TeamUp Thanks the Marblehead Community!

After three years of producing programs for some 2000 students, 1500 parents and more than 500 educators, the TeamUp Board of Directors reached a difficult operational crossroads and after careful consideration has decided to dissolve TeamUp’s operations. As TeamUp’s programs have grown to meet community needs, the amount of work required to research and develop program curriculum, select speakers, raise funds, write grants, publicize and manage the events has also grown. Our all-volunteer staff no longer has the capacity to continue managing the hundreds of hours of work required to provide TeamUp’s community-wide education. Fortunately, as one door closes, many others will continue to be opened by the outstanding Marblehead community and school-based organizations that serve our local parents, youth and educators.

Our Board of Directors could never have imagined just how many conversations would be fostered between adults, children and teens following our programs. It was amazing to receive the emails and to hear firsthand from community members how TeamUp’s programs had helped to navigate important conversations on challenging topics. We were elated to hear just how well adults could listen and how openly kids could talk. In today’s busy living, these opportunities are precious and provide critically needed social and emotional growth opportunities for everyone involved.

How did we do it?
TeamUp accomplished this great success with the help of a group of dedicated board members, volunteers and community partners who could see the benefit of community-wide programming. We did it with the generous financial support of individuals, charitable foundations, local businesses and community group sponsors. We did it with the guidance of doctors, childhood development experts, public and independent school educators and community leaders. The effort was great, the reward even greater.

What did we learn?
The list of topics grew to cover a wide range of issues including fostering resilience in our children, the impact of media and technology on youth, the fallout of bullying and cyber bullying, the importance of healthy body image, understanding children's different learning styles, and how early underage alcohol and drug use is affecting our kids. Across all of these topics we worked to gain a better understanding of the issues facing youth, and an opportunity to answer the questions and concerns parents and educators have about how to positively support their children and students.

Perhaps we learned the most when we listened to the youth in our community who were eager and passionate to talk about the issues they face each day. We hope the Marblehead community will continue to create opportunities to truly listen to and provide positive support for the issues on the minds of our younger citizens.

How do we continue to foster community-wide learning in our community?
TeamUp will be passing the torch directly back to the Marblehead community at large and to the many local organizations serving youth and families. TeamUp will no longer be in operation, but our model of community-wide educational programming will stand as an example of the commonality of our issues and the greater benefit received when we work together for common goals. Sharing resources is not only cost effective but also forges open lines of communication between a network of adults who can work together to better support Marblehead youth.

The TeamUp Board is very grateful for the opportunity to work with so many wonderful community members who have attended our events, funded our programs, and worked to carry out our educational series. In a town with many resources, the biggest challenge is to find ways to work together to leverage the benefit for many. We encourage you to get involved and work collaboratively with the many community agencies such as our independent and public schools, YMCA, JCC, Marblehead Counseling Center, Marblehead Police, local Physicians, Marblehead Ministerial Association, the North Shore Medical Center Family Resource Center, and other community groups who serve the needs of youth and families.

TeamUp will be working to wrap up our programs with an upcoming roundtable discussion of the data collected from our Survey of Parental Attitudes on Youth Tobacco, Alcohol and other Drug Use. This forum for community leaders will take place later this summer and will be covered in a future issue of the Marblehead Reporter. We look forward to sharing this important information and promoting a community-wide conversation on this issue.

With our sincere gratitude for your support,

The TeamUp Board of Directors:
Delia Barrett, Maura Dartley-Rocco, Susan Hauck, Mimi Knittle, Elizabeth Laub, Kate Nightingale, Rosie Segil, Kim Szottfried, Dudley Welch, Loren Weston and Rachel Whitmore