Watertown Youth Coalition Hands Out Community Spirit Awards

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The Community Spirit Awards recipients from left to right: Ellen Kolton, Carol Pennington, Deanne Galdston, Theresa McGuinness, Tina Loguidice, Lisa Bartlet, and Andy Short. (Not photographed: John Straus, Barbara Beck, and Richard Arnold of the Watertown Board of Health).

The Community Spirit Awards recipients from left to right: Ellen Kolton, Carol Pennington, Deanne Galdston, Theresa McGuinness, Tina Loguidice, Lisa Bartlet, and Andy Short. (not pictured: John Straus, Barbara Beck, and Richard Arnold of the Watertown Board of Health).

The following announcement was provided by Samantha Chan from the Watertown Youth Coalition:

On a beautiful Wednesday evening, June 12, 2019, the Watertown Youth Coalition and Wayside Youth & Family Support Network’s Multi-Service Center hosted their 12th annual Community Spirit Awards. This celebratory event honors individuals who are committed to the health and well-being of Watertown’s youth and families.

The evening began with a dinner donated by various local restaurants, and was followed by a showcase of the WYC Peer Leaders projects, depicting the vaping epidemic affecting all schools nationwide. This year, ten individuals were acknowledged with community spirit awards and words of gratitude, by those who nominated them. To wrap-up the event, the senior Peer Leaders were thanked with gifts for their years of dedication to their fellow students, the WYC and the Watertown community.

Awardees include:

Ellen Kolton, WYC Steering Member, for her addiction prevention and recovery work,

Carol Pennington, Watertown parent, for running the Watertown Food Pantry and helping local residents in many ways,

Deanne Galdston, WPS Superintendent, Theresa McGuinness, WPS Assistant Superintendent for their work in creating a community/school based Anti-Bias Coalition,   

Tina Loguidice, Lowell School Physical Education teacher, for contributing to all aspects of the students’ health, social, emotional, and physical well-being,

Lisa Bartlet, Hosmer School Physical Education teacher, for teaching the children of Watertown how to be healthy and active,

Andy Short, Director Improbable Players, for his work with the WYC Peers Leaders to develop an addiction prevention skit for the Annual Town Hall Meeting,

John Straus, Barbara Beck, and Richard Arnold, Watertown Board of Health, for their work with the Peer Leaders to enact tobacco prevention policies to prevent youth tobacco use.

Congratulations to all the awardees!

Now that this wonderful group of senior Peer Leaders is moving on, there is space for new members! The Watertown Youth Coalition is also always accepting new members. If you are interested in becoming a member of either or both of these groups, send an e-mail to stephanie_sunderland@waysideyouth.org

A very special thank you to Miller’s Ale House, The Half-Way Cafe, Ritcey’s, Donahue’s Bar and Grill, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Russo’s, and Not Your Average Joe’s for their generous and delicious food donations!

The annual Community Spirit Awards event is supported by Wayside Youth & Family Support Network’s Multi-Service Center with funding from the MA Bureau of Substance Addiction Services and the U.S. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

For more photos, follow the Watertown Youth Coalition on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watertownyouthcoalition/

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