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» Harambee! Freedom Schools at Elev8 Baltimore

» Spotlight on Saturdays » Farewell Dr. Rayner Browne » Reflections from Elev8 Baltimore Graduates from Commodore John Rogers » Parents are Crucial to Elev8 Baltimore and Family Success

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IN THIS ISSUE

ABOUT

When I was a kid, people would often refer to this time of year as “the lazy days of summer.”

My how things change.

Far from sun-soaked and sleepy, this has been the summer of activity for Elev8 Baltimore, and the students and families with whom we work.

In addition to hosting a successful Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools® summer program – which 220 students attended for six weeks from June to July -- we also have been busy growing and improving.

Elev8 Baltimore started in 2009 in four schools within a mile of each other in East Baltimore. But when school starts again in the fall, we now will be working with six elementary/middle schools, located all across the city.

Our three newest sites are Harford Heights Elementary School in East Baltimore’s Clifton-Berea neighborhood, William Pinderhughes Elementary/Middle School in Sandtown and Arundel Elementary/Middle School in Cherry Hill.

Both Sandtown and Cherry Hill are communities that have much in common with the East Baltimore neighborhoods with which we’ve worked most closely. Parents and caregivers are hardworking and care deeply about their children. Young people value their educations and want to achieve. And in each area, there’s a strong sense of community pride.

But like in East Baltimore, these communities also face challenges. In each, there’s been a long-term lack of investment. Families, children – and even the schools themselves – could all use greater supports. But too few strategic partners are equipped to help.

That’s why we’ve expanded our reach into Sandtown and Cherry Hill.

At William Pinderhughes, Elev8 Baltimore started this summer by providing students with access to Freedom Schools®, our signature summer experience

SUMMER 2015

FAMILY & FRIENDS of Elev8BALTIMORE

focused on literacy, civic engagement, social action, intergenerational leadership development, nutrition, and health.

In the fall, there will be a full-time community school coordinator at the school, helping to leverage partnerships and opportunities to improve learning conditions. And we’re preparing for at least 50 students to participate in Elev8 Baltimore’s high-quality afterschool programming.

At Arundel, we’ll be phasing in our services, beginning with installing a full-time community school coordinator. As our relationship grows, we will expand to include family stability services, learning opportunities and integrated health services.

At Harford Heights, we will be leading the schools’ efforts on partnership and family engagement while educating the school community on our approach to full service community schools. In the coming months and years we hope to expand our learning strategy and connect the school with integrated health services.

The approaches look slightly different in the early stages of our relationships with these new schools, but the goals remain the same. We want to make sure that kids have all the things they need and deserve. And we want to minimize the burdens on schools, so that ultimately teachers are focused on teaching and kids are focused on learning.

Our expansion is somewhat bittersweet, because as we develop new relationships with under-resourced schools and committed principals, we also had to say ‘good-bye’ this year to Dr. Rayner Browne Elementary/Middle School, a beloved school partner that was one of Elev8 Baltimore’s original sites. The Baltimore City Public School System opted to close Rayner’s doors this summer, but we’re excited to continue our work with Principal Tetra Jackson – a valuable partner over the years -- at Harford Heights.

And because we know that we will continue to serve many of Rayner’s students in some of our other school sites, we’re excited to find ways to support them as well as the hundreds of other students we’ll get to know in our new schools.

Ultimately, we want to develop strategic partnerships all across the city so that we can help kids throughout Baltimore have access to opportunity and adults who care about them.We hope our successful programming with students, families and communities will be a catalyst, showing others how to make a real difference for the people in Baltimore who need it most.

Harambee! Freedom Schools Return to Elev8 Baltimore

Alexandria Warrick Adams Director

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Freedom Schools® aren’t anything like the regular school year.

Sure, the curriculum is aligned to the national Common Core standards, as it would be during the regular school year. And the day lasts from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., similar to the way it would during the regular school year.But that’s where the similarities end.

The Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools® summer program is a model program focused on literacy, civic engagement, social action, intergenerational

leadership development, nutrition, and health.

For one week this past spring, Kellie Brown and Shantel Wilson of Elev8 Baltimore joined hundreds of people from 26 states and 190 different Freedom Schools® sites to dive into the deep end of the CDF’s summer schooling philosophy.

From the arrangement of the desks to the curriculum design, Brown and Wilson -- both of whom work with Elev8 Baltimore’s after school programming during the regular school year – say Freedom Schools® bear little resemblance to the traditional classroom setting.

“It’s a total climate change for the kids,” Brown says. “All the scholars play a role in informing what their summer will look like from the first day. Our scholars have a lot of autonomy in Freedom Schools®, and they feel that positivity from day one.”

Following breakfast, the day starts with an affirming half-hour of Harambee!, a Kiswahili term meaning “all pull together.”

During Harambee!, staff or scholars lead the group in cheers and chants. “The leader may call out, ‘Freedom schools, how y’all feeling?’ and the scholars respond, ‘Fantastic! Terrific! Grrrreat! All day long!’” Wilson says.

There’s a morning song—sung in every Freedom School across the country—which raises some of the social injustices that students may be facing at home or in the community.

And each day a special guest or parent reads aloud from a book.

Students and staff alike enjoy “Recognition” time, when students identify another student in the group to highlight for something positive, or share something good that happened that morning.

“It’s beautiful to see the scholars affirm one another,” Brown says.

And then, following a moment of silent meditation, students jump head first into the day.

Following a reading-intensive morning, scholars can focus on a number of skill-building tracks in the afternoon, including music and video production and other opportunities.

Social action is another key feature of Freedom Schools®. Already, the nearly 220 scholars from Elev8 Baltimore have participated in a march in Washington to end child poverty, but not before examining the issue in their own community.

“They made signs around the rally to raise awareness,” Brown says. “But they’ve also gone into neighborhoods to scout out what poverty looks like and what child poverty means.”

The students also run food drives that are operated by and for the scholars.

The national Freedom Schools® theme this summer is “Ending Child Poverty.” The summer motto is “I Can Make A Difference,” and each of the six weeks builds on that statement, starting with “I Can Make A Difference in Myself” during the first week to “I Can Make A Difference in My World” during the final week of the summer.

The summer 2015 session ended July 30th.

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This summer, Elev8 Baltimore is making play a priority.

Every Saturday through the first full week of August (August 8th), William Pinderhughes and Collington Square Elementary/Middle schools were open to children of all ages for nonstop recreation.

With funding assistance from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Elev8 Super Saturdays offers children and youth a chance to play Xbox, learn a new card game, participate in team sports, dance, exercise, and create their own art.

“During the first week of arts and crafts, the children made bow ties and charm bracelets,” says Derrek Cole, Saturday Site Supervisor. “During the 4th of July holiday weekend, they made flags. In dance, they’ve been doing Zumba and hip hop dance, so far,” he says. “They have the chance to home in on those skills that they wouldn’t have any other opportunity to cultivate.”

Devonne Franklin, who serves as Manager of Extended Learning, said that Elev8 Baltimore offers students an opportunity to learn and play during the summer, through the Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools program.

“But our young people need a safe space to express themselves on the weekends, too,” she said. “We’re providing an opportunity to get the students off the street.”

Elev8 Baltimore also provides breakfast and lunch on Super Saturdays, “which is a huge deal,” Franklin says. “We have some students who may go a full weekend without eating. So at lunch, we try to serve a heavier meal closer to the end of the day, so they have something on their stomachs when they go home.”

Collington Square and William Pinderhughes are equipped to serve up to 50 students each.

Cole and Franklin have made a personal investment in getting the word out about Super Saturdays to parents.

“In my neighborhood in West Baltimore, I’ve been handing out flyers to parents, from Penn North all the

way up to Coppin State,” Franklin says.

Cole says parents are happy to learn there is a place where their children can go on weekends.

“Parents are also coming to help us and just chill out with the kids,” Cole says.

The city’s dearth of recreational opportunities came into sharp focus following the police-involved death of Freddie Gray.

Elev8 Baltimore takes advantage of Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks’ community pools, but beyond those offerings, Franklin says, recreational programming is sparse.

“Saturday is a time to wind down,” Cole says. “With minimal resources, we can give kids who are a part of Elev8 programming, and kids who are just from the community, the opportunity to do just that.”

Spotlight On Saturday

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“Elev8 Baltimore serves many students who live in impoverished households or communities, classifying them as at-risk when it comes to completing school, as well as many other markers of success. According to the National Institute on Out-of-School time, student participation in various structured out-of-school time activities – such as after-school, summer camp and programs such as “Super Saturdays” – has been shown to have the greatest impact and most positive effect on those who are most at-risk. Their research indicates that out-of-school time programs can benefit young people socially, emotionally and academically, and that those who participate more frequently and for longer periods of time are most likely to benefit from out-of-school time opportunities.

The day was filled with remembrances from senior Baltimore City Public School System officials, legislators, community activists, parents, teachers and students about the many important illustrious contributions the school has made to the Milton Montford community of East Baltimore.

Last November, school system officials decided not to renovate the school, as originally planned, and instead serve the building’s 195-250 students at nearby schools.Elev8 Baltimore has been diligently working with parents to find appropriate alternatives school sites for many students, including Fort Worthington Elementary School, Henderson-Hopkins School and others in the Elev8 Baltimore network.

Dr. Rayner Browne Elementary/Middle School was one of the original schools with which Elev8 Baltimore partnered in 2009. The staff and students at the school were considered family to many of us at Elev8 Baltimore.

Community school coordinator Alicia Thomas and Parent Outreach Worker Eva Harris worked tirelessly over the last year to maintain positive relationships with partners and to continue to provide crucial services for

parents and families, despite the turmoil of pending closure.

Elev8 Baltimore provided medical and behavioral health services to students and families, and continued to conduct home visits to make sure parents were connected with all the same social services they’d received over the years without interruption.

“In the middle of all the confusion and sadness about closing, it was great to be able to call on the Elev8 Baltimore staff to provide guidance and recommendation about how best to help parents through the transition,” said Principal Tetra Jackson. “I depended on the Elev8 Baltimore staff all the way up to the final day of the school’s operation.”

Thomas and Harris even planned and organized the closing ceremonies.

To close out the year – and Rayner’s long history -- the entire school was open for parents and students to reminisce about the learning, growth and fun that took place in classrooms, in the cafeteria and the gym throughout the years. Outside the school building there

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Farewell Dr. Rayner Browne

On a sunny but bittersweet day in May, Elev8 Baltimore and community partners said goodbye to the students, parents, faculty and other champions of Dr. Rayner Browne Elementary/Middle School.

were activities and games, sponsored by Baltimore City’s health department, Baltimore Medical System and other partners.

School alumni came back to visit their beloved elementary/middle school, as did former Elev8 Baltimore director Nicole A. Johnson.

“The news that Rayner was closing was sobering, and frankly, shocking, to the Rayner community, and to us,” said Mark Carter, Elev8 Baltimore Program Director. “But it was heartwarming and affirming to witness firsthand the love that students, parents and the community felt for this school. And we’re so grateful to have been a part of Rayner’s illustrious history.”

Reflections From CJR GradsCommodore John Rodgers: Reflections of Graduating 8th-Graders

Shania Daniels, 15, will be a freshman at Coppin Academy in the fall. She was an Elev8 Baltimore participant for three years.

“Dance is everything to me. In Elev8 Baltimore, I got to take a hip-hop dance class after school. From 6th-grade to 8th-grade, my dance teachers helped me get better and better. Now I consider myself an expert. I’m really proud of myself for how much I improved. I am also grateful for my Elev8 Baltimore teachers. They encouraged me a lot by telling me I could be a good dancer and that I could learn any type of dance I wanted. In high school, I plan to take cheerleading – because I see it as another form of dance. I learned in Elev8 Baltimore

that being involved in something you love is important for keeping you motivated in school. Having dance class to go to after school, that was really good to have something fun to look forward to every day.”

In the fall, Jazmine Servance, 14, will be a freshman at the Institute of Notre Dame. She participated in Elev8 Baltimore for three years.

“Elev8 Baltimore is great because you get your homework done, you get to go on fun trips like laser tag and skating, and the teachers and coaches are really nice. But the best part for me was learning about responsibility. In enrichment after-school, we got to run a store. I liked it because I got to deal with the money.

And by doing that, I became more responsible and more reliable. When I helped to run the store, I learned that responsibility is important because other people count on you. I liked knowing people could count on me. I also liked knowing that I could count on my teachers at Elev8 Baltimore. They helped me when I needed help in the store and

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they helped me with my homework during study hall. I feel good about going to high school, participating in sports and taking classes like biology. I know I’ll do well.”

Parents Are Crucial to Elev8 Baltimore and Family StructureElev8 Baltimore’s Family Advocate team brought a busy school year to a close with Mardi Gras in May this spring.

During a night of trivia, games and giveaways, the team showed their appreciation for parents who go above and beyond the call of duty.

“Our parents do so much,” Stephanie Mack says, “So we like to take time out to recognize them.”

Mack served as the Family Advocate to Tench Tilghman Elementary/Middle School during the 2014-2015 school year. Their team hosted 31 parent events—a difficult commitment for any parent or guardian to make at any time of year—but one that Elev8 Baltimore parents have overwhelmingly supported.

“Parents assist with student sign-ins during our after school programming. They may help in the cafeteria at meal times, or sit in for a teacher during an IEP [individualized education program] meeting,” Mack says. Parents also help with the food pantry and community pantry, Mack says.

Elev8 Baltimore parents have even formed a leadership committee called PAP—Parents as Partners. Through the phone banking efforts of PAP’s officers, the group raised $350 toward Tench Tilghman’s efforts to build a playground on site.

Those are just some of the reasons why the Family Advocates try to recognize parents all year long – not just at the end of the school year. Mack said the Family Advocates had raffles at the end of each month, giving away laundry supplies, or health and wellness kits. And leading up to May’s year-end celebration, the Family Advocate team treated parents to lunch during National Volunteer Appreciation week.

This kind of engagement is no accident. Mack says the Family Advocate team represents the best of community schooling.

“Elev8 Baltimore is about making sure kids have what they need,” Mack says. “The Family Advocate bridges community schools and outside partners. We connect all of the players together. We tell parents, ‘We have a lot of valuable resources to help you and your child. That same enrichment we want for your children is what we want for you.’”

At Tench Tilghman, Mack has coordinated family leadership classes, financial literacy and stability sessions, credit reviews, math literacy and resume-building workshops. Mack encourages parents to use their volunteering work as a resume builder, and takes advantage of every opportunity to gauge what parents need.

“Parents won’t always come to you,” she says. “So, the key is making sure that whatever we do to help the family be successful translates to success for the child. If you strengthen the family, you also strengthen the child. If you strengthen the parent, you strengthen the child.”

Elev8 Baltimore / 1701 N. Gay Street / Baltimore, MD 21213 / (410) 381-7171 / elev8info@humanim.com