Youth Crime Watch of America: Middle School Of the Year 2008

The Feinstein Middle School has a young but extremely passionate YCW group. Three years ago, shocked by the vandalism desecrating an historic cemetery in the town, student Taylor Therrien, with the encouragement of teacher Charles Blanchette, mustered support and formed S.A.V.E. (Students Against Vandalism Everywhere). A year later, the group adopted YCW as their organization’s guiding principles. The group, now known as YCW S.A.V.E., has over 100 student members and works on many crime prevention projects. Projects in 2007 included cleaning up the Sweet-Wightman Historic Cemetery; creating anti-vandalism signs, bookmarks, and bumper stickers, and distributing them to students at six local schools; planting over $6,000 worth of donated landscaping to beautify the school; and creating PowerPoint presentations to educate others in the community about vandalism. They recently met with RI Attorney General Patrick Lynch to discuss vandalism and have developed a web site to promote their activities and inform others about the negative impacts of vandalism and other crimes. Since the group’s inception, they have generated over $100,000 in funds and donations to support their service efforts. They have cultivated partnerships with many public and private sector entities, including the RI Attorney General's office, the RI Department of Education, the RI Historic Cemetery Commission, KIDS Consortium, the Carpenter-Jenks Funeral Home, Coventry Fire Department, and the local Wal-Mart. They also have been involved with a Brandeis University research project to study the elements of an effective service learning project.