Lindsey Collins joins Circle Program as new associate program manager

PLYMOUTH — Lindsey Collins has joined the Circle Program on a year-round basis as its new associate program manager. Collins is a familiar face, having served as waterfront director during Circle Camp, the program’s summer residential sessions on Spectacle Pond in Groton.

A Red Cross-licensed and certified lifeguard and swim instructor, Collins' new role will have her working closely with the program staff team to develop new curricula and activities for the 87 girls and teens currently enrolled in the Circle Program. She will assume the role of assistant camp director for six weeks in the summer, and she will help plan and lead the Teen Adventure Program, an off-site wilderness leadership adventure for girls in high school.

During the school year, Collins will help organize and plan monthly group gatherings for teens in middle and high school, including educational field trips, workshops and community service projects. She will collaborate with the program manager to orient girls as they move up to the Teen Circle Program and will work with the Circle Program’s mentor coordinator to train and support mentors.

Collins' main focus will be to encourage high school teens to set goals for “life after high school” as they plan for post-secondary education (college or trade school) or begin a career.

Collins is originally from Richmond, Virginia, and graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a bachelor of arts degree in History. She received her master's degree in History from Portland State University. Collins is bilingual in English and Spanish and has been teaching special education at Belmont Middle School for the past year.

She has a 4-year old son named Fox, whom she says loves “Jurassic Park and all things dinosaur.”

The Circle Program's mission is to provide girls from low-income families with new opportunities to develop the skills, courage and the confidence they need to handle the challenges in their lives. Participants come from 33 towns in central and northern New Hampshire, including the Greater Concord, Plymouth and Laconia areas. The girls are referred to the Circle Program by teachers and guidance counselors as they enter the fifth grade. Once enrolled, the girl can remain in the Circle Program until she graduates from high school.