We’ve got a bit of a theme going with our Spotlights this month. Meet Lauren, who heads the community service program at Winchester High School. Learn more about it here. She’s yet another resident who works in the Fells both as a paid educator at a community partner, and as a volunteer on her own time. Like many of us (including myself!) Lauren and her husband moved to the area primarily because of the Fells. Read on to learn more about Lauren and Winchester High’s fabulous and long-standing program:
Name: Lauren Winterer
Town: Winchester, MA
Profession: Program Director of Connect & Commit
Involved Since: 2014
Lauren tells us:
On one of our very first dates, my now husband, Mark, brought me to the Middlesex Fells Reservation. He told me he chose to live in Winchester because of the nearby forested land. At the time he was planning on rescuing two puppies and he wanted a yard and a place to bring the dogs play. It wasn’t much later that Mark convinced me that I too should live in Winchester and tempted me with puppies, a house and of course, the Fells. Four years later and I am in the Fells every single day. I wake up to run with my dogs, take long walks with friends and pick-up trash with my students. Though I spend a lot of free time in the woods, I should say that my main connection has been getting high school students involved with Friends of the Fells and the lovely Lindsay Beal, and other leaders, members, and particpants. Over the past two years we have collaborated on many events like picking up trash, internship programs, helping to run fundraising events, including selling raffle tickets at a Celtics game.
I have always had a passion for the environment and I am so thankful for my connection with the Fells. Before I was a Program Director I was teaching Environmental Science & Technology at a vocational school and I love that I get to share my passion in my new position at Winchester High School.
What kinds of questions would you like us to ask our Spotlighters? Do you have any nominations for future volunteers to feature? Comment here, or email friends@fells.org or message us on our Facebook feed. Would you like to get more involved yourself? Here’s the link: Click here to let us know how you can help. Are you representing a community service department, like Lauren? Are you looking to expand outdoor and environmental education in your schools? Email friends@fells.org and we’ll connect you to the right people.