the

activities. From obstacle courses, soccer bowling and other fun soccer activities he would

not leave his father’s side. Slowly with a lot of work and nurturing he has become

comfortable with many of the volunteers and came out of his shell. Marko has developed

great soccer ability, has improved his fine motor skills, learned to socialize as a member of a

team and at our most recent session, played in an actual scrimmage game. The experience

that TOPS has offered him is life changing as he is being given the opportunity to participate

and shine in a sport many children play. Watching the athletes grow and learn over the years

in an inclusive manner is the most rewarding aspect of my experience. Under my leadership

the TOPS program has grown in our town and we have even extended the program to nearby

towns. I am thankful for the relationships I have built with the athletes with disabilities and

would like to think that my involvement in these programs has made my community much

stronger and definitely more inclusive.

Olivia Pendas

My lead project was organizing and conducting a trash pick up around the Natick High School

campus. There is a large amount of litter around the student parking lots and near the pond, and

my goal was to properly dispose of some of this trash in order to keep the campus beautiful and

the organisms that live there healthy. Since this was a co-lead with Emma Hoffman, my

responsibilities primarily involved gathering materials and organizing and directing students on

the day of the event. I instructed participants (members of the Environment Club and

non-members) on how and where to safely collect trash. Overall, we collected large 10 bags of

trash, making the NHS campus more beautiful and helping out the environment.

Brynne Conway

My lead project was organizing and conducting a trash pick up around the Natick High School

campus. There is a large amount of litter around the student parking lots and near the pond,

and my goal was to properly dispose of some of this trash in order to keep the campus beautiful

and the organisms that live there healthy. Since this was a co-lead with Emma Hoffman, my

responsibilities primarily involved gathering materials and organizing and directing students on

the day of the event. I instructed participants (members of the Environment Club and

non-members) on how and where to safely collect trash. Overall, we collected large 10 bags of

trash, making the NHS campus more beautiful and helping out the environment.

Ashna Hille

In December I planned, organized, and produced a virtual Christmas concert to raise money for

Family Promise Metrowest. Family Promise is an organization that provides temporary homes

for the homeless in the Metrowest area. Now, due to Covid, many more families are experiencing

homelessness, and Family Promise Metrowest has been helping these families stay afloat. I

collaborated with two of my friends to play and record 13 Christmas songs, and we edited it all

together into one video to be posted on YouTube. One of my friends was recording all his music

from home (voice, bass, cello), so I mixed all of our audio together to be lined up for the final

concert. Editing the videos and audio all together into one video took a full day. Our final concert

was posted on December 26th, and over 500 people watched the concert and donated to

Family Promise Metrowest. This project was a lot of fun for me and my friends to be able to

play music together again, and many people told us that the concert brought them great joy

during the holiday season. If you want to get some holiday spirit on, you can watch our concert

at the following link:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUTBk_W4S6wrpXlTMH2q1gAmDCq499HD3

Leah Holtz

For my senior lead project, I was a lead tutor in the RLA Tutoring Program, which is a support

resource for middle school students who have been fully remote this year. As a lead tutor, I was

responsible for communicating with the student, their parents, and fellow tutors as we follow a

schedule that provides any academic or organizational support needed for the student. It

involved meeting once a week, as well as routinely checking in with the site liaison to share any

necessary updates.

Lizzie Marshall

For my lead project I co-lead it with Abby Powsner and we organized a food drive. It went much

better than expected and got tons of donations. We set up donation boxes at the high school

and Tobin Children's School. In total we received around 12 full bags of donations. We were

thrilled to give back to the community especially in these times when many families are

struggling to put food on the table.

Ryan Scully

As a Youth Ambassador for NPH USA (an organization that supports thousands of vulnerable

children throughout Latin America) I was on a committee with two other Ambassadors to lead a

project called MOVE. During this ten day virtual event (running from September 25 -

October 4, 2020), participants were encouraged to make a fitness goal and use resources we

provided in daily emails (tips, recipes, free access to virtual fitness classes) to reach these goals.

Executing this event required attending meetings every other week to plan, reaching out to

potential participants and sponsors, and writing the emails that were sent out to the entire

regional NPH donor base. I also attended the virtual fitness classes we provided to engage with

the participants, recorded a video message that was played at the virtual celebration event, and

hand-wrote thank you notes to participants once the event was over. MOVE was very successful,

as we raised $2,500 for the NPH children by providing a fun and engaging event for supporters.

Abby Powsner

For my lead project, I worked with Lizzie Marshall. We organized a food drive for A Place to

Turn in Natick. We set up donation boxes at both the high school and The Tobin School. We

included an announcement in the morning announcements, sent emails, and added a slide to

the school TV's in order for people to know about our project. We held the drive for two weeks,

and at the end of it, we were able to collect about twelve bags full of non-perishable items.

Lizzie and I then brought all of the food to A Place to Turn. I am proud of how well our project

ended up going, and am glad that the donations will help to make sure people can get food

during tough times like now.

Emily Arthur

For my lead project, Lily Kingdon and I collected toiletry items, such as shampoo, soap,

deodorant, face masks, hand sanitizer, and feminine products, and donated them to Circle of

Hope in Needham, MA. We collected approximately 100 items, from at the high school, and

from our friends/ family in the town. We and Circle of Hope are very thankful to everyone who

donated.

Stephen Eckelkamp

I am part of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society club where we raise money for blood cancer.

For my lead project I helped lead a workshop where I spoke to other team leaders about how to

make the best fundraising campaign based off of my experience leading a team last year. I

thought it went very well and I was glad to be able to give some advice to this year's team

leaders. This year, our high school team raised $9,000 and the New England teams together

raised $422,000 to help cure blood cancer.

Helen Geckle

This winter and spring, Jen Crisafulli and I organized a Natick cleanup project to help keep our

town clean. We scouted locations around Natick that contained a lot of waste and hosted

cleanups on Sundays for an hour to reduce the plastic and garbage in our environment. From

bottles to broken glass, beer cans and plastic bags we worked to minimize the waste in our

community at locations such as Natick High School or Johnson Elementary School. Each

cleanup accumulated to 4-7 bags of waste per cleanup. Not only did it help to make our

community and town looking cleaner, but it also helped to prevent animals from being hurt from

the waste.

Dylan Weierman

"For my lead project I organized a food drive outside of Donelan’s Supermarket in Wayland from

12pm-5pm on April 11th. All of the donations were delivered to A Place To Turn, a local choice

food pantry in Natick. To set up the food drive, I first contacted Joanne Barry, the executive

director at A Place To Turn, and pitched my idea. Next I contacted Donelan’s Supermarket and

set the date and time of the food drive. With the help of my younger sister I created a poster,

spread information on social media, and designed and printed out flyers with a list of donation

examples. I also recruited Owen Eggleston, Imal Shuja, and Peter McGinn to help me on the

day of the food drive. As customers entered the store, we informed them about A Place To Turn

and gave them flyers with items that the food pantry was in need of. We were thrilled with

everyone’s generosity and ended the day with 922 pounds of donations spread amongst about

75 bags. I believe that the food drive was successful because of how convenient it was for

shoppers to simply drop off donations at our table. I am very grateful for everyone who helped

support this food drive and hope that it makes a difference in the MetroWest community."

Noah Sternick

For our community service project, Tim Stecko and I worked with the rest of our robotics

team to host a virtual seminar introducing middle schoolers to robotics and the engineering

process. To do this we created a sample robotics challenge that had the middle schoolers go

through an abbreviated version of the engineering process that our team goes through every year.

We had the middle schoolers brainstorm and share how they would design and build a robot to

complete the challenge we created. After we went through the sample challenge, we had

members of the talk about and share the things they do on the team. Overall I think the event

went very well. We had about 20 participants although it was hard to get some of them to

participate because of the virtual setting. However I think the event succeeded because we were

able to introduce Middle schoolers to the engineering process and get them interested in robotics.

Tim Stecko

For my lead project, Noah Sternick and I hosted a virtual robotics/STEM simulated

challenge for local middle school students. The event was advertised through our connections

with the Morse Institute Library and was hosted in the basement of the library. More than 20

students connected into our event via Zoom. We started the event by introducing ourselves to the

middle schoolers and explaining our experience in robotics. Then, we showed the students a

simplified version of an FTC robotics competition and asked them to design a robot to compete

in the mock challenge. After giving them a few minutes to draw out their designs, we had the

students each share their designs to the group. We talked about the merits of each design in order

to give the students a sense of how the engineering process is used in robotics. Next, we shared

our own solutions to the mock challenge and answered some questions that the students had

about the merits of our design. Then, we progressed on to introduce the students to this year’s

First Tech Challenge, which is the competition league that the robotics team competes in. We

showed the students live footage of our robot and some of the more interesting design elements

on the robot, such as the flywheels. Next, we introduced the students to CAD (computer aided

design) and showed them some of the 3D printed parts that we designed. Overall, the students

really enjoyed the virtual robotics presentation. About 15 of the 20 students were actively

participating in the discussion and asking questions about robotics which made the event much

more interesting for all those in attendance.

Hannah Finn

The goal for my senior lead project was to help middle school students be as successful as

possible during a hybrid school year. This information was relayed to them through a remote

presentation over Google Meets. My presentation had two main aspects: focus and de-stressing.

For the first part, I researched different study techniques and narrowed them down to three main

ones: setting the scene, time blocking, and accepting that this school year is different from past

experiences. For the second part, I taught the students how to de-stress and take breaks. With

the students, I reviewed the importance of stepping away from technology and we brainstormed

activities to do when avoiding screens. Throughout the presentation, I expressed empathy and

sympathy to them, knowing how hard isolation and lack of communication with peers can be at

their age. It was important to relay that the students are not alone in their troubles and should

reach out to adults if they need help.

Jen Crisafulli

This school year Helen Geckle and I have been working on a trash pick-up in the Natick

community. We have picked up at several locations including Natick High School and Johnson

Elementary School. We had many volunteers assist us, and we were able to keep the pick-up

very Covid-safe and spaced out. We were very successful and ended each pick up with 5-8

bags filled with trash. Each location looked much nicer after we finished and it was a very

fulfilling experience.

Sofi Finn

For my lead project, I organized a socially distant mental health walk. To organize this, I out to

a few people who I know were feeling very stressed and arranged a walk at Elm Bank. There, I

made sure to educate the people who came on different ways to relieve stress which I had

researched beforehand. There was also some advice on how to stay motivated during the last

couple months of school.

Venika Sharma

For my Lead Project I was the team leader of an RLA tutoring group. I helped out middle

schoolers with their school work by coming up with a schedule that worked well for them, kept

them on track with their assignments, and checked up on them from time to time seeing how

they were doing both academically and mentally. We also saw improvements in their grades

and heard positive feedback from the teachers and parents as students were less confused

about their assignments after tutoring and were more likely to submit assignments on time. I

also led a group of tutors who I made sure attended their tutoring sessions and were actively

engaged with the students making sure they were provided with all the help they needed.

Alex Crook

For my lead project, Kyle and I organized a group of 6 other students to pick up trash at

Ben-Hem Elementary School, Wilson Middle School, Mary Bunker, and surrounding areas. We

both live in the area and knew there was a significant amount of trash surrounding Wilson

Middle School so we felt it was important to clean the area up. We hope that the students who

attend these schools will be able to enjoy their campuses without as much trash and litter.

Jaden Trask

For my lead project, I led a small group on April 17th where we cleaned the trails on the Brook

Path leading to Wellesley College. We walked the trails for about two hours and collected both

trash and recyclable items, clearing the paths as needed. Since it rained earlier in the day, the

ground was wet and muddy in some areas which made it more difficult to see the trash. Overall,

the project was very productive and we filled up two garbage bags. I think that cleaning up the

environment is very important, particularly for small animals who can become ill or injured from

eating trash. Hopefully this project helped the Brooke Path become litter-free and encouraged

people to maintain a clean environment.

Maia Shteyman

My lead community service project consisted of me planning and organizing a fundraiser with

the Student Council for Valentine's day. However, instead of helping the Student Council sell

flowers like they do every year, I added onto their fundraiser that they throw every year and

created the option to buy a bracelet that people could give to their friends for Valentine's day.

We created about 140 bracelets that students could choose from. All the money we made from

this fundraiser went towards a program the Music Therapy Program at the Massachusetts

General Hospital. This fundraiser was successful, and I am very happy to say that all the

money we raised will be able to help so many kids who are struggling. I would also like to note

that this fundraiser is separate from the one Student Council did because the money Student

Council makes goes to a different cause.

Dafni Suresh

For my lead project I led a student letter drive connecting Natick High School students with

students from India. I did my project in Natick MA and in Tamil Nadu in India during mid-March

through mid-April. I had to create a Google form to collect all of the letters, create a Google

spreadsheet to organize the letters, print out the letters, label the letters, and put them in an

envelope. Next I had to transport them from Natick to India. After, I went to India and spoke to

multiple schools asking about the project. My project had an impact on Natick High students

and students in India. I recruited my family and my friends in India to help me go talk to some

of the administrators at the school. During my visit to the schools, I found out that because of

the coronavirus pandemic many of the schools were shut down. I was not able to deliver my

letters before the deadline of April 30th.

Kyle Johnson

My lead community service project was organizing and completing a trash clean up in the

Wilson, Mary Bunker, Ben-Hem, area with Alex Crook. We both live in this area and went

through the education systems of both schools. In the past we have noticed there has been an

abundance of trash so we organized a trash clean up with around 6 other high school

volunteers. We picked up trash for two days and filled around 15 trash bags worth of trash.

Alex and I were very surprised about how much litter there was in the area but the hard work

and dedication was worth it as we were able to clean up our childhood area and keep it clean

for the young students.

Anna McEnaney

For my National Honor Society project I lead a group of people in removing the invasive plant

garlic mustard. To do this I had to research the plant and how to remove it. I contacted my

guidance counselor and the head of the Natick Girl Scouts in order to help get the word out.

I had about 12 people come to help. Our removal went very well and we were able to put a

dent in the growth of the weed. Each person was able to fill up a trash bag of garlic mustard.

I am so glad that I was able to help clean up our environment.

Dylan Li

My lead project was working with the Natick High School tutoring program as a project manager.

We set up outreach to gather requests from underclassmen in need of academic help, paired

them with tutors, and mediated communication along the way. We also provided information on

how to effectively provide help as a tutor. As of writing this, there are twelve student-tutor pairs.

Overall, this project was a success. We successfully provided academic assistance to struggling

underclassmen and helped them through this tough school year.

Tia Perkins

This past summer, I founded the Youth Team of the Rainbow Peace Flag Project. As the

coordinator, I planned and facilitated weekly coordinator calls as well as two weekly team

meetings. I was able to work with a wide variety of people (peers to 8th graders), help others

to identify their strengths and incorporate their passions into their work with the Rainbow Peace

Flag Project, and learn from feedback as I grew the organization and created something that

worked for everyone involved. Youth worked in three subteams, Social Media, Outreach, and

Projects & Events. While I had more direct involvement as a leader of the Projects & Events

subgroup, I also worked with other teams to expand Rainbow Peace Flag Project’s online

presence and reach out to new organizations that may be interested in collaborating with us.

Philip Galligan

The goal of the project was to get as much work done and as much trash picked up in the 3

hours we spent and I’d say we accomplished that goal very well. The most important part of the

project was maximizing our time; we started at 1 and finished around 4 working at Coolidge hill

and barely took any breaks except to travel between locations and overall the schedule worked

out like we had planned. We walked every location thoroughly and bagged any trash we saw

and did not run into any issues, it went very smoothly.

Alex Edwards

The project went fairly well. It started with a brief hiccup as the date I originally chose was

raining, so I pushed it back one day. Despite the seemingly pristine condition that our town's

forests are kept in, we were able to pick up a good amount of trash in the woods, mostly around

the parking lot. We walked all the trails in the woods and picked up any trash we could find and

disposed of it accordingly.

Emily Bubonovich

For my lead project, Carly McCarthy and I led a food drive in her neighborhood. We made flyers

and placed them in mailboxes to spread awareness about the food drive. We placed a bin

outside and collected monetary donations. After about a week, we went grocery shopping to

buy the most needed items on the Natick Service Council's list to donate. I would consider this

lead project very successful outside of the minor hiccup that NSC is not actively collecting

donations. Instead, we were able to drop our 50+ donations in the donation box in Roche Bros.

It is rewarding to know that our donation will be given to our local community and will greatly

impact many people.

Charlotte Keith

For my lead project, I was on the project manager team for the National Honors Society tutoring

project. This project aimed to match underclassmen struggling with remote work to members of

the National Honors Society. I worked with Elli Gurgliatos, River Taylor, Nova Robbins, and

Dylan Li. We started working on this project in January, and we continued working on it until

after April break. During this project we ran informational sessions with potential tutors, we

designed documents and forms to send out to the tutors, we paired tutor teams, and we sent

out emails and documents to the teams. This project greatly benefitted struggling

underclassmen who reached out. Although there wasn't as much interest as was originally

thought, I am glad that we got to help out in our school.

Molly Grant

For my lead project I ran the TOPS Soccer program where we helped teach athletes with

special needs or disabilities how to play soccer. Many of these kids were not able to compete

in a real league for their age group because their disability hinders them from being able to

keep up with the rest of the players and grasp the skills. Through TOPS, we set up fun drills

and games to teach these athletes the basic skills of the game. Along the way, they were able

to better their communication skills, fine-motor skills, and overall knowledge of the game. The

main volunteers help run all of the stations and check each athlete in as well as provide

support and enthusiasm to encourage the players to work hard and have fun. It was awesome

to watch each athlete develop as players and grow out of their shell as the sessions go on.

The athletes grew bonds with one another along with the volunteers and it was a very fun and

welcoming community.

Grace Davis

For my Lead Project, I am a Lead Tutor for the ongoing RLA middle school tutoring program. I

have been responsible for coordinating meeting times, scheduling, and providing my student

with academic support. I have consistently met with my student between one and three times a

week since we started working together, and we go through her assignments together. I have

helped her work through a variety of challenging concepts, and helped keep the student

engaged in her work. I plan to continue working with the student through graduation, and have

aided her with both educational and mental support.

Alice Kosterin

For our lead project, Emily Clausen and I gathered a group of people (about 8) and organized

to clean up the surrounding environment around Natick High School. We provided the

volunteers with gloves, trashbags, and trash pick up sticks. We picked up trash around Dug

pond, getting 6 bags of trash on just the first day. The next few days we picked up trash in

different locations around the pond, including the boat launch, the town forest, and the junior

parking lot. We picked up a lot of plastic which was harming the pond life and made our

surroundings a lot cleaner!

Emily Clausen

For our lead project, Alice Kosterin and I gathered a group of people (about 8) and organized to

clean up the surrounding environment around Natick High School. We provided the volunteers

with gloves, trashbags, and trash pick up sticks. We picked up trash around Dug pond, getting

6 bags of trash on just the first day. The next few days we picked up trash in different locations

around the pond, including the boat launch, the town forest, and the junior parking lot. We

picked up a lot of plastic which was harming the pond life and made our surroundings a lot

cleaner!

Abby Hayes

For my lead project, I chose to donate a collection of homemade and gently worn hats to donate

to Turning Point Shelter in Framingham, MA. I had thought about the idea in the winter and

decided to start knitting the hats then but it took me until late April to complete them and find a

time that worked to drop them off. I met with the project manager at Turning Point whose name

is Renae. I also saw some of the men who were staying at the shelter and who helped me find

the correct place for my donations. I know that the hats that I created and donated will be put to

good use during the cold winter months. I hope that more people will donate to turning point,

either in food/clothing, money, or even just time. They are really wonderful people and I will be

back soon.

Brian Cheung

My lead NHS project was on zoom. Due to Covid-19, our swimmers had less time in the pool so

I decided to host tri weekly one hour workouts with the younger kids on the Metrowest YMCA

Stingrays. My goal was to help them get more active and stay fit for the upcoming swim season.

I planned and led all the workouts and I learned alot about preparation, leadership, and

commitment. I think everyone got a little more active than they were before and both parents

and kids definitely enjoyed the small quizzes and games I organized. Overall it was a successful

lead project and the head coach really appreciated the team bonding and extra exercise.

Taylor Kittler

My community service project was Co-Lead with Lucy Vician. Our project consisted of making

holiday cards for children in hospitals. Leading up to the collection day, we designed and posted

different social media posts to gather volunteers to make cards. Sadly, due to COVID-19, we

were not able to make the cards together. Instead, the cards were either dropped off or picked

up. The collection went very smoothly and we collected over 50 cards. Lucy and I also made a

ton of cards ourselves. On December 10th, we mailed the cards to an organization in Chicago

that collected cards from around the country and sent them to different hospitals. Lucy and I

were thrilled to be able to send out so many cards to kids during the holidays!

Timothy Loftus

My community service project involved creating a Minecraft server for remote learning students

to allow them to interact. In late January I was introduced to the project and discussed some

potential concerns with a teacher and ways to work around them. I created a server using a

host and installed various plugins to ensure that the server was fun and safe. For example, I

banned inappropriate words in chat and prevented people from ruining each other's builds.

After creating the server I gathered some of my friends onto the server to test its features.

Taylor Landurand

For my lead, I collected bottles and cans from some of my neighbors and close friends in order

to cash them in and raise money for the American Cancer Society. Well doing this one of my

main concerns and some of the concerns of my friends was making it as safe as possible

(With regards to covid) I ended up buying plastic gloves and we all double masked.

Transportation wise I was the only one with my license and an available car. So well some of

my friends collected bottles and cans I was the one picking them up. Overall we raised over

200 dollars with all the cans and bottles we collected.

Alexa Solomon

For my lead project, I worked with Fun, Informed Dog Owners (FIDO) of Natick to create

informational videos about the new public dog park in Natick, Eddie’s Park. I visited the park on

numerous occasions, connecting with both the dogs and their owners, and discovering what

this dog park meant to the community. After gathering footage of the park and interacting with

members of the community, I created 5 informational videos for the park that showcased the

rules, guidelines, and expectations for visitors and their dogs. I spent many hours creating and

editing these videos as well as receiving feedback from FIDO members. These videos will serve

as a resource for both FIDO and local communities as they learn about and visit the dog park."

Bruno Tavilla

Nick Gordon and I conducted a clothing drive for Catie's Closet, a nonprofit organization located

in Hyde Park Massachusetts. We set up a bin in the office for donations from April 5th-April 16th

and we also collected clothing from family and friends through April break. Overall, we collected

over 100 articles of clothing and spent over 10 hours of service all together.

Yael Blumenfeld

For my lead project, I facilitated and orchestrated a sock drive. After research, I learned that

homeless shelters are facing a great shortage in socks, which is currently their most requested

item. I had a collection box at my temple and an Amazon wishlist asking for new socks of any

size. Working with their social media team to work to spread the word, we collected well over

300 pairs of socks. We have since donated them to Voices Against Violence to be delivered to

homeless shelters in need. Overall, the project was a huge success and we helped those

struggling in our community with the drive.

Victoria Conrad

For my senior lead community service project, I worked with students in the Access Program at

the high school starting in February. Twice a week during CDS, I worked with the students on

different tasks and helped them with work they needed to complete. I helped the students

organize different materials such as paper and crayons and I helped draw out the calendar for

a month. While working with the students, I talked with them about various topics such as

weekend plans, what I was doing over long weekends/vacations and different interests. I had

a lot of fun meeting new students and getting to know them while following the safety guidelines

to keep everyone safe and Covid free.

Thomas O'Keefe

For my senior lead project, I collected sports themed clothing from friends and family to donate

to Boomerangs in Jamaica Plain. At first, my intention was to donate sports equipment, but

after running into some difficulties which included finding people with lots to donate and finding

organizations willing to utilize the goods, I shifted the donation to include clothing items instead.

Throughout 2021, I collected bags of clothes from many of Natick's community members and

was able to donate several bags of my own as well. I ultimately chose to donate to Boomerangs

because I felt that the business helped two different groups of people. Firstly, they sell the

goods that are donated to them at low costs since it is a thrift shop which allows those who are

unable to pay high prices for goods to have access to affordable clothing. Also, they donate

their proceeds to fight HIV/AIDS so those affected by the virus can receive affordable medical

assistance and have hope for the future. This way my donations will not only be used by people

who share the same desire for the clothes as I and other donors once did, but they also make a

financial contribution to fight a disease that is devastating to those who are affected.

Allison Harless

For my lead project this year I created a card/letter drive for patients at St.Elizabeths Hospital

in Brighton. Many of the patients have been admitted there for weeks on end without seeing

visitors of family due to the coronavirus. My family and I made cards and collected cards from

our neighbors and friends around town. Once we collected all the cards me and my mom

dropped off the cards at the different surgical floors of the hospital. Making their day and putting

a smile on their face was priceless!

Rabkwan Chaimattayompol

For my lead project I worked with a nonprofit organization, Living Art Inc. During Christmas, I

prepared and delivered art kits to families that allowed them to make ornaments for community

Christmas trees around Boston. The duration of this project took a month. I also helped design

posters that advertised these birds on Christmas trees. After watching the birds being hanged

by firefighters I felt accomplished being able to help decorate for my community. I think these

birds gave voices to the residents of Dorchester and helped create a cheerful and hopeful

atmosphere in the community. I discovered from this project that creativity not only brings

communities together but also helps build stronger connections within them.

Dominic Chan

My lead project was the captain's practices that I helped lead along with the other VB captains

at Fore Kicks. We helped around 10 kids maintain and polish their VB skills during this period

in which we practiced using a myriad of drills. I believe that we accomplished that goal

throughout the tenure of the practices.

Henry Wicks

For my lead project, I restored a meadow in the town forest. At the outset of my project, the area

was covered in a deep layer of wood chips that stifled most plant growth. To make the area

plantable, I had to remove the entire layer of wood chips. This was a huge task, with the help of

more than 50 members of my community I was able to clear a 125’ x 116’ area, totaling about

2,888 cubic feet of wood chips (over 20 tons!) over the course of two weekends. After the area

was cleared, I spread a native seed mix containing grasses and wildflowers with oats as a cover

crop and covered the area in straw to help contain moisture. I received help from other National

Honor Society members, my scout troop, Natick High’s Sunrise Movement hub, and the

wrestling team, as well as several volunteers who came by on Natick trails day. Throughout my

project, I received guidance from the Trails and Forest Stewardship Committee, and my project

will contribute to their greater aim of restoring and maintaining Natick’s trails. The town forest is

the most heavily visited trails system in Natick, and I hope that my meadow restoration can get

even more people out to explore the natural beauty that exists right within our town.

Maree Donaghy

My lead project for national honor society was leading a team of tutors to help a middle schooler

adjusting to the remote learning model. Due to the unforeseen circumstances of the COVID-19

pandemic, some middle school students were forced to take school fully remote. It was a

challenging transition but through tutoring, I was able to make the transition easier for at least

one individual. I coordinated with the other tutors to create a tutoring schedule that works best

for the sixth-grader. I also created a personal assignment completion schedule to keep her on

track. It was very rewarding being able to help someone with their education because having a

strong understanding of the educational fundamentals is very important.

Samantha Healy

For my lead project I organized a dance costume, shoe, and accessory donation drive at my

dance studio, Miss Heejin’s Dance Studio. I worked with an organization called Donate2Dance

who helped me through this process. I sent out an email to all the dance families at my studio

and decorated box for dancers and parents to put the donations in. With COVID many

organizations that usually would be accepting donations aren’t so I am still in the process of

reaching out to different places to see if they want any of my donations. I have collected over

25 costumes, many pairs of various dance shoes and accessories such as headpieces and hats.

Nick Gordon

Bruno Tavilla and I completed a clothing drive from April 5-16. We worked with Catie's Closet

located in Hyde Park. We had flyers and were on the daily announcements. Clothes were

collected both in the front lobby and at our homes. Overall, we collected over 100 articles of

clothing for those in need. We spent about 10 hours of community service on this project.

Paige Chronopolous

For my National Honors Society senior lead project, I partnered with "Raising A Reader" and

hosted a children's book drive. In order to spread the word, I posted a blast on a Natick

Facebook page to get attention from people throughout the community. The book drive was

very successful! Over the course of one week, I collected just over one hundred and fifty books.

I dropped all the books off at their main office in Boston after the drive was completed. I am very

glad I was able to provide books for children during this challenging year.

Colton Green

For my Project I organized an event to clean up trash within Natick. I contacted a non profit

organization called Keep Mass Beautiful who helped me with the event. I reached out to all

teammates, friends, family members, community members and more to assemble a team to

take on the trash. We met in the Roche Brothers parking lot and cleaned the area surrounding

fiske pond. Overall the project went very smoothly. I got to connect with many people I don't

typically spend too much time with and I thought it was a great experience. I felt very

accomplished because not only had I helped clean up my community, but I also got a chance

to meet and connect with unfamiliar people and I really enjoyed it. This event really opened my

eyes, I learned that community service is more than just giving back to the community. This

project helped me grow as a person and I'd like to think it positively affected everyone else who

participated in the event Saturday.

Jake Dunlap

For my community service project, I have been doing a co-lead project with Christian Lederman

in which we have been doing lawn care for elderly citizens who have difficulty being able to

complete it. We go through their yards and mow their lawns, hedge their bushes, weed wack

what needs to be, pick up leaves, and any other little things they asked us to do. Christian and

I have been working this service since April 15th and have accumulated a total of 10 hours of

work.

James Drurey

For my lead project, I worked with Zack Eigenmann to hold a CADing seminar for our robotics

team members. As both leaders and seniors on our robotics team, this event was a sort of

way to pass on knowledge to younger members on our team. CAD, or computer aided design,

is a software that allows us to create digital 3D models and is an essential tool when planning

out our robot designs and its parts. Due to covid, the seminar was held online, over zoom. I

would say the event was pretty successful, however, we would have hoped to have a better

turnout. People were likely less motivated to join an online seminar than one in person, but

those who did make it had fun understanding the basics of CAD.

Caroline Gee

For my lead project, I organized an Easter Basket drive to donate to A Place To Turn. To start, I

spoke with the Natick branch of the Neighborhood Brigade which is a network of volunteers that

helps residents facing sudden or long term crises manage day to day tasks in addition to

assisting the Natick Service Council with projects as needed. Due to Covid, the Service Council

was not doing their annual Easter basket drive so the Natick Brigade stepped in to organize it

with a Place to Turn. They had sent an email to their contacts asking for help with baskets but

weren't getting much of a response. The coordinator said she would like it if I could take it over.

I then contacted A Place To Turn to see if there was anything in particular they needed that I

should put in the baskets. I then emailed friends and family for donations and I just gave

suggestions like bubbles, candy, chalk, plastic eggs, jump ropes, etc. People were incredibly

generous and happy to help. On the nice weather weekends I was able to work with a couple

of friends outside putting everything together. Over the course of three weeks I collected a ton

of different and thoughtful items to fill the baskets. As they only take donations on Mondays

from 10-12, over the weekends I would put all the baskets together from the donations from

that past week. In the end I was able to create and donate over 50 Easter Baskets to A Place

To Turn!

Katherine Coyne

This project went great, with a merch launch that will already help us with some of the financial

burdens of our summer show. We were able to advertise actively while raising money, and I

got to apply some outside art and tech talent to get it done. Getting to work with Garrett,

another NHS member, to collaborate on two projects that support each other was a great way

to both teach and learn. I got to learn some coding and website design from him while creating

graphics that worked both on the website and on the merch. This fundraiser will help to

significantly lower the last minute and out-of-pocket costs for everyone in the Groove Dance

Program, and I am glad that I got to help. This youth dance program relies on community and

outside support, so it was a great use of my skills to be able to contribute to keeping the arts

alive in my community.

Lily Manago

For my lead project, I decided to clean up a hiking trail that is near my house. I got together a

few friends and we picked up littered bottles, chip bags, fishing gear, and other trash items. We

put them into the proper bins and left the trail looking a lot better than we found it. I would say

overall the project was very successful because the amount of waste on the trail was reduced

safely and effectively, and the people on the trail seemed to be very appreciative as well!

Sophie Van Arsdalle

For my lead project I wrote and collected thank you letters for local healthcare workers. I

organized times to write these letters together with volunteers, or it could be done separately on

people's own time. After writing and collecting many letters, I packaged them together and sent

them into local hospitals addressed to the nursing staff and doctors. These letters focused on

thanking the healthcare workers for all their work in keeping us safe during Covid-19 over the

past year. All gatherings for the project followed all CDC guidelines and were held outdoors with

masks. It was an amazing opportunity to give back to the people who have been doing so much

for us.

Samantha Fuchs

For our lead project, Ally Eld and I organized a card drive. We first spent time researching to find

an organization to support; we ended up really liking “Cards For Hospitalized Kids,” which

distributes handmade cards to children in hospitals all throughout the United States. We wanted

to get a lot of people involved, so Ally and I reached out to our friends, family, neighbors, and

anyone else that we thought may be interested in participating. We gave instructions for the

cardmaking, and then everyone (including Ally and I) worked individually to make however

many cards they wanted. Once everyone finished, Ally and I collected, counted, and then

mailed the cards out. We contributed over 100 cards to this organization. I had a lot of fun with

this project, and I’m very glad knowing that our cards could be putting smiles on so many kids’

faces.

Garrett Schmidt

The project went very well and was successful in creating a website for the non profit dance

group, Groove Dance Project, that people have now been able to access and gain information

on the upcoming summer performance. I was also able to accomplish including access to a

merch fundraiser which is already gaining money to help the group.

Jaci Cotaquispe

For my senior lead project I organized a neighborhood donation for the Vietnam Veterans of

American during April break. I first left flyers in my neighbors' mailboxes letting them know about

my lead project. We wanted to collect old clothing and household items such as brooms and

plastic food containers. I spent time designing these flyers and getting in contact with those who

were interested in donating. Throughout the week I helped collect donations from my neighbors

and was able to collect 4 boxes for donation. On the last day, April 23rd, with the help of my

parents we were able to take all the donations to the Vietnam Veterans of America Center.

Alex McGrath

For my lead project, I co-led with Halle Berkowitz. We set up a care package drive for Rosie’s

Place, a women’s shelter in Boston. We collected items to be organized into toiletry and

personal care packages for the women who depend on Rosie’s Place. We were able to create

53 care packages with over 500 items donated. Each care package is a resealable gallon-sized

Ziploc bag. The bag of toiletries consisted of toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, chapstick,

shampoo/conditioner, lotion, and deodorant, while the personal care package consisted of

feminine care products, bandaids, hand sanitizer, socks, and wipes. Rosie’s Place was so

appreciative of our donation, which was a very rewarding feeling to have knowing we could give

back to our community!

Fiona Ripp

On Thursday April 16th, a small group of High School student volunteers, Isaac and I worked

together to complete a clean up at Coolidge Community Gardens, a project approved by Randy

Waters, the Director of the Natick Housing Authority. The Natick Housing Authority is attached to

a low income, elderly housing complex, Coolidge Gardens. The goal of this project was to clean

out the residents’ garden beds in preparation for their spring planting season, as well as, around

the beds, the walking paths and the surrounding space in order to make the area safe and

accessible for the elderly residents. And that is exactly what we did. We raked leaves and

picked up any trash or litter on the property, all of which was transported to the local Natick

dump after the event. We were surprised by how many Natick trash bags we filled with leaves.

With leaves although it is tiring work it is very satisfying to see the final results. In addition, we

helped prepare the residencies community garden beds, by pilling them with fresh peat moss

and new fertilizer both of which was kindly donated by Patriots Mulch Natick. The garden beds

had not been touched since the fall harvest, so we weeded the beds, turning over the soil, and

were surprised to see plants already sprouting! Lastly we helped reinstall flower like sculptures

donated by local artist, Rebecca Tuck that had been stored away for the winter. As the weather

is getting warmer, it will be nice for the elderly residents to be able to utilize their backyard, and

especially their garden beds!

Ally Eld

My lead project was a co-lead project with Samantha Fuchs. For our project, we organized and

participated in a card drive for hospitalized children. Some Natick students, community members,

Samantha, and I all made cards to contribute to an organization called “Cards for Hospitalized

Kids”, which distributes the cards to different hospitals. To plan, Samantha and I searched for

an organization to mail the cards to and reached out to people who may want to participate.

Then, in order to be Covid-19 safe, we provided instructions on making the cards then made

them individually. When everyone was done, Samantha and I collected the cards from everyone

and counted them before we sent them. We were able to donate over 100 cards. I enjoyed this

project and hope that our work was able to brighten the days of the children who receive our

cards.

Alana Sinclair

For my National Honors Society lead project, I organized a classroom clean up at my church.

This clean up took place on Saturday, April 17th. Due to the church’s COVID-19 protocols, I

completed this project independently and later created a Sign-Up-Genius to coordinate the

completion of the remaining spaces. I spent my time moving furniture, chairs and classroom

bookshelves. The biggest task of mine was needing to reorganize all of the church’s

educational curriculum. This will be used as a source for incoming teacher volunteers. With

the help of other volunteers who signed up to aid in preparing the classrooms, all spaces will

be ready and safe for classes to be taught again in the fall. Overall, I am grateful to have

given back to my church that has provided so much for me.

Connor Flynn

For my lead project, I lead the class officers of all grades in the high school in planning

numerous different community service projects that all culminate in one overall community week

in May. I've led the group with assignments from Mr. Harrigan to plan a town wide trash pick up

day, fundraisers at local small businesses, and I have reached out to local leaders to film short

videos on why Natick and Natick High School are so special. It has been a great time and

pleasure leading a group of student leaders weekly that range from freshmen to seniors. Our

projects, meant to be an end of year celebration of our school and community, will serve as a

testament to the hard work of the group I have led this year.