Category Archives: Education/Enrichment

Winter Food Drive

Tess and Izzy, two juniors at Newton South High School, are collecting food donations for the Centre Street Food Pantry.

Please consider dropping off any of the following items so they can help those at the food pantry! Below is a list of items they are looking for.

Box of granola bars (any kind)
Box of cereal or oatmeal variety pack
Jar of peanut butter
Jar of jam
Package of mini milk or juice boxes
Box of mac n’ cheese
Cans of soup or pasta (spaghetti O’s or similar)
Package of snack pack fruit or applesauce
Snack pack pudding, cookies, or fruit snacks
Pretzels, goldfish, corn chips, crackers

Drop off donations at either 37 Halcyon Road or 15 Bellingham Street. If you are unable to drop off at either location, please contact isabellagloria27@gmail.com to organize a time for them to pick up your items. Thank you for your generosity!

Snow Removal: Winter Walking

Did you know that Newton residents are required to remove the snow and ice from their paved sidewalks within 24 hours? A $50 fine after an initial warning was added for 2019. The Newton Safe Routes to School Task Force asks that residents do their part so students can keep walking to school all winter. The extra bit of exercise and fresh air is particularly important this year before students start their very structured school day.

Residents need to clear the snow and ice from their sidewalks to keep our community safe. Download the “Newton MA 311” app for your mobile phone or use the web portal to report concerns immediately, pinpoint the exact location, and include a photo. You can report anonymously or with contact information so you can track the progress of the report.

In addition to sidewalk repairs, sign and traffic signal problems, and brush covering the sidewalk, there are many categories for reporting snow concerns, including sidewalks that are not cleared and corners that are blocked. You can also call the City at 617-796-1000.

Learn more at www.newtonsaferoutes.org or email NewtonSafeRoutes@gmail.com.

Purchase a Holiday Meal Box for a Newton Housing Authority client!

Thank you for helping the Newton Food Pantry reach their Giving Tuesday goal!

Through the tremendous support of our wonderful community, the Newton Food Pantry is happy to announce that they reached the $10,000.00 goal of fulfilling the initial need for Holiday Meal Boxes for food pantry client families.

A very special shout out to Cheryl Forté, on behalf of the Orvillle W. Forté Charitable Foundation, representing 4 generations of Brae Burn Country Club members, for the incredible generosity in helping supply delicious ham and turkey Holiday Meal boxes to the curbside distribution clients.

Would you still like to HELP?

In a continued partnership with Brae Burn Country Club, the pantry is able to source 260 additional boxes to distribute to clients in 11 Newton Housing Authority facilities across Newton. Please help raise the $9,000.00 needed to purchase senior boxes by making a $35.00 donation today. Thank you so much for helping others this holiday season.

Donate here: www.newtonfoodpantry.org/donate

Members of Closed Gyms Invited to Join

The West Suburban YMCA offers incentive for new members seeking fitness and well-being. The closing of several local gyms in Newton and surrounding towns have left many gym-goers without a place to workout. The West Suburban YMCA​ welcomes members of fitness centers that are closed or going out of business.

“To the many members of local gyms that have unexpectedly closed, the Y is here and ready to welcome you,” says Jack Fucci, President and CEO of the West Suburban YMCA. “We’ve put into place excellent systems and protocols and feel confident that gym-life and pandemic-life are not mutually exclusive.”

The West Suburban YMCA, which has been open and operating since July, is offering an extra incentive for new members​​ who join before the end of the year. Anyone age 18 or older who joins the West Suburban YMCA by December 31, 2020 will receive a personalized training program that includes:

A 6-week written training plan based on individual fitness level
Three 30-minute sessions with a certified personal trainer
Weekly check-in email plus healthy recipes
A $450 value free with cost of a membership

In addition to the spacious fitness floor at the West Suburban YMCA, the facility also boasts two indoor swimming pools, an outdoor track and turf field, full-size gymnasium with upper level indoor track, squash/racquetball court, and four dedicated group exercise studios. Fitness classes and personal training are offered indoors, outdoors, and virtually.

During its shutdown, the West Suburban YMCA took steps to ensure a smooth and safe reopening. They invested more than $100,000 in state-of-the-art equipment to mitigate the risk of coronavirus transmission. In addition to the required PPE, the Y added plexiglass shields, installed additional hand washing and sanitizing stations, redesigned spaces to allow for social distancing, revamped its ventilation and air filtration system, purchased electrostatic sprayers for disinfecting, and requires reservations for pool lanes and group exercise classes to reduce congestion.

Those who wish to join the Y or learn more can visit www.wsymca.org/membership​.

The West Suburban YMCA is a charitable non-profit organization that has been a fixture in the Newton community for over 140 years. The Y is committed to strengthening the foundations of the community by supporting youth development, healthy living and social responsibility for all.

ALL are welcome at the Y, and its community brings together people of all abilities, ages, ethnicities, financial circumstances, genders, races, religions, and sexual orientations.

Green Newton Student Group Presents ‘Greening the Holidays’

Green Newton Student Group Presents ‘Greening the Holidays’. Newton student leaders invite you to join this virtual public meeting (for all ages) on how we can make plans to celebrate a more sustainable holiday season. The program will include great gift ideas, trivia questions and easy steps to make an environmental difference. Please register in advance for this webinar here: Greening the Holidays

 

  • Food & Waste, with Kaleigh Yee (NSHS ’19) and Hailey Strickler (Beaver Country Day ‘22) How does food and waste play into the culture of a holiday? How can we make more sustainable choices while maintaining tradition?
  • Fashion, with Ahona Dam (NSHS ’23) and Mia Santangelo (NNHS ‘22) What is fast fashion? How can we consciously avoid supporting it during the holidays?
  • Transportation, with Ava Freeman (NSHS ’22) During a ‘normal’ holiday season, how can we realistically prioritize conscious transportation choices?
  • Gift Giving, with Windley Knowlton (NSHS ‘18) What makes a gift special? What are some meaningful, environmentally conscious gift ideas?
  • Advocacy, with Coral Lin (NNHS ‘21) Why is advocacy important to prioritize during the holidays?
  • Taking Action!, with Clara Dutton (NSHS ‘21) How energy efficiency steps can be considered a gift?
  • The 4C Tree Project, introduced by Elizabeth Sockwell (NSHS ‘16) and Jojo Parks (BC ‘24) What is the ‘Capture Carbon Commemorate COVID-19’ project all about? How can one incorporate volunteering experience into a gift?

December 6th, 4:00 – 5:00 pm

Credit to Esther Zhang (NNHS ’22) for designing the graphic for this Green Newton event

South Stage Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough fundraiser

South Stage Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough fundraiser is running now through December 6th! Order a delicious holiday gift for yourself or someone else!

South Stage is selling refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough (yields 20-22 cookies) by the quart for $15.00. Dough is made fresh by fabulous local caterer/restaurant VineRipe Grill.

Place your online order at southstage.org by December 6th, and choose your pickup time of either December 12th (2:00 – 3:00 pm) or December 16th (10:00 – 11:00 am). Pickup will be at the Newton South High School front entrance or just inside in the auditorium foyer.

Other pickup arrangements can be made if needed — email LaurenLookner@gmail.com. All orders must be made in advance, thank you!

For other South Stage holiday gift ideas, please visit https://www.southstage.org/merch.html

Gap Program Information Session

COVID-19 has turned our lives upside down. In response, many students are asking if this pandemic presents the opportunity to pursue a different avenue instead of the direct transition into higher learning. A gap year – a break from traditional academics – is a chance to explore, pause, and reflect before entering the next step of academia. Students use this time to gain a better understanding of themselves and the type of impact they want to have on the world.

TeenLife’s Virtual Gap Program Information Session will allow parents, students, and educators to learn about a variety of gap programs in a short amount of time. There will be three sessions each with six different organizations presenting. You can sign up for one or all sessions!

The event is free, but registration is required. Hosted by TeenLife and The Gap Year Association. Register here: Gap Year Program. Please email margaret@teenlife.com if you have any questions.

December 10th, 5 – 8 pm

Visual Scavenger Hunt

A group of eight Newton South 9th graders – Zoe Hong, Ellie Gish, Naomi Weitzman, Elliot Heywood, Edward Macklin, Sylvia Jacobs, Seth Korn, Josh Wolf just put together this great outdoor activity in Cold Spring Park. It’s a purely visual scavenger hunt that works as well for a 4 year old as an adult.

Bring up this document on your cell phone and follow the photos – they will lead you in a (roughly) hour long trip around Cold Spring Park with various surprise along the way.

Women in World Jazz virtual Creative Arts and Sciences program

Creative Arts & Sciences is proud to present Women in World Jazz webinar-style virtual concerts for schools that missed their spring performances. Both live and pre-recorded performances and virtual collaborations will be included. Members of the ensemble will share information about the music of the featured composers. DLA students will attend the performance with their neighborhood school hybrid classmates.

Webinar links will be distributed to students by the school’s administration prior to the performance date.

All performances will take place at 9:15 am
November 18th – Grades K-2 Bowen, Ward, Peirce, and Burr
December 2nd – Grades 3-5 Angier, Bowen, Ward, and Burr
December 12th – Grades 3-5 Cabot, Peirce, Underwood, Zervas, Horace Mann
January 13th – Grades K-2 Angier, Cabot, Underwood, Zervas, Horace Mann

Creative Arts & Sciences enrichment programming is made possible by generous contributions to each school’s PTO. Thank you for your support!
View a flyer here: Creative Arts & Sciences concert series