Her title is chief education officer at The Guild School, but perhaps it would be more appropriate to refer to Annie Willis as chief student supporter/cheerleader.

Annie, who joined The Guild on July 22, enthusiastically embraces the school’s foundational commitment to integrating students into the communities where they live and learn through a wide variety of enrichment and engagement activities. Throughout her career in special education, she has pushed to ensure that individuals with disabilities are not segregated.

Antoinette “Annie” Willis will join The Guild as chief education officer on Monday, July 22, Chief Executive Officer Amy C. Sousa announced.

Students in Liz’s classroom learned an important lesson about goodwill this spring as they organized a bake sale at school and then presented the proceeds to a nearby animal shelter during their recent visit.

It’s a perfect bit of symbolism: As the plants grow at The Guild’s community garden, so do the skills and abilities of the student gardeners.

Several different classes tend to the garden, where flowers (petunias and begonias), fruits (tomatoes and pumpkins), vegetables (peppers, French beans and peas) and herbs (basil, parsley) are all thriving due to the students’ efforts and help from a rainy spring.

From The J.K. Rowling Award for increased use of a communication device to the Master Chef Award for planning and cooking dinner at the residence, The Guild School celebrated the accomplishments of our students at the annual Awards Day.

“Guild’s Got Talent” – the theme of this year’s Guild School talent show – proved to be no mere boast as about 20 students showed off their skills and abilities by playing musical instruments, singing, dancing, performing magic tricks, telling jokes, demonstrating contortionist flexibility and even simulating noises from different car brands.

While most of the students showed off their talents solo, the annual event also featured a student-teacher song-and dance-routine and a group reading of Eric Carle’s classic “Head to Toe” by Shaina’s class.

When she first arrived at The Guild for Human Services as a teaching assistant in 1999, Sharon DiGrigoli-Couture did not expect to stay long. A certified guidance counselor (grades 5-12) with no experience in special education, she figured she might remain a year.

Interested in serving as a liaison to The Guild School and representing the interests of parents and guardians? Want to share feedback with senior leadership about your child’s experience? Hoping to network with other Guild parents?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you may want to consider joining The Guild’s Youth Parent/Family Advisory Committee (PAC).
 

Guild for Human Services CEO selected as finalist for Nonprofit Leadership Award

The Concord Journal

The Massachusetts Nonprofit Network recently announced that Amy C. Sousa, Ph.D., CEO of the Guild for Human Services in Concord, has been selected as a finalist for the 2019 Nonprofit Excellence Award in the Leadership category.

The winners of the Nonprofit Excellence Awards will be announced at MNN’s annual event, Nonprofit Awareness Day: A Celebration of Nonprofit Excellence presented by Citizens Bank, to be held June 3 at the Massachusetts Statehouse.

The Guild’s new community work partnership with the Revival Café + Kitchen in Cambridge is off to a five-star start.

Since late March, four Guild students have each been working a weekly one-hour shift at the popular restaurant. The students assemble bakery boxes, stock beverage coolers and add the Revival logo to bags and boxes.