This fall, more than 175 Boston Public Schools (BPS) Community Service Scholars completed over 3,500 hours of volunteer work in the local community both virtually and in-person. They served in a range of community-based settings, including healthcare centers, nonprofit organizations, and schools.

BPS scholars receive full financial aid without loans and a full-time faculty or staff member to serve as a mentor throughout their undergraduate career. After their first academic semester, scholarship recipients must perform 25 hours of community service per semester, with one semester of service dedicated specifically to BPS. The program is operated by the BU Wheelock’s College Access and Student Success office and is open to any admitted Boston Public Schools graduate.

Among this fall’s outstanding scholars is Albana Hysa (’22), a BU Health Sciences major. Hysa served as a COVID-19 support worker at Boston Medical Center, putting together face-mask bags for discharged patients, making face-shields for hospital staff, and assembling COVID-19 testing kits.

The role, which she will continue this semester, deepened her appreciation for healthcare workers. “I got to see how hard they work together and [it] made me even more certain that a career in healthcare is what I am meant to do,” she says.

Keep reading below as we highlight several BPS scholars and the volunteer work that they participated in this fall.

Name: Kathy Mei

Class Year: 2021

Major: Anthropology

Volunteer Placement: Zooniverse

Kathy Mei completed her service hours with Zooniverse, a virtual platform where individuals can contribute to research projects. She worked on several different data input and transcription projects, including “Cradle of Humanity” (transcribing information from fossil specimen cards) and “Boston Phoenix, 1974!” (transcribing information from the archival collection of a local social-cultural newspaper).

Mei enjoyed the opportunity to learn from each project, but they especially enjoyed delving into “Boston Phoenix, 1974!” “I realized that even though I’ve lived in Boston my entire life, I don’t know anything about its cultural and recent history,” Mei says. “Working on this project has made me want to learn more.”

Name: Katie Yao

Class Year: 2021

Major: Health Science

Volunteer Placement: Big Sister Association of Greater Boston

This fall, Katie Yao volunteered with the Big Sister Association of Greater Boston for the fifth semester. She has enjoyed creating an environment where her “little sister” has been able to share her thoughts and feelings. Yao has been excited to see her “little sister” really break out of her shell.

The Big Sister Association of Greater Boston was founded in 1951 by the Reverend Harold Taylor, Assistant Rector at Christ Church in Cambridge; Edith Taylor, a Cambridge police officer; and Frances Marley, an administrative assistant and legal consultant for the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Believing that girls in the community could benefit from the guidance and support of an older female friend, they created a one-to-one mentoring program where girls (Little Sisters) were individually matched with caring and committed volunteers (Big Sisters). In our first year, we matched six girls.

Name: Yvan Martinez

Class Year: 2021

Major: Economics

Volunteer Placement: Lifeboat Boston

Yvan Martinez spent his fall volunteer placement at Lifeboat Boston, a community food pantry. His work there included packaging bags of food for individuals who are elderly or homeless, and interacting with members of the Lifeboat community. He will be returning to Lifeboat this spring semester.

Lifeboat provides fresh and nutritious foods to our community and beyond, as well as offering a place where people from all walks of life can come together, talk with each other, and develop relationships. Lifeboat has been operational since 2017 and since that time, it has been a consistent source of fresh food for the city of Boston and others that venture to the Fenway neighborhood. They are committed to continue to serve those experiencing food insecurity and aim to do so with integrity and compassion.

Thank you to each of the BPS Community Scholars who shared their experience with us. Below are just some of the other orgranizations that BPS Community Scholars served at this fall: