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 Thank you all for attending the ESON and MSN September Kick Off Meeting! Your presence and active participation made the event a great success. We truly appreciate the time and energy you dedicated to engaging with one another, sharing your insights, and contributing to the discussions. It’s your commitment to this network that helps us create meaningful connections and foster impactful change within our communities.  We started with an AFCOST Ways of Being BINGO activity, where folks introduced themselves to each other and shared a story related to the Ways of Being on the bingo card. That was followed by the “Stand up, Sit down” activity led by Greg and Tyrique that helped attendees get to know each other through personal stories. Khari then discussed the broader purposes and objectives of the Networks, its programs, shared information and updates about the OST Expansion Study, and recognized programs supporting this initiative.  In small groups, attendees created skits addressing community issues, such as school phone policies, changes in school schedules, and supporting new families and mental health needs. The meeting wrapped up with a readout of impact statements in response to the following prompt: What impact does your work have on your young people? After announcements were shared, and before leaving, attendees were invited to complete a feedback form which included questions about attendees' expectations and suggestions for future meetings (Please complete the feedback form if you didn't have a chance at the meeting!) We hope this meeting fostered engagement and reflection and set a collaborative tone for the upcoming year! We look forward to seeing you all again on Wednesday, 10/2/24, 10am-12pm, location (to be announced!) See full schedule here: MSN/ESON Meeting Schedule 24-25. See below for community announcements, a schedule of upcoming meetings, as well as some resources for you, youth, and families. -Greg, Tyrique, Zeena, and Khari Community AnnouncementsDeeDee Cetoute - Cambridge Camping: Cambridge Camping's Saturday Camp is starting Saturday, Sept. 21st. Camp is for ages 6-13 and there are spots open! Contact DeeDee for more info: [email protected] Matt Meyersohn - Cambridge Basketball Lab: Basketball Lab is happening at PAUS this school year. Open to middle and high school students. It's 4x per week and starts Tuesday, Sept. 24th. No cost! Contact Matt for more info: [email protected] Sarah Lincoln - Cambridge Public Health Department: CPHD is looking for middle and high schoolers to develop campaigns around substance abuse. This is a paid, remote position for about 3-4 hrs per week. Reach out to Sarah for more info: [email protected] Skye Edwards - The Robo Hub: The Robo Hub is offering after school programming for K-8th graders. Parents are welcome to attend programming, as well! Financial aid is available for students. The Robo Hub can also offer workshops at program sites or can host students on a field trip. Reach out to Skye for more info: [email protected] Tagesech Wabeto - Commission on Immigrant Rights & Citizenship: Danehy Park Family Day is happening on Saturday, Sept. 21st, 11am-3pm. Upcoming Opportunities & Resources For YouAFCOST is seeking a new Middle School Network Coordinator! The MSN Coordinator Position - posted by the Cambridge Public Schools as an "Out-of-School Time Partnerships Assistant Manager" - coordinates, convenes and builds a network of Cambridge out-of-school time providers, schools, community partners and others who work together to provide and ensure equitable access to quality learning experiences beyond the school day and school year for 6th-8th grade children and youth living throughout our city. Check out this job posting for many more details. Looking to attend Back-to-School Events? Check out this schedule for all Cambridge Public Schools Back-to-School Events. "e" inc.: Introducing STEAM to Your After School Program Looking to bring STEAM into your after school program? “e” inc. can come to your after school site once-a-week to lead students through science and action lessons that help students better understand our planet and work to protect it. After school science is parsed into three trimesters. Sites can choose whether to offer the program, as one science program to 3 sets of students across the year or three different programs to three distinct age groups. Typically, after school is every day and the “e” inc. science program occurs once-a-week. There are many topics sites can choose, from Backyard Habitats to Our Changing Climate, with many more also available. This program will be paid for by the City of Cambridge as long as your program resides in Cambridge! Interested? Contact Greg Green at [email protected] or Tyrique Kittrell at [email protected] to learn more. Bridge Scholars is Looking For Program Sites Bridge Scholars is a tutoring program, started and run by CRLS scholars, that gives high school students the opportunity to tutor and play with young kids around Cambridge! Bridge Scholars is looking for program sites to send CRLS students to:
Upcoming Opportunities & Resources for Youth and FamiliesThe Back to School Basketball Tournament for middle schoolers is happening on Sunday, Sept. 15th, 10am-2pm at Donnelly Field.
Are you a parent or caregiver of an elementary school-aged child? Learn how to support positive youth development and explore Cambridge resources at the Building the Foundation for Youth Wellbeing event on Monday, Sept. 30th, 6:30-8pm at the King Open School. Mass Audubon's Nature in the City Festival is happening on Saturday, Sept. 21st, 12-5pm at 668 Memorial Drive.
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Bridge to CRLS 2024: Cambridge Community and Schools Come Together to Welcome New 9th Graders9/6/2024 In the final days of August, just before the labor day trips and new school jitters, 350 new ninth graders lined up (many with their parents) for the third annual Bridge to CRLS day, a project coordinated by the Agenda for Children OST and Cambridge Public Schools and designed to give new 9th graders a more significant introduction to the giant, looming school building before them: Cambridge Rindge and Latin (CRLS). On Tuesday, Sept 3rd, all 2000+ high schoolers would converge on CRLS for the first day of school. But for today, it was just the school’s staff, the new ninth graders, and a robust collection of community partners, all there to ease their transition to the school. The project, now in its 3rd year, originated in community meetings of the Middle School Network (a network of OST programs and school folks working with middle schoolers) about how many young people and families struggle in this ‘transition year,’ particularly the huge transition from middle (“upper”) school and high school. (Want more info on the process of how we got here? Check out this post). Community members highlighted young people’s concerns about the school building and the massive social and emotional changes that come with shifting from a school of 350 to a school of 2,000 students. While many of these changes were seen as normal developmental milestones, a survey of all the transition supports provided by schools showed a necessary focus on the technical aspects of high school transition (signing up for classes, understanding credits). Many community members (in addition to school staff) felt that the wealth of information held by alums and current upperclassmen could be leveraged to help students preview and manage the more personal aspects of the massive transition. This year, the content on the social & emotional transition to high school was split between two experiences:
Bridge to CRLS Event #1Mayor’s Program Workshop Day in mid-August: Facilitated by recent CRLS alums, Mayor’s Program staff, and providers who work with high school students through RAY (Reaching All Youth) Network, this was an in-depth community building day focused on transitioning from 8th grade to 9th grade 55 teens attended, adding this day to their 6 weeks of their job placement for the summer, and they were split into community building groups and rotated through three strands of content.
After the rotations, all teens met at the Field House for celebratory games, food, and raffle prizes. MSYEP liaisons led games of basketball, volleyball, giant-sized games, and beading. SHADE brought snow cones, popcorn, and cotton candy machines. Teens won/earned raffle tickets during the workshops. Raffle prizes included notebooks, pens, art supplies, candy, aquarium passes, kayaking and ice-skating tickets (the candy prizes received the most raffle tickets). In total, 15 teens won prizes. Post evaluation from students was very positive, and there was great energy throughout the event. Some comments from students include: What is one take-away from this event?
Bridge to CRLS Event #2 Welcome Day for all rising 9th Graders This event, open and advertised to all rising 9th graders, is a partnership between the staff at CRLS (particularly the Deans of Students), Cambridge Public Schools/Agenda for Children OST staff and community partners. In keeping with the original goals of the project, the event was designed to help students check off a few of the technical aspects (getting student IDs and chromebooks, for instance) that often take up most of the orientation time on the actual first day of school. In addition to getting these things done, the planning team focused on giving students a facilitated tour experience in a group of their peers, hearing from upperclassmen, and meeting new adults they did not know. What happened at the event?: Due to the large number of students (about 500 rising 9th graders) the day was split into two waves of students, starting with students from Learning Communities C & R. As soon as we approached 10am, students were lined up for registration, making nametags and started off their day listening to a panel of 12-15 Peer Mentors in the auditorium. The panel included a wide range of upperclassmen, representing all parts of CRLS, who answered questions students had submitted on their RSVP forms, from technical issues (how do you not get lost?) to common concerns (how do you make friends in your lunch block?).  After the panel, 9th graders were split into tour groups, each group led by Peer Mentors, and went for a tour of CRLS (using this Bridge to CRLS Tour Highlights route) including a stop to get their ID Photos taken and a stop to pick up their chromebook. Pro-Tips about certain spaces were set up around the building, and Peer Mentors shared the basic in addition to personal stories. All tours ended out front of the high school, where the Welcome Day celebration (aka ‘fun stuff’ was waiting). While the first wave of students started out doing the ‘fun stuff,’ the second wave of students (LC-L and LC-S) arrived and registration began again over by the arts building. Peer Mentors started the second panel and split into tour groups with the second wave of students. Tours ended out front for that group around 1:30, and all the celebration tables were open until 2:30. At the celebration, students could play games, get popcorn, sno-cones and ice cream, earn raffle tickets by talk to community resources tables (or another adults) and use those tickets to enter a raffle for candy and gift cards to the CRLS school store. They also had the option to airbrush-paint their own “Class of 2028” t-shirt, using a stencil designed specifically for the events by the Community Arts Center. How many students came to join in? In total, 365 students attended the event, about 71% of the freshman class. Outreach efforts had been focused on getting the word out to young people & their families, particularly eighth graders designated as ‘priority’ for the 9th grade transition by their Upper Schools through a holistic process considering multiple factors and voices. 51% of those ‘priority’ students attended the event, an increase from years prior and considered a success by event organizers. What did students think?: The exit survey taken by students (226 responses) asked very simple questions that showed the goals in clear, simple terms:
 As always, organizers appreciated hearing students open response answers to the big question: “What’s one takeaway from this event?” Responses below are sorted into popular categories with examples, but it was clear that students appreciated the time to get familiar in the building and meet (and hear from) upperclassmen:
Annie and the CPS & Agenda for Children OST team would especially like to thank the following folks who had a significant impact on the planning, execution and realization of Bridge to CRLS events:
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