Boston Preservation Alliance

Tenacity is a nonprofit organization that has been operational since 1999. It organizes fitness classes and after-school care programs. The organization has a staff of trained and certified consultants, event managers and directors, academic and human relations coordinators, program assistants and volunteers. Tenacity conducts the After-School Excellence Program for middle school students. Its alumni service staff assists participants with high school requirements, college and financial aid applications, job searches, and personal and professional development issues. The organization additionally offers job, internship, tennis and volunteer opportunities. It also conducts and organizes fun, social and recreational events. Tenacity is located in Brighton, Mass.

MITS, Inc, Museum Institute for Teaching Science, was founded in 1983 with the goal of improving student interest and literacy in science and encouraging more students to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in their higher education. Seven prominent museum directors in the Boston area met with the President of MIT to discuss the declining percentage of students furthering their education in science and engineering and the serious problem this presented to the economic future of this country. At this meeting the idea of using museums and their educators as a means to offer professional development for teachers was born. The focus was the elementary and middle school levels ( K-8 ) where students can easily be discouraged and/or lose interest in these subjects with little likelihood of continuing or returning to them in later years. It is important to capture and nurture students' natural curiosity of the world around them. Programs inspire and facilitate the incorporation of inquiry-based lessons into teachers' curriculum and are aligned with Massachusetts Frameworks A report from the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century states: Four important and enduring reasons underscore the need for children to achieve competency in mathematics and science: ( 1 ) the rapid pace of change in both the increasingly interdependent global economy and in the American workplace demands widespread mathematics and science-related knowledge and abilities ; ( 2 ) our citizens need both mathematics and science for their everyday decision-making ; ( 3 ) mathematics and science are inextricably linked to the nation's security interests ; and ( 4 ) the deeper, intrinsic value of mathematical and scientific knowledge shapes and defines our common life, history, and culture. Mathematics and science are primary sources of lifelong learning and the progress of our civilization.