Category Archives: Teens

MFi Angel Run

Posted on October 26, 2016 | Comments Off on MFi Angel Run

angel-run-2016

Only 5 days left to register – don’t miss out!
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Registration Closes Tuesday 11/1

To those of you who have already registered, thank you! We look forward to seeing you on December 4th at 12:00 noon.

To those of you who haven’t registered yet, don’t miss out on your chance to register for the 2016 MFi Angel Run. Early bird registration closes at midnight on November 1st. Register now before the price goes up and so you still get the famous Angel Run shirt.

 

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Donate $50 with your registration and you can put a special message on the back of the Angel Run shirt. Your donation helps support Medfield residents in need.
Needham Bank is the Exclusive Presenting Sponsor of the 2016 MFi Angel Run

 

 

 

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Posted in Children, Entertainment, Events, Medfield Foundation, Teens, Uncategorized

GSA collecting food & youth clothing Saturday 10-12 at UCC

Posted on October 20, 2016 | Comments Off on GSA collecting food & youth clothing Saturday 10-12 at UCC

March 4, 2016 Osler Peterson Medfield Town Selectman Medfield Town Hall 459 Main Street Medfield. MA 02052 Dear Selectman Peterson, GIRL SCOUTS It's that time of year again in Medfield! We are honoring an incredible number of Girl Scout Gold Award Recipients - seven! With over 40% of our 12th Grade Scouts being Gold Award Recipients, Medfield Girl Scouts ranks well above the national average of 5% - a very special distinction. In addition to recognizing these remarkable Scouts, seventeen of our 12th Grade Ambassador Scouts will be concluding their thirteen years of Girl Scouting and bridging to Adult Girl Scouts. Of additional note is that 9 of our 17 Ambassador Scouts have also earned various Girl Scout National Leadership Awards. Finally, we are very pleased to be celebrating 100 years of Girl Scouting in Medfield. We arc one of the oldest Service Units in the country. Enclosed is a detailed description of each Scout's Gold Award project for your perusal. These seven Girl Scouts join an elite group of young women who are respected throughout the world for their dedication, leadership, and concern for their community. As you can see, we have a lot to commemorate and we hope you can join us Saturday. March 19th at 1:00 PM with a reception directly following the ceremony. This year the ceremony will be held at St. Edward Church at 133 Spring Street in Medfield. We invite you to arrive by 12:30 to be a part of our opening ceremony and walk in with the other dignitaries. I will call your office in the next few days to see if it is possible for you to attend this very special event. Thanking you in advance for your attention to this matter, I remain with kind regards, Sincerely, Medfield Girl Scouts Gold Award Ceremony Committee Chair kcsteeger.a .comcast.net - 617-640-3277 - (c) MAR 1 4 2H6 About the Medfield Girl Scouts 2016 Gold Award Projects The Girl Scout Gold Award is the most prestigious award available in Girl Scouting and is only earned by Girl Scouts who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to their communities and an outstanding dedication to achievement. In order to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, Scouts must first complete a series of prerequisites that take anywhere from 18 months to two years to complete. These pre-requisites are designed to give the Girl Scouts experiences in goal setting, leadership, career exploration and community service. Once the prerequisites are completed, each girl submits a plan for her Girl Scout Gold Award project that will require a minimum of 85 hours to complete. Each project needs to combine the skills and passions of the candidate in unique ways so that once completed, her project will leave a lasting mark on the community. Katherine Lyons My project addressed the issue surrounding the lack of knowledge of how poverty affects kids living on Cape Cod. Before beginning my project, even I was unaware of the severe poverty that affects many people living on the Cape and my goal was to make as many people aware of the issue in my hometown and surrounding areas as possible. I hope the awareness raised through my project benefits not only those who are Jiving in poverty, hopefully through increased donations and support, but by raising awareness to the fact that not all poverty is right before our eyes. I was able to put together 30 new backpacks filled with brand new school supplies and a few hundred books with bookmarks made by the kids at the Medfield Afterschool Program that were delivered over the summer and in the fall to Chatham Elementary School. My project also involved organizing the Cradles to Crayons 'Give Back with an Outfit Pack' drive within Medfield Girl Scouts. We were able to create 27 complete packs, 5 partially filled packs, 2 bags of additional items and had a total impact of 37 kids. Emily Piersiak My project addressed the issue of the absence of safe crossing at the end of Baker Pond in Medfield, and the Jack of encouragement for young women in the STEM fields. With the help of Girl Scout Troop 74900 and other members of the community, I constructed a bridge to span the runoff at Baker Pond. The project also included a class I taught at the Medfield Public Library, in which I was able to share my interest and knowledge in structural engineering and bridges. I am very pleased with the outcome of my project, especially the completed bridge and the information I imparted on all of the children who attended my classes. I would like to thank everyone who helped me complete this project, whether it was by donating materials or by physically helping to build it. I appreciate all of the help from my wonderful community, and I hope people enjoy all aspects of my project for years to come. Eliza beth Raine For Gold Award Project, Bats for a Cause, I addressed the decline of the local bat population due to human impact. I specifically designed this project not only to attempt to bolster the bat population for the purpose of offsetting human impact on the bats' local environment, but also to educate the public to the benefits of helping bats. I posted four bat boxes at the Trustees of Reservations as a refuge for migrating bats which would serve as nurseries for their newborn pups. My hope was that a growing bat population could help to regulate the recent overpopulation of mosquitoes, which may transmit harmful viruses to humans, like Triple E. Since the bats would stop the mosquitoes from transmitting those viruses, helping the bat population would ultimately benefit human healthcare. I also decided to educate the public about bats from around the world in order to dispel human fear of bats. I planned and executed presentations to various audiences in the community during Medfield Day, at MAP at Wheelock and Dale Street Schools, free time at Medfield's Council on Aging, and at Stony Brook's Earth Day Celebration. -OverZoe Smith Volunteering is something I value. It is a big pa rt of my life. For tunately, I had a program like Girl Scouts to start me on an early path of volunteerism. However, not everyone has t his type of opportunity. My goal for my Gold Award was to share my passion for volunteering in order to better my community. With this goal in mind, I chose to work with middle school students in my town to offer them diffe re nt opportunities to give back to the community in hopes of insti lling in them a passion to volunteer. I acted as a lia ison, connecting students with local volunteer organizations. Strong relations hips formed quickly. Many students are now volunteering regularly. Last ly, in order to receive their deserved recognition, students will have the chance to earn a President's Volunteer Service Award (PVSA). The PVSA recognizes citizens for bettering the coun try by volunteering. By working with middle school students, I was able to establish a genuine passion for volunteering which they can continue to pursue throughout their lives. Grace Sowyrda My Gold Award project addressed the issue of the lack of poetry programs and creative outlets in school, particularly in my town of Medfield. Poetry is a positive vehicle for connecting with others through raw emotion. It has universal themes that inspire others in the message that we are not alone in our feelings. I saw a need to provide this type of creative outlet. I addressed this issue by creating an after school poetry program at Blake Middle School to provide a safe and fun place for teens to connect and learn about poetry. I also created a poetry hour program at the library where I read poetry to the children a nd did a creative craft. To connect the town, I led an all age poetry reading at the Medfie ld Public Library and also led a poetry reading at the Senior Center. To support my efforts, I created a poetry website with easy ways for teachers to incorporate poetry into the ir curriculums. With each event, I was amazed to see poetry work its magic in connecting all the pa rticipants. Poetry is a very important part of my life and I am so lucky to have had the privilege to share its beauty and power with so many wonderful people . . Julia Steeger My project, "Co nn ecting Kids Who Have with Kids Who Need': addressed the issue of poverty a nd the many ways poverty affects children. It was the SOth anniversary of the "War on Poverty" launched by President Johnson that gave me the idea. Even with 50 years of effort, 15% of our state's chi ldren continue to live in poverty. I created my Gold Award project to educate kids in Medfield about how poverty affects kids who live in it and what we could do together as a community to help improve t heir circumstances. I wanted kids here in Medfield to know there was something they could do to help kids who live in poverty and that by passing along their gently used clothing, books and toys, they could help kids in need. With the help of the school administration, I was able to have a Cradles to Crayons collection unit placed at the Wheelock School. I also ran several assemblies at the schools to educate kids about the affects of poverty on kids who live in it, and established several town-wide collections: an annual "Stuff the Truck" event for clothing, books and toys as well as a food drive for Medfield Food Cupboard. Olivia Taylor Previously, there had been no prominent tutoring service in Medfield for children in grades K-5. My project was to create a tutoring program that connected high school students with e lementary school students. It is a imed to improve core academic skills, as well as create a bridge between older and younger children. I ran a six-week program at the three elementary schools in Medfield for students in grades K-5, with 15 tutors and 36 participants across the three programs. The objective was to supplement what the kids were learning in class in a way that didn't fee l like school, a nd to help the kids with a new perspective. I also created a website to share my project, with an online sign-up to connect high school a nd elementary school students for one-on-one tuto r ing. In the end, I hope my project provided a new service for the children and their parents, and a leadership opportunity for the high school students.

This Saturday Medfield Girl Scouts is holding its annual Day of Community Service. Scouts will be collecting FOOD DONATIONS for the Medfield Food Cupboard at both Shaws and Brothers Supermarkets.  Scouts will also be collecting gently used YOUTH CLOTHING for Cradles to Crayons (C2C).  Clothing can be dropped off on Saturday from 10:00am to 12:00pm at the UCC, 496 Main Street.  Winter clothing items are most needed.  All food and clothing donations will be sorted and given directly to the Food Cupboard and C2C on Saturday!

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Posted in Charity, Children, Medfield Food Cupboard, Teens

Girl Scouts celebrate 100 on 6/15

Posted on May 26, 2016 | Comments Off on Girl Scouts celebrate 100 on 6/15

March 4, 2016 Osler Peterson Medfield Town Selectman Medfield Town Hall 459 Main Street Medfield. MA 02052 Dear Selectman Peterson, GIRL SCOUTS It's that time of year again in Medfield! We are honoring an incredible number of Girl Scout Gold Award Recipients - seven! With over 40% of our 12th Grade Scouts being Gold Award Recipients, Medfield Girl Scouts ranks well above the national average of 5% - a very special distinction. In addition to recognizing these remarkable Scouts, seventeen of our 12th Grade Ambassador Scouts will be concluding their thirteen years of Girl Scouting and bridging to Adult Girl Scouts. Of additional note is that 9 of our 17 Ambassador Scouts have also earned various Girl Scout National Leadership Awards. Finally, we are very pleased to be celebrating 100 years of Girl Scouting in Medfield. We arc one of the oldest Service Units in the country. Enclosed is a detailed description of each Scout's Gold Award project for your perusal. These seven Girl Scouts join an elite group of young women who are respected throughout the world for their dedication, leadership, and concern for their community. As you can see, we have a lot to commemorate and we hope you can join us Saturday. March 19th at 1:00 PM with a reception directly following the ceremony. This year the ceremony will be held at St. Edward Church at 133 Spring Street in Medfield. We invite you to arrive by 12:30 to be a part of our opening ceremony and walk in with the other dignitaries. I will call your office in the next few days to see if it is possible for you to attend this very special event. Thanking you in advance for your attention to this matter, I remain with kind regards, Sincerely, Medfield Girl Scouts Gold Award Ceremony Committee Chair kcsteeger.a .comcast.net - 617-640-3277 - (c) MAR 1 4 2H6 About the Medfield Girl Scouts 2016 Gold Award Projects The Girl Scout Gold Award is the most prestigious award available in Girl Scouting and is only earned by Girl Scouts who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to their communities and an outstanding dedication to achievement. In order to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, Scouts must first complete a series of prerequisites that take anywhere from 18 months to two years to complete. These pre-requisites are designed to give the Girl Scouts experiences in goal setting, leadership, career exploration and community service. Once the prerequisites are completed, each girl submits a plan for her Girl Scout Gold Award project that will require a minimum of 85 hours to complete. Each project needs to combine the skills and passions of the candidate in unique ways so that once completed, her project will leave a lasting mark on the community. Katherine Lyons My project addressed the issue surrounding the lack of knowledge of how poverty affects kids living on Cape Cod. Before beginning my project, even I was unaware of the severe poverty that affects many people living on the Cape and my goal was to make as many people aware of the issue in my hometown and surrounding areas as possible. I hope the awareness raised through my project benefits not only those who are Jiving in poverty, hopefully through increased donations and support, but by raising awareness to the fact that not all poverty is right before our eyes. I was able to put together 30 new backpacks filled with brand new school supplies and a few hundred books with bookmarks made by the kids at the Medfield Afterschool Program that were delivered over the summer and in the fall to Chatham Elementary School. My project also involved organizing the Cradles to Crayons 'Give Back with an Outfit Pack' drive within Medfield Girl Scouts. We were able to create 27 complete packs, 5 partially filled packs, 2 bags of additional items and had a total impact of 37 kids. Emily Piersiak My project addressed the issue of the absence of safe crossing at the end of Baker Pond in Medfield, and the Jack of encouragement for young women in the STEM fields. With the help of Girl Scout Troop 74900 and other members of the community, I constructed a bridge to span the runoff at Baker Pond. The project also included a class I taught at the Medfield Public Library, in which I was able to share my interest and knowledge in structural engineering and bridges. I am very pleased with the outcome of my project, especially the completed bridge and the information I imparted on all of the children who attended my classes. I would like to thank everyone who helped me complete this project, whether it was by donating materials or by physically helping to build it. I appreciate all of the help from my wonderful community, and I hope people enjoy all aspects of my project for years to come. Eliza beth Raine For Gold Award Project, Bats for a Cause, I addressed the decline of the local bat population due to human impact. I specifically designed this project not only to attempt to bolster the bat population for the purpose of offsetting human impact on the bats' local environment, but also to educate the public to the benefits of helping bats. I posted four bat boxes at the Trustees of Reservations as a refuge for migrating bats which would serve as nurseries for their newborn pups. My hope was that a growing bat population could help to regulate the recent overpopulation of mosquitoes, which may transmit harmful viruses to humans, like Triple E. Since the bats would stop the mosquitoes from transmitting those viruses, helping the bat population would ultimately benefit human healthcare. I also decided to educate the public about bats from around the world in order to dispel human fear of bats. I planned and executed presentations to various audiences in the community during Medfield Day, at MAP at Wheelock and Dale Street Schools, free time at Medfield's Council on Aging, and at Stony Brook's Earth Day Celebration. -OverZoe Smith Volunteering is something I value. It is a big pa rt of my life. For tunately, I had a program like Girl Scouts to start me on an early path of volunteerism. However, not everyone has t his type of opportunity. My goal for my Gold Award was to share my passion for volunteering in order to better my community. With this goal in mind, I chose to work with middle school students in my town to offer them diffe re nt opportunities to give back to the community in hopes of insti lling in them a passion to volunteer. I acted as a lia ison, connecting students with local volunteer organizations. Strong relations hips formed quickly. Many students are now volunteering regularly. Last ly, in order to receive their deserved recognition, students will have the chance to earn a President's Volunteer Service Award (PVSA). The PVSA recognizes citizens for bettering the coun try by volunteering. By working with middle school students, I was able to establish a genuine passion for volunteering which they can continue to pursue throughout their lives. Grace Sowyrda My Gold Award project addressed the issue of the lack of poetry programs and creative outlets in school, particularly in my town of Medfield. Poetry is a positive vehicle for connecting with others through raw emotion. It has universal themes that inspire others in the message that we are not alone in our feelings. I saw a need to provide this type of creative outlet. I addressed this issue by creating an after school poetry program at Blake Middle School to provide a safe and fun place for teens to connect and learn about poetry. I also created a poetry hour program at the library where I read poetry to the children a nd did a creative craft. To connect the town, I led an all age poetry reading at the Medfie ld Public Library and also led a poetry reading at the Senior Center. To support my efforts, I created a poetry website with easy ways for teachers to incorporate poetry into the ir curriculums. With each event, I was amazed to see poetry work its magic in connecting all the pa rticipants. Poetry is a very important part of my life and I am so lucky to have had the privilege to share its beauty and power with so many wonderful people . . Julia Steeger My project, "Co nn ecting Kids Who Have with Kids Who Need': addressed the issue of poverty a nd the many ways poverty affects children. It was the SOth anniversary of the "War on Poverty" launched by President Johnson that gave me the idea. Even with 50 years of effort, 15% of our state's chi ldren continue to live in poverty. I created my Gold Award project to educate kids in Medfield about how poverty affects kids who live in it and what we could do together as a community to help improve t heir circumstances. I wanted kids here in Medfield to know there was something they could do to help kids who live in poverty and that by passing along their gently used clothing, books and toys, they could help kids in need. With the help of the school administration, I was able to have a Cradles to Crayons collection unit placed at the Wheelock School. I also ran several assemblies at the schools to educate kids about the affects of poverty on kids who live in it, and established several town-wide collections: an annual "Stuff the Truck" event for clothing, books and toys as well as a food drive for Medfield Food Cupboard. Olivia Taylor Previously, there had been no prominent tutoring service in Medfield for children in grades K-5. My project was to create a tutoring program that connected high school students with e lementary school students. It is a imed to improve core academic skills, as well as create a bridge between older and younger children. I ran a six-week program at the three elementary schools in Medfield for students in grades K-5, with 15 tutors and 36 participants across the three programs. The objective was to supplement what the kids were learning in class in a way that didn't fee l like school, a nd to help the kids with a new perspective. I also created a website to share my project, with an online sign-up to connect high school a nd elementary school students for one-on-one tuto r ing. In the end, I hope my project provided a new service for the children and their parents, and a leadership opportunity for the high school students.

Medfield Girl Scouts celebrate their first 100 years at the Gazebo at 6PM on June 15 –

Dear Selectman Peterson,

On June 15th Medfield Girl Scouts will be celebrating its 100th anniversary and we hope you can be a part of the celebration!

We are one of the oldest service units in the country.  We’d like to imagine that if Miss Inches and Miss Haskell, the founders of Medfield’s Red Rose Troop One, were to meet our 350+ young Girl Scouts and 200+ Adult Volunteer Guides (AVGs) who assist in running the Medfield Service Unit, they would be very proud of what they put in motion for Medfield Girl Scouts 100 years ago.  It is truly amazing that we continue to have a thriving and active Girl Scout community here in Medfield  — which is a direct result of the commitment our young girls and teens have to the Girl Scout program–as well as the commitment our hundreds and hundreds of volunteers have made to Medfield Girl Scouts throughout the last ten decades.

Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts USA in 1912, once said “Scouting rises within you and inspires you to put forth your best”.  For the hundreds of Girl Scouts who participate in the Girl Scout program in Medfield, Juliette would have been proud of the service these girls put forth for the Medfield community.  The commitment made by our Scouts in a day and age when there is so much that pulls at their time is truly commendable.  From our youngest Daisy Scouts who earn their Daisy Petals as they learn the Girl Scout Law & Promise to our high school Senior and Ambassador Scouts, who carry their academic loads with high honors, play sports, participate in outside clubs and activities all while taking leadership positions, doing community service work and earning the highest awards as the Girl Scout Gold Award–are truly a remarkable group that accomplishes much for our community.  We look to our past to Miss Inches and Miss Haskell for what they began here in Medfield, as we look to the future, to our current Scouts and volunteers who continue to carry Juliette Gordon Low’s mission forward and will do so as we move into the next 100 years of Girl Scouting in Medfield.

We invite you to come and be part of the celebration we are planning for our 100th Anniversary on Wednesday, June 15th at 6:00-7:00 PM at the Gazebo and library green in front of the Medfield Library on Main Street in downtown Medfield.  We would love for you to commemorate our very special day and be a part our brief ceremony that will be held at 6:30 PM.  We will contact your office in the next few days to see if your schedule will permit you to participate in our anniversary festivities.

Thank you in advance for your support of the centennial celebration of the Medfield Girl Scout program.

Katharine Steeger

Committee Co-Chair

100th Anniversary Medfield Girl Scouts

617-640-3277

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Posted in Children, Events, Teens, Uncategorized

Medfield night at the Natick Mall, unitl 9

Posted on May 20, 2016 | Comments Off on Medfield night at the Natick Mall, unitl 9

20160425_HIPS_Event_Invite_Print

Come visit the HIPS exhibit at the Natick Mall tonight, and have a Medfield person as your tour guide, until 9 PM.  The exhibit allows one to walk around in a teen’s bedroom full of all the things that indicate that substance abuse is happening.

Medfield Cares About Prevention (MCAP) (www.MedfieldCares.org) is staffing the exhibit tonight.

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Posted in MCAP - Medfeild Cares About Prevention, Teens, Uncategorized

Jazz Night tomorrow evening

Posted on May 5, 2016 | Comments Off on Jazz Night tomorrow evening

From the Medfield Music Association –

MHS Jazz night 20160506

MHS Jazz Band takes home awards — in time for May 6 Jazz Night!

 

The Medfield High School Jazz Band, which is scheduled to perform at Jazz Night at 7 p.m., Friday, May 6, took home several awards at the Music Showcase Festival last week in Williamsburg, Virginia, including “Best Overall Jazz Band”, “Best Overall Rhythm Section” and “Best Overall Jazz Soloist” awarded to junior guitarist Dan Stromland.

 

Over the years, the Medfield Jazz Band has had a long track record of success under Music Director Doug Olsen, a professional jazz trumpeter. The band also earned an All-State Gold Award in March, and as part of that top rating, the ensemble was granted a performance slot at the Hatch Shell in Boston.

 

At Jazz Night, Olsen and the MHS Jazz Band will have the opportunity to perform with guest artist, Berklee College of Music professor and saxophonist Dino Govoni. Also performing with Govoni will be three other jazz ensembles – one from the high school and two from Blake Middle School; the Medfield HS Jazz Choir – which earned a “Superior” rating at the festival — will also perform.

 

Jazz Night begins at 7 p.m. in the Medfield HS Lowell Mason Auditorium. Tickets can be purchased Park Street Books and the Medfield branch of Needham Bank ($10 adults, $5 children/students). Tickets can also be purchased online at https://medfieldmusicassociation.givezooks.com/events/jazz-night-2016-with-dino-govoni, or at the door. Jazz Night proceeds support the entire Medfield Music Program across orchestra, choir and band, as well as general music education at the elementary level.

 

This is the fifth year Needham Bank has been the presenting sponsor of Jazz Night, and it is especially proud to support the concert in celebration of Medfield recently earning the “Best Communities for Music Education” designation from the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation – one of just 476 school districts nationwide to receive the distinction.

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Posted in Events, Medfield High School, Music, Teens, Uncategorized

ANGP

Posted on May 4, 2016 | Comments Off on ANGP

From Tracey Rogers, Co-chair ANGP –

ANGP

Please consider supporting the CLASS of 2016 by making a donation to this year’s All Night Graduation Party (ANGP). Medfield’s ANGP is a time-honored tradition that has provided a safe and fun way for Seniors to celebrate on graduation night for the past 24 years. The party held at the Medfield High School could not take place with out the support of our community. Graduation Day is Sunday, June 12th, for 232 Medfield Seniors. Use the blue form in the ANGP flyer that was recently sent to all Medfield families or simply mail your contribution to MHS All Night Graduation Party, PO Box 38, Medfield, MA 02052. THANK YOU!

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Posted in Entertainment, Events, Medfield High School, Teens, Uncategorized

Gold Award & Ambassador Bridging Ceremony

Posted on March 19, 2016 | Comments Off on Gold Award & Ambassador Bridging Ceremony

20160319-GS-Gold Awards

At St. Edward’s this afternoon, above are the 17 MHS seniors in Girl Scouts, who as Ambassador Scouts bridged over to Adult Scouts.  7 of them also got Gold Awards.

Below are some of the Mom’s of the Gold Award scouts who made it all possible.

20160319GS-Gold Award-Moms

Katherine Steeger and Linda Frawley have been leading a remarkably strong resurgence of Girl Scouting in town for many years,  and both of their daughters were among those being honored.

Gold Award projects were impressive, covering poverty, poetry, bats, bridges, tutoring, and volunteerism.  See the longer descriptions I posted before.

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Posted in Events, Medfield High School, People, Teens, Uncategorized

7 GS Gold Awards 3/19

Posted on March 14, 2016 | Comments Off on 7 GS Gold Awards 3/19

March 4, 2016 Osler Peterson Medfield Town Selectman Medfield Town Hall 459 Main Street Medfield. MA 02052 Dear Selectman Peterson, GIRL SCOUTS It's that time of year again in Medfield! We are honoring an incredible number of Girl Scout Gold Award Recipients - seven! With over 40% of our 12th Grade Scouts being Gold Award Recipients, Medfield Girl Scouts ranks well above the national average of 5% - a very special distinction. In addition to recognizing these remarkable Scouts, seventeen of our 12th Grade Ambassador Scouts will be concluding their thirteen years of Girl Scouting and bridging to Adult Girl Scouts. Of additional note is that 9 of our 17 Ambassador Scouts have also earned various Girl Scout National Leadership Awards. Finally, we are very pleased to be celebrating 100 years of Girl Scouting in Medfield. We arc one of the oldest Service Units in the country. Enclosed is a detailed description of each Scout's Gold Award project for your perusal. These seven Girl Scouts join an elite group of young women who are respected throughout the world for their dedication, leadership, and concern for their community. As you can see, we have a lot to commemorate and we hope you can join us Saturday. March 19th at 1:00 PM with a reception directly following the ceremony. This year the ceremony will be held at St. Edward Church at 133 Spring Street in Medfield. We invite you to arrive by 12:30 to be a part of our opening ceremony and walk in with the other dignitaries. I will call your office in the next few days to see if it is possible for you to attend this very special event. Thanking you in advance for your attention to this matter, I remain with kind regards, Sincerely, Medfield Girl Scouts Gold Award Ceremony Committee Chair kcsteeger.a .comcast.net - 617-640-3277 - (c) MAR 1 4 2H6 About the Medfield Girl Scouts 2016 Gold Award Projects The Girl Scout Gold Award is the most prestigious award available in Girl Scouting and is only earned by Girl Scouts who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to their communities and an outstanding dedication to achievement. In order to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, Scouts must first complete a series of prerequisites that take anywhere from 18 months to two years to complete. These pre-requisites are designed to give the Girl Scouts experiences in goal setting, leadership, career exploration and community service. Once the prerequisites are completed, each girl submits a plan for her Girl Scout Gold Award project that will require a minimum of 85 hours to complete. Each project needs to combine the skills and passions of the candidate in unique ways so that once completed, her project will leave a lasting mark on the community. Katherine Lyons My project addressed the issue surrounding the lack of knowledge of how poverty affects kids living on Cape Cod. Before beginning my project, even I was unaware of the severe poverty that affects many people living on the Cape and my goal was to make as many people aware of the issue in my hometown and surrounding areas as possible. I hope the awareness raised through my project benefits not only those who are Jiving in poverty, hopefully through increased donations and support, but by raising awareness to the fact that not all poverty is right before our eyes. I was able to put together 30 new backpacks filled with brand new school supplies and a few hundred books with bookmarks made by the kids at the Medfield Afterschool Program that were delivered over the summer and in the fall to Chatham Elementary School. My project also involved organizing the Cradles to Crayons 'Give Back with an Outfit Pack' drive within Medfield Girl Scouts. We were able to create 27 complete packs, 5 partially filled packs, 2 bags of additional items and had a total impact of 37 kids. Emily Piersiak My project addressed the issue of the absence of safe crossing at the end of Baker Pond in Medfield, and the Jack of encouragement for young women in the STEM fields. With the help of Girl Scout Troop 74900 and other members of the community, I constructed a bridge to span the runoff at Baker Pond. The project also included a class I taught at the Medfield Public Library, in which I was able to share my interest and knowledge in structural engineering and bridges. I am very pleased with the outcome of my project, especially the completed bridge and the information I imparted on all of the children who attended my classes. I would like to thank everyone who helped me complete this project, whether it was by donating materials or by physically helping to build it. I appreciate all of the help from my wonderful community, and I hope people enjoy all aspects of my project for years to come. Eliza beth Raine For Gold Award Project, Bats for a Cause, I addressed the decline of the local bat population due to human impact. I specifically designed this project not only to attempt to bolster the bat population for the purpose of offsetting human impact on the bats' local environment, but also to educate the public to the benefits of helping bats. I posted four bat boxes at the Trustees of Reservations as a refuge for migrating bats which would serve as nurseries for their newborn pups. My hope was that a growing bat population could help to regulate the recent overpopulation of mosquitoes, which may transmit harmful viruses to humans, like Triple E. Since the bats would stop the mosquitoes from transmitting those viruses, helping the bat population would ultimately benefit human healthcare. I also decided to educate the public about bats from around the world in order to dispel human fear of bats. I planned and executed presentations to various audiences in the community during Medfield Day, at MAP at Wheelock and Dale Street Schools, free time at Medfield's Council on Aging, and at Stony Brook's Earth Day Celebration. -OverZoe Smith Volunteering is something I value. It is a big pa rt of my life. For tunately, I had a program like Girl Scouts to start me on an early path of volunteerism. However, not everyone has t his type of opportunity. My goal for my Gold Award was to share my passion for volunteering in order to better my community. With this goal in mind, I chose to work with middle school students in my town to offer them diffe re nt opportunities to give back to the community in hopes of insti lling in them a passion to volunteer. I acted as a lia ison, connecting students with local volunteer organizations. Strong relations hips formed quickly. Many students are now volunteering regularly. Last ly, in order to receive their deserved recognition, students will have the chance to earn a President's Volunteer Service Award (PVSA). The PVSA recognizes citizens for bettering the coun try by volunteering. By working with middle school students, I was able to establish a genuine passion for volunteering which they can continue to pursue throughout their lives. Grace Sowyrda My Gold Award project addressed the issue of the lack of poetry programs and creative outlets in school, particularly in my town of Medfield. Poetry is a positive vehicle for connecting with others through raw emotion. It has universal themes that inspire others in the message that we are not alone in our feelings. I saw a need to provide this type of creative outlet. I addressed this issue by creating an after school poetry program at Blake Middle School to provide a safe and fun place for teens to connect and learn about poetry. I also created a poetry hour program at the library where I read poetry to the children a nd did a creative craft. To connect the town, I led an all age poetry reading at the Medfie ld Public Library and also led a poetry reading at the Senior Center. To support my efforts, I created a poetry website with easy ways for teachers to incorporate poetry into the ir curriculums. With each event, I was amazed to see poetry work its magic in connecting all the pa rticipants. Poetry is a very important part of my life and I am so lucky to have had the privilege to share its beauty and power with so many wonderful people . . Julia Steeger My project, "Co nn ecting Kids Who Have with Kids Who Need': addressed the issue of poverty a nd the many ways poverty affects children. It was the SOth anniversary of the "War on Poverty" launched by President Johnson that gave me the idea. Even with 50 years of effort, 15% of our state's chi ldren continue to live in poverty. I created my Gold Award project to educate kids in Medfield about how poverty affects kids who live in it and what we could do together as a community to help improve t heir circumstances. I wanted kids here in Medfield to know there was something they could do to help kids who live in poverty and that by passing along their gently used clothing, books and toys, they could help kids in need. With the help of the school administration, I was able to have a Cradles to Crayons collection unit placed at the Wheelock School. I also ran several assemblies at the schools to educate kids about the affects of poverty on kids who live in it, and established several town-wide collections: an annual "Stuff the Truck" event for clothing, books and toys as well as a food drive for Medfield Food Cupboard. Olivia Taylor Previously, there had been no prominent tutoring service in Medfield for children in grades K-5. My project was to create a tutoring program that connected high school students with e lementary school students. It is a imed to improve core academic skills, as well as create a bridge between older and younger children. I ran a six-week program at the three elementary schools in Medfield for students in grades K-5, with 15 tutors and 36 participants across the three programs. The objective was to supplement what the kids were learning in class in a way that didn't fee l like school, a nd to help the kids with a new perspective. I also created a website to share my project, with an online sign-up to connect high school a nd elementary school students for one-on-one tuto r ing. In the end, I hope my project provided a new service for the children and their parents, and a leadership opportunity for the high school students.

The Girl Scout celebrate 100 years of scouting in Medfield at its spring gold awards and bridging ceremony on 3/19.  The gold award recipients always have such interesting, thoughtful, and substantive projects.  It is also great to see so many girls having such a good and productive time together and with family.20160304-GSA-invitation_Page_120160304-GSA-invitation_Page_3

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Posted in Children, Events, Teens

Teens at risk data

Posted on March 10, 2016 | Comments Off on Teens at risk data

MetroWest Health Foundation2

The MetroWest Healthcare Foundation anonomously surveys 40,000+ teens every two years about a range of risky behaviors and provides the results to the participating school systems.  Last night about 50 parents and school administrators heard a two and a half hour presentation from Susan Cowell and a psychiatric RN at MHS about their analysis of the 2014 Medfield data, which showed:

  • high levels of stress
  • high levels of mental health issues (i.e. – depression, suicidal thoughts)
  • high levels of drinking – 45% of MHS seniors binge drinking (5+ drinks) in last 30 days
  • almost half the 10th graders had attended parties where alcohol and marijuana were available
  • bullying occurring, even at school

The full Medfield data is to be released on-line by the schools now that this presentation has taken place.  In the past, Medfield has unfortunately opted to not release the data, so kudos to the schools for this new openness.

The following is from the MetroWest Healthcare Foundation website about the data for the MetroWest area as a whole.

 

Adolescent Mental Health

Issue

Adolescent HealthAs any parent can attest, adolescence is a tumultuous time in a child’s life. The threats to the health of adolescents are not generally diseases or chronic conditions, but rather accidental injury from risky behaviors. It is also a time of high stress as youth confront the pressures of adolescence and seek to fit in.

Access to appropriate mental health services remains a major concern in the region. The 2014 MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey (MWAHS) found that 4.5 percent of MetroWest high school students reported attempting suicide and 22 percent reported experiencing depressive symptoms in the past 12 months.

We also know that teens today are suffering real and serious consequences because of bullying. Bullying and cyberbullying victims report more mental health problems than those who are not bullied, according to the 2012 MWAHS.

Adolescent health has long been a priority of the foundation. The foundation will continue to invest in adolescent health, placing a priority on mental health prevention, intervention and access to treatment.

Strategy

  • Reduce the incidence of bullying and cyberbullying by supporting school policy change and community awareness and education efforts.
  • Decrease the percent of adolescents in grantee communities reporting self-injury, suicide attempts, thoughts of suicide and depressive symptoms by funding purchase of evidence-based universal mental health curricula and programs as well as school-based intervention strategies designed for at-risk students.

Progress

  • Lower Rates of Bullying
    In 2010 the foundation launched a three-year bullying prevention initiative in five middle school districts, investing approximately $60,000 per community. As a result of their work, these five communities showed decreases in bullying exceeding the MetroWest average from 2010 to 2012.
  • Stronger School Mental Health Programs
    The foundation funded four school districts to conduct a Mental Health Capacity Assessment, which enabled schools to identify and prioritize which services and schools in their districts require support or modifications. The foundation has also funded several school districts to offer programs that support students returning from psychiatric hospitalization, modeled on the Brookline Resilient Youth Team program.
  • Data on Adolescent Risky Behaviors
    The foundation continues to fund the MetroWest Adolescent Health Survey which includes data about mental health, bullying and other risky behaviors from every public middle and high schooler in the region.

View the Adolescent Health Outcomes Dashboard

Download PDF

 

http://www.mwhealth.org/Who-We-Are/Foundation-News/View-Article/ArticleId/14/2014-metrowest-adolescent-health-survey-results

 

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Posted in Schools, Teens, Uncategorized

Spelling bee

Posted on March 2, 2016 | 1 comment

spelling bee

11th Annual Spelling Bee – Registration NOW OPEN

This much loved, low-key, low stress, FUN, spelling event will take place on April 5th at the MHS auditorium. This year’s theme is “Release Your Spelling Bee-st”. The online registration is now open (from March 1st – March 18th). The cost is $60 per team of three. Each registrant gets a cool Spelling “Bee-st” T-shirt. Concessions will be available for sale.

 

Click here for more information and Bee registration: http://www.medfieldcoalition.org/events-programs/spelling-bee/

 

 

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Posted in Children, Events, MCPE - Medfield Coalition for Public Education, Schools, Teens, Uncategorized