Each year, volunteers give thousands of hours to our schools.
Some volunteers simply go above and beyond. Whether they create incredible experiences that touch the lives of huge numbers of students, offer unique opportunities that change the course of students’ lives, or simply be the quiet, reliable partner that brings something intangible and immeasurably important to a teacher, a class, a school, these volunteers deserve to be recognized.
With that in mind, The Bridge created the annual Volunteer of the Year award.
Volunteer of the Year 2025
Jaime McAllister-Grande
Congratulations to Jaime McAllister-Grande, our Volunteer of the Year for 2025, pictured above with 2024-25 MHS Peer Leaders (and restorative circles training providers Beth Hampson and Rebecca Taplin).
Jaime is one of those volunteers who has done it all, from elementary library volunteer to helping students create resumes at MHS, and loads in between. Over the past few years Jaime has been instrumental in creating the MHS Peer Leader program. She has shared her passion and expertise to continue training the students who participated in the MVMMS World of Difference program, offering an avenue for students to continue to practice and grow their leadership skills.
Volunteer of the Year 2024
James Horne
Congratulations to James Horne, our Volunteer of the Year for 2024.
James is a founding member of the Melrose Red Hawk Robotics program, which began in 2008, with just one student, one teacher, and one volunteer — James Horne.
Under James’ guidance, the Melrose High FIRST Robotics Challenge team qualified for the world championships the past two years in a row, providing students with an incredible opportunity for intellectual challenge and team based competition.
James has grown the program such that there is now a high school level FIRST Technical Challenge team, two middle school VEX teams, and eleven FIRST Lego League elementary teams. This ensures that our younger learners become invested in robotics early in their school careers.
For the past ten years, James and the Red Hawks Robotics program have run the Melrose Rumble, a state qualifier First Lego League competition that attracts more than twenty teams annually. Together, these programs engage some seventy five volunteers, including several MHS alumni who give back to their team and devote thousands of hours to our students.
Volunteers of the Year 2022
Nancy Brincheiro and Michelle Carson
photo coming soon
Congratulations to Nancy and Michelle, The Bridge’s inaugural Volunteers of the Year. Not only were Michelle and Nancy long time Bridge volunteers, but the two joined forces to bring Grad Night to Melrose. An all volunteer run endeavor, Grad Night is not only an amazing experience for MHS graduates after their graduation, but it is also a huge way of keeping students safe on what is one of the most memorable, but most dangerous, nights in a young person’s life.
2022 was Nancy and Michelle’s last year leading Melrose Grad Night, and creating an award in their honor seemed like a fitting tribute to all they have given to our students and community.
The Bridge 