The BranchOut! Blog

BranchOut! Boston had a fantastic time volunteering at Port Arts Fest in Cambridge, MA this past Sunday, May 21st. Hosted by the Community Art Center, this community-based festival features a mural competition and attracts a large and enthusiastic crowd each year. This event marked BranchOut!'s first volunteer action in the Boston area. Kudos, BranchOut!. We look forward to our upcoming collaboration with the Community Art Center this summer! If you are interested in joining

On Sunday, May 7th, ten BranchOut! mentors gathered at the Kilmore Center in Vienna, Virginia, and participated in an event organized by KEEN Greater DC. KEEN is a nonprofit that stands for Kids Enjoy Exercise Now and its mission is to “empower youth with disabilities and impact volunteer coaches through participation in free, non-competitive, one-on-one programs of physical activity and fun, supporting the overall health and well-being of all participants.” Elizabeth Li, a

BranchOut!'s The Explorer, a magazine for teens from around the world, is looking for articles! Our theme for the spring issue is Looking to the Future. We keep prompts as vague as possible to encourage you to write about things that are personally important to you. Possible prompts include: What is the future look like? Where will the place you live be in ten years? How your past has shaped your future? Submission deadline: May 15th, 2023 for the Spring issue. Submissions

Last Sunday, BranchOut! hosted its first in-person leadership meeting. The event was attended by a diverse group of students excited to learn from one another and collaborate on initiatives for the organization. As a program that strives to connect communities, the leadership team at BranchOut! is reflective of such, with students from eight different schools across Maryland and Virginia. The in-person environment promoted an open and engaging experience for the attendees. Th

Roger Wang is a proud BranchOut! parent of Marina and Victoria. Marina Wang, a current Dartmouth College student, served as a co-president of BranchOut! in 2019. Victoria Wang, a senior at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, is a newly minted president of BranchOut! this year. Roger shared the following with the BranchOut! community. "Two of my kids have been BranchOut! mentors. For both of them, they experienced many “firsts” through BranchOut!—their fir