Student Life

Community Engagement

Empowering Students to Affect Positive Social Change

Rivers is committed to helping students use their "talents, imagination, intellect, and compassion" to affect positive social change. One way we help them do that is by having them engage with people in our local communities and with issues of both local and national importance. In addition to the personal enjoyment and growth that come from hands-on engagement opportunities, students develop their understanding of the complexities and root causes that underlie many societal issues as they interact with people who have had varied life experiences. Our hope is that these school-run community engagement experiences will promote students' interest in examining the history, policies, and economics of social issues in this country.

Lucas Malo
Director of Community Engagement
l.malo@rivers.org


Programs and Non-Profit Partners

List of 3 items.

  • Community Engagement Fellows Program

    The Community Engagement Fellows program is an opportunity for rising juniors that enables students to explore causes of local and global importance. The goals of program are threefold: Participants will address a community need, educate and engage the Rivers community, and develop and deploy leadership skills central to community engagement. Through a small-cohort model, each fellow will collaborate with a selected nonprofit to support the organization's mission and engage the Rivers community during the academic school year in a unique project.  All fellows will be awarded $500 toward the implementation of their community engagement projects.

  • Foundations in Community Engagement Seminar

    Rivers strongly believes that the values, knowledge, and skills needed to build strong communities must be learned and practiced. The need to understand and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a democracy is crucial right now, as we prepare students to meet the new challenges presented by changes in information technology, demographic shifts, and political polarization.

    To help students thrive in and strengthen the communities to which they belong, the Foundations seminar brings together small groups that meet regularly to:

    • Learn and practice interpersonal and communication skills
    • Discuss current events in the context of civic responsibility
    • Prepare and participate in endeavors that contribute to the well-being of others

    Understand themselves and their leadership style In short, students need to experience community in order to become effective community-builders. The Foundations seminar is designed to create that community for Grade 10 students. Each section of this required pass/fail seminar is co-taught by two members of the professional community, and topics include, but are not limited to, leadership, current events, values, assumptions and bias, media bias, debate, and critical thinking. Students also participate in an off-campus community engagement project.

  • Nonprofit Partners

    Rivers seeks to develop long-term partnerships with nonprofits in local communities. Where relationships are built and direct hands-on connections are made, donations may be made through Rivers Givers. These nonprofits become invaluable learning environments for our students and partnerships evolve based on community need and alignment with student skill and interest.

    Some of our ongoing community partnerships include:
     
    Special Olympics of Massachusetts - Hosting an annual basketball tournament 

    One Night Out -  monthly respite childcare events for children with support needs

    Waltham Family School-  Supporting English language program for immigrant families that prepares children for Kindergarten and provides English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) education to their parents.

    Family Promise - Supporting Housing and Food Insecurity

    Plain Jaine Foundation- Hosting an Annual Holiday Drive

    Wily Network- helping to ensure Scholars have the tools and networks necessary to thrive in four-year residential colleges and transition successfully into post-college life.

    Land's Sake- Supporting a variety of community farming efforts
     
    Waltham Boys and Girls Club- Providing social and recreational programming for youth. 
     
    Rivers also partners with several local assisted living facilities and council on aging agencies providing integrational one-to-one and group programming for seniors.

Community Awareness and Engagement

DO FIVE THINGS
At Rivers, we believe in the importance of allyship and self-education when it comes to issues related to bias, prejudice, and discrimination. To aid in that effort, we have developed a series of “Do Five Things” learning guides, a framework that allows us to respond to real world events and provide all members of our community with the opportunity to engage around these topics. 
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