WPY UPDATES

2024 Partner Celebration Recap

Community partners, students, funders, and the WPY staff and Board of Directors gathered at Bentley University last week for our 2024 Partner Celebration. This event brought together close to 200 supporters to learn more about Waltham Partnership for Youth, celebrate successes and uplift partnerships from the past year, and to hear from a student speaker and keynote speakers.

We are excited to share that we raised more than $73,000 to support our meaningful youth programming. You can hear directly from our student speaker, Mirembe Bengui, about the impacts of WPY programming in her own life, in the video of her inspiring speech below.

Thank you to our sponsors, guests, and everyone who purchased or donated a ticket. We are so grateful for your support! To see more photos from the event, visit our Facebook page.

Career Exploration & Training (CET)

Connecting students to life-altering career development opportunities through meaningful paid internship experiences.

Pictured above: WPY partnered with Waltham High School and the Waltham Educators Association to host a Future Teacher Signing Day earlier this month.

May has been an incredibly busy month for the Carer Exploration & Training (CET) team! WPY's Roses in Concrete mentoring program hosted a closing ceremony; mentors compiled an end-of-the-year video with encouragement, favorite memories, and advice for their mentees. The mentors also gave their mentees roses as a reminder that despite adverse conditions, they will continue to thrive. Special thank you to the team at the Brandeis Intercultural Center and the Department of Student Engagement for partnering with us this year!

The WPY Teen Mental Health Alliance (TMHA) completed its school-year internship program by hosting student-run activities for Mental Health Awareness Week. TMHA interns chose to address student stress in their activities, after learning that 30.2% of Waltham youth experience frequent, overwhelming stress (Youth Risk Behavior Survey). The student-run activities included slime making, wellness workouts, a mindfulness ceramics class, journaling, and a "Stress Survival Guide" workshop from Families for Depression Awareness. We are proud of all 19 Teen Mental Health First Aiders who completed the internship!

In partnership with Waltham High School and the Waltham Educators Association, WPY's Educators of Tomorrow Program hosted our second annual Future Teacher Signing Day! Future Teacher Signing Day is an event endorsed by DESE that encourages schools and districts to recognize graduating seniors pursuing a career in education. The Waltham High School Principal, Senior Class Associate Principal, school committee members, Mayor Jeanette McCarthy, and Educators of Tomorrow Specialist, Mary Krathwohl, all shared inspiring remarks on the value of our future educators and the journey ahead for the seniors.

Additionally, all education-based internships concluded. The Bilingual Mentoring Program at McDevitt Middle School had a fantastic, student-run celebration. The Spanish for Educators Conversation Partners ended their internships with a presentation at the Lasell Connected Learning Symposium, where they shared their experiences and highlights of teaching their teachers Spanish this past year.

Finally, the CET team has been working hard on the Summer Internship Program placement process. Final placements were announced to students on Monday, May 27th. Next up is hiring paperwork and orientation! 

Wraparound Waltham

Collaborating to create a community of belonging and opportunity for newcomer immigrant students and their families.

Pictured above: The Waltham Welcome Center hosted a Spanish-speaking information session about Upward Bound, which supports first generation and low-income students with post-graduate motivation and planning.

This month, our Welcome Center hosted an Info Session for Spanish-speaking parents of rising 9th graders and high school students, to learn about the Upward Bound program. Upward Bound supports first generation and low-income students by providing them with the skills and motivation necessary to complete high school and to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. We were thrilled to have 30 parents/guardians attend the info session and learn about this impactful program. As a Summer Internship host site for 8 WPY interns this summer, we were excited to partner with Upward Bound in this new way!

Last month, representatives from DESE (the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) and teachers/staff of their SLIFE (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education) Community of Practice visited McDevitt Middle School to see the McDevitt Newcomer Programming in action. The Welcome Class, Needs Assessment process, and Welcome Center are a key part of the Newcomer Program at McDevitt, so school leadership asked our Wraparound Middle School Program Coordinator, Dave LeBlanc, to participate in the visit. Dave participated in a panel presentation that also featured three newcomer middle school students, all of whom have been in the Welcome Class. He also served as a resource for visitors throughout the day.

After the visit, one of our school partners shared an email from a representative from DESE's Office of Language Acquisition which said the following: "The program you’re building for newcomers/SLIFE at McDevitt is really powerful on so many levels – from the intentionality around instruction and co-teaching, to the thoughtful way you progress monitor to ensure that students can move flexibly and get individualized supports, to the wraparound supports provided to students and families through the Waltham Partnership for Youth and the Welcome Center."

We are proud to partner with McDevitt’s teachers, administration, and students on this important initiative, to ensure that we create a community of opportunity and belonging for all Waltham students!

WPY Featured at Newton-Wellesley Hospital's Gala

Watch WPY's student, Amy Elias Hernandez, featured in Newton-Wellesley Hospital's Community Collaborative video below!

Opportunities for Youth and

Community Members:

Plugged In 2024 - Summer Music Opportunities

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