• Calvin Corriders Board Member Moment
• Pondering a Holiday Classic
• Summer Camp Success Lasts All Year
• Their Summer Fun
“Antidote to Burnout ”
— Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
“Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business...”
NGF: How did you first become interested with National Grid Foundation?
My good friend Melanie Littlejohn reached out to me and spoke about all of the great work the Foundation does. She also mentioned what a great group of people that are part of the board, the executive team and staff and that I could be a part of an organization that could use my skill sets and is helping transform the community. How do you say no to that?
NGF: Which Committees do you serve?
The Governing Board, Investment Committee and Audit Committee
NGF: Where do your strengths fit in with the board?
My 40 years of banking/financial services experience complements the other experience my colleagues on the board has.
NGF: You have been on the board for almost a year, what makes you most proud about the Foundation?
I am proud of the impact the Foundation has in the communities where we live, work and play. The grant awards have allowed the not-for-profit community to continue to offer impactful and transformation services to their constituents.
NGF: What program example most brings to life the mission of the Foundation?
That’s a very difficult question because all of the programs are so important. So if I am pressed to answer, I will speak about On Point for College as I am very aware of their importance in the community and the impact that they have. Since 1999, On Point has helped more than 11,000 first-generation youth to get to college, stay there, and succeed afterwards.
NGF: What is your vision for the future of giving?
My vision is that we will continue to coalesce with all of our business partners to ensure the resources are used in an efficient and effective manner that will continue to add value to our grantees and the communities that they serve.
During this time of year, my custom has been to take out the old Christmas classic written by Charles Dickens and read it as theatrically as possible to whosoever would privilege me the opportunity to do so. The protagonist of this tale eventually comes to realize the importance of the giving of his time, talent and treasure to the people around him.
Pondering this story I thought of how wonderful it is to work at the National Grid Foundation, an organization that strives to help mitigate the hardships of the underserved within our communities. I thought of the many programs we’ve supported throughout the years and how it made a world of difference to those in need. Sequentially, people helped by these programs become proficient advocates themselves who in turn lift up others. This encourages us to want to do even more.
The Foundation looks to support organizations whose model can be emulated by others providing sustainability for creating healthy, thriving communities. Programs which strengthen through education, workforce development, and environmental stewardship are important ways to advance many, giving them opportunities for replicatable success. We also provide emergency heating funds to insure help when needed.
During the pandemic, when the necessity of staple items became scarce, I saw The Foundation’s resolve tried. True to its core values its board and staff worked tirelessly to do as much as we could to alleviate the burdens of those struggling. During that time we included much needed Covid items and stocked food pantries.
There is always more that can be done. So, the question once asked by Ebeneezer Scrooge is still a question which should be asked often of individual and institution alike ...
I know all of us at National Grid Foundation will continue to support, and promote organizations and programs which rise to the occasion of the betterment of the people we serve in our communities; That the shadows of impossibility, despair, discouragement may vanish away by lending of our time, talent and treasure to those in need. We hope you will join us and make a difference.❧
“Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they shadows of things that May be, only?”
June marks the end of the school year. July and August signal that it’s summer camp time. Although the seasons have changed, students are proud of their accomplishments. Success knows no time of year. Say Yes Buffalo, Fiver Children’s Foundation, Phillips Academy and Boys & Girls Club Stoneham & Wakefield held summer camps in New York and Massachusetts. Students made new friends while learning, exploring, discovering, and keeping up with their reading and math skills.
As a new National Grid Foundation partner organization, Say Yes Buffalo, in partnership with Buffalo Public Schools, the City of Buffalo, Erie County and community organizations, was excited to hold its Summer Camp initiative. For six weeks at 27 sites across Buffalo, camps served 1,400 K through 7th grade students. To prevent summer learning loss and remedy unfinished learning, camps implemented literacy and math curriculums. Extracurricular activities included sports, cultural dances, yoga, gardening, cooking and field trips. Say Yes Buffalo Summer Camp began only months after the May 14th tragedy at the Topps supermarket. Mental health counselors were available to support the students at the camps.
Camp Fiver’s Environmental Education program introduced young people to nature and taught them to develop a comfort and understanding of unfamiliar environments. Students learned about their relationship to nature, and how one’s actions can impact the environment. Camp Fiver welcomed 366 students ages 8-18. Fiver youth reside in underserved Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods and Madison and Chenango counties in Central New York. Campers explored various camp trails, creeks, lakes, and beaver dams on the 129-acre property. They learned how to fish on the lake, the importance of environmental protection and how to care for the environment. A total of 65 high schoolers participated in the Wilderness Program and climbed a mountain, purified water and more. ❧
Phillips Academy offered MS2 (Math and Science for Minority Students) a five-week summer program that helped 100+ under-resourced high school students from New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. These students excel in math and science and developed the competencies required for success in college, and beyond. The summer program included academic classes in math, science, English, computer science; college advising and visits; social and cultural awareness sessions; and recreational activities. Program goals included supporting students’ sense of personal and cultural identity; empowering students through confidence-building workshops; and developing a sense of community as alumni who support each other academically and professionally. ❧
The Boys and Girls Club of Stoneham and Wakefield offered a No Screen! Environmental Education program to students up to 18 years of age. It’s an environmental education program for economically disadvantaged youth that takes children away from their phones and tablets and teaches them about the world. No Screen Summer! had 4 parts: Environmental Leadership: where members are challenged to think critically about the environment, their actions and behaviors; Local Conservation: where students hiked and learned about the local ecosystem and participated in service projects from trail and water cleanup to invasive species removal; Agriculture & Gardening: where children learned about ecosystems, local food systems and access. Children participated in site selection, seed starting and transplanting, weeding, harvesting; and Wildlife Preservation: Partnering with Zoo New England, children learned about wildlife from around the world, how to protect them, and how to do our part locally. ❧
Creating a Waterwheel.
Teachers Describe the Wade Institute’s Hands-on, Inquiry-based Professional Learning as ...
This summer National Grid Foundation generously supported the Wade Institute’s Summer Professional Development Institutes which immerse teachers in handson, minds-on, inquiry-based science learning through community collaborations with educators, scientists, engineers, and STEM providers such as museums, nature centers, science centers, and higher education institutions. Educators participate in inquiry-based investigations as student learners, enhance their understanding of upto-date teaching practices and science content, adapt their lessons to be more studentdriven, gain access to inquiry-based investigations that they can use in their classrooms, and connect with local organizations that can be resources for them throughout the year. The 2022 Summer Professional Development Institutes brought together educators from across Massachusetts for week-long professional learning opportunities in the Central, Southeast, and Pioneer Valley regions of the state.
During the Central Region institute, Nature and Design: Connections Between Science, Edngineering and the Natural World, educators delved into the concepts of green design and biomicry. They took an up-close look at sustainable building design features, such as rain gardens and solar fields and learned how the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor’s LEED certified building’s design connects the building to its past while drawing on and preserving the natural landscape.
“I’m excited to potentially create a rain garden (student designed and created) outside the gym,” a Waltham school teacher commented after the visit. Educators applied their new knowledge to a water wheel engineering design challenge, which a Scituate Public Schools teacher described as “ a fun challenge. This is an activity I might adopt for my class.” They learned from a variety of guest speakers who shared information on rain gardens, the Blackstone River watershed, and the Worcester Green Plan.
“I’m thinking about ways to use the natural (and human!) resources nearby to create new, engaging and inquiry-based units and/or lessons. Connecting science to my students’ surroundings when possible will make it so much more meaningful,” said a Worcester
“Antidote
Public Schools teacher reflecting on the experience.
Educators learned how to integrate field research and real time data into their science curriculum during the Southeast Region institute, Utilizing Your Local Ecosystems as Laboratories for Investigations. They investigated the ecological impacts of food sources and observed how the interactions of pollinators, plants, and animals support the health of the farmyard ecosystem at Round the Bend Farm.
“I really enjoyed hearing about and thinking about all the interconnections between the various elements of the Round the Bend Farm. It was a good model of ecological relationships,” said an Easton Public Schools teacher, and her teammate commented that “It was great to relate content to experiential learning.” At the Lloyd Center for the Environment, educators identified marine life, and examined how the soil in the salt marsh compares with the sediment of a coastal ecosystem to that of a farm. A Somerset Public Schools teacher said that the highlight
of the experience was “exploring the beach in search of clams, snails, mollusks and other types of sea life that washed ashore.” As a way to further explore ecosystems, the group participated in site surveys designed to determine whether parcels of land were best valued and used for preservation or for construction or other purposes. “I can definitely see doing this with my students and it’s so much more dynamic and full of student choice than just running a transect and having them each analyze a quadrant along the length,” said a Concord-Carlisle Regional School District teacher.
Educators explored integrations of math and science as they gathered evidence of the Pioneer Valley’s rich history of geologic change during the institute Rivers to Range: Exploring the Geology of the Pioneer Valley. They searched the modern
landscape for clues to a very different past and gained access to resources that they can use in their classroom in the year ahead. “Thinking about connecting it all together for students makes sense when thinking about how the history and geology of the earth intersect,” said a Springfield
Public Schools teacher. “I’m excited not only for my teaching practice, but also to live in the Pioneer Valley having this new understanding of its geological history!”
Educators investigated erosion and plate tectonics at the Springfield Science Museum, identified types of rocks and placed them on a geologic time scale, and searched for dinosaur footprints at The Trustees of Reservations Dinosaur Footprints. They designed their own dinosaur tracks with an ichnology expert from the Beneski Museum of Natural History and engineered and tested earthquake-proof building models at the Hitchcock Center for the Environment. A Salem Public Schools teacher said, “I loved seeing the dinosaur tracks in situ as well as being able to see the angle or uplift of the sediment. The class discussion led by Fred [Venne] brought it to life and allowed me to understand what I was seeing. Returning to the Beneski [Museum] was another
highlight.” A Worcester private school teacher noted that the experience helped her to better understand how the region was formed by providing “an overview picture of the process.”
Time and again, the Wade Institute proves that in-depth exploration of science content and the science of teaching (pedagogy) can be fun! One teacher described the institute as a re-energizing “really great antidote to burnout!!” Other educators felt that “the speakers were inspiring and the activities were fun!” and that the course was a “very well-paced, thoughtful, interactive week. Really awesome PD! I have little techniques, big picture things, and personally interesting information to bring back to my teaching and my life.” “I am thinking a lot about how to make my lessons more engaging and more authentic as a result of today’s activities,” said an Easton Public Schools teacher, “I am also thinking of how to integrate phenomena learning into my classroom. I see how cool it is and how good it could be for engagement and learning.”
As a foundation that cares about strengthening community and enabling STEM skills development through training, the National Grid Foundation has sponsored the Wade Institute for Science Education’s Summer Professional Development Institutes for five years. ❧
Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.
— C. S. LewisCover Illustration by: © 2017 Dakota S. Focá Mankind Was My Business. dsantosfoca@icloud.com
