Rindge Ave was RAUC-ing Last Week. Check Out What Went On!
Students Mixed It Up at Lunch Last Friday
Rindge Avenue Upper Campus Students participated in our first Mix It Up At Lunch event on Friday, October 25, 2019. They joined millions of other students across the country and around the world who are helping to break down social boundaries by participating in this event that started from Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance project in 2002.
The cafeteria is the focus of Mix It Up because that’s where a school’s social boundaries are most obvious. Teachers and lunch aides organized the cafeteria to make it look festive and welcoming. To encourage mixing it up, students were invited to sit at the table labeled with the month they were born in. Conversation starters were placed on each table and Minute to Win It Games were played as well. Even teachers came down to mix it up and have lunch with students.
Fun was had by all who participated, and we are planning to hold more mix it up events in the future. Ask your student if they took part in any of the activities. Wonder with them what would happen if everyone participated. Encourage them to share any ideas they have with their teachers.
GSA Presented to 7th Grade
Our Genders and Sexualities Alliance developed a presentation to teach students about LGBTQ identities. Pairs of students presented to the 6th grade earlier in the month during advisory, and to the 7th grade last Friday. The presentation asked students not to use hurtful homophobic language, and to be allies who care for their classmates’ feelings. It’s hard to present something so personal in front of peers, and our 7th and 8th grade presenters did an amazing job!
RAUC Parent Speaker
Series Takes Off!
About 20 people (parents, guardians, staff and speakers) gathered in RAUC’s health room for dinner and conversation on Destigmatising Mental Health Concerns in youth. Our speakers, Dr. Dana Sarvey and Evan Michel, from Mclean Hospital’s Adolescent Residential Treatment center shared statistics, risk factors, causes, concerns and resources on mental health issues among middle and high schoolers. Parents had a lot of questions for the speakers and were able to share with each other their own observations and concerns when it came to dealing with adolescents, and their mental health, in their own lives. If there are other topics you would like to hear more on, please let us know! We want to create opportunities that are beneficial to families so please let us know what would help you as the parent/guardian of a teenager. Our next Speaker Series will be held on January 24, 2019 from 6-8 PM, the same evening as RAUC’s Winter Dance that will be sponsored by our 6th grade families.
Saturday’s Families of RAUC Gala was a Huge Success!
On Saturday evening, close to 100 members of the RAUC community gathered at our biggest fundraiser of the year. The event was hosted by FRAUC at the home of Deirdre Logan and Adam Berinsky on the MIT campus. Delicious food was provided by Steve Postal, of Commonwealth Restaurant and a RAUC parent. There were many interesting silent auction items including vacation homes, gift cards to local restaurants and shops, art and theater tickets, and even Celtics tickets. We do not have a final number yet, but we know that we raised more than $20,000 at the event. We are well on our way to ensuring that all 8th grade students will be able to attend the trip to DC this spring and for years to come.
A huge thanks goes to all in the community for donating your time, soliciting auction items, buying tickets to the event, coming to the party, bidding and generally making it a success.
Tami Charles Visited
Peabody and RAUC welcomed author Tami Charles last week! She engaged all RAUC students with her message about taking risks and using their voices to change the world.
Fall Dance was a Ball!
Shout out to 7th grade families for sponsoring our first dance of the school year. It was loud and energetic, just like a middle school dance should be! In addition to supporting students in having an opportunity to have fun together after school hours, families helped FRAUC raise over $1400 to support activities for all grade levels. The next such event is the RAUC Winter Dance. This one is sponsored by the 6th grade families on Friday, January 24th from 6-8PM. As with every dance, we will need families to support the dance with donations of concession stand items, money for pizza, along with your time and effort. If this is something that interests you, please get in touch with Taraneh Ahmadi at
[email protected].