Newton North High School Blog: February Newsletter

Newton North FUEL Program

While Newton is commonly regarded as a wealthy community, there is still poverty and need in our town and in our school, especially during this government shutdown. With that said, I am excited to announce the start of the FUEL program at Newton North.

FUEL is a program to provide weekend food for hungry students. It is a collaboration between the Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill and the Centre Street Food Pantry, and it is currently working with Newton elementary and middle schools. Every week, FUEL volunteers shop for nutritious, non-perishable food, and they pack and deliver anonymous backpacks each week in the basement of Redeemer. The bags also contain information about how to access the numerous resources of both the Centre Street Food Pantry and the City of Newton. FUEL will now offer weekly backpacks to North students who do not have enough to eat on the weekends.

The FUEL program prides itself on student anonymity, so FUEL backpacks are nondescript. If you or your student is in need of food on the weekends, your student can approach any trusted adult in the building about picking up a FUEL backpack. All North staff have been introduced to the FUEL program as well so they will direct your student to their Dean’s Office, where bags will be kept. Based on the number of students who ask for a FUEL bag, a number of bags will be delivered to each Dean’s Office every Friday afternoon, where students can pick them up before leaving school for the weekend.

If you have any questions for the FUEL program, they can be reached at fuel@redeemerchestnuthill.org. Any questions or concerns regarding the process of picking up a FUEL backpack or the FUEL program, in general, can also be directed to Jack Goldsmith, a current senior at North (jackgoldsmith4@gmail.com), or The Newton North Center for Civic Engagement and Service (nnhs.ccesinfo@gmail.com). We are excited to collaborate with FUEL to provide a source of food to our students in need.

Speaker at Newton North

Last week, NNHS Center for Civic Engagement and Service was offered an opportunity to welcome David Hogg to speak at Newton North. This is a short turnaround, but we think that he can provide an important opportunity for our students.

David is an inspiring speaker and is a survivor of the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018. While best known for advocating for gun violence prevention and for organizing the March for Our Lives, he will bring a powerful message that promotes civic engagement and highlights the impact that young people can have.

Knowing that David's presentation may have an emotional impact for some of our students, counselors will be available for students.

GELF--The Jennifer Price Global Education Leadership Fund

Many of your children have either traveled or will be traveling on an educational trip with the schools, and there are many students in our community who cannot afford to participate in these trips without help. The Jennifer Price Global Education Leadership Fund (GELF) raises funds to provide financial aid to these students so that they too can participate in our life-changing international opportunities. Many recipients of GELF scholarships speak about the pivotal role these experiences have played in their personal and academic lives.

Every international program at North this year includes at least one (and sometimes as many as 6 or 7) students receiving GELF scholarships. So far this year, an incredible 30 low-income students from Newton North and South have already been awarded a combined nearly $60,000 in scholarships! This level of funding takes community support.

With 200 community attendees, the GELF benefit dinner is a great way to meet other parents from both sides of town. Superintendent Fleishman and I along with other Newton principals will be your servers, and the night includes a 5-course gourmet meal, live music and dancing, fine beer and wine pairings, an auction and raffle.

Early-bird ticket purchases or donations of $150 or more before March 11 are eligible for entry into an exclusive early-bird raffle! The early bird raffle prize, generously donated by Sam Adams, will be a VIP tour of the Sam Adams Brewery for up to 20 guests, a copy of Jim Koch's (Sam Adams CEO)'s book, and a bottle of Sam Adam's exclusive Barrel Room Collection beer.

There are lots of ways to get involved:

Join the GELF Dinner Planning Committee!
This is a fun organizing crew led by North parents Helena Han and Liz Haas-Joffe. The Committee works on many different projects and the time commitment can be as large or small as you want. Most importantly, this committee is looking for volunteers who are excited about the mission of GELF and who can commit to helping out. To join, please email Newton's Global Programs Manager Samantha Mandel at mandels@newton.k12.ma.us, and mark your calendars for a planning meeting at February 28th at 7pm in Newton Northís Room 103.

Do you have valuable items that you no longer need, or a vacation home that you could donate for a week? Donate to the GELF auction!
Popular items in the past have included stays at community membersí vacation homes or timeshares and tickets to sporting events. Also gratefully accepted are gift certificates of any kind, artwork items: ceramics, scarves, etc.

Most appreciated of all are personal connections with companies that might be interested in sponsoring our deserving GELF students.

To donate an item or to alert us to a corporate connection, please get in touch with GELF Benefit Dinner Planning co-chair Liz Haas Joffe.