Category Archives: Education/Enrichment

Help a Newton Senior with Spring Clean-up

Newton At Home has volunteer opportunities with Newton Seniors in your neighborhood. Volunteers are needed to assist members with Spring Clean Up of their property. This is a great family activity.

A member of the Village to Village Network, this members’-driven, neighbor-to-neighbor nonprofit organization serves our city’s residents 60 years of age and older.

Consider becoming a volunteer for Newton at Home. Be in touch to support a growing community of neighbors helping neighbors. Contact: Julie Plaut Mahoney at vo******@**********me.org . Visit http://newtonathome.org/

JCC Boston Diller Teen Fellowship

The Diller Teen Fellows is a national youth leadership program for 10th and 11th grade students currently available in 22 cities in North America, South Africa and Israel. In Boston, the program is administered by the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston. Twenty Boston area Jewish teens – the JCC Boston Diller Teen Fellows – are selected based on leadership aptitude, commitment to Jewish learning, interest in exploring their connection to Israel and passion for community service.

The Fellowship year runs from September 2015 to December 2016 and includes 10-12 Sunday afternoon workshops, three weekend retreats, two overnight experiences, 10-day hosting of a Diller Teen Fellow from Haifa in the spring, and a three-week summer seminar in Israel. Applicants must be current 9th or 10th graders (10th and 11th graders this fall). To register for an information session, visit www.bostonjcc.org/diller. To learn more, contact te***@***gb.org or 617-558-6512.

Two information sessions for the JCC Diller Teen Fellowship program will be held on May 3rd and May 21st from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center, 333 Nahanton Street,  Newton.

Seeking Summer Volunteers for the Waban Library Center

The WLC in Waban is looking for high school students who are interested in working a few hours per week this summer at our small community run library. Work starts a week after school closes, and ends in mid August. This is a good way for students to get involved with community service, and help us at the same time.
The work involves typical library work plus helping us with Story Time and occasional crafts projects with children. A personal interview must be scheduled at a convenient time. Students are encouraged to write to wa**********@***il.com or call 617- 244-0700.

Essay Contest for 6th graders

The New England Mobile Book Fair has been a mecca for children’s books for over 60 years. The owners and staff are firm believers in children’s literacy and work closely with schools and libraries to get books into the hands of children all over New England. They also think that it is important to be able to write about books and how they broaden one’s world view.

In 2014 the Book Fair established an essay contest open to all 6th graders in the public schools of Newton. This year they are inviting all of the 6th graders from the Needham Public School system to participate as well.

  • Subject: What book or character from a book has influenced you and why.
  • Who is eligible: Any 6th grade student in either Newton or Needham public schools
  • Contest period: From April 9th until the close of business (6:00 pm) on May 9th
  • Essay Length: at least 200 and no more than 250 words; essays must be received by the book fair by the end of business Saturday, May 9th. Essays must be typed and double spaced. No hand written essays will be accepted. Essays may be submitted by mail to: New England Mobile Book Fair, 82-84 Needham Street, Newton Highlands, MA 02461 or via email to: fr********@***il.com
  • Prizes: The winner will receive a $25.00 Book Fair gift certificate. Two runners up will each receive a $10.00 Book Fair gift certificate.

By submitting an essay, entrants agree to have their essay posted on New England Mobile
Book Fair’s website and Facebook page. With consent by the entrant and his or her legal
guardian(s), their name will accompany the posted essay. The winner of the contest will be
decided by the staff of the New England Mobile Book Fair and announced no later than May 30th.

Contest Rules and Details are also available on the website, nebookfair.com. You may also call 617-964-7440. Ask for the children’s department.

Book Donations Needed – starting April 27th

Start your spring cleaning and put your surplus books to good use to benefit the Newton South’s English Department at NSHS’s annual book sale.

Put your surplus books, in good condition (no mold or water damage, please!), into bags or boxes. Drop off begins April 27th at Newton South. Books must be in saleable condition; not moldy or water damaged.

These categories are especially desirable:

Novels of all sorts
Non-Fiction
Test prep
Cookbooks
Memoirs
Sports
“Coffee table” books

We do not accept:

Children’s books
Text books
Parenting
Health&Medicine
Travel
Erotica

Outdoor Environmental Summer Program, grades 7-10

Middle school and high school parents, there are still openings available in the Environmental Science Program, a month-long outdoor and educational program in July for students going into grades 7 through 10. Students go hiking, bicycling, canoeing, and backpacking, including a 3-day trip to Mt. Washington in New Hampshire. Trips include hands-on learning about the science of the environment.

See more about the program at www.newtonenvisci.org including photos and registration form, or contact David Backer at: 617-447-9317 or co*****@***********ci.org . We are part of the Newton Conservation Commission.

“The Imaginary Invalid” – A Moliere Comedy – May 2

“The Imaginary Invalid” – A Moliere Comedy
Newton Theatre Company – Director: Melissa Bernstein

Using a modern and hilarious translation, The Newton Theatre Company performs Moliere’s brilliant satire of the medical profession. This family-friendly production combines humor with song and dance. Argan, the ultimate hypochondriac, plots to marry his daughter off to a young doctor, ensuring a lifetime of medical care for him. Not to fear – saucy maid, Toinette, is on to him, and zany antics ensue!

Two local bands – Waiting For Neil, and the Tripsters entertain during intermission , and look for some Newton doctors in the final act! Reception follows the performance. For tickets, visit www.newtontheatrecompany.com/imaginaryinvalid

May 2nd, 2:00 pm
Newton Cultural Center at City Hall, 1000 Commonwealth Avenue

Newton Free Library Programs for Teens – April

3D Printing for Teens, April 13th, 4:00 pm, Second floor Computer Center: Please join us to learn how 3D printing works by using Tinkercad to design your own three-dimensional creation! Grades 6-12. Register online.

Teen Gallery Opening for Newton South High School, April 14th, 4:00-5:00 pm, Second floor Teen Area : Newton South High School’s show will be on view from spring through early fall 2015 and includes a variety of media. Whole Foods Market will provide food for the opening. The frames for the artworks will be provided cost-free by Abraxis Framing Company in Auburndale. A Newton South High School ensemble will delight us with their music as part of the festivities. The public is welcome.

Test Prep Resources for Teens,  April 14th, 7:00 pm, second floor Computer Center: Get ready for your upcoming ACT, AP, PSAT and SAT tests! In addition to our books, the library has a wealth of free online exam and test prep material. Learn about our online practice tests, eBooks and tutorials. Register online.

Books & Brownies, April 15th, 7:00 pm, second floor Teen Area: Join us for the parent/guardian and teen book club and enjoy brownies! The group will discuss Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. For ages 12-15 and their adult.

Minecraft Club, April 16th, 4:00-5:30 pm, Second floor Computer Center: Come play Minecraft with your friends on the library’s server. We’ll have different challenges each week. Don’t have an account? No problem, use one of the library’s. The club will meet the first and third Thursdays of every month. Register online.

Teen Crafterhours, April 21st, 7:00 pm, second floor Teen Area: We meet on the third Tuesday of every month to make crafts and eat snacks. This month we’ll be decorating jars and pots for plants as well as creating decorative rocks.

Yoga for Teens,  April 22nd, 4:00 pm, third floor Rear Arc: De-stress this April vacation by taking a yoga class! Barbara Perlo, certified, registered yoga instructor, will lead a session that builds strength and flexibility, while relieving the stress of daily life. Learn to gaze inward in a comfortable environment. Mats are provided. Register online. Cosponsored by the Newton Partnership and the Newton Youth Services Department.

April Events with Historic Newton

Saturday, April 18, 4:00 pm -THE KENRICK NURSERIES AND AMERICA’S ROMANCE WITH THE ENGLISH GARDEN

At the beginning of the modern garden industry in the 1890s, mass advertising, faster printing, national magazines, and free rural mail delivery made it possible to publish seed and nursery catalogs and send them across the country. The catalogs encouraged the romantic English garden style in essays, illustrations, and ads. Come listen as Tom Mickey, author of America’s Romance with the English Garden, describes the principal elements of that English garden, why it grabbed the imagination of Americans from California to Maine, and the role that nurseries like the Kenricks’ (one of the largest in New England) played in supplying the craze. At the Durant-Kenrick House and Grounds, 286 Waverley Avenue. Free.

Wednesday, April 22, 2:00 pm – WEAVING WORKSHOP
A Vacation Week Family Program
Have you ever wondered how people made cloth at home before store-bought cloth was available? Want to try weaving your own cloth? Join Beth Guertin, a weaver and teacher of weaving for over twenty-five years, in this hands-on workshop. Watch a demonstration of loom-weaving techniques, and then give it a try yourself! Cost: $25 per family ($20 for members) includes museum admission and materials. Prepaid registration is required, limit 25; call 617-796-1450 to register. At the Jackson Homestead and Museum, 527 Washington Street.

Sunday, April 26, Noon-4:00 pm – NEWTON SERVES–HISTORIC BURYING GROUNDS CLEAN-UP
Join community members in Newton’s day of service by cleaning up Newton’s historic Burying Grounds. Register online to volunteer at East Parish, West Parish, or South Burying Ground. Continue reading →