More than you really want to know about Natick, Mass.
Natick 180, a community’s resource for addiction education, prevention, and recovery, is surveying parents and caregivers to gather thoughts on youth substance abuse. The group says the survey takes about 15 minutes to fill out.
Natick 180 plans to use the information collected from the anonymous survey to better target prevention services for youths.
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The Natick High School Earth Club is starting small with its new composting project, but its efforts could have a big sustainability impact at the school as well as across town.
The club, which focuses on reducing the environmental impact of the school and community, launched the composting program on Feb. 28 and is already filling two 48-gallon bins a week, according to Rebecca Adams Pandolfo, an early childhood development & education teacher at NHS. She and wellness teacher Tori Zinck are the club’s advisors.
The club is partnering with Black Earth Compost, which also collects those green carts in Natick as part of the town’s residential composting program. According to the school, residents can sign up here, and you’ll get $5 off and earn $5 to help pay for composting at NHS.
Pandolfo says “This was a phenomenal leadership opportunity for Earth Club members since a school-wide program like this includes coordination with a lot of different stakeholders. We partnered with the Natick Town Sustainability committee and Black Earth compost to plan out the logistics of the program. We also worked closely with school administration and custodial staff to ensure a smooth day-to-day operation.”
Most important has been student awareness and education. The team worked with a video production student on a promotion shown to all students the day the program launched. That’s been supplemented with flyers, daily announcements, raffles, and treats to encourage and reminder students to join in.
An environmental impact audit done for Natick High School found that composting could make a big impact.
“Over 50% of the waste produced in the cafeteria was found to be compostable, although without a compost program, it was being diverted into trash, which ends up releasing harmful greenhouse gasses into our environment,” Pandolfo said. “This data is what helped us at the Earth Club to hone in on composting as our main initiative for this year. Our goal has been to offer a solution where that 50% of waste that is compostable can instead become usable, nutrient-rich soil.”
The club has started its effort with a single bin in a prime part of the cafeteria where members can answer questions and ensure composting is done correctly.
“It can be difficult to ensure that compost bins don’t get contaminated with other waste and so we took a quality over quantity approach with this launch. We all agreed it was better to start off smaller in order to get everyone accustomed to how to compost and to iron out any unforeseen challenges before we grow,” Pandolfo said.
The club expects to expand the program beyond student lunch waste, possibly to include waste from food prep in the kitchen.
Hopefully word of the program’s success will reach homes throughout town. As of now, about 1,100 Natick households are enrolled in the town’s curbside composting program, according to Jillian Wilson-Martin, Natick’s director of sustainability. “We have been kind of ‘stuck’ at around this number for about a year. If we get 1,500 households composting, the cost would go down for everyone from $115 / year to $90 / year.”
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Our roundup of the latest Natick, Mass., business news:
Local non-profits are invited to take part in Natick Mall’s Spring Surprises campaign that will run Saturdays from March 19-April 23 at the Mall in the Neiman Marcus court.
Here’s the deal:
If interested, email Nicole Guglielmucci at nicole.guglielmucci@bpretail.com
MassBay Community College and Natick-based ABI-LAB are partnering to provide MassBay science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students access to the scientists, researchers, and other professionals who lease lab space in the ABI-LAB incubator. This collaboration benefits MassBay STEM students with scholarships, networking opportunities, and mentorship.
ABI-LAB was established to support startups ranging from life sciences to biotech. The five ABI-LAB professionals taking part in this program are from Avenge Bio, Cytovia Therapeutics, EverCell Bio, Synspira Therapeutics, and the WuXi AppTec company.
The MathWorks is funding two $10K scholarships for Natick residents who are high school seniors committed to studying engineering, mathematics, science or related programs at an accredited four-year college or university. The $10,000 is spread out over four years, rising from $1K to $4K over the span.
The Town of Natick administers the scholarships. Interested students must complete the application and provide the required transcript, letters of support, and personal statement. The MathWorks Scholarship Committee may conduct interviews of finalist candidates. All applications are due to the Select Board’s office or must be postmarked if mailed, no later than 5p.m. on Monday, March 28.
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Natick High School student-athletes are among those eligible for two $500 scholarships sponsored by the Greater Framingham Running Club.
The scholarships will be presented to local high school runners who plan to attend either a two or four-year accredited college or university and who also intend to run cross-country, track or recreationally while in college. The winning applicants must exemplify dedication, leadership, running talent, commitment and academic achievement. That is, the award will not necessarily go to the runners in the greater Framingham area with the most success in running, but the track or cross-country team members who have always been committed and consistently work hard to persevere, combined with academic achievement.
Applications are available now and are due by March 31, 2022.
“Our Grant Program is an important part of the Natick Education Foundation’s work. We have seen how extraordinarily hard Natick teachers and administrators have worked throughout the pandemic,” said Megan Shelley, President of NEF. “It is impressive that so many teachers and students had the passion and motivation to develop important and creative proposals for funding.”
Here’s the breakdown. Congratulations to all grant recipients:
Brown Elementary School got funding for a welcoming mural for the school’s lobby. The creation of the large-scale work will likely begin in spring 2023, when an artist-in -residence will lead the project. Students and members of the larger community will be involved in everything from prep to painting.
Brown Elementary Art Specialist Michelle Parven put together the grant proposal for this project.
The Natick High School Fitness Center with gain five new spin bikes, along with other equipment. The grant will allow spin classes to be offered at the high school, expanding access to fitness options for many students.
Jillian Schiavo, Physical Education teacher, spearheaded this grant application.
NEF will help Robo-Natick, the award-winning Robotics Club at Natick High School, meet the financial demand of materials, competition entry fees, and providing demos and classes to younger students and the broader community. RoboNatick is a club for students who show an interest in the areas of robotics, technology, and engineering.
The club is supervised by Robotics teacher Donald Clements.
Natick Pre-School’s wiggly, busy students will get a helping hand being more focused and engaged through a range of alternative seating options. Some possibilities: floor rocking chairs and other floor-based seating; balance balls; and chair cubes. We look forward to seeing the options in action.
Teacher Maureen Morrissey put forth this application.
The Wilson Middle School Robotics Club has struggled to increase membership, so 7th grade science teacher Craig Fulton applied to NEF for help replacing outdated and limited equipment. This grant will provide funds for new CUE robot kits, which should make a big difference in keeping students challenged and coming back to the club.
Wilson Middle School 7th graders Jolee Flynn and Lily Wheeler want to make an impact on fighting climate change and they want to engage their peers, faculty, and WMS families while doing it. Project Sapling will organize presentations by local sustainability, conservation, and farming experts for the Wilson community. The culmination of the project will be planting trees in the Wilson Garden.
Every year the Natick Education Foundation awards innovation grants to educators and students. NEF also provides scholarships to high school seniors and honors Natick public school teachers through its Teacher Tribute program. If you would like to be a part of an organization that is dedicated to enriching, enhancing, and supporting Natick’s public education system, please
contact Megan Shelley at nefgrants@gmail.com
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