STEP 1: EMAIL US (BELOW) TO "REGISTER" | AND TO BE ASSIGNED AN EDITOR!
No Cost to Join | Sponsored by Local ChangeMakers (companies + individuals)
See below for example of a recent story published by one of our young writers
No Cost to Join | Sponsored by Local ChangeMakers (companies + individuals)
See below for example of a recent story published by one of our young writers
STEP 2: DO YOUR RESEARCH
- Who is your ChangeMaker? Choose from list under the Summer Camp tab above
- Or, if you have a ChangeMaker to suggest, email us before you get started for "approval"
- What did / does your ChangeMaker do? (how are they creating change?)
- When did they do this? (or if it’s ongoing, include that info)
- Where did this take place? (multiple settings may apply)
- Why did they do this? (or why did this “happen”?)
- How did they do this? (what inspiration or skills were involved?)
- Share your notes above with 1 friend and 1 family member.
- Ask them to share a thought or feeling and turn their words into a quote
- Receive approval to use their names (first name only is fine)
- Provide a link to your resources after any quotes or references
- Provide credits for any photos used
- At the end, weave in one question or thought that you would ask your ChangeMaker if you could meet them
- Use your notes above to draft your story!
- Think about how you'll introduce your story (what's your hook?)
- Create logical paragraphs, starting with a topic sentence (your editor will share a checklist with you including additional key elements for a strong story / article)
- It’s fine to mix up the order of the “who, what, when” (example below)
- Include the hometown of your ChangeMaker as your story location
- Craft a headline for your story (click here for inspiration)
- Include a byline (your name) after the headline (first name only is fine)
- Email your draft to your assigned editor (info provided when you register -- see Step 1 above)
- Done! (for now…we will email you any edits before publishing!)
- If you’d like to publish your story on our website, please get permission from your parents or caregivers
Team Elizabear Continues to Inspire
By Molly, Grade 9, Canton, MA | July 22, 2022
QUINCY– In the Merrymount region of the city which produced two U.S. Presidents lives a girl who is inspiring hundreds to pay it forward.
12-year-old Elizabeth Dawe was born with a condition called Aortic Stenosis, which means that her heart's aortic valve was very narrow when she was born. Since she was a baby, Elizabeth has been going to see a team of doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital and has undergone several open heart surgeries.
Giving back since the age of 1, Elizabeth and her family have organized Team Elizabear for the hospital’s annual Eversource Walk for Boston Children’s Hospital: “I want people in hospitals to get out,” Elizabeth told Annika, a Miller Academy journalist, in an interview in March of 2018. That drive encouraged Elizabeth’s parents to build her a lemonade stand when she was only 3 years old. Her mother carted the stand to soccer fields and playgrounds, helping to raise money.
Fast forward five years! As a third grader, Elizabeth was inspired by her mother who had come home from a sewing class with a headband. Begging her mother to teach her how to sew them, Elizabear Headbands soon took off: “For a kid her age to be able to launch something that quickly with so much passion is crazy,” William, a local 12-year-old reflected. The name pays homage to her sister's childhood nickname for Elizabeth.
Selling her headbands for $1 each at the Merrymount Elementary school holiday fair, Elizabeth was able to make hundreds of dollars. That’s when Elizabeth’s mom had an idea: “Sell your headbands on Facebook!” she suggested to her daughter. So Elizabeth put her headbands on Facebook and she had over five hundred orders within six hours of the post. With an assembly line of people, Elizabeth and her friends and family were able to ship all the orders by Super Bowl Sunday (2018). “The drive that this girl has at such a young age is truly inspiring. I know she will do a lot of good in the world in the future,” Summer, a local 14-year-old, added.
Today, Elizabeth continues to raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital, raising over $7,000 just last month, and encourages people to give to the hospitals so every kid can go home.
12-year-old Elizabeth Dawe was born with a condition called Aortic Stenosis, which means that her heart's aortic valve was very narrow when she was born. Since she was a baby, Elizabeth has been going to see a team of doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital and has undergone several open heart surgeries.
Giving back since the age of 1, Elizabeth and her family have organized Team Elizabear for the hospital’s annual Eversource Walk for Boston Children’s Hospital: “I want people in hospitals to get out,” Elizabeth told Annika, a Miller Academy journalist, in an interview in March of 2018. That drive encouraged Elizabeth’s parents to build her a lemonade stand when she was only 3 years old. Her mother carted the stand to soccer fields and playgrounds, helping to raise money.
Fast forward five years! As a third grader, Elizabeth was inspired by her mother who had come home from a sewing class with a headband. Begging her mother to teach her how to sew them, Elizabear Headbands soon took off: “For a kid her age to be able to launch something that quickly with so much passion is crazy,” William, a local 12-year-old reflected. The name pays homage to her sister's childhood nickname for Elizabeth.
Selling her headbands for $1 each at the Merrymount Elementary school holiday fair, Elizabeth was able to make hundreds of dollars. That’s when Elizabeth’s mom had an idea: “Sell your headbands on Facebook!” she suggested to her daughter. So Elizabeth put her headbands on Facebook and she had over five hundred orders within six hours of the post. With an assembly line of people, Elizabeth and her friends and family were able to ship all the orders by Super Bowl Sunday (2018). “The drive that this girl has at such a young age is truly inspiring. I know she will do a lot of good in the world in the future,” Summer, a local 14-year-old, added.
Today, Elizabeth continues to raise money for Boston Children’s Hospital, raising over $7,000 just last month, and encourages people to give to the hospitals so every kid can go home.
To view Miller Academy's 2018 interview with Elizabeth, click on the Empowerment tab above.
Then, under the SisterHood section, scroll down to the bottom!
Then, under the SisterHood section, scroll down to the bottom!