Part 4 of Shining Women, Bright Futures

For the fourth Shining Women, Bright Futures Speaker Series, where successful professional and business women have come to talk to the SCORES girls team at the Umana Barnes middle school, the guest visitors included a doctor, an architect, and the superintendent of the Mass State Police! The girls had been begging to meet a police woman from day one, but they never expected to meet Colonel Marian McGovern, who had once been a detective, an undercover agent, and now the first woman to be the “boss” of the state police. Because several of the girls really like to draw, the girls were also really excited to meet an architect.

In addition to talking to the girls about helicopters, forensics, and crime scene investigation, Colonel McGovern stressed the importance of playing sports: “sports is important,” she said, “Its important to be part of a team.”

Dr. Peggy Ueda, a retired internist from Mass General who worked with AIDS patients, had an important message about finding your career later in life: she spent 10 years out of college working in labor relations before she decided to go to medical school, and encouraged the girls to take their time and reach for the stars.

Architect Laura Wernick, sharing her experience of failing the Architect Registration Exam three years in a row before finally passing and becoming an architect on the fourth test, emphasized the importance of pursuing your dreams even if you meet setbacks.  

After the roundtable discussions, the girls were surprised that Ms. Wernick had persevered for so long, that it takes as long as 4 months to design a building, and that Colonel McGovern didn’t even know that the governor was going to appoint her head of the state police.

Thursday Poem of the Week!

A Crazy Dream, by Brandon B.

I am going crazy!

I dreamed about zoo monsters

On an old train

With their toenails flashing!

The Leadership Team runs their own Walk for Haiti!

Dorchester, MA (February 19th)– It may be vacation week, but 8 Boston area middle schoolers from the America SCORES New England Leadership Team have been busy raising money for Haitian relief by holding their own Walk for Haiti! On Friday, February 19th at the Curtis Hall Community Center in Jamaica Plain, the Leadership Team got off the couch, ran a total of 42.82 miles, and met their fundraising goal of $500. In recognition of the Leadership Teams efforts, America SCORES New England will also donate 50 soccer balls in conjunction with the Haiti Soccer Project to the children of Haiti.

As participants in America SCORES’ combined soccer, creative writing, and community service program, the Leadership Team decided to hold a Walk for Haiti fundraiser in order to take the lessons they have learned on the field, in the classroom, and in the community to the next level. They decided a Walk for Haiti would be a great opportunity to spend their vacation time staying healthy, working together as a team, and actively helping those in need. As Irving student Redouane Laalioui explained after running 198 laps, or 9 miles, at today’s fundraiser, “I wanted to work hard and raise as much money as possible for the people of Haiti. It’s all about them.”

Since the Leadership Team students hail from different Boston Public school across the city—the Edison, Curley, Dearborn, Frederick, Irving, McCormack and Umana middle schools—they were particularly excited that their Walk for Haiti brought them together to work as a team and make a collective impact. As one Frederick student put it: “When you watch the news and see the tragedy in Haiti, you just want to help. We thought, ‘What if that were us and no one helped?’ We’re hoping to bring the schools together and do whatever we can to support Haiti.”

The Leadership Team learns to coach!

Boston, MA, February 18th—While ASNE’s poet-athletes are already very comfortable playing soccer, 10 of ASNE’s Leadership Team poet-athletes got their first taste of coaching! In order to learn how to teach fundamental soccer skills to youth, the poet-athletes on the Leadership Team have spent the last three weeks brainstorming drills, developing new soccer activities, and learning how to lead a soccer team. After three weeks, the Leadership team put their new coaching skills to use this morning, when they led a 2-hour soccer clinic at the Tobin Community Center for 30 local elementary school kids. During the clinic, they led warmup games, stretches, passing drills, dribbling drills, and even a full court scrimmage. Way to lead (and coach)!

Thursday Poem of the Week!: Third Installment

Are You a Leader? by Valerie M. and Emily C.

Are you a leader?

Everyday we need one

After school and during school

Qualities that make a leader are important

Set a good example all through the day

It will help the community

Are you a leader?

Do what is right cause it is nice to help people

And they understand you

Take action

Take action for the people’s problems

ASNE’s Leadership Team Braves the Snow!

On Tuesday, February 16th, while most Boston Public School students were spending their February vacation inside, admiring the snow falling on the city from the comfort of their homes, America SCORES New England’s Leadership Team was ice skating at Jamaica Plain’s Kelly Rink, intent on being active despite the lousy weather. With Lady Gaga and Shakira setting the mood, the Leadership Team—composed of ASNE middle school students who best embody SCORES’ values of teamwork, leadership and commitment— twirled, glided and slid their way across the snow-covered ice. Ice skating was just one of many of the Leadership Team’s February vacation events, which will culminate on Friday, February 19th with their student-organized Walk for Haiti at the Curtis Community Center in Jamaica Plain. 

On the T-ride back home, the geographic diversity of the Leadership Team became clear, as these students from varying city neighborhoods set home on the red, orange, blue and green lines. Although the main purpose of ASNE’s Leadership Team is to cultivate leadership abilities in the middle school youth that ASNE serves, the Leadership Team also functions as a means for these students to meet and forge relationships with kids across the city, an opportunity which many Boston youth do not receive until high school, if at all.

Shining Women, Bright Futures...episode three!

14 6th-8th grade girls at the Umana school met for the third time on Thursday, February 11th to talk with two successful professional and business women from the greater Boston community about their lives and careers. This time, the women who volunteered to speak with the girls were Susan Hammond, a freelance business woman, and new Boston City Councilor-at-Large Ayanna Pressley, the first woman to color to be elected to the city council. The women had some great advice for the Umana girls: Ms. Pressley encouraged the girls to try out internships in order to find out their likes and dislikes, and Ms. Hammond pointed out that you should always be open to meeting new people and trying new things because you never know where opportunity will show up.

The speaker series has been a great hit, and a wonderful opportunity for our girls at the Umana! If you would like to volunteer to come in and speak to SCORES kids about their futures and their careers, please contact astrong@americascores.org.

Thursday Poem of the Week!: Episode Two

A Recipe for George Washington

First, add a ton of bravery
Then, add one ounce of awesomeness
Afterwards, add one pound of speech
Then mix it all together and put it in the over for 50 min
Then…DIG IN!!!


Miguel G.

The Shining Women, Bright Futures Speaker Series, Part Deux

On February 4th, the middle school SCORES girls at the Umana Barnes had another priceless opportunity to meet professional women from the Boston community as a part of SCORES Shining Women, Bright Futures speaker series. The professional women who took a trip to East Boston this time included Jackie Jenkens-Scott, President of Wheelock College, Diana Cutaia, Director of Athletics at Wheelock College, and Teresa Soares-Pena, the Executive Director at Squashbusters. Each of the speakers spoke about their jobs, and how they knew what job was right for them. Each girl got a chance to speak with each speaker, and at the end the girls wrote journal entries which helped them reflect upon their experiences. When the girls shared what they had written, it became clear that the speakers had a profound impact on their understanding about careers and their futures. While one girl wrote that, “To have a good career, I have to like what I do” another noted that “I learned about all of the requirements that colleges look for.” One girl happily declared that “I don’t have to have just one job.” By the end of the day, speaker Teresa Soares-Pena was so impressed with the girls that she said that she would remember how “motivated and goal oriented [they] all are.”

Stay tuned for updates about future speaker series...and don't forget, if you'd like to volunteer as a speaker yourself, email astrong@americascores.org!

Holy Awesome Videos!

The Winter SCORES songwriting program is in full tilt...our poet-athletes have created some absolutely amazing music videos in which they perform their own original work! Check these videos out at our Youtube page!