Hennigan Learns About, Promotes Recycling

A Hennigan student examines a recycling bin. 

The James W. Hennigan School in Jamaica Plain hosted Mark Moniz as their guest speaker on Tuesday May 14th.  The SCORES team invited Mark to discuss their service project, recycling. Mark worked in the MassDEP (Department of Environmental Protection) before joining SCORES two years ago. 

Mark Moniz answers students questions about recycling. 

Students peppered him with questions about what can be recycled, what happens to their recycling once it is picked up and what can be reused. The team learned about different methods of recycling such as composting, returning plastic bags to stores and returning electrical goods. Students also learned that recycling saves us water, uses less toxic chemicals than making new items, creates jobs and helps protect the environment around us.

The Hennigan team listens to Mark discuss composting and recycling. 

Students designed posters to promote good recycling practices. They will hold a school wide clean up soon and continue promoting recycling in their school and in their homes after the semester is over. They had a great time and had more questions and comments than time would allow! Thanks to Mark and for all the inquisitive students at Hennigan!

JFK to fundraise for the One Fund

The John F Kennedy School will host a soccer day celebration at their school.  They will sell fruit cups and donate the money that they raise to The One Fund.  The students plan to use the Soccer Fun Day to come together as a school  and as a community and recognize their strength.  As in years past, the JFK students will challenge the teachers and parents to a scrimmage.

The JFK warming up with Coach Robinson leading  the session

SCORES member, Coach Ben, buying a fruit cup from Coach Tia.  Parents and staff came to support the fundraiser and play a little soccer on a beautiful day.

And the game!

Students have written poems as a response to the marathon bombings.

PEACE

People communicating together

Effort in knowing others

Attend in something big

Caring for Boston

Excellence in friendship

CARE 

Comfort others

A great community

Respect one another

Expect something great

LOVE

Live, love laugh

Optimist spirit

Vivid spirit

Excellence in love

HOPE

Humble

Of course Boston will stay strong

People sharing, caring and loving

Evident love

-Alizah D

'Blooming Clippers' Get Growing

                                              

Freya Hoffman-Terry visited the McKay K-8 School in East Boston to talk to the class about one of her hobbies, gardening.  Students had prepared questions on index cards and they had many questions about gardening.  She showed the team a map of the Somerville Growing Center, where she volunteers and passed small plants around for students.  

The fabulous questions included: What is mulch?  How tall can the tallest flower get to be?  When did you start gardening and why?  Which do you like better: soccer or gardening?  What are your favorite flowers?  What kinds of plants are easiest to grow?

                                                

Students then showed her the area that they planned to plant and invited her to the final planting. These pictures are of the planting day.  A follow up clean up day is planned, as well as watering duties for the season!

           

Edison Joins the America SCORES Team

                                    

The Edison K-8 School in Brighton is the latest school to team up with America SCORES. We are very proud of the great sportsmanship that they have demonstrated.  They are still recruiting for the girls team, but have done a great job playing with all the other SCORES teams and accepting girls from other teams for a friendly scrimmage.  The Edison has a brand new turf soccer field and they have had a blast practicing there and playing games.

Keep up the great work Edison!

Mattahunt Reaches Out to the Elderly

Messiah and Lunise pose with their awards and certificates. 

At Mattahunt Elementary School in Mattapan the America SCORES poet-athletes have been hard at work on their project 'How Our Community Grows'. The students are hoping to increase access to healthy foods for the Mattapan community and to link the elderly with area youth through gardening.

After making posters and inviting a guest speaker help them research gardening the team hopes to pick a site and get started with bulbs and seeds the week of May 6th.

 Two students from Mattahunt, Messiah and Lunise, also auditioned for the National Poetry Slam and did an awesome job representing their school! Click on the video below to watch Messiah read his poem "I Want to be an Athlete".

Henry Grew Raises Awareness of Cancer Research

Henry Grew students at last years Poetry Slam. 

America SCORES students from the Henry Grew Elementary School in Hyde Park have decided that their service learning project for this semester will raise support and awareness for cancer research. Their project, titled 'Wear to Show You Care', aims to raise money for cancer research through a variety of creative fundraisers.

The team plans to hold three separate fundraisers, a 'Hat Day', a 'Think Pink Day' and a 'Fitness Day', with the proceeds from all of these going towards cancer research. In mid-May the team hopes to hold a party to celebrate their success!

The Grew Cougars had an exciting match with Mattahunt. 

Two of the poet-athletes from Grew, Jamely and Jamal, also auditioned for the National Poetry Slam and did a phenomenal job. Read on below to see Jamal's excellent poem "My Future". Great job Grew!

Grew students Jamely and Jamal with their awards and certificates. 

My Future

By: Jamal

My future is being rich and famous

Intelligent and strong

Overcoming every obstacle that comes in my way

That makes me strong

Learning from others and my mistakes

That makes me intelligent

Now I’m as courageous as a lion

I’m as reliable as a caring dog

When I grow up I’ll be a scientist,

Upgrading the world with my discoveries

I’ll go to college

And get more knowledge

I’m as determined as a bull trying to

Rush at a red flag as fast as he can

I’m as reliable as a goldfish that you tell your secrets to

I’m as physically strong as a rhino

Testing his limits

My mind is as busy as the streets of New York

Sometimes my mind works as fast as you would drive on a highway

This is me- today!

Hennigan Elementary Gets to Work

Hennigan girls practice teamwork during project planning. 

The students at Hennigan Elementary in Jamaica Plains have made their project concept this year to clean up their school and community and to educate others about recycling. Their project title is 'Get up! and Clean Up!' and their objective is to pick up trash in the area around their school and make attempts to cover up graffiti.

                    Stephan and Jason write out their ideas during project development. 

The team plans to hold fundraisers throughout the semester to help with the cost of cleanup supplies and also hopes to develop a recycling skit involving poetry. There are also plans to write letters to the school principal, teachers, and other members of the community to get the word out about the project and to ask for support. 

A Hennigan student listens while others share their ideas for  the team project. 

From the looks of these photos, it's shaping up to be an exciting semester with America SCORES at Hennigan! 

The Hennigan boys team brainstorms. 

Mildred Avenue Emphasizes Health and Hygeine

A Mildred Avenue student shows off a poster with fitness tips. 

The America SCORES team at Mildred Avenue K-8 School in Mattapan have made it their goal this semester to focus on promoting healthy habits among their fellow schoolmates. With a project titled 'Healthy Habits, Healthy Minds', the students plan to raise awareness about the importance of good hygiene, oral hygiene, and good nutrition.

They will also take steps to emphasize the negative consequences of smoking.

Students at last years America SCORES Poetry Slam. 

The team has plans to host a guest speaker from the Healthy Smiles dental organization to help draw attention to the importance of oral hygeine. They also have plans to create a bulletin board and posters to help emphasizes the importance of these issues to other students.

John Marshall Students form "The Clean-Up Crew"

A John Marshall student helps with brainstorming. 

The America SCORES team at the John Marshall School in Dorchester have decided that their service learning project for the Spring 2013 semester will involve cleaning up litter and other debris from their school yard. Their project, titled "The Clean-Up Crew!" has a goal of making the school a happy and clean place.

Students ask questions to Mrs. Finley. 

For the week of May 3 the team plans to gather supplies for the cleanup and to make a poster to let others know when the cleanup will be so that they can come and help. They are planning to do the cleanup on May 15th!

Donald P. shares his ideas about how to improve the school yard. 

Two students at John Marshall are excited to share their ideas!

OGPS Eyes Composting and Recycling

America SCORES students, including Jyda from OGPS, at the White House. 

Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School (OGPS) is a Boston Public School located in Roxbury, Massachusetts. The America SCORES participants at OGPS have an action plan for this semester titled “The Re-Comp” which aims to start a recycling and composting program at their school.

The team plans to invite guest speaker Dan Chamberlin of the CitySprouts organization to speak before they present their project idea to the entire school. CitySprouts is a Cambridge-based organization that promotes the implementation and maintenance of beautiful school gardens in area public school communities.

OGPS students participate in last years Poetry Slam. 

The students at OGPS also plan to make postcards to explain to their fellow schoolmates how recycling and composting helps the environment. Good luck team!

Patrick J. Kennedy Students to Help Marathon Victims

                                     

Diana dribbling on the soccer field. 

The Patrick J. Kennedy School of  East Boston plans to hold a community poetry day at their school. People will be charged an admission fee to attend and 100% of funds raised will go to the hospitals, doctors and nurses, via fresh fruit baskets, that cared for the victims of the Boston Marathon Bombings. 

                                           

Students from the Kennedy School at last falls Poetry Slam. 

Heres some great photos of the students in action on the soccer field! 

McKay Team Aims to Beautify School

The team at the McKay K-8 School in East Boston have decided that their Action Plan for this semester will be to plant a flower garden in front of their school and to pick up trash and debris. Their plan, titled the "Blooming Clippers", has a goal of making the front of McKay School a more beautiful landmark in the community.

They have plans to invite a guest speaker to speak on May 1st and to hold a school-wide fundraiser shortly thereafter to raise money towards buying gardening supplies and seeds. Once these tasks are completed the team hopes to begin cleaning up and planting the garden.

The students at McKay have also been having a great time on the soccer field and are looking forward to next weeks games. Keep up the good work McKay!

GPA Boys to Help Endangered Animals

The Boys Team at the Gardner Pilot Academy have decided that their efforts this semester will focus on helping to protect endangered animals. They have been brainstorming about ways to prevent pollution and about how to decrease littering in the community which contributes to the destruction of animal habitats. 

The boys have also been working very hard to encourage good sportsmanship by supporting the girls team. They all made signs to show their support at the last game versus the Edison team and they did a great job cheering on their schoolmates!