WPY UPDATES

WPY's 2024 Annual Meeting - Recap

Thank you to the 60+ community members who joined us for our 2024 Annual Meeting at Abcam! We enjoyed an uplifting morning as we discussed our shared goal of creating opportunities for local youth, celebrated our favorite programming moments from the past year, and welcomed new and familiar faces to our first event of the 2024-2025 programming year.

We also enjoyed this year’s student speaker, recent WPY alumna Francine Farel, who underscored WPY’s impact in her own life.

“I feel honored to serve as a proud example of what WPY has done and can do for the Waltham youth community. Now, I’m starting my first year at Boston College with a clear aspiration in mind, with a drive that wasn’t clearly there four years ago, with the knowledge to continue improving myself, and with a passion in science that's now stronger than ever.”

We’d like to extend a tremendous thank you to our partners at Abcam, especially Greta Lindberg, who hosts us so thoughtfully each year, and Markus Lusser, Abcam’s newest President, who shared opening remarks at our event.

Check out the photos and video below to learn more about our Annual Meeting!

If you missed our Annual Meeting, you can view the full program in the embedded video below. To only watch Francine's speech, fast forward to 32:04.

Career Exploration & Training (CET)

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

Pictured above: Summer Teen Mental Health Alliance interns presenting their mental health community project. The Teen Mental Health Alliance is hiring two cohorts of interns for this upcoming school year!

Now that the 2024-2025 academic year is in session, the Career Exploration & Training team has been working hard to finalize the School-Year Internship Program and Career Exploration Activities. We're excited to announce that the School-Year Internship Program is OPEN!

We are hiring for the following positions:

• Teen Mental Health Alliance Peer Associates (Two cohorts: Nov 2024-Feb 2025, Feb 2025-May 2025)
• Bilingual Mentors for McDevitt Mentoring Program (Nov 2024-May 2025)
• Teaching Assistants for Adult Language Learners (Oct 2024-May 2025)

Students new to WPY apply with this link. Returning students, check your email for your personalized link. All students must submit a resume and cover letter. In the cover letter, please state which position you are applying for. Also, explain why you are interested in our program, what you hope to learn from it, and what skills/passions/interests you can contribute to it. 

Wraparound Waltham

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

Pictured above: Welcome Center Coordinator, Marlen Godinez, representing Waltham Partnership for Youth at Waltham Day.



The Wraparound team has been thrilled to begin our partnership with the new Valor High School. Wraparound Senior Program Coordinator, Alexa Cuellar, and Welcome Center Coordinator, Marlen Godinez, have been offering WPY office hours for Valor students twice per week. They have been building relationships with students and working with Valor High School's guidance counselor to coordinate community referrals. Starting in October, Alexa and Marlen will be conducting needs assessments with each Valor High School student.

Meanwhile, the Wraparound Middle School Program kicked off the first Welcome Class of the year at McDevitt Middle School! Newcomer sixth grade students participated in an empathy-building activity where they learned how it's completely normal for students (and adults!) to experience challenges finding a classroom, understanding a schedule, and meeting other people for the first time. The Welcome Class group discussed how they weren't alone, they could ask students and trusted adults for help, and that they could help other students experiencing similar challenges, especially since they know what it feels like. 



Opportunities for Youth and

Community Members:

Families for Depression Awareness - Free Webinar

Families for Depression Awareness is presenting a free webinar—Why It's Hard to Get Care and Get Well: Breaking Barriers to Good Mental Health—on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM ET.

What's stopping your loved one from getting what they need to be mentally healthy? The long list of potential barriers to care can be discouraging. Stay hopeful! With the right information and support, you and your loved one can work through them together. FFDA's upcoming webinar will cover pressing issues and equip you with practical tools to navigate the complex world of mental health care.

Take the Mount Auburn Hospital Community Health Needs Assessment!

Help Mount Auburn Hospital improve the health of our community! Mount Auburn Hospital as part of Beth Israel Lahey Health is doing a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) to learn about the issues affecting people in our communities. This anonymous 10-minute survey will help us understand what you think about quality of life and available resources so we can improve patient care and community services. The survey is available to take in multiple languages.

Complete the survey for a chance at winning a $100 Visa gift card, and please take the survey by November 1st!

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