Programs do not change lives, people do.
The unfortunate and unnecessary closing of programs that actually help
This past Friday night, I attended the final graduation of the Dynamy John S Laws Youth Academy, a program under Seven Hills which they describe as a “five-year, after-school leadership and college access program”.
Functionally, it seems they work with middle school teachers and councilors to connect to 8th grade children that are the first of their generation to be able to focus on school and then help those children stay in high school, get into the college of their choice, and start their career. At this graduation the first student introduced is going to Cornell, one girl is going into neurospace engineering, someone into robotics at WPI and one who decided to join the Marine Corps expressed how she has had support since she made that decision. This program is incredible, and helps SO efficiently, and it’s sad to see it closing.
Please sign this petition so this is not their last graduation, and to not leave 48 kids at risk of not finishing college - students who are already enrolled, and devotedly working hard towards this opportunity that were given.
Lina Nguyen, the director of the program and a first generation Vietnamese American who herself is a graduate of Dynamy was the first in her family to graduate high school, get her bachelors, and soon her Masters from boston University. She explained that the program was designed to mold to the need of first gen scholars, using starting meetings later as an example (this graduation was started delayed too, it’s worth noting. Noone seemed to mind, and there were a few people who wouldnt have been there if it started as planned).
She talked about how this program exists because “The odds are always against someone like me.” that everyone room she walks into, people ask “Who is that, do you belong here” and she has to declare “Yes I do belong here” and make that space hers too. She tells the graduates “I hope that you declare, that you reclaim the places you are bout to go and make it your place. Never let someone define how much you can dream, what your dream should look like or be. You have survived so much and will continued to do so in community.”
Nathanael Lopez, who described the event as bittersweet and acknowledged that a plethora of emotions were flowing said, “Leadership is about service, courage, authenticity and helping others along the way. “ he continued, “For me this class is especially beautiful. This isn’t something that happened overnight, it happened through years of showing up.” To the graduates and almuni he said “You are the unsung heroes of this community” citing their resilience and willingness to invest in one another. He says he watched them become mentors for their peers, and reminded them “Leadership is about service, courage, authenticity and helping others along the way. “
He described Dynamy as a place where someone always believes in you even when you’re struggling to believe in yourself, a place that shows people college is not just an option, college is within their reach. He said that while today does mark the end of a chapter “Programs do not change lives, people do”, that “The magic of the dynamy was never the meetings or the events, but the staff who stayed up late and the family who made the sacrifices, the alumni who came back to give advice and the amazing scholoars who dared to dream bigger for themselves. To class of 2026 he said “I look before me, and I see future teachers educators, organizers, people will make people proud - heads up, you already did; I see lasting impact, wherever life takes them.” continuing, looking to the front row, ”You belong in every room, on every college campus, in leadership, you belong at the table and when you find success, remember to hold that door open for someone else - Now it’s your turn to do the same for others.”
Closing alternative schools, guidance programs and Community Healthlink is a reflection of the city of Worcester’s values, and I am worried for it. I think we’re witnessing at a local level what we’re seeing federally - A decrease in mental health services combined with a rapid increase in food and housing, while increasing funding to policing. This effectively ramps up homelessness and disability for people who don’t come from wealthy families, and creates generational issues that programs like Dynamy serve to mitigate.
According to their website, “The Board of Directors ensures effective planning and monitoring of the programs and services of the organization. The Board works to ensure that adequate financial resources and proper financial oversight is in place throughout the organization and that legal and ethical integrity and human rights are at the forefront of every decision.” However it was a unilateral decision by the board to close this program, despite it’s 37 years of beautiful successes. The head staff pushed the responsibility of telling these children’s families onto the direct care staff, who are also having to deal with the sudden news themselves. Staff were given until July 1st to choose from a limited number of positions within the Seven Hills programs, but not provided job descriptions or other important details.
Like every problem in Worcester, you don’t have to go too far to find a connection to the same usual players. Eric Batista was previously on the Governing board of directors, and the person who ran this program, Gaelyn Hastings, formerly ran a different Upward Bound program in Southbridge Massachusetts that Worcester City Manager Eric Batista’s wife gained power through, and it seems that there will be no change in their relationship with the city after as second program they were in charge of is closed without explanation. The chair of the board is Tammy Murray, the wife of Tim Murray, president of the chamber of commerce and Director of Special Education and Intervention Services whose contract terms were just renegotiated, presumably to a higher salary and better benefits, at the May 21st School Committee meeting.
The Keynote speaker, Jaaliyah Torres, a 2023 almuni was incredible and I want everyone to hear what she had to say
Thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate the Dynamy John S. Laws Academy Class of 2026 graduation. My name is Jaaliyah Torres. I stand before you today as a senior at Clark University, double majoring in Psychology and Community, Youth, and Education Studies. But more importantly, I stand here as a proud alumna of the Dynamy Class of 2023.
This past year, I had the immense privilege of returning to Dynamy as a capstone intern. I am incredibly close with this graduating class. When I was a high school senior, they were just wide-eyed freshmen. Over the years, I’ve held so many titles alongside them: peer, Peer Learning Assistant on their grueling adventure challenge trips, college application lock-in cheerleader, and finally, their intern. This class alone has permanently cemented my conviction that working in education is my true calling. I am so profoundly proud of their accomplishments, and I have watched them grow into absolute powerhouses.
I am not going to sugarcoat reality for you: college and the world beyond high school are not easy. The systemic structures of this world were not designed for first-generation, low-income students to succeed. But look at yourselves. You have already proven that despite every single barrier stacked against you, you prevail. Never forget the raw power you hold inside yourself and exactly how far you have already come.
Five years ago, I stood at the grand opening of 20 Cedar Street, speaking on behalf of Dynamy to celebrate the launch of the Ellsworth Youth and Family Center. I never could have imagined then that today, I would be standing here, using my voice to defend the very program that gave me a home. Back then, City Manager Eric Batista told me something I will never forget:
“Never lose the power in your voice, because one day you will need it for something important.” That day is today.
Dynamy gave us so much more than just college application support. It gave us a bulletproof community. The friendships we forged here became family. The staff became our mentors, our fierce advocates, and the steady anchors we could count on during the darkest, most overwhelming moments of our lives. It breaks my heart into pieces to know that decision-makers have chosen to shut this program down.
For 37 years, Dynamy has been an unstoppable pipeline of success, graduating class after class of brilliant leaders. Think about that number. Thirty-seven years of history. Thirty-seven years of changing generational trajectories. Because of Dynamy, I found my voice. I gained the confidence to advocate foreducational equity and step up as a student leader at Clark University. Dynamy taught me—and taught all of us—that our stories matter. Without this program, so many of us would never have had the resources, the financial aid guidance, or the unconditional belief required to get into college, stay in college, and thrive.
Look around Worcester. Countless Dynamy alumni have returned to this city as educators, mentors, nonprofit directors, and community advocates. They are actively making this city stronger because someone once chose to invest in them. Without Dynamy, those voices would have been completely lost. And it breaks my heart to know how many future youth are losing these opportunities right out of their hands.
To the high-ranking officials who made this decision: we keep hearing the tired, hollow excuse, “Oh, but there is this alternative program instead.”
Let me be absolutely clear: No other program is Dynamy. No other program has this 37-year history. No other program built this specific, unbreakable community. And crucially, because Dynamy is privately funded, it serves student populations that others lock out—making college access a reality for our undocumented students. Stop displacing our students! Every time you close a door like this, you are violently ripping a student’s dream right out of their chest.
To the underclassmen in the crowd tonight who are now being forced to navigate the rest of your high school careers without Dynamy: I am so deeply sorry. I am sorry that the people in high positions—the ones whose sole job is to fight for you—failed you. They broke their promises. But do not let their administrative mistake be your final answer.
The Power of the Ants
Their decision reminds me of that powerful moment in the Disney movie A Bug’s Life. The villainous grasshopper looks at his crew and explains why they must crush any sign of rebellion. He says:
“You let one ant stand up to us, and they all might stand up! Those ‘puny little
ants’ outnumber us a hundred to one. And if we ever let them figure that out...
THERE GOES OUR WAY OF LIFE! It’s not about food. It’s about keeping those
ants in line.”
The people at the top think they can pull the rug out from under us because they want to keep us in line. They think we are small. They think we are powerless. But they forgot what the hero Flik shouted back to the grasshoppers: “Ants are not meant to serve grasshoppers!... Year after year they somehow manage to pick food for themselves and you. So who is the weaker species? Antsdon’t serve grasshoppers! It’s you who need us! We’re a lot stronger than you say... And you know it, don’t you?”
They need us. The system does not move without the brilliance, the labor, and the magic of the youth and the working class. They are terrified of what happens when we realize our collective strength. This community is, and always has been, a community of resistance. When we all come together, stand flat on our feet, and fight for what we believe in, we make them listen. If they refuse to give us a seat at their table, then we will build our own table.
So to Class of 2026, and to the underclassmen here tonight they can close a building, they can cut a budget, and they can dissolve an office—but they cannot erase what Dynamy has planted inside of you. They cannot take away your intellect, your resilience, or your unbreakable bond.
You are the living legacy of 37 years of excellence. Carry that number like a badge of honor. Carry hope like a shield. Go out into the world, stand tall, make them look at you, and show them exactly how strong us “ants” really are.
Congratulations, Class of 2026. Keep fighting, keep hoping, and never lose your voice. Thank you.
Lina closed the event saying “I am your advisors until the very first day you step into college. We are in this Worcester community together and I don’t plan on leaving”
What can you do?
- Share this petition urgently and widely.
https://www.change.org/save-dynamy-youth-academy
-Email Dr. Kathleen M. Jordan, President & CEO of Seven Hills Foundation, at kjordan@sevenhills.org and call 508.983.1301 to ask for a written pause on closing the Dynamy John S. Laws Youth Academy for Worcester students.
-If you know members of the board, please express your displeasure with their unilateral decision to close this incredible program.
Dr. Tammy Murray, Chair
Dr. Catherine Jones, Vice Chair
Mr. Raymond L. Quinlan, Treasurer
Mrs. Deborah J. Needleman, Secretary/Clerk
Denese Koza, Assistant Clerk
Mr. Robert L Mahar, Member-at-Large
Mr. John N. Altomare, Esq., Member-at-Large
Dr. David Paydarfar
Dr. Carol B. Donnelly
Seth A. Pitts
Eric L. Goodwine
Ms. Frances E. Polito
Scott Fuller
Ms. Marianne E. Rogers
Mr. David E. Simon
Mr. Peter R. Stanton
Mr. David K. Woodbury