WPY UPDATES

Donate Now for Giving Tuesday!

We need your help to create a community of belonging and opportunity for Waltham youth

Help us get a head start and donate now to our Giving Tuesday campaign!

Your donation today will help us unlock an additional $10,000 in funding. If we reach 150 donations by Giving Tuesday on December 3rd, The Village Bank will donate $10,000 to our campaign.

Visit Common Good Co. on Dec. 5th!

10% of sales will be donated to WPY!

Stop by Common Good Co. on Thursday, December 5th! Our friends at Common Good Co. will be donating 10% of sales made on December 5th to Waltham Partnership for Youth.

We're also excited to be featured on Common Good Co.'s Giving Wall! Between now and the end of December, ask for the "Common Good Coffee" so that you can make an extra donation to WPY.

Common Good Co. is located at 419 Moody St., Waltham.

Career Exploration & Training (CET)

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

Pictured above: WPY Teen Mental Health Alliance interns acting out various scenarios as part of their Teen Mental Health First Aid certification.

November marked the official start of the School-Year Internship Program! 22 high school interns started working across three different placements:

• Teaching Assistants at Waltham Public Schools' ESL Night Classes for Adults: High school interns are serving as aides for Waltham adults taking ESL Night Classes. These interns are gaining valuable exposure to adult education methodologies and intercultural communication, and have an opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the lives of Waltham community members. 

• Mentors with McDevitt Bilingual Mentorship Program: This mentorship program is a collaboration between Waltham Partnership for Youth and McDevitt Middle School, with bilingual Waltham High School students mentoring 7th-8th grade McDevitt students to prepare them for the transition to high school. This year, mentors are gaining experience in lesson planning, facilitation, and leadership. Additionally, they are learning more about various careers in education.

• Teen Mental Health Alliance (TMHA) Associates and Peer Leaders with WPY: A community of interns is being trained in Teen Mental Health First Aid and will serve as mental health first-aiders in Waltham. This year, WPY's TMHA is offering two cohorts (Fall and Spring) rather than one, with the goal of offering more engaging experiences for interns, and training double the amount of Teen Mental Health First-Aiders.

The Roses in Concrete (RIC) mentorship and leadership program for students of color has had two meetings so far this fall, including a session about the college admissions process, led by a former RIC mentor and current Brandeis Admissions Counselor. Mentor and mentee pairs also meet 1:1 outside of these monthly workshops, discussing everything from their homework to what it's like to be a first gen college student. It's been so fun to see their relationships blossom, and we're excited to continue supporting this growth into the new year!

Join Us for our Alumni Winter Gathering!

Calling all WPY alumni! Our Career Exploration & Training team is hosting an alumni reunion on Tuesday, December 17th, at the new Waltham High School. Don't miss this chance to catch up with fellow alumni and staff, tour the new high school, and enjoy games and snacks! RSVP with the personalized link in your inboxes.

Wraparound Waltham

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

Pictured above: WPY Wraparound staff members Marlen Godinez and Alexa Cuellar have been meeting with Valor High School students to conduct needs assessments and offer resources.

November was a month of relationship-building for our Wraparound team! At McDevitt and Kennedy middle schools, our Middle School Wraparound Coordinator, Dave, began conducting needs assessments with students to make sure that students have all basic needs such as food, housing, medical services, WiFi access, and more. Dave has also continued to lead Welcome Classes at both middle schools. In a recent Welcome Class at Kennedy Middle School, students identified support circles and trusted adults inside and outside of school. Doc Wayne after school sports-based therapy sessions started up at Kennedy this month, encouraging newcomer students to build community and mental wellness through soccer.

At Valor High School, our staff has increased office hours from two days per week to four days a week to ensure that we are building relationships and conducting needs assessments with all students. Wraparound Senior Program Coordinator, Alexa, has also been hosting office hours at Waltham High School twice a week to meet with students in person and to meet with school partners. Individual therapy and our support group for newcomer high school students, both led by Children's Charter, started this month. The support group will continue to grow as WHS guidance counselors refer students to join the group.

The Welcome Center recently hosted Massachusetts Advocates for Children for a Basic Rights in Education workshop. Topics included Massachusetts school registration guidelines, student rights for English Language Learners under the McKinney-Vento Act, and more. Visit the "Opportunities for Community Members" section down below to learn about next month's events at the Welcome Center!



WPY's Alexa Cuellar at New Profit's "The Well Conference"

Wraparound's Senior Program Coordinator, Alexa Cuellar, recently attended New Profit's 2024 "The Well Conference" in Baltimore as part of a prestigious cohort of New Profit Emerging Leaders. This group included young adults with demonstrated leadership potential in the areas of advocacy, community organizing, intergenerational movement-building, and storytelling, and with a concentrated interest in New Profit’s primary issue areas: Education, Economic Mobility, and/or Democracy.

Alexa was invited to emcee a panel alongside another emerging leader during The Well Conference's "Open M.I.C. Night". This panel discussed how to connect and collaborate across differences by exploring practices and methods that help break biases and find points of commonality. We are so proud of Alexa for representing Waltham Partnership for Youth on a national level!

Opportunities for Youth and

Community Members:

Meet with National Grid Customer Advocates

Are you a National Grid customer? Customer Advocates from National Grid will be available Thursday, December 5th, from 3:30-5:30pm at McDevitt Middle School, to meet 1:1 with Waltham community members in English and Spanish. During their visit, you will be able to discuss and manage your energy bill and also find assistance with discounted rates, payment plans, budget plans, and the Arrears Management Program (AMP). Please refer to the flyer for documents that you should bring. No appointment is required.

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