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the way to gowin-foundation.org/alley

alley2009 Newsletter

Year in Review

37% Female63% Male69% African American27% Caucasian

2% Hispanic

Academic Improvement Stats

51% Math

25% English

Student Progress

62% of students maintaned grades29% of students improved by one

letter grade9% of students improved by two

letter grades

The 2008-2009 school year was full of fun events, great youth activities and improved GPAs!!! The participants have enjoyed both tutoring and mentor relationships. As positive peer relations occured, participants felt safe, welcome and free to enjoy their youths!!

After School Program:

Mon, Tues, Wed, Thur .............. 3-7pm

Washington College | Shared Opportunitiy Service Center Inc. | Kent County Parks & RecreationShoreman Basketball | YoungLife | First United Methodist Church

Special Thanks to our Partners:

The alley teen center is a place where teens can find support and guidance in a caring atmosphere.

Elisa Medrano, Youth Director

teen center

CHESTERTOWN TEA PARTY RAFT RACE

BACK TO SCHOOL

A big thank you is in accord for the Educational Honor Society of Washington College. They held a school supplies drive on campus for the Alley. Notebooks, pens, pencils, erasers, markers, rulers, pencil sharpeners, calculators, cd-roms, pocket folders, binders, and highlighters

were provided to our participants. What an amazing blessing to all!!

ALLEY VAN

It’s big! It’s black and white! It carries 15 passengers! It sits up high on the road! The Alley van is here, thanks to the Local Management Board of Kent County, MD. It is available to transport students to and from activitie

throughout the week. It is great to have the van and the opportunity to transport the students, as needed!

CHRISTMAS PARTY

Twenty five students attended our Alley Christmas Party! Some invited their parents, while others chose to bring friends! Overall, the Alley family enjoyed a wonderful homemade feast, arts and crafts, puzzlers, playing the white elephant game, and listening to holiday music!! Con-

gratulations to Greg for winning the arts and crafts contest!!

SUPERBOWL XLIII PARTY

On February 1, 2009, the Alley hosted the Superbowl Party for students and their families to attend. Snacks, Ziti, refreshments, and Strom-boli (prepared by Young Life’s Jason Emberger) were offered. It was great watching the Pittsburg Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals!

PROJECT OUTREACH

Tina Emberger, Youth coordinator of Shared Opportunity Services, invited the Alley to join in an effort to reach and impact other peoples’ lives. Project Outreach is an outreach for the youth which includes empowerment, social/interactive skills, and projects of kindness. ‘Team Alley’ chose to do an Inspire project and help support the Global Strategies for HIV Prevention Organization. There were five girl partici-pants, who had a strong desire to help in providing immunizations and treatment for HIV. The girls decided to hold a bake sale in front of the Women in Need Store, and the event raised $300.00!!! Team Alley presented their to Project Outreach judges, on the Washington College campus a week later. Go Team Alley!!

YOUTH TO YOUTH

Abby Joiner of Kent County Parks & Recreation has organized holding the Youth to Youth teen group here on Tuesday evenings from 6 to 8 pm. This is an amazing drug and alcohol awareness/prevention program for adolescents. Participants learn more about substance abuse, and

how it affects them and their local community. A warm thank you to our Y2Y volunteer Tonya for her support!

THE HUDDLE

The Huddle is held on Wednesday evenings by Donte Johnson and Jason Emberger for teenage boys. Activities are fun, inspirational and on point for the boys! Thanks for being a part of think!!

GIRL TALK

The high school girl support group meets on Monday evenings. The middle school girlsupport group meets on Friday evenings. This year was full of fun times, crafty activities, a lot of group work, and productive discussions.

Thanks to all the volunteers and guest speakers who made an impact!!

2009 Year in Review

Thanks to Nijah, Ashley, Eumoni, and Latonia for participating in the raft race! The boat, Ohana (hawaiian for family) made it through more than half of the race leaving the sailors in good spirits.

Get a Life Workshop June 189-4pm

Betterton Beach June 259-4pm

Washington D.C. July 29-4pm

Millington Pool/Q.A. Bowl July 99-4pm

Annapolis Mall July 169-4pm

Ocean City Day Trip July 239-4pm

Dover Mall / Roller Skating July 309-4pm

Rocl Hall Beach / Durdings August 69-4pm

Wilmer Park / Q.A. Bowl August 139-4pm

Six Flags OR Rehoboth Beach

August 209-6pm

Summer 2009 Schedule

Every Wednesday this Summer 5:30 - 7:30pm

what’s new

The Shoreman Basketball Club was organized to provide opportunities for the area’s youth to improve their basketball skills and allow them to play in leagues and regional tourna-ments. The Club is open to youth ages 12 – 17.

Tournaments

In 2008, the Shoreman Basketball Club participated in the “Charlie Weber Tournament” in Washington, DC. This show-case tournament is made up mostly of regional all star teams and AAU teams. For the first time, players from our area were able to display their talents and skills before a large number of college coaches who were in attendance.

How to Sign Up

No special skills are required to become a team member, only your willingness to participate fully. There is a $50 regis-tration fee, however, scholarships are available for qualifying applicants.

the way to go

A: “I come to get help and better grades.” S.S.

A: “To get help with my homework, meet people, and have fun.” S.B.

A: “I come for Girls’ Night and Project Outreach.” C.W.

Q: What do you like most about the alley?

A: “I like everything about the alley” A.C.

A: “What I like most is checking my Myspace page” G.R.

A: “The polite staff and that they offer a lot of things like programs and summer programs” R.F.

A: “It helped me because my grades got better.” J.N.

A: “Coming to the alley helped me improve my math grade.” D.B.

A: “It helped me improve my grades and stay out of trouble” S.B.

Q: How has coming to the alley helped you?

A: “We could go places and meet new people. We could have fun and order more pizza” S.B.

A: “ They should be open even when school is closed” E.M.

A: “They need more PS3 games, snack variety, and fun activities” G.R.

Teen Q and A

Q: Do you have any suggestions for making the alley better?

Q: Why do you come to the alley?

The Alley is a great place

and I wish I had somewhere like this to hang out when I was in school. i

keep coming because of the great people and it’s a chance for me to have fun after being the

big, bad probation officer all day. I think it is great the Alley has Girl Talk, The Huddle group and extra

activities in addition to the tutoring and a safe place to hang out. Alley staff and volunteers really make an effort

to expose the youth to different things.

Beth R.-Nkurlu,

Two years ago I answered

an ad in the Tidewater Trader for volunteers for the Alley. My most posi-

tive experience is working with the teens and staff. I student taught high school when I was in

college, and worked with special needs students several years after college. In raising my 2 daughters I was an

active participant in many teen activities. I would like to see practical writing skills stressed. I doubt many students

could fill out a job application, which is essential for their survival as they get older. Practice with this skill would be helpful. My favorite spare time activity is traveling the world! Everyone should volunteer their talents. It

comes back 10 fold!

Amy F.

I saw the Alley kids, for

the first time, participate in the cardboard boat race in Wilmer Park last

year. The most positive experience at the Alley, I know it sounds selfish, but I loved getting that birth-

day card and gift certificate for the W.I.N thrift store! I was a stay at home mom and have 3 (grown) children,

homeschooled for 7 years, taught Sunday School most of my adult life, I am a certified therapeutic riding instructor and most of my students have been young children and teens.Some kind of musical opportunities would be great to offer at the Alley. In my spare time I like to sing and/or play the guitar. I would like the Alley community to know that I am a Christian and my only real desire, is to be of service

to people while I am here on earth.

Rebecca Pi.

I am in the education

honor society, Pi Lambda Theta, at Wac and we are required to go 2

hours a month. I enjoyed it so much I go every week! :) It is great to be more connected

to the community. It’s nice being able to walk down the street and say hi to community members, and

know their names. I am a Human Development major and will be certified in elementary education when I

graduate. I have babysat my whole life and have been a camp counselor before. I enjoy working with students of all ages, and was really excited to work with middle

schoolers and high schoolers. I’m really excited to graduate next year and teach elementary school.

Sarah K.

thank youvolunteers

Koko Abas

Ariana Cork

Jennifer de Mooy

Amy Ferguson

Eric Gordon

Jim Herron

Sarah Keister

Amie Lauriello

Tonya McClain

Tonya Mclaughlin

Steve Mclaughlin

Elyse McGlumphy

Erik Medrano

Jenny Mobley

Rebecca Pitre

Katie Poore

Elizabeth Nkurlu

Melinda Rosso

Teri Thomas

Jeremiah Tindall

Tom Trodden

Tonya Walker

Carole Watters

Maryann Wellington

Dawn Wright Liz Seidel, President | Jose Medrano | Marissa Medrano | Angela Othoson

Scott Othoson | Sondra Archer | Matthew Windsor

Special Thanks to the board members of Women In Need, Inc

Alley students, Mr. Cole Esbah & Ms. Lindsay Koenig giving thanks for the Herr’s snack donations! The chips were donated by: QA & R&D depart-ments, Missy Twyman & Tom Chase. Visit www.herrs.com for more info.

Volunteers 2009 Newsletter

volunteers

Istopped in one day after hearing

about the Alley from co-workers and offered to volun-teer for tutoring. It’s always rewarding to see students who are

struggling with a certain subject gain confidence through your encourage-ment. I was a substitute teacher and a special education assistant for Minne-

apolis Public Schools, and I owned a skateboard shop in South Minneapolis in 2008. I’d like to see some skateboarding activities offered at the Alley. I like to play music or go

to church functions. I work for Sultana Projects.

Jeremiah T.

I would like to support the Alley. Enclosed is my tax deductable donation.

Total Enclosed $ __________________________

Please make checks payable to

Women In NeedP.O. Box 305Chestertown, MD 21620