Nock Middle School student becomes Project 351 ambassador

NEWBURYPORT — An eighth-grader at Rupert A. Nock Middle School has spent the first month of the year helping others and spending time with the governor as his school’s Project 351 ambassador.

Project 351, instituted under former Gov. Deval Patrick, enlists a student from each of the state’s 351 cities and towns who has demonstrated leadership skills for a year of leadership and service.

Logan MacKnight of Newburyport was chosen last year to represent Nock and he began his year of service by taking part in a Project 351 launch day on Jan. 14 featuring Gov. Maura Healey and artist Hank Willis Thomas at Boston’s Faneuil Hall.

“That was a really cool experience,” he said. “There were over 500 representatives from all over Massachusetts there and it was kind of crazy because there were people from all over. I had one kid in my group who was from Stockbridge.”

MacKnight then joined a group of eight fellow Project 351 ambassadors who made up a service hero team that headed for International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers headquarters to create survival packages for clients of The Pine Street Inn in Boston.

“We put the bags together for the people who they couldn’t take in,” he said. “There was a toothbrush and other essentials, like deodorant, self-care products and some (cookies.) We also packaged the cookies for the meals at the Pine Street Inn.”

Other Project 351 service hero teams did similar work that day at the Greater Boston Food Pantry and Cradles to Crayons – a nonprofit organization that provides school supplies and clothing to homeless and low-income children.

“At the end of the day, they showed this graphic, which showed that we had impacted 6,152 lives just on launch day,” he said.

MacKnight said he was so moved by what Cradles to Crayons does that he will spearhead an effort to collect gently used clothing for the organization this spring.

“Every ambassador is going to be doing this. Cradles to Crayons is a great organization and clothing insecurity is a big deal. So we’re hoping to help solve that,” he said.

MacKnight’s father, Bob, said he was very impressed by his oldest son’s accomplishments and what he will do in the future.

“We do expect our children to be involved in the community and to support the community, so we’ve supported their endeavors in that aspect in multiple ways and through different volunteer experiences,” Bob MacKnight said. We are very proud and excited about his nomination and participation in Project 351. It’s great.”

Nock Principal Nick Markos said everyone at the school is also proud of MacKnight’s achievements and attitude.

“We just knew Logan was the right fit for this,” he said. “So, I couldn’t be more pleased with his initial involvement and to hear he had been a part of a group that impacted over 6,000 people in one day. Hopefully, that’s the message that not just Logan, but other ambassadors are hearing.”

Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.