Fall, 2021
What was I doing taking a dance lesson my first night in Houston? We were there to study hurricane relief efforts. I hadn’t expected to be dancing! What I learned along the way was as surprising as how I got there. By my sophomore year at The Winchendon School, I was a service learning leader for the Food Justice program. When we chose our ColLABs, a two-week intensive learning experience, it seemed natural I would continue with non-profit work. Hurricane Recovery. A Dance Class. Learning Outside of My Comfort Zone. We went to Houston after Hurricane Harvey to dig into environmental justice, to learn about the health risks from a natural disaster, and to explore ways to make long-term meaningful change. Through the dance lesson, we learned that the recent disaster brought about a loss of the city’s sense of community - but it couldn’t crush people’s spirit. It was then I discovered just how passionate I really am in actively working to solve large complex problems and how a dance class can provide a new perspective. How Will You ColLAB? This pamphlet is chock-full of past ColLABs to get you thinking about what’s possible. What’s your idea for a ColLAB? Send me a text at (978) 620-5999 or an email to kylee@winchendon.org. I’d like to hear your idea, and perhaps we can design your ColLAB together.
Best wishes,
Kylee McCumber TWS ‘20 Bentley ‘24 Marketing Intern The Winchendon School kylee@winchendon.org
P.S. Behind this letter is a copy of the article AdWeek wrote about Sophie Jameson ‘18, Hasbro’s first TikTok Officer. Sophie leveraged her ColLABs and turned the persona “Sophie Lightening” into a marketing career - and has won critical acclaim for her success. It’s another great Winchendon success story.
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