2024 John R. and Ellen Moot Community Service Awards

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Among other commitments to community service, Jennat is a co-chair of the Cambridge Youth

Council, a City-sponsored organization comprised of a diverse group of young people who are

dedicated to improving the lives of youth in Cambridge through social justice education and community building. The group also represents Cambridge as delegates to the annual National League of Cities. It is a training ground for some our City’s most promising leaders, Jannat among them. She has served in various forms of community service for all four high school years.

Her accomplishments include leading team-building activities every weekend for 400+ students at 

a weekend Arabic school; co-founded the “2 Blocks Project” and hosted a podcast series of the same name which are available on Amazon Music and also published as a book; and has organized,

hosted or facilitated numerous community conversations and forums. The 2 Blocks series, under

the auspices of Innovators for Purpose, explores the stark differences between resource-rich

Kendall Square and the abutting low-income neighborhoods and seeks solutions for the disparities.

In her sophomore year Jennat was selected to be a History Cambridge Fellow. During that time she

authored two articles in Cambridge Day. In 2022 Jennat was named one of the Cambridge Community Foundation’s “Solution Seekers.” Her career aspiration is to be a lawyer and “work with school districts nationwide to ensure public education serves all students and demographics equitably and accessibly.”

Jaeyi is passionate about science and scientific research. She has been awarded several science

fair distinctions since she was in middle school. However while participating in the activities

leading to these distinctions, Jaeyi made an eye-opening discovery. “Despite the prevalence of

outstanding research labs and universities in Cambridge, middle and high-schoolers from the

Cambridge public school district seldom participate in science fairs.” Jaeyi decided to do something about it by starting The Cambridge Middle School Science Research and Mentoring Program. Every week she has been going to three of the five middle schools to mentor and teach students from underrepresented demographics the basics of science research and engage them in experiments. The ultimate goal has been to have these students present at a state science fair. And results are materializing: “within the first year the program had 3 regional qualifiers, 2 state

qualifiers and 1 honorable mention.”

“With extraordinary persistence and perseverance”, Jaeyi was also able to secure funding for the program through the City Council, MIT, and Cambridge Community Foundation. Since it was established two years ago the program is active in three of the five Cambridge middle schools with a total of thirty students participating. Jaeyi has also been a team captain for the Prison Book

Program. She intends to major in systems/financial engineering, pursuing a career in medical

business management.

Katerina has established a consistent and distinguished record of community service throughout

her four years at CRLS. She has mentored students in Science Club for Girls, tutored students for

whom English was not their first language, and organized clothing drives for the Amnesty

International Club. One of her signature service projects was co-founding the English Language

Support Center, as the first president of the CRLS Literacy For All Club. The Club’s objective is to

support immigrant students in developing their language and literacy skills and foster connections with their American peers. “The Center is a true incubator of solidarity for our diverse learners who pursue a collective journey of empowerment through all their hurdles.” Katerina was also able to raise funding to sustain the club’s activities, including an Equity Collaborative Grant. Her other signature initiative, resulting from tireless efforts, was establishing a Cradles to Crayons program at CRLS. Cradles to Crayons is a volunteer organization that provides housing-insecure children with clothing and school supplies from donations. The high school sponsored a collection center. Katerina plans to major in Earth and Planetary Science, and aspires to be an Environmental and

Human Rights lawyer. She describes herself as a globally-minded change maker.”