By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield Middle School was one of 20 schools selected to participate in the Boston Celtics Shamrock Foundation’s Playbook Initiative this academic year.
After being inspired by the Celtics’ 2016-2017 roster, the Shamrock Foundation launched The Playbook Initiative that has been working in partnership with the nonprofit organization Project 351. Each middle school from the commonwealth’s 351 cities and towns has one eighth-grader serve as a Project 351 ambassador annually.
“The Celtics Shamrock Foundation and Project 351 have collaborated to increase the scope and scale of Playbook through a cohort of high school alumni trainers, each selected for their commitment to social justice and inclusion,” the Shamrock Foundation wrote on its website. “Trainers were enriched by workshops, training and mentorship by Celtics and Project 351 staff, and gained facilitation and mentorship skills to successfully engage more than 650 middle school students in partnership with a committed school district.”
While discussing the school improvement plans for the 2024-2025 academic year during a recent School Committee meeting, Assistant Principal Dana Courtney said LMS was one of 20 schools selected to participate in the Playbook Initiative.
“It was a really wonderful thing to be involved in,” said Courtney. “It’s a special program. We were able to select students in grades 6 through 8 who were identified by their teachers for having leadership skills.”
Courtney informed the Villager that the sixth-graders who participated in the Playbook Initiative were Macy Boccaci, Josie Charville, Gabriella D’Amelio, Asher Donahue, Colin George, Robert Peterson and Brigid Walsh. The seventh-graders who participated in the program were Jackson Bates, Zia Behmen, Nico Bello, Vivian Gooden and Stephanie Zhu. The eighth-graders who participated in the Playbook Initiative were Michael D’Amelio, Mason Fusco, Sanuga Guruge and Ella Pascucci. Mason also serves as LMS’ Project 351 ambassador this year.
“The students attended workshops with discussions surrounding being a leader and being an upstander, using your voice and standing up for yourself, your peers and others in your community,” said Courtney during the recent School Committee meeting.
Courtney said LMS partnered with Boston Latin for the Playbook Initiative.
“They partner you with another school, and we partnered with Boston Latin,” said Courtney. “It was a pretty incredible experience. Boston Latin and their leadership came to LMS for training, and vice versa. We took a field trip to Boston Latin for leadership training. It was really cool considering the historic nature of the school. They gave us a tour. Our kids were blown away.”
Courtney said, “Each workshop was led by high school students.” She said Lynnfield High School senior Paige Martino and LHS junior Ereeny Georges, who are former Project 351 ambassadors, served as the LMS students’ trainers.
“It wasn’t led by adults,” said Courtney. “It was high school students who were trained through this. It was really pretty special. There is something to be said about learning from older peers and students, which is very different from learning from adult teachers.”
Courtney informed the Villager how the workshops operated.
“Kids were given discussion questions, scenarios and team-building activities that empowered them with tools to be upstanders,” said Courtney.
Courtney said during the School Committee’s recent meeting that LMS is looking to identify ways where Student Council and Playbook Initiative members can “expand our work with leadership and our core values.”
“Ultimately, our goal is to promote student leaders and upstanders who live up to the core values of kindness, effort and citizenship on a daily basis,” said Courtney. “The experience enabled students to collaborate and be empowered as strong role models at LMS and beyond.”