NEASC Showcase 2025

As educational leaders grapple with budgetary constraints, attendance concerns, and student well-being, it is imperative that to identify and implement cost-effective and tangible strategies to increase connection and belonging in schools. Engage in interactive survey questions to illustrate the initiatives implemented. Learn about the strategies used and the importance of using data to identify the specific needs of each school. Attendees will collaborate and draft action plans using a template. Participants will leave with immediate and long-term plans to begin successfully addressing the unique challenges that their schools face.

Participants will learn about the Big Buddy Program's creation and successful high school implementation for 20 years. Upper-class students serve as mentors for incoming freshman students beginning in the eighth grade. Big Buddies host several engaging events such as an Eighth Grade Open House, Shadow Day where the eighth graders are matched up with a Big Buddy for the school day, Summer Orientation Day, and Freshmen First Day. The program addresses the needs and concerns of ninth graders, builds a sense of community and connectedness with peers and their new school, and better prepare them for the demands, expectations, and stressors of high school life. Through leadership and pride, the Big Buddies promote a safe and inclusive school environment.