SOUTHWICK – Two eighth graders at Southwick Regional School have been working on affecting change in their school and community.
Earlier this school year, Ruby Francis and Nora Reilly were selected to be a part of Project 351, which is a non-profit and youth-driven service organization. The program was first launched by former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick in 2011, and is now continued by Gov. Charlie Baker. Every town in the state is required to have a student be selected for Project 351 to represent their community.
According to Rachel Deery, who is the seventh and eighth grade guidance counselor at Southwick Regional School, eighth grade teachers make recommendations and then she selects which students, based on certain qualities. Deery says that she looks for students with leadership qualities who are well-rounded, friendly, and involved in the community.
Eighth grade students Nora Reilly and Ruby Francis were the students from Southwick Regional School this year that were selected to be a part of Project 351. (Photo courtesy of Greg Fitzpatrick)
The kick-off event for Project 351 took place in Boston on January 31 at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Bringing the entire 2018 Project 351 class together, Gov. Baker spoke to the students and then a few service heroes were honored for their duty to their country.
After introductions, students were then split up into different groups to conduct community service throughout the day. The experience in Boston ended up being quite the positive one.
“It was kind of scary at first,” said Reilly. “You gradually make friends while you work.”
Moving forward, Reilly and Francis are now focused on organizing their own clothing drives. As part of Project 351, students have the chance to sign up to host a clothing drive in their respective community. This Sunday, March 18, Reilly’s clothing drive will take place at the regional school from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. The drive will be accepting anything from baby sizes to adult.
Reilly hopes that children in need of clothes will benefit from this.
“It’s basically kids that want to feel more confident going into school,” said Reilly.
For Francis’s project, she’s unsure of exactly when her clothing drive will be, but she has the idea of having each home room in the school having a donation box for clothes.
Deery is very happy to see what the two eighth graders have accomplished while being a part of Project 351.
“I think it was a good opportunity to kind of get them started on doing a project like this,” said Deery. “They’ve both done such a great job, I’m so proud of them.”
Seeing the positive impact that Project 351 has made on her life, Francis encourages future eighth graders to join the organization.
“You meet so many people who are so helpful and so nice,” said Francis. “You can meet people that it wouldn’t be possible to meet without this program.”
