Help us, School Budget, Vote in Manch. and Essex, Opportunities for HS students, Diaper Drive
Emily Snyder has been working with me diligently behind the scenes to engage in conversation and envision a community group with opportunities for service and dialogue. Welcome, Emily, and THANK YOU!
We need your help! Use the power of your network to help us in our work by sending a quick email introduction connecting us with people who can help with the following:
Do you know someone who is interested in staying updated on social justice/ social action in Manchester and Essex? If so, please connect us! (You can just send me their email addresses.)
Do you or someone you know have experience starting a non-profit? If so, please connect us!
Do you or someone you know have meaningful connections to impactful non-profits on the North Shore? If so, please connect us!
Help a Ukrainian family on the North Shore get settled
They need an immigration attorney, a car, and housing! All big ticket and important items. If you have a lead on any of these things, you can email olgahayes@comcast.net. The family does not yet need clothes, but we may start a gofundme or create an Amazon Wishlist soon. Stay tuned!
MERSD Schools
Budget
Manchester residents already passed the budget at Town Meeting. Next up is a vote in Essex. It's important to think about what is lost for children when the schools are not supported. When budgets are cut, student experiences are affected. For example, if we want to see small class sizes, student support specialists, and elementary foreign languages in the future, then we need to support the current budget. Additionally, there is currently no Library Media Specialist on staff at the MS/HS, no Library paraprofessional on staff, no collection development occurring and no library circulation. If we want a library program in Middle/High School we will need to support the current school budget now. If you'd like more information about the state of the MERMS/ MERHS library, I can forward it to you.
Essex voters need to pass an override to approve the current MERSD budget. On May 1, a 2/3 vote at town meeting is needed. Then, if it passes, on May 8 a majority is needed. Essex residents interested in learning more about the effort to pass the override should contact Annie Cameron at anniecameron@comcast.net.
Annie and others will be at these places to answer your questions:
Town Hall-- Thursday (4/27) from 6 to 7:30
Dump/Transfer Station - Saturday mornings (4/29, 5/6)
School Council Survey
If your child attends Manchester Memorial, be sure to fill out the survey by Friday, April 28 at 5pm. Use the link that you received in the email from Principal John Willis on Monday, April 24 to access the survey. This survey will inform school council parent reps and school leaders about what areas the school should focus on.
Town Election in Manchester....
...is Tuesday May 16. You can find information about the election and a sample ballot here.
Opportunities for Local High School Students
Manchester resident Christina Bain is helping to organize 2 exciting annual events for young people and I wanted to put them on your radar. Feel free to forward to anyone who might be interested! Reach out to Christina Bain at christinaarcherbain@gmail.com to learn more! about either program!
I am writing to you today about Team Harmony “We Have a Dream” Action Institute and Rally, a multi-day educational and action-oriented experience combating hate drawing over 100 teams of U.S. high school youth leaders (and other select countries). This is an initiative through a Boston-based NGO Empower Peace, and it will take place in Tulsa, OK on May 8-11, 2023. Students will particularly learn about the history of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre as well as how to create an action project within their own communities (and we would work with them even after the Tulsa event ends). Christina has been working with Empower Peace for years and has served as board chair for one of their other initiatives, Women2Women.
This program can be organized by the school or parent groups. The costs for the program itself are fully funded except for travel to and from Tulsa. A student team is 5 students plus a teacher/faculty/ parent chaperone, and there can be multiple teams from one community/school.
Christina would be thrilled to connect in the next week or so with anyone who is interested via Zoom for half an hour to go over the program and answer any questions.
Here are some quick videos:
Team Harmony Promo - https://vimeo.com/794580493
Features our Co-Chairs - Shawna & Monroe - https://vimeo.com/782618074/ea11cbb91f
Features Students - https://vimeo.com/781840808/58518ce49f
While you may not have enough notice for this year, this is an annual event so keep it in mind for next year!
Women2Women (W2W) has been specifically developed to provide rising young female leaders, ages 15-19, with the acquired leadership skills that will empower them to make a difference in their respective communities and countries.
W2W America includes team-building activities, seminars and workshops with prominent leaders representing government, media, business, science and technology, and non-profit organizations. The sessions focus on leadership development, skills building and cultural activities. Each year, up to 125 young women representing countries throughout the world are selected to attend (Women2Womens works with the U.S. embassies to nominate local students). This program does have a cost per participants, and students can self-apply. Attaching a flyer to this email!
This year, W2W will be taking place July 20-29, 2023 at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
To find out more, check out our website at - https://www.epwomen2women.org/
You can also see Our Story at - https://vimeo.com/772105194
Last Days of Local Diaper Drive!
