@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.

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.