A Lawrence city councilor will discuss the city’s World War I Project during a lecture at Northern Essex Community College on Tuesday, Nov. 20. Councilman Marc LaPlante, a fourth-generation Lawrence resident, will speak about the project, which spotlights 35 of the 200 Lawrence residents who died during the war. LaPlante will share their stories through video. The event is free and open to the public. It will take place at 11 a.m. in Room 301 of the Dr. Ibrahim El-Hefni Allied Health & Technology Center, 414 Common St., Lawrence.
Salem State University was recently awarded a $100,000 grant to make college textbooks more affordable. The grant from the state Department of Higher Education will help launch the Viking Open Educational Resources and Textbook Affordability Initiative. The initiative will support faculty who are designing open educational resources for students to complete readings and coursework, instead of buying a textbook. The grant will fund professional development opportunities for participating staff. According to a news release, the initiative is expected to impact up to 2,000 students in its first year.
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A Girl Scout in Beverly won a top award for her work in student literacy in Lynn. Caitlin Tricomi, who graduated from Beverly High School in 2018 and is now a student at the University of North Carolina in Asheville, won the Girl Scout Gold Award for her project, “Your Life is a Blank Page — Write On It!” Tricomi partnered with the REAL Program, a Lynn-based literacy nonprofit, to help improve the writing skills of local elementary school students. She coordinated and taught workshops to help students express their ideas on paper and published a book with students’ work.
A Beverly-based nonprofit that teaches elementary and middle school students about ways to take action for a healthy and sustainable future was recently awarded a $100,000 grant to build a mobile innovation lab. The Mobile Sustainability and Climate Innovation Learning Lab will travel to schools and communities around Greater Boston to teach environmental workshops. The grant from the Woodard & Curran Foundation was awarded to the nonprofit for “an innovative project applying or advancing technology to address water issues relating to climate change,” according to a news release.
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An Everett food pantry is looking for volunteers to put together grocery orders, unload trucks, and sign up applicants. The food pantry, located on the ground floor of Everett City Hall, is seeking volunteers every third and fourth Thursday of each month between 12 and 5 p.m. The pantry is especially looking for physically able people to unload trucks between 12 and 1 p.m. Bread of Life, a Malden-based nonprofit that helps operate North Shore food pantries, is also looking for volunteers at other locations. Visit breadoflifemalden.org/volunteer.
Students at Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School in Danvers raised more than $1,200 for breast cancer awareness. Cosmetology students ran a fund-raiser through the month of October, selling pink hair extensions and bracelets for $5 each. They raised over $1,000. Animal science students donated their tip money, and health and dental assistance students also participated.
A Salem State University professor was recently honored by the American Historical Association. Assistant Professor of History Bethany Jay won the James Harvey Robinson Prize for her book, “Understanding and Teaching American Slavery,” which she wrote with Cynthia Lynn Lyerly of Boston College. The book was designed to help teachers integrate the study of American slavery into classrooms as a “fundamental, not incidental” part of US history, according to a news release.
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Morgan Hughes can be reached at morgan.hughes@globe.com.