Published April 29, 2020

By DAN TOMASELLO

ASHLEY BASS

LYNNFIELD — Lynnfield High School Class of 2016 graduate Ashley Bass has refused to let the coronavirus stop her from making a positive difference here.

Bass, who graduated from Brandeis University with a BS degree in Biology this past December, recently reached out to Superintendent Jane Tremblay and High School Principal Bob Cleary about helping seniors connect with alumni in order to help the Class of 2020 find the right college. She noted the COVID-19 virus pandemic has forced colleges and universities to close and cancel events, including admitted students’ days.

“I remember how important it is for seniors to attend admitted students’ days at schools,” said Bass. “Those are very important because you get to learn about life at a college. I thought about the situation the seniors are currently in, and I really wanted to help connect seniors with alumni from Lynnfield.”

After speaking with Cleary, Tremblay and LHS Guidance Department Head Kathi Moody, Bass created a Google Form survey that sought to gather information from Lynnfield High alumni. The form collected graduates’ names, email addresses, college/university information, graduation years, majors and minors.

“Due to the fact that many colleges and universities have closed down their admitted students days, LHS seniors are unable to visit the schools that they got into to decide if that is the right choice for them,” Bass stated on the form. “Therefore, I think it would be really amazing if us LHS alumni would provide contact information so that current LHS seniors can reach out to us if they want to discuss their prospective college choices.”

After Bass created the form, she and her brother Nathan sent text messages to Lynnfield High graduates asking them to complete it. She also said the siblings’ friends shared the form with other alumni. She noted Nathan’s friend and fellow Class of 2019 graduate Joe Fabrizio posted about the initiative on the Lynnfield Community Group Facebook page.

Bass received 199 responses about 83 different colleges.

“People were really excited about it,” said Bass. “We got responses from people who graduated as far back as the late 1990s and early 2000s all the way to last year.”

After Bass collected the data from alumni, she created a Google Document that contained the alumni’s contact information. She then gave the document to the Guidance Department, who shared it with seniors.

“Ashley spread the word through her network of peers and from there she developed a Google Document with everyone’s contact information, including the year they graduated LHS, their college, their major and graduation year if they are already out,” said Moody. “We then shared the Google Doc with our seniors in one of the updates we’ve been sending out regularly.”

Bass has received positive feedback about the initiative.

“A couple of my brother’s friends who are seniors said it was really helpful,” said Bass.

Bass, who is currently gearing up to take the MCAT exam, applying to Brandeis’ post-graduate neuroscience program and applying to medical schools, said she wanted to undertake the project because she cannot fight the COVID-19 virus as a doctor.

“I missed giving back to the community,” said Bass. “I was involved in a lot of community service programs at Lynnfield High School and Brandeis University, and I thought this was a good way to give back. I have been stressed about taking the MCAT and applying to medical schools, and I can only imagine how stressed the seniors are while going through this process.”

Moody said Bass should be commended for trying to help the Class of 2020 during this challenging time.

“She took the project and ran with it,” said Moody. “It was an amazingly kind and thoughtful gesture for which we are so very grateful. And if you know Ashley, you know this is just who she is — a tremendously thoughtful young woman.”

Tremblay said Bass’ initiative was “pretty special.”

“When I mentioned to Ashley that I would be speaking about this at a School Committee meeting, she said she didn’t want this to be the end of something, she wants this to be the start of something,” said Tremblay. “It’s pretty cool we have a whole group in front of us who can support our seniors. I am really grateful for Ashley stepping up and doing this. It was a terrific move on her part.”

While attending LHS, Bass served as the Class of 2016’s secretary and was a member of the Habitat Club and the National Honor Society. She also ran cross-country and track.