@HumansofMedford on Instagram is mostly focused on individuals in the community of Medford who have been historically marginalized, or are community leaders. Ryleigh takes pictures of the people we interview, posting those pictures to the page along with a short quote from the person’s interview, just like @HumansofNY. The stories these people tell on our page range from why these people love their jobs, to how they met their life partners, to participating in a workers’ strike. @HumansofMedford was made to highlight the diversity of perspectives and lives of our fellow community members, and there are new posts every week! Be sure to check out Humans of Medford and follow them on Instagram! Suggestions for interviews are also appreciated.

As part of the Medford High School Tennis Team, Amishika, Shubhecchha, and Sarah attend practices, trainings, and competitions at a local park near the high school known as Dugger Park. The only problem about the park is that there are no benches, nor any other sitting areas besides the dirt and broken concrete surrounding the tennis courts. They hope to build benches at Dugger Park, and to later expand the project to other local parks in Medford.

The Medford Science for Shooting STARS (Science, Technology, and Applied Research) is a STEM enrichment program geared towards exposing local elementary school students to fundamental concepts of biology, physics, and chemistry through hands-on experimentation and demonstrations. After noticing very few opportunities to explore science in elementary and middle school, Maha and Sophie decided to open Medford’s chapter of the STARS program, especially aimed to help young females and underrepresented minorities explore science.

The Hunger Project uses local churches as venues for food drives, after which Oxfam Hunger Banquets are held, where members of the community attend and eat for free. The banquet includes a simulation on how different classes of people eat around the world, encouraging participants to think about world hunger and poverty. Through the Hunger Project, Joe, Aldo, Marco, and Harrison also hope to strengthen bonds within the Medford community between people of all backgrounds and ages.

Passionate about the topic of restorative justice, Maya Gomez-Coultas began the Restorative Justice Initiative in the 2016-2017 school year, aiming to promote the idea of repairing harm caused by conflicts rather than focusing on punishments. The initiative is working on building a guide for teachers to understand the principles of restorative justice and implementing them in the classroom. Restorative Justice provides an opportunity for students to talk about all sides of the conflict while still being held accountable for their actions. Maya wants to focus on how each student feels and their personal situations. Her program promotes listening and trust, as well as a better environment for the school. Using restorative justice, she believes, will lessen the risk of future conflict and will benefit everyone in the school.

Tech Time is a project started by Sandra Figueroa and Meghan Bouchie. The program takes place at the senior center in Medford Square, the Council on Aging. They meet once a month with the seniors and help them use their electronic devices such as phones, laptops, and tablets. As time goes on, technology advances and it is important to keep everyone updated. Many seniors want to keep in touch with their family members through Facebook or email, or simply want to know how to use their new phones. Tech Time helps seniors figure out their electronic devices, and in return, the members get to hear their stories and make friends. Sandra and Meghan chose to do this project because they have seen how their own family members have struggled with new technology and thought that they should help other people in the community.

The Selfie Project is an extension of the Dove Campaign. It is a scaled-back version of the Selfie Project that was done at Medford City Hall in 2013. Its goal is to promote the beauty and diversity of Medford High School and to show that you don’t need a filter to be beautiful; you are beautiful just they way you are. During the 2016-2017 school year, the project was completed at Medford High School byElizabeth Carey and Luiza Barbosa. Students could put their selfie up on a board in the main lobby while other students could write nice complimentary post-it notes next to the selfies. In the 2017-2018 year, Aniya Crump, Joey Leonforte, and Courtney Cutillo took over the Selfie Project.

For the cold winter months, these CCSR members encouraged our entire school to donate new or gently worn coats, scarves and gloves with daily reminders on the morning announcements. The successful project resulted in 80+ coats, and 20+ hats and gloves that were collected and distributed to local homeless shelters. These opportunities gave us all a chance to reflect on being thankful for what we have and sharing with those less fortunate.

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.

A group of students felt strong that animals should be able to feel safe and comfortable around people and their environment. They raised money to donate to the Animal Rescue League of Boston by selling lollipops during lunch hours. Information about the ARL and the adoption process of animals was attached to the lollipops, educating our donors with a small piece of information about ARL. For example, some of the lollipops had “Adopt, Don’t Shop!” written on them. "We feel the need to do this because we feel in our hearts that this matters."

Students Danayara Torres and Brayan Solis wanted to help out the single, pregnant mothers within the Medford community. In partnership with the McGlynn Middle School Student Council, the two students held an event each day of Spirit Week. A theme was highlighted upon each day and participation cost $1. All money raised went towards helping single pregnant mothers within the Medford community.

Fourth graders Quinn MacLean Albee and Jane Wyman gave each Brooks’s classroom a penny jar. Each classroom collected as many pennies as they could. At the end of the challenge, the students collected the coins, and in the end, every class was a winner because all the money collected was donated to the Boston Children's Hospital.

Third graders Erin Alves and Margaret Owens, along with fourth graders Valerie Bzomowski and Carina Lewis continued last year’s successful program, Welcome Home Medford Veterans. Each month the girls received a list of returning Medford veterans. They visited each soldier and welcomed them home with an American flag, a personally written note, a box of homemade cookies, and a big heartfelt thank you.

Fourth graders Grace McLaughlin, Norah Berson, and Evelyn Yeh made flower boxes for the Buddy Coholan Center for Alzheimer's in Medford. They donated the boxes in spring when the flowers were best. They did this so people that can’t remember things could look at something pretty and hopefully be a little happier.

Fifth graders Mia Armit and Anna Schlenker shared recent research on the dangers of too much screen time to the Brooks population. The project’s aim was to lower the amount of student screen time.

Second grader Lorcan Grehan and third grader Patrick Waldron focused on entertaining the elderly. They performed magic, plays, games, and jokes at local nursing homes for the residents. They entertain the elderly as well as bringing a little extra happiness into their lives.

Third graders Audrey Adkins and Nadia Aquil baked homemade cookies for a bake sale. The money they raised went to the LUNGevity Foundation to help people with lung cancer.

Fifth graders Kaitlyn Alves and Lila Armi organized a fundraiser to benefit a local homeless shelter. The girls held a bake sale at the Running of the Leprechauns 5K Road Race. They sold delicious homemade cupcakes and cookies. This was the second year the girls sold baked goods for a worthy cause.

Students helped raise awareness about allergies during Halloween time. They created flyers to inform families and the community about the Teal Pumpkin Project. “The goal of the Teal Pumpkin Project was to spread awareness of giving out non-food treats for kids with food allergies on Halloween,” said Nathan Quinn. The students hung flyers around the school and sent flyers home to Columbus families. The flyers listed the Top 10 Food Allergens and gave suggestions for non-food items to give out. “It was important because kids with allergies might not go trick-or-treating without the Teal Pumpkin Project and more awareness means more houses for kids with allergies to trick-or-treat at,” expressed Gloria Babish. Charlotte Foti reported that “On Halloween I saw 3 teal pumpkins. That made me feel really good.”

One student noticed that when she visited the Little Free Libraries in the area, there was a lack of children’s books to borrow. The group decided to collect books in order to add more children’s books to the Little Free Libraries around town. Joshua Pereira expressed that “I felt happy and proud to help on this project.” The students collected 110 books! Salvi Tello reported that, “A lot of books were donated to the school. Then we counted all the books. We all took some books to the Free Libraries.” Amalia Weyant says “It made me feel happy because it felt like a very nice thing to do. Some people don’t have very many book and we can give them some.”

This group of students wanted to help individuals who were hungry and homeless. They asked students from the Columbus School to donate their spare change. The students collected $290 worth of coins. The money was donated to the Boston Rescue Mission. This money will provide 130 nutritious meals for homeless individuals. Lily Carmelo stated that “CCSR makes me feel proud that we can help people and families in need.”

This group decided to raise awareness about the Clothing/ Textile bins that are placed around Medford Public Schools. This program generates a rebate of $100 per ton on textiles collected. The money goes to Medford’s PTO. The group collected multiple bags of clothing/ textiles to donate and raised awareness about the bins. Charlotte Foti states, “I thought it was really fun to help people in need and get a lot of scraps… It worked great!”

2nd-graders Ryan and Joseph wanted to do something to thank our troops overseas, and they knew they wanted to do something with an art component to it, so they decided on making cards to send to soldiers for the holidays. Under the expert guidance of MHS CCSR members Brittany and Laura, Ryan and Joseph each made construction paper cards. They decorated their cards with pictures and wrote nice messages inside. A few students from other groups who were done with their work also joined in to make cards as well. We sent the cards via Operation Gratitude, an organization that sends care packages and letters to troops overseas.

This group of 4th-grade students organized a winter coat drive for Cradles to Crayons, a local nonprofit that provides children and families who are homeless or otherwise in need with clothing and school supplies. They designed a flyer for their coat drive and had it sent home with students, and held their drive the week before Christmas vacation. They collected about 20 coats to be donated! We arranged for a Cradles to Crayons employee, Chris, to come and pick up the coats during the school day so that the group got to meet him!

This trio of compassionate 4th-graders organized a donation drive for two local animal shelters, the Northeast Animal Shelter and The Kitty Connection. To publicize the drive, they made a video for classroom teachers to show to their students. They filmed a video advertising the drive was shown in classrooms to kick off the drive. They also designed flyers to send home with students on the same day that teachers showed the video. They asked people to donate used towels, blankets, and newspaper (items that the shelters need to line cages), as well as pet toys and food.

These 3rd and 4th-graders decided they wanted to put together care packages for homeless people. They started by looking online for ideas for items to include in the care packages. Once they had come up with a list, they designed posters that they hung up around the school, as well as a flyer that they sent home with students, outlining the items they needed. Through online research, they identified a local homeless shelter called Medford Family Life Education, and this is where they decided their donations would go. Once the donations had all come in, they organized them into individual care packages in ziploc bags. At some point soon, they will present their donations to a representative from the shelter.

The Roberts CCSR Club recently held a soup drive. They partnered with the Souper Bowl of Caring to collect cans of soup for the Friends of Francis Food Pantry. Student members created posters and a flyer to spread the word throughout the school community. The students collected 385 cans of soup in total!

In an effort to both beautify the school and give to the elderly citizens of Medford, the CCSR members of the Curtis Tufts have built boxes behind the school in the Community Lot. With the help of their Science teacher, students planted and tended to flowers in these boxes during class. Once they bloomed, they were cut & delivered to a nursing home and the elderly center in Medford Square.

Diversity Day is a student-run festival, a day to celebrate the diversity and inclusion of Medford. Sarah, Luiza, and Rubia have worked alongside many community members to make the festival as memorable as possible. This year, the event expanded the repertoire of cultural singers and performers of all backgrounds in Medford, as well as cultural foods and corporations that specialize in diversity and inclusion and who also are a big part in Medford. The goal of Diversity Day was for everyone to enjoy the diverse community of Medford and learn something new while at the festival.

Project Little Library is an initiative that was set forth to spread little libraries around the city. They are in a sense mini public libraries, but the catch is there is no need for a library card or fees. You see a book you like in the library? Simply open the door and take it, no questions asked. If you do not like it, just return it or place it in another. Same goes if you do not want a book anymore, just place it in the library and leave it there. The goal is to spread the love of reading and to bring the community together by giving back! Each library has a bulletin board as well as decorations by local charities and schools.

Prisons throughout the U.S. incarcerate people of color at alarming rates and grossly mistreat and abuse LGBTQ+ prisoners. To combat this injustice, Senior Antonia Collins collaborated with the organization Black and Pink to write letters to queer prison inmates of color. "Many of the mail’s recipients have been abandoned by their families because of their sexual orientation or gender identities, and thus receive no mail on days when many other inmates get visits, calls, or letters from family." A day was hosted by the Black and Pink organization at Medford High School in which all students were welcomed to come after school and write letters. After the activity, Black and Pink sent all of the letters to their respective prisons and the individual inmates have received them.

This year, seniors Daria Agrba, Ximena Valderrama, Meghan Smith, Kim Sinthara decided to donate their voices. There are millions of people that do not have an ability to express themselves verbally and use computer generated voice to do it for them. "We want to be part of the organization that gives people a choice of the voice to make it more personal." People with various backgrounds would be able to record themselves and give someone a voice. This year, they did their part in recording various words and phrases, each giving someone a voice. In turn, they helped to spread the idea around the community and got others involved as well.

With a focus on senior citizens, Ben Verity, Galvin Falvey, and John Falco traveled to a nursing home to talk, spend time, and have fun with the elderly. "We feel that many senior citizens do not get the chance to see their families every day, and we wish to combat the extreme loneliness that may come from few interactions with people." The group visited the nursing home bi-weekly with the intention of spreading happiness. "It may be a small project, but it certainly brings a smile to everyone's face, including ours." The group also intended to create a lasting impact within the senior citizen community, leaving an opportunity for others to visit the senior center in the years to come.

Seniors Lauren Parziale and Ryan Heard gathered donations for the food pantry held at St. Francis Church every Thursday from 2:30-4:30. The food pantry is separate from the church, therefore all donations went directly to future events. The food pantry helps the citizens of Medford who have a hard time affording their own groceries. Any donation or purchase from the future fundraisers would be greatly appreciated, especially during the holiday seasons.

This year, the Le Club Glou-Glou (the sound a turkey makes in French) continued a project the French 2 Honors class started in 2017. During the holidays, many families find themselves with limited resources to provide for their household, specifically with holiday-themed meals. "At Thanksgiving, when we gather with our families to give thanks and be grateful for what we have, many of our fellow students may not have this opportunity. We hope to help our own Medford High School families take part in a proper and festive Thanksgiving meal." This student-run project, provided multiple families with a basket full of everything needed for a Thanksgiving meal, in hopes that it would bring their families together and give them the opportunity to take part in the national American holiday.

MHS Students Brittany Awad and Laura Silva volunteered their time to help out the kids at the McGlynn Middle School's CCSR Program. "We help the CCSR kids with their projects and show them how to create them" During the CCSR meetings, the two students gave guidance to two groups, one focused on anti-bullying and the other on honoring the veterans.

This year, students Kathleen Campbell and Mariana Plata organized donations that were sent to a nonprofit shelter on the border of Mexico. "Many families that are trying to get through immigration or are rejected must stay in these facilities. We feel it is our responsibility to help these individuals through their struggles."

This year, students Kaliyah Sautier and Victoria Macaluso raised money for the children living in an impoverished village in Tanzania. With the money they raised, they bought and donated toys for the children, as well as canned food and clothing for the families.

Every year, the McGlynn Elementary School hosts an Ethnic Pride Week to teach children about the importance of their cultural background and learn to be accepting of others for their own cultures. This year, students Tia Belotte and Shruti Sood created a lesson plan centered around diversity and taught four classes of third graders during their week of ethnic pride. They played "diversity bingo" and had conservations with the students which taught them facts about countries around the world and learned about the cultures that can be found in the community as well.

This past winter, Nouha Elyazidi ran a toy drive for the Boston Children's Hospital. "The children in the Boston Children’s Hospital already have such a hard time dealing with their illnesses and it would be great to put a smile on their faces." Nouha set out to do her part in making sure everyone had a happy and joyous holiday season by gathering and delivering toys to the children at BCH just in time for the holidays.

In order to combat the chains of pet stores that receive animals from mass breeders who mistreat them, a group of students started the Adopt, Don't Shop campaign. "Some breeders perform experiments on their animals, like seeing what freezing temperatures they can withstand. The pet stores know this, and still continue to buy their animals from them. We want to spread awareness to what you’re doing if you buy an animal from a pet store." These students set out to educate the public on a better alternative, adopting from a rescue. In addition to raising awareness, the group raised funds for rescues shelters so they could take in more animals instead of them being forced to go into chain pet stores. They also made animal toys and treats and donated supplies to local rescues, including Kitty Connection, Animal Rescue League of Boston, and the MSPCA.

On Thursday, September 13th, a series of gas explosions imploded throughout the towns of Lawrence, North Andover and Andover. There was one fatal casualty and over 25 others injured. The initial explosions and subsequent fires affected over 40 homes. Many families were forced to evacuate without a chance to grab their necessities. After hearing about this disaster, students Tia Belotte and Nicole Chin collected donations from around the Medford community, receiving $405 in checks and over 200 bags of donations of blankets, socks and other needs. On Sept. 21, Nicole, her parents and Mr. Skorker rented a U-Haul truck, drove to Lawrence and dropped off the donations to Lawrence Senior Center and Debbie’s Treasure Chest.

This year, seniors Brendan McCusker and Sofia DiMeo ventured out to raise money for the Medford police station. A community day was held for the Medford police, family, friends, and supporters in the community. "The police station does not have much money for funding. We want to change that." Throughout the year, the students contacted as multiple local businesses to donate food and resources for the event. Their intent was to bring the community together as one and shine a light on how important our policemen are to Medford.

This year, senior Marco MacElhiney and sophomore Joey Ruemenapp combined their passions by hosting a student and staff charity soccer tournament within the high school to raise funds for a village in Ethiopia. "We think this is a great community experience to show school pride, play soccer, and at the same time fundraise for a good cause." The village they fundraised for recently went through a drought, so all money went towards providing water, supplies, and more for the people.

With the political and national development over recent years, culture and diversity have become pertinent aspects in today’s societies. Diversity Week in Medford High School was run completely by Medford CCSR students, aimed towards uniting the Medford community. This project aimed to highlight Medford's rich culture and provide both organizations and students an opportunity to connect with each other. Medford is unique among other surrounding towns and cities, with representation hailing from Brazil, Tibet, Italy, Ireland, China, Germany, Japan, Haiti, Spain, Vietnam, and many other countries. Throughout the week, the CCSR ran activities and events that give students the opportunity to bond, educate peers on their own cultural background, and learn from others and their cultures. Some of this years events included a Community Fair, a special guest panel, and a special movie showing of "Crazy Rich Asians".

This group decided to hold a yarn drive at the Columbus Elementary School. They collected about 100 balls of yarn and 4 knitted hats. They donated all the yarn and knitted goods to The Knitting Connection Inc. All the yarn will be made into clothes for families who need it. Abby says, “It’s important because yarn is being knitted into clothes that help people in need.”

This group decided they wanted to help children in need by collecting toys. The students were very concerned that other children might not have many toys to play with. The group collected 6 huge bins of toys and donated them to the organization Cradles to Crayons.

A High School CCSR student is building new Little Free Libraries around Medford. His hope is to put a child-created bookmark in every book! The CCSR students have been working hard to make as many bookmarks as they can! They created over 60 bookmarks for the Little Free Libraries

This group decided wanted to run a School Supply Drive for Cradles to Crayons. They wanted to help collect items that could go in donated backpacks for students in need. The students collected crayons, markers, binders, folders, pencils, scissors, erasers, paper clips, construction paper, and lunch boxes.

A group of students were upset to hear/see the negative video challenges that were posted on the internet. They decided that they would create a positive challenge for students the Columbus School. They created positive challenge lists for students in grades K- 3. They then awarded prizes to students who completed the challenges on the list.

After visiting family members in a nursing home, these students decided that they wanted to cheer up seniors living there. They decided to create bright, inspiring posters that were hung around the facility to brighten the resident’s home.

These 5th grade members of the CCSR decided to make tissue paper flowers to brighten up the resident’s rooms at the Courtyard Rehabilitation Center in Medford. They researched how to create the flowers by watching video tutorials. They then taught the other members of the CCSR Club how to make the flowers. Each student also decorated flower pots to put the flowers in. Mr. Johnson assisted the students in assembling the pots. The students created 140 flower pots.

2nd & 3rd Grade CCSR students partnered with Operation Gratitude to create a letter-writing campaign at the Roberts. They encouraged all students at the Roberts to write a letter to a “hero”, thanking them for their service. A “hero” was defined as a veteran, active duty soldier or any first responder. They highlighted information sheets and discussed letter writing guidelines for each classroom. Students also created posters to promote the campaign. Letters were mailed to Operation Gratitude in early June.

These students wanted to create “Busy Bags” for a local hospital. The bags are to help keep children stay “busy” as they wait for family members to receive treatment or while visiting loved ones. To create the bags the students first had to hold a fundraiser to raise money to purchase the bags and their contents. They decided to sell iced coffee, pizza, drinks, and snacks during lunch to the teachers at the Roberts. Students used the money to purchase the bags and items to fill them. They labeled each bag and delivered the bags to Winchester Hospital at the end of May.

This group decided to encourage the whole McGlynn Middle School to wear blue on April 2nd for National Autism Awareness Day. They wanted to spread awareness due to personal experiences and to help kids who have Autism knowing that the McGlynn Middle School is supporting them. They donated the money they raised to an organization called Autism Speaks raising $69 which meant 69 teachers and students wore blue!

Yousef Chalabi held a raffle to donate money to the Jimmy Fund. The Jimmy Fund takes money that they are raising and donating to pediatric cancer research and patients. He sold raffle tickets for $1 each and $5 for an arm length. He raffled off two prizes, an autographed photo by Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts and an autographed photo by Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower.

This group of enterprising first graders wanted to help children and adults that were facing homelessness. They brainstormed a list of supplies that they believed would be helpful and also did a little computer research to come up with more ideas, with the help of PTG mom Renee Hanley. They decided that they would like to raise the money to purchase sample sizes of essential supplies that they could donate. The first graders came up with the idea of having a “decorate a bookmark” table at lunches for a week. They made the blank bookmarks and worked at the table assisting peers in bookmark designs. They combined forces with a few other groups and raised over $140! Many supplies were purchased, bagged and donated to the local homeless shelter.

This group of second graders with a love of reading wanted to spread the joy to students that had a challenge reading. They chose to raise money to purchase books that offered both print and braille for preschool children with vision impairments. They joined forces with a few other groups to run a “decorate a bookmark” table at school during lunch. Before they could sell the bookmarks, however, they had to make a few hundred corner bookmarks. They got really good at this! Along with their CCSR peers, they were able to raise over $140! The students then went online to locate just the right books. They ordered some great books which will be donated to a Medford preschooler with a vision disability.

This group of students also wanted to help the homeless and wanted to combine gardening with their help. They chose several vegetables to grow that they started in school and planned to move to the community garden behind the McGlynn in the spring. They consistently watered and cared for sprouts that continued to grow and thrive. The vegetables got moved outside in the spring and will be harvested when they are full grown. The vegetables will be given to a local agency providing food for less fortunate individuals.

Inspired by the students who collected donations for local animal shelters earlier in the year, this group decided to do another fundraiser for local animal shelters. Using the money collected from our bookmark-decorating fundraiser and our “penny wars” fundraiser, these students purchased a variety of high-need items for local animal shelters.

The students in this group wanted to brag a little about how wonderful they think Medford is! They researched multiple categories of things which would be of interest to children in Medford and put together a flyer that will be made available to other children. They included offerings at the library, parks, and schools in Medford, restaurants and fast food places that would appeal to children. They also listed different sports you could participate in Medford as well as locations kids go to swim or skate. And, of course, they included ice cream places!

CCSR students at the Andrews stayed after school once a week to sell snacks and successfully raised $100 for Kitty Connection in Medford. These funds helped the non-profit organization to care for the animals in the shelter in hopes for them to be adopted in a forever home. The extra $50 raised was donated to the Red Cross in Boston.

Students Jenny Lu and Joseph Schmidt paired up with students Liam and Jasmine at the Brooks Elementary School in order to help them with their project, In Honor of Slaves. Many slaves were buried in the Salem Street Burying Ground without a proper grave marker to remember them by. The team put up a commemorative marker and held a memorial service for the forgotten slaves, during which poems were read to commemorate the slaves.

@HumansofMedford on Instagram is mostly focused on individuals in the community of Medford who have been historically marginalized, or are community leaders. Ryleigh takes pictures of the people we interview, posting those pictures to the page along with a short quote from the person’s interview, just like @HumansofNY. The stories these people tell on our page range from why these people love their jobs, to how they met their life partners, to participating in a workers’ strike. @HumansofMedford was made to highlight the diversity of perspectives and lives of our fellow community members, and there are new posts every week! Be sure to check out Humans of Medford and follow them on Instagram! Suggestions for interviews are also appreciated.

As part of the Medford High School Tennis Team, Amishika, Shubhecchha, and Sarah attend practices, trainings, and competitions at a local park near the high school known as Dugger Park. The only problem about the park is that there are no benches, nor any other sitting areas besides the dirt and broken concrete surrounding the tennis courts. They hope to build benches at Dugger Park, and to later expand the project to other local parks in Medford.

The Black Female Empowerment Workshop provided the young black community in Medford with mentors and role models. The workshop consisted of a series of panels with three successful black women. These speakers talked about their life: the struggles they have faced and the obstacles they had to overcome. With their project workshop, Sarah, Ivy, Kaela, and Gemma hoped that they achieved their goal of empowering the young black women in the Medford community.

The Medford Science for Shooting STARS (Science, Technology, and Applied Research) is a STEM enrichment program geared towards exposing local elementary school students to fundamental concepts of biology, physics, and chemistry through hands-on experimentation and demonstrations. After noticing very few opportunities to explore science in elementary and middle school, Maha and Sophie decided to open Medford’s chapter of the STARS program, especially aimed to help young females and underrepresented minorities explore science.

From consistently finding himself thinking about why people live in turmoil with one another and how the world has gradually grown more hostile, Aaron Olapade was determined to make that unending cycle of life a little better through Medford High Speaks and Listens, a discussion based program. He wanted the students of Medford High to communicate with one another and to have a better understanding about what we, as a community, can do to assist each other with their high school careers. As a person of color, Aaron was concerned about issues in our country and about those who have been underrepresented- leading him to envision making the world a place where people are willing and able to treat all people with the same amount of respect that they would with their family or close friend.

The Hunger Project uses local churches as venues for food drives, after which Oxfam Hunger Banquets are held, where members of the community attend and eat for free. The banquet includes a simulation on how different classes of people eat around the world, encouraging participants to think about world hunger and poverty. Through the Hunger Project, Joe, Aldo, Marco, and Harrison also hope to strengthen bonds within the Medford community between people of all backgrounds and ages.

Passionate about the topic of restorative justice, Maya Gomez-Coultas began the Restorative Justice Initiative in the 2016-2017 school year, aiming to promote the idea of repairing harm caused by conflicts rather than focusing on punishments. The initiative is working on building a guide for teachers to understand the principles of restorative justice and implementing them in the classroom. Restorative Justice provides an opportunity for students to talk about all sides of the conflict while still being held accountable for their actions. Maya wants to focus on how each student feels and their personal situations. Her program promotes listening and trust, as well as a better environment for the school. Using restorative justice, she believes, will lessen the risk of future conflict and will benefit everyone in the school.

As Seen Through Medford is a book created by Justin Tseng, Sarah Abdulkerim, Tamar Brandes-Krug, and Felipe Oliveira in order to explore the topic of stereotyping in Medford. Members of the Medford community are interviewed about stereotypes they face- whether it is based on race, gender, sexuality, disability, etc. A portrait is paired with a shortened version of the interview in order to better help the reader visualize the person about whom they are reading. This serves to humanize the subjects and better convey their stories. The title sets Medford and its society as a lens through which people view others. This book is important to Medford, especially in such times such as now, because stereotypes hinder societal progress and this book shows how even a forward-looking, diverse city has its flaws as well.

The Crayon Project sent school supplies down to schools in Guatemala in order to make it easier for families to send their children to school. Niamh, Haley, and Courtney felt grateful for the educational opportunities they have as teenagers in America, and wanted to extend that same opportunity to children who do not have the resources at hand. They raised awareness for these children through their drive.

Tech Time is a project started by Sandra Figueroa and Meghan Bouchie. The program takes place at the senior center in Medford Square, the Council on Aging. They meet once a month with the seniors and help them use their electronic devices such as phones, laptops, and tablets. As time goes on, technology advances and it is important to keep everyone updated. Many seniors want to keep in touch with their family members through Facebook or email, or simply want to know how to use their new phones. Tech Time helps seniors figure out their electronic devices, and in return, the members get to hear their stories and make friends. Sandra and Meghan chose to do this project because they have seen how their own family members have struggled with new technology and thought that they should help other people in the community.

Students walked behind the Andrews Middle School to the path along the Mystic River. There, students participated in an activity that tests and builds on knowledge of their local ecosystem at the same time doing physical activity that keeps students engaged and learning in the activity. This lesson’s main goal was to inform students of their natural surroundings and make them not afraid to explore, Also, with this newfound curiosity, students will want to protect the forests and will appreciate the gift that we have right outside our door. In the classroom, the students had a lesson about the transfer of energy in living things. When participants headed outside, they drew and took down observations of the organisms they found along the walk. As a class, in a span of fifteen minutes, they found common organisms like garlic mustard, an invasive plant, as well as rarer species like a juvenile peregrine falcon. When the class went back inside, they discussed what they saw and talked about where these organisms would fit in a food chain. At the end, the Mystic River Student Interactive Activity encouraged students to continue to visit the Mystic River and the Middlesex Fells.

The Selfie Project is an extension of the Dove Campaign. It is a scaled-back version of the Selfie Project that was done at Medford City Hall in 2013. Its goal is to promote the beauty and diversity of Medford High School and to show that you don’t need a filter to be beautiful; you are beautiful just they way you are. During the 2016-2017 school year, the project was completed at Medford High School byElizabeth Carey and Luiza Barbosa. Students could put their selfie up on a board in the main lobby while other students could write nice complimentary post-it notes next to the selfies. In the 2017-2018 year, Aniya Crump, Joey Leonforte, and Courtney Cutillo took over the Selfie Project.

Socks and Gloves were given to students in need at the Columbus. The remanding donations were donated to Cradles to Crayons.

Philip Catanzano raised $120 for American Red Cross. He organized a Harry Potter Book Raffle during the Columbus Elementary School’s Literacy Night.

Sophia is a baby girl who was born with a rare neurological disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Her condition encouraged her parents to start The Sophia's Cure Foundation, dedicated to assisting research in finding a cure for SMA and helping to support families affected by the disease. With Sophia's birthday coming up, 17 CCSR students made birthday cards to send to her.

Brooks School 4th graders Travers Moodie and Benjamin Tuco are student leaders and members of the Brooks Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility. They started a Homeless Supply Drive to benefit the Boston and surrounding area’s homeless. The supplies were organized by the students and donated to a local homeless shelter for distribution. The items collected were shampoo, toothpaste/toothbrushes, deodorant, lotion, soap, lip balm, brushes/combs, socks, lightweight snacks (granola bars), small water bottles, hand sanitizer, scarves/hats/gloves, small first aid kit, and mints/gum.

Brooks School third graders Valerie Bzomowski and Carina Lewis are student leaders and members of the Brooks Center of Citizenship and Social Responsibility. They asked Mayor Muccini Burke for her advice for a worthwhile community project. The mayor suggested welcoming home our returning Medford veterans. The girls embraced this idea with open arms. Each month the girls receive a list of the returning Medford veterans. They visit each soldier and welcome them home with an American flag, personally written note, a box of homemade cookies and a big heartfelt thank you.

Brooks School third graders Lila Graham, Margaret Owens, and Norah Berson are student leaders and members of the Brooks Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility. They are in the process of constructing a Little Free Library for the Brooks School property. The library is a “give a book, take a book” free book exchange. Anyone may take a book or bring a book to share. The wooden box library will undoubtedly bring our community even closer together and allow everyone a chance to share their favorite books. The library is scheduled to have a grand opening in the Spring of 2018.

Brooks School fourth graders Anna Schlenker, Kaitlyn Downs, Lila Armit, and Mia Armit are student leaders and members of the Brooks Center for Citizenship and Social Responsibility. They organized a fundraiser to benefit the Boston Children’s Hospital. The girls held an amazing bake sale on March 11th at the Running of the Leprechauns 5K Road Race. They sold delicious homemade cupcakes and cookies. The girls sold out of every item and raised a grand total of $232 for the hospital! They had a blast participating and are already talking about doing it again next year.

Nertha and Tahjanae look up to the female role models at the McGlynn Middle School, their teachers. These girls are young, mature and exploring what it means to be independent thinkers. They’ve had three years watching their female teachers model what it means to be strong women and want to bring their awesomeness to the community! Over the course of the school year, they have met individually with these strong women and had in-depth conversations about what it means to be a strong woman. They are compiling these interviews and creating a book on these inspirational ladies.

A drive was organized for gently used books to be donated for children in hospitals. On the left, Ishita, Tosia, Anayah, Davianna, and Brianna pose with a collection of the donated books. On the right, Sydnee, Emma, Xavier, and Soha sort through the donated books in order to prepare them for delivery.

Letters of appreciation were written and sent to servicemen and women in order to thank them for serving our country. Here, Carissa, Abbey, Jemimah, and Emma have finished their letters of thanks and are ready to send them out.

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.

CCSR senior Stella Eliopoulus's project was to drive donated goods all the way down to Houston, Texas in order to help the victims impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

@HumansofMedford on Instagram is mostly focused on individuals in the community of Medford who have been historically marginalized, or are community leaders. Ryleigh takes pictures of the people we interview, posting those pictures to the page along with a short quote from the person’s interview, just like @HumansofNY. The stories these people tell on our page range from why these people love their jobs, to how they met their life partners, to participating in a workers’ strike. @HumansofMedford was made to highlight the diversity of perspectives and lives of our fellow community members, and there are new posts every week! Be sure to check out Humans of Medford and follow them on Instagram! Suggestions for interviews are also appreciated.

The Black Female Empowerment Workshop provided the young black community in Medford with mentors and role models. The workshop consisted of a series of panels with three successful black women. These speakers talked about their life: the struggles they have faced and the obstacles they had to overcome. With their project workshop, Sarah, Ivy, Kaela, and Gemma hoped that they achieved their goal of empowering the young black women in the Medford community.

Passionate about the topic of restorative justice, Maya Gomez-Coultas began the Restorative Justice Initiative in the 2016-2017 school year, aiming to promote the idea of repairing harm caused by conflicts rather than focusing on punishments. The initiative is working on building a guide for teachers to understand the principles of restorative justice and implementing them in the classroom. Restorative Justice provides an opportunity for students to talk about all sides of the conflict while still being held accountable for their actions. Maya wants to focus on how each student feels and their personal situations. Her program promotes listening and trust, as well as a better environment for the school. Using restorative justice, she believes, will lessen the risk of future conflict and will benefit everyone in the school.

As Seen Through Medford is a book created by Justin Tseng, Sarah Abdulkerim, Tamar Brandes-Krug, and Felipe Oliveira in order to explore the topic of stereotyping in Medford. Members of the Medford community are interviewed about stereotypes they face- whether it is based on race, gender, sexuality, disability, etc. A portrait is paired with a shortened version of the interview in order to better help the reader visualize the person about whom they are reading. This serves to humanize the subjects and better convey their stories. The title sets Medford and its society as a lens through which people view others. This book is important to Medford, especially in such times such as now, because stereotypes hinder societal progress and this book shows how even a forward-looking, diverse city has its flaws as well.

Tech Time is a project started by Sandra Figueroa and Meghan Bouchie. The program takes place at the senior center in Medford Square, the Council on Aging. They meet once a month with the seniors and help them use their electronic devices such as phones, laptops, and tablets. As time goes on, technology advances and it is important to keep everyone updated. Many seniors want to keep in touch with their family members through Facebook or email, or simply want to know how to use their new phones. Tech Time helps seniors figure out their electronic devices, and in return, the members get to hear their stories and make friends. Sandra and Meghan chose to do this project because they have seen how their own family members have struggled with new technology and thought that they should help other people in the community.

The Selfie Project is an extension of the Dove Campaign. It is a scaled-back version of the Selfie Project that was done at Medford City Hall in 2013. Its goal is to promote the beauty and diversity of Medford High School and to show that you don’t need a filter to be beautiful; you are beautiful just they way you are. During the 2016-2017 school year, the project was completed at Medford High School byElizabeth Carey and Luiza Barbosa. Students could put their selfie up on a board in the main lobby while other students could write nice complimentary post-it notes next to the selfies. In the 2017-2018 year, Aniya Crump, Joey Leonforte, and Courtney Cutillo took over the Selfie Project.