Teams of four will compete in the tournament to raise money for School on Wheels students who have been impacted by homelessness. The referees donate their time and Oliver Ames donates their gym facilities to support the organization.
2015 4on4 Basketball Tournament
The 2015 School on Wheels' Basketball Tournament was sponsored by Evolution Sports and took place at Oliver Ames High School on Saturday March 2015. Twenty-four teams competed in a 4-on-4 tournament, which was sponsored by Evolution Sports. Mallory Breen, a junior at Oliver Ames High School kicked off the tournament by singing the national anthem. Great job, Mallory!Last year's tournament raised over $10,000 to provide school supplies, tutoring, mentoring and college assistance for students who have lost their homes. Thank you everyone who made this tournament a great success!
Congratulations to our 2015 winners!
A Team Winners - Motivation Church
(From left to right) Chris McLaughlin, Jason LaPlanche, Kyree LaPlanche, Crystopher Jackson, Peter Uzoma, and Cheryl Opper, Founder of School on Wheels of Massachusetts
B Team Winners - Express
(From left to right) Rico Gomes, Amare Gomes, Neal Opper, Justin Santos, Ryan Costello, Sean Grover, and School on Wheels Founder Cheryl Opper
View pictures of the tournament on our Facebook page!
A word from Jennifer:
"As the Education Director, I get the opportunity to see all of our sites and meet all of our families. This past week I was at one of our sites. A young student came running up to me with a great big hug. He said, “remember when I was having problems…remember?!?!?”. I told him that I remember and he said, “I’m all better!!!!” he was so proud of himself and couldn’t wait to share his success with me."
Pictured (top, left) are Linda Berolini, her daughter, Captain Mahase, and Officer Araujo of the Massasoit Campus Police dropping off donated school supplies at SOWMA headquarters.
At a recent Massasoit Community College Volunteer fair, our Program Assistant Stephanie, met Assistant to Chief of Police, Linda Berolini and Captain Corrine Mahase of the Massasoit Campus Police. This is what Stephanie had to say:
"They were both very exited to see someone from SOWMA, because Linda and the MCC campus police and staff have been actively donating school supplies for our students impacted by homelessness. They invited me to the campus police office, where I was so excited to talk with them about School on Wheels and to take a few pictures. Both Linda and Corrine were so pleasant and extremely enthusiastic about helping SOWMA’s kids. Linda and Captain Mahase drove to SOWMA in a patrol car to deliver their donations!"
One snowy morning, School on Wheels was surprised with boxes of brand new books and gloves from Center School in Easton. During the month of January, Janice Narsasian, a kindergarten teacher at Center School involved her students in literacy activities focused on the book, The Mitten by Jan Brett.
Sadly, family homelessness is the fastest growing segment of the homeless population in our country. The Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development reported that there were close to 5,000 families in emergency shelter in the fall of 2014. This is an increase of 25% from 2013. With family shelters filled to capacity, over 1,400 families are currently being sheltered in motels throughout our state. Keep in mind that this number does not include families who are: “doubled up, living in unsafe conditions, or sleeping in their cars,” reports the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless.
