Welcome New Team Members
A warm welcome to the new members of the Girls Inc. team:
- Abigail Duncan, Health Educator
- Rebecca Lewis, Community Coordinator for Substance Use Prevention Programs
- Rebeca Bonilla, Fund Development Manager
- Carmen Garcia, Front Desk Assistant
- Natalie Vilorio, Program Specialist
Boston School-Age Program
Ivanna Solano, Director of Boston Programs, reports that programming at the P.A. Shaw Innovation School in Dorchester is well underway. Offerings there for girls in grades 2-4 focus on their socio-emotional learning, leadership skills development, and much more. Most recently, the “In Our Own Hands” programs have introduced the children to practicing leadership on an individual level and at large, and understanding what it takes to make a difference and participate in social change.
Lynn School-Age Program
- In November, the School-Age Program celebrated gratitude by having a Thanksgiving feast for all the girls and their families. Board members, Girls Inc. friends, and staff came together to make sure the feast was a success. And yes, there were even leftovers!
- The literacy program is doing wonderful work, thanks to the dedicated volunteers and educators who read alongside the girls, teaching them that a book is a gift you can always open again and again.
- Family Nights are up and running and will continue throughout the school year. Most recently, we highlighted the fall season and giving thanks.
Middle School Program
The Odyssey afterschool program has a few new offerings designed to boost the girls’ confidence and interest in math. Our Salem State University social work intern, Abigail Ritchie, is conducting a program on self-esteem with the sixth graders. And we are working on a financial literacy program with friends from Deloitte and Brotherhood Credit Union.
Also of note:
- The girls participated in several engineering activities and science experiments at this year’s STEM Week Celebration.
- Family Night was a great success, with girls and their family members participating in fall-themed projects.
- Laury Cadet and Cindy Nguyen, dental students from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS) conducted workshops on dental care and careers in dentistry.
High School/Teen Program
- The four peer leadership programs, Part of the Solution (POS), Beach Sisters, Teen Health Ambassadors, and STEM, are delivering weekly programs to the middle school girls.
- The teen Health Ambassadors completed a period product drive and collected enough feminine hygiene products to deliver to three Lynn schools.
- There are many new mentors this year, and we are offering in-person and virtual mentoring.
- The Career Path job readiness program features career panels of professional women from Liberty Mutual, JP Morgan Chase, and more. (We are looking for women with careers in medicine for a winter career panel. If interested, please contact Lena Crowley, (781) 592-9744, x.213.)
- Rebecca Lewis, our new Community Coordinator for Substance Use Prevention, has been working with Wendy Kent and Candice McClory, consultants to the Lynn Public Health Department, to oversee a coalition from local cities and towns to implement strategies to address teen substance abuse.
- Informed and In Charge, our healthy sexuality curriculum, is being offered in all the middle and high schools in Lynn, addressing an important need in the community.
- Girls Inc. of Lynn is now delivering a STEM program to girls at Lynn Classical High School. The teens designed a Rube Goldberg machine, created scribble-bots, and had an egg drop contest.