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HOLDEN, Mass. — On Monday, eighth graders from across Massachusetts will unite at the State House in Boston for an ambitious day of service honoring the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr , and Mountview Middle School's Lauren Lavallee was selected to represent her school as this year's Project 351 ambassador.
"I felt really honored to be chosen," said Lavallee, "I know how many other people there are in this school and how well they do academically, so I felt really honored to be chosen among them, and among the entire grade."
The youth ambassadors, representing the Commonwealth's 351 cities and towns, are chosen based on their exemplary service ethic and spirit of generosity and were nominated by education leaders in their home town.
While excited to have the opportunity to be a part of the project and to meet the Governor, Lavallee said she also feels a little pressure, "because all of Mountview they're going to be seeing is me, so I'm going to be showing them what Mountview puts into students."
Yet Principal Erik Githmark was confident she was the right choice for the role. "When we were looking to nominate someone, every person that I talked to thought that she would be a great person to represent our school and our student body," he said. "For us, it's a good opportunity to pat Lauren on the back for her hard work."
Project 351 was launched during Gov. Deval Patrick’s 2011 inaugural when more than 400 youth ambassadors united to serve, develop leadership skills and discuss issues critical to young people and their communities.
Last year’s day of service impacted over 10,000 children facing economic challenges in the areas of nutrition, early childhood health and development and education. That success compelled the youth ambassadors to continue to seek the training, tools and support of the new network of service-minded youth.
Patrick will again convene this year's day of service and lead the day's events. In addition to being an honor student at Mountview, Lavallee is also in the student council, which has already given her the opportunity to share in community service activities.
"The student council has done a lot of different projects for the community, and I have been a part of them in 6th grade and 8th grade, so it's given me experience for this," said Lavallee. One of the projects that stood out for Lavallee was the recent Senior Breakfast, held in December.
"I think that was probably the most rewarding," she said. "It's nice that they had Holden residents and brought them to our school, and they got to see how children in Holden are taught and what they do."
On Monday, Lavallee will have the opportunity to once again share with people what children in Holden do, representing Mountview and the community as one of the 351 young leaders that will meet in Boston.
“Project 351 is designed to inspire, challenge and motivate our next generation of leaders to give back and make a significant impact in the community,” said Patrick.“I am proud that the enormous success of last year’s day of service has opened up so many new opportunities for youth across the Commonwealth to serve, and I look forward to joining this year’s youth ambassadors on January 14 to give back and honor the legacy of Dr. King.”
The 2012 day of service will begin with a Youth Town Meeting led by Patrick at the State House. In the afternoon, the young people will fan out to service sites across Boston including, Cradles to Crayons, the Greater Boston Food Bank, the Dorchester Boys and Girls Club and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Towers. The day will conclude at the State House with a reflection and service celebration.
Project 351 is expected to impact the lives of thousands of individuals. A list of the youth selected to participate will be available in the coming weeks.
