Portfolio category: School

Diversity Day

Diversity Day is a student run festival in which a day is dedicated to celebrate the diversity and inclusivity of Medford. Cultural singers and performers of all backgrounds are a part of the event, as well as cultural foods and corporations that specialize in diversity and inclusivity in Medford. The first Diversity Day was run on June 2nd of 2018, and the group hopes to have another successful festival in June of 2019.

Multicultural Potluck

The Multicultural Potluck has been held at Medford High School for the past two years as part of Diversity Week, organized by Michael Skorker. The Potluck includes food, games, and music contributed from various clubs of Medford High School, as well as discussions about the importance of diversity and the beauty of Medford’s multicultural and united community.

ELL Give Back

The goal of this project is to give back to the English Language Learners Program by creating helpful videos for the ELL students. Jenna, Rubia, and Luiza have created a user-friendly website where they post videos in different languages on how to perform tasks around Medford High School. Their current videos include instructions on how to open lockers, obtain bus passes, and submit community service hours. Currently, there are videos in Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish, and Vietnamese. The ELL Give Back is always looking to expand, and if anyone knows how to speak a different language, feel free to reach out to one of the group members.

Mustang News

The Mustang News printed edition was restarted by Sebastian Tringale and Matt Carroll in their junior year of 2016-2017. The goal of the newspaper is to give Medford High School students the opportunity to spread the news about their interests and share a variety of opinions that reflect the community's diversity. The editors of the Mustang News hope to bring the Medford community closer together, and help keep students up to date with events!

MHS Murals

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.

Free the Pad

The Free the Pad project aims to make menstruation products more accessible for students who need it in Medford High School during the school day. During the 2017-2018 school year, Maya and Willa placed ten separate boxes of pads in different bathrooms. They want to focus on giving free menstrual products to people of all backgrounds, including those from low income families or non-binary students like transgenders that menstruate. Menstruation is a natural occurrence that so many people face; it should not be something that anyone has to hide.

#IncludeAll Project

Include All is a program started by Elizabeth Passanisi and Omayma Bentalha that revolves around including Medford High’s special needs students into regular gym classes. The project involves introducing general education students to special needs students, helping them become more comfortable. Elizabeth and Omayma came up with many activities for physical education that all students are able to participate in that both special needs students and general education students are open to.

Orchards into the Fells

The main goal of Orchard into the Fells is to grow fruit trees outside the school along the pathway up to MHS. The fruit grown would be donated to the cafeteria so that the students would be able to enjoy freshly grown fruit. Along with that, they want to plant flowers along the same path in order to beautify school grounds. The students are working with Ms. Smith, the nutrition specialist at MHS, to make this all possible.

The Mustang Map

The transition from middle school to Medford High is difficult enough, and when Jacob, Jasper, and Lorrhan were freshmen, they wished they had access to a map. They established a bird’s eye view of Medford High School, identifying each class by its building and room number, the three cafeterias, the gymnasium, guidance and principal offices, and the bathrooms. There is also a directory of the map which lists every teacher and their respective rooms. The Mustang Map not only benefits our students and teachers, but parents as well during parent-teacher nights. The Mustang Map is now available online for mobile use, thanks to the efforts of Darwin Do.

Education Made Accessible for Kids

For the past ten years, Tsewang, Tia, Nicole, and Shruti have had the opportunity to attend public school every day to receive an education. There are many children, however, who do not have this privilege due to constant hospital visits. By organizing a fundraiser with the elementary and middle schools in Medford and through donations such as money, books, pencils, and other materials, the group has made education a little more accessible by donating their efforts to the Boston Children’s Hospital, making sure that the children are able to receive the same opportunity as them.

Planets on the Playground

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.

MHS Compost

Ebyan, Audrey, and Rachel are working toward reinstating compost bins in the cafeterias. By doing this, they hope to spread environmental awareness and make Medford High School more eco-friendly. They plan on creating a student-run program in Cafeteria 1 with the help of Mr. Tuden, and if that is successful, move the plan up to Cafes 2 and 3. Volunteers will watch over the composting bins during lunch so all food and waste go in their respective bins. The volunteers will monitor the bins during their lunch period so there will be an even distribution of people for both lunch blocks. After school, the group will take the composting bins from the cafeterias and handle them either with an outside company that collects waste or they will install a larger compost bin at one of the courtyards at the school.

Got Pus?

Julia Moura and Amanda Oliveira distributed black bean burger samples to their peers as a vegan alternative to hamburgers. The group advocated for including vegan meal options in the school lunch program. As a direct result of their efforts, there is a daily vegan entree option included on the salad bar. Any special side salads will be vegan as well. We discussed creating and advertising signage for vegan items in the cafeterias to consistently identify vegan options. This is still in progress. From discussions with them, they advocated for a salad bar through separate meetings with the Food Service Department and Dr. Perella, and they gathered student body support for a salad bar through a student petition.

Fueling to the Finish Line

Maya and Willa’s project began at the 2017 AdCap Youth event in Boston. AdCap Youth was different groups of students coming together to brainstorm project ideas relating to promoting healthy eating and physical activity within schools. There they workshopped their project with different nutrition specialists and prepared to present it in front of panel of judges. They presented their project, “Feuling to the Finish Line”, and were awarded a $1000 grant. This project involves bringing in a nutritionist to promote healthy eating habits in Medford High School student athletes. They planned with nutritionist Chrissy Carroll to create videos about different themes in nutrition to show different teams in the school. These themes include pre-workout nutrition, hydration, electrolytes, recovery, basic cooking skills and much more. Willa and Maya thought of this project because they have seen the negative effects of not eating right during the sports season on their peers. They believe even a basic understanding of nutrition will improve students’ health, mental state, and sport performance.

Fells Day BBQ

On June 13th after the annual Medford High Fells Day Celebration, CCSR member Mya Winslow and the Fells Educational Partnership (FEP) held an environmentally friendly BBQ. The BBQ was partially funded by Wegmans and used environmentally friendly products in order to lessen the amount of waste produced and spread awareness about conserving resources.

Choke Saver Training

A choking emergency can happen anywhere and at any time. Would you know what to do? Choking is the fourth leading cause of unintentional death in the United States. Choking is the number one cause of death in children. More people die from choking than in fires, non-fire related carbon monoxide poisoning, drowning or accidental shootings. Choking causes over 100,000 visits to the emergency room yearly. Over 100 million Americans have no defense against choking due to pregnancy, disability, obesity or being alone. Be prepared to save someone's life. You could be the reason someone breathes another breath. This CCSR project addresses Medford High School’s ability to become trained in Choke Training. The project group organized three school-wide events for members of the school community to become certified as well as making a public service announcement regarding choking and becoming certified.

Hope Chest

Peter Todhunter’s project for the CCSR is working with the Medford High Hope Chest. The Medford High Hope chest is a program that collects donated materials, such as clothing and school supplies, and gives them out to students of MHS in need of those materials. The program is dedicated to Brianna, a former MHS student who passed away in 2014. This program is all about giving, it takes generous donations from people who may have extra or unused supplies and gives them to some families who are not fortunate to have those supplies themselves. The project is all about supporting the families of Medford and the students who attend the MHS. It is intended to help the students get what they need to make their lives happier and give them the things they need to help them reach their dreams in school and life.

Great Kindness Challenge

The Great Kindness Challenge is a challenge taken by schools and youth groups to perform as many acts of kindness as possible over the course of the week. The mission of the Great Kindness Challenge is to create a school environment where all students thrive. Different activities were organized to celebrate kindness.

Stuffed Animal Donations for S.A.F.E

SAFE’s (Stuffed Animals for Emergencies) mission is to provide comfort to children in traumatic or emergency situations through donations of stuffed animals. By doing this, they hope to help children feel safe and cared for during an incredibly stressful event in their lives.

Medford Rowing Fundraiser

Medford siblings Orlando (McGlynn Middle School 6 th Grader), Delilah (Brooks School 5 th Grader), and Isabella Putnam-Bagley (Brooks School 1 st Grader) are student leaders and members of the Brooks Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility. They are working with the Medford Rowing board on a fundraiser raffle to benefit Medford Rowing. The siblings have been out and about securing many local business donations for the raffle. They are also collecting signage of the generous businesses to display at the Mayor’s Cup Regatta raffle booth. The Cup is sponsored by Medford Rowing and will be held on May 19th.

CCSR Message Board

McGlynn CCSR members and peer leaders created and maintain the CCSR Message Board. It is displayed where the entire student body will see it. On it you can find inspirational quotes, important notices and dates, working paper information as well as daily birthday wishes!

Sticky Notes of Gratitude

These peer leaders and CCSR members researched gratitude and the positive effects of the person feeling it and those receiving it. They brainstormed ideas to bring gratitude into our school community and came up with Sticky Notes of Gratitude. They wrote positive messages on sticky notes and then put a sticky note on every student’s locker. The students enjoyed writing the notes of gratitude and finding one on their locker!

Giraffes Can't Dance

Peer leaders and CCSR members created a lesson plan for elementary students and then presented the lesson to a third grade class. The lesson plan focused on self-esteem and finding the good in yourself. They read the book Giraffes Can’t Dance and led a classroom discussion about the importance of positive self-esteem. Then, they did an arts and crafts activity that had the students list five things they like about themselves and share with the class.

Anti-Bullying Posters

Anti-Bullying posters were hung up around the school to support the school's anti-bullying message and help make the walls less bare. Pictured here are Sophea and Soha with their posters (left) and Alanna, Driana, and Sydnee with their kindess posters (right).

School Recycling

In order to lessen the school's impact on the environment, these CCSR students started a series of recycling initiatives around the school. Posters were created and spread around that show what can and can't be recycled. Recycling containers were purchased, decorated, and then donated to teachers' rooms. There are also plans to talk to city officials to add a recycling component to the cafeteria.

Racial Relations Survey

In order to help out at the Northeast Animal Shelter and Kitty Connection adoption center, a drive was organized for donations such as towels, linens, food, litter, etc.

LGBTQ+ Support Pamphlet

Jennifer, Jessica, and Sarah decided to do something that would give back to their community at their roots. All three attended the Brooks Elementary School for six years and that is where their friendship began. They wanted to help beautify the school and make it a place where students would feel welcome and inspired. They painted trees on poster boards and placed an inspirational quote in the middle of the tree. On the sides of the tree, they intend to have students from the school paint their fingerprints on it, leaving their mark so that every time they pass by the poster, they can read the quote and remember that they were a part of it.

Andrews Middle School Mural

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

Gender Neutrality Initiative

The Medford Schools Gender Neutrality Initiative is a comprehensive approach towards early childhood education, complete with lesson plans that aid teachers and educators alike in creating a classroom that empowers students of all genders. Lesson plans and more information can be found on the initiative's website: https://mpsgender.wixsite.com/mpsgender

Brooks Elementary Theater

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.

Student Involvement Initiative

Adriana and Francesca’s project is about student involvement. Many Medford High students don’t know the multitude of clubs available to them, so they want to make a source that contains information about them. They are making a website that has information about what clubs the school has, when they meet, and how one can get involved. They want to make a magazine by next year to distribute to the students. Once, they are finished with their website and magazine, they want to start the “Handprint Project”. They want to create a mural in the school, and have people put their handprints with a word or two describing themselves. The goal of this project is to show each person's identity and this will show how diverse our school is.

Andrews-McGlynn Middle School Marching Band

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.

Start with Hello

These brave students helped encourage connective-ness by acknowledging one another with a small but powerful act of kindness simply by saying "Hello" to other students that they didn't know here at the Andrews. They eased the pressures of feeling left out especially in the first few months of Middle School! This brought attention to social isolation by empowering kids with friendship.

Be a Preventer, Not a Provoker!

McGlynn Middle School students Kristopher Rothermel and Pedro Zeferino focused on informing the student body on how to approach counselors in the McGlynn guidance department. This is important because many students are afraid to talk to an adult because they believe they will be judged. "I’m hoping this project will open up to kids that have bad thoughts, or have hurt themselves in the past that need to talk to someone. Also, a lot of kids think they’re alone but they’re not." The two began by interviewing guidance counselors with frequently asked questions, and then shared this information with the students at the McGlynn.

Random Acts of Kindness

Sunday, February 17th was Random Acts of Kindness Day. On Friday, February 15th, students Meach Eliassaint and Yasmine El Fassi began putting sticky notes on all the 8th grade lockers. These sticky notes had compliments written on them. Within the following weeks, the students covered the 7th and 6th grade hallways with sticky notes as well.

Elementary School Tutors

Every Wednesday during their WIN block, students Wafaa El Mererbi and Sherlyn Erazo go to the McGlynn Elementary School to help tutor the younger student. "Our goal is to help tutor elementary school students and be a role model for them." The students have been volunteering to help teach math in both Ms. Griffin's third grade classroom and Ms. Renaud's first grade classroom.

Rebel Recyclers

Third graders Georgia Scott and Addie Costello are student leaders and members of the Brooks Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility. Their project was starting a #4 plastic recycling program at the Brooks Elementary cafeteria.

Go Green

Fourth graders Anna White and Isa created an awareness campaign about conserving resources within the Brooks Elementary. They personally talked to each Brooks’s class about saving resources. They wanted the Brooks to know more about how people are hurting the Earth and ways to save it.

Words of Kindness

Second grader Isabella Putnam Bagley and her fifth grade sister Delilah Putnam Bagley took on the Words of Kindness project. Words of Kindness was made to help everyone, the kind and the not so kind. They had a positive effect on people and made them think about their actions. They made posters and wrote kind words on them. Isabella and Delilah went to stores, like Michaels Crafts and asked for donations of picture frames. In the end, they hung the inspirational words throughout the school.

Bathroom Beautification

This group of 3rd-5th graders identified the student bathrooms as a part of our school that could be improved. They observed that the bathrooms get messy very often, with water and paper towels on the floor. They’ve put together data tables and worked on collecting data from each of the student bathrooms in the school, which included as which days and times are the most problematic, and how many students use the bathrooms each day. From this data, they have identified common problems such as smells and faulty equipment and have fixed them, beautifying the bathrooms of the McGlynn Elementary School.

Peer Tutoring

These 3rd and 5th graders decided that they wanted to give back to the younger students at McGlynn, and started a peer tutoring group to work with students in Kindergarten. They’ve worked with the Kindergarten teachers to identify students who needed some 1-on-1 extra help, and have each been meeting with a different Kindergarten student once a week for 45 minutes to work on foundational literacy skills. The group spends CCSR meeting time preparing an activity to do with their Kindergarten friends for that following week, and then they take time during lunch to visit the Kindergarten classrooms and tutor their buddy. The Kindergarten students benefit from the extra help, and the Kindergarten teachers are thrilled to have former students of theirs coming in to help!

"Kindness in the Middle" Anti-Bullying Posters

These 2nd and 3rd-graders put their artistic talents to good use by creating posters promoting kindness and anti-bullying. When finished, their posters were laminated and displayed around the school, giving students colorful reminders about how to treat others.

Crayon Recycling

Fourth graders Devon and Will are greatly concerned for the world in which they live. They learned that over a half a million pounds of crayons are thrown in the trash each year. Wax crayons are made from petroleum, and do not break down in landfills. The boys decided to partner with The Crayon Initiative to start a crayon recycling program at the Roberts. They first tallied how many classrooms were in the school building. Then they decorated empty tissue boxes to distribute to each room. They visited each class and discussed the importance of recycling the crayons. The crayons were shipped to the Crayon Initiative where they were melted down and made into new crayons, which were then distributed to children’s hospitals across the country.

Recycling Info Posters

Jerrick, Nolan, Jerry and Shayne noticed that students and teachers were often confused about what to put in the blue recycling bins in their classroom. They decided to research what common classroom items could be recycled and which ones could not be recycled. They contacted the Office of Energy & Environment at Medford City Hall. They were informed about a great website that helps Massachusetts residents figure out what is recyclable, which the boys used to help make their list. They created a student-friendly poster for each classroom that details what can and cannot be recycled. They used clipart to make their poster accessible for all students and staff. The boys discussed the posters with each class when delivering them.

The Recycling Initiative

The Recycling Initiative created informational posters for MHS classrooms about recycling. A poster was displayed above each recycling bin in every classroom, which includes a list of what can and cannot be recycled and the possible consequences when waste is not properly disposed. They also put an effort towards getting recycling bins in all the classrooms at Medford High.

The Mustang Way

This year, a group of students put together a video about the "Mustang Way." which was presented at the Andrews Middle School and the McGlynn Middle School during their Anti-Bullying Assemblies. The video was made with the intention to be presented to other Medford Public Schools in future years. The video was a compilation of clips from students, teachers, and administrators explaining what the "Mustang Way" is and how students should use the "Mustang Way" in their everyday lives.

One Smile Away

The "One Smile Away" campaign collected compliments written over a hundred students at Medford High School. All compliments were sent through a google forum and posted in the main lobby anonymously. Students were able to see who the compliment is for, but not who is was from. The campaign was put forth with the intention to reminder other students that there is always someone out there thinking positively of them.

Painting the Playground

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.

Mindfulness Matters

This year, juniors Audrey Moore, Jackie Madigan, Meaghan Sullivan decided to tackle the issue of high school students’ stress levels. It is difficult for teens to find time for themselves while managing school, sports, clubs, and other social activities. Mindfulness is crucial for relaxation and to ease one’s mind. With this in mind, their group put together a “Mindfulness Matters” activity day. After school, all students were invited to listen to relaxing music while making slime or stress balls. This not only was a fun activity for all, but it also allowed students to escape their hectic, everyday schedules and relax.

LGBT Awareness & Yazidis

This year, three seniors set out to help trans youth in the high school by informing teachers in more depth about gender and how to approach the subject. These students encouraged teachers to use gender neutral terms in the classroom, such as “students” instead of “boys and girls,” and use "they" and "them" pronouns if their gender isn't explicitly known, and create a safer environment for trans students. A meeting was held for teachers on how to approach gender in a way that makes transgender students comfortable. "Our goal is to make Medford High a more comfortable environment for transgender students." Along with the transgender awareness project, this group worked on promoting the Yazidis Campaign. "We believe that this is an important worldly issue. Yazidi girls our own age were being trafficked as sex slaves by ISIS, and we would like to raise more awareness about this worldly issue." The started small, spreading posters around Medford High, then proceeding to branch out to three local schools nearby Medford.

The High School Experience

This year, senior Mikhayla Rothermel took on bridging the gap between students and those around them. The High School Experience is a collection of poems that dive deep into the struggles and experiences of high school students. These poems detail what students wish their teachers, parents, and peers knew about them, in order to make their day at school, or at home, better. "I hope that students will be able to relate to these poems and help not only them, but their teachers and parents as well".

PTA Babysitting

This year, four seniors focused their efforts on the youth that come to PTA meetings. They noticed that oftentimes children are obligated to come and sit in on meetings with their parents, which is difficult for both parties. There are also situations where kids are not able to stay at home because of a lack of a babysitter or other reasons. "We wanted to provide a space for those that have nothing to do during these meetings where their time can be occupied by some means." Be it physical activity or another form or recreation, they provided a free, volunteer-based babysitting program for the children of the PTO.

Medford High Electric Cars

Inspired by all the electric Tesla cars, Zain Saleem, Nico Casamassima, and Ben Whalen set out to make the option to buy an electric car more appealing and cost effective for those who attend and visit Medford High. They installed an electric car charger just outside of Bistro 489. "We realized that if we installed the charger near the restaurant it would be a great success and more appealing for customers who want to visit the Bistro, but are worried about having enough electricity to make it back home."

Schoogle Maps

As a continuation of the project that Jasper Su and Darwin Do started last year, a new group set out to make maps to guide new people in Medford High School. With the intention to reduce as much confusion and panic when navigating through the Mustang halls, the group built off the hard work started by the Mustang Map and expanded to include the vocational school and added landmarks that made way for easier navigation. These maps were customized and put up around the school, similar to the maps in malls.

The Problem Solving Wheel

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.

MHS Bathroom Beautification

The Bathroom Beautification Project was created as a result of the myriad of complaints on the condition of the girls bathroom on the second floor. Our female students were appalled by the condition of the bathroom everytime they used it. The group decided to change that and give the bathrooms at MHS a face lift. Along with cleaning up the restroom stalls, the girls added inspirational and encouraging words on the walls. "We hope our words will help inspire and encourage some of our students, and yes! even in the ladies bathroom." Throughout the year, students painted the walls and bathroom stalls; added inspirational and encouraging words and quotes; and provided suicide-prevention information.

Medford for Team Earth: Lunch Bags

This year, students Drexel Osborne and Madha Mankekar collected donations of lunch bags to give to students in Medford and eliminate the brown bag use in our schools. "We are strong advocates for the environment and all it has provided for us. We believe the environment doesn't deserve to be neglected and ignored." By using donated lunch bags, they were able to reduce the energy and resources needed to produce brown paper bags, as well as spreading awareness on the importance of saving and advocating for our planet.

Brooks Elementary School's Environmental-Safe Fun

For her CCSR project, Erin Tan created a fun, interactive program for students at the Brooks Elementary School that educated them about their environment. "I hope to inspire the youth of Medford to grow in their interest for the community and interact with their environment in a fun way."

One Sapling at a Time

On Friday, December 7th, we had the opportunity to plant 10 Asian Pear trees, 10 blackberry bushes, and 10 raspberry bushes. Sophomore CCSR students Caelee Bouley, Prabidhi Rana, Emily Gaddy, and Jenna Matarazzo; and Sophomore Biology students Dorvelt Edouard, Henrique Ramos, Gabriela Papst Luiz, and Jose Avelar Serrano were able to assist in the planting. The students planted 3 of the 10 trees and all 10 blackberry bushes. We are continuing the project by creating a simple, low cost outdoor classroom space that teachers will be able to use to integrate the courtyard orchard and garden with their lessons. The classroom has Headmaster approval for a feasibility trial to start in May 2019.

McGlynn Safety Video

The McGlynn CCSR students participated in creating a safety video that was shared with the entire McGlynn Middle School student body. The video shows the correct procedures during a fire drill, a lockdown, and a shelter in place. Drills occurred during class times, transitions, and when in the cafeteria setting. The video is designed to give a visual to students so that they are prepared.

The Great Kindness Challenge

A group of fifth graders held a kindness poster contest. 165 students submitted posters. The CCSR 5th grade girls had a difficult time judging the posters. Ultimately they selected 3 winners from each grade. The winning posters were displayed in the school library. The rest of the posters were shared during lunch periods. Additionally, the last day of the challenge was school spirit day. Students were encouraged to wear shirts with a positive message or the color yellow (like the sun), to brighten the day!

Literacy Night & Make-a-Wish Book Raffle

The Columbus School held their annual Literacy Night on March 5th. Students from the CCSR raffled off books to raise money for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Students Gloria Babish, Philip Catanzano and Nathan Falke ran the table and raised $70. CCSR High School students (Include Names) volunteered to play Literacy games with younger students throughout the event.The proceeds for pizza sales were also donated to the CCSR which allowed group members to purchase books for the Library. Students Salvi Tello and Samuel Santos picked books at the Porter Square Book Fair to donate to the schools Library.

Petition Group - Less Tests, More Review

Nev and Kate decided they wanted to make a change to how many tests they were given each month. They wanted to lessen the amount of tests and fight for more review time. They decided to write up a petition and collect signatures to see how other students and adults felt about this. They have been collecting signatures throughout the month of April. They hope to gain 400 signatures and then meet with administrators to see what can be done.

Petition - More Reading Time at School

Nathan Falke feels that there needs to be more reading time for students during the school day. He decided to start a petition in order to collect signatures from students and staff around the school who support this idea. He collected signatures throughout the month of April. He is hoping that this will influence teachers to add more reading time to their schedules for next year.

Recycling Letter to MPS Food Services

Sarah and Adam were concerned about all the plastic bags that were being used in the cafeteria. Every day students at the Roberts are served breakfast in clear plastic bags. These bags are not recyclable. They researched the effects of plastic on the environment and wrote a letter to Ms. Julie Bradley, the head of food services for Medford Public Schools. They requested that the use of plastic bags be stopped to adhere to the city’s plastic bag ordinance that is going into effect this summer. Ms. Bradley replied that they will no longer be using the bags next year.

Neighborhood Safety Presentation

When discussing areas of concern, these students expressed a desire to teach younger students how to stay safe in the neighborhood. They were worried about students staying safe as they walked home from school. They decided to invite the Medford Police Department to speak to the Kindergarten and First Grade classes. The officers discussed topics such as crossing the street, stranger danger, car safety, how to call for help, etc.

Mustang Way Banner

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.

McGlynn GSA

This group chose to create a club for LGBTQ students to create a safe space where all students can feel comfortable. They invited all students to have discussions, ask questions and look for peer and adult support. They encourage all students to attend their meetings, regardless of what they identify as.

Beautiful School/Beautiful Playground

These 3 students noticed that the back of the school needed some sprucing up. They planted some flowers in a planter and arranged for the tree in the back playground to get a covering of mulch to cover the roots and improve the look. These students enjoyed watering their flowers in the classroom during the winter and growing them from seeds. It was exciting for them to see the plants sprout and grow.

Newcomers’ Map of McGlynn Elementary

Starting at a new school can be scary. This group of students wanted to do something to make things a little easier for new students at the McGlynn. They came up with the idea of making a large-scale map of the school, highlighting relevant locations, to place in the school lobby. They chose locations and did the color-coding and keys all on their own. Once it was finished, we enlarged it on thick poster paper and in August it will be put in the lobby for new students to reference on the first day of school.

3D Illusion Crosswalk

Brooks School 4th grader Eric Dobson and his 3rd grade partner are student leaders and members of the Brooks Center of Citizenship and Social Responsibility. They proposed the idea of painting a 3D optical illusion crosswalk near the Brooks Elementary School to Mayor Muccini Burke. The crosswalk painting would appear three dimensional. The striped lines would look like floating blocks in the middle of the road. The painted illusion has been successful at lowing speeds in many other locations. The mayor loved the idea and scheduled them to speak at the February 13th Traffic Commission meeting. The commissions gave them their support and are now in the process of scheduling a meeting with Brooks School’s Principal Galusi to move forward with the project.

Crayola Color Cycle

Inspired by the group that had repurposed old crayons in the previous session, these two 4th-graders decided to collect old, dried-out markers from teachers in the school and recycle them through the Crayola ColorCycle program, a program in which schools can ship their old Crayola markers back to be recycled, instead of just throwing them away. They sent out fliers to all of the teachers asking for used-up markers, and the response was way more than they had expected! They ended up boxing up over 650 old markers that would have otherwise been thrown in the trash, and shipped them all back to Crayola to be recycled! And of course, then they sent sweet thank-you notes to all of the teachers who had donated their old markers.

Link-Up

Every building has a strong structure of support, and without that support buildings come tumbling down. A parent or guardian is that structure of support for students and communication shouldn’t be a factor that prevents a student from having that support. Many students at Medford High have parents whose primary language isn’t English. “Link-Up” is a project aimed at providing parents of Medford students access to school information in their language without any language limitations. Our goal is to translate documents and information in all the languages present at Medford Public Schools.

Butterfly Project

For the CCSR project fair this year, our group has decided to take it upon ourselves to make Medford High more appealing to the eye. Our courtyard has undergone various attempts to try to beautify it, but none have had an everlasting effect. We created a butterfly garden in the outside courtyard of our school. To do so, we purchased and planted the specific flowers that attract butterflies in the hopes of us having our own little garden. Attracting these butterflies will not only help the flowers already in the yard with their pollination, but it will also bring color into our very bland school. By maintaining our plot of land clean and healthy, we hope to make Medford High’s courtyard something completely different.

Gum Be-Gone!

While thinking of ideas to help our school and community, it was brought to our attention numerous times the amount of gum stuck under the desks and tables. Our project is revolving around this unpleasant problem every student has encountered, but doesn’t get enough attention to be dealt with. The goal of our project is to rid as many desks of gum as possible. We stayed after school whenever we could to help teachers who want their classrooms to be cleaner.

Stress-Free Midterms

For our project we will be focusing on the idea of a stress-free midterm period at Medford High School. No matter what classes you take, who your teachers are, or what grade you are in midterms are a stressful time for everyone at Medford High School. There is immense pressure to do as best on your test as possible which can create unnecessary stress and worrying. We want students at Medford High to be able to get some sort of stress relief during this time period. Our group made slime and put it in all three cafeterias during the week of midterms. The purpose of this was for students who might be feeling the extra pressure of studying and cramming for midterms to be able to come by and relax for a short or long period of time. The slime is meant to be enjoyable and helpful in relieving some unneeded tension before testing. We think it is so important for everyone in Medford High to do great on their midterms. While we can’t help the students during the tests we wanted to give them a sense of relief before the test. Our goal was to ultimately help students feeling extra pressure during midterms clear their minds for an afternoon so they can do the best on their tests as possible.

Kindness Challenge

CCSR members thought of ways to be kind to each other throughout the day and distributed these ideas throughout the school. They also gave teachers and students links to write their acts of kindness. Once stapled, the links have almost reached all around the Roberts cafeteria! In addition, they painted a sign that says, “Be the I in KIND,” for students to be photographed in front of and shared on social media to spread the message of kindness.

Painting The Playgrounds

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 Basketball Game for Betterment

Our CCSR project for this year is the Basketball Game for Betterment. One thing that all three of us have in common is a want for inclusion in Medford High School. Inclusion is when you invite someone into a group or gathering who does not usually have the opportunity to. We’re focusing on the Special Education program, and the students of the Access Program. We want to make new friends, and learn more about the people in our high school who we don’t normally speak to often. After getting to know some students from these programs, we learned that they enjoy sports and doing activities with others, with one specific sport being basketball. That is why we have created the Basketball Game for Betterment; to raise awareness for inclusion, to have fun while doing it, and maybe even make a few friends along the way!

Health and Math for Haiti

This project provided first aid kits and a math books for a school in Haiti. It’s very hard for teachers and kids when they don’t get provided with proper school supplies. In Haiti kids play outside on rough grounds and most likely get hurt and they don’t have nurses to take care or provide for them. First Aid kits would be very helpful in providing treatment when a kid gets hurt. The First Aid kits were provided for one school in Haiti through a foundation. The next items were math books because most schools don’t have a printer where they can print math sheets out. Math books were provided for the teachers and they can use it to come up with problems and lessons.

Lobby Beautification

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!

Tax-less Tampons. Free the Feminine Products

We created a system that provided students with free feminine products, much like the existing program at Medford High School that provides food for students in need. We found a company willing to donate feminine products. It was our goal to raise awareness of the need of feminine products and make them available to low income families and high school students. We also contacted the state government and see what we can do to make pads and tampons more affordable and available to all schools, shelters, and jails. Feminine products are not a luxury but rather a necessity and should be affordable by all.

CCSR x Tufts Questbridge Chapter Resource and Mentoring Program

The goal of this project was to help first generation, low-income (FGLI) high school students in professional development and the road to college by connecting them to college readiness resources and a Mentor Team composed of Tufts students of similar backgrounds. Students asked the Mentor Team questions through online communication and received compilations of resources in the form of lists, graphics, videos, and webinars. They were also given the opportunity to participate in resume building workshops and tours of the Tufts campus.

Activate the Athletics

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!

English Learners Give Back Program

The English Learners Give Back Program, or the EL Give Back program, is currently running in its third year. The student-run project, led by Nischal, Tien, Emmauela, Hetvi, and Khushdeep, seeks to provide informational videos for incoming EL students. The videos were uploaded to the EL Give Back website and its YouTube Channel. The videos were uploaded in English, Portuguese, Spanish, Haitian-Creole, Arabic, Mandarin, Vietnamese and this year, Hindi will also be added. In addition, the project also highlighted the difficulties and problems EL students face when they first arrive in the United States. Overall, the goal of the EL Give Back Project is to provide meaningful resources for EL students on how to perform tasks and navigate Medford High School. The videos can be accessed at https://elgiveback.weebly.com/

The Party Hour of Inclusion!

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 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!

Common Ground

Common Ground is a reversed inclusion classroom that allows high school students to form connections within The Access Program, a program that works with Medford High School students with significant disabilities. The goal was to incorporate students in Common Ground within classrooms and activities to feel included within the MHS community. Emily McDaid, Jacqueline Madigan, and Ava Heinegg worked alongside Ms. Andre to create an environment in which the students could participate and feel welcome. By working together doing team building activities, they implemented a more inclusive environment that will outlast their time at Medford High School.

ADHD Awareness

Every year there are students who want to take an AP or honors course but feel as though they cannot due to their learning disability. ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is one of the most common disabilities and kids who have ADHD tend to also have other learning impairments, such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia. Most often when ADHD is discussed, it is looked at as if it is only hyperactive kids who do not want to work. When side effects are brought up, you only see the problems with math or reading, never with writing which is only seen as a common problem anyone could have. We enlightened teachers and helped students to understand what ADHD is through informative videos and a club/elective.

Look Up Challenge

At the McGlynn Middle School, the CCSR initiated the schoolwide LookupChallenge. The challenge originated from Ms. Susan Reynold’s presentation on December 4th, “Thriving in the Age of Digital Distraction,” at the McGlynn where both Susan and Principal Tucci challenged all of the students to participate. LookUp.live is a non-profit startup whose mission is to support youth designed solutions for technology and real life balance. Over the course of the past few years, McGlynn Middle School students have been challenged to reflect upon how they can take a more balanced approach with their use of technology. The award winning film Screenagers has been shown to students at the school and students have engaged in discussions in their WIN block homerooms on the topic of screen-time in their lives. Over the course of two days, the McGlynn Middle School had 125 participants join the challenge. CCSR students made announcements on the McGlynn Morning Show, encouraging their peers to challenge themselves to limit their use of screen time over the course of the week. Chromebooks were available for students to register for the challenge during lunches.

The Playground Project

The purpose of this project was to buy something to make the playground at the Brooks School more fun. They researched different playground items that were affordable and approved by the principal, and took a poll with the students at the Brooks School to ask what they wanted. They got the money from a grant to purchase the playground equipment.

Save The Future

The purpose of this project was to help the Brooks students stop using plastic cups in the cafeteria because they will end up in a landfill. We are trying to save the future by not creating waste. We got Brooks School waterbottles at a low price and sold them at the Brooks School. This helped lower the amount of waste produced by the school.

Origami Notes

These 3rd-and-5th-grade students decided to put their knack for crafts and creativity to good use for their project. They made origami boats and tucked a tiny note inside each one. Each note contained a kind or inspirational quote, or a fun joke or riddle. They made enough for every 5th-grade student, and spent their lunch and recess hiding one in each 5th-grader’s desk. When their classmates came back from lunch, they had a race to see which class could find their notes in their desks the fastest! Fellow 5th-grade students loved getting this fun surprise from their peers!

Sticky Notes of Kindness

The 1st-graders of CCSR, with the guidance of parent volunteer Reneé Hanley, wanted to put a smile on every McGlynn Elementary student’s face. That’s why they spent the session diligently decorating enough sticky notes to stick on the lockers of every student in the school! They worked on a different grade each week, from Kindergarten through Grade 5, and then the final week of the session they canvassed the whole school, placing a uniquely designed sticky note on each locker. When everyone came in the following morning, students from Kindergarten through Grade 5 were overjoyed to discover handmade sticky notes with kind sayings and whimsical drawings adorning their lockers! Notes included sayings such as “live, laugh, love,” “be happy,” and “you are smart,” along with drawings of flowers, unicorns, smiley faces, and more! It was amazing for the 1st-graders to get to see the whole school so excited by their kind gesture.

Peer Tutoring

“We want to teach other kids math,” was what these boys said. Thus, peer tutoring was conceived. These boys researched online math games that could be accessed on a chromebook.  The plan was for each of the boys to work with students at the end of lunch of 3 days of the week. Third grade boys worked with 2nd graders with whom they shared a common lunch period and fourth grade boys worked with kindergarten students for the same reason.  Not only was this a nice example of older students helping teach younger students, but this use of chromebooks at the end of lunch was great for those wiggly students for whom sitting half an hour is a long time.

School Supplies Drive

School Supplies Drive is a project that focuses on raising funds and collecting donations of school supplies in order to help out the teachers at Medford High School. Four sophomores at Medford High School, Liza Lopes, Christina Zheng, Juliana Melo, and Cailee McCray, created surveys in order to understand the specific needs of teachers at Medford High School and collected supplies that will benefit them. Frequently, teachers have to pay for school supplies with their own money and do not get reimbursed for the supplies that they buy for their students. This project brought some financial relief to teachers and accommodate the needs of individual classrooms. It is our mission to make our school a better place.

The Outdoor Classroom

We are juniors at Medford High School. Our goal for this project was to complete the outdoor classroom that we began creating last year and make it a lively and usable classroom space. In order for this to happen we added artwork created from recycled material and overall improving the look of the space in order to allow it to be visually appealing enough for the use of teachers to teach their classes in. We began a “trial period” in which teachers can reserve the classroom and later provided suggestions and comments on how they enjoyed using it as a learning tool for their class. We organized and maintained the classroom throughout the year. We are immensely proud of the progress we have made on our project, and we can’t wait to see the outdoor classroom being used for the future school years to come!

School Supply Donations

This year, we noticed a big problem facing both students and teachers alike: school supply expenses. School supplies are an important investment, but they are often expensive. In addition, teachers often have to spend money from their own pockets to pay for supplies for the class. To help combat this issue, we have decided to raise funds to buy a set of supplies for every teacher and staff member in the school. Any remaining funds or supplies will be donated to the Hope Chest.

Mustang Way Video

We gathered clips of the influencers in the Medford Community and questioned: “What does the Mustang Way mean to you?” Some of the people we interviewed included principals at the McGlynn and Medford High School, teachers and staff. The goal for this video was to show it at the Mustang Way Assembly, but also to show the benefits of what the Mustang Way does to you not even at school, but in your everyday lives as well to the 6th graders at the McGlynn Middle School.

Mustang Way Assembly

We hosted a Mustang Way Assembly for the new 6th graders. We had middle school and high school students share their stories about what the Mustang Way means to them. This assembly took place on November 6, 2019. High school students and 8th graders shared the importance of ACE, the Mustang Way and how it is applied to school and our everyday lives.

Magical McGlynn Meeting Tree

In the middle of the elementary school playground, between both sides of the playground,  sits a tree. This tree is a favorite meeting place for students of both grades using the playground.  Unfortunately, this tree is in need of soil and mulch to cover its many roots. These boys thought about incorporating a kindness activity with a beautification project.  They thought up an idea to have all the students of the school paint kindness words/sayings on rocks with buddy classes. Later on, these rocks would be put outside, along with some soil and mulch to decorate the meeting tree.  Kindness Rocks!

Kindness Counts

These second grade girls are big believers in a bully free school where kindness and empathy are the key words.  They chose to incorporate a love of emojies with a kindness project. They put together a bulletin board that was displayed outside the cafeteria.  On the bulletin board they put a message: “Kindness Counts Emojies: Make one, take one”. Next to the bulletin board they left a stack of sticky notes and markers along with some examples of emojies that could be drawn to represent kindness/ empathy.  Students enjoyed stopping by and taking emojies for their friends’ lockers or demonstrating their artistic talent and making their own unique emoji to leave on the bulletin board for someone else to take.

Kindness Letters

During the week of November 4th, we accepted $1 donations at lunch. Students were able to write cards and letters to their friends or teachers. Students were told to write kind messages to their friends or teachers, or simply thanking them for something. The letters were delivered on Wednesday November 13th, which is World Kindness Day.

Decorate and Feel Great

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!

Empowering Our Peers

Our project was about empowering our peers and teaching students to be kind to one another. We filmed a video telling people that they are beautiful to see their reaction. Nowadays people are now calling other people beautiful so we wanted to do an experiment. As a part of this project we also posted colorful post-it notes with encouraging and uplifting messages on bathroom walls to boost confidence among students

Crayon Recycling

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!

Fundraising for AP Students

This year, our project focuses on fundraising to help support students in AP classes financially. AP tests are very expensive, and we do not want any student to not have the opportunity to take an AP test, and possibly earn college credit, because they are unable to pay for it. With the fundraisers we had this year, we gave back to some of the students and lessen the stress of paying for AP tests.

Diversity Week

Diversity Week is a school-wide event where diversity and different cultures are recognized and celebrated. For each day of the week, diversity-related activities are organized and all students and faculty can take part. The aim of Diversity Week is to encourage acceptance and appreciation of different cultures through interaction, discussion, and collaboration. In past years, Diversity Week has included screenings of movies featuring other cultures, panels from the GSA and other community groups, and Diversity Dress Up day, when everyone is encouraged to wear clothing that they feel is representative of them and their background. Diversity Week has also featured the World Cafe in conjunction with Interact Club, where students can discuss world issues. In addition, Diversity Week incorporates an annual Community Fair, in which students can meet community organizations and school clubs and get more involved in the community. Hopefully, Diversity Week can help make students better community members and world citizens.

Fine-ally Fine-Tuning the Fine Arts Building

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.

Classroom Bookmarks

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!

Composting in MHS Cafeterias

Our project aims to benefit the community of Medford by implementing a pilot composting program in the MHS cafeterias. We developed signs and other educational materials to promote this zero waste initiative before it officially starts. We worked with Food Services, Buildings and Grounds, and other administrators to encourage the creation of a long-lasting and sustainable program in the future. We also conducted a survey on the resources of the high school (number of dishwashers, recycling bins, etc). We visited other local schools to see how composting programs have succeeded at their locations. Last year, we received a $2500 grant from the Captain Planet Foundation to pay for bins, compostable bags, signage, and curbside pickups for our pilot program. We connected with enthusiastic students and faculty to foster success at MHS. Our project not only will make the school itself more eco-friendly, but will also encourage all participants to be more environmentally aware.

Bingo Night for NF

This group organized a “Bingo Night” at the Andrews Middle School to raise money for Neurofibromatosis(NF). Prizes and gift cards donated by local businesses were provided to winners of each round. They are supporting their fellow friend at the Andrews who has NF and everyone else who suffers from the same diagnosis. They will be donating their funds to the Children’s Tumor Foundation. Let’s help find a cure together!

Bringing Music to Elementary After-School

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.

Beautification of Medford High Chorus

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.

Together We Are One

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.

Problem Solving Wheel

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.

One Smile Away & Memory Board

The “One Smile Away” campaign was a huge success last year, through collecting over 100 compliments from students around the school. The compliments were collected via a google forum and anonymously posted on the board outside of the library. This year, Justin and Brandon also plan to add a memory board containing quotes from people’s holidays, sharing what they have done on that holiday. Together, each project helps to spread positive messages and recognize lesser known holidays.

The Artsy Paper Project

What we wanted to do with this project is actually recycle paper for students to use. In school, so much paper is used rather excessively for assignments and tests and quizzes and then it is just recycled at the end of the quarter or year without a second thought. Only one third of recycled items are actually recycled. What if all of Medford High’s recycled paper was recycled for students to use immediately? There is a simple way to make paper that uses only a few simple materials. We want to bring students together make new paper; instead of “recycling” paper in bins and hoping it is recycled, why don’t we make it ourselves? We also did most of the paper making outside, in the courtyard or inner courtyard for example. It spread more awareness to students of how they are making an impact. And the outdoors always leaves us with a smile! In addition, this was just a crafty activity for students to do for fun; they can be as creative as they want, chat with their friends, have free paper to take notes on, with the awesome addition of reusing/repurposing!

Black Pride Project

Our CCSR project is based on black pride. We had a Black History Month dance and an assembly. Our hope was to teach Medford High School students and faculty more than what is mainly taught in school, like racism and slavery. We focused on teaching the Medford High School community about the struggles AND triumphs.

Symphonies for Students

Our project aimed to implement an inclusive music program for differently abled students who were beginner musicians, for which we peer mentored during 6th period music class throughout the year. New musicians learned beginner pieces on keyboard to practice and play along with peer mentors who could accompany in two or three part arrangements towards group music making.

EMAK (Education Made Accessible for Kids)

For the past ten years, Shruti and I have had the opportunity to attend public school every day to receive an education. There are many children, however, who do not have this privilege due to various factors such as location, money, etc. By organizing a fundraiser called Kit Kat for Kids in Medford and through donations such as money, books, pencils, and other materials, we made education a little more accessible by donating their efforts to schools around the world, making sure that the children are able to receive the same opportunity as we do.

Medford High Fashion Flow

We came up with the idea of presenting a fashion show. This fashion show was intended to not only bring something new and entertaining to MHS, but to broadcast student’s culture and sense of style. This fashion show raised money for the junior prom. We hoped this would bring different students together to promote each other’s ideas, and we believe it was very successful in doing so. Presenting this can shows how Medford High’s students can come together to embrace one another and have fun while doing so. This was an enjoyable experience for many.

The Mustang Way Assembly

We participated in the Mustang Way Assembly at both the Andrews and McGlynn Middle Schools. We wrote speeches about what the Mustang Way means to us and how we apply it in our everyday lives. We spoke on what it means on and off the field, in school and in extracurriculars. The Mustang Way exemplifies kindness, leadership, and ACE(attitude, concentration, excellence). Each student embodies this practice when helping a peer with homework or picking up a friend’s books when they drop them. This practice allows for a connected and sincere community where everyone feels welcome. The Mustang Way was presented to the 6th graders to demonstrate the principle set of values of both schools.

Let’s Get Ready for High School

High school is very different than middle school to prepare the eighth graders we went down to the middle schools with some volunteers and hosted a panel discussion. The high schoolers answered the students questions to their ability on the panel and talked about all the opportunities to get involved such as sports clubs, etc. Then they split into groups to interact with them and answer any other questions they were afraid to ask in front of a large group. This took place during the students WIN block so no classes were missed. By doing this we hope students will feel less anxious about coming to a bigger school and will get involved.

MHS Spirit Week

Mallika Limose and Shruti Sood want to bring Spirit Week and the spirit assembly back to Medford High School. Our freshman year was the first year the spirit assembly did not take place and through the past few years, we have noticed a decline in school spirit. Our goal is to have Spirit Week after April break. With AP testing, the MCAS, and SATs coming up this spring, we want students to have a sense of enjoyment and relaxation before this rigorous studying period. We hope that this Spirit Week will act as a catalyst for school spirit in the years to come.

Jazzing Up Café Electra

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.

Mural Me This, Mural Me That

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.

Inspirational Quotes Project

In a word overwhelmed with measuring talent and expertise, we often fail to observe the significance behind the role of inspiration. Inspiration awakens us to new beginnings by granting us the possibility to rise above our standard experiences and limitations. Inspiration sets in motion a person from lack of interest to great potential, and over the course of time it changes the way we perceive our own capabilities. Many may fail to notice inspiration because of its evasive nature. However, throughout the existence of humanity, many have looked forward to that breeze of inspiration as something to grasp and hold onto, such as the likes of Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rowling, and countless more. Whether it's in the sense of an inspiring story or simply just someone saying two straightforward words, these celebrities used inspiration to push them in the midst of their darkest times, and came out stronger. Hence, to continue the everlasting idea of inspiration, and urge others to keep pushing, Anderson Prince and Nishant Saini created inspirational quotes. These quotes would ultimately be displayed around the school to encourage many to not just simply be inspired, but to also be a source of inspiration.

College Access Resource and Mentoring Program (CARAMP)

The goal of this project was to help first generation, low-income (FGLI) high school students in professional development and the road to college by connecting them to college readiness resources and a Mentor Team composed of Tufts students from similar backgrounds. Students asked the Mentor Team questions through online communication and virtual meetings and received compilations of resources in the form of lists, graphics, videos, and webinars. 

Painting Positivity

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.

School Supplies for Students

Cadyn Golisano and Lily Beagan knew that due to the pandemic, kids were no longer able to share school supplies in school and many families could not afford them. This year, they decided to place boxes around the city in local stores and restaurants and asked for people to donate supplies. After a few weeks of collecting donations, they sanitized and then distributed the supplies to the students of the Medford Public Schools. Everyone who came each got one bag of supplies, including all the essential supplies, so that everyone had the chance to get what they needed. For social distancing reasons, they distributed supplies outside of Medford Highschool with two days of distributions.

Beautification of Medford High Chorus

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.

Canvas for the Classroom

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.

EL Give Back

In collaboration with the EL teachers at Medford High and the help of Medford High students, Khushi Kaur & Naika Loredan created the EL Give Back Program. The EL Give Back Program is a student-led project designed to help new English learning students. Their goal was to help adjust the English learning students to their new school and environment. They created videos that have been translated by Medford High School students into seven different languages. Their videos are in Arabic, Haitian-Creole, Hindi, Portuguese, Mandarin, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Some of the topics they have recorded include: graduation requirements, how to get free/reduced lunch, how to get a bus pass, school dress code and there are many videos to come.

Haitian Flag Day

For Keshana Paul and Sagine Magliore’s project, “Haitian Flag Day,” they worked with many MHS students, Mr. Skorker, and Ms. Pierre Paul to plan the annual, district wide, Haitian Flag Day Celebration. This celebration consists of an informational and entertaining video that educates students on the importance of Haitian Flag Day, and how the holiday is celebrated. What makes it a district wide celebration, is that along with multiple students, they go to the other Medford schools, and educate the younger students. This occurs via loudspeaker, or a presentation for the students. After going around to the other schools an assembly (split into small sections) is held for the MHS student body, where the video is played, and we further educate MHS about Haitian culture. At the end of the day all are welcome to a small celebration with music and Haitian food! The goal of this project is to help others further understand the importance of Haitian Flag Day.

LGBT History in the Classroom

The goal of Lila D’Antonio and Ellie Hunt’s project was to diversify the history taught here at Medford High by including aspects of LGBTQ+ history. LGBTQ+ people have always existed and have always been an important part of history, yet many people still don’t know much about the community’s past. By looking at the curriculums in place for the history classes at Medford High, Lila and Ellie selected events, people, and places from queer history that fit with the topics that are already covered. From there, they met with history teachers and the director of the humanities department to make LGBTQ+ history a permanent part of the curriculum. They hope that by doing this queer teens will be able to see themselves in history and find role models, as well as helping to educate everyone about the rich, beautiful history of the LGBTQ+ community.

Little Free Libraries

Medford sixth grade students were determined to fill the Little Free Libraries around Medford with aged appropriate books. They noticed that the majority of the libraries had books in them for an older audience. With the current pandemic and the rebuild of the Medford Library, they wanted books to be more accessible to middle school students. Sixth graders from McGlynn Middle School, Nathan Quinn and Charlotte Foti, and Abigail Charlton from Andrews Middle School, held a book drive to collect books for middle school students. They collected a remarkable total of 249 books. Already, they have distributed books to the Little Free Libraries around Medford. They plan to continue to do so over the next few months.

Holiday Cards

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.

Mustang Way Assembly

The CCSR hosted a virtual Mustang Way Assembly for the 6th graders. Middle school and high school students shared their stories about what the Mustang Way means to them. They shared the importance of ACE, the Mustang Way and how it is applied to school and our everyday lives. We were fortunate to hear from 8th graders MaryKate Brady and Trey Flaherty and high school student leaders Aidan Barry, Stephan Langshur, Ava Heinegg and Liza Lopes. The event was hosted by 8th grader Davianna Viega, and included guest speakers, Tufts Baseball players and the radio voice of the New England Patriots, Bob Socci. The Tufts baseball players spoke about their education and involvement with racial equity, inspiring 6th grade students to stand up for what they believe in. Bob Socci challenged the students to find role models, and represent the Mustang Way.

School Supplies

Amy and Tory helped promote the high school CCSR school supplies collection here at the McGlynn Middle School. They made flyers to promote the collection. The school supplies that were collected were donated to Medford students who needed supplies.

Dash Podcast

The CCSR students Liza Lopes, Amine Nazih , and Zayn Yousuf participated in a podcast with Mr. Tre Gammage from the Dash along with Mr. Skorker describing the wonderful work that has been done by our members. We are so excited to share the CCSR with other community members, check out the video below!

Middle School CCSR Holiday Cards

McGlynn Middle School seventh grade student Kaitlyn Alves and sixth grade student Isla McInnis collected Holiday cards to be handed out to the Medford Council on Aging. They wanted to bring cheer to senior citizens who might be having a different holiday season due to the pandemic. CCSR members and students at the MCGlynn and Andrews Middle Schools decorated nearly 30 cards.The cards will be distributed this week during the food drives at the Medford Council on Aging. Pictured below Pamela Kelley, the Director of Elder Affairs at the Medford Council on Aging, accepts the holiday card donations.

Mustang Way Assembly

The Mustang Way Assemblies were held for sixth-grade students at the McGlynn and Andrews Middle Schools. Students created speeches about their leadership, activism in the community, and overall thoughts and descriptions of the Mustang Way. They then worked with McGlynn CCSR advisor Ms. Olsen to revise their speeches before presenting them to students during their WIN blocks. The high school students were able to connect with and advise the sixth graders on the different ways to be active members of the Mustang community.

School Supply Donations

CCSR student leaders, Tenzin, Brendan, Sydney and Sophia decided to raise money for school supplies at Medford High School. There are many students at MHS who are unable to afford school supplies and struggle to find these resources. This makes learning/school harder to engage in when you don't have the proper tools for class. The students’ project consisted of fundraisers through bake sales during school events and hours. The supplies were put into the school's hope chest, an anonymous source for students to take food, clothes, school supplies, etc. This helps students struggling to find these necessities. The students approached and collaborated with teachers at school for this project. Mr. Skorker and Mr. Nascimento offered to help organize this project along with helping them create connections.