Catherine Duncan was honored at the New Year's Eve Patriots game as being the “volunteer of the year” by the New England Patriots and was presented a check for $5,000 to School on Wheels of Massachusetts by Robert Kraft. She was honored for her work tutoring with School on Wheels of Massachusetts.
Letter from Lindsay Opper to her mom, Cheryl Opper, founder and executive director,
School on Wheels of Massachusetts
November 16, 2017
In 9th grade, my mom brought in a new family member to live with us: School on Wheels of MA (SOWMA). After school, I would get off the bus and come home to backpack supplies dropped off on our front porch, a basement that looked like a CVS and various people gathered around our kitchen table. Many of nights I would walk downstairs to turn off the living room tv (located directly below my bedroom).
The living room was where my mom continued to work on grants & other important SOWMA materials late into the night. It become a nightly ritual for me to come downstairs and turn off Tom Bergeren’s booming voice as he announced the next Dancing With The Stars contestant eliminated. I then would clear the Lean Cuisine from the coffee table, remove my mom’s glasses from her sleeping face & set her laptop aside. Never once did my mom wake up the next day and complain about her massive workload or how tired she felt. Instead she would wake up re-energized. Ready to go out and be a voice for the kids.
Hats off to our 2017 graduates!
Lorenz
Lorenz graduated with perfect attendance from Brockton High School despite overwhelming odds. With the help of his SOWMA tutors and his undeterred focus, he went on to Massasoit Community College, where he graduated with honors. Lorenz was nominated by SOWMA for the Bridgewater State University Scholar's Program. Last month he was presented with his diploma, and BSU's prestigious "Award for Student Excellence," given for outstanding scholastic and extra curricular activities. Read about Lorenz and School on Wheels here as Beverly Beckham captures his story - and SOWMA's - in a Boston Globe feature.
Sade
Four years ago Sade arrived at the Elms College School of Nursing, nervous but excited to begin her college career. Sade recalls walking into her dorm room with SOWMA founder and executive director Cheryl Opper, who was carrying dorm supplies and setting her up in a place she'd call home for the next four years. Diploma in hand, Sade's now studying for her nursing boards and looking forward to a career that blends her commitment to caring for others with her new-found scientific knowledge. Congrats to Sade!
LucnaliE
Lucnalie is the consummate role model for her younger sister, Lovely. A 2017 graduate of Massasoit Community College, Lucnalie this fall will continue her education at University of Massachusetts Amherst majoring in biology. Lucnalie and her siblings lost their mother at a young age and were raised in foster care. Despite hardships, Lucnalie is determined to blaze a trail for her siblings to lead them to a brighter future through education and hard work.
Nicole
Shortly after the Boston Marathon bombings, Nicole and her family found themselves giving up an affordable housing opportunity in order to accommodate a victim of the bombings. Faced with homelessness, Nicole reached out to SOWMA after seeing a Facebook post about educational support and asked for help. She was placed with a volunteer mentor, given customized school supplies, and taught the skills she needed to stay focused on her education. Today Nicole is the proud recipient of a college degree from Bridgewater State University. Read more about Nicole on NECN's feature here.
For three years Adie has set aside one evening a week to take her four children to SOWMA's tutoring site at the Crescent Credit Union Learning Center in Brockton. The Center opened its doors to School on Wheels in 2014 to accommodate families in transition. There, each of Adie's children settles in with a familiar face: a School on Wheels tutor ready to review the week's academic progress and assignments.
By Jillian Smith
SOWMA Education Coordinator
What do you do with an hour?
That's one re-run of "Law and Order: SVU." That's how long I sit on the couch and scroll through Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and then back to Instagram, repeat. That's how long it takes me to completely fall asleep in between the thoughts of the day and ticking of my to-do list. It's four times the amount of time it takes me to get a coffee every day. It's two times the amount of time that it takes me to get ready in the morning. When I was a student, one hour felt like an eternity when I was sitting in class but when I was catching up with friends at the dining hall, the hours seemed to fly by.
I work at School on Wheels of Massachusetts, an organization that I discovered while I attended Stonehill College. They asked my classes if anyone could volunteer to be a tutor. The commitment? One hour each week.
