Team Winchester and Haley's Comets Walk for ALS

Over 50 spirited students clad in T-shirts that read "Winchester Walks to Defeat ALS" joined with others in the Massachusetts Chapter of the ALS Association's annual walk.

Two groups, Haley's Comets and Team Winchester walked and raised well over $8,000 for ALS research after they were touched by personal accounts of people living with the condition.

Haley's Comets is a group from the Winchester Youth Center under the direction of Rebecca Levine, the center's coordinator.

"We first got involved with the cause in October 2010 when the dad of one of our peer leaders was diagnosed with ALS," explained Levine. "Participating in the 2010 walk was a way for us to support Haley, our peer leader and her family. Everyone wanted to keep it going again this fall."

Team Winchester is an outgrowth of the research done by Connect and Committ, a student-centered high school organization headed by the group's program director, Kristen Ritchie.

Ritchie said that in September the group hosted speaker, Laura Tuttle a nurse and patient afflicted with the disease for two years.

"Through hearing her personal testimonial about the disease, her participation in clinical trials, her advocacy on behalf of the ALS Association, the affect it has had on herself and her family, the students were deeply moved," Ritchie related.

Co-captains senior Emily Li and sophomore Brian Santos of Team Winchester led their troupe around Wakefield's three-mile Lake Quannapowett walking trail along with other friends and family.

Connect and Commit was started by a small group of Wincester residents who first began talking it through eight years ago.

"We wanted to use community service for learning," said Foundation Board member Pam Reeve. "There has been a fantastic evolution for the program. The model of experiential learning, connection to community and learning through service has taken root under Ritchie's leadership."

Reeve enumerated the many ways students have fulfilled the vision the founders had in mind.

"Students have stepped up to doing research, raising money, supporting a food pantry, and making videos to raise awareness on issues. They also take time to reflect on what they've experienced. It's become all we had envisioned," Reeve said.