Class of 2023

For my lead project, I presented in multiple sophomore health classes as a member of Game Changers, which is a club that promotes healthy relationships and seeks to help end relationship abuse. First, we showed students a variety of statistics of relationship abuse that exist in Natick High School. Next, we featured relationship situations where students had to take a stance and justify their stance (agree or disagree). By hearing a variety of different perspectives, the students were able to challenge their own thinking and were able to better understand the prevalence of teen relationship abuse that exists in our community. 

For my lead project, I worked alongside Adriana and Alli Garcia. We created a slideshow lesson about mental health awareness in school for the Equity Co-op. We presented it to two different class groups and taught them about the mental health resources available at school. Overall, it was a great experience and hopefully, students learned more about mental health in school. 

For my lead project, I helped organize and operate a cakewalk activity booth at Natick Days in order to raise money for National Honors Society. I chose to do this because I have always liked going to Natick Days and enjoying the fun atmosphere and I wanted to contribute to it. Through this project, I helped raise $1044.25 to offset the stoles NHS uses for graduation and simultaneously provided a fun activity for children to do. I worked with Marin Grundig, Bridgette Kerr, and Dana Singer, who are also members of National Honors Society, to manage the booth. I helped reach out to other NHS members for assistance in acquiring baked goods and organized the drop-off of them on the day of the event. I organized other materials necessary for the day and set up the booth before Natick Days began. Throughout the day, I collected and counted tickets, explained the rules of the game, and encouraged people to participate. I also spoke to people about what National Honors Society does. Many children came to our booth and it was great to see their excitement when they won a cake. I feel that the project was very successful and made a positive impact on both NHS and the Natick Community.

For my lead project, I participated in the Mentorship program. As a co-captain in Natick High's Mentorship program, I worked with my co-captain and mentors to help the freshmen find their footing at Natick High School.  We created lessons, and activities, and provided academic and social resources which fostered a supportive and inclusive environment, where the freshmen felt more comfortable and confident in their new surroundings. To prepare for Mentorship we attended captain meetings before we presented our topic to our mentees, we were asked for feedback as well. The lessons and activities that we conducted, including sophomore class selections, healthy relationships, and the door decorating contest, were all important topics that can contribute to the personal and academic growth of the mentees. The Mentorship program has also allowed me to develop my own leadership skills and gain valuable insights into the experiences of others. Overall, I really enjoyed being a mentorship captain as I got to not only support freshmen getting acquainted with their new school but also learn from them in the process. 

The ultimate goal is to bring awareness toward Harriet's Closet. I plan to spend at least a week documenting my experience at Harriet's Closet after school hours to show Natick High Students the importance in recognizing organizations like Harriet's Closet. Near the end of my project, I plan to develop an attractive yet concise infographic about my experience behind the scenes at Harriet's Closet. Along with the goal of encouraging people to donate clothing, I hope to inspire students in the younger graduating classes to take on similar projects like mine, as more recognition to organizations in our local Natick Service Council, can go a long way to helping families and individuals in need in our community.

For my lead project, I plan to help facilitate a Drop-Into-Art (DIA) Session at the Danforth Art Museum in Framingham. I will create the activity sheet for people of all ages (typically geared for younger children) to complete using artwork found in the museum. I will also help lead and facilitate the art project after the activity sheet. 

I organized, prepared, and delivered donations for Thanksgiving gift baskets to the Devon Nicole House at Boston Children's Hospital. This is a non-profit organization with the mission of providing terminally ill children and their families with an affordable, safe place to rest while their kids are receiving treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital. I assembled Thanksgiving themed items, handmade cards, and gift baskets. Then delivered the baskets to 36 residents of the Devon Nicole House.

As a lead project for the National Honor Society I organized and led the Natick Youth Soccer clinic. As a varsity captain, it was my role to organize the clinic, and to ensure that the campers attending were safe and having fun. It was my job to attend meetings prior to the clinic to organize plans, themes for each day such as “crazy sock day” or “jersey day”, and to draw up plans for drills and games. Once the clinic began, it was my role to check the campers in, assign coaches to players, and make sure every age group was on task and successful in having fun. On the last day, I dressed up as Rudy the Redhawk, really demonstrating how far and beyond I went to make the Natick Youth Soccer Clic a big success for all. 

I made valentine’s day cards for the seniors at the Natick Senior Center.  I talked to Lorraine McNally, Assistant Director of Natick’s Council on Aging, and there are 125 seniors.  I went shopping to get supplies to make the cards and made cards for each senior.  I brought the cards to Natick Senior Center and the cards were included with the Meals of Wheels program for February 14, 2023. 

For my lead project, I designed an interactive presentation for everyone who read the summer reading book Slay by Brittney Morris. As I read the book over the summer, I took notes in order to create guided questions that sparked reading discussions and conversations in my group as well as others. With the presentation my friend and I designed throughout the summer, we led a discussion for Slay in one of the assigned groups. I chose this project for my lead because I wanted the opportunity to help create a presentation and questions that kept students engaged and talking. I wanted it to be as fun as possible so students would be excited. This project helped the students who read the book understand it better and develop new perspectives on the book. The presentation went really well as students were discussing and focused on the book. I’m glad they all had fun and got the opportunity to meet new people during the discussion!

For my lead project, I organized and led the induction ceremony and rehearsal for the National Honor Society at Natick High School. This included making the seating arrangements and the entrance lines where I had to organize them to ensure that everyone was able to walk from their seats onto the stage in the correct order that their slides were presented and names were called. Also as a part of my lead project, I will be teaching the junior who's in charge of the same process. Even though it was complicated to everyone involved, induction night ran smoothly and worked out as planned. 

For my lead project, I conducted research for the non profit organization called Cocotree Kids. My main goal was to gather information about different charitable organizations' youth underwear needs and then reach out and provide the underwear they need. Cocotree Kids provides a week's worth of new underwear to underserved and crisis-facing children in Massachusetts. For my project I found other organizations that donate underwear to children in need and reached out to them so Cocotree Kids could provide them with enough pairs to serve to their children. I found homeless shelters, other organizations, helped them package the underwear for the children, and even went to the different events and shared my knowledge with the community to help get people to donate. I worked alongside the Director of Communications and I created lists that they will now use to add to their list of partners to distribute to next year, as well as companies to target for financial donations.

For my lead project, I served as the new head of the middle school tutoring program. This included overseeing the transition back to tutoring in person, recruiting new students and tutors, pairing and scheduling everyone, overseeing all communications, and running biweekly meetings for all of the tutors. I also worked closely with the program secretary to talk to parents and used their feedback to improve the program. I have also organized an end-of-year party and created a plan for a smooth transition into the next school year with a new program head. The program supports the community by offering free in-person tutoring to students and families in need of academic support who would not otherwise have access to it. We help coach students through homework, review lessons taught in school, and offer mentorship to kids in need.

My lead project for the Natick High National Honor Society Chapter was to help plan and execute the Induction Ceremony in November. I chose this as my lead project because it is an important moment for all of us, and I wanted to be a part of the experience for my peers. I prepared by meeting with my fellow Leads, talking with Ms. Marino and Mr. Sanford, and keeping a digital checklist to stay on track. Ms. Marino, Mr. Sanford, my fellow Leads, and my parents helped to make this a successful experience. It went very well, with the Class of 2023's Induction being a great success. In the future, I would start planning even sooner, as I did not realize how much of a time commitment planning a large event was! However, I learned a great deal from the experience and am glad to have been a part of it.

For my lead project, I organized and ran a youth clinic for the Natick Soccer Club. As a senior captain of the varsity soccer team, I wanted to be able to show my leadership and organizational skills. Before the camp started the captains for the boys and girls team had a meeting where we created drills and themes for each day. During the camp, it was my job to set up the drills, check the players in and separate them into their groups by grade, and assign other high school volunteers to be counselors for each group. It was a very fun and successful three-day camp where kids were able to improve and learn new skills while still having fun by playing games and earning prizes.

For my lead project, I helped to organize a group to make quilts for migrant families in El Paso. This was done at my church in Natick, and we were able to make enough quilts to send a full van to El Paso. The quilts were given to both adults and children who are currently being held under poor conditions due to immigration issues. The group ended up being around 20 people and we spent the afternoon choosing patterns and sewing together quilts. We also accepted donations from other members who were unable to attend that day, and overall it was a success.

My project was to create a beautiful space outdoors for teachers of Lilja Elementary School. I have grown up at the school and always wanted to give back to the amazing teachers that have spent their lives caring for children. My project will give the teachers a unique and necessary place to eat or be social. The most rewarding part of my project would be watching the project come to fruition. It felt amazing to see everything come together and people work so well with each other. I was able to set a strong example for all the younger scouts and hopefully they will be encouraged to complete their own projects one day. I was so proud that I was able to give back to a place that I loved and cherished, it was a lot of work and I feel very fulfilled.

For my lead project, I was a student presenter for the Natick High School summer reading program. This means that I read an additional summer reading book and created discussion questions and a presentation on it. I then presented this to the freshman and sophmores on summer reading day at the high school. I created the presentation alone and presented it by myself, acting as a stand-in english teacher prompting the students on discussion questions and their thoughts on the novel. The project went well and I was able to stimulate a conversation among the students where they shared their thoughts on the novel, responses to my discussion questions, as well as their own thoughts. This project allowed me to grow as a person and improve my presentation and public speaking skills.

For my lead project, I designed a presentation for all presenters to use during the summer reading book discussion. Over the summer I read the book Slay by Brittany Morris, while reading I marked up the story in preparation to make discussion questions. I also added various sections to the summer reading website for students to view after finishing their book. I added enrichment activities, an about the author section, and different scenarios from the book to enhance each student's understanding before the discussion. After summer was over, my friend and I worked to compile what we had learned into an engaging and colorful slideshow. Come September, we lead a classroom of freshmen in a discussion about Slay. It was very fun to participate in and we got to engage each student in their own ideas about the book. Overall, it was very successful and took a lot of time to make it the best it could be. 

For my lead project, I volunteered at Memorial Elementary School with my elementary school gym teacher. I led classes, activities, and formed relationships with students. I really enjoyed this experience and getting to know the students. It went very well and was very beneficial for me to get involved and learn how to handle different situations as an adult figure. 

For my lead project, I wanted to give back to the youth department of my church. After consulting with management, they suggested that I build 6 benches for the outdoor hallway overlooking the playground. In an effort to save money as well as encourage sustainability, I took down my childhood treehouse, and used the old wood to create the benches. I led a group of 12 people in order to build, paint, and move the benches to where they are now, available for parents to sit and watch their kids play.

My lead project was leading a girls youth lacrosse camp. I chose this for my lead project because I am passionate about growing the game of lacrosse and making other people passionate about the sport. This project helped many kids get better and helped them to get extra playing opportunities.  My fellow coaches at the camp helped me complete this project. I prepared for this project by creating drills for the camp. I also helped set up cones and coached the girls through the drill. This project went really well.  I really enjoyed helping the girls get better and growing the game of lacrosse.

For my lead project I organized a food drive to give back to my community. I had family, friends, and neighbors donate nonperishable items and brought the items to A Place to Turn in Natick. This was a very valuable and important project to me because it was a very hands-on way that I could try to make a small difference. It made me feel very grateful that I was able to make a contribution and give back to my community. 

For my lead project, I did a co-lead cleanup of Timothee Coolidge Hill Town Property with Sarah Garman. On April 11th, Sarah and I took trash bags and cleaned up the surrounding area around the road next to Natick High School, cleaning up various pieces of trash, tin cans, plastic bags, bottles, etc. This lead project took 5 hours and was verified by Nathaniel Lord. There was a lot more trash than we expected because it seems like there is much less trash when you drive by, and we filled up two whole trash bags completely. I am proud that we cleaned this area up because it was severely littered, and I am glad that we could help make the area around Natick High cleaner and more environmentally friendly.

For my lead project I volunteered to coach at a youth lacrosse clinic. I was a part of a group of highschool players who also volunteered. Each day one of us took the lead in creating drills and activities for the youth players. I chose to do this project because I have been through the entire natick lacrosse program from youth to highschool starting when I was in first grade. I wanted to give back to the program by taking what I have learned and teaching the younger youth players. The camp went really well, all of the players had a great time and got a lot better by the end. I am happy to be able to give back to the community and program of the sport I love. 

For my lead project, I created and presented a slideshow on Inequities in Dance for the Equity Co-op. I collaborated with Samhita Gone and Kristina Tolarova and led two different presentations. I researched many of the stereotypes, biases, myths, and preconceptions surrounding dancers and dance. Through this research, I learned more about how culture and history have influenced inequities in dance (gender inequality, access to training, discrimination, pay disparities, etc). Because of this project, I had the chance to learn more about a form of art that I am passionate about, as well as share my findings with other like-minded individuals. By including engaging games and discussion-centered activities in my presentation, I encouraged participation from my audience and shed light on the many inequities that exist in dance today. 

I helped lead and direct the children's choir at my church. Specifically, I was in charge of leading warmups, teaching christmas songs, and leading the church in song during the Advent season. Overall, the masses during the season were beautiful! The children's choir sounded great after our rehearsals together. I especially helped teach the song "Stay Awake, Be Ready," and helped them time the claps on beat. Also, I helped with the timing on "Go Tell it on the Mountain." During mass, I helped lead the congregation in song through voice and violin. It was very rewarding to hear everyone come together and sing after time well spent rehearsing.

For my lead project, Charlie Collins and I volunteered in PE classes at Memorial Elementary School. We chose this because when we were in elementary school, PE was always a highlight of our days, and any time an older kid came into a class it was so exciting. We organized and led activities and talked to and got students involved in activities. The PE teacher, Miss Pascarelli, helped us and was the best back in elementary school and now. Our project went very well and I would love to do it again. 

My lead project was being the organizer of our school's National Honor Society tutoring program. I chose this to be my lead project because I'm a very organizer person, so I would be able to sort emails from lots of different people, and I really like helping underclassmen. This project fulfilled the needs of underclassmen who needed extra help in some of their classes, and who couldn't pay for a tutor, or just wanted some one on one time with someone who could help them. To prepare for this project, I sent out a mass email to gather up tutors for a variety of subjects. Once I had all of my tutors, I emailed the department heads of each department in the highschool, and asked them to spread the word about our tutoring program. Once I had all of the kids, I emailed all of them, and had them separated into groups based on their tutoring needs. For my project, I had help from Ms. Marino and Ms. Gardner. I think that overall, it went pretty well, however at times we did have attendance issues with some kids not showing up. In the future, I think I would try to get in better contact with kids, to make sure that they would actually be going to tutoring, and I would reach out to more teachers about the program earlier. 

For my lead project, I recruited a group of students to volunteer at the 10th Annual Pam's Run in Wayland. Before the race, I promoted the event and reached out to fellow students to gather a group of volunteers. At the Pam's Run, we helped to cheer on and direct runners. By providing positive encouragement, we were able to facilitate a positive and safe racing experience. The Pam's Run is dedicated to the memory of Pam Manikas Washek the founder of Neighbor Brigade. All of the money raised from the race goes to the Neighbor Brigade, a nonprofit organization established to help families in need of assistance in the Wayland and Natick communities. I hope to continue to volunteer at events like this that help strengthens families in the surrounding communities. 

My lead project consisted of recruiting tour guides and directing tours of Natick High School for the incoming students and their families during Step Up Night. I worked with other student volunteers throughout the night to ensure tours were efficient but still delivered an in-depth look around the school. I also was able to run a table that provided general information about NHS, and I was able to answer questions from the incoming freshman and others. 

For my lead project, I lead a group of people to make and donate blankets to a Place To Turn. I instructed my helpers on the measurements of the blankets, how to cut the fabric, and how to create the tassels. As I created blankets I supervised my helpers and answered their questions. When we faced challenges, such as measurement issues, I helped to problem-solve. I was also financially responsible for all the costs of the materials. The project went well and we were successful in completing the blankets. Through this project, I was able to work on my abilities to lead and problem-solve. We also found it rewarding to provide some comfort to local families.

For my lead project, alongside Sammi Gerson, I organized NHS' yearly singing competition, Pop Idol. Not only is this a great competition for a cash prize among singers at NHS, it is also a fundraiser for the NHS A Cappella program. I chose this for my lead project since it is one of the events I look most forward to in the year and wanted to take a lead role in ensuring its success. In preparation for the competition, Sammi and I organized auditions, accepted finalists, recruited faculty judges, coordinated with A Cappella groups, tech and crew people, and our faculty advisor, Ms. Burns. We decorated the auditorium, promoted the event via posters and morning announcements, and I was also the Master of Ceremonies, introducing each act. Overall, the night was a resounding success. We were able to raise over $600 for the A Cappella program, collecting capital to be used in the future for any A Cappella monetary needs. Yet, beyond that, it was also incredibly successful in a qualitative regard. I was incredibly pleased to be able to give students who were less confident in performing in front of an audience a safe opportunity to do what they love, and enjoy themselves while doing it. 

My lead project is managing a community garden in the center of town. My biggest success has been organizing a community planting day which was a three hour event. This planting day took many hours of preparation before it which is where the majority of my 15 hours of work was spent. I helped start seedlings, bought seedlings, took a soil test, organized a compost donation from Patriot Bark Mulch,  attended the board meeting of Keep Natick Beauiful(the organization that oversees the garden), created a garden reporting form linked to a spreadsheet, sent routine emails to volunteers, organized weekly zoom meetings with volunteers, and prepared garden spaces for the planting day. I am  excited to continue managing the garden for the rest of the season. This has taught me a lot about how to recruit and organize volunteers. It has also shown me that community gardens are a way to build community around a shared goal. 

For my lead project, I represented Natick High School's Band and Choir programs on Equity Collaborative day by presenting on the role of music in social movements. I did a lot of research and rehearsing to prepare for my portion of the presentation, which mostly focused on the role of music in the 1960s civil rights movement. Then, on Equity day, my group gave 2 one-hour presentations to separate groups, informing them about how effective music can be in causing social change. I was surprised by how engaged our audience was with the subject, and overall I think it was a very informative and fun experience. 

For my lead project, I organized a Youth Golf Day at the KOHR Golf driving range in Natick. With the help of another junior instructor, Dan Moran, we set up activities and drills for any kids who were interested in the game of golf. The lessons consisted of fundamentals and brief history and information about the sport. I've been a junior instructor for KOHR and The First Tee of Massachusetts for the past two years, so helping kids get started with golf has been something I've become very passionate about, especially since the sport has a history of not being inclusive or accessible for many people. With this project, my goal was to get kids involved with the sport, so it can keep growing for the future.

The Charles River dam in South Natick is a very popular place to sit down and have a picnic since it is located right across from the Charles River Cafe. Because it is such a popular spot, trash accumulates very quickly on the grass and in the river. For my lead project, I wanted to help stop the problem of trash ending up in the river. So, over the course of two days, I gathered some people to help pick up trash on the grass around the dam, in the woods next to the dam, and on the pavement around the dam. We gathered a good amount of trash all around the dam, leaving the area cleaner than it was before, and preventing excess trash from getting into the river.

For my lead project, I helped organize and promote a fundraiser for the Natick Service Council. Every year, the First Congregational Church Natick holds this food drive which they call the Souper Bowl as it is a “competition” that happens during the Super Bowl. Half of the congregation is put on one team and competes with the other half of the congregation to raise the most money for the Natick Service Council in 4 weeks.  As the lead promoter, I was in charge of giving announcements every week where I would explain the rules, give donation updates, and explain the Natick Service Council’s program to the congregation. Furthermore, I set up signs and inflatables outside of the church to spread the word, created graphics to be displayed on TVs around the church, and dressed up as a referee to fit the Super Bowl theme. Overall, we raised $3,338 which broke our overall goal of $3,000. This was a challenging project that took me outside of my comfort zone but I am very glad that I did it. I enjoyed using my excitement and energetic personality to make a difference in my local community.

For my lead project, I participated in a basketball clinic for the youth girl’s basketball teams of Natick. I chose to do this because when I was younger, I had strong mentors within sports so I wanted to build that relationship with the girls while leading with positivity. As much as it was a learning experience for them, I feel like I gained so much from running the clinic as well. I got a deeper understanding of how to learn, lead, and adapt. Along with doing drills and games, we did fun bonding activities that required communication skills. In the game of basketball, communication is a key component that assures that your teammates are working together/on the same page. These activities were great icebreakers for the girls. My goal for the clinic was to leave a positive impact on young athletes. I believe I accomplished this goal by putting myself in their shoes and adapting to their style but also challenging them to problem solve to use their voice for positivity.

For my lead project, I decided to organize a group of 5 people to help clean up the Hunnewell Town Forest here in Natick. I decided to do this, especially after senior skip day, to help clean up our forests and ensure that the waste is properly discarded. I love being a part of a community especially when we are doing something to help our town. By combining all our trash bags, we were able to fill up 5 large trash bags filled with glass bottles, wrappers, cans, and other recyclable and trash materials. Overall I believe we made a difference by providing a safer and cleaner environment for people to walk in. 

For my lead project, I created and presented a workshop for the equity co-op. My presentation was done for the performing arts program at Natick High School. Our workshop, “Representation in Performing Arts” focused on inequalities in both acting and technical crew jobs. This presentation covered a range of topics within theatre such as education, the hiring process, and workplace conditions. We discussed the experiences of many minority groups through reflections on personal anecdotes and current statistics. Our workshop had a total duration of one hour and was presented twice during the day, each group had roughly 25-30 students. The students had an opportunity to discuss the information presented and were encouraged to turn and talk with peers about personal experiences or to push ideas further. Many were able to share their thinking and real world connections with the class through talk about current connections to the industry. The workshop felt successful because the students engaged with the material and it was clear they understood and absorbed the topics presented.

For my lead project, I was a judge and presenter at the Massachusetts Speech & Debate League’s Novice Tournament at Catholic Memorial. As a judge, I participated in a practice round of debate to show the novices how a round looks. Following some instruction time, the novices continued that debate – during which I judged them and provided individual feedback on their speeches. Following the round, we discussed what makes a good debate topic and answered questions about the round. After the end of the practice rounds, all of the competitors across all speech events met together for an exhibition showcase. At that, I presented one of my speeches, and following all of the demos we had a brief Q&A panel to answer questions and give advice about Speech & Debate to the novices.

For my lead project, I organized our banquet for the swim and dive team. I chose this project because I thought it would be fun to organize it, and as a member of the team, I had fun and wanted to help the team out. I contributed by booking the venue, figuring out the catering situation, making the slideshow, and helping to set up and clean up. I had to look into multiple venues before selecting the best one. We asked for teammate and parent opinions, looked at the logistics of each place, and eventually decided on what I thought was the best one. I was helped by teammates and the captain's parents of the team. The project went very well and the banquet ran extremely smoothly despite there being a lot of different moving pieces.

For my lead project, I worked with AnnaMaria Aoude and Alli Garcia. We created a slideshow about mental health, stress, and coping mechanisms for the Equity Co-op. We were able to present it to two different groups, and it was great seeing people be interested in mental health equity and resources at school. The presentations went well, and it was nice that people were engaged in our discussions. The goal is that everyone was able to take away one good coping skill that can help them manage their stress and mental health.

For my lead project, I worked with AnnaMaria Aoude and Adriana Garcia to create a presentation for the Equity Co-op. Our presentation was about mental health and stress in school; we were able to cover what healthy coping are, different school resources, and we came up with strategies on how to fight against mental health disparities. Raising awareness for mental health is something that I am incredibly passionate about, so I am glad that I was able to help spread some information to the student body.

For my National Honor Society lead project, I co-led a trash clean-up at the Timothee Coolidge Hill town property with Lana Curic. We picked up the trash all around the outskirts of the forest across from the highschool. We ended with two full bags of trash including water bottles, alcoholic beverages, plastic bags and more. In the end, we were very successful in cleaning up trash and helping our environment.

My first lead project was to make the hero slides for the NHS Induction Ceremony. I chose this project because I am passionate about film and editing and this project utilized my skill set. I found that it would be hard to flip through everybody’s hero slides individually, so offered to make the presentation into a moving video. It relieved some pressure on the other induction organizers and made the ceremony look more put together and momentous. I formatted every member’s hero slide and made sure everyone’s slides were present. Then, I screen recorded myself clicking through all the slides for a certain amount of time to alot for the members walking across the stage in the ceremony. The final video was about 20 minutes. One obstacle was that one member submitted their slide very late, and I had to re-record the video. The other organizers and Ms. Marino and Mr. Sanford helped me make sure the timing of the video was correct and make sure the slides were in order. It went well. The only hiccup was that the first version of the video was used instead of the second, so one member’s slide was not finished. In the future I would double check with the projector that the right video was being used, but otherwise the process went smoothly. 

For my lead project I was selected to be a student mentor captain. As a mentorship captain, I led a group of 16 incoming freshmen and other mentors through the transition to high school. I also helped create and executed various lesson plans for our group. These included team bonding games, lessons on healthy relationships, and rich discussion. Over time the group was able to build trust which allowed us to work together at a high and meaningful level. As a leader I learned that you have to meet the needs of each individual, while also promoting equity. 

For my lead project, I was in charge of organizing and planning the yearly singing competition and fundraiser, Pop Idol. I ran this event with another peer leader and we obtained help from the rest of the a cappella leadership team. In order for this event to be successful, we needed to recruit faculty judges, hold auditions for participants, and communicate with the stage crew. We planned decorations for the front of the house, ticket table, and auditorium, and set up and cleaned up the event. We also advertised the event through morning announcements, social media, and posters. The day of Pop Idol, I helped monitor the event, and also performed with my a cappella group as entertainment. Pop Idol ran smoothly and was a huge success, with a profit of $675 for the NHS A Cappella Program. 

For my lead project, I ran an online Ancient Civilizations class for 5th-8th grade students throughout the year. I taught this class through a program called the Brightmoon Foundation, which is a nonprofit, founded during covid, with the goal of providing free educational and extracurricular courses for young students. As a founding teacher for the program, I have run several courses and workshops in the past several years. This year, my curriculum focused on six ancient civilizations; Mesopotamia, Indus River Valley civilization, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Maya, and Ancient China. I structured each lesson using outside research and resources mixed with my own presentations and projects aimed at engaging their creativity. This class has been a huge success and I've been lucky enough to teach some fantastic kids throughout the year! They had lots of fun reading about the culture, religion, geography, and politics of the Ancient World and I hope they continue to enjoy learning as they continue to grow and advance in their education!

For my lead project, I took on the role as a captain for the Natick High Mentorship program. Through the role of a captain I spent time creating lessons to be taught to the freshmen classes. I also coordinated and led a group of mentors to teach these lessons to our own class of mentees. Throughout the year, we frequently met with our group and led activities that ranged from lessons on healthy relationships, playing team bonding games, and time to ask questions about high school. The goal of this was to help make the transition to high school easier and make the freshmen feel encouraged to get involved within the school community. Overall this was successful because I reflect on the experience as a great way to form a stronger school environment and I have become more confident with my leadership, communication and organization skills. 

For my lead project I organized and led a Service Day at my temple. Planning the service day involved meeting with the temple Youth Board to develop the programming, determine a budget and estimated cost of the materials needed, and reach out to foundations we wanted to collaborate with. Through this, my team and I were able to plan a successful event that generated even more donations than we had predicted. The service day consisted of various stations around the temple including card making, blanket making, and soup packaging. Attendees were encouraged to bring in items for the food drive which we sorted and donated to JF&CS. 

For my lead project, I choreographed and taught dance to middle school students for the Metrowest Organization of Holliston Indians, a nonprofit organization. Every year for the past 3 years, I have been choreographing and teaching dance to students who will be performing at this local Diwali festival in Holliston called Mohi Parivar. Diwali is the festival of lights, so we have celebrations filled with various activities and performances. For this event, I took the time to find rhythmic music, edit it, and finally start creating the dances for the two groups I was teaching the dances to. My two groups consisted of one group being all boys and the other being all girls. I taught them the dances every weekend until the event for 3 hours alongside designing costumes with parents.  As always, the event this year was successful. With this being my last year contributing to the organization, I really enjoyed and spent lots of time with the kids I was teaching for the past 4 years. While I was teaching them their dances, I also got the opportunity to help these kids unite with each other especially when time really permits that. The kids learned the dances well, sent me practice videos, and cooperated very well, we all had lots of fun. At the end of my time, we had two successful performances that the boys and girls did. It was amazing to see and they had very unique and relevant costumes that matched the music. I chose this as my lead project because as a dancer myself, I wanted to share my joy of dancing with others and give the kids an opportunity to just let loose and be who they want to be. 

Throughout my national honors society lead project, I worked as a mentorship captain to lead the freshman class successfully through their first year of high school. The year began with a thoughtfully planned out freshman orientation where students could visit their classes and tour the building. We had the goal of forming a close bond with the students in our group and I led my fellow mentors through this process. The captains met together and came up with our own lessons that would bring the mentorship classes closer together. These lessons varied from bonding exercises to informational slides about staff in the school, and consent. Our CDS class got more talkative as the year went on and the previous eighth graders felt like real high schoolers. They had a friendly face in the hallways and had someone they could go to for a student perspective to answer any questions.

For my lead project, I worked with three other members of National Honor Society to organize the NHS booth at Natick Days, a town event. We organized a cake walk and had other members of NHS donate cakes the day of. We worked out the logistics of getting our booth at the fair and attended the informational meeting. We worked out all of the decorations and cake drop-offs and on the day of, we worked to set up the booth. From 10-3, we worked the booth and looked over the other volunteers. After a full day of fundraising, we counted up all of the tickets and money and took it to cash in. We then broke down our booth and cleaned up. Overall we raised $1,044.25 which will be used towards the cost of our graduation stoles. I chose this lead project because I was able to collaborate with others to raise money for our graduating class while also participating in a town-wide community event. This was a very successful event that got us involved with the local community as well as raising money for our cause.

For my lead project, I created practice plans for Beantown Volleyball Club where I coached the 14’s elite team for their upcoming Boston tournament. Over the course of a week, I led the team in practices where I focused on basic skills and drills to help them prepare for the biggest volleyball tournament in Massachusetts. My lead project went very well and it was a great opportunity for me to use my 5 years of volleyball experience to help train these players. I choose to do this as my lead project because when I was in club volleyball I always looked up to the high school players who came to help coach the team. I wanted to use my experience as a varsity captain in a positive way and I gained so much knowledge about what it takes to be a couch and I had so much fun doing it. 

My lead project, co-led with Kyle Yee, involved working with the Natick Council on Aging to rake leaves for senior citizens with our robotics team. We chose this project because as autumn came, we realized that many seniors needed their leaves raked and it would be a great opportunity to gain a broader perspective within the robotics team. Through the project, we helped senior citizens keep their yards clean, beautiful, and ready to use the next season. To prepare, we had to scope out which robotics club members were interested and when they’d be available; we eventually decided to do our raking on Saturdays and Sundays. I then called each homeowner to schedule when we would visit their house, taking note of whether or not they could provide leaf bags. Kyle and the other robotics team members were very helpful in getting the job done. They brought leaf blowers, rakes, and fun attitudes. We realized that raking leaves requires a lot of time and effort, and it’s done much more easily as a team. The project went well overall and each yard we visited was significantly neater than when we arrived. If I did this project again, I would schedule more time at each house since we usually went overtime, start scheduling houses earlier to stay organized, and get more detailed information about which members can make it to each session. However, I’m satisfied with how the project turned out and glad I played a part in helping the community.

Over the summer I was the cadet supervisor leader for the Natick Police Youth Academy. In this role I helped set up the classes that the cadets went to, supervised them during their time at the police station, set up the groups and cadet leaders who were with them at their classes, and overall set up and ran the camp with the police officers.  In this role I was in charge of all of the cadets and the cadet leaders and it was my responsibility to make sure that they all were in formation, at their classes, were safe and feeling alright, and to make sure that they had classes to go to. I was also in charge of their daily dismissal from the academy and their daily P.T.

For my lead project, I directed the pit band for the student-run musical 9 to 5. This leadership opportunity is one that I have been interested in since I first participated in pit band my freshman year. Since then, I have become further interested in music, so I was eager to take advantage of this chance. Some of my responsibilities as co-music director and pit band director were organizing music for everyone in the band, leading rehearsals, and conducting the 3 performances in early February. I also helped some of the singers in the show by making vocal tracks and teaching parts on the piano. The people that helped me most with this project were the other students in the creative team for the show, especially the other co-music director, and the members of the pit band who had a lot of experience with the pit. This project enabled a successful student pit band for 9 to 5, a show that was open to all members of the community. This experience made me a better leader, as I had to give clear directions to the band, make several decisions that would impact the show, and lead practices for several hours on some days. This experience also was a way for me to experience music from a different perspective, which is something that I want to pursue further after high school. To prepare for the project, I listened to the show on my own several times, taking note of what I wanted to review with the band. I also practiced conducting the show and received notes from a fellow musician. In all, I am very proud of how far I came with this project. However, I am even more proud of the pit band, as the show we put on went well, and everyone put lots of effort into making it that way. If I have a similar opportunity in the future, I would make sure to stay on top of communication with those running the show, but I would not change much with how I led the group.

Over the course of 5 weeks, I headed over to Wilson Middle School to meet up with students who may be struggling in school. I was recommended by my football coach and this was coordinated with Mr. Casey. I helped the students whether it be academically or physically (sports). It was great time bonding and getting to know these students, and was a great time!

For my lead project, I helped lead a group of tutors interested in tutoring high-school students that need help in math. I chose to do this because I have always enjoyed tutoring in math and thought that becoming a leader of a math tutoring group would be fun. This project helped many high school students that were struggling in math understand the material from another student's perspective. I prepared for this project by creating posters on Canva to hang up on the school bulletin boards and drafting a reminder email to send out before every Blue 1 day. Kaitlyn Drake helped me communicate with teachers that had students who needed help in math. The tutoring went well overall, while we had a small group of people to tutor, the tutoring group worked well to help the students understand the material better. There is not something that I would do differently in the future, but I am glad that we helped students understand some of their work better!

For my lead project, I music directed the cast of “9 to 5” at Natick High School. I have always been involved with theatre, whether it was at the high school or out in the community. I thought this was a great opportunity because of my history in theatre and my interest in becoming a music teacher later in my life.  My responsibilities as a co-music director were learning music before rehearsals, making vocal tracks, and teaching the cast the music, all to help the cast become performance ready. The people who helped me the most were the other student leaders in the show, especially the other music director and choreographer. In the end, the cast was able to proudly perform three great shows at the high school. It was a great experience for me to learn what it takes to be a leader in the theatre community which includes the knowledge, time, and dedication needed to produce a successful show. It also taught me how to be a leader in the music community, which I plan to be a part of in the near future.  In the future, I would definitely like to take more time preparing how to teach music for rehearsals, since the lack of time made the process feel very difficult, but I am still very grateful for the experience. Overall I am very proud of the end result of this production which also solidified my want to be a music teacher in the future. I am also extremely proud of the cast, who all worked extremely hard with patience and long hours, to create a great show.

For my lead project, I was a delegate on the Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education board, specifically for the Greater Boston area, as a representative of Natick High School. This board allowed me to collaborate with representatives from other Greater Boston schools, and share concerns on how to improve educational systems either physically or mentally. My breakout group created a proposal that reviewed different recycling, trash, compost, and energy systems currently established in Massachusetts schools and solutions to how to make them more eco-friendly. This is a new program for Natick so I hope to lead by example and give other students the opportunity to engage and represent our school.

In conducting Kindness Week, I mainly organized the “Stories of Kindness” project, where students, adults, and the elderly told a story involving kindness or described what kindness means to them. We received hundreds of responses as a result of reaching out to the English department head before the event. The event turned out to be a success, and I would like to continue to serve as a leader or member of the organization.

For my lead project for national honors society, I helped set up and run the NHS booth at Step-Up Night. I chose this event for my hours because I think it is important not only for us to uphold the community, but to pass it on to younger generations of students so they can continue to uphold the ideals of the institution as well. Half of our battle is to do good ourselves, and the other half is to inspire others to do the same. As I spoke with future Natick High students, I was impressed with their desire to carry on the legacy of the National Honors Society in their future high school years, though that might not be for another quarter decade. At the end of the day, I think this project has helped our community for the better, and I hope the future of the NHS will do the same. 

For my lead project, I tabled for the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund (SALDEF) to increase membership.They provide legal advice and referral services to fight against and protect Sikhs from discrimination. They also have multiple youth programs that work to increase future political participation by connecting students to new internships and opportunities not normally accessible. After contacting my local Gurdwara, I set up a date and timings I could table for, as well as having posters and flyers ready. Day of, I tabled for 5 hours, spoke to and hopefully created numerous potential members and donors. It was difficult at first to get into the swing of capturing people's attention and explaining SALDEF's purpose while keeping them engaged, but eventually I got the hang of it. It was a rewarding experience I'd definitely do again. 

For my lead project, I collected art supplies for the senior residents at St. Patrick’s Manor, a nursing community in Framingham. After reaching out to the Director of Recreation, I compiled a list of desired art supplies. Then, I sent out an email to other National Honor Society members requesting donations and volunteering willing to help me collect these donations. Overall, I collected and delivered 40 items to St. Patrick’s Manor. I believe this project will positively impact the lives of the senior citizens who received these art supplies and the spirits of those who donated.

For my lead project, I organized and ran Natick Days for National Honors Society. Our booth was a cake walk and we fundraised money to help pay for the stoles we wear at graduation. For this project, I worked with Dana Singer, Marin Grundig, and Lauren Applegate. Together we planned the cake walk, made a sign-up sheet for bringing cakes and volunteering, and brought tables, decorations, numbered plates for the game, prizes, and allergy-friendly treats. We also got to Natick Days early to set up our booth and then ran the cakewalk for the entirety of the day. This fundraiser was very successful! We ended up raising over a thousand dollars, which brought the price of stoles down. 

For my lead project, I chose to do something that resonates very closely for me: my faith. Being a Christian is really important to me, and when I saw that I could help out my church by taking over as the Church's youth pastor, I decided to act on it. Working with the Church's younger kids was a great experience. I acted as a leader and organizer for a lesson around the gospel for my church's youth group and Sunday school session. I researched stories in the bible for the kids to learn about, and then set up discussions so the kids could understand it on their own terms. For both sessions, I did a main lesson in a large group, and then I split them up into smaller groups to go in more detail about it, so my assistants were really helpful. I also created lesson guides for my assistants to carry out in said smaller groups. I would say the whole thing went really well. In the future, I wish I would've gotten a bit more help in planning the lesson, as it was a lot of work, and hearing ideas from others would've made it easier.

For my lead project, I taught a kid how to play guitar. I've been playing guitar for more than 5 years now, and I've learned to love the instrument. For my lead project, I wanted to share this passion I have with guitar with someone who didn't have access to the instruments. I brought the idea to my mom, who is a teacher in boston. In a short amount of time, she found the perfect person, so I leant him one of my guitars, and started to give him lessons over zoom. It turned out to be a lot of fun and the kid, Kairi, has a lot of talent and is a great learner. 

For my lead project, I conducted research on fidgets, their uses, and how they work for the Mental Wellness Event at the Museum of Science, Boston. This was intriguing research because I was learning too. After I centralized my research into a presentation, it was shown to interns and staff at the museum. My research was used as background and instruction for prototyping and building fidgets at the event. When on site for the event, I helped visitors learn about fidget toys and how each individual can use them and benefit from them. While speaking on this topic, visitors were able to make their own fidgets at activity tables. At the event, I got to interact with lots of kids and adults who enjoyed my project and other amenities of the event such as presenters on mental illness, a theater based communication game, and guided yoga.I feel as though my understanding of mental health expanded even more as I was teaching others what I already knew. 

For my lead project, I helped coach a team of 7th and 8th grade youth lacrosse players in Natick. I choose to do this because Natick Youth Lacrosse has been a huge part of my life and to be able to come back and help younger kids is very rewarding. During this project and currently, Ive been able to help kids become better lacrosse players and teammates, by leading drills, coaching players and helping other coaches.

For my lead project, I shoveled snow around apartments and sidewalks. I chose this for my lead project because I wanted to help people's lives be easier when they have to walk outside their homes. In addition, this helped the community because people didn't have to worry about doing their own shoveling or walking through snow or ice in the morning. I coordinated having my friends involved to help out, and by the time we were finished, we had cleared out all of the crucial areas around the apartments. It went very well. In fact, it went so well that I wouldn't do anything different in the future.

For my lead project, I organized two events at Brown Elementary School ASAP and Morse Institute Library through the RoboNatick Team 6032 Lightning Hawks. As the communications leader of my team, I chose to do this because I enjoy engaging with and encouraging younger students in our community to become more involved in STEM. This allows the kids to gain more hands-on experience with what our team does and what STEM entails. For the Brown ASAP event, I created a plan for what we would do, which included introducing our team and organizing a spaghetti tower competition. The Morse Institute Library event was a co-lead project with Aiyina Meng. We set up two stations for the attendees: one where they could drive our outreach robot and another where they could watch our competition video for this season and brainstorm robot design ideas. Overall, we were able to connect with the kids through STEM and robotics-based activities at both events, and everyone was very engaged and interested in learning more. Despite a few hiccups, such as our robot not working at Brown School, the events were overall successful, and it was inspiring to see the kids develop innovative ideas.

I have always been passionate about creating a change in my Natick High community, and finding the intersection between economics (a business science) and equity. I have been involved with the NHS Equity Co-op since it started my sophomore year. Last year, I created a game on systemic racism for the 2022 Equity Co-op on behalf of FBLA and I wanted to continue my work. I knew that the participants really enjoyed the interactive component of the workshop so I decided to stick with a game again. I focused on Housing Inequities, so that it would expand upon the knowledge of students who attended the workshop, but also made sense to our newer participants. Based on the feedback and my observations of presenters, I changed up the game so that the rules would be simpler, but more space in the room would be used making it more interactive.

For my lead project, I created and presented a workshop for the 2023 Equity Co-op on behalf of FBLA on housing inequities. For our workshop, students were divided into two groups. Our workshop was rigged so that one group would successfully succeed in challenges presented, ultimately ending up living in a “rich neighborhood,” while the other group had the odds stacked against them and ultimately lived in a “poor neighborhood,” which emerged from a small corner barricaded by desks to the hallway throughout the course of the game.

There are a lot of people who have made this project possible. I worked alongside Drew Waldron and Austin Leombruno to create the lesson slides, and we were supported by FBLA advisor Mr. Donohue. The fundraising efforts of FBLAers before my time enhanced this project, as I was able to use FBLA funds in order to order supplies and create a fabulous training experience for presenters ordering lunch. While I may have designed the workshop, the execution would not have been possible without the other FBLA presenters: Turner Brunell, Charlie Collins, Gabe Elkin, Jackson Balcom, Melissa Sheehan, Nathan Barron, Madison McDonough, and Sanji Das. The engagement of the 250+ students who signed up for the workshop allowed this project to truly shine. Overall, I feel proud, knowing that I able to help so many students break down such a complex topic in a way everyone could understand.

For my lead project, I led a trash pickup at multiple spots around Natick including the 9/27 plaza, JJ Lane Park, and the Natick High School area. We started at the 9/27 plaza which is a very popular place for people to go and hang out. I found that even though there were many trashcans scattered around, I was picking up trash in places where someone could have easily walked over to a trashcan. We also found a large amount of trash at the Dunkin in the Plaza which showed that people will just throw their trash out their car windows to be left in the open. We found that JJ Lane, which is a popular place for kids to play and people to walk around, was very clean and well-kept, however, the high school parking lot areas weren’t great. The 9/27 plaza ended up being the place where we found the most trash at. It felt really good to know I was helping to clean up the Earth but it was also very disappointing to think that even with all the trash I picked up, specifically on 9/27, will be back there again in a few weeks.

My lead project was working with TopSoccer in Natick to complete another successful two seasons for the athletes. The athletes have both physical and mental disabilities, so they are unable to play on a general soccer team for Natick. I think that it is really important for there to be opportunities for these athletes to be on a team and are still able to participate in sports. I have been a TopSoccer volunteer for all 4 years of highschool and it is genuinely something I look forward to every year. My sophomore year I became a core member to be able to run and lead the sessions. In my community, there are many activities for unified athletes, but many of our TOPS athletes are younger, usually K-8 or so, and that is a community that I don't really spend a lot of time with. I love that many athletes are returning year after year, so I am able to build a bond with them throughout all of the sessions and over different seasons. For the fall season this year, I worked with several other core members along with two directors to plan the games, find volunteers, match the athletes with the volunteers, and lead the sessions. Overall, we had a record number of athletes participating in the fall and it went very well given that most of us were in-season athletes. We are ready to start the spring season later this week and I am really excited to help the athletes at my final season with TOPS!

For my lead project, I helped create and present housing inequalities on behalf of FBLA for equity day. Within this project, I presented an activity that expresses housing inequalities worldwide. We separated the class into two groups and gave them challenges to complete. One group was considered to live in the "rich neighborhood," and the other lived in the "poor neighborhood." The activity demonstrated housing inequalities by giving the more fortunate better opportunities for a healthier lifestyle while the less privileged were not given a chance for change. By expressing the housing inequality issues, the students could expand their knowledge of this ongoing problem and become fully aware of what's happening worldwide.

For my lead project, I organized a group of high school students to rake leaves on older adults’ lawns during the fall. I chose this project because I recognize how raking leaves is a difficult task at certain ages and health statuses and how if people in my community need help, there should be people willing to help them. My friends and I met a friendly husband and wife through the Natick Community Center and set up a date and time to meet and clean up their yard. After we finished cleaning their yard, they asked us about other Natick High School activities, such as the school musical and sporting events. It was gratifying to help people in the community and get them more involved in community events through the school. If I could redo this project, I would organize a larger group and publicize our efforts more so we could help out more households during the fall and winter. 

For my lead project, I worked alongside Dennis Mccormick and the Robotics team. We created a presentation on the inequities in STEM and education for the Equity Co-op. In this presentation, we used a card set to show how inequities are generally hidden but have long-lasting effects on society. Through this presentation, we hoped to raise awareness about the injustices and teach how to deal with them.

The plan for my lead project was to help achieve the goals of individuals that may want to improve their strokes in the water, learn how to swim, or build confidence in the water. In partnership with the Boys' Swim and Dive team, we hosted a 4-day swim clinic fundraiser at Longfellow Sports Club to tackle various talents and goals. The clinic was available to those ages 7-13 that wanted to improve their practice and technique in the sport. Swimmers could improve their strokes and techniques or work on individual goals during the swim clinic. We strived to build confidence in the water regardless of each swimmer's stage. For those at different stages of proficiency in the sport, day by day, we catered the workouts depending on what strokes were the goal for that day. Together, both teams collaborated on their knowledge of swimming for the clinic to run smoothly. Overall, both the Girls' and Boys' Swim and Dive Teams were able to fundraise money for the upcoming season. Swimmers came out of this swim clinic with a better understanding of the technical aspect of swimming and built confidence over time in their efforts in the water.

For the youth football program, I would help as a coach during the season in addition to announcing 2-5 games on the weekend. In my time as a coach for the younger athletes, I would lead and organize drills and practice routines for the team, as well as set an example for the group of players I would help with. Along with coaching, I'd also announce the large slate of youth games each and every week the town played at Memorial Field. While commentating the games in the press box, I would track statistics and players while also leading younger kids to do the same thing as me one day. Every week, I'd have the additional task of teaching kids, ages 8-12, on how to handle the various responsibilities in the press box along with giving them commentating advice and sports talk mentorship. All in all, I've had a very large role with the recent growth of the Natick youth football program and I personally believe that it'd be a great additional lead project for the National Honor Society.

My lead project was creating a step-by-step information sheet on requesting a sign language interpreter for Deaf Families and Students. It includes information on how early to make the request, who to follow up with, appropriate terminology and norms to use, and offered solutions on how to resolve any issues that may come up. In creating this document and with my personal experience with Natick High School's interpreter policies, I also wrote a letter to the district, pointing out where the communication flaws lie within our community. My project is concluded, and I have a meeting with the Accessibility Committee to discuss further how this process can improve for Deaf families in our community. 

For my lead project, I helped organize and manage a bake sale to raise money for the Natick Varsity Gymnastics team. I was responsible for buying materials, making informational posters, creating a signup sheet for teammates to participate, as well as scheduling a date and time for the bake sale to take place. Additionally, I baked and individually packaged 72 muffins and 2-dozen cookies in order to contribute items that could be sold. On the day of the bake sale, I arrived early to make sure the table and chairs were set up and that everything was displayed/labeled properly. We managed to raise over $400 to support the team’s postseason banquet and senior night activities. Many people visited the booth and donated money even if they didn’t purchase our baked goods. Overall, I would say that the bake sale was a success as it allowed me to bond with my teammates and become more involved with the local community.

For my lead project, I led a discussion for one of the summer reading books, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. In the leadup to the discussion, I made a lesson plan and slideshow presentation with questions to guide the conversation as well as fun games/activities that related to the characters and conflicts presented in the book. During the conversation itself, we touched on a variety of themes and literary devices including rules, prejudice, weather, home, morality/immorality, and nature vs nurture. Overall, the discussions went smoothly and the students in my group made interesting and compelling remarks that made me think about the book through a different lens. Although we didn’t get time to get through all of the activities I had planned, I felt that we had quality discussions and I was overall impressed by the amount of engagement from the group.

For my lead project, I managed the community garden and led lessons with the Preschool. The garden is located adjacent to the Natick Spiritual Center. I built and maintained the garden throughout the season, collecting the produce that we grew and donating it to the food pantry. In July I twice led the Spiritual Center preschool in a hands-on lesson on plants and gardening. I made a lesson plan and implemented it; teaching preschoolers how plants grow and how to garden, at every step of the way from planting new seeds, and watering and weeding, to picking fruits and vegetables that were growing. It was impactful to show kids where their food comes from, showing the kids that they were able to eat the carrots we pulled out of the ground and the tomatoes right off the plants. At the end of the growing season, I successfully donated 40lbs of produce along with educating a future generation of gardeners. 

For my lead project, I designed and presented a presentation about implicit bias for the Equity Co-op, alongside a small group of students in Peer Advocates. Peer Advocates is a club that focuses on improving the NHS environment and making sure all students feel safe and respected. To prepare for this, we did a lot of online research to make sure we could successfully teach other students. Our presentation consisted of an introductory video about implicit bias, which we then broke down into several slides. Students watched the “Silent Beats” video and were able to see some examples of implicit bias. A lot of English language learners were in our class, so it was great that the video was accessible to everyone. We included ways to reduce unconscious biases and wrapped up the session with some reflection time. This topic was new to a lot of students, so I’m glad I was able to improve our community by making students aware of implicit bias. Throughout this process, I’ve learned more about implicit biases that negatively impact others, and have also enjoyed being able to discuss with a larger group. 

For my lead project, I ran the step-up booth for the NHS Equity Collaborative. It was super exciting to see incoming freshman sign up for the club and it was rewarding to plan the booth because I am so passionate about the club. Even though this is my last year on the leadership board for the Equity Collaborative, I am looking forward to see how the club continues to grow and make an impact at NHS. 

I presented an equity presentation on the global issue of fast fashion. I have a passion for helping improve the conditions of our planet in any way possible and sharing my opinions through my affiliation with the Earth Club. The equity collaborative presentation was the perfect opportunity for me to share my knowledge and talk about a topic I am truly passionate about. Me and two others researched and presented two presentations about why fast fashion is bad and how we can distinguish between fast fashion and sustainable clothing. I think I was successful in teaching others how to properly identify fast fashion and avoid it. I’m really happy that I was able to get through to people and I hope they can use what they learned about fast fashion to make better purchases. 

For my lead project, I led a day at a youth lacrosse camp. Throughout the week-long camp, several members of my team and I each chose a day to be the head coach for the campers. I chose this project because I have been playing lacrosse since I was in first grade, and I remember looking up to the high school players when I was younger, and I wanted to be that role model for these young players. The drills and activities I planned went really well and all the campers ended up having a great time. I was glad to be able to help young girls learn more about lacrosse and help them to fall in love with the sport just like I did at their age. 

For my lead project, I lead a summer reading presentation for underclassmen. I chose this project because I love to read, and I'd heard great things about the book I read, Truly, Devious by Maureen Johnson. I prepared for this project by reading the novel and using an entire pack of sticky notes to annotate. I had a lot of fun annotating and analyzing the book, and reading up on its history and themes to create discussion questions. I was so excited that the questions and lessons I'd spent all summer thinking of came into fruition when the freshmen I was talking to were just as engaged and into the lesson as I was. Teaching them about plot structure and leading them in analysis was so rewarding and only reinforced my love of reading. If I were to do this project again, not only would I jump at the chance, but I would ensure that my lesson was engaging for a wide range of students, not just the lucky few that I got.

For my lead project, I created a slideshow with question prompts for the book Truly, Devious, a summer reading book choice. I chose this for my lead project as I love to read and wanted to share interesting questions and ideas with underclassmen to get them more excited about the book. This project fulfilled the purpose of the Summer Reading Program, to encourage analytical and thoughtful reading, hopefully helping students in being more prepared for their English classes. To prepare for the project, I read and annotated the novel, then created a presentation with a warmup, prompts, and a closing activity. I think the project went very successfully overall and the freshmen seemed willing, and some even eager to participate. In the future, I might add some more movement activities as I understand sitting still for a long discussion can be difficult, but I still think the students enjoyed the conversation about the book. 

For my lead project, I chose to help organize and lead a softball clinic for youth players. During this clinic, I set everything up, organized/planned drills, taught players new skills, and cleaned up at the end of each day. I chose to do this as my lead project because Natick Little League softball was a huge part of my childhood and impacted my life greatly. I remember how much I admired high school players when I first started softball so I thought it was important that I share my experiences with beginner players. I really enjoyed my time during this clinic and learned a lot about leadership and the skills it takes to coach a team

For my lead project, I served as a regional delegate on the Student Advisory Council of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. This was a very enriching experience for me and a great opportunity to represent our school in discussing education-related issues with peers from the surrounding area. My team focused largely on reforming the Health and Wellness curriculum to include instruction on decision-making and independent thinking in conjunction with the existing material on drug awareness and healthy relationships. It's been incredibly rewarding to see the project I helped to lead create a lasting impact on the quality of education in the Greater Boston area, and I hope that this is an initiative that Natick High continues to take advantage of in years to come.

For my lead project, I worked closely with the owner of a local small business, Cool Splash, and Spray, to convert his business online. I designed and created a website using GoDaddy based on his preferences and needs. Within GoDaddy, I set up online payment methods and a scheduler. I taught the owner how to use both services and how to navigate and edit his website. I also designed a marketing campaign both physically and digitally to grab the attention of potential clients this Spring. I plan to continue working with the owner to expand his business further

For my lead project, I worked with Ariana Parrish to create a presentation for our school's annual Equity Collaborative. Our topic was the impacts of factory farms on animals and lower income communities. We put a lot of time and effort into creating our presentation, trying to make sure it included the most amount of information to demonstrate our passion for this topic. We chose this specific topic because Ariana had learned about it in her AP Environmental Science class and the animal cruelty and inhumane treatment really stood out to us. I was shocked that I hadn't known about something so barbarous and callous was happening around me and I had no idea. That being said, I wanted to spread awareness to all Natick High students. I believe that our presentation went really well. Students were engaged and actively listening the whole time. They particularly enjoyed the kahoot and drawing activities that we did after our presentation. Overall, I'm really happy with how it turned out and I hope I spread awareness that day!

My lead project was coordinating the Valentine's Day hot chocolate and donut fundraiser for Natick High School Band as its Chief of Staff. This included creating a calendar and financial spreadsheet, mobilizing Band Board members to staff the tables, communicating with Town Hall, contacting food donors, and consistently sending reminders to ensure the entire process leading up to the fundraiser went smoothly. As Chief of Staff, it is my job to oversee the 14-person team that works to run the band program at the student level. This fundraiser is one example of the countless events that we plan in order to create a supportive and equitable environment for members of the program. I chose it as my lead project because it also represents the investment I've made in Band as a musician for 10+ years; accepting this presidential role is an act of reciprocity I'm giving to a community that has been formative in my identity. The funds from this highly-engaging fundraiser will go towards our end-of-year banquet (the Bandquet), which is an anticipated event that acknowledges seniors and faculty for their contributions. I believe that they will provide ways for us to convey our gratitude for the Band program.

For my lead project, I organized a project that aimed to raise awareness about the abandoned Concert Hall in Natick Center. I created a website, posted flyers around Natick, and was interviewed by the Natick Nest. The Natick Nest article was then picked up by multiple local newspapers and Facebook pages. Dozens of people from the town reached out in support of the cause. All in all, the project accomplished exactly what I wanted it to; raise awareness about this amazing historic space, and get it on track to be saved in the future.

For my lead project, I used my experience as the youth representative in the management committee at the NESSC Gurudwara (Sikh Temple) in Westborough. This entailed providing insight from the youth’s perspective on issues in the community as well as organizing community projects and events for Sikh youth. I learned about leadership, organization, community outreach, and public speaking through this opportunity. Over the past year, I have had many impactful experiences. Planning new projects for the Gurudwara like, sustainability through composting and recyclables, new clubs for the youth, and making important decisions for the future of the Gurudwara. Coincidentally my time as youth representative is also ending as the new representative has been selected. I have been guiding him on how to deal with politics, run events, and interact with the community. I am very thankful for my time as youth representative and look forward to continuing my service to the Gurudwara through other means.

My lead project consisted of a food drive that I organized and eventually donated to A Place To Turn. I chose to do this for my lead project because I think it's important to help others when you have the resources and ability to do so. Through this project, I was able to support neighbors less fortunate than myself. To prepare, I sent emails to A Place To Turn, created thank-you notes, and reached out to my neighborhood for donations. My friends and family helped to make this project a success. Overall, the project went very well, and I was able to collect a lot of food. In the future, I would expand the length of the food drive in order to collect as much as possible.

For my lead project, I applied and was selected to be a Natick High Mentorship Captain. In the mentorship program I worked by coordinating my group of mentors to assure that the sessions that we ran with our Freshman group would go as smoothly as possible. Every other week we would meet with our group of Freshman and throughout the year we played games, had deep discussions, and tried our best to make their transitions to high school as easy as they could be. Being a Mentor Captain was an amazing experience and leading and helping facilitate my mentorship group has greatly improved my communication and teamwork skills. 

For my lead project I presented on our school's Equity Day which is an incredible day where students can present and teach other students about important topics and issues around the world that they research. For my presentation I teamed up with Natick High’s Earth Club to present to two different groups of students of all ages on the Dangers of Fast Fashion. We used interactive lessons and games to inform our students about the ways fashion has changed over time and some of the dangers that go into creating the everyday clothes that we wear. This presentation allowed me to use my platform at Natick High and teach my peers on an important topic in our daily lives. Equity Day is a very good day at Natick High as it gives students the space to have fun while learning about different topics outside the normal classrooms. This was a great experience for me and I am happy I got to complete my National Honors Society Lead Project while having fun and teaching my peers within the Natick High School.

For my lead project, I was a mentor captain for the mentorship program at Natick High School. As a captain, I planned lessons for the freshman class, as well as taught lessons to a group of mentees with a group of other mentors that I led. Throughout the year, we met many times to bond with our mentees and help them adjust to high school. We played games, answered questions about the high school, and spent time getting to know the freshmen. The sessions were very successful and my leadership and organizational skills have grown as a result of my time as a captain.

For my lead project, my teammates and I each led a day of a lacrosse camp over the span of a week this past summer. During my day of coaching I organized and instructed drills while sharing my love for lacrosse with the players which consisted of young girls from the middle and elementary schools. I chose to do this for my lead project because lacrosse has been an impactful part of my life and it is important to me that I share this with the future of Natick Girls Lacrosse. 

For my lead project, I created an Equity co-op presentation with Izzy Napier on the effects of farming on lower income communities. I found this topic to be important and often not talked about even though it is something that affects us all. While creating the presentation, I was able to further my knowledge on the horrors of factory farming on both animals and people. Overall, I think it went very well. It was an amazing opportunity to spread awareness about this issue.

For my lead project, I was the captain of a group for the Natick High Mentorship program. I chose this as my lead project because I knew it would be a great way to showcase my abilities to be responsible, communicative, outgoing, and more. As a captain, I created and shared lessons with the freshmen to help them feel more connected to their school community. We had trainings throughout the year to ensure captains were prepared to teach, and every other week we would meet with the freshmen to share these lessons. Whether it was a fun game, an activity, or a more serious topic, it was a great experience to be able to bond with the freshmen and help them feel more comfortable in their environment. Not only do I feel I helped them, but am confident I gained many leadership skills that will help me in the future. 

For my lead project, I was a discussion leader on the summer reading day at Natick High. I first read my book, Mind and Matter by John Urschel, and found videos and articles related to the book to aid the discussion. I created a presentation outlining instructions for the period, with 10 questions about the book for discussion. I facilitated the discussion with a group of 9t graders who had read Mind and Matter. My goal was to make the discussion enjoyable and valuable for students. It had been the first summer reading day since 2019, and I was excited to be a part of it. Overall I feel that it was a success, and it got people thinking deeply about the impact of the book.

My lead project consisted of a multi-step process over a month-long period that involved planning, practicing, and producing a finished product. For my lead project, I created and taught a lesson during Equity Co-op in collaboration with the Principal Advisory Class on diversity within leadership. During and outside of school I collaborated with 12 other students in this class to create a lesson that taught students what it meant to be a leader, the different forms of leadership, and the importance of discovering your leadership style and applying it to be the most successful version of yourself. After making a finalized lesson we were able to teach 2 groups of students. The lesson consisted of teaching the classes about four types of leaders each with different characteristics that were applicable to different kinds of people. During the lesson we had the students take a test that would assign them to one of the four leadership types in which they aligned with most. We then gave them an application activity in which they were put into a leadership role and had to make a decision according to their newly known strengths and weaknesses. Finally, we wrapped up the activity with a debrief and a little more information on leadership and diversity. 

For my lead project, I helped set up for and lead the National Honor Society table at the Natick High Step Up Night. It was a fantastic opportunity to make sure that the next generation of Natick High students were informed about the benefits that this program can bring to them. In addition to purchasing decorations and setting up/cleaning up, I spoke to parents, children, and even teachers about the positive experience that I had through NHS, and answered questions about the application process and membership duties. It was a great experience, and I hope it inspires those who come after us to follow in our footsteps.

For my lead project, I led two workshops on the Female Leaders in Mathematics for Equity Co-Op with Annette Zhang. I had chosen this topic alongside Annette because I believe it's essential for other people to learn about the pivotal female pioneers in the mathematical field who made drastic contributions in the field while facing inequities in race and gender, as they are often not talked about as they got forgotten. So, with my joint effort with Annette, we decided to present this topic on Equity Co-Op Day in hopes of letting more people learn about the struggles women pioneers in mathematics had faced due to gender and racial inequities. To ensure that we would succeed, we first spent time researching key female mathematicians and then put it in an interactive presentation. Some pioneers we studied and put information about in the slides were Hypatia and her accomplishments in conic sections, Ada Lovelace with her achievements in developing the first computer and creating algorithms to solve algebraic expressions, and Dorothy Vaughan with her achievements in using complex calculations to bring success to USA's space program. After working on our presentation, we designed and prepared hands-on math activities, such as the Proof of Pi, Sudoku Race, and the "Unlock the Box" activity. For the "Unlock the Box" activity, I created math problems parallel to those they were solving in their math classes. Each of the math problems was linked to more problems. After they got to the last problems of the linked math problems, they would get a combination of four numbers after solving those. The numerical combination was used to unlock the box. We rewarded each team with candy for their hard work solving the math problems.

Annette and I successfully delivered our information to the students on the day of Equity Co-Op and interacted with them throughout the presentation and activities. The students were always profoundly immersed in what we spoke about and were enthusiastic throughout the activities. They all kept the mementos they created from our workshop when the workshop ended.

If there were anything I could do differently in the future, it would be to create more discussions with the students to talk more about the inequities women pioneers faced in mathematics. Discussing with others is essential so everyone's perspectives can be shared and new information can be learned. However, I still feel proud of myself for leading this workshop with Annette as we successfully presented information about a complex topic that is typically not talked about and we were able to help high school students with their math skills through engaging activities. 

I accomplished a lot during this lead project. I was originally brought on as an assistant teacher to help out two Spanish speaking students in clarifying any questions they had and helping them solve their math problems. This was a huge accomplishment because I was able to make students feel more comfortable asking questions since they could communicate in their first language. But, I also helped out many other students that spoke a variety of languages as well. While we didn’t speak the same language, I was still able to help these students a lot and make them feel more confident in the material they were learning. Sometimes it was hard to get over the language barrier, but I never gave up in trying to find new ways to show them how to solve their problems. Another thing that I accomplished was more of a personal goal. When I was first asked to take on this lead project I was pretty hesitant because I wasn’t super fluent in the Spanish language. However, through lots of practice and patience from the students I have significantly improved my Spanish. I am so proud of myself for achieving this. I especially love that in this project I not only helped the students, but they helped me back. If someone were to ask me to do this again, instead of being hesitant, I believe I would be more excited and eager to jump onto the project. Finally, I was able to help Ms. Egan so that she had less on her plate each class. The first day I showed up I remember all of these students were constantly needing her attention, calling out her name for help, and it was very challenging to manage. Yet, once I jumped onto the project she had an extra helper to be able to aid the students with whatever questions they had. This made the classroom a lot less chaotic and also helped the students become more efficient because they got their questions answered faster. I believe this project went extremely well and I would love to do something similar in the future. 

For my lead project, I organized a practice round of Congressional Debate at the Massachusetts Speech & Debate League Novice Tournament. As someone who has competed in the event since Freshman year, I was able to answer questions and ensure the round ran smoothly, while also encouraging novices to build community with each other. At the beginning of the round, I presented a speech for novices to understand the structure of the event, and after, provided feedback for novices on their own speeches throughout the round. At the end of the tournament, I participated in a showcase for roughly a hundred novices where I presented another speech, exposing students to Congressional Debate and answering questions about Speech and Debate to guide them in the future. 

For my National Honors Society lead project, I worked on a presentation for the Equity Collab representing National Honors Society. The topic I decided to do my presentation on was inequity in education, as I felt it was an important topic to address and promote as a representative of NHS. After conducting research, I completed a slideshow to present alongside my presentation, along with preparing several interactive activities I would have attendees do to have them engage with the topic matter more directly. Unfortunately, due to poor communication between myself (I have clarinet lessons on the same days which the equity collab meets) and the equity collab administrators, I was not able to present on the day of the equity collab, but I hope I have created a resource for future National Honors Society presenters to access when they represent the organization in future equity collab presentations.

For my lead project I worked with the program Positively Goats. Positively Goats is a program out of South Natick where founder, Anishe Antoniadis uses her herd of therapy goats to cater to kids counseling needs through individual and group therapies. Using the programs they had already created I was able to expand their program offerings that catered to young adults and kids on the autism spectrum. My goal was to create a lesson plan that encourages students to connect with the animals then identify, express, and relate to behaviors and interpersonal relationships between the family of goats and their personal lives. 

For my lead project, I volunteered for Natick Soccer Club, creating and leading drills for young soccer players. After the high school's tryouts, these sessions took place at the Natick High grass fields. I was in charge of the 3rd graders that attended the sessions and taught them how to play soccer. In this session, we would do specific drills for dribbling, passing, and shooting. I would then split them up into teams and finish the session with a scrimmage. This was a great experience where the kids were able to work as a team and further their skillset.

For my lead project, I worked alongside several Natick Band and Choirs members to create a lesson on music in activism, which we then presented at the Equity Co-op. While creating our presentation, we realized Band and Choir planned to present on nearly identical topics. We overcame this setback by splicing the two completed presentations together. The final slideshow we presented at the Equity Co-op covered the role of music in the antiwar movement of the 1960s and 70s, the 1992 LA riots, and ongoing civil unrest in Iran. As for interactive activities, we played “Guess the Song” and had students perform lyrical analyses of well-known protest anthems. I presented to two classes, both of whom were vocal during group discussions led by myself and fellow presenters. Overall, I believe our presentation turned out informative and engaging, and I thoroughly enjoyed researching the topic.

For my lead project I organized a dance costume drive through the organization Dance Fairies. I brought a donation box and promoted the drive at my dance studio: Momentum dance. I decorated a box with wrapping paper and posters that shared information about the drive. I also created social media posts to spread the word about the drive. The box stayed at the studio for about a month to collect donations. It was amazing to see how excited the younger dancers were to donate their old costumes to a good cause! After I brought the costumes home I sorted through them and was able to fill 2 extra large boxes of costumes to be donated to dancers in need in Uganda and Ghana.

For my lead project, I organized and led a summer reading discussion on The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. After participating in the summer reading discussion during my first year of high school, I immediately knew that it was something I wanted to take part in running once I was a senior, and I was incredibly excited when the opportunity finally became available! Over the summer, I read the novel, created discussion questions, and put together enrichment materials—a playlist inspired by the book from Spotify and a character guide that I created—for the summer reading website. I also planned the discussion, incorporating different activities, icebreakers, and questions into a slideshow. Mrs. Rogers, Mrs. Carl, Ms. Liptak, and the other teachers involved in organizing the summer reading program helped me along the way! I then led a group of tenth-grade students through the discussion, and I was very happy with how it turned out—we were a bit short on time, but all of the students were engaged in our conversations, particularly in the small-group portions of the discussion. As someone who absolutely loves books myself, I was happy to see so many younger students exploring the important themes of this novel, and I think that this program allowed many of them to enjoy reading in ways they would not have otherwise!

For my lead project, I organized and ran the Natick High School Choir booth at Natick days. The purpose of this booth was to spread awareness about music in the community as well as to help support the program in all of its endeavors later on in the school year. In order to be a part of the event, the organization/club has to be registered, which was my first task to complete. The next thing required was to attend the informational meeting. Since we had food at our booth, a food permit form had to be filled out and it was my responsibility to oversee all food safety operations for the booth. Another part of my responsibility was to organize and compile a list of materials needed for the event. I also was in charge of determining the number of people needed per shift and was responsible for finding and coordinating with all the volunteers.  I also oversaw the booth during the event from setting up to cleaning up. The event required a lot of behind-the-scenes preparation, planning, and a lot of communication but was well worth it. The event was a great way to meet people and organizations that are a part of the community and spread awareness and appreciation for music, especially at the high school level!

For my Lead Project and Eagle Scout project, I plan to build handicap-accessible picnic tables for Camp Arrowhead. These tables have a three-foot gap in the middle of the bench for the wheelchair. Traditionally many handicap-accessible tables just have an extended top for the chair to pull up at the end. This almost appears as if the wheelchair is an afterthought. With my design, they are right in the middle of everything.  This project has taken me hours to plan for. Between seeking approval and planning the project I have spent tens of hours working on this. 

For my lead project I organized a group of friends to pick up trash at the track, the high school, and my elementary school. As someone who does track & field and is around the track all the time I notice a lot of trash accumulates in the area. Many people enjoy going and working out or walking around the track. By picking up all of the trash and recycling the plastic bottles and cans, we made it more enjoyable for people coming to work out or spend time at the track. We also cleaned around the playground and building at Memorial Elementary School. When I attended Memorial, recess outside was one of my favorite things. I wanted to clean up all of the trash around the school and playground so children can happily and safely enjoy the playground and being outside just like I did. It makes me happy to know our efforts had a good impact on the environment and the community.

For my lead project, I helped run the National Honor Society table at the Natick High School step up night. This night was filled with incoming freshmen and their families. Before the actual event, I purchased candy to put on the table to invite kids to come up, ask questions, and add their email addresses to the sign up sheet. Once I arrived for the event, I helped set up our table with decorations like balloons, table cloths, candy, and pamphlets. Once the families arrived, I answered their questions and informed them on the process of being invited, applying, and duties held as a member of the NHS. Many parents also asked about course loads and classes their kids should take to get into the NHS, but I informed them that classes aren’t what matters, it’s all about grades. At the end of the night, I helped clean up wrappers, the table, and trash or other things we had left out. I was working with two other members, and we all agreed the night went pretty well!

In order to raise money for the Natick XC and Track and Field Program, I helped to put on the Frosty 5K. I was one of two student leaders for this project and we solicited money from businesses and organized students to raise money to put the 5K into action. I also managed students to create signs to hold up on the race course and to go where they needed to be. The race ended up being a resounding success, hundreds of runners ran the Frosty 5K, and we raced thousands of dollars to support the Natick Cross-Country/Track and Field Program. 

For my lead project, I was a part of the team in charge of the NHS Induction Ceremony prep which included buying the decorations and setting up the cafeteria and auditorium for the ceremony. We also had to lead volunteers when it came to setting up and cleaning the space afterward. Another facet of this project included contacting important people like Mr. Hoye and LaWanda to ensure they were present for the ceremony and booking Mr. Glass to take photos. From what the students and parents told me, I would say the induction ceremony went well. I learned a lot about being a leader as there were times when miscommunication made our tasks harder, but by making an effort to clarify any misunderstandings, we were able to pull off the whole project without any big issues. I look forward to teaching the new juniors how to run this again for next year!

For my NHS lead project, I collected book donations for the The Prison Book Program/Local Prison and the Morse Library. I encouraged the community to donate new/gently used books to the The Prison Book Program or the Morse Library depending on the category of the book. I donated the adult/young adult books to the prison and the children's books to the Morse Library. It was a really amazing experience that was important for our community. Not many people know this, but we can donate books to the prison. Donating books to the prison is important because prisons are for rehabilitation and books can help with that, and donating children books is important in order to cultivate their vocabulary, grammar, knowledge, and promote education. I really enjoyed doing this project. However, something that I would do differently next time would be advertising it even more by putting my book drive on the announcements, emails, and social media. I only needed 2 volunteers so I think next time I would advertise that more clearly, and most importantly, I would put more emphasis on donating to the prison since not many people knew about it. 

For my lead project, I led a tutoring group for underclassmen in science and math. I started tutoring last year for middle schoolers, and so I thought continuing that and helping to lead a group would be a perfect way to help out and lead others. This involved arranging sessions during CDS, incorporating new members into the group, sending out information as well as reminders before every meeting. My group consisted of 4 other tutors who did a great job with it, and we were able to provide homework/test help for various subjects such as Chemistry and Algebra! If I could change anything, communication between guidance and the tutoring group would be helpful in communicating with some of the freshmen and help with commitment from the students. Other than that, it went great!

For my lead project, I fulfilled the role of a captain in the Natick High School Mentorship program. As a captain, I led and managed a mentor team through various lessons to help our freshmen mentees through their school transition into high school. I wanted to focus on making the transition process as helpful, comfortable, and inclusive as possible. With the other captains and through the Principals’ Advisory Class, I spent a lot of time and consideration creating these lessons and ensuring that they included meaningful, important information. The lessons ranged from important topics such as healthy relationships and educational goals as well as team bonding activities such as brain teasers and art competitions. The purpose was to encourage and support the freshman to become involved in our school community, build strong connections right out of the first day of school, and feel comfortable with everything they need to know. Overall, this experience helped me further develop my leadership, communication, and adaptability skills as well as enhancing my connection to the NHS community.

For my lead project, I organized the National Honor Society booth at Natick Days. I chose this as my lead project because I have volunteered at other Natick Days booths during prior years, so I understand how the event works. I worked with Marin Grundig, Bridgette Kerr, and Lauren Applegate. To prepare for this project, we had many planning sessions as a small group and we also attended the informational town meeting which reviewed the expectations of Natick Days. We decided on doing a cake walk for our activity and enlisted other NHS members to make or buy baked goods. During the actual event, Marin, Bridgette, Lauren, and I ran the booth alongside NHS volunteers to manage the cake walk and hand out prizes. Overall, Natick Days went very well and we raised over $1,000.

For my lead project, I held a fundraiser to collect sticks from past field hockey players and their families as to repurpose them for new players. The majority of collecting was done at the high school, but I also had assistance and donations from players at my club team, Metrowest Storm. I also worked in tandem with the coaches of both of the Natick middle school field hockey teams' to determine what manner would be best to redistribute the sticks or repurpose them. In the end, we decided that splitting the sticks between the two schools would be most effective, and make access to the sticks much easier for students who would like to try field hockey in the coming years, without having to pay the high costs for equipment. I am thankful I was able to take on this project, as field hockey played a big role in my life in both middle and high school, and now I am able to give back to that community and give other girls a chance to try the sport.

My mom has always been an elementary school teacher in inner city neighborhoods. Through her recounts, she expressed that not all of the students were able to play outside at recess during winter, because they couldn't afford the proper snow gear. Growing up privileged, I remembered how fun it was at recess to sled down the big Lilja hill and make snowmen. I knew I had to help. Through the collaboration of myself and Framingham Public Schools, I was able to collect, refurbish, and distribute over 100 snow garments for their students this past year. This included snow pants, jackets, boots, and gloves- free of charge. Seeing this direct impact on my community has been very hard work, but also very rewarding.

As the lead project for the National Honors Society, I successfully organized the annual Father-Daughter Girl Scout Dance in Natick. I began by forming a team of my troop members who were excited to help out. We worked tirelessly to secure a venue (Natick High School), plan the decorations, and get a DJ and food that would cater to the interests of both fathers and daughters. During the event, I led my team to execute the plan flawlessly, ensuring that every aspect of the event went according to plan. The feedback from the attendees was overwhelmingly positive, and the event was a huge success. Overall, leading this project was an incredible experience that allowed me to develop my leadership and organizational skills while contributing to my community. As a member of girl scouts since I was in kindergarten, planning this was a great way to end my high school career and my career as a Girl Scout. 

In my lead project, I was a wrestling coach at a local youth wrestling club. While in this role, I was able to teach new technique to local middle school wrestlers and share my expertise in wrestling. I loved having this opportunity and will continue to take initiative in my local wrestling rooms to teach more young wrestlers how to improve their techniques.

For my lead project I volunteered my time as a captain of the Natick High School Mentorship program for the 2022-2023 school year. As a mentorship captain, I worked with a group of freshmen to ensure they had a smooth transition to Natick High School. I oriented them to the building and gave them resources to help them learn about opportunities at Natick High and how to navigate life as a high schooler. We played games and did activities to make the experience fun. As a captain I was the lead mentor, along with three other mentors, and we formed connections with the freshmen for three quarters of the year. I also created and planned lessons for the other mentors to teach in the classroom. This was a great experience and I am glad I was able to help a group of freshmen feel more comfortable in a new environment as they began their high school careers.

For my lead project, I worked with civil engineers, the Natick Community and Economic Development Department, the Natick Planner Conservation agent, and the Natick Department of Public Works to engineer a solution to a flooding problem on the Eisenmenger public multi–use trail near Arrow Path. Rain and groundwater frequently pooled in my project location, which disrupted use of the trail and caused environmental erosion from trail users walking through the surrounding protected wetland. After months of planning, I led 8-10 volunteers to construct the project between two days in August 2022, ultimately installing two corrugated pipes, digging a drainage trench, and raising the project location 3-4 inches with gravel.

For my lead project, I worked as a NHS Mentor Captain throughout the year. This role began with running freshmen orientation and included collaborating with four junior mentors to create and regularly present lesson plans to a class of freshmen. The goal of the program is to orient the incoming class to Natick High School through team bonding with upperclassmen. In my opinion the project was very successful. We were able to introduce extracurriculars, play games, offer advice, and discuss more serious topics like healthy relationships and trusted adults. 

My lead project was organizing the fall festival at my temple as the program director of the temple youth board. The fall festival consisted of stations around my temple for the kids in Hebrew school. Students were encouraged to stop by the festival and meet new friends. The goal of the event was to foster a deeper sense of community by setting up fun activities for kids to engage in. Throughout the fall, I attended meetings and planned for the event. My team and I spent the days prior to the festival collecting necessary items and setting up the event in the temple. The event was a major success and the kids all had so much fun!

For my lead project, I read an additional summer reading book, The House in the Cerulean Sea, and led a discussion on it for freshmen and sophomores. In order to prepare for the discussion, I took notes while reading, created activities and found other enrichment (such as links to relevant songs and articles), made a presentation with discussion questions, and prepared my answers to the discussion questions. I chose this project because I enjoy reading and talking about books. As such, it was a little challenging that my audience wasn’t as excited to talk about the book. However, the presentation helped me learn how to navigate discussions with people who are not very engaged in the topic, and how to get people to become more engaged. 

For my lead project, I chose to lead a class about the summer reading for freshmen. For this, I read Mind and Matter by John Urschel. Then, after reading, I prepared a class lesson with questions and activities related to the book. Then after creating my lesson, I lead a class of about 25 freshmen. This lesson went very well and I was able to get everyone to participate and the conversation on topic and continuous. Overall I spent a total of 7 hours doing this project(about 5.5 prepping and 1.5 in the lesson) and it was a great experience leading a class.

For my lead project, I organized a group to go to the Natick Softball Fields and clean up trash around the area. We brought trash bags to the fields and filled them and focused on the actual field as well as the surrounding forest area for cleanup. It went very well and I feel like the area is much cleaner now. Keeping my town clean is very important to me. 

For my lead project, I decided to clean up the trash on the fields and school grounds.  I organized a group of people to meet on a Sunday in June. Ahead of time I got trash bags, gloves, masks, water, snacks, sunscreen, bug spray, and sanitizing wipes.  There were 7 of us who walked around the baseball field parking lot, the football field parking lot, the Timothy Coolidge trail and the baseball field as well as the path behind the high school, the softball field, tennis courts, etc. We collected at least 30 bags of trash – mostly empty bottles, food wrappers, masks, and a lot of other stuff.  It felt really good to clean up an area that I walk by every day and know that we were able to make a difference.  It's also very disappointing that people don’t really take care of the space around us. I am glad that I was able to get this done and make the space around the school/fields a little better.  I hope that by making sure that it is clean, someone may think twice about dumping more trash in those areas.

For my lead project I taught youth hockey players how to skate and learn different skills with their stick over a span of 5 1 hour skills and drills sessions. I chose this as my lead project because in the past few years girls high school hockey has had a decline in players that sign up. So I wanted the opportunity to show the youth players how fun it is and give them someone to look up to and hopefully motivate them to continue playing. I think this really helped the youth in the community by showing them a new fun outlet to get their energy out and just overall have a fun time exercising while making lifelong friends like I did. To prepare for this project me and my co captain along with our coach who supervised the skills sessions came up with different drills to target different aspects in learning how to play. I think it went very well considering that a lot of the young girls ended up coming and watching a lot of our games and some of them even got to be the puck girls and pick up the pucks after warm-ups. 

For my lead project, I volunteered as a "grade leader" at St. Mark Coptic Church's summer camp for 80 hours. In this role, I was in charge of a large group of high school volunteers who cared for third graders. During each day, I organized and led each day's activities, managed medical emergencies, and worked closely with the church's priest to ensure the success of this camp. I also adjusted the schedule as needed, responded to parent questions, and was held accountable for the safety of all campers. In addition, I chose this project for my lead because of my love for working with children for the past 5 years. I had an amazing time, as did the kids, and I was grateful to be a part of this program. I've also been asked to return this summer, which I'm excited about!  

First, I spent time looking at various websites which discussed inequalities present in the world of dance. I then gathered the most helpful information and organized it into a shared google slides presentation with my other partners: Shravani Dandge and Samhita Gone. My partners and I then changed the layout and format of our slides to increase engagement value. When we were content with the finished product, we met through Equity Meetings. We devised an organized plan of how presenting would look and how we would all bring candy to motivate participation. We planned on discussing the most important topics first and then, if we had time, talking about the other slides. On Equity Day, when it came down to the actual presentation, the slides were a breeze, thanks to our previous preparation. I enjoyed this opportunity to educate/talk to others in my school about a topic that interested me. Throughout my two groups, I was surprised by the number of people who shared similar dance stories and similar misconceptions. This entire process was an eye-opening experience and provided me with a much deeper view of the dance world. Overall this was a very positive experience, and it is something that I would want to do again if given the chance. 

For my lead project, I assisted in the organization and running of an event celebrating Ukraine Independence Day on BU’s campus. I chose this as my lead project because the war in Ukraine has displaced millions of people, killed thousands, and ruined the country many of our close friends call home. Friends we have dinner every week with spent months trying to evacuate their parents from Odessa, before the inevitable bombs. Others are helping their siblings build a new life in Germany. Some, including my parents, are risking their political freedom by displaying anti-Putin posts on social media - Russian citizens, even while living in the United States, are at risk for legal consequences if they ever return. The lives of Eastern European immigrants have entered a completely new reality, and I wanted to show my support in this humanitarian and political crisis. The celebration of Ukrainian Independence Day aimed to showcase Ukrainian culture, with booths displaying Ukrainian food, art, clothes, and music. I joined this event through the help of my dad’s close friend, Vladimir Zimakov. An artist and director of art at Lasell University, he founded Boston Artists for Ukraine: an organization of Eastern European artists donating 100% of their profits from works highlighting the effects of Putin’s aggression to a collection of 6 organizations helping Ukrainian refugees. We spent many days discussing the goals, setup, and how to raise awareness about the event. Although time-consuming, I wanted to show my support for the Ukrainian people and enforce the understanding that this war is ongoing. While we scroll through social media and see Putin’s terror through photos and videos, millions of people are facing this reality. It was truly inspiring to see the amount of people who attended the event - all from various backgrounds. It didn’t matter whether they were Ukrainian, Russian, American, or South African, everyone was eager to show their support and learn more about Ukrainian culture - fulfilling our goal. It was difficult, time-consuming work - I was up for 15 hours that day loading heavy equipment into the car, setting up booths, helping with the event, cleaning up, and unloading. However, the event ended up being a huge success, as hundreds of people came throughout the day, and booths collected about $10,000 in donations in total. In the future, I hope to continue to help out with these events, both big and small, and invite more people to attend. My goal is to educate and inspire people to continue to show their support for the Ukrainian people, whether it be through learning about their culture or donations.

For my lead project, I planned and coached a Natick Cheer youth clinic. I chose this as my project because I have been in the program for years and wanted to inspire others to cheer, especially 8th graders moving up to high school. Over the years, the number of 8th graders interested in cheer has decreased, so it was nice to work with three of them on high school skills and get them introduced to the team they would be working with. Hopefully, this excited them for high school cheer so they want to try out. I planned for this project by making a flyer, finding space to host it, contacting middle schools, talking to the youth cheer coordinator, posting online, and planning the material. The majority of the current Natick High team was there to assist me as I ran the clinic. I taught all the material and made sure everything went smoothly. We taught a high school-level cheer, tumbled, and stunted together. It went well and everyone there learned new things they have never done before. As it was not originally planned to be mixed ages with younger kids and only be 8th graders, I would have made sure to plan more activities geared towards younger children with shorter attention spans. This didn’t prove to be much of an issue, but the change would have made it go even smoother than it did.

I worked as a secretary, co-leading the middle school tutoring program with Ben Bourgery. My job as secretary was mainly to reach out to parents via google forms, collect feedback, and follow up on the feedback further with parents to improve the program. In addition, I was also responsible for recapping the bimonthly training meetings in a concise email, while also taking attendance for those meetings, to compile additional community service hours on top of the hours I am compiling for the tutors through their tutoring sessions. On top of all these tasks, I also helped out Ben, the student director for this program with other menial tasks, which he could use a set of extra hands on. 

For my lead project, I volunteered as a team leader and coach for the nonprofit Needham youth track club, a program designed to engage kids ages 3 to 14 in field and track events and strengthen the local community. I took on a leading role in planning, organizing, and executing the coaching of track to young kids (ages 3-6) during the summer program. Being one of three leaders of the younger division, I oversaw hundreds of kids, ensuring their safety and enjoyment of the program. I designed schedules for the various groups each week, trained new counselor recruits, engaged and coached children every week, addressed issues that arose within the younger division and communicated with parents. I took a proactive role during my 23.93 hours of community service and spent additional time working with new coaches to help them succeed in their new roles as an instructor. Throughout the summer I formed bonds with the kids I coached, organized and trained new counselors, and collaborated with peers to create an enjoyable experience for everyone. I plan to continue this work through the 2022 fall and 2023 spring seasons.

For my lead project I coached at the local youth wrestling club. During my time there I created lessons and taught during practice along with assisting the coaches at tournaments. From this experience I gained a greater understanding for the sport as well as growing my patience and respect for my coaches in the past.

For my National Honor Society lead project, I decided to create/present a presentation for our Natick High Equity Day. As the Vice President of the Future Business Leaders of America Club, my fellow club board members and I wanted to use our platform to educate our peers on something we were passionate about. So, we signed up to make a presentation on housing inequality in the United States. We spent hours making a detailed slideshow with information on all aspects of the topic, video explanations, and an interactive activity. It was a great experience being able to teach students about something so overlooked in our society, and I am proud to be a leader in making it possible. 

For my lead project, I volunteered with the local middle school track and field teams. I went to the middle schools about once a week to volunteer at their practices and volunteered at the middle school meets. Each day I visited, I led warm ups and practiced drills like baton handoffs. I also talked to the 7th and 8th graders about important, and usually neglected aspects of running/track and field. As a cross country and track & field captain for the High School, I wanted to ensure that I was making the middle school practices as similar to my high school practices as possible so that the younger athletes could get a feel for what goes on at the higher level practices. I also wanted to provide as much help as possible to the middle school coaches. My goal while visiting was to act as a role model for the younger athletes and promote the track program, in hopes of them joining as freshman and finding a passion in track & field, similar to mine. 

For my lead project, I guided a group of volunteers in tagging, folding, sorting, and labeling donated clothing. We did this as a part of Jewish Family Services of Metrowest, a non-profit organization that runs a children’s clothing closet. JFS aims to provide seasonal clothing necessities for all families in need throughout the Metrowest. The clothes that we worked with will make their way to families through either Ready to Wear packages, pop-up shopping events, or individual/family emergency distributions. Overall, the event was a success and I plan to continue working with JFS.

For my lead project, I organized a yard clean-up program, in conjunction with the Natick Council on Aging, for the senior community over the span of November. My co-lead, Aviva Harman, and I contacted the seniors and built a schedule, recruiting our teammates from RoboNatick to assist with the labor. By the end of the month, we cleaned eight yards, each taking about two hours. We also met many sweet senior members of our community. Overall, I learned the valuable skill of planning far ahead and communicating with team members and clients, which will surely be helpful later in life.

Over a few weeks in the fall until the early wintertime, I conducted our Natick String Orchestra as the Head Representative of Strings for practice. This was to prepare for the performance in town hall that we had on November 18 for Anna Nolin. It was engaging and interesting to watch everyone grow and improve on their performance alone and their pieces of music. I practiced separately on my own instead of with the group during sectionals. When we finally played in town hall, we amazed both Mr. Chisholm and the elementary school orchestra teacher, Ms. Nati. This was because our sectional practice benefited our Octet, allowing us to spread our love for music to the members in town hall that morning.

My friend, Gauri Potdukhe, and I created a presentation on women pioneers in the mathematics field for the Equity Collab. I chose this topic because I’ve always had a passion for math and I believe it’s important to be informed about its origins, specifically the contributions of women and minorities who were often forgotten or unaccredited. First we created a Google Slides presentation on certain notable women in the STEM field, then we created hands-on activities and games to foster an interest in mathematics, such as a proof of pi, a Sudoku race, and an “escape room” centered on math problems. If there was one thing I would improve, it would be to create more activities/opportunities for open discussions; still, seeing the students who participated in our class show off their souvenirs was uplifting.

For my lead project, I worked with another National Honor Society member to create a presentation that explained some of the prejudice that occurs in the performing arts world. Since freshman year, the two of us have participated in Natick High School Theater through backstage work. We are very fortunate that the Natick theater program is very welcoming and accepting of all identities, however, we felt it was important to highlight the injustices that take place in the professional world. During our presentation, we fostered conversation between students and teachers and encouraged them to share their thoughts and ideas about the material. This presentation helped us educate ourselves and other Natick students about racial, gender, and sexual orientation inequalities which occur in professional theaters like Broadway, as well as how we can intervene and break these oppressive cycles.