About our teens program

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Ariana is a sophomore at NHS. She loves music and has been part of the Natick High Choir for two years. Outside of school, her passion is dance. She enrolled at Gardengate to attend dance classes when they first opened. Her dance career started within the walls of Gardengate and has only grown. She has volunteered at the Middlesex Safety Camp as a CIT for a few summers. Ariana also assisted  Wayland Cheer and had volunteered  fundraising events with her choir for NHS. 

Ariana loves being surrounded by children and take the lead on some activities. Ariana is thrilled to be able to assist in the classroom alongside Gardengate's extraordinary teachers.

When she is not dancing her other interests include being with friends and family, watching movies, and going to the beach.

Laurel is a sophomore at NHS. Through the child growth educational program, she is on her way to being certified as a daycare teacher. She loves to play sports like tennis, field hockey, and lacrosse. She enjoys spending time on the beach, boating, and loves to paddleboard. Over the summer, Laurel also volunteers as a teacher assistant for the NHS education connections program where she tutored middle school students with special needs to help them progress. She continued this work by joining the Connections After School club during the year. The other club she works in is the Meds- Society club where she raises money for Boston Children's Hospital through different charity events.  Laurel has always loved working with children for as long as she can remember. She loves being able to see their imagination flourish. Laurel started with Gardengate in her younger years which was an impactful part of her childhood and where she spent so much time. She is so grateful to be a part of this amazing program again.

Renata is a sophomore at Wayland High School. She is a passionate individual who loves being with children. Her always active and positive personality naturally encourages children to aim for the best at what they do. Renata has been at Gardengate ever since she can remember, dancing and working on art projects. Now she is gladly supporting and assisting our teachers leading some activities in our classrooms or dance classes. 

Renata loves any kind of sport however her passion for dance, which started at Gardengate at the age of 6 had continued, now becoming Gold Medalist in Ball Room dance 2020 for the Metrowest County.  Renata is a passionate piano player and during her free time, Renata enjoys being with her family.   Gardengate has being her home for many years and now she feels excited to transmit the same feeling to young ones by providing a fun, loving environment to them. 

Maranda is a senior at Natick High School.  In her interest for children's growth, she has taken classes in Child Growth and Development. Maranda truly enjoys spending time with young ones and helping them to grow as their own individuals. During her free time, she loves spending time with her family. Her love for nature is transmitted naturally to our young minds.  During summer she enjoys swimming and paddle boarding.  Maranda volunteered at Camp Arrowhead, this experience helped her gained many new skills and appreciate all the experience of working with children. During her free time, Maranda plays the ukulele and loves being with her friends enjoying bike rides. Maranda is very excited to be assisting our teachers at Gardengate and starting her work journey with these strong individuals. 

Noa Helmbrecht is an incoming 9th grader at Lexington High School. Some of her interests include baking, art, music, and being active in her community. She is currently on the teen board at Temple Isaiah and has participated in many community service activities. One of them raised funds to provide a young girl with a service dog. She is very passionate about helping others and doing her part to help her community. In Middle School she volunteered to help teach 5th graders about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and was also selected as a “Peer Leader“ by the Lexington Public School system and plans to continue with Peer Leadership into High School. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her family, friends, and three dogs, exercising, and cooking.

"I’m Brooke LeBlanc and I am a first-year pre-medical student  at Umass Amherst. When I’m not doing my school work you can catch me on the volleyball court,  or eating lots of ice cream at the dining hall (UMass is #1 in the country for food after all). I was fortunate enough to begin working at Gardengate during my sophomore year of high school, and I loved it so much I stayed until, sadly, I had to leave for college. Working with such a wonderful, compassionate, and fun-loving staff I got the opportunity to learn so many new things and challenge myself in new ways every day. I grew so much as a leader and an educator, but most importantly I learned what it truly means to be part of a team. Working with such incredible staff and fantastic children certainly kept me on my toes, yet I loved every second of getting to help these young minds grow and develop. Gardengate is a wonderful place to work and I would recommend it to anyone with a true love for children. As scary as it may seem, we’re all still kids at heart right? You’d be surprised at what a great job you can do!"

Carina Gormley is a 2020 graduate of Yale College majoring in architecture and concentrating in urbanism. She dedicated most of her time outside of class to working with local homeless advocacy and service organizations. When not involved in social service, education, or design initiatives, she enjoys exploring places on foot, spending time with friends, cooking, and watching critically-acclaimed movies and television. When Carina started working at Gardengate, it had just opened its doors. Much of her work there involved helping out at children's birthday parties. Later, she led cooking classes, a martial arts exercises class, arts, and craft activities, and work help sessions for older participants. It was an amazing opportunity to learn how to adapt to the many surprises of running a class or event, and grow with the many different kinds of young people attending classes and activities at Gardengate! 

Zoe is a 2020 graduate of Darmouth University majoring in Engineering. She dedicated most of her time outside of class skiing. When not involved in social service, education, or design initiatives, she enjoys exploring places on foot, spending time with friends. When Zoe started working at Gardengate, it had just opened its doors, she assisted during summer camps and After School. Gardengate was a life changing experience as she discover how much she enjoyed discovering how things worked by seeing children in their natural way of playing. 

Zoe loves being with family and friends.