Class of 2024

For my lead project, I co-ran the prom committee, selling tickets and assigning tables. I chose to help run the committee because I wanted to have an impact on a memorable event for the class of 2024. With the others on the committee, we have planned, paid, and set up a night that I hope everyone is able to enjoy. 

My lead project this year was music directing the student run show, 13: The Musical! It was easily one of the best learning experiences I have ever had, as not only did I get a chance to learn how to lead a large project with multiple moving parts, but I learned a lot about how music works. Directing rehearsals definitely proved to be a difficult task as I was new to teaching, but despite this, I embraced the challenge and was thrilled with the outcomes of the harmonies in each song. Listening to every part in the songs (sop, alto, tenor) during rehearsals especially made the task of teaching hard, however by doing so consistently, it significantly improved my musical ear. Besides learning how to lead and teach, what made this experience so special was the community. Everyone involved in 13: The Musical was so hard working and talented, inspiring me to become a better person everyday. 

For my lead project, I completed a spring cleanup for one of my neighbors. I chose to do this for my lead project because if someone doesn’t have time a property’s maintenance can get out of control quickly, so it is refreshing to help out. I recruited a few of my friends to help me out, and we were able to work together efficiently to get it done. In the future, the only thing I would do differently is help out more neighbors!

For my lead project, I helped organize and operate a swim technique clinic in order to raise money for the Natick Swim and Dive Team. As a two year captain for this team, fundraisers like these help support our meet costs and allow us to give back to the community by encouraging future swimmers. Through this project, I helped raise over $1000 over the week-long clinic. I worked with other members of both the girls and boys team as we taught young kids under the age of 10 how to improve their technique for all 4 strokes, and gave them more confidence in the water. This project was very successful because I used my passion to make an improving impact on the youth in my community.

For my lead project, I led practices, races, advertising, and communication as the captain of the Nordic Ski Team. Over the course of this project, I was able to work with the school in order to increase team involvement with the school, allowing the team to be included in the pep rally, placing event information on the morning announcements, and providing information that would be included in the school newspaper. In addition, I worked with the coach and other skiers to maintain open communication regarding team events and practices. Overall, this experience allowed me to gain a better sense of administration and leadership, while allowing me to strengthen my connection with the team.

For my lead project, I led practices, races, advertising, and communication as the captain of the Nordic Ski Team. Over the course of this project, I was able to work with the school in order to increase team involvement with the school, allowing the team to be included in the pep rally, placing event information on the morning announcements, and providing information that would be included in the school newspaper. In addition, I worked with the coach and other skiers to maintain open communication regarding team events and practices. Overall, this experience allowed me to gain a better sense of administration and leadership, while allowing me to strengthen my connection with the team.

For my NHS lead project, I organized and ran the Natick Girls Volleyball Natick Days booth. I arranged volunteers and planned for the booth leading up to the event, by reaching out to people and gathering everything we would need for the day. While there I supervised the booth and we ended up raising $300 from our bungee run activity. This money will be used in the future for the NGVB program and to help with funding for other events.

For my lead project, I helped out in coaching a Natick Babe Ruth baseball team.  I choose to do this because Baseball has been a huge part of my life and to be able to take a step back and help out younger kids is very rewarding for me.  I feel very grateful to be able to have had the opportunity to make a difference in young athletes' seasons this year.  During this project, I have felt like I have been helping younger kids to be better baseball players and teammates going forward. 

I created a presentation for the Equity Co-op on behalf of FBLA and trained group members on the presentation structure. This year FBLA presented on underrepresentation in business leadership, specifically concerning its relationship with the next generation entering the workforce. The project went very well and I think the classes enjoyed the lessons. These presentations had the effect of educating the school's youth on barriers to business leadership.

My lead project was being a core member of TopSoccer. I chose TOPSoccer because I have always been involved with the ACCESS program at school, but I wanted to be more involved with the K-8 population that TOPS works with. I have volunteered with TOPS during my full four years of high school, but since the spring of my junior year, I have been a core member and have transitioned to more of a leadership/board member role. As part of my role, I coordinate with the directors and other key members to organize the games, recruit volunteers, pair up athletes and volunteers, and oversee the sessions. Every season I love to see so many players come back for the next seasons and that volunteers like me can form lasting and important relationships with them. Later this week, we are set to begin the spring season, and I can't wait to support the athletes and enjoy my last season with TOPS!

For my lead project, I was fortunate enough to teach kids with disabilities my passion baseball. Throughout my time with this program, I was able to see the improvement from every player. But more importantly, everyone was having fun and enjoying the game. For me, this program was both enjoyable and life-changing. I would like to thank Mrs. Tardif for the opportunity to participate in this unbelievable program of Challenger Baseball. 

During my time with the Natick Challenger baseball program I was able to help lead a baseball team that aimed to teach baseball skills to individuals who experience physical and mental disabilities. I led a hitting station over the past few years as well as worked directly with athletes to keep them safe, and make sure they are having a fun time. At the hitting station I helped them practice their batting stance, and fitted them for helmets. The most important part of the role was to be encouraging because baseball can certainly be difficult to learn. This is a role I will continue to partake in this year and hopefully in the future some more high school students can fill in as volenteers because the program is in desperate need. 

For my lead project, I ran a class for Girl Scouts in which they constructed robots out of LEGO. The girls showed much enthusiasm in making and playing with their robots. Many were upset when they had to take their robots apart at the end of the class, with a couple asking if they could take them home. This activity has aided in encouraging more women and girls to participate in STEM activities, with the long-term effects of shrinking the gender gap in these fields. 

For my lead project, I chose to present on Equity Co-Op Day. My presentation was on self-defense education, and during the session, we shared the importance of self-defense and some self-defense moves/actions. This is my second year leading this presentation. I chose this project because there are many reported cases of harassment, specifically for females, around the world, and even more unreported. I feel as if the number of cases can be surpassed if more students were taught self-defense education and knew how to be aware and protect themselves. The presentation was very successful, and it was so rewarding to see everyone feel empowered in themselves when learning they are capable of practicing self-defense!

For my lead project, I helped teach and coach younger kids in Natick about the game of soccer, through various drills, games, and scrimmages. I feel that in this project, I not only helped enrich the environment around me, but also learned how to effectively teach a younger audience. I feel that in this project, I learned the value of patience and learned to be extremely attentive to the kids I was coaching. In terms of leadership, I believe this project helped me develop key teaching skills, while also providing me with an opportunity to connect and share my knowledge with our community in Natick. 

Volunteering to help serve food for a local catering business was a lot more gratifying than I thought it would be. On the second day, many less fortunate people came and I was happy to feel like I made a tangible impact on that group of people. The experience made me realize how grateful people are for the simplest things and I am happy I did it.

As a senior captain in the mentorship program at Natick High School, I was able to guide a group of juniors into strong leaders but also be a mentor and guiding figure to the freshman. This position gave me the opportunity to both create and present presentations that were formulated in order to acclimate the freshmen to high school and to prepare them with the skills necessary to succeed. Being a part of this program has helped me grow as a leader and also use the knowledge that I have gained in my years at Natick High school to help others.

My lead project was as the lead coordinator for Youth For Sex Ed, a group of high schoolers organizing a summit in support of the Healthy Youth Act, in collaboration with Mass NOW and the Healthy Youth Act Coalition. I chose this as I did not feel like my health class curriculum was inclusive. This project fulfills the right to education and reduction of STDs, teen pregnancies, and unhealthy relationships. For 6 months Youth For Sex Ed met weekly to organize this event with the help of David S. Ball and Mass NOW. The summit went great as there was a large and diverse turnout. I wouldn't change a thing, I am very proud of our hard work. 

For my lead project, I helped create and present a lesson for the Equity Co-op. I collaborated with members of the tennis club to construct a presentation focused on inequities in sports. I was able to broaden the knowledge of students in my group and engage them in a meaningful discussion on this topic. Through this, students gained insight into the global and local ramifications of these issues, encouraging a deeper understanding without our community. 

This project of advising middle school student was overall very successful. I was able to work with and group of kids and hopefully help them for the better and shape them into better people. I was able to make connections with kids who I would never have met otherwise and that is something I enjoyed doing and hopefully they did as well. 

My lead project was doing a hockey skills session for kids in conjunction with Natick High Hockey. I chose this lead because the coach presented me with this opportunity, which is a good way to give back to the community. Overall this project helped kids develop in hockey and gave me more respect for my coaches in the past.

My lead project was choreographing the student-led musical "13" at Natick High School. I independently crafted, staged, and taught 9 musical numbers to an extremely hardworking and talented cast of 19 taking into account actor ability, variety, and deadlines. I had previous experience choreographing a show when we performed "9 to 5" at NHS in 2023. I have been a competitive dancer for 11 years now so I was determined to be qualified for this highly responsible role. I received no help from peers and was able to get the creatine freedom to craft the numbers how I personally wanted them. We had rehearsal 3 hours after school, 5 days a week, for only 7 short weeks. The show ended up being a huge success with a profit of over $5,000 in sales which is one of the highest profits from a musical in NHS history. I received more praise than I can count for my role as choreographer from students, parents, teachers, and strangers. I could not be prouder. 

For my lead project my teammates and I each ran a youth lacrosse camp. During this, I organized and instructed drills while also sharing my love for the sport with the young campers. I chose this for my lead project because lacrosse has always been something I have been passionate about and it meant so much to me to be able to share it with younger kids. 

For my lead project in 2023, I coached a team of 9-12 year olds in basketball under the direction of No Books No Ball, a non profit organization that is a free league for kids in Boston. Every Saturday I was required to spend 2 hours outside at the Michael Bivins Park and coach two games for my team. Same kids, same time, I was in charge of giving them the opportunity to play competitive basketball in a fun environment. I choose to volunteer my time to this, because No Books No Ball has given me so much throughout my lifetime. I started as a player at 6 years old and the friends, the adults, and the experiences I made throughout my time there were some of the best of my life. Being able to give back and at least give kids a sliver of what I received is the least I can do to give back to No Books No Ball. I was able to create a fun and healthy environment for kids in the city that they may not receive at home or at school. On top of that they are able to learn and grow in a sport that can open so many doors for them down the line. Beforer saturday, I would spend time in my room creating lineups and drawing up plays. It took a lot of my time outside of Saturdays. I would go down there because I wanted it to be what kids would look forward to during the week. I would like to thank my dad and Tony Richards for bringing me into the No Books No Ball community at such a young age, and then allowing me to come back as a young adult and make my own impact on the kids in their community. For all that Coach Tony has given me, gear, celtics games, coaching, this opportunity to impact these young kids lives has to be the greatest. During my first season as coach we won 7 games and lost 6, there were many ups and downs with parents complaining about playing time and kids being sad after a loss, however as a group, we found our stride and were able to work together effectively by the end of the season. In my opinion I think that every one of my athletes had a fun and competitive season at No Books No Ball under my coaching. Given my age, people think I may not have a lot of wisdom that a lot of other adults have, however, I think the approach I am able to take is being able to relate to the children, as just not long ago I was in the program just like them. I can relate and also give them modern information about what it means to be a high school athlete.

My lead project involved leading a group of students to host the first Natick High School Game Jam. I chose to host the game jam as my lead project because the Game Design Club has wanted to host one since I was a freshman, but never had the chance. Seeing this as my last year in school, I wanted to make the game jam a reality. To prepare, I had meetings with my advisor, Mr. Fleming, and the members helping on this project: myself, Liam Quilty, Oscar Gao, and Toby Gleason-Kaiser. In the end, the project exceeded our expectations; we received 2 game submissions, and both were fun to play. This project taught me a great deal about event planning and the workings of a game jam.

For my project, I lead a stunting clinic for cheerleaders at my gym, CheerFactor Allstars. Once everyone arrived, I went through a warm up, showed stretches, organized athletes into groups by stunting position, and then instructed them by skill level. I was once in the position of the younger athletes that I am currently teaching, attending clinics and trying to be the best athlete I could be. It felt incredibly rewarding knowing that I will have a similar impact on these kids and hopefully can encourage them to always push themselves, even when learning challenging skills and concepts.

During my project, I held a food/necessity drive through my mom’s business, State of Mind Vocals, in downtown Natick, gathering and collecting food and toiletries that were then donated to the Natick Service Council. While she was working on some days, I would go down to her studio and collect the items from her students and parents. When I wasn’t able to be there during those three and a half weeks, there was a box and area where donations could be collected that I later gathered when I had time. I wanted to do a project like this because I know there are many people around Natick and other surrounding towns who aren’t fortunate enough to buy things they need for themselves. By doing this project, I’m able to do a small part in an issue and help out some people by providing them with things they need in their daily lives. The project was very successful, as we raised lots of food donations and necessities over the span of just three and a half weeks. Although it was a rather short project, I’m glad I was able to host a successful food drive like this and do my part in an issue in our community, and hope to do something similar to this in the future on a larger scale.

My lead project occurred at Greyhound Friends Shelter in Hopkinton during their open house event. I was in charge of one of their stands and showed other volunteers what to do. At this stand, I educated people about the shelter and cared for their dogs and the shelter's dogs. I chose this lead project because I have been volunteering at this shelter since middle school and it means a lot to me. I love dedicating my time to this shelter and helping with the dogs as much as possible.

For my lead project I go to Wilson Middle School every other week and partake in both guided and non guided activities with middle schoolers. Some activities we do are playing sports in the gym, building things in the classroom, and doing escape rooms. The goal of this project was to provide the middle schoolers with advice on how to be successful in highschool, how to make good choices, and create a bond with them. The program went really well as myself and the other volunteers have created a very good relationship with the kids and have been doing our best to be positive influences for them. 

For my lead project, I volunteered as an assistant coach for a youth basketball team for Natick Travel Basketball. I worked with the fifth-grade boys' C team, and they won their division championship at the end of the season. I chose to do this as my lead project because Natick Travel Basketball had a huge impact on my life when I was in middle school, as I participated in the program throughout middle school and I look back on that time with many fond memories. Across the season, starting in November and ending in March, the experience was very rewarding to me. Watching all 11 kids begin where they were at the beginning of the year, both with their basketball abilities and the uncomfortableness of new people, grow as players, and bond with their teammates, resulted in an experience I did not expect. The playoff games that resulted in their championship victory capsulated the positive impact this coaching had on me; the excitement they showed in these games, the determination in their play, and the camaraderie that led them to victory made all the practices worth it for me. Feeling like I helped bring about this great experience for these kids was something that I will never forget, especially because I know how key the memories from youth sports are for me.

My lead project was working with elementary aged kids in a YMCA program.  I chose to do this because working with kids is something that I do often, so I knew that this would be something that I could do to the best of my ability and have it be something that is positive. This program watches Natick kids after school and over breaks so that parents are able to work until later and their kids are in a safe environment. I had other coworkers and bosses that hel;ped me plan and make sure that the activities in the classrooms, which helped it go smoothly with the kids in the room. 

My lead project is currently ongoing, I started at the beginning of the winter and will continue through the end of the spring. At Wilson Middle School, A group of students have high academic potential (many of which are student-athletes and a handful of which are also team captains) have been chosen for this advisory group. The students with said high potential, however are in need of some guidance and assistance from high schoolers in order to stay on track for success. Whether it be behavioral, attention, or grades that the middle schoolers are in need of assistance with, out group of juniors and seniors from NHS have been selected to help guide them to stay on track to this success that their teachers and other adults see in them. Each one of the high school students have been paired up with an individual middle school student, most partnerships share common interests, whether it be playing similar sports, or alike personalities, these partnerships are in place with the hopes of creating a bond and using what we have in common to serve as a mentor for them. Beginning earlier this winter, and continuing through the rest of the school year, we meet twice per month with the end goal of creating meaningful results that these students can continue to use after this school year and into their high school careers and beyond. I chose this for my project after I was asked to participate in the student advisory program by a WMS staff member last spring, mostly wanting to give back to younger kids in my community, but also to experience what our schools are doing to prepare kids for the future in many different ways. Through this project, I saw how impactful spending time with younger students can be on their learning and social experiences as they progress through the school system. I also realized how much I could have benefited from something like this during my time in middle school, it would have been great to be able to interact with someone older than me that shared similar interests, not only would I have been able to get to know that person and have them serve as a role model, but it would have put a goal in my mind early on of what type of person I want to be in high school. I was helped by a handful of juniors and seniors from NHS, all of which are a mix of  teammates, classmates, and good friends, I was also assisted by Mrs. Kim Waldron, who stated and currently oversees the program at Wilson. My project went very well, we did a variety of activities with the middle schoolers such as recreational games, problem solving challenges, teamwork exercises, and physical activity, if I were to do this in the future, I would probably keep it the same, I have great things to say about this program. 

For my lead project I chose to organize the seating and choreography. This included  meeting with other induction organizers to be on the same page about the specifics of the event, meeting with last year’s seating organizer, Griffin Bloomstein, to see how it was done in the past, tweak what I didn’t like about his method, organizing the list of members neatly into the auditorium seats on a spreadsheet, directing movement during rehearsal explaining the process of leaving rows, explaining the seating pattern during the 10/17 NHS meeting, and finally helping check everyone’s position in line on the day of the ceremony along with answering any questions. The most time consuming part was writing out both the seating chart itself in sheets and making sure the layout matched that of the auditorium, and writing the list of names in order that they should be lined up outside. Inevitably I would miss a name or would recieve information that there was a member that left or joined, and have to completely redo the whole sheet. If I were to do it again I would definitely figure out how to write a program to take the alphabetized list of names and insert them in correct order to the spreadsheet and into the lines. Another thing I would change would be to have a plan or diagram or animation to explain the seating because it’s really difficult to explain on the fly especially when everyone is tired and wants to go home.Overall it was a really beneficial experience because it taught me that automation is both necessary and more accurate, and that explaining something to a large group of people requires a thought out explanation or an animation, not just an idea.

For my lead project, I taught religious education classes to 12 first-grade children at my local parish. Each class I developed a plan to cover the assigned material and designed projects to foster the interests of the children. I also came prepared with worksheets, coloring pages, and crafts to keep each class engaging and fun. I chose this activity for my lead project because I am very involved in my parish and want to help children become deeper in their faith. Teaching was a wonderful experience and I enjoyed getting to know all the children. I learned that it takes many hands to make light work and the parish would fall apart if no one donated their time and effort. I was successful in covering the material on the agenda for the year, but more importantly, I am pleased that through my service I was able to help young parishioners form their faith. 

For my lead project, I collaborated with my friend Om to create the official website for Natick’s Commission on Disability. The website we created faced the challenge of being accessible enough such that a commission consisting largely of those with disabilities could edit the website while still allowing us to learn along the way because we developed it ourselves in a web development framework (Next.js) that both of us were not too familiar with. We ultimately met this challenge by making our code retrieve changes from a Wordpress database, so the commission had an accessible way to add changes. To make sure the commission agreed with our designs for how the website looked, we had monthly meetings with them. To make sure they knew how to use Wordpress, we created guides for them.

For my lead project, I, along with my group mates, led a presentation on inequities in sports during the equity co-op. In building our presentation, we focused on creating opportunities for discussion and collaboration. Additionally, we placed emphasis on the inequitable aspects of Natick sports in an effort to spread awareness and brainstorm strategies for combating these issues. I held two sessions throughout the day, presenting to a variety of age groups and facilitating respectful discussions regarding the various topics in the slides. The presentations were incredibly successful and students felt encouraged to share their ideas and experiences allowing for the collective education and growth of each individual including myself. Only together can we create positive change in our communities, making the equity co-op a truly special and meaningful event. I’m glad I got the opportunity to present on this topic which affects so many people worldwide, and that so many students enjoyed learning and felt excited to participate.

For my lead project, I coached the kids on my town swim team, the Natick Neptunes, during our championship swim meet. My work included hyping up the children, guiding them in their stroke improvement, and getting them to all of their events on time. Overall, it was a good meet and a lot of fun, and I'm going to miss the kids now that swim season is over.

For my lead project, I presented as a member of the Youth Activation Council for Special Olympics at a summit hosting over 10 different schools across MA. At this summit, we began with a whole group introduction where I presented about the 3 pillars of inclusion; whole school engagement, inclusive youth leadership, and unified sports. Then we split up into 3 breakout rooms. I was in charge of the Unified Sports breakout room alongside my friends Jake and Jacob who both have intellectual disabilities. Through these presentations, and the summit as a whole, we were able to teach other schools how to spread inclusion and share ideas in hopes of more programs across MA becoming a part of them. Overall, I learned a lot from this experience, and I look forward to leading another summit in the upcoming months to share with even more schools about the importance of inclusion.

For my lead project I chose and prepared myself as a student presenter at the equity co op day. I have been apart of the connections club for three years so being a student presenter, I chose to educate people on the disabilities in the media and how we can become inclusive for the society. While doing this project not only did I help educate people, I noticed I was educating myself. Whether that was learning how to present or about the disabilities in the media. 

My lead project consisted of golf clinics at Stow Acres Country Club, where I lead students through a variety of activities, competitions and lessons throughout the seven week time frame. Although, at times, it was very hectic and difficult to control twelve middle-schoolers on my own, I adapted problem-solving abilities which allowed me to take the control needed to perform such exercises effectively. By the 24th of March, I formed deep connections with students and co-workers that I will take with me as I near the next set of clinics in the summer.

For my lead project, I lead gymnastics classes for children from ages 5-10 years old. I led them in a warmup when they came in the gym and then taught them skills on the four events. I chose this for my lead project as I have a lot of experience in gymnastics and enjoy working with kids, so I applied my skills and taught them new techniques and skills while spotting them, to teach them how to do it. It went very well as many of the children learned new skills on different events, and most importantly they had fun doing the stations I gave them and enjoyed coming into the gym each day.

What can you gain from a person simply from talking to them? Sages and Seekers is a program that connects elders from the community with high school students through weekly meetings. The students (Seekers) gain knowledge and life lessons from the elders (Sages) by being matched up with one person for a session. They engage each week in conversation before creating a tribute speech that ties in all that they have learned. I had endeavored to bring light to my community by rediscovering the art of conversation, and through Sages and Seekers, succeeded in facilitating a space for young and old alike to thrive in each other's company.

My Lead Project was managing the Natick Service Councils community garden. I chose to do this project because I am passionate about food sustainability and the importance of local agriculture. Through this project we were able to provide fresh vegetables to those in need in Natick. I received help from several other volunteers. And we were very successful overall.

For my lead project, I led a woodwind quintet. We met every Red 1 CDS. My role was to find, print and distribute the music we rehearsed and performed. As well as, coordinating performances and coaching sessions with our band director. Throughout the year we rehearsed once or twice a week and performed at the Arts Extravaganza on March 14th. The Arts Extravaganza is an evening event held at Natick High School each year to display student artwork from all grades in the Natick Public Schools. Overall, the woodwind quintet was productive and successful, and a great way to explore new music while connecting with other musicians.

For my lead project I coached a fall baseball team in Natick. Doing so was both productive and fulfilling, as it allowed me to not only complete my community service hours but also allowed me to give back to an organization in Natick Youth Baseball that helped me. This project also allowed me to improve my leadership  and public speaking skills, through giving instructions to our team. My lead project was beneficial to me and the kids that I coached!

For my lead project, I worked alongside Erin Catania. We led a group of girls ages 3-14 in a lacrosse youth league over this past summer. This was a week-long camp and we taught these girls strategic drills to help them become better at lacrosse along with connecting with their peers. I helped give back to the youth program because they helped me build a love for lacrosse and I wanted to give the girls the same fun and helpful experience that I had when I was younger. This was a great experience and I will continue to help the youth program because I want to share the knowledge I have now and help spread that to the next generation.

For my lead project, I put together a summer conditioning program for the incoming freshman class with the help of my fellow football captains. I chose to do this because I deeply enjoy football, and I want to make sure the new high school class will put in the same amount of effort as we once did. Not only did we coach the kids, but we also bonded and welcomed them into their new community. I was responsible for reaching out to the freshmen to schedule the sessions and acting as a coach during the clinic. Both the kids and the coaches got a lot out of this experience, and it is something I highly encourage the junior class to take over this summer.

I met with middle school students in the mornings before school to mentor them in academics, sports, and social life. As the kids got comfortable talking to me, I felt like I made a positive impact on them. I looked forward to spending time with them in the mornings with because they seem to be very hopeful for great things in their high school future. 

For my lead project, I put together a presentation for the freshman class to discuss the summer reading book Slay. I asked questions during it to get the students thinking about the important themes in the novel and to share thoughts about what they learned. The presentation went very well and the students learned a lot from one another about the importance of women in STEM and the overall theme of overcoming hateful comments. I'm grateful I had this opportunity and I'm glad they had this chance to discuss such important topics.

For my lead project, I lead the annual coat drive at Natick High School through the Coats for Kids and Families Program. After signing up the school for the drive, I worked in collaboration with Key Club to set it up and run it. I promoted the drive on the morning announcements and once the two weeks were up, I collected all the coats and brought them to a local Anton's Cleaners where I helped count, sort, and prep the coats to be donated.

As the lead project for National Honors Society, I organized and led a volleyball clinic for local youth. I chose this project because I am passionate about volleyball and wanted to share my knowledge and skills with others. This project fulfilled the need for sports enrichment and mentorship in my community. To prepare for the project, I created a detailed practice plan, secured a venue at JJ Lane Park, and gathered necessary equipment. I received support from coaches and other players who helped me lead this clinic. The clinic was successful, with enthusiastic participation from the youth and positive feedback from everyone.

My lead project kicked off when another peer and I were named “Student Visionaries of the Year,” which allowed us to participate in a fundraiser for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I led a diverse team of eight, ages 15 to 26, through a rigorous 7-week campaign to combat blood cancers. We chose Policy and Advocacy as our focus, assigning roles to ensure everyone contributed effectively. Our efforts included spreading awareness and raising funds through social media, letter campaigns, corporate partnerships, sharing personal stories, and hosting a fundraising event. After intense preparation and campaigning, we raised about $17,000 and earned an award for our advocacy work. Leading this initiative was challenging, but immensely rewarding, especially as I honored my mother, who fought Acute Myeloid Leukemia for over two years.

For my lead project, I coached large groups and demonstrated drills for Natick basketball camps, clinics, and tryouts. I chose to do this for my lead project because I love playing basketball myself and always had a fun time playing with the high school counselors when I was younger. My goal was to create the same fun environment for these kids while also equipping them with valuable skills relating to basketball and working as a team. Between all of the clinics I ran, I was able to teach these values and drills to over 100 total players. My preparation for this came from my years of experience as a basketball player, as well as my two years of experience in personal training for both basketball and swimming. In all, both I and the players I had the privilege of coaching were able to enjoy the game of basketball at these events while working hard and getting better at the same time.

For my lead project, I led a team of volunteer students to teach a monthly computer navigation class at the Natick Senior Center, which helped senior citizens learn how to use their personal devices (ipads, cell phones, laptops, etc).    I chose this project because most STEM promotion is directed toward the younger generations, while the older generations are becoming isolated from their existing communities because many seniors don't know how to use digital communication.  First, I proposed my class to the Natick Senior Center, which they approved to host.  Next, I recruited a group of 6 student volunteers to help teach the class.  During classes, we paired up one-on-one with senior citizens who came to our class, and we each taught our senior citizens how to solve technical problems on the electronic device they had brought in.  By helping senior citizens fix technical issues or learn to navigate their devices, we helped them connect to their community because the seniors were able to finally send photos to their family, or play cards online with their church group, or send emails to their friends.

For my lead project, I presented at Equity Co-op. My fellow presenters and I chose to present the topic inequities in sports. For the months leading up to the day we presented, we researched the subject and subsequently assembled an interactive and informative presentation. On the day of Equity Co-op, I presented to peers of all ages. During each session, I was able to promote positive discussion and provide important insight into issues concerning inequity in sports.

My lead project was being a leading member of the Youth for Sex Ed Summit. I chose to do this for my lead project, because the topic and group were very important to me, and it felt like a great avenue for gaining traction for our message, as well as bringing a community of like-minded people together in support of proper education for all. The goal of this event was to raise awareness and support for the Healthy Youth Act, which would require a more comprehensive and inclusive sex ed curriculum that focuses on consent-based learning from an age-appropriate level. During the summit, I helped set up for the event, manned the check-in table, guided people around the space, and networked with many organizations and individuals. My group had been preparing for this event since March, meeting weekly on zoom even throughout the summer. Our summit was definitely a success, and a wonderful learning experience. It gave me the skills to perhaps organize something similar in the future, as well as the necessary connections to do so.

My lead project was leading a group of students to create a website for the bakery section of Roche Brothers. I wanted to lead this project because it allowed me to use my computer science knowledge to help people in the community, something I hadn't been able to do before. The people at Roche Brothers were looking for someone to do this because they had been using a very old book of recipes and felt that a newer, digitized version would be easier to work with. In preparation for the project I looked into different ways of creating a website, and compared them with the skills of myself and the other members of the group. Myself, Liam Quilty, Oscar Gao, and Jackie Chen all worked on the project and Mr. James Quilty also helpfully allowed us to borrow the recipe book in the times it wasn't needed. All in all, the project went pretty well, the website works and hopefully it has been useful for the people working at Roche Brothers. This project taught me a lot about web development and I'm glad I got to work on it.

Anyone that is left wondering whether or not Arrowhead is for them, this is your sign! Camp Arrowhead was an amazing experience that resulted in a permanent positive attitude and an everlasting bond. Reflecting on the week that I spent at Arrowhead really showed me to view the world with a glass half full mindset. This camp proved to me that anyone can do anything that they set their mind to! Camp Arrowhead was an amazing experience that everyone should try to obtain at least once in their lifetime. 

For my Lead Project, I helped to organize and plan a way to start up a business by advocating and advertising in many ways to try and gain customers. By collecting these players to join, I was able to help out this business and start it up by getting the building running by decorating and helping to construct the company's layout that they wanted. Using my own ideas to create the different ways to spread the word and gain customers, the company  was able to succeed and do well with their new customers and had a good start to their business by creating programs and clinics to go with it that also succeeded. I learned the importance of trying to start up a business and all the thought that goes into it by helping out this company, and in the future I would try to plan more ideas to advertise and do a better job as advocating it around towns and to a broader audience. 

For my lead project, I led multiple discussions in sophomore health classrooms, for NHS Gamechangers, a group that has a goal of promoting healthy relationships and advocacy for preventing relationship abuse. We notified students of statistics from Natick High School and discussed the alarming facts with students to bring light to the subject. We then had a meaningful discussion about the importance of knowing healthy vs unhealthy signs in relationships. I chose to complete this for my lead project to hear from students with different perspectives to learn from one another and facilitate meaningful discussions.

For my lead project, I led a freshman class through a summer reading book discussion. To prepare, my classmate Danielle Roberts and I read the novel Butterfly Yellow and created a slideshow deep diving into the book. We created interactive activities to engage the students and further their understanding of the novel. The slideshow also included a summary and eight open ended questions to allow for discussion and personal reflection. After the discussion, I feel as though the students actively participated and engaged with the material, creating a great learning environment. Being a senior teacher and role model for these students, we taught them how to personally connect with novels and to capture deeper messages within books. I will continue to be a leader and push my classmates to further their learning abilities and engage in class activities.

For my lead project I helped set up and facilitate the Natick Boys Swim and Dive booth at Natick Days. This entailed officiating and commentating the rubber duck races by starting the contestants, ensuring there was enough water in each bin, and announcing the winner of the race. Our booth was very successful and garnered a lot of interest from those at Natick Days, and everyone who participated in the rubber duck races seemed to have a fun time. Overall, my peers and I enjoyed running this booth a lot because it was really nice to interact with so many different people from our community and help elevate the festivities at Natick Days.

While completing my lead hours for National Honor Society, I have discovered a way to both grow my business and contribute to the betterment of my community. With Empire Dance Company, I received an opportunity to photograph and advertise. I developed a new respect for small businesses, as well as an exciting relationship with a local dance studio!

For my lead project, I assembled Candy Grams for the faculty and staff members at Natick High School. Working alongside Hannah Lawrence, we each assigned ourselves to one of the halves of the faculty, where we each had to purchase and assemble candy grams for our assigned half. I created and printed out holiday notes to go alongside the bags, bought holiday candy, and helped develop a plan for the delivery method of the bags. While it was a tedious process to assemble 100+ bags, it was all worth it in the end because it was a great way to show appreciation on behalf of NHS for all the hardworking and well-deserved faculty and staff members.

For my lead project I held a fundraiser for the Epilepsy Foundation of New England. Additionally, I lead a team of friends and family in a walk for epilepsy. The fundraising went very well, I raised a good amount of money. Raising this money impacts the epilepsy community because more research can go into this. The walk also went really good and I had a lot of fun. I chose this for my project because I was diagnosed with epilepsy a couple years ago and I want to bring more awareness to this condition. I had a good time completing this project and want to continue to help this community.

For my lead project I led an equity workshop to discuss the inequalities that are seen within the workspace and businesses as a whole. I worked with the other leaders in the stocks club and together we brought awareness to these challenges. I’m glad I was able to shine a light on the struggles that some have to face in an equal environment. 

For my lead project, I set up and ran a booth at Natick Days. I ran the Field Hockey booth, and as captain I sent out emails beforehand about what we needed from others, helped get a document signed by the Natick Board of Health, and planned our booth with my other captains and coach. On the day of Natick Days, I got there at 8am and stayed until 4:00 when we cleaned up the booth. During the day, I helped bring pizzas to the booth to sell, and bought the pizzas from George’s Pizza who I also reached out to previously to ask for a discount. I worked with my team and the JV and JV2 teams, and got to communicate with the Natick community as well. The day went amazing and we ended up raising around $1,300 for our team.

For my lead project, I chose to run a clothing drive to donate collections to the Natick AMVETS. I chose to do this for my lead project because I believe it's important to utilize available resources to help support the veterans of our community. Through this, I was able to collect many donations and put them towards an organization that works to create community and assistance for American veterans. To prepare, I called and coordinated with the Natick AMVETS, reached out to my and my family's neighborhoods, worked with participants to answer questions and organize times to collect donations, and sorted/organized donations. My family and friends helped me to make this project a success, and with their help, over 15 full trash bags of clothes were collected. This project helped me in strengthening my leadership skills through community outreach and collaboration.

For my lead project I led a group of scouts as a part of a larger Eagle scout Project along the Timothy Coolidge trail in Natick near Natick High School. The goal of this project was to reroute a section of the trail to make it more accessible because the original trail is steep and treacherous. This project was very successful and we were able to clear the trail, clean it up, and level out steeper areas. The trail is now more accessible and easier to navigate allowing more people to enjoy the space.

For my lead project, I helped to organize the National Honor Society Induction Ceremony for Natick High School. For this project, I worked alongside Ava Mis, Emily Rothschild, and Reilly McKenna in order to coordinate the photography, decorations, communication to inductees, and name cards to ensure correct seating arrangements for the ceremony. In total, the planning for the event took around 3 months, and required us to begin setting up for the ceremony hours before it began, and staying after to clean up. Overall, the ceremony was extremely successful, and worked to acknowledge the inductees hard work required to become a part of National Honor Society at NHS.

For my lead project, I got involved with an organization known as The Jimmy Fund. It's an organization where you walk a specific distance along the Boston Marathon route. You have the option to choose between 5k, 10k, 13.1 miles, or the full 26.2 miles. The team I joined was called "Zach's Pack," led by Mr. Galvin. The main objective of this project was to raise funds for cancer care and research. I donated a total of $35. To support this cause, I invited a few friends to join me in the walk/donations because I believe in the importance of this institution and its fundraising efforts. I was truly grateful to be able to contribute by completing the 5k walk, as it's a wonderful way to make a positive impact on others.

For my lead project, I participated in the Jimmy Fund Walk and raised money to support cancer research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. This project allowed me to help raise a lot of money to support cancer research, and I was able to make connections and learn personal stories that inspired me to help make an impact. I am so happy that I was able to help support the institute and help progress their cancer research forward!

I lead a fundraising team for the Leukemia and Lymphoma’s philanthropic competition to raise as much money through high schoolers for a cure to Leukemia and Lymphoma. Liza Frumkin and I co-lead a team to raise money. We held a fundraiser event at the stop and shop in Natick and over the course of 7 weeks, sent hundreds of emails with our team to raise $16,000!

For my lead project, I organized a small food drive to give back not only to the community but to an organization that helped my family in a meaningful way - the Natick Service Council. For this project, I asked family members, friends, and neighbors in my apartment building and surrounding buildings to donate various canned goods and other non-perishable items to help those in need. I specifically chose this project and organization because they helped my family in quite a significant way when we had difficulties with finances. Because of the current economic situation, many have begun to seek assistance from such organizations to fulfill their basic needs, most importantly, having food, and I am grateful to have been able to receive so many donations to support those who are unable to make ends meet and make a real difference. 

My lead project was organizing a "Socks for the Homeless" fundraiser in our community. I chose to undertake this initiative because I am deeply moved by the growing homelessness crisis. Recognizing the simple yet crucial role that warm socks play in providing comfort and protection to those experiencing homelessness, I decided to focus on collecting and distributing them. Socks, often an overlooked necessity, can make a significant difference in the lives of homeless individuals. This project addressed a pressing need by ensuring that those without a place to call home could have access to clean, warm, and comfortable socks. During the winter months, the demand for warm clothing is particularly high, and my fundraiser helped fulfill this need. The campaign not only provided a tangible item of comfort but also sent a message of compassion and solidarity to the homeless population. It brought our community together, fostering a sense of empathy and the realization that, as a society, we can make a difference in the lives of our less fortunate neighbors. The "Socks for the Homeless" fundraiser successfully promoted awareness about homelessness and instilled a spirit of giving, reminding us all of the importance of supporting those in need.

For my lead project, I helped organize activities for the February Vacation Week Program at Mount Alvernia Academy, in which children of grades K-3 played throughout the day. I led daily art projects based on a central theme and encouraged the kids to have fun and make something they could take home. The program organizer, Jan Harvey, helped me set up the crafts and plan them so that everyone had a good time and there wasn't too much cleanup needed afterward. The children enjoyed the crafts as well as the rest of the activities throughout the day—including coloring, playing with toys, games in the gym, and outside time—which I helped monitor.

For my lead project, I started a share fridge program at Natick High School, where students can leave their unopened food from the cafeteria that others may take when they need a snack, like milk cartons, bags of carrots, and whole fruit. Every day in the cafeteria, I see students throw platefuls of food away, and a significant amount of that food waste is uneaten, edible food that could have been repurposed or donated. In the United States, 40% of food is wasted, a lot of it donatable. After learning about the EPA food waste hierarchy, I realized that we should be repurposing food before composting it. Schools around the US, including Lexington schools, have recognized this issue and implemented share tables in cafeterias for students to leave unopened food that other students may take. Share fridges not only reduce food waste, they also address food insecurity in schools by supporting students with free snacks throughout the day. After researching and meeting with Lexington and Wellesley school volunteers who have experience with share fridges, I worked with a lot of people to help this project come together, including contacts at the Natick Health Department, food service director Kristin Gentili, school administration including Mr. Hoye, Mr. Galvin, and Ms. Blocker, Earth Club (especially Priya Kathiravan and Rivka Landman), and custodians, including Mr. Rooney. One year later, the fridge is now up and running with signage, and a student volunteer checks it daily and receives community service for her dedicated work. This project took a lot of emails, conversations, coordination, and dedication to get it finally going. Even though I’m still working to get the word out about the share fridge, through morning announcements and posters, the first time I saw students put their unopened food in the fridge and another student take a milk carton out, I knew it was worth it. Even if I made a difference for just one student, or reduced food waste at all, this share fridge has already made an impact and serves as a model for other schools to do the same.

My lead project was leading a group of people in making desserts and serving dinner to families staying in the Ronald McDonald house, a place where families can stay when their kid has to stay in the hospital for treatments. I choose this for my lead project because the families staying in the house are dealing with something no one should have to deal with. Everything went well and the families really enjoyed the food and were very grateful. 

For my lead project my partner Shannon and I created an engaging and interactive presentation discussing the themes and ideas in the graphic novel Messy Roots, written by Laura Gao. In order to prepare for this presentation I read the graphic novel over the summer, while reading I took notes and made annotations that I was later able to use to identify the theme and key ideas, this allowed me to develope a general outline for the presentation while reading. After developing this presentation my partner and I led the discussion on the graphic novel, during the presentation we encouraged students to talk in groups and to then share their opinions with the class. I chose this lead project because it allowed me to engage freshman in the summer reading program and be a part of their introduction into high school english. This presentation helped the students to understand and identify the themes and ideas presented in the novel, as well as encouraging them to view these ideas from different perspectives by sharing their thoughts with their peers. The discussion was successful, evident by the students on topic conversations and insightful comments. To improve individual participation I would have the groups elect a spokesperson to present the groups thoughts on a discussion question, with each discussion question the groups would take turns sharing out. 

My lead project was leading a discussion about the war in Israel and Gaza at a Jewish leadership weekend. Through this, I created a safe environment for Jewish teenagers to talk about the war and how it is affecting them, as well as their family and friends. It went really well, as people were very vocal and willing to talk. Everyone was engaged and respectful of one another's thoughts/opinions. 

For my lead project, I co-organized the PMC Kids’ Ride fundraiser to raise money for the Jimmy Fund. This foundation works with the Dana Farber Cancer Institution to support patients with childhood cancer. Over the course of several months, I gathered participants and volunteers for the fundraiser while promoting it and planning details. I had to reach out to businesses for donations to support the cause. By the day of the event, we had raised over $15,000 for the Jimmy Fund. This fundraiser took place May 7th, 2023 and I am currently working on planning it again for May 5th, 2024.

For my lead project, I led a group of gymnasts ages 6-11 through their practice. Before the practice started I created a lesson plan for each event. When practice started, I led them through their warm-up and stretch and then brought them around the gym to each event. At each event, I set up drills that I prepared to help them achieve their gymnastics goals, helped them learn new skills, and gave them specific corrections to clean up their technique. I chose this as my lead project because I enjoy working with kids and teaching others gymnastics. My project went very well, as I was able to help young gymnasts achieve their goals, as well as see them find joy within the sports. 

In order to raise money for kids with cancer, I walked a 10K and raised money for the Jimmy Fund. I walked with my mom and was able to raise over $800! Originally my goal was to raise $500 but after learning about the stories of the patients I was raising money for, I became invested in the charity and raised more than $300 over my goal. I had a great time participating in the event and definitely plan on doing it again in the coming years. In total, the event raised over 9 million dollars for kids with cancer and it felt great to be someone who made a real change in someone else's life. I really hope that future NHS members choose to participate in this event as they will have a good time and will be working for a good cause.

For my lead project I organized, prepared, and delivered candy grams for the teachers and staff of Natick High School. I was able to coordinate a group of 5 assists to help me distribute the candy to the teachers. I bought holiday themed candy and put them in small plastic bags with a note saying 'Happy Holidays, From The National Honors Society'. 

For my lead project, I was a mentor captain for the NHS Mentorship Program. I chose this lead project because I was a mentor during my junior year, and enjoyed it a lot. I thought that becoming a captain would be a good step up from that position. I also chose to do this because I love helping others and I work well with people. This project helped to welcome freshman students into the highschool. I helped to run an orientation, which showed them around the school. Along with attending their CDS, to guide lessons and provide assistance. In order to prepare for this project, I would learn the lesson and activity ahead of time, and would come prepared to each CDS. I also had help from my junior mentor partner, who was with me and our group throughout term one. Overall, I enjoyed being a mentor captain greatly. This is because I found myself helping multiple students with their transition into the school, and also built a strong connection with all of them. 

My lead project was to volunteer for Me & Korean. I had the opportunity to guide people of various ages and backgrounds (mostly Korean adoptees) through learning Korean language/culture for ~4 months. I chose this project because I am privileged to be fluent in both English and Korean thanks to my parents, so I wanted to use my skills to help others do the same/connect to their heritage. Each week, we attended lectures then split into breakout rooms, where I helped people practice the material by demonstrating or giving feedback. I was able to learn new things alongside them and share their happiness/feeling of accomplishment as they worked through examples. It was a very rewarding experience to see everyone improve little by little each week, and I’m grateful for being involved in the process!

For my lead project, I worked in the Mentorship program as a Mentor Captain. As a captain, me and my junior mentors helped the new freshmen smoothly and comfortably transition into the high school. I, along with other mentor captains, created lesson plans for certain CDS blocks to teach the freshmen valuable life lessons, core values at NHS, and overall advice for being a student and a well-behaved and active person in the Natick community. Some of these lessons included team-bonding games, trivia, information sessions about Natick High, and much more. I believe that this project was successful, as it has been in past years, in helping new students feel less stressed and feel more acquainted with our school and other peers. This program helps to build a solid foundation to succeed for the rest of their years in high school.

For my lead project, I helped ELL students with their English grammar and spelling in their writing journals. I also provided support for students in pronunciation of english words when they were practicing their speaking skills. I realize that some students don’t have the same motivation I do to learn English and this really affects how quickly they learn. I wish there was a way to get them to understand how valuable it would be for them to be fluent  in two languages. Ms.Boyle taught me that you can’t give up and each student will learn in their own time.

I was very passionate about this project as my grandmother was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. I organized a group to walk with and then raised money for my walk by emailing and calling friends and family and telling them about the Zach's Pack and my reasons for walking. I raised over $600 and was given Pace setter status, which I'm proud of. The day was beautiful and I walked over 5k with my group. Everyone I passed along the route was very supportive and it was a special day.

For my leadership project, I had the opportunity to volunteer as a swim instructor at Longfellow, where I helped younger swimmers learn and develop their skills. In addition to teaching, I also took on the responsibility of organizing the swim clinic, designing flyers, and publicizing the event. With the help of the NHS girls and boys swim team, we not only raised funds for our teams but also used our knowledge and passion to teach others. Over four nights, I taught various swimming skills during each hour-long lesson. To better assist the swimmers, I even went into the water to demonstrate and provide one-on-one guidance. Overall, I enjoyed this experience and I am glad I/we got to help younger children in our community learn important lifelong skills.

For my Lead Project, I read the book Project Hail Mary and, based on the book, created a mini-lesson for the Freshman class. During the summer, I thoroughly read and took notes on the novel so that I could design a slideshow that would foster discussion between classmates. The goal of this was not only to test their understanding of the content, but it was also to help the new students acclimate to what their classes would look like at Natick High. In addition to helping the class of 2027, it also improved my abilities as a presenter and student. Teaching others is an excellent way to learn. Overall, I enjoyed the opportunity to interact with the future of Natick High and I think my lesson helped them prepare for the next four years of their lives.

For my lead project, I helped coach a local Natick Babe Ruth Baseball team. My duties were to teach the kids important baseball skills as well as keep them engaged in the game. Overall my job was to be a role model for the younger kids playing baseball and help guide them into being skilled and passionate baseball players.

For my lead project, I was a head coach for the Natick Neptunes swim team during their championship competition on March 3rd. My main responsibility was running warmups for all of the kids, making sure they did the correct entries, techniques, and dives. After that I helped to keep the kids ready for their races, and also helped a bunch of anxious kids calm down. While we didn't win, the kids still had a great time and I enjoyed getting to know the kids a little better.

My lead project was selling the cakes for the NHS cake walk at Natick Days. This was a really fun experience. It was very rewarding to see the smiles on the children's faces to whom we were selling the cakes to. In addition to that reward, it was very rewarding to give back to the National Honors Society and help raise money for the program so that more students in the future can give back to their community and feel the same satisfaction that I have felt with giving back. 

My lead project was coaching basketball clinics with middle school players. I chose to do this as my lead because I have a lot of basketball experience to improve others with, and I've done over 60 hours of coaching clinics over the past two years. I am proud that I was able to give valuable lessons to those eager to improve their game, while also encouraging and teaching those newer to basketball so they could enjoy participating!

For my lead project, I was a core volunteer for the Natick TOPSoccer program. This is a program where high school students are able to partner up with athletes who have physical and intellectual disabilities and assist them in a variety of soccer activities. I have been volunteering for the program for 4 years, and this year as a core volunteer I took on the role of working behind the scenes with other core volunteers to organize and plan each of our sessions. In addition, I had the responsibility of leading sessions, which included giving buddies and athletes instruction and making sure each athlete feels supported. I'm glad that with this project I was able to make an impact on the lives of young athletes with special needs and create a positive environment for them. This program has taught me the importance of giving back to your community and has also helped to greatly develop my leadership and problem-solving skills.

For my lead project, I created and presented a lesson on microaggressions in an educational setting for our equity co-op day. The main focus of the lesson was to educate students at Natick High on microaggressions and how they impact student achievement and sense of belonging. My presentations went very well, the students were extremely engaged in the discussions and it was evident that they were absorbing the information. By exploring a variety of microaggressions, discussing the impacts, and ways to address them, students were able to challenge their thinking and gain a better understanding of the importance of combating microaggressions at our school.

My workshop taught students about contributing factors of income inequality and some solutions for mitigation. Additionally, we led an interactive wealth management simulation where students learned how to budget and manage income across multiple years. Many participants were intrigued and interested by our information as it isn't commonly taught information in school. It was very fun to prepare our presentation and teach students about something that is practical and useful later in life.

For my Lead Project I decided to held a food drive. I completed this food drive with my best friend Addison Neill. In order to successfully carry out this food drive Addison and I digitally created flyers and placed them in mailboxes around our neighborhoods. We then collected food from people's houses alongside our families who helped us out along the way. After collecting all the food, we dropped it off at Roche Brothers in Natick. I decided to do a food drive because my father Tyler Masse has always emphasized the importance of giving back to our community. I have always been a person who enjoys helping others who may not have as much so a food drive really stood out for me. Through my food drive, I learned to improve my communication and organization skills which will help me throughout my life and in college. 

My lead project was being a CIT at Camp Arrowhead over the summer. I chose this project because Camp Arrowhead has been a very special place for me over the past few years, and I've been wanting to become more involved in the camp atmosphere. The experience was incredibly rewarding for me, as I felt I really made a difference to the lives of each camper I worked with. I prepared activities for my week as a CIT, such as art projects, active game activities, and performances to keep the campers entertained. I got a lot of assistance from the staff members at Arrowhead, specifically Alex Campbell, the CIT Coordinator for camp. The week went incredibly well, and I look forward to being a CIT again this summer. 

For my lead project I organized and supervised a championship swim meet for the Natick Neptunes swim team as a volunteer swim coach. As a lead volunteer at this meet I was in charge of gathering kids ages 7-14 for their various swimming events. I coordinated with other volunteers and coaches to find the most efficient and organized way to gather all the kids in each event. I was also in charge of making sure all the kids were having fun and being safe while being a person they could come to with questions and concerns. As a swim coach I was also in charge of giving kids tips on how to swim their fastest and motivating them to do their best. Being a swim coach for the past 3 years has helped me to grow my leadership skills allowing me to be an effective lead volunteer that helps make things run smoothly at big events like this championship meet.

For my lead project I coordinated with administrators at Natick High School and the photographer for the National Honor Society Induction of 2024. My coplanners and I set up the auditorium and cafeteria prior to the event, organized the decorations and food, and ran the reception. I think that the event went really well and I enjoyed getting to work with fellow NHS members to make the event together. 

I served as a Leadership Intern at the Camp Invention STEM camp held at Memorial Elementary School in Natick. I chose the project because I enjoyed my experience as a camper when I was younger and wanted to give back to the camp that had sparked my interest. In fact, I still have one of the projects that I created there! As an intern, I facilitated small group learning and recreational activities for children from grades K-5. I do not have any younger siblings and participating in this project gave me insight into the level of patience and dedication it takes to educate young children. I definitely have a new level of appreciation for my elementary school teachers!

My project was to become a mentor captain through Natick High School’s mentorship program. In this program, I was in charge of 15 freshmen and 3 other mentors. I led over 12 weekly lessons throughout the first quarter of the 2023-24 school year. I had to ensure that all students were engaged in these lessons while learning about all the opportunities that Natick High School offers. I helped create lessons back in May 2023 and I assisted in freshman orientation back in August 2023. My lead project taught me leadership and communication skills. 

For my lead project I organized and ran a bake sale fundraiser for the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), which raises money for researching a cure for type one diabetes. I chose to fundraise for this organization not only because it is close to my heart, having type one diabetes myself, but because I have seen firsthand the negative complications of unmanaged type one diabetes. Innovations in diabetes technology changed my late grandfather’s quality of life positively. As a way to pay homage to both my grandfather and the trials that type one diabetics must endure daily, I am raising money for a cure. In order to prepare for the fundraiser, I coordinated efforts with administrators and my peers at NHS for several weeks, collected posters and informational infographics to inform the public about type one diabetes, bought and prepared baked goods, and managed the sale of baked goods and collection of funds. 

For my lead project I helped facilitate and bake sale in order to raise awareness and funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), in their efforts to find a cure for type one diabetes. I partnered with my close friend Madeleine Medeiros on this project. She has type one diabetes, and after knowing her for many years, she has taught me so much about diabetes and what it's like to live with it. I have also seen lots of ignorance and lack of education about diabetes to the youth and communities as a whole. For those reasons I felt it was important for me to coordinate with administrators, fellow students, and the Natick High community through educational posters and the bake sale in order to raise this money and educate those around me. 

For my lead project, I worked alongside my teammates on the varsity soccer team to run a soccer clinic for Natick soccer players from grades one through six. In preparation for the clinic, I planned out practices in such a way as to make them not only fun but also build up skills and prepare players for their season in the fall. This clinic also worked to help raise money for our upcoming season. Overall, I think the clinic was a great success and I enjoyed sharing my knowledge of the game with future generations of Natick soccer players.

My lead project was leading a program called Top Soccer, where essentially leaders would create soccer drills and activities for children with disabilities. I chose this as my lead project as I believe everyone deserves the opportunity to participate in physical activity, no matter if one has special needs or not. This project has allowed many kids to work on physical skills such as balance and strength, as well as giving children with disabilities a social outlet full of encouragement and kindness. In order to prepare for this project as a leader, I had to plan out soccer drills and activities that are inclusive for all, set up the said activities, as well as I had to run each session by giving directions, teaching volunteers how to be as helpful as possible, and listening to kids' needs. This project was ultimately a success given that the kids formed new friendships, strengthened their skills, and were constantly smiling. Without the help of other leaders, this project would not have been possible because even as a leader, you need a support system. I would not do anything differently in the future, as parents and kids walked away happy and eager to join the next set of sessions the Top Soccer program has to offer. 

In my lead project, I was a head coach at the Natick Youth Basketball camp ran by Varsity coach, Michael Masto. In this camp, I was assigned a team for the week and I led them through each game, drill, and practice. I also used my basketball experience to help mentor the younger kids. I chose to do this for my lead project because basketball is my favorite hobby, and I was sure I could teach the younger kids about it. 

My lead project was organizing a free youth volleyball clinic at JJ Lane Park on April 1. I chose to do this as my lead project because as a Varsity Volleyball Captain at Natick High, I wanted to use my years of experience to help the future generations of athletes.To prepare for this day, I got the help from a fellow volleyball captain, Ava Fosberg. Among the two of us we gathered volleyballs from the school as well as a volleyball net. It was a very successful day on the field, as a variety of young athletes attended and we were able to teach basic foundational skills and slowly move into more advanced drills. Not only were we able to teach technical skills but also teach the importance of teamwork in a game like volleyball. I really enjoyed this experience knowing that I used my background with volleyball to help younger kids who are interested in the sport. 

For my Lead Project I did a food drive. I decided to do this project because I have done a food drive for a certain corporation in Natick every year since freshman year, so I wanted to continue this tradition. To make this happen, I put flyers in my neighbors mailboxes to inform them of the drive and then collected the food about a week later, to then bring the food to Roche Brother’s in Natick. I did this project alongside my best friend Shea Masse and my family helped me to collect the food at all the houses. Each time I do these food drives I am reminded how important it is to give back to those in my community who are in need and I'm able to make connections with companies I wouldn’t normally meet. In the future, I would like to give back to places outside of Natick to help a wide range of people and I hope to make an impact on more lives.

My lead project consisted of me volunteering at The River Bend nursing home. I created/led activities for patients and supervised them for the afternoon. I chose this project because I plan to major in nursing. I learned many valuable lessons from my experiences that I hope to transfer into college and after. 

For my lead project, I chose to run a Natick Field Hockey school supplies drive with participation from all players in the program. During preseason, I collected items specifically requested and needed by the Natick Service Council. I then provided the donations to the Natick Service Council’s “Back to School” program, which in turn gives them to Natick students in need. This project was especially impactful because it helped provide educational materials to students that go to our own high school and younger students in the middle and elementary schools in our town. It also brought together the field hockey program to give back to our community and use the sport for something bigger than the game. 

For my lead project, I volunteered as a core member of TopSoccer in Natick. TOPS is an organization that pairs athletes with various mental and physical disabilities with “buddies” with the goal of competing and having fun while playing soccer and participating in other activities. I will be completing my final season with TopSoccer this spring. I have been volunteering since freshman year and became a core member my senior year. As a core member, I am responsible for pairing athletes with their buddies, leading group sessions, and making sure that every athlete has a positive and fun experience. This program means a lot to me because I am able to help create an inclusive and fun environment while also sharing my love for the sport of soccer with athletes with disabilities. I am excited to be participating in my final season of TOPS this spring!

My Lead Project was a mentorship program at Wilson Middle School. Wilson Middle School has a group of 7th and 8th graders who need guidance and would benefit greatly from high schoolers who share similar interests. Whether due to a lack of attendance, grades, or not connecting with others, these students needed a role model. A group of high school students was selected to guide them and help them crack open their fullest potential. Each of us received an assigned student to focus on forming a relationship with. Ideally, We will have something in common with our assigned students that will give them a good role model to look up to. We will meet a few times a month throughout the Winter and the Spring to help foster a positive experience and encourage this group of middle schoolers to become future role models and flourish in their community.

For this project, I planned and executed a multiple-week schedule in which I would teach an environmental science class for a local scout troop. The Environmental Science merit badge is a required course for scouts looking to achieve the rank of Eagle, it is often difficult to find councilors willing to teach these classes, therefore, my availability allows for scouts in this troop to take this course without searching for an external merit badge counselor. I needed to take a Merit Badge Councilor course to teach this class, it taught me how to be an effective and communicative teacher. Over a few weeks, I arranged meetings with scouts in which they learned about their impact on the environment and how they could minimize it. Various scout leaders helped me with this project when I had questions and in the future, I would extend the invitation to multiple scout troops as there were fewer scouts than I expected in the class.

My lead project was to coach Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to children of all ages. I chose this as my lead project because I enjoy playing and helping with kids. I also have a passion for BJJ, so this project was very fun and helpful for me and the Versus (my academy's name) community. I helped children learn new techniques and takedowns by explaining every detail in an easy, but understandable way. I started this project because I saw my coach Rodrigo sometimes struggle with teaching the kids class all by himself, so I wanted to help him by dedicating a couple hours of my time every week by giving my knowledge to these kids too. It went very well, these children are basically my best friends now and I always help them out, not just in training. My goal was to not only help them be strong BJJ athletes, but also strong-minded individuals. And I think that my goal was met. Now, at every tournament, I am helping over 20+ kids fight and coach them in the coach's chair. I am very happy with my project and I still continue to coach now. 

For my lead project, I created and presented a slideshow on income inequality on behalf of the investment club for Natick High's equity Co-op day. I chose to do this because I think it is important to bring attention to systemic disparities in financial literacy that contribute to increasing economic inequality in America. The workshop was a success, with both sections filling up completely, and we therefore brought attention to this important issue in society.

     I plan on making blankets and donating them to Goodwill. I will organize a group of 3-5 people. After organizing supplies and people, and then creating the blankets, we will take them to a Goodwill donation center where they will be donated.

For my lead project, I taught a programming course for local middle school students. With the rising importance of computer science in the modern world, I wanted to provide middle schoolers a way to learn the basics of computer science in an easy way. This way, they can start learning early, and hopefully develop a passion for this valuable skill. With the help of Ryan Fernandes, we created a curriculum and taught the students over Zoom every Thursday. We taught them through a combination of lectures, projects, and homeworks to keep them engaged. Overall, I believe these students now have a good idea of if they enjoy computer science and now have the basic skills to continue pursuing it if they wish.

For my lead project, I volunteered to coach and coordinate a youth soccer clinic organized by Natick Youth Soccer. As a member of the varsity soccer team, my teammates and I coached kids ages 7-12 for three days at the high school. I was assigned to a 6th-grade boys group who were energetic and excited to participate, which made my job easy and allowed me to be creative with my coaching. I created and taught drills to players that aimed to build fundamentals and skills, while also reinforcing important traits for young players, such as confidence, respect, and teamwork. The project was really enjoyable and rewarding, as it helped strengthen my passion for soccer and coaching in general. In the spring, I plan on helping to coach a 7th-8th grade soccer team and I think this clinic was an important stepping stone for me to help prepare me. 

For my lead project, I contributed to organizing a coat drive for the non-profit organization Coats for Kids and Families. The drive was held at Natick High School in the lobby where students and facilities were able to donate coats or jackets. After weeks of advertising to spread the word the coat drive was a success. We were able to obtain a variety of coats from different colors and sizes as students were constantly reminded when walking past the decorated donation box. We also maintained our ongoing advertisements during the event with the use of flyers hung on every bulletin board and daily reminders on the school news. Once the drive ended we sent the donations to be cleaned at Anton's Cleaners in downtown Natick and later be donated to the families in need. My main goal was to help families who don’t have access to coats and jackets for the winter season. I believe many people underestimate the importance of such a simple item and how it could mean so much more to someone else. This project was extremely important to me because it was a very hands-on-way for me to make a difference in our community. Fortunately we were able to receive a good amount of donations, but even if it were a small amount. What I cared about the most was just being a helping hand to someone else, in the same way I hope someone would do that for me if I were in the same situation.

For my leadership project, I collaborated on developing and delivering a workshop for the Equity Co-Op. Together with two presidents of the school’s book club, we crafted a presentation focusing on the impact of book banning in schools and libraries on the representation of various groups. Towards the end, we connected it to Natick itself, and how even though book banning isn't very prevalent here there are still many cases where people can be affected by it. Throughout the presentation, students actively engaged in discussions about the reasons books shouldn't be banned and shared personal experiences or observations of its repercussions. Overall, I would say that the presentation went very well, and everyone had a safe and welcoming environment to share their thoughts about the topic, as well as learn more about it.

My lead project involved taking a robot we created in our Robotics Club to a local Elementary School for their ASAP program. I chose this project to show younger children the opportunities that robotics offers and allow them to see what we have created. To prepare for the project, another senior and I liaised with the leader of the ASAP program to find a suitable time to hold the event. We also prepared various activities we could do with the children while there, including allowing the students to drive the robot around and run a tower-building competition and creative drawing. The Robotics team helped us prepare the robot and came along to provide support. The project went well, and we received positive feedback from the students and ASAP leaders. If I were to do it again, I would expand the project to include more students of different age ranges and multiple other schools.

For my lead project, I collaborated with student advisors from the Girls Self-Defense and Boxing Club here at NHS to lead a presentation at this year's Equity Co-Op! A big mission of the club is to empower students through boxing and to teach people how to defend themselves. I led an informational lecture on topics ranging from crime and sexual assault statistics to the importance of self-defense. Additionally, I was able to teach many students some methods of self-defense and basic boxing skills. This project allowed many of my peers to become aware of the dangerous state of the world and provided them with the skills to be able to protect themselves. This experience was very fulfilling, as I was able to spread awareness of the importance of self-defense education, as well as help to empower students in our school! 

For my lead project, I organized a crochet drive with help from the crochet club. As a student leader for the club, I worked with some of the members to hand-make an assortment of crochet hats, mittens, and scarves. These items take a lot of time because everything is done by hand. One hat can take around two hours, and even then we were able to donate around 20 items. Aside from crocheting the items, I researched and coordinated the donation process to Harriet’s Closet at the Natick Service Council. This was a great way to combine a passion of mine and give back to the Natick community. These items were made with plenty of care and we know from the Natick Service Council that they are greatly appreciated and  will be put to good use. 

For my lead project, I helped to organize a presentation for the Natick High School summer reading day back in the fall. My friend Abby and I read the book Messy Roots over the summer and put together a presentation with questions that challenged the students' thinking and encouraged them to view the novel with a different perspective. During our meeting, students engaged in discussion over topics such as gender, cultural identity, and sexuality and learned to apply Laura’s experience in America to their own. Ultimately, students came out of our conversation with a deeper understanding of how literature such as Messy Roots can openly discuss topics that are often debated in our own society and how they can interact with these varying viewpoints. 

I chose to lead the Game Changers Club Equity Coop Day. I was chosen to be a part of the Game Changers Club, and after learning about what my club was about, I wanted to spread more awareness. I created a presentation in order to expand the club and spread the education I was given regarding healthy and unhealthy relationships. My presentation followed different TV shows in the media, and helped the students to understand and differentiate healthy and unhealthy signs in TV shows. I thought it went very well, and I received great feedback from the students afterwards!

For my NHS lead project, I led a discussion on the summer reading book Butterfly Yellow by Thanhha Lai to a group of freshmen. I spent the summer reading this book and prepping for my presentation. I took detailed notes on the book, kept track of events worth discussing, and thought up questions and activities to do with the class. I then made an interactive presentation to present to the class with a partner. The presentation went well and the students all participated in some way. I made the slides easy to understand and some questions more open-ended to pull in all the students to the discussion.

For my lead project, I worked with Anna, Daisy, and Remy to organize a Cake Walk for Natick Days. This was a fundraiser to raise money for National Honors Society. It was a great experience, and I'm glad the town enjoyed the event.

For my lead project, I helped organize and lead the National Honor Society Induction Ceremony for Natick High School. I chose to do this because I was originally struggling to find a way to complete my lead hours and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate my leadership skills. I helped contact our photographer: Lewis Glass, keep Mrs. St. Jean and Mrs. Marino in the loop, communicated with the other organizers, talk to the NHS board, and contact Mrs. Blocker and Ms. Daigle. Planning Induction took around three months and I had to learn to manage my time very well and make sure that everyone in my group knew what their roles were and when they should have different parts of their jobs completed. I worked with Reilly McKenna, Katelyn Horsch, Ava Mis, and Max Curtis. I met with my group multiple times throughout the planning process to split up who was doing which jobs and to check in to make sure everyone knew what they were doing and were on top of it. My group and I stayed at the school from after school till around 9 o’clock on the day of Induction. We set up the cafeteria, auditorium, serving tables, and pamphlets. After everyone left we stayed to clean everything up and made sure the school looked exactly how it to looked prior to setting up. Watching Induction happen was such a rewarding moment, I loved watching mine and my teams’ months of hard work finally pay off.

For my lead project, I chose to create and present for the equity co-op day at Natick High School. I presented for the Game Changers organization. We are a group of students trained by the Center for Sports and Society at Northeastern University. For our presentation, we decided to research the topic of inclusion in the media. This presentation included statistics and popular television show clips. We watched the clips and then discussed as a group the ten common healthy and unhealthy relationship signs. One of the major topics covered in the presentation is that many of the relationships we admire in television shows are often unhealthy. For example, often, the main couple in a TV show is often unhealthy, as it helps to propel the show's plot, like Ross and Rachel in Friends. Whereas, the background couples, like Monica and Chandler, are often portraying a healthier relationship type. 

For my lead project, I organized and ran the National Honor Society booth at Natick Days in September. 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 and I wanted to spend time helping my community. To prepare for running the booth, we had planning sessions as a small group to help organize and discuss how we could make a successful booth. Like in years past, we decided to do a cake walk for our activity and enlisted other NHS members to make/buy cakes or any baked goods. I ran the booth alongside three other NHS members during the event to manage the cake walk and hand out prizes. Overall, the Natick Days project was very successful and positively impacted the Natick Community while raising money for NHS.

For my lead project, I led a group of incoming freshmen through their first term of high school during the CDS block. I led discussions, lessons, and activities which helped orientate the freshmen into their new school. My co-mentors and I taught lessons including those focusing on mindfulness, extracurricular activities, and time management. The freshmen entered second term with a solid grasp on what high school is like. 

For my lead project, I was a co-coordinator for the PMC Kids Ride Natick, which is a biking fundraiser event that raises money for the Jimmy Fund which aids children and families affected by cancer. To accomplish this event, planning started in January. I had to attend meetings, coordinate conference calls, recruit volunteers, and organize the event. On the day of the event, we got to Belkin Lookout Farm at 6AM to set-up and get ready for riders. As the event went on, we helped navigate kids, run the raffle and other post-ride activities, and direct volunteers. Overall, the event was a huge success and raised a ton of money for the Jimmy Fund from both the event and prior fundraising leading up to the event. The event truly puts into perspective how privileged I am to be in good health, especially after having a mom affected by cancer. It is beautiful to see the support and love that can be generated through a good caus

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

My lead project was heading Youth for Sex Ed in the planning, outreach, promotion, and hosting of the Youth for Sex Summit at Fenway Health on September 9th, 2023. I chose to focus on the Youth for Sex Ed Summit when I found out the Massachusetts Health Education Frameworks haven’t been updated since 1999 and the Healthy Youth Act (HYA) has failed to pass in congress for 12 consecutive years. Although much of Massachusetts is in support of age-appropriate, medically accurate, inclusive sex education, the movement behind the HYA hasn’t been particularly mobilized. The summit united feminist organizations, health educators, activists, students, teachers, and parents, in understanding the importance of comprehensive sex education and how we can ensure the passage of this crucial legislation. Youth for Sex Ed met every Sunday for 9 months in preparation for this summit, and as this was also my project for my board position with MassNOW I had additional planning meetings with the board, the Healthy Youth Act Coalition, and the Fenway Health team. All in all, the event was a huge success. The feedback upon departure was generally how inspiring the speakers were, how much they learned about sex education, and that they wanted to get more involved in the movement…Whether that meant starting a sex ed club at school, lobbying their school committee for a more inclusive curriculum, or submitting testimony for the Healthy Youth Act. If I could do it over, I wouldn’t change a thing— the venue, speakers, and energy in the room were beyond powerful. 

For my lead project, I organized a dance costume and dancewear drive at Broadway Bound Dance Center in Natick. I collected, cleaned, and packaged new and lightly used costumes, leotards, athleticwear, and dance shoes for donation to Dance Fairies, a non-profit organization that distributes these items to dancers who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford them. Familiar with how expensive dance can be, I completed this project with the goal of making it more accessible. With the help of the Broadway Bound community, I collected over a hundred items and I continue to receive donations today.

For my lead project, I worked with fellow NHS members to run and organize the Natick Days Cake Walk. The Cake Walk was a fundraiser for the National Honors Society and we were able to raise enough money to lower the price of stoles this year for graduation! Overall, I think the Cake Walk went very well and I had a great time! 

For my lead project, I worked with Devashish Das to create a website for the Natick Commission on Disabilities. The commission needed a way for them to get important information out to those in need in our community, and this website was a great opportunity for that. We designed and developed the many parts that combine to make the functioning site, like an accessible frontend and a backend server that allows the commission to edit the site’s content without much technological know-how required. Currently, the site is finished, and we are in the process of hosting the site so that anyone can view it online.

My lead project was organizing the Youth for Sex Ed Summit together with a youth-led group (Youth for Sex Ed) in partnership with MassNOW and the Healthy Youth Act Coalition. With this project, we advocated for the Healthy Youth Act, which would ensure that MA schools that teach sex ed would be required to give comprehensive, medically-accurate, and inclusive information as this is currently not the case. We represented several organizations through tables, and the voices of our panelists, speakers and moderator Rep Sam Montaño. I chose this project for my lead because I myself did not have the best experience with the health curriculum, and found that I was not alone in this feeling. A lot of people tend to think that Massachusetts is really progressive in this area, but do not know that many schools fail to teach really important subjects like consent education and LGBTQ+ inclusivity, while instead promoting abstinence based learning. I was excited to have an opportunity with a group of like minded individuals to be able to jump on this issue and come together to make a safe space where people can learn about the effects of the health curriculum and how we can make a difference. In preparation, which all went towards my assist hours as well, we met weekly to discuss and plan for the event, completing outreach, research, and graphic design, as well as promoting our event and cause. We had to plan out food for 90+ RSVPs, come up with activities, and find a venue (Fenway Health). The group consists of 8 high school members, but we were also helped, as mentioned, by MassNOW, the Healthy Youth Act Coalition, Fenway Health, and all of the organizations and volunteers that made the event possible. The event was highly successful, and everyone who attended, including us, left feeling more knowledgeable and inspired. I think if we were to do anything differently in the future it would be to maybe find a way to reach an even larger audience, but overall this is an experience I am proud of and definitely want to carry the advocacy of, even outside of Youth for Sex Ed now that the summit has passed.

My lead project was working as a leadership intern at Camp Invention over the summer where I helped lead kids in STEM-related activities. I chose this because I like working with children and I want to help kids see growth opportunities in the world of science. Overall, this project went very well and I was able to see each kid make something completely different out of just cardboard boxes, tinfoil, cans, and a variety of other materials.

For my lead project, I organized and led a tent at Natick Days for the Natick High School Alpine Ski Team. Together with my co-captains, we set up our tent in the morning and ran fundraisers throughout the day, including a dunk tank and a gift card raffle to raise money for the upcoming season. The funds raised were essential for acquiring new race suits, covering bus fares, and purchasing team merchandise. On top of the fundraising, we also brought awareness to the team and recruited potential athletes for the upcoming season. 

For my lead project, I held an event for the ASAP elementary after-school program through the robotics team. I chose to work with the ASAP program due to support the community and highlight STEM to young learners. I organized and planned an event  in which we held activities including a pasta tower and driving robot cars. We held the event twice from 4-6pm each time, with another 2 hrs accounted to planning the event. The ASAP students had an enjoyable time and the staff appreciated the project. If the project were to be conducted again in the future I would better prepare the robotics members I led ahead of time.  Regardless, the event was a huge success. 

For my lead project I organized some family and friends for a trash pickup. I noticed garbage along the sides of a trail that I walk my dog and I wanted to make this space a bit more enjoyable for everyone who uses it. It was very rewarding to see the difference we made for the community and ecosystem.

For my lead project, I organized the Natick Alpine Ski team booth at Natick Days. I chose this as my lead project because I have been on the ski team for the duration of my high school experience, and as a captain, it is my job to raise money for our team, and this was a great way to do so. I worked with the other captains and the coaches to bring in a dunk tank style activity that the ski team had run in the past years at Natick Days. To prepare for this project, I reached out to the team and the coaches in order to get the supplies and equipment. We invited team members and team members' parents to bring in items they would like to donate, and we ended up raffling off over $200 of gift cards and selling over $100 in bracelets. During the event itself, myself, along with the other captains, coaches, and team members managed to raise around $800 for our team, which will go toward purchasing coats and duffle bags for our racers.

For my lead project, I volunteered at Red Barn Children's Center. There, I was responsible for ensuring that children, ages 3-8, were happy and safe at the summer camp. I also assisted with the planning and implementation of academic and recreational activities. This project went very well! I had a great time connecting with the children and helping them explore their curiosities. We spent time inside and outside, playing, swimming, and doing craft projects. Every day we had new, enriching activities, but we also followed a schedule for routine. Overall, I had an amazing time getting to know each camper! I will definitely do this again next year. 

For my lead project, I volunteered as a teaching assistant with the Math Kangaroo organization. I assisted with competition math classes for 1st and 2nd grade students. This involved preparing games before classes, answering students’ questions, explaining problems, and holding one-on-one office hours for students with questions about the classwork or homework. As a TA, I focused on connecting with students, encouraging their enthusiasm for math, and trying to explain problems in a way they could understand. The ultimate goal was to help them to be able to solve the problems by themselves.

For my lead project, I represented myself in the annual (2023) Ride for Food. For this event, I signed up to bike in the 25 mile race, and had a page so that friends and family could donate to sponsor my race. All donations then went to A Place To Turn in Natick. I chose this as my lead project mainly because I think food insecurity is a widespread issue that impacts many in our community. Through the Ride for Food, I could find an outlet to do my part to fight this issue and support the organizations that do so much for my community.

       For my lead project, I presented one of the summer reading books to the freshman, called Messy Roots. I did this because reading is one of my favorite things to do and I love to share this hobby of mine with others. With Noelle Rivera, together we collaborated ideas to create a slideshow presentation and discussion questions. We then presented it to a small group of freshmen who read this book and gave them a short quiz at the end of the presentation. Overall, the presentation and preparation went very well, however, the group we presented to was difficult and relatively rude. They would not participate and were a little disrespectful. Also, I was the only one presenting because Noelle was on a college visit. Nonetheless, I enjoyed doing this project and I enjoyed reading this book!

For my lead project I became a mentor for a young girl who was recently diagnosed with Celiac Disease. I chose to do this project since I’ve had Celiac for 14 years and am in a place where I can give back to the community and help educate others. I answered many questions and shared my experiences with her family to teach them everything they need to learn and do. I know how difficult this diagnosis can be and wanted to make the transition as easy as possible for them. After being their mentor for over a year, I can see so much growth and the impact that I have had on their lives.

My name is Jeff Tavares and I lead a Natick Hockey fundraiser with my team at Natick days this September. To begin, myself and a couple of group members came together to plan the event as well as confirm our participation in Natick Days through their website. On the day of the event, my team members and I worked to bring the materials that we needed for our podium such as a tent, food, a hockey net, and hockey sticks. Our goal with our podium was to raise money for our program through Natick Days tickets and put on a hockey showcase for young kids who are interested in playing the sport. Our hope was to essentially have kids be a part of our team for a bit, showing them how much fun we have with the sport on and off the ice so that hopefully they will chase that feeling again and sign up to play hockey. My team and I set up a net and a shooting pad so that kids can come and shoot pucks and try out the sport. I was in charge of being a leader to the kids and showing them how to shoot a puck and stickhandle, as well as being their friend and giving them a great experience to remember. Through my lead and the help of my teammates, we were able to make a positive mark on the community, and showcase the sport that we love to future players. I am so proud to say that I lead the future of Natick Hockey, and I’m sure that all the faces I saw that day will one day be a part of the program that I love so much.

For my lead project, I founded a dance program at the Boys and Girls Club in Framingham. As a teacher at my local studio, I wanted to use my knowledge to increase equity in my greater community and bring dancing to those who otherwise would have never had the opportunity. Beginning in October, I taught once-a-week dance classes that fused my technical dance background with the Brazilian culture prevalent in Framingham. These students look forward to my class every week and have gained so much discipline, passion, and bodily awareness! I am so excited to continue this program for the rest of the school year (with plans on continuing it under new leadership next year)!

For my lead project, I hosted workouts for incoming freshmen football players. As a member of the football team for 4 years, and as someone who received this workout training when I was an incoming freshman, it was extremely beneficial for me and I wanted it to be the same for the incoming freshman. These workouts included going to the field to do position-specific drills and drills to make them faster and stronger. I enjoyed this experience as I was able to help them become better players with each workout and get to know them. Though it was helpful to them, it taught me how to lead a group and handle and adapt to different situations I faced.

My lead project was leading a team of track athletes to help raise money for our team by getting sponsors, meeting new people, and recruiting them to run in a road race where proceeds help Natick Track. I lead group meetings and help coordinate events. I chose to do this for my lead because running is something that I care about a lot and the opportunity presented itself to help set up and run a race that benefits me and the people in the community around me. It fulfilled the needs of track coaches/students/and athletes within the Natick community. I prepared for it by working with the Natick boosters to organize where our meetings would be, as well as how we were going to split up into teams to grab sponsors. I was helped by the Natick Boosters and My Dad. It went very well. We had multiple successful planning meetings and did a great job selling the road race on Natick days, we got more participants than ever as well which was very cool to see. One thing I would have done differently in the future is maybe be more on top of maximizing time to get more sponsors. I could have accumulated more hours that way and we could have been more successful in my project.

My lead project involved organizing the Natick High School Sailing Team booth at Natick Days to raise funds for new equipment and competitions, ensuring the team's future success. I chose this project because, as the Captain of the sailing team, I felt a responsibility to secure the team's well-being after my graduation and support our ongoing competitions. This project fulfilled the community's need for a fun fundraising event and helped us provide resources for the sailing team's growth. To prepare, I coordinated with teammates Harper McCarthy, Oliver Zawadzki, and Madeleine Diesl. We organized volunteers from the sailing team, set up the booth, and planned the bake sale and water gun game. With the help of the team, we raised over $850 for new equipment. In the future, I might explore new fundraising ideas or expand the event to attract a broader audience due to its historical success.