Julia Talbot, a 2018 graduate of Medford High, painted four large-scale murals cross the school. The murals in classrooms incorporate the curriculum into the image to bring the material to life. The largest of the four murals can be found in English classroom C309, featuring about 73 influential authors and characters from across the literary canon; another WIP stars Beowulf with an electric guitar.

Jessica Dossantos, Jennifer Dossantos, and Lauren Brown focused their efforts for their 2017-2018 CCSR project at the Brooks Elementary School, creating a social space in the courtyard. The theme of the social space is the solar system. The three, along with other helpers, painted all the planets, as well as the sun and the moon, around the playground area. This project is beneficial to the students as well as to the teachers because the students will be more interactive and the teachers will have a way to encourage their students to learn about our world in a more creative way.

For their project, Jenny Lu and Antonia Collins painted a mural at the Andrews Middle School. With the rainbow flag, it displays their message, “love is love and that unity wins”. It is a visual representation that gives hope for those who walk by it. A different design of the same mural was painted at Medford High School last year and they hope to expand this franchise to all public schools in Medford. Especially in times like these, it is important that our community stands by each other as family. Although they are just a few stripes and colors, they depict how as a city, we are supportive of any kind of love

Last year, CCSR members Matt Carroll and Jack Egan were upset by the lack of artistic opportunities in the Medford public elementary schools. In particular, they thought that there was a lack of theatrical opportunities. With the help of the Brooks school PTO and art teacher Ms. Susan Keefe, they performed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They did two musical numbers, The Candy Man and Pure Imagination. This year, their show is the Wizard of Oz. They sang Over the Rainbow, Ding Dong the Witch is Dead, and Over the Yellow Brick Road.

Duncan, Chris, and Michael’s marching band’s project focuses on recruiting Medford middle school students for a small scale marching band. As members of the Medford High School Marching Band, the group witnesses the decline of young students’ interest in music, first hand. They believe that if they can spark the interests of young students, they can spark a flaming passion and curiosity for the ever expanding world of music.

Last year, seniors Jennifer Dossantos, Jessica Dossantos, Lauren Brown, and junior Isabella DeSouza set out to paint the Brooks Elementary School playground using the theme of the solar system. Because of the great success and the fantastic feedback they received, they decided to expand upon their project. This year, the group took their painting project to the Columbus School with the intention to make the playground into a more interactive space where the students could both learn and play together.

This year, Amine Nazih, Lucy Grehan, and Nicolas DaSilva set out to create a program at the McGlynn Elementary School that helped promote proper ways to approach a problem. The three painted a problem solving wheel at the Elementary School which serves as a reference for the students on on how to solve everyday problems.

This group's goal was to have students' artwork portrayed on the school banner so that they are always encouraged to fulfill the Mustang Way. They ended up using a W.I.N. block to have the students and some staff decorate an index card that shows what the Mustang Way means to them. They added a Mustang head and a quote saying, “Mustang Way...every day!” Mrs. Fee, the art teacher, helped them finalize the banner. This project was made possible by grants from the Cummings Foundation and the Krystle Campbell Betterment Project.

Lucas Ruocco, Isabella DeSouza, and Amer Shah decided to expand the same concepts of an interactive playground painting that educated the students while also providing an easy way to learn at the Roberts Elementary School in Medford. They met with Mr. Johnson to exchange ideas for what to paint on their playground. After a fun discussion with Mr. Johnson, they decided that the school and their students would benefit most from a playground game centered around sports and interaction. The group was told by Mr. Johnson that the little kids love playing games and that although they are fenced to a certain area, painting some games that are suitable for the younger kids would be best. The group decided that having multiple games that are smaller would be more beneficial to the little kids. For the older kids they decided to turn one of the two foursquare spaces into a checkerboard game where the kids can play. In a way to get the students more involved, the student council voted on which designs should be painted on the playgrounds, which truly demonstrates the essence of community in CCSR.

The first thing students, teachers, and visitors see when they walk into the building is the lobby. While there are some points of interest, the lobby was missing something; it needed an eye catching piece that would draw people in. We found that the four plain white pillars in the lobby were a perfect place for some images. We also did not want something to just beautify the space, we wanted it to have meaning. Each pillar now has a theme, some being human rights, environmental appreciation, and mental health. Our CCSR project was focused on the inclusion of students in Medford High School with disabilities. Inclusion deals with joining students with disabilities and simply talking and getting to know them better from both an academic and personal viewpoint. During these class periods, we went to their classroom, came up with activity plans, and used those activity plans to get to know our new friends better. We gained an understanding of those around us, and by doing this project, we hope people will recognize that these students are just as nice, funny, and smart as your friends. We hope everyone will be able to greet these students on a first name basis, and not have fear of what they might say in return, because even a simple “hello” can go a long way! Our CCSR project was focused on the inclusion of students in Medford High School with disabilities. Inclusion deals with joining students with disabilities and simply talking and getting to know them better from both an academic and personal viewpoint. During these class periods, we went to their classroom, came up with activity plans, and used those activity plans to get to know our new friends better. We gained an understanding of those around us, and by doing this project, we hope people will recognize that these students are just as nice, funny, and smart as your friends. We hope everyone will be able to greet these students on a first name basis, and not have fear of what they might say in return, because even a simple “hello” can go a long way!

Our project called “Activate the Athletics” redesigned the Athletic Hallway portion from it’s entrance all the way to the other opening passageway further down in the hall. We left space for future years to take on the project and continue its mission. The hall was modified with new team spirit, team photos, two Mustang logos, a mustang acronym and a brand new trophy case area. This project is a proposal to bring motivation into our team locker rooms, and athletic center for the athletes participating within each season’s sports. It shall encourage people to get active and inspire them to participate as an athlete. During the school year of 2019-2020 our group collaborated to make sure each sport is represented and included in the Athletic Hallway. We hosted an assembly that resembles the student athlete body as a whole on December 9th. The goal of Activating the Athletics is to uplift the spirit in the locker rooms for our underpressure student athletes that go through the practice process everyday and sometimes intense game days. Lets work as a team and show everyone what it truly means to be a member of Stang Gang!

This group decorated the school. It has shown in studies that a more pleasant environment can make people happier, calmer, and more productive. It has shown that warm colors induce happiness, and blues help make people calmer. They wanted to make the school a more cheerful environment to help people learn. They put up encouraging and inspirational messages around the school. They arranged a day for students to gather after school to decorate. They also organized a day called Smile Day and on Smile Day, students were encouraged to smile more. During WIN block, teachers handed out decorations for the class to use to decorate the classroom. These decorations were in warm and blue tones to help the class environment. Each classroom was decorated to raise the school morale. We helped make school a happier place!

This team of artistic 2nd-graders got the idea for this project from an activity that Kahlan had done at a birthday party. He explained that instead of throwing away old crayons, they can be turned into new crayons in different shapes, by melting them down in silicon molds! First, the group designed a flyer asking teachers at the school to donate their old crayons to the project. They received hundreds! The next step was to peel the wrappers off of the donated crayons. Not having an oven at their disposal, they instead used borrowed toaster ovens to melt the old crayons down into new shapes. They used molds in a variety of shapes, yielding new crayons shaped like Legos, robots, puzzle pieces, and more! They gifted the new and improved crayons back to the teachers and parents who had originally donated old crayons to them. Their project helped reduce waste by repurposing crayons that would have otherwise been thrown away, and also created something beautiful!

The fine arts building has been quite shabby for some time now, and it is our mission to breathe new life into it. From the old smell and the grimy and dingy interiors, there is a lot to be desired in a place of art and creativity. We figured that due to how the arts typically gets viewed by the school administration, we had to step in and do something ourselves to make the environment welcoming and, at the very least, suitable for students. We replaced the rubber lining between the walls and floors, repainted to add some life as well as hopefully introduce some cool new art, touched up the messy door paint, and dealt with the more defective music stands so that playing on them is more bearable. We fundraised and gratefully accepted donations for the paint and supplies. We got as much help and input that we can get from students and staff members like Ms. Van Aken, Mr. Szykniej and many of the fine art teachers to create an environment that is both beautiful and enjoyable. By sprouting new life into it, perhaps we can kindle more people’s interest in the arts and more people will be able to recognize its value. Either way, we ourselves just want to show our passion, respect, and gratitude for the arts and its teachers through this project.

These 2nd-graders love to read, and love arts and crafts! So, they decided to use their arts and crafts skills to enhance the reading experience for their classmates. After noticing that many students didn’t have bookmarks to keep their place when reading, these 2nd-graders decided to make some! They decorated colored cardstock with stickers, ribbons, markers, and glitter glue. They also made containers for their bookmarks using old cans. They made enough to place a can of bookmarks in all four 2nd grade classrooms, and also all five 5th grade classrooms!

Music has always been a huge part of my life. Because of my love and excitement around music, I am interested in bringing to the attention of young kids that same joy. Through fun sing-along songs and activities, I got kids interested and interacting with music. Once a week, I took my music class to a different elementary after-school program, including the Brooks, Columbus, McGlynn, and Roberts. Wielding my guitar, ukulele, and a handful of egg-shakers performed for the students! The songs were mostly aimed at some of the younger grades, talking about colors and numbers. These activities lasted less than 30 minutes, and fit into the programs’ schedules as best as possible.

The beautification of the Medford High School chorus is a student led project to gain an appreciation for the chorus. As members and presidents of the chorus, Lily and Cadyn wanted to beautify the room to gain new members and create a place where people would want to come sing, meet new friends, and enjoy spending time with people who had similar interests as them. They participated in this year's Activity Fair to bring new members into the chorus and held after school rehearsals on Wednesdays to bring all members together. They also spent time cleaning the chorus room to create a space where people enjoy going after school each week. Their hopes for this project are to improve the MHS chorus all together, by starting with small actions and eventually building on them.

The “Together we are equal” project created a beautiful mural that symbolizes diversity in our school. The students Destiny, Leticia, Nicole, and Sherby have designed and worked on this project together as a team. The mural is on the wall at the West Courtyard of the school. There, people can see what Medford is all about and how diverse and united we are.

When we were coming up with ideas for community service projects, we noticed that students at the elementary school level faced a big dilemma: they couldn’t resolve conflict. We wanted to fix this problem by painting a problem solving wheel at the McGlynn Elementary School playground. This wheel contains options and strategies that students could use to resolve their conflicts. We think that this will be a valuable resource to the children of the McGlynn Elementary School.

For Marya Abulfaraj, Cadee Stefani, Kieran Adams, Gus Tringale, Nick Hollings, Ebyan Abshir, and Rachel Dakermanji’s project, thier group came together to paint Café Electra. Ever since the opening of Bistro 489, Café Electra has mostly been forgotten about. They livened up the room by painting a mural on all four walls with the guiding theme of street art. The finished room’s main purpose was to provide a quiet space for students during lunch who may feel overwhelmed in the cafeterias. With a vibrant mural, they hope to beautify this space to create a relaxed environment for all MHS students who want to take a break from the stress of school.

For Juliana Melo’s CCSR project, she painted a mural based on the riddles and parables in famous literature. She took all of these riddles and tried to imagine them as paintings. She loves art and this is an accomplishment she has wanted to achieve for a while. The mural is located in Ms. Giordano’s room, C223.

Charlotte Gingo and Emma Maganzini painted a mural promoting body positivity at MHS. Using an Instagram account created for the project, they received submissions of positive messages from students at MHS which were included in the mural. Students were encouraged to post photos of themselves standing with the mural, which they would tag the instagram in and then their photos would be reposted by Charlotte and Emma. The goal of the project was to spread self love and positivity throughout the MHS community, as many young people struggle with body image and often see negative images or messages regarding body image on social media.

As a continuation of last year's project, Cadyn Golisano and Lily Beagan have decided to build on the Beautification of the MHS Choir Program. This year, Joe Steriti, Rebecca Siegel, and Sabrina Mei have decided to help grow the program. The groups’s plan was to start making the chorus room a more physically pleasing environment to gain attraction and potential new members, as well as make the room a more exciting environment for the current members to enjoy while learning. They collected the correct paint for the walls, cleaning supplies, and decorations for the room. They picked days that suited all members of the project to work on the room. After a few days of painting, cleaning, organizing, and decorating, the group successfully made the Chorus room appealing and welcoming.

Juliana Melo wanted to find a way to create artwork for the school classrooms while at home. She decided to paint an image on a canvas for a teacher to hang up in their classroom. Her CCSR project was to finish her project from last year. Last year, Juliana wanted to paint a mural for Mrs.Giordano’s room (C223). The painting is made up of riddles from famous parts of literature, converted them into an image. The riddles included are from: Alice in Wonderland, Samson’s Riddle (the Bible), the Sphinx’s Riddle (Sophocles), Caskets, (Merchant of Venice), and Ulysses. Juliana gave the canvas to Mrs.Giordano when we returned to school.

For this small project, we asked the students and staff of the Mcglynn and the Andrews Middle School to make different holiday cards that we would give to the Medford Council on Aging. This small project had a great outcome! Students and staff at the Mcglynn and the Andrews Middle School made lots of holiday cards that made the seniors very happy.