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Partners at Josiah QuincyThere are a number of distinctive partnerships and collaborations between Tufts University and Chinatown. Each in its own way demonstrates the strong and vital connections between these two communities.

One excellent example is the “Smart Smiles” free dental clinic at the Josiah Quincy School, where Tufts University student dentists, mentored and supervised by faculty of Tufts’ highly-regarded School of Dental Medicine, provide free dental services. When the clinic started in 1996, it consisted of one chair in a hallway—a chair that had to be shoved into a closet at the end of the day. Now the clinic occupies its own room at the school with three chairs, windows and a sink, and serves an average of 350 children a month.

Quincy School Principal Simon Ho is an enthusiastic supporter of the clinic. “For many of these children, it may

be their only access to dental care,” he says. “The staff is exceptionally friendly, dedicated and professional.”

The Smart Smiles program is just one of a broad range of Tufts’ outreach activities at the Quincy School, which also include:

Friedman and Quincy School Garden

Established in 2009, the Friedman Garden is part of the development of green space on the Tufts’ Health Sciences campus. It serves as a learning space where interested students, faculty and staff at the Quincy School can learn how to do natural, sustainable gardening in an urban space.

Albert Schweitzer Fellows

In this program, supported by Tufts’ Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, Tufts undergraduates

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chinatown

&neighborspartners

TufTs in The CommuniTy

In This IssueKids on CampusJosiah Quincy School students visit Tufts on Kids Day / page 2

Brushing Up on Dental HealthYMCA daycare students get an early lesson in dental health / page 4

Breathing Easier How highway pollutants affect the health of Chinatown residents / page 5

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Tufts Welcomes a New President

this summer, Tufts has been excited to welcome its new president, Anthony P. Monaco, who joined the university at the beginning of August. President Monaco joins us after serving as pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Oxford in Oxford,

England, where he worked to broaden public access to the university, create and fund interdisciplinary research ventures and boost support for the humanities.

A native of Wilmington, Delaware, President Monaco attended Princeton University and went on to earn an M.D. and a Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School. He was director of Oxford’s Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, which focuses on identifying the biological basis of common human diseases, and his own research has focused on the genetic basis of disorders such as autism, language impairment and dyslexia.

One of President Monaco’s first priorities is to learn more about Tufts’ neighborhoods. He plans to visit Chinatown in his first few months and is looking forward to meeting many of our neighbors to discuss common concerns and interests.

PArTnErS AT JoSIAH QUInCy I continued from page 1

bringing books back to chinatownChinatown has not had its own library in over 50 years. Tufts’ Asian American Alliance, an undergraduate student group, has been raising funds to help bring a branch of the Boston Public Library to the neighborhood.

In the past several years, the group has supported this initiative in the following ways:

•$1,600 from a charity auction was donated to the Friends of the China-town Library campaign in 2009.

•$1,800 more was raised in 2010 at the first intercollegiate charity semi-formal with Tufts, Harvard and MIT.

•2011 fundraising events are scheduled for October.

The Office of Community Relations at Tufts is pleased to present this report to the Chinatown community. It is a snapshot of the many partnerships and events that bring Tufts and Chinatown together. Tufts University, through its Office of Community Relations and many other departments, works with neighbors, organizations, city government and the public schools to be good neighbors and build strong partnerships.

The School of Medicine, the School of Dental Medicine, the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences and The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, occupy a campus in Chinatown. The Medford/Somerville campus houses the School of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering, the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, and the Fletcher School. Additionally, Tufts occupies roughly 150 acres in Medford and Somerville, and has a large campus in Grafton, MA for the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.

Anthony P. Monaco

kids on campusLast spring, 50 students from the Josiah Quincy Elementary School boarded a bus bound for Tufts’ Medford/Somerville campus. They stepped off the bus and into Kids Day, a fun-filled day of games, magic, science experiments and arts and crafts.

In the fall, they came back to campus for Halloween on the Hill, a spooky haunted house experience.

Students from Tufts’ Asian American Alliance and the Leonard Carmichael Society, an undergraduate student volunteer group, arranged these fun adventures. Plans are already underway for 2011 trips.

chinatownofbeautification

Facilities’ staff participates annually in the Boston Shines cleanup effort. Enhancements and improvements have been made to many of Tufts’ downtown buildings. And in 2010 Tufts students spent Senior Service Day working alongside Chinatown residents to help sweep streets, spruce up parks and plant flowers.

Three campus projects have enhanced the streetscape in Chinatown. The façade of the M&V complex has been cleaned, all windows were replaced, and a new entrance was created. The changes are a great improvement to Harrison Avenue, where the new Sackler entrance adds to the campus appearance. On Washington and Kneeland, the Dental School looks like an entirely new building and not just because of the five-story expansion. The rebuilt plaza along Washington Street is lush with plantings and very welcoming.

commit to a year of community outreach, devoting more than 200 hours of community service. Recently, Albert Schweitzer Fellows collaborated with the Pediatric Program at Tufts to assist with the dental care offered to children at the Quincy School.

SToMP Engineering

Tufts Student Teacher Outreach Mentorship Program (“STOMP”) gives Tufts students the opportunity to provide engineering education in K-12 settings. During the fall 2010 semester, eight STOMP fellows assisted teachers and students in four Quincy school classrooms. The program has worked with the Quincy School for nearly 10 years.

Chemistry organized outreach Partnership (Co-oP)

In this program, based at the Quincy Upper School, Tufts undergraduate chemistry students bring science experiments to the classroom featuring sophisticated equipment that wouldn’t otherwise be available to the school. During spring break 2011,

CO-OP students worked with the Quincy School teacher on experiments that involved fifty-one students in three classrooms.

College Access and Awareness

Every fall Tisch College, in collaboration with the Tufts Admission Office, organizes an annual college visit day. Tisch staff welcomes fifty Quincy Upper School students and their chaperones to the Medford/Somerville campus where they attend a presentation by admissions staff and enjoy performances by Tufts student groups.

These activities are all grounded in a Tufts core value: that in a truly effective outreach program, both parties benefit. Chinatown residents benefit from the resources and information shared by Tufts students and staff. Tufts students and faculty are inspired by the chance to share their experience and insights. And they enjoy the satisfaction of working with their Chinatown neighbors to nourish and support our community.

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Middle school children and their high school mentors participate in an icebreaker activity during a session of the Girls Values Program.

Wang YMCA & Tufts cooking up good nutritionLast spring, tufts nutrition students paired up with Boston-based cooking matters to teach six “eating right” classes to parents of aBcd Head Start students. participants picked up tips to plan, purchase and prepare healthy, tasty and affordable meals at home. the best part? tasting the fruits of their labors!

fAces of chinAtown

As a Tisch Scholar for Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts, and in collaboration with the Chinese Progressive Association, Alexis Sue Yan Yuen is leading a photography project to illustrate the diversity within Chinatown. For Faces of Chinatown, Alexis will interview and document the stories of ten households of different backgrounds. Participants include a working-class Cantonese speaking family who came in the 1980s, a Mandarin speaking family who immigrated more recently, Caucasian residents of the new luxury condominiums and a Syrian family who came to live in the area before the neighborhood was named “Chinatown”.

GiRLs VALUes PRoGRAM

Medical School student Hyejo Jun runs the Girls Values Program, which helps Asian-American teens navigate the challenges of adolescence. Led by female Asian-American medical students at Tufts, the weekly after-school program provides social and emotional support for girls between the ages of 11 and 16. Based at the Boston

Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC), issues such as academics, peer pressure, family relationships and identity are discussed. The program’s goal is to help the girls become confident as individuals, family members and leaders in thecommunity. Jun says the girls benefitfrom bonding with strong, smartwomen in leadership roles and making personal connections.

AssessinG coMMUnitY YoUth PRoGRAMs

Sophia Kim and Jennifer Taub of the BCNC, are partnering with Tufts faculty members Jayanthi Mistry, Jean Wu and Laurel Leslie to examine how community-based youth programs facilitate psycho-logical health, resilience, and educational adaptation among children of immigrant backgrounds. The team is conducting an assessment of a BCNC leadership program, comparing youth who have participated in the program, those who have not maintained their participation and those who never participated. Data is being analyzed and final reports will be prepared.

Chinatown Highlights

future philanthropiststufts experimental college course “experimenting with philanthropy,” teaches students the principles of nonprofit organizations and how to write effective proposals. ex college grants have been written for several chinatown organizations, including the asian task force against domestic Violence and the Boston chinatown neighborhood center.

breathing easierare highway pollutants affecting your health? With i-93 and the massachusetts turnpike bordering chinatown and tufts’ Boston campus, researchers want to know. community and academic researchers have combined their efforts to measure pollution risk and identify methods to reduce exposure within the neighborhood. the community assessment of freeway exposure and Health, run by the tufts School of medicine and funded by a $2.5 million grant from the national institutes of Health, is in year four of this five-year study.

bRUshinG UP on dentAL heALthApproximately 60 daycare students at the YMCA are getting an early lesson in good dental health. Tufts dental students visit weekly to read and discuss dentistry-related books to the children. While promoting good oral health, they also help develop early literacy skills. The children took a field trip to the Tufts Pediatric Dentistry clinic, learned proper tooth- brushing techniques and even took home some brand new toothbrushes.

nAtionAL Give Kids a smile dAY

Children at the Wang YMCA and at Boston Asian Youth Essential Services had a visit from the Mass. Association of Dentists’ Dental Van. Students from Tufts Dental School provided free dental screenings, sealants, fluoride varnish application and lessons in oral hygiene.

RecoGniZinG A coMMUnitY LeAdeRDr. Lonnie Norris, dean of the Tufts Dental School, was

honored at the 2010 YMCA Legacy Dinner. Dr. Norris was recognized for his commitment to the Chinatown community and for all the outreach work done by the Dental School.

YMcA dodGebALL toURnAMentFifteen teams of eight Tufts graduate students, from the Dental, Medical, Nutrition, Public Health and Sackler schools competed in the first annual Double Elimination Dodgeball Tournament at the Wang YMCA. Eight graduate students serve as goodwill ambassadors for the Y, bridging communications between the two organizations.

coMinG soon— nUtRition coUnseLinGPlans are underway for nutrition counseling to be offered at the Wang YMCA. The Tufts University School of Medicine chapter of the Massachusetts Medical Society and the American Medical Association will soon roll out a program called TONE—Tufts Outreach Nutrition Education.

nourishing the communitYthrough financial contributions and memberships, tufts helps to support a range of vibrant chinatown organizations, including:

•��American�Chinese�Christian educational and Social Services

•�Asian�American�Civic�Association

•�Asian�American�Resource�Workshop�

•��Boston�Chinatown�Neighborhood�center

•�Chinatown�Main�Streets

•��Chinese�Historical�Society�of new england

•��Greater�Boston�Chinese�Golden age center

•�Josiah�Quincy�School

•�Kwong�Kow�Chinese�School

•�The�Chinatown�Coalition

•�Wang�YMCA�of�Chinatown

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tufts neighborhood serVice fund (tnsf)tnSf is a giving option within tufts’ annual community appeal. the university encourages employees to contribute to the charitable organizations of their choice and covers all costs so that every dollar donated goes directly to charity. more than $50,500 in small grants has been given to chinatown non-profits since 1996. tnSf awards grants to community-based charitable organizations that serve tufts’ host communities and engage tufts’ volunteers in their work.

2010 tnSf grants were awarded to the following chinatown organizations:

• asian american civic association, inc.

• asian american resource Workshop

• asian community development corporation

• asian task force against domestic Violence

• Boston chinatown neighborhood center

• chinese progressive association

•�Josiah�Quincy�School�

•�Kwong�Kow�Chinese�School�

•�Wang�YMCA�of�Chinatown

did You know?tufts purchased in excess of $14 million in goods and services from chinatown businesses during fiscal year 2010, including construction costs for the dental school expansion.

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The Chinatown YMCA has long served as a social and cultural anchor for Chinatown. Tufts University recognizes the importance of this vital community asset and is proud to continue to offer its support.

chinatown agencies & tufts facilitieschinatown organizations can use tufts facilities for event and meeting space. the Boston chinatown neighborhood center and the Wang YMCA�of�Chinatown�recently�took�advantage of this opportunity. if your organization is interested, please contact community relations.

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contact information and web Resources

tufts neighbors Page http://tufts.edu/home/neighbors

tufts directory 617.627.5000

office of community Relations 617.627.3780

tufts Police (non-emergency line) 617.627.3030

tufts website http://tufts.edu

free healthcare clinic http://sharewood.info

tuesdays, 6:30–9:00 p.m.first church of Malden 184 Pleasant street, Malden, MA 02148781.324.8991

Lab tests, eye exams, flu shots, mental health screenings and other medical services are offered free of charge by medical students supervised by faculty physicians from Tufts University.

Translation Services, including Mandarin and Cantonese, are available. Open to the public. No appointment necessary.

Did you make brown rice sushi at last year’s Oak Street fair? Or have your blood pressure screened? Or join your children for a tooth brushing demo and dental screening? If so, then you met some of the Albert Schweitzer Fellows from Tufts University, students who represent the Nutrition School, the Medical School, Sharewood and the Dental School. The Fellows, who were at the fair as part of a collec-tive service project, had a great time meeting their Chinatown neighbors and sharing information about good health and nutrition. They look forward to this year’s fair and hope to see you there.

oak street fair