LYNN — U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass) honored Jason McCuish, a Lynn teacher, for his commitment to service and ability to inspire that trait in others, by selecting him as the second annual Peter J. Gomes Service Award winner on Sunday.
McCuish, who teaches at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, was presented with the award from a competitive field of eight finalists, which is given to an individual in the sixth congressional district who best epitomizes the qualities of integrity, compassion and commitment to service that were the foundations of the late Rev. Professor Peter Gomes’ teachings.
“I’m overwhelmed and flattered,” McCuish said. “I just feel blessed and fortunate to have even been considered, and so to receive the award — it’s a testament, I think, to my students, and the staff and other faculty and teachers who give so much on our service days together, our SkillsUSA program and how hard the kids work with me. So, this award really doesn’t belong to me. It belongs to the entire Lynn Vocational Technical Institute.”
The award was presented at Lynn City Hall the day before the 16th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, which for Americans, will give them pause as they remember the deadliest terrorist attack in the country’s history.
But Sept. 11 has also served a dual purpose since Congress declared it a National Day of Service in 2009. Moulton said the award is given out purposefully on or near the anniversary “to coincide with this day in American history that has gratefully been reborn from a day of tragedy as a day of service.”
Following the awards ceremony, Moulton, McCuish and more than 50 other volunteers participated in the planned service portion of the event, taking part in activities that included serving a meal at My Brother’s Table, home renovation with Lynn Housing and Neighborhood Development, fall cleanup at Girls Inc. of Lynn, urban gardening with the Lynn Beautification Project, farming at The Food Project Lynn Park and a cleanup at Lynn Commons.
“I think the thing that particularly distinguished Jason was his commitment to inspiring others, to not just serve himself, but to inspire others to serve, and we saw it in the example of Rep. Brendan Crighton (D-Lynn) who showed up here as a state representative to the award, not knowing that Jason would be the winner, but simply because he was so important to his own decision to serve the country.”
Moulton said McCuish, who is also a director for My Brother’s Table in Lynn, personifies what it means to be in public service — he serves as an advisor for the local SkillsUSA chapter and his students have been honored by the national SkillsUSA organization with numerous awards. Under his watch, he said McCuish’s students have raised thousands of dollars with service-led projects, and volunteered countless hours at My Brother’s Table, the Greater Boston Food Bank and the Lynn Shelter Association.
McCuish said SkillsUSA is a program that runs for students of vocational schools where they learn valuable skills about their trades, but the program not only has students enhance their vocational careers and futures, but gives back a lot to the community through service.
Other finalists included Jocelyn Cook, of Marblehead, founder of SPUR; Sandra Suarez, of Lynn, operations manager at Compass Working Capital; Rev. Anne Deneen, of Gloucester, pastor for St. Paul Lutheran Church; Brenda Mattos of Beverly, a volunteer who works with the homeless; Mary Margaret Moore, of Salem, former director of the Independent Living Center of the North Shore and Cape Ann; Rick Palardy, formerly of Georgetown, firefighter and community volunteer; and Rob Werner, of Salisbury, founder of the Leeward Foundation.
David Barrios, 16, a junior at Lynn Tech, spoke at the award ceremony about McCuish, who he said has been his teacher, football coach, advisor and mentor.
“Mr. McCuish is one of the most fascinating, caring, and dedicated people I have ever met,” Barrios said. “He always says that he doesn’t change lives, rather he changes his by working with others. One of the many things that makes him a worthy candidate for the recognition is he walks the walk every single day … Because of his guidance and support, Lynn Vocational Technical Institute has a culture of giving back.”
Crighton said McCuish was his football captain when they were at Lynn Classical High School — he was a freshman and McCuish was a senior.
“I had known him before because he had played Pop Warner and was always just a leader, even at that young age, and really inspired me,” Crighton said. “He was the type of guy who would knock you down on the field and pick you right back up, and was a really great teacher to me, even in high school … For Congressman Moulton to honor him today was really, really cool and inspiring.”
Moulton said the award was created to honor his own mentor and inspiration to serve, Rev. Gomes, a Christian minister who served for almost 40 years at Memorial Church of Harvard University, a space built to honor the Harvard public servants who died in World War I.
Moulton said Gomes had one of those popular courses on campus and students would often turn to him when they were having a tough time. He told Gomes that he had decided to join the U.S. Marine Corps, something he said his mentor was concerned about, but who had expressed relief that there wasn’t a war going on at the time. The conversation happened about six months before 9/11.
“I’m not someone who wanted to be a politician, but I was inspired to serve,” Moulton said. “And first of all, I was inspired to serve by Peter J. Gomes, who is really the man responsible, more than any other, for my decision to join the Marines, and I wouldn’t be a member of Congress today, if not for that decision to serve the country first in the Marines. I think that service brings Americans together and at a time when the country is so divided and there’s so much tension in our communities, service is a way to not only give back, but to bring people together. We need that now more than ever.”
