The Boys and Girls Club at Plumley Village The Boys and Girls Club of Plumley Village serves over 70 children within the Plumley Village Housing Development which is home to over 300 families. Working for Worcester was requested to install a playground in Plumley Village for the children of the Club as well as the neighborhood families. Unum professionals, the Holy Cross Men’s Hockey team and other volunteers build the structure and spread mulch in order to ensure the safety of the kids using the playground. The volunteers then moved on to painting the surrounding blacktop with games. They finished the site by doing a general cleanup of garbage and brush. This site will be a great area for the kids of the club to play and will provide a space for people in the community to gather.
Burncoat Preparatory Elementary School Working for Worcester has established a wonderful relationship with the faculty and staff at Burncoat Prep and was excited to continue its work in 2016. This year, volunteers renovated structures and spaces that are used and enjoyed daily by the 200+ students at the school. Our college student volunteers renovated the existing swing set structure, repainted the swing sets, and repainted worn blacktop games. They also added mulch for the playground to ensure the safety of the kids. Finally the volunteers cleaned the area and did some landscaping around the grounds.
City View Discovery School This was the first year that Working for Worcester had the pleasure of engaging with City View Discover School, a PK-6 grade school of almost 500 students. Working with a devoted team of Consigli professionals, a group of W4W alumni volunteers installed a brand new playground structure as well as made repairs to the existing swing set. Also the group installed new basketball hoops and refurbished the court lines. New blacktop games were painted as well. In order to ensure the safety of the students who used the new court, a group of volunteers fixed the fence that was surrounding the basketball court. Volunteers also engaged in projects within the school by painting interior walls. At the end of the day the group cleaned up the school yard space, including landscaping work.
Coes Pond On April 16, the Working for Worcester team partnered with the Coes Pond Task Force for the second straight year to continue the development of the Coes Pond Beach area. Student and community volunteers arrived at the site for a dynamic day of trash cleanup and brush removal that left the beach looking brand new! Our volunteers added a fresh coat of paint to the bathhouse and a gravel kayak ramp for increased accessibility to the pond, hoping to create a clean, open community space for everyone to enjoy.
Dodge Park For the third year in a row, Working for Worcester returned to the Dodge Park trails for a spring-cleaning of the popular community space. Volunteers cleared brush, picked up garbage, and laid down a new layer of mulch. Through Working for Worcester’s partnership with the Worcester Tree Initiative, our volunteers planted new Kwanzan Cherry and Zelkova trees, constructed weed barriers and a wooden footbridge to create clear walking paths for visitors of the park. Finally, our coalition of volunteers installed twelve brand new informational signs to make exploring the trails easier than ever. as well as after.
Elm Park Community School After revitalizing the Elm Park’s grounds in 2015, Working for Worcester continued this partnership with the school’s in 2016. The 2016 project revitalized a map of the United States in the main foyer and put a new coat of paint on their cafeteria chairs. Additionally, the public elementary school received newly painted basketball court lines, along with mulch and landscaping for the outside grounds. With these new additions, Elm Park Community School will continue to foster an active and healthy community.
Goddard School of Science and Technology The Goddard School of Science and Technology provides multiple educational opportunities for students in the City of Worcester. After the 2016 build day, this facility received a new playground structure in their under-utilized courtyard space along with an array of blacktop games. Along with removing old asphalt and other structures, Working for Worcester cleaned brush and other garbage along the school’s exterior surroundings. Working for Worcester looks forward to working with Goddard’s administration and community in the years to come.
Jacob Hiatt Magnet School Working for Worcester partneredis partnering with the Jacob Hiatt Magnet School to beautify the school for its 460 studentsthe kids. The school is dedicated to providing a safe place for children to learn and grow. Volunteers came to cleaned the grounds outside and painted thousands of square feet within the school. This painting included some magnificent murals! inside. This project was led by Working for Worcester’s branch at Worcester State and worked to brighten the student’s learning environment display the culture of the area and made the kids smile on their way to class.
Knights of Columbus Volunteers showed up in full force to the Knights of Columbus on the 2016 build day! Working for Worcester helped build put together bocce courts and provide a wheel-chair accessible pathway to the water. The views of Coes Pond can now be enjoyed by all while playing bocce along the water. This area will continue to function as a local spot for people to enjoy the outdoors. This project is part of a larger effort by Working for Worcester and local partners to make Coes Pond a popular and enjoyable community space.
Swing Into Action – West Tatnuck School Working for Worcester partnered with Bay State Savings Bank to install a new type of playground at West Tatnuck Elementary School in the 2016 project year. The volunteers teamed up with Swing Into Action, which is an organization that is dedicated to making handicap accessible playgroundsacross the city of Worcester accessible for all people, to make the improve a local playgroundschool’s playground available to children of all abilities. This project included the installation of handicap accessible playground equipment, like a “funhoop” and swing, as well as cleaning the grounds and providing maintenance toon the basketball court. Volunteers came out from across the city and college campuses to help provide all of the kids of Tatnuck Elementary an opportunity to exercise and play during and after school hours
Tatnuck Magnet Elementary School Working for Worcester was proud to return to Tatnuck Magnet school after a fantastic project in 2015. This year W4W assembled a coalition of college students, Doherty High School students and JetBlue employees who teamed up to revitalize the blacktop space at Tatnuck Magnet. Other projects volunteers engaged in on build day included managing the schools flower boxes and painting murals inside of the school. Finally, our group of volunteers did general landscaping and clean-up around the school grounds.
Thorndyke Elementary School After a successful build day at the Thorndyke Elementary School in 2015, Working for Worcester . Last year, when volunteers from local colleges and , National Grid, and members of the greater community came together to created construct a baseball field, Working for Worcester was excited to return to this great school in 2016. Working for Worcester is thankful for the generosity of The Hanover Insurance Group for their generosity this year and in past years to our work at the school. This year, volunteers curated an outdoor classroomfacilitated with the installation of by installinga benches and layingid mulch for an outdoor classroom. Additionally, volunteers painted several blacktop games forso the students have a variety of games and activities at their disposal. Finally, volunteersFinally, the students cl woeaned up the area around the school and remove any loose trash or debris.
Union Hill Union Hill Elementary School is one of Worcester’s greatest success stories. After being declared a level 4, “failing” school, the teachers, parents and community rallied around the effort to turn it around; it is now one of Worcester’s highest performing schools. Working for Worcester was proud to contribute to this growth. On build day, our volunteers installed new backboards and rims to the existing basketball poles, along with the installation of two new benches. Working for Worcester also painted the court lines to furnish a full basketball court and conducted a general cleanup around the school grounds.
Valley Residents for Improvement Inc. Working for Worcester has established a strong relationship with the Great Brook Valley community over the past couple of years. In 2016, our volunteers partnered with the Valley Residents for Improvement Inc. to help transform their community space. Working for Worcester installed new backboards and rims to the existing basketball poles, repainting the court lines and installing two benches to furnish a full basketball court. Working for Worcester is also created a comprehensive and inviting community space by cleaning, painting, and installing bookcases in their homework center. Finally, our volunteers installed a tetherball pole and a conducted a general cleanup around the grounds.
Vernon Hill Vernon Hill approached Working for Worcester with a request to transform a large, underutilized storage space into a dance studio. After a successful project at the school in 2014, our students were excited to go back to this deserving community school. Through a generous partnership with Fallon Health, professional and student volunteers installed a dance studio complete with a new coat of paint, foam flooring, two ballet Barres, wall-mounted mirrors and cubbies. The volunteers also conducted a general cleanup of the grounds.
Worcester Arts Magnet School At the Worcester Arts Magnet School, Working for Worcester volunteers transformed an old storage room into a Science, Technology, Engineering Arts and Math (STEAM) classroom, completing it with a brand new whiteboard and two lab tables. This transformation was possible thanks to the generous support of AbbVie. These new resources provide students with a practical and valuable space to conduct experiments and for teachers to provide demonstrations and enrich their STEAM curriculum. The project expanded outdoors as well with the construction of a basketball court and new painted blacktop games. In addition, volunteers cleared walking paths around the school and engaged in a general cleanup of the grounds.
YWCA of Central Massachusetts The YWCA of Central Massachusetts is one of the nation’s oldest and largest women’s organizations, hosting a variety of activities to uplift and empower women from every walk of life. Working for Worcester was proud to work with such a great organization and is thankful for the support from the George F. and Sybil H. Fuller Foundation. This year Working for Worcester empowered community volunteers to update and refurbish an enrichment space in the building. Volunteers painted the youth enrichment center, installed new coat hooks, a new whiteboard as well as a corkboard and replaced their ceiling tiles. Working for Worcester painted some of the walls with IdeaPaint, which allows them to be written on with dry erase markers. With these improvements, the YWCA can continue their mission to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace.
Grafton Street School Grafton Street School was one of Working for Worcester’s first projects. The basketball court we installed in year one had received some wear-and-tear, leading us to return to help sustain this great community space. The school received 2 brand new basketball hoops and freshly painted court lines. The children will also be able to enjoy new blacktop games. Finally, our volunteers went inside the Grafton Street School to paint an array of murals along with the installation of a bulletin board to keep the school community informed and engaged.
