February Events: Join us from the 10th-18th

Conversations about early-college access, state budget allocations, and engaging with young people on the concerns of these extraordinary times.

February 10th, 4 PM-6 PM | Early College: An Equity-Based Solution to Post-Secondary Success

Increasing post-secondary completion rates of economically disadvantaged students and students of color is critical to ensuring that students are equipped with the tools and habits of mind to make positive contributions to our community. Early College programs--in which high school students take college courses that offer credit toward a high school diploma and the college degree--present a scalable education model that meets the needs of historically underserved young people by leveraging the assets of our state’s higher education system.

Join the Worcester Education Collaborative on February 10th to learn more about Worcester's leadership role in our state's Early College programming and the promising results we are seeing as we work towards equity-based solutions that meet our education and workforce needs.

This session features the following speakers:

• Maureen Binienda, Superintendent, Worcester Public School District with staff and students

• Chris Gabrieli, Chairman, Board of Higher Education for the State of Massachusetts

• Barry Maloney, President, Worcester State University

• Christina Hebert, Director of Educational Partnerships K-12 & Early College Initiatives, Quinsigamond Community College

February 11th, 12:15 PM - 1 PM | Looking into the Crystal Ball: Our Needs, Our Resources

Over the last few weeks, Gov. Charlie Baker has announced that he's including funding to implement the Student Opportunity Act in his fiscal year 2022 budget proposal. In addition, $53 million will be allocated towards addressing and alleviating educational gaps and inequities. How will additional funding be used?

Please join the Worcester Education Equity Roundtable for a Lunch and Learn via Zoom with Brian Allen, Chief Financial Officer, Worcester Public Schools. The goal of this presentation will be to learn more about the budget and what opportunities there will be for community input.

This is the first in a series of short briefings for those with an interest in education on topics related to educational equity in Worcester.

February 18th, 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM | Fostering Civil Discourse: How Do We Talk About Issues That Matter?

Please join us on Thursday, February 18th from 9:30-10:45 am via Zoom for the second in our series of presentations for those in Worcester’s education ecosystem on engaging in conversations with young people on the concerns of these extraordinary times.

Joining us at this gathering is Elizabeth Carroll, Associate Program Director for New England with Facing History and Ourselves.

Facing History and Ourselves couples the lessons of history, literature, and human behavior with ethical decision making, critical thinking, and social-emotional learning. Their innovative approach is adaptable to a range of settings and allows young people to reflect on the choices they confront today and consider how they can make a difference.

This event will be of interest to all those working with children, youth, and young adults

Jennifer Davis Carey's Remarks

Thank you for joining WEC’s Annual Meeting

Twenty-three days until we can say goodbye to 2020. The plague year. The year of uprisings. The year of fires. The year of drought. The year of political upheaval. The year when bills came due. The year of change, upheaval, chaos, and yes, of revelation and awakening. The year 2020 has exposed fissures, fractures, and inadequacies in every sector of American society. And these revelations have seeded an awakening…the belief that we absolutely must work to re-imagine new and better systems, policies, approaches, and yes, attitudes that work for all people. And at the heart of that re-imagination, there are some things on which we absolutely need to focus.

As you know, I always look at things through the lens and vantage point of education. And from my vantage point at the Worcester Education Collaborative, as we as a community and a district re-imagine how we accomplish teaching and learning we absolutely must be guided in that work by the centering of the child and their needs and gifts along the lines and principles of equity.

The seeds for this type of re-imagination are taking root in Worcester. As we respond to the multiple bills that have come due, we have come together in a shared response—witness the Worcester Together Fund, the Black Lives Matter Mural, the Worcester Mutual Aid FB page, and in the education eco-system, the emergence of the Worcester Education Equity Roundtable.

For WEC the work of re-imagination is not new work. We have always held as our north star, not what is merely acceptable for our children, for our common future but what is possible. Tonight, we will consider what is possible through the interplay of education and technology, but our work goes beyond that to seek what is possible when the community is fully behind our kids and our schools and when our schools are fully allied with our community.

In March of this year, WEC began its 11th year of operation. While our work with the schools and community have borne fruit—a strategic plan, and strong literacy program in seven of our schools, an ongoing series of community briefings, a community of practice for the education eco-system, a social and emotional learning training program—our work is ongoing. Thanks to all of you, to our financial supporters, and to those who offer their time and expertise to assure that this important work is accomplished.

Tonight's special and heartfelt thanks are due to Patty Eppinger. Patty has served as our resolute and unflappable board chair since 2015. Smart, visionary, politically savvy, and fearless she has guided WEC to maturity. She is a personal friend and professional support and patient beyond words she saved me from fleeing on to Main Street to shout at randomly passing cars. Patty will be stepping down this year but will remain on the board in a new role. We are looking forward to continued work with her. Patty, many, many thanks.

- Jennifer Davis Carey, Executive Director

Thank you for attending WEC's 11th Annual Meeting!

WEC's first virtual annual meeting was a success! We engaged with 200+ people across Zoom and Facebook. In addition, we raised just over $18,000.00. Thank you to all of our supporters, new and old.

Joseph South’s remarks and the fireside chats challenged our ways of thinking and will no doubt catalyze further conversation. The comments that I have received have been universally positive. An excerpt from one, in particular, will give you a sense of them: “Thank you for inviting me to [WEC’s] annual meeting. Truly I was blown away by Joseph South and Dr. Mariel Novas, who show a dynamic, hope-filled path forward for Worcester's public schools.”

We are energized and inspired by everyone who has supported our Annual Meeting with their attendance, donation, and engagement. Going into the new year, we will continue our work to reimagine what is possible.

Recordings of the event will be available on our website and YouTube channel.

Best regards to all and blessings for the holidays.

WEC's 1st Virtual Auction

We are excited to share our first-ever virtual auction!

With the Worcester Education Collaborative's 11th Annual Meeting just around the corner, we are excited to launch our very first Virtual Auction!

Gift Baskets, Woo Sox Tickets, Wine Tastings, Designer Masks and More... Our auction is a celebration of central Massachusetts businesses and festivities. Don't miss your chance. Need a great gift idea for the holidays? Stop on by for a chance to win.

All funds raised through our Virtual Auction will support WEC programs including Principal for a Day, Reading Together, Understanding Trauma Sensitive Practices training, the Education Equity Roundtable, and more!

Help us reach our 10K fundraising goal!

Giving Tuesday is right around the corner! Please consider donating to WEC's 10k fundraiser.

Your gift will support our mission and programs including; Principal for a Day, the Worcester Education Equity Roundtable, WorcesterHEARS, Trauma & Social Emotional Learning Curriculums, and Reading Together.

WEC serves as a critical friend to the district. When we see a concern, we raise that concern but we also bring solutions to the table and work hand-in-hand with the district and the community to find the solutions and implement them. Regardless of what issue we are tackling or where we are working, we always keep the students at the center. The deciding factor is always what is best for the students in Worcester Public Schools. - WEC's Deputy Director, Julia Kilgore

Please Welcome Julia Kilgore to WEC!

I am pleased to announce that Julia Kilgore has joined the staff of the Worcester Education Collaborative as Deputy Director. 

Julia is a graduate of Assumption College with concentrated studies in Sociology, Social Policy, and Community Service Learning.  In addition, she holds a master’s degree from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service.  Julia comes to us with extensive experience in the non-profit sector with a particular focus in out-of-school learning gathered from her work with Boston After School and Beyond and African Community Education (ACE).  Please join me in welcoming Julia to WEC and back to Worcester.

Read more about Julia in the Worcester Magazine!

Joint Statement From The Worcester Together Coalition

June 2, 2020

A JOINT STATEMENT FROM MEMBERS OF THE WORCESTER TOGETHER COALITION

Together we rise, together we stand, and together we change. On behalf of the Worcester Together Coalition, comprising more than 100 individuals and organizations formed in response to the COVID-19 crisis, we rise and we stand in condemnation of the brutal acts perpetrated by Minneapolis police officers in the murder of George Floyd. We stand in the name of countless Black lives lost at the hands of police and civil vigilantes and in the name of all Communities of Color that have and continue to experience institutional inequity and brutality. We seek to create and make change to shift the oppressive imbalances in our country in the name of all Communities of Color that have experienced profound loss including for George Floyd, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Alton Sterling, Sandra Bland, Botham Jean, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and for whom their families and communities have endured deep pain, anger, frustration, and fear because of systemic racism and inequity.

Silence is not an option. Action is paramount. Worcester Together has demonstrated our ability to act and respond in crisis through COVID-19. Today, we speak aloud in disgust and with deep sorrow for our community and our country, and to leverage our collective and unified power to act and make change. The devastating racial disparities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic are intrinsically related to our nation’s history of white supremacy and structural racism. It is a legacy that we must reject and dismantle. As we seek to address the COVID-19 crisis and to build a fair and just “new normal” we commit ourselves to these principles in all that we do, both individually and collectively:

1. We will acknowledge the reality of white supremacism in our history and its insidious presence in our institutions, public school system, police department, community-based organizations, and ways of doing business and will facilitate courageous conversations and frank discussion of the issues at hand as a community. We will recognize our inadvertent complicity in the perpetuation of this injustice.

2. We will approach every initiative, policy or program that we undertake as an opportunity to

   dismantle racism. We will do this explicitly and embrace accountability for our results.

3. We will consistently and promptly identify, name, question, and actively resist and denounce

   policies in our criminal justice, law enforcement, education and health institutions that injure people of color and deprive them of the opportunity to participate fully in the life of our community

4. We will center, elevate and defer to voices of People of Color and support the economic

   advancement of Communities of Color by using our collective purchasing power to support locally owned Black, Latino, and immigrant businesses.

We are fallible humans acting in the name of humanity and cannot do this work alone. Please join us as we work together to create equity, shape and change our community and our country’s course.

The Worcester Together Coalition as signed by:

Action! by Design Mission E4 Alex M. Mooradian, Esq. Michael Sleeper, Imperial Distributors Ascentria Care Alliance Naomi Sleeper, Imperial Distributors Billy Fitzpatrick, College of the Holy Cross, 2020 National Grid Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor Open Sky Community Services Boys & Girls Club of Worcester Organization for Nonprofit Excellence (ONE Worcester) Central Mass Housing Alliance Pernet Family Health Service CENTRO Project New Hope Inc. Coalition for a Healthy Greater Worcester Quinsigamond Community College Coghlin Electrical Contractors, Inc. Regional Environmental Council of Central MA Coghlin Network Services, Inc. Senator Ed Markey Community Health Link Senator Harriette L. Chandler Congressman Jim McGovern Seven Hills Foundation & Affiliates Department of Children and Families, Worcester East Southeast Asian Coalition Department of Youth Service, Central Region State Representative James O'Day Dress for Success Worcester State Representative John J. Mahoney Ed Augustus, City Manager, Worcester Straight Ahead Ministries Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center The Clemente Course in the Humanities, Worcester Edward Street Child Services The Guild of St. Agnes Emma Davison, College of the Holy Cross, 2021 The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts Face Mask Working Group - Mutual Aid Worcester Journey Community Church, Revs. Tom Sparling, Paul Joyal, Lou Soiles Friendly House Together for Kids Coalition Gina Plata-Nino, Esq. UMass Memorial Health Care Greater Worcester Community Foundation United Way of Central Massachusetts Habitat for Humanity MetroWest/Greater Worcester University of Massachusetts Medical School HOPE Coalition University of Massachusetts Medical School Imperial Distributors Worcester Chamber Music Society/Neighborhood Strings Jeremiah's Inn Worcester Community Action Council Joe Ertle, College of the Holy Cross Worcester Cultural Coalition Kimberly Salmon, Worcester Resident Worcester Education Collaborative Latino Education Institute Worcester Family Partnership Legendary Legacies Inc Worcester Housing Authority Living In Freedom Together-LIFT Worcester Interfaith Love Your Labels Worcester Public Schools Main South Community Development Corporation Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce Mark Richman, Professor, WPI Worcester State University MassHIRE,Worcester and Southbridge Career Centers Worcester Telegram and Gazette Mayor Joseph M. Petty YMCA of Central Massachusetts YWCA Central Massachusetts