Rebecca Mooney, M.Ed. has worked as a counselor and non-profit manager for over 25 years. For the past 13 years, she has served as the Executive Director of the Melrose Alliance Against Violence (MAAV), a community-based violence prevention agency. MAAV works closely with the Melrose Police Department, Health Department, business community, clergy and many other community organizations to combat domestic violence; MAAV also partners with the Melrose Public Schools to implement bullying prevention, teen dating violence prevention, mentoring and peer leadership programs. Prior to her work in Melrose, Ms. Mooney served as a Guidance Counselor and Director of the Andover Peer Counseling Project for the Andover Public Schools. In 2004 Ms. Mooney was honored with the Unsung Heroine Award by the Massachusetts Commission on Women for her contributions to the field of violence prevention.

How to Prevent, Identify and Respond to Bullying:   A Training for All School Staff

Since 1995, MAAV has worked in partnership with the Melrose Public Schools, Melrose Police Department and other community agencies to reduce teen dating and domestic violence. Over the past 10 years, MAAV has also worked to reduce bullying at the elementary, middle and high school levels. In 2000, state funding enabled MAAV to develop the S.T.A.R.S. Program (Students Teaching Acceptance & Respect in Schools) where trained middle school peer leaders presented skits and information on bullying to elementary school students. In 2004, federal funding enabled MAAV to implement a comprehensive, school-wide bullying prevention program based on the Olweus model at the Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School, working closely with staff, parents and students. At the end of the 3-year grant project, middle school staff assumed responsibility for the program.