Welcome to the Teen LIGHT blog! Teen LIGHT, Teen Leaders Inspired to Give Hope to Teens, is the MSMS 8th Grade community service project. We created a community service project for the 2008-2009 school year. We are committed to raising awareness and money in support of teens struggling with depression, suicide, self-injury, and addiction. Please join us in support of our project by posting your comments and suggestions to this blog. Thank-you!
YEAR END UPDATE!
A Big Thank You
Thank you to all of the students, teachers, administrators, parents, family, and friends who helped make Teen LIGHT a great success this year! We could not have achieved such an amazing success without the support of every one of you. We sincerely appreciate all of the time, advice, work, and money that people put into this project to help our students achieve their community service goals.
Teen LIGHT – Teen Leaders Inspired to Give Hope to Teens – is the 8th grade community service project. The mission of Teen LIGHT was to raise awareness and money in support of teens struggling with depression, suicide, self-injury, and addiction. Proceeds from our fund-raising events went to Riverside Community Care, an organization that provides a range of services to teens struggling with these issues.
We are very proud of all of the students who participated in this project! Their commitment, energy, and enthusiasm showcased the extraordinary potential that all students have to make a positive impact in the world.
Our Success in Dollars
The following are the net profits for each of our three big fund-raising events. AMAZING!
| Walk for Teen LIGHT |
$9,164.29 |
| Charity Night at Fresh City |
$320.70 |
| Chocolate Lollipop Drive |
$1,807.00 |
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| TOTAL FOR THE 2008-2009 YEAR |
$11,291.99 |
A Special Thank You to the Teachers, Administrators, and Parents Who Spent Countless Hours Planning and Volunteering for Teen LIGHT Events!
| Mr. Connors | Mrs. Abati | Mr. Lusas | Mrs. Bova | Mrs. DiSipio | Miss Mantia |
| Miss Murray | Miss Nelson | Mrs. Rollins | Mrs. Volpe | Miss White |
Thank You to the Teachers and Parents Who Volunteered to Work at the Walk!
| Mrs. Arria | Mrs. Beaver | Miss Ellis | Mrs. Fay | Mrs. Gibbons |
| Miss Kansas | Mr. Kingston | Miss Kramer | Mrs. MacCurtain | Ms. McIsaac |
| Mr. Peterson | Mrs. Tobias | Mr. Villano | Mrs. Wilkes |
Thank You to Our Corporate Sponsors!
| Bill and Bob’s Roast Beef | Burlington Animal Clinic | Cambridge Savings Bank |
| CNBC | Custom Machine | Burbank Arena |
| Dental Care of Burlington | Dina’s Desserts | DiSipio Design and Construction |
| Entercom | EXIT Premier Real Estate | Famous Pizza |
| Fish House & Grille | Fusion | Guy Williams Hair Design |
| Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare | Ipswitch | Jared Pinkos |
| Jazz Inc. | John Mantia and Sons | Liquor Cabinet |
| MFS Investment Management | New Beginnings Counseling Service | Party Central |
| Planet Fitness | RCB Design | Sammy’s Deli & Catering |
| Spandees | Trader Joe’s | Tyler Falconer |
| TT Buds |
In the Words of Students…
Depression and the ramifications, i.e. suicide, self-injury, drug addiction and eating disorders, which may come with this mental illness, have touched many of us. Depression does not discriminate against age. When Miss Mantia’s reading class became aware that this mental illness affects more teenagers than any of us had ever thought, we decided to create a community service project to donate money towards an organization that benefits these teenagers. Every Thursday after school, eight students from 8A, The Great Eight, would meet to plan and organize events to raise money to go towards Riverside Community Care. We started the project off with a very successful chocolate lollipop drive. Soon after, the Great Eight expanded to include eight student leaders from 8B and 8C. We had 24 students (well, most of them) showing up after school to plan the big end of the year event, the Walk for Teen LIGHT.
The Walk for Teen LIGHT was a very complicated and financially difficult project to accomplish. Presenting to the Board of Selectman to get approval for the route and date to use the Burlington Town Common was hard enough for the eight students who had to talk in front of the people who run this town. We had to get enough money to pay for everything we were to do on the common as well as raise a lot of money to donate. We had several different committees meeting after school to help plan the walk. One was the sponsorship committee, where students went to local stores and businesses in hopes of getting them to sponsor events for the walk. Another was the advertising committee, which would create posters and flyers to post around town to get people to show up. Once the walk had started to take shape, everyone in eighth grade started to feel the stress of pulling off a successful walk. We were all working down to the last minute.
Saturday, June 6th came around and most of the eighth grade along with their parents, siblings, and friends had shown up for the walk. It was a much larger turn out than expected. Everything was just as it should have been and smiles were everywhere. The actual walker participation was fairly large and it looked like everyone enjoyed it. There was quite a bit of laughter and talking along the way. When the walk ended, everyone stayed on the common to participate in the various activities set up. There was a dunk tank with Mr. Kingston, a moon bounce (yeah, that’s right. Eighth graders on a moon bounce), face-painting, henna tattooing, and a live band from Burlington High School. People also enjoyed slush, cotton candy, water and free popcorn. Music provided by Mr. Villano and the live band were both fantastic. It was a great day for everyone who participated and even for those who weren’t able to because they donated quite a bit of money. Over $9,000 was raised to benefit the teens, just like us, seeking help at Riverside Community Care. I don’t think that at any other time have all of the eighth grade students worked as hard and felt closer than when they did at Walk for Teen LIGHT.
- Sarah Burnham
I was excited to take part in the fundraising night at Fresh City. A lot of kids from MSMS showed up and that just shows how much people want to help. Going to Fresh City was a fun way to help others because you not only got to get a meal and talk with your friends, you were also helping raise money for Riverside Community Care.
– Emily Keating
Back in December, my fellow 8A students, teachers, and I embarked on a unique project for a great cause. We made delicious chocolate lollipops which we would then sell in order to make a profit. Indeed we made a profit, bringing in nearly $2,000 that we would soon donate (using a fancy check!) to Riverside Community Care, a great place that helps teens suffering from depression and addiction.
What made the chocolate lollipop project so special, in my opinion, was the fact that not only were we having fun making lollipops and bonding with our fellow classmates, but doing it all for a great cause. That’s not to stay it was all fun and games. The making of hundreds upon hundreds of lollipops was stressful at times. Though, really, these suffering teens deserve our stress. All the times I had to mold, freeze, wrap, and sell these lollipops, I knew in my mind that this hard work would someday help a teen who was in need. No, we weren’t solving world hunger, but in our own way we were changing the world and making a difference. To be able to say you helped someone get better is an incredible thing, however many people it may be. From this project, I feel my classmates and I got a taste of what it is like to help others.
– Mark Steinbach
