Exciting Updates about Scholarships and Summer Programs for Our Students!

All three Somerville High School (SHS) Enroot students who applied for the SHS SPARK Summer Scholarship 2020 were selected to receive scholarship funding towards a summer program of their choice. Two students will attend the Harvard Pre-Medical one-week summer intensive program. And our third student will attend the one-week Harvard Business Academy summer intensive program.

The SPARK Scholarship offers students the opportunity to experience a broad range of academic and career possibilities. SPARK helps students realize that their place in the world is determined by their efforts and success, and not by their backgrounds. 

We are so thrilled to share that the teachers, college counselors, and department heads on the SPARK selection committee were really impressed by what our students have done with Enroot. Student applications where they wrote in detail about seminars and the work that they do with their mentors and tutors especially stood out. The committee also counted in a student's favor that he or she had sought extra help from Enroot staff. One student included in his application the resume he worked on in seminar with his mentor although this was not asked in the application submission, and this really impressed and stood out to the committee. 

Sophia, our Americorps Ambassador of Mentoring through Mass Mentoring Partnership, works tirelessly to support students as much as she can. She encouraged students to apply for the SPARK Scholarship and sent the application to mentors to also encourage students to apply and offer help. Sophia also offered extra 1-1 help to students during school and over February vacation week and supported students.

In addition to the SPARK Scholarship, four Enroot students applied to the Biogen Community Lab Summer Program and were accepted! 

We are so excited for our students and proud that they are pursuing these amazing opportunities. 

Enroot Students Visit the Biogen Community Lab!

Students from our Cambridge cohort visited the Biogen community lab where they conducted science experiments, in addition to learning about diversity and leadership. Special thanks to our hosts Biogen for opportunities like these that allow students that don't typically have this degree of access to engage with and learn about STEM! #BiogenSTAR

Girls to Engineering Day Conference Fight Climate Change: “Engineering a Resilient Future”

By: Begimai, Enroot 9th grade student

When during Enroot seminar Mrs. Sandra asked ‘who wants to go to a conference on “Girls to Engineering Day” I raised my hand even when I did not know what’s engineering really means. I just raised my hand because I knew it’s a chance to discover something new for myself. I knew that engineers build and count. This was the only information I knew about engineering. After this trip I know more than I knew before. I learned that engineers are problem solvers. When they work on something, they predict effects. This is an important feature of an engineer. Also I’m glad that members of this event answered the main and important question: what makes an engineer? Curiosity, creativity, teamwork, opportunities, helping others. I understand that I do not have all these features, but I’ll work on it because I need these features even if I’m not an engineer. I need them as a person who wants to improve herself. I think all of us need these features.

Going to this conference was interesting. I do not regret that I participated in this event. We practiced being an engineer. We built a school on a map. We selected relevant materials and thought about price and benefit. That moment I understood how hard is being an engineer because you must to think about many things. If you change one thing, you change other thing as well or sometimes everything. My favorite activity was making a beach. We had to protect a house from big weaves. We thought how to make the house safer. We had some options and we chose the best one. At the end we decorated the house to make it funnier. But I was sad when we destructed the beach and the house. I was sad no long because I won a prize! The prize was a book. In my opinion I won the best thing because a book is the most helpful thing in my life. It gives me knowledge and helps me. I was glad that I went there. I learnt a lot of new things.

Thank You Mrs. Sandra and Girls to Engineering!

Enroot Celebrates Black History Month

By: Adnan, Enroot 12th grade student

Enroot is celebrating Black History Month! We’ve decided to do something different this year. Everyday of February we will post some facts about places that Black people call home and some stories of Black unsung heroes. These places include Africa and the Caribbean, but also Latin America, where many identify as Black. We are hanging these features on a wall where our staff and students can learn new things every day! This wall will be at our Enroot office and in our offices at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and at Somerville High School.

It includes people like Barbara C. Jordan - she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction. Frederick Douglass escaped slavery and became a national leader of abolitionists. Bessie Coleman was the first licensed African American female pilot. We also learned that more than a million African slaves were brought to Cuba as part of the Atlantic Slave Trade. It is said that 65% of the Cuban population are descendants of slaves. Additionally, Ethiopia was the only country in Africa which never colonized! We are so excited to learn and share more throughout this month in honor of the people and places of Black history.

Student Reflection on Visiting Fidelity

By: Adnan, Enroot 12th grade student

On January 17th, we had a special seminar and we went on a field trip to Fidelity. Fidelity is a multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. It’s one of the largest asset managers, it controls around $2.5 trillion.

We were exploring and admiring the art around the building, led by an employee who worked at Fidelity for 12 years. There was an art which really surprised me, it was called “Eumorph” made by August Ventimiglia. He made it with chalk tape. There was another one which was fascinating. It was made by Thor and Jennifer Bueno called “silver series.” It was made of different shapes of silver droplets and contained a chemical element called Mercury.

We also had some delicious snacks that they offered us. We had an panel where we talked to 3 employees and they were sharing their past with us. They told us how long it took for them in order to be what they are today. They also talked about a rotational program where you can work with different people in different departments, which will help us discover what we want to continue doing. We also talked to different employees who had different majors in college.

I personally think it was a great experience talking to different people and know their opinion about how to succeed. I also added them in linkedin in order to stay connected with them, so I can keep talking to them and in future they can help get a job or internship.

A Visit to Simmons University

On October 31st, the Enroot female students made a trip to Simmons University located in the Boston area. Simmons University is a women-focused university. At the University, students were given a presentation about the requirements to apply to the university. Students were also guided about the financial aid at Simmons University. Students were told about the scholarships that Simmons has to offer. Finally, students were educated about the programs Simmons offers to those who are undergrad.

Something to take into consideration from the tour to Simmons University is the Kotzen Scholarship that Simmons offers to those who have a GPA of 3.49 and SAT scores of 1300 or above. The Kotzen Scholarship covers the cost for tuition, study abroad, and dorms. Students were informed that they can commute from home while being a student at the Simmons University.

Enroot always takes students to tour like this to different universities and colleges. It is really helpful for students who are seniors and also the ones who are juniors, sophomores, and freshmen because the tour can help students figure out which college is the best fit for them.

Cambridge Hosts First Seminar of the School Year

On October 15th , the first Enroot seminar of the year started with all the excitement and joy. I saw happiness in people and Enroot staff to just be in the seminar. We met for the first time with students, friends and staff and talked about our summer, how we’ve been. We had seminar for the whole week. On the first day, we introduced each other and welcomed the new Georgia which is Katie. Katie makes sure mentees meet their mentor and same for tutoring.  

We played games like Would You Rather, The Great Wind Blows and the blanket game, which was a great activity for us to learn each other’s names. We also got in groups of 4 and made posters about our culture. We divided a poster into 4 and we shared our culture. Anything which represents our culture, we drew that on the poster. One of the fun activities was mirror drawing. It was an excellent way to enhance your writing and listening skills.

We are in the Leadership Program, which also gives us an internship along with tutoring, mentoring and weekly seminar. We talked about internships, how to dress professionally and how to go for an interview. The Cambridge Program Director Sandra Canas and staff member Debbie acted out being a bad and good intern. We also took an survey about how are we doing in this program. I am glad Enroot started again, I know I am gonna enjoy a lot and I look forward to it.

Enroot Somerville Meets the Mayor

By: Oumaima, Enroot Student

My name is Oumaima. I’m in 11 grade. I’m from Morocco. For Enroot we have 3 parts, Seminar, mentor and tutor, But I like the seminar because we visit a lot of places like last Thursday, we went to the City Hall to visit mayor, it was very good because I have never seen the Mayor of my country. I learn a lot of things from Enroot with my tutor, my mentor and seminar. In seminar we play games, we talk about colleges. For my tutor, she helped me with my homework. For seminar. We hang out together sometimes. Something that I like to learn more is practice more English and get my grades up. I like this program because they helped me a lot.

Afiya's Story

“I’ve learned English, I’ve learned how to make new friends, I’ve learned that no matter how hard something is do not give up until you achieve it.”

— Afiya, Enroot Cambridge

I’m a 16 year old, I am a junior in high school and I want to major in Pre-med after high school. After 4 years of college, I want to work in a hospital as a registered nurse  and go to school to get my Bachelor's degree and then to medical school to become a doctor. I moved to United States 4 and half years ago with my dad, mom and my brother. My first day of school in united states was confusing because even though I learned English in India, I was not very good at it. I wanted to make new friends but all I was thinking on my way there was how am I going to talk to others? I was scared that I didn’t know anyone at the school but I was also excited that I was going to a new school. I was an ESL [English as a Second Language] student for 3 years, over those 3 years I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned English, I’ve learned how to make new friends, I’ve learned that no matter how hard something is do not give up until you achieve it. In those 3 years I was accepted into City Links Program, now Enroot. I took the opportunity to be in the program. Then I joined Enroot again my junior year and I have an internship in Enroot, I work with amazing staff. I am grateful to be a student. I was switched to a mainstreamed English class my sophomore year where I was scared at first, I was in a class full of people who spoke English fluently. Everything that I learned in ESL class made it so much easier for me to understand things in the mainstreamed English class. Now I am in 11th grade, can speak English well, and I am more confident in myself.

Spotlight on Somerville: Student Internships

Enroot Somerville students meeting with their mentors.

My name is Sarah. I am in the 11th grade, I am from Brazil. I had an interview at Somerville Community Schools Program organization, with Jennie. Before the interview I felt nervous and anxious, but in the middle the conversation I got more comfortable, and the interview went well. In the room had more for students with me and 2 supervisors, we answer the questions together and I felt more easy, and another reason for my feeling comfortable was we practiced the questions in the Enroot program before the interview. They asked me what I want to improve and my answer was I want to improve and learn more about work with children, do some different activities, meet more different people, because my experience was with my relatives, like my cousins, siblings, and I want to improve my English.

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“We had a great experience with our intern and we’re happy we were able to provide a learning environment for an Enroot student and look forward to the possibility of hosting in the future!
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— Former Internship Supervisor

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I am in 9th grade at Somerville High School, and I am from Brazil. I go to Somerville City Hall for my internship after school. I create tables on Excel, and enter required data. I organize files and folders in the office. I also highlight required data that I am asked for. I learned how to access and work with excel. I have learned how to keep myself organized. I interact with people at work, and I feel confident to talk to new people now. I would like to learn what is the data they give me to work with. Thanks Enroot for the opportunity to intern at City Hall.

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“Nice program, I would say it helps the supervisor as much as the intern. ”

— Former Internship Supervisor

Thank you to our internship partners! 

Returning Partners
City of Somerville - Council on Aging
City of Somerville - SomerViva
City of Somerville - Treasurer/Collector
Mystic Learning Center (MLC) 
Somerville Media Center (SCATV)

New Partners
City of Somerville - City Clerk
City of Somerville - Planning and Zoning
City of Somerville - Shape Up Somerville
Somerville Community Schools
Somerville Family Learning Collaborative (SFLC) Playgroups
Kennedy Pool
Little Sisters of the Poor
Parenting Journey
YMCA
Parkour Generations