■ B eam Center’s Apprentice Program ■ V IA's Workforce Development Program ■ WriteBoston: Teens in Print featuring Hiwan Maru ■ Zephyr Education Foundation: Cruising in Pursuit ...
Photo: Ye Qin Zhu - Artist
DESTINY INTERACTIVE XIX Q2 2022
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N AT I O N A L G R I D F O U N D AT I O N D E S T I N Y I N T E R A C T I V E X I X Q 2 2 0 2 2 Editor/Christine Berardi Contributing Writer/Deborah Drew Creative Director/Pamela Focá Contributor/Kelly Rubbins Executive Director/Edward H. White Jr. Destiny is a quarterly publication created to share and promote the accomplishments of the organizations and programs National Grid Foundation supports.
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Teens Stretch Themselves Creatively in Beam Center’s Apprentice Program By Christine Berardi
“Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought.” — Albert Einstein
Photo: Beam Center
The Beacon – BeamWorks Install Group at the Lewis Latimer House Museum in Queens. 3
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Maybe you have seen the Beacon at the Lewis Latimer House Museum in Queens or Constellation on Governors Island and wanted to know who built these large art installations? The answer: students from Brooklyn’s Beam Center’s BeamWorks Apprentice and Teen Instructor Program. The program connects New York City youth to innovative projects that combine STEM with art and design through remote and in-person coursework. In addition to team-building, empowerment, development and mentoring, Beam Center offers teens unique opportunities to create and build small and large-scale projects. Students work at Beam’s studio in Red Hook, Brooklyn and its Beam Camp City located on Governors Island. Educators, engineers and artists work with students on these projects which can launch students to lifelong learning and creating.
Assembling Constellation
Photos: Calvin Stalvig
Visit Beam Center’s website to learn more about BeamWorks Apprenticeship and Teen Instructor program.
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Photo: Zélie Lewis
Beam Center Apprentices Fellows 2021 Nearly 100 high school students participate in the highly intensive after-school and summer program learning how to collaborate within a team, become mentors, create while acquiring digital and manual fabrication and construction skills. They use the skills they learn to create 3D printing on fabric to casting molds to welding and fabrication skills. Visit Beam Center’s website to learn more about BeamWorks Apprenticeship and Teen Instructor program.
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Apprentices and Fellows working Photo: Zélie Lewis
Apprentice at Beam Camp City 2021 Photo: Vinny Antoine
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By Christine Berardi
The Workforce Development Program at VIA (Visually Impaired Advancement) helps community members with visual impairments and the economy of Buffalo, NY. The program provides scholarships and offers individuals entering or re-entering the workforce with specific, individualized coursework to meet their career goals. VIA works with many local employers who are looking for capable, enthusiastic employees. VIA’s rigorous online and classroom training includes technology and computer-based instruction, industry-specific based training in hospitality, tourism, customer service, telecommunications and food preparation. With National Grid Foundation’s support, VIA provided approximately 12 scholarships last year. To learn more about these students, visit VIA.
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Teens in Print:
Photos: Johnson Photography, Inc.
Afterschool & Summer Journalism Program By Deborah Drew
A new organization to the National Grid Foundation, WriteBoston promotes deep learning through writing. It partners with students, schools, districts, and educational organizations to elevate the core writing skills of youth in area. It believes student voices matter, and skillful writing is a gatekeeper to college success and career readiness. Importantly, it also sees the ability to communicate effectively as an essential issue of social justice. Using a two-pronged approach, directly supporting both students and educators, WriteBoston provides flexible professional development and coaching for educators. Under its dynamic student journalism program, which is supported by the National Grid Foundation, Teens in Print (TiP) for students grades 8-12 is a program that amplifies voices of Boston youth through journalism training, caring adult mentorship, and the unique opportunity to write for a citywide youth newspaper. The program provides a platform and supportive space for students from marginalized communities. With TiP, youth learn critical thinking, perseverance, authentic and audience-responsive writing, 7
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and interviewing-savvy. In the past year, students have written about a wide range of topics: MBTA fare accessibility, teen mental health stigma, racism in healthcare, climate change, and gentrification in Boston. Teens generate original articles and write about issues that matter most to them. As part of the second year in this unique partnership, National Grid Foundation is helping over 200 students participate in TiP's afterschool and summer programming, classroom workshops, and community partnerships."
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teensinprint.com/wake-up-bostonians-our-environment-is-falling-apart/
Wake up, Bostonians
— Our environment is falling apart
By student Hiwan Maru
It’s no secret: residents of Massachusetts are disposing millions upon millions of tons of garbage year after year. For reference, the consumer advocacy group MASSPIRG Education Fund recently revealed that the 8
people of Massachusetts discarded over 5.6 million tons of trash during 2016. Companies that work to process the trash of the commonwealth, like E.L Harvey & Sons, have noticed garbage piling up at an alarming rate.
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Out of concern, they have pleaded with the public to consider the environmental impact and consequences of carelessly throwing out a piece of trash. Alongside the trash problem that is literally growing all around us, many Bostonians are also becoming more aware of what is at stake if our collective abandonment of the earth continues. Concerned citizens are alerting themselves and reading about who is responsible for environmental harm and destruction. Articles, videos and other media have made the public more aware of companies’ abuses of power and the resulting environmental harm, all for the sake of making a profit. Even with this knowledge publicly available, we are all on thin ice. As a result of our neglect, the stability of our environment continues to weaken. Based on the statistics provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, a whopping 80% of domestic energy production came from fossil fuels in 2019, and the production of natural gases has increased by approximately 15 quadrillion quads (a unit of energy equivalent to 1015 BTUs!). Worried Boston locals have attempted to take action to slow down excessive waste and hold companies accountable for their negative impacts on the environment. Groups have spoken out through protests, organized events promoting environmental awareness and worked to increase public awareness of critically important issues. Yet, the battle with climate change still poses a strong threat to the city we live in. “There are things that we need to do
better in and fast,” says 19-year old Zamzam Warsame, a biology major at the University of Massachusetts Boston. “It is crucial that we as civilians also work hard to maintain our environment.” Warsame also expressed concern over how dismissive the current U.S. president, Donald Trump, has been regarding the environment. As leader of the nation, his dismissive and uninformed outlook has the potential to influence others to not pay enough attention. “The government should take more action in protecting our environment,” Warsame asserted, and she is not alone in these sentiments. In a poll conducted by Research Co, 46% of respondents to a survey have more faith in president-elect Joe Biden than in Trump regarding policy changes that will benefit the environment. Trump’s disregard for scientifically proven, critically urgent, and very reasonable concerns leave many confused and upset. “Our former president doesn’t believe in climate change or any environmental concerns,” Warsame said. The concerns for Trump’s future actions regarding the environment have evidently not sat well with the public and the polls and election outcome reflect that. So where do we go from here? The measures we must take to save our planet can feel overwhelming, but big changes can start with small actions. For example, paying close attention to things in one’s daily diet can make a difference. A decrease in animal product consumption can save a vast amount of resources normally used to raise animals that we eventually eat. Other actions to help make 9
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an impact includes refraining from environmental exploitation, like eating meat and loitering, and being more aware of both who and what people you choose to support. Sunrise Boston, an organization that inspires youth to spread awareness on how to tackle the current climate crisis, encourages this kind of meaningful activism. Miriam Strodolsky, a 15year old volunteer at Sunrise Boston, expressed genuine concern over the ongoing success of destructive companies, such as Shell. “Both the government and companies have an equal amount of responsibility in taking care of our environment,” Strodolsky said. Countless protests and boycotts have happened in hopes of pushing company heads to have a more environmentally friendly approach to the creation and handling of their products. I consider myself an environmentalist,” Strodolsky explained, “but everyone should be environmentalists.” Being an environmentalist is not hard, and it can start with small changes or efforts to increase understanding of our shared earth. Unifying one another through small actions and awareness of what is at stake, being careful about who we support, and holding companies and people accountable for their actions and policies all contribute to changes that can fix and save our environment, in Boston and beyond. ■
As part of the second year in this unique partnership, the National Grid Foundation is helping 300 students participate in TiP’s afterschool, summer, in-class partnerships and workshops, and 1:1 college essay mentorship.
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Photos: Johnson Photography, Inc.
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Zephyr Education Foundation:
Cruising in Pursuit of Marine Science and Technology By Deborah Drew
For nearly 13 years, Zephyr Education has been providing ocean science “cruises” for college, high school and middle school students, and has been delivering an experiential, hands-on program on Vineyard Sound, MA along with visits to research labs in Woods Hole, MA. The goal? To teach and gain understanding of the importance and relevance of studying the ocean, and to educate students, as future voters and citizens, about the importance of the marine environment, forging the connection between local stewardship and global responsibility. During Zephyr’s boat trips and tours, students learn why local marine science research is important; how collected marine specimens are used to gain insight into the biological and physical characteristics of the Sound, and in medical research in local scientific institutions; how the oceanographic measurements -similar to those taken on-board the boat- are used by scientists to understand local environment as well as global processes. But the most popular activity is deployment of an underwater video camera; students can see the environment beneath and marine life first-hand. Pre-Covid, upwards of 2000 students per year participated in this Marine science program and in 2022, the program is slowly regaining momentum. The National Grid Foundation has partnered with Zephyr Education for more than five years and supports approximately 300 students so they can participate in this interactive, nautical program. •
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" I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do." — Leonardo da Vinci
Beam Center: Constellation (Ear) Photo:Ye Qin Zhu