MAD About Community

Making A Difference (MAD) Scholars‹student leaders who have shown an exemplary commitment to community service‹enrich the Clark community through their exceptional volunteer efforts. In addition to receiving a $44,000 four-year scholarship, MAD Scholars are awarded a $2,500 stipend to support summer service projects in the Worcester community. Several MAD Scholars used their stipends last summer to help the community flourish.

Ethan Prosnit '05, for example, volunteered with the Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network Center as a community-outreach intern. He helped organize a community dinner to bring together longtime residents and area business owners with new members of the community, many of them new immigrants. "It's a very diverse community, and it was really interesting to bring them all together," Prosnit says.

He also organized neighborhood block parties. Prosnit received special permission to close down the street four times during that summer so kids of all ages could have a safe place to play, ride their bikes or beat the summer heat with a big water-balloon fight. "The kids in this area don't have a lot of places to play so this gave them a safe alternative‹the kids really loved it." These events ended with families enjoying free popcorn at drive-in style showings of films like "The Goonies" and "Spirited Away."

MAD scholars Scott Silver '06 and Adam Tomczik '06 used their stipends to create a documentary film showcasing ethnic neighborhood restaurants. A love of ethnic cuisine and desire to portray some of the best attributes of the Main South neighborhood fueled their project. Tomczik says working on the film, "Across the Sea and Onto Your Plate," was inspiring.

³This documentary is about people making it. It's about people reaching for the American dream and succeeding,² he says.

Tomczik and Silver are excited that their film was shown to students during first-year orientation. "Scott and I wanted to create something that would last and have a lingering impact on the community and those who view it," says Tomczik. He cites executive assistant to the president Jack Foley_s comment at the end of the film: "Worcester doesn't jump out and present itself to you. You need to actively investigate and explore every nook and cranny."

When MAD Scholars Amanda Graizel '06 and Jonathan Blumenthal '06 signed on to help the Boys & Girls Club start up a new drama program, they had no idea what they were in for. ³As with any start-up program, there are bound to be some kinks,² says Blumenthal. Graizel agrees, saying there were a few minor bumps in the road, including switching scripts three weeks before the show's opening.

But as they say in show biz, ³The show must go on.² And it did.

Graizel worked feverishly as production manager and acting coach, helped with props and costuming and took on a role as ³pinch² actor. Blumenthal handled the lighting and sound, everything from tracking down equipment borrowed free of charge from Clark's Visual and Performing Arts Department, to training a group of teens to use it. Teens ages 11 to 15 from eight different area schools, participated in the production.

Even with the kinks, Blumenthal and Graizel enjoyed the experience. "It's good for the kids," says Blumenthal. ³It builds their self-confidence, they experience what it's like to perform in front of an audience, and they get to try something new.²