Week 9

 This is my last blog post for the term :-(

Thanks for reading!

All 8 of the SEAD Scholars, my site contact and EBHS Assistant Headmaster Ms. Blanco, and I enjoyed pizza and ice cream on Thursday to celebrate this term and say goodbye to each other. I was so happy to have all of the SEAD scholars there together one last time. I'm going to miss each and every one of them so much and hope that you all keep in touch and know that I'm here for anything you need at any point tomorrow, the next day, and any day in the future! 

Updates from my last week at Eastie:

• On Monday, Miguel and I finished up this term's College Knowledge curriculum strong, setting up his "Roadmap to College" and looking into his top college choice, BU. We looked at the different majors he might be interested in and at study abroad opportunities! 
• On Tuesday, two of my college access colleagues and I hosted a College Mythbusting session for Mr. Leone and Mr. Glavin's SAT Prep class that three of the SEAD scholars are enrolled in. We had gathered questions the students had about college and financial aid beforehand, and broke into three themed groups based on these questions, Getting into College, Paying for College, and Making the Most of College. I ran the Making the Most of College group and the students interviewed me about my life as a current college student. 
• On Thursday, we had our last group lunch in the library with Ms. Blanco, my site contact and the EBHS Assistant Headmaster. I was so happy to see all 8 of the SEAD students there to enjoy pizza and ice cream. I'm going to miss them all so much!

Ideas for ways to stay on track December:

• Stay on track in your classes - get your work in on time, stay after school, and study! 
• Keep thinking about what colleges you might want to apply to and building your college list.
• Keep preparing for the SAT. I know many of you are in a class that does SAT prep, but extra practice such as WilsonPrep definitely can't hurt.
• Reach out to me if you need anything or have any questions!  

For parents and guardians

• Please feel free to reach out to me if you or your student needs any support between now and when the winter intern arrives, and even beyond that if you have any questions! I'm always here for them.
• The winter intern, Mrynna, will arrive on January 8th!

This week's SEAD shoutout is Ronaldo!  Ronaldo spent almost every lunch period in my office during my SEAD internship and deserves recognition for hanging out with me so much. He's always up for an adventure, whether it be to both of the art museums we visited this term, to Salem or Sky Zone. I love his commitment to the SEAD family! 

Photos from Week 9:

Danise surprised us on Monday afternoon and stopped by East Boston with her new puppy! Miguel, Juan, and Tech and See (my two officemates) and I were SO excited to get to play with a puppy on our rainy Monday. Thanks for coming, Danise!

A before and during shot of our SAT Mythbusting session with the SAT prep class. Student's in my group, pictured in the lower half, talked about "Making the Most of College" and interviewed me about my life at college!

So much has happened in these 9 weeks and the students have grown so much. I'm so proud of the relationships they've built both with me and each other. Our progress this term doesn't stop here! Mrynna, the winter intern, arrives on January 8th. The students and parents should all know that I'm always available for the students with whatever they need and hope that they continue to stay in touch. Tot the students, it's been such a pleasure getting to know them you all this term. You've challenged me in so many ways, made me laugh, and taught me so many new things. 

SEAD love,

Maggie

Week 8

Updates from the past week:

• On Saturday, Miguel, Ke'Andre, Pam, and Alex spent four hours of their Saturday completing the Practice SAT. I'm SO proud of them! They learned so much about test taking skills and the importance of the ability to focus for long periods of time, and were able to put their SAT prep to good use! I really appreciate that these scholars went above and beyond on a Saturday afternoon. Their Dartmouth water bottles will be delivered to them soon by the winter intern. Their tests will be scored over winter break and they will find out how they did in January when Mrynna arrives. Great work, guys! I'm really proud of you!
• In our College Knowledge session this week, Miguel and Jakara completed the "What am I looking for in a college?" worksheet and a College Profile for a school that they're interested in applying to. These worksheets are going to be super helpful as the students get more in depth into their college search! 
• On Tuesday, Miguel and I visited Boston University for an info session and tour of the campus. Miguel was a big fan and we learned a lot about BU and saw what a great urban campus it is!
• On Thursday, 5 of the SEAD students (Miguel, Juan, Alex, Ronaldo, and Pam) and I had a delicious dinner at Meridian Market. Juan even created his own sandwich, so we'll have to see if The Juan ends up on the menu next time! After dinner, Alex, Ronaldo, and I went to the Institute of Contemporary Art. I was so impressed by Ronaldo and Alex's analysis of the modern art we saw, and we had a good time trying to interpret the meaning behind what we were seeing and then comparing our hypotheses to the informational descriptions next to each work. It's getting cold in Boston, so we treated ourselves to a hot drink at Starbucks on our beautiful stroll back to the T station. One of my favorite nights in Eastie this term, for sure! Check out more pictures below.

On the horizon:

• Our LAST College Knowledge workshop will be after school on Monday 11/17. We'll be continuing to work on our college lists (and filling out the College Profiles, too!) and Roadmaps to College. I'll also be available to answer any questions students have about college, the SAT, financial aid, etc. that may have come up throughout my term here. Putting in the time now to attend the workshops will put the students in a good spot to do some continued college searching on their own and be ready to start off next term's College Knowledge curriculum with the Winter Intern, Mrynna.

• My last day at Eastie will be Friday, 11/21. I'll miss this school and the students very much. The students should have all had individual meetings with me by this point to wrap up our time together. 

• My schedule for the upcoming week: 11/17-11/21

• All week: mandatory individual meetings. See me to schedule your time (during the school day!)
• Monday: College Knowledge workshop after school
• Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: available after school!
• Friday: My last day at Eastie :-(

For parents and guardians

• Always feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to talk with me.
• The winter intern, Mrynna, will arrive on January 8th!

This week's SEAD shoutout is Pam! Pam recently was chosen to be on the Class Council and she voluntarily took the Practice SAT exam I administered on Saturday. We're proud of you, Pam!

Photos from Week 8:

Alex, Miguel, Pam, and Ke'Andre working hard this past Saturday on the first section of their Practice SAT - the essay! I'm proud of you all for your effort and dedication to your futures. Great work!

Ronaldo and Alex outside of the Institute of Contemporary Art building. The harbor in the background and the modern building make a great backdrop!

The special exhibit on display at the ICA featured all different works of fiber. It was super interesting and we all really enjoyed it. 

Temperatures are dropping quickly in Boston, so we treated ourselves to hot chocolates, mochas, and lattes at Starbucks to keep us warm on our stroll back to the T station. Boston is beautiful at night, and I'll be so sad to leave this city (and these kids!)

Thanks for a wonderful week. Have a great weekend,

Maggie

Week 7

Updates from the past week:

• In our College Knowledge session this week, Jakara and Miguel stayed after Monday for our workshop on paying for college and financial aid. I was impressed by how many questions they asked! They should feel prepared to continue their college search with a financial context in mind and navigate their college choices based on affordability.
• Monday evening, we had a wonderful parent dinner at EBHS. We enjoyed pasta, meatballs, bread, salad, and cookies while learning more about the SEAD program and what type of support families can expect from SEAD in the upcoming months and years. Did you know when the SEAD scholars return home from SEAD III this summer, they will already have a college essay (a.k.a. their personal statement) ready to go for college applications?! It was truly wonderful to see so many of the SEAD scholars and their family members at the dinner, and I hope they enjoyed getting to see Jay, Jenni, Danise and Katy from the leadership team up at Dartmouth, who were able to visit for the evening from Hanover. Thank you to everyone who ceame and thank you for a great evening!
• Our college visits to Worcester on Friday went really well! Jakara, Ronaldo, Miguel, and Ke'Andre were able to join a total of 73 Eastie students who went to visit colleges in Worcester today. They either attended Clark, WPI (Ke'Andre and Miguel) or Worcester State (Jakara and Ronaldo). 
• Our trip to SkyZone was so much fun! I hope the students enjoyed it as much as I did. We even got a surprise visit from Sawyer, the Winter 2014 intern!!! The students were so shocked and happy to see her. Be sure to check out the wonderful pictures from the trip included in this blog. Afterwards, a few of us enjoyed dinner at Dough, one of my favorite sandwich shops in East Boston. Yum! 

Check out the video of our SkyZone Trip below!

TOMORROW 11/8

Read all the details here: http://seadebhs.blogspot.com/2014/11/this-saturday.html

On the horizon:

•  Next week's College Knowledge will be on after school on Monday 11/10. We will be filling out a formal college list profile and planning ahead to fill out their junior year "Roadmap to College". This is a great workshop to attend to be in a good spot to do some continued college searching on their own and be ready to start off next term's College Knowledge curriculum with the Winter Intern, Mrynna.

• SEAD will be going on a College Visit to Boston University on Tuesday 11/11 (Veteran's Day, No School for Boston Public Schools). We will be meeting at Airport station at 9:45am, and leaving promptly right after - don't be late! If you are not coming from East Boston, you can meet us at 10:10am at Park Street Station on the Green Line B train platform towards Boston College. We will be taking the T to the Boston University - East stop. We will be going on a campus tour at 11am, eating lunch on campus (paid for by SEAD), and then returning to Eastie around 2:30pm. Stay tuned for an information sheet about BU! 

• On Thursday evening, SEAD will be visiting the Institute of Contemporary Art. We will be meeting somewhere in East Boston for a quick dinner at 5pm (Subway, Burger King, etc.) and then heading to the museum. We should return to East Boston by 8pm. Dinner will be paid for by SEAD and admission to the museum is free on Thursday evenings! 

• My schedule for the upcoming week: 11/10-11/14
• Monday: College Knowledge after school
• Tuesday: no school, BU trip (9:45am-2:30pm)
• Wednesday: available after school until 3:30
• Thursday: available after school until 3, meeting at 5pm for dinner in East Boston (location TBD)
• Friday: I have to leave early (by 11:45am), don't forget to show me your Aspen before I leave!

For parents and guardians

• Thank you so much to everyone who came to the Family Dinner on Monday. I have enjoyed getting to put faces to names and meet all of you! I hope you had a good time and learned more about your student's experience in SEAD.
• Always feel free to reach out if you have any questions or would like to talk with me! 

This week's SEAD shoutout is Miguel! Miguel has been very dedicated to College Knowledge these past few weeks! He's attended the past two workshops in a row, been very engaged, done college and financial aid research on his own, attended the college visit to WPI on Friday, and asked great questions in order to increase his knowledge about college! This will be a huge benefit in the college application process in the fall and SEAD is so proud of him for his dedication to his future! Great job, Miguel, keep it up!

Photos from Week 7:

East Boston SEAD students, their families, and Katy, Jenni, Danise, and Jay from the SEAD leadership team at Dartmouth came together on Monday evening for our SEAD Family Dinner. We enjoyed wonderful food and good company. I am so happy I got to meet so many of the scholars' family members. I hope the students felt loved to see so many of their supporters in one room!

 On Tuesday night, I enjoyed dinner with Shirley Spence, a Dartmouth alum and the Class of '77 liaison to the SEAD program. We chatted over great seafood in North Cambridge and I enjoyed getting to connect with yet another member of the SEAD family! 

On Wednesday, Ronaldo's Biotech class was joined by 8th grade students from Umana Academy, Eastie's middle school. The students spent the morning exploring high school science activities. I got to watch the Biotech students work with the middle schoolers to extract DNA from strawberries. Yum!

On Thursday Night, I attended the 2014 College Access and Success Briefing at the Federal Reserve Bank. It was amazing to see all of the people, organizations, and resources out there that are dedicated to increasing college access and success for underrepresented students. It really helped put SEAD's mission in a larger context. I also got to connect with a Dartmouth professor who does research in college access - awesome!

Friday, 73 Eastie students traveled to Worcester to visit either WPI, Worcester State, or Clark. I chaperoned the WPI visit (which Miguel and Ke'Andre went on). I learned so much about all of the things WPI has to offer and hope that our students that may be interested consider applying!

It's finally here....SkyZone!!! Here are some pictures from our trip! 

I had a blast and I hope that Jakara, Ke'Andre, Alex, Juan, and Ronaldo had just as much fun as I did! 

The students were surprised by a visit from Sawyer, the 14W intern! SEAD Family forever! 

Have a great weekend,

Maggie

This Saturday!

This Saturday, the SEAD scholars have the opportunity to take the SAT Practice Test at East Boston Public Library from 12pm-5pm. I expect all students to attend. Students who are taking a full length practice test as part of a class they're enrolled in can still get 5 bonus College Knowledge Points for attending, although it is not mandatory (this exemption applies to Juan Pablo, Pam, Jakara, Miguel, and Denise).