Portrait of Promise - Maddie

Maddie has been a member of The Harbour since 2014 and is currently a senior at Rhode Island College, studying to be an educator. Maddie has always jumped at any opportunity to work with The Harbour Youth Center and gives back to our younger members through acts of service and mentoring.  

Over the past several years, Maddie has been an assistant teacher to the STEAM TEAM, one of our Summer Jobs programs. The focus of the STEAM TEAM is to promote the career fields of Science & Technology for our youth through hands-on learning. Last summer, Maddie led an all-girls team of middle-schoolers through the Zero Robotics program, teaching them coding! They had the opportunity to compete nationally in conjunction with MIT & NASA to write code for real NASA Satellites. She inspired these young women to be regional competition winners, giving them the opportunity to video chat with real astronauts on the International Space Station for the final competition.  Additionally, Maddie often drops in and is ready to help any of our high school students with homework or future college advice.  Maddie is an excellent role model to all of our youth, but especially to the girls who get to see her in action!  

Currently Maddie is on the front lines working in both the kitchen and housekeeping at an elderly nursing facility, while also completing her student teaching virtually, and supporting our youth with their distance-learning needs. Her diligent efforts to provide support to our most vulnerable populations cannot go unnoticed. We thank Maddie for showing us all how important it is to educate, lead, and inspire through hard work, service, and mentoring. Thank you and keep up the great work! Stay safe. 

—Kassandra N. Howard, Youth Workforce & Employment Specialist