Category Archives: News

Arlington Public News Teen Dating Safety – Domestic Violence Awareness. Domestic violence is getting attention in Arlington with a focus on safe relationships for teens. As part of its parent forum series Arlington Public Schools hosted a speaker who lost his teenage daughter, Lauren Astley, to a relationship that turned deadly. As part of October’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month, APN took a closer look at why it’s important to teach teens about the signs of unhealthy relationships.

10/2/17: The first Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Lecture of the year featured Lisa Wade who spoke on material from her book, “American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus”. Wade offers solutions to not abandon the casual hookup, but to multiply the sexual discourses on campus in ways that give students the cognitive freedom and cultural support to make the sexual choices that are best for each individual.

Video of the lecture is online here:

The Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Fund is pleased to announce the recipients of its fourth annual mini-grant program to fund dynamic projects promoting the three arenas of its mission: Effective Teen Relationships & Violence Prevention, the Arts, and Community Service.

In Lauren’s spirit and memory, small grants have recently been awarded to individuals and groups with dynamic project ideas in the above areas.

A total of 11 project proposals were awarded mini-grants:

• A video production project “Empowered Girl Leaders Building Healthy Relationships” for teen girls living in public housing, part of a 10-week workshop series developed by a collaboration of community-based organizations in Brookline.
• Support for The Second Step’s Youth and Prevention Programs working with youth survivors providing tools to change the directions of their lives.
• A new program in Webster, MA for 30 high school students (trained in Mentors in Violence Prevention) to teach 8^thgraders about healthy relationships.
• Student outreach and a Peace Walk sponsored by The Lawrence High School Game Change Social Justice Club.
• PRIDE Achievement program aimed at supporting at-risk 9^th grade students at Metheun High School.
• Co-sponsorship of an exciting, high-energy Collaborative String Performance by Barrage 8 including daytime clinics for Wayland and Weston students and an evening performance.
• Bobby Mendes Peace Legacy Back-to-School BBQ bringing neighbors together to build community and to promote peace and forgiveness in Upham’s Corner.
• Girls’ LEAP Summer Teen Mentor Program providing leadership training, empowerment and self-defense programs for at-risk teenage girls in Greater Boston.
• Production of Opera del West, a fully-staged opera presented in the intimate setting of The Center for Arts in Natick.
• In support of the creation of intergenerational connections through The Golden Tones’ collaboration with area high school chorus singers.
• Seed money for the training of student leaders as part of the Wake Forest University Leadership Summit on Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Education.

Wayland Student Press Network 6/12/16: Seniors watch “Escalation” film. The graduating WHS class of 2016 viewed the film “Escalation,” produced by the One Love Foundation, on May 31 as part of senior week. The movie was shown in conjunction with the Lauren Dunne Astley Foundation Fund and the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) club at WHS.
According to 2016 graduate Nour Sayeh, a member of MVP, the movie portrays a college couple and the escalation of their relationship as time goes on.

CBS News Benefit Held In Memory Of Murder Victim Lauren Astley.

The Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Fund is pleased to announce the recipients of its third annual mini-grant program to fund dynamic projects promoting the three arenas of its mission: Effective Teen Relationships & Violence Prevention, the Arts, and Community Service.

In Lauren’s spirit and memory, small grants have recently been awarded to individuals and groups with dynamic project ideas in the above areas.

A total of 10 project proposals were awarded mini-grants:

• Production of the 10^th anniversary of Opera del West, the opera in residence at the Center for Arts in Natick
• The Akaa Project’s creative arts programming and upcycled library furniture construction for its small village school in rural Ghana, an area previously lacking access to education
• Collaboration with Jane Doe, Inc. and others supporting the traveling exhibit “Displays of Character:  Men Reimagining Manhood” toward ending gender-based violence
• Girls’ LEAP Summer Mentor Program in Dorchester focused on leadership training and effective relationships
• In support of the creation of intergenerational connections through the Golden Tones’ collaboration with area high school chorus singers
• Development of a teacher’s guide and curriculum materials on teen dating violence prevention using a comic book format to reach teenagers
• Support of Wayland High School Innovation Realization Lab, the new makerspace where students in a class pursue creative functional art projects
• Sponsorship of a student-initiated, professionally-produced album by all three A Capella groups at Wayland High School
• Funding for two college students from Wayland to produce a documentary film about a Bolivian wildlife refuge and its environmental and social impacts
• Support for The Second Step’s residential and community-based programs:  a ground-breaking initiative to provide adolescent men and women impacted by domestic violence with tools to change the direction of their lives

Elon University: New lecture program honors memory of rising Elon student. A nonprofit organization named for an Elon University freshman killed in 2011 just weeks before starting college is funding a new lecture series to teach young people about healthy relationships and the prevention of domestic violence.

A gift from the Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Fund, which was founded by Malcolm L. Astley and Mary K. Dunne, supports the inaugural events of the Lauren Dunne Astley Memorial Lecture Series.