Exploring Their Possibilities

What do poetry, cheerleading, dance, football, the culinary and performing arts have in common? They are all part of UrbanFUTURE's Explore! Enrichment hour at Fanning Middle School.

One of the more enlightening Explore! Enrichment classes offered at Fanning is the Hip Hop & Poetry Class in which students learn about poetic devices and forms in classic literature and how those forms show up in the popular hip-hop music today. Over the past 6 weeks, students have learned how to scan a poem for rhyme schemes, the difference between slant and perfect rhyme, similes and metaphors. They have compared Tupac to Shakespeare, Lil’ Wayne to Langston Hughes, and Emily Dickinson to Talib Kweli. Through this unique approach to learning, UrbanFUTURE students gain exposure to established authors in the literary canon using the vernacular of everyday life. The students also get the chance to produce an original work. Below are samples of work done in the creative writing class, inspired by Langston Hughes’ poem “A Dream Deferred”

“Dreaming is like sleeping on a cloud.
Sometimes we have nightmares
And fall off that cloud.
Then there are sweet dreams
When we stay on that soft cloud.

Dreaming can help us expand our beautiful ideas.
Then the bad dreams come
Out of nowhere and smack us.
Troubles we have find ways into
Our dream like sneaky little ninjas.

Dreaming makes us as creative
As the best artist in the world.
But sometimes dreams slip away like a ghost.
That could be a good thing
When you had a bad dream.”

Excerpt from “Dreaming”, Christine Ordono, 7th grade

“Is life fair, will you be upset if your dream didn’t come true?
What can you do to make your dream stay alive?
Are you going to sit there and watch your dream die?
…
My dream won’t die,
‘Cause it’s going to stay alive, no need to lie,
My dream will never say bye bye.
My dream will not be out of my sight,
‘Cause my dream is on my head every morning, every night,
I invent my dream
My dream is like a word that never ends.”

Sinh Le, 7th Grade

Through the UrbanFUTURE Explore! program, these students are discovering their possibilities!

Dine In for UrbanFUTURE

In 2009, more students dropped out of high school than graduated from the St. Louis Public Schools! UrbanFUTURE is working to change that, and YOU can help, and it's as simple as bringing your lunch to work for one day.

On October 27th, UrbanFUTURE is hosting, Dine In for UrbanFUTURE, a virtual event in which participants bring their lunch to work/school and donate the money they would’ve spent going out to lunch to UrbanFUTURE. You can make your donation online or mail it to:

UrbanFUTURE
3145 S. Grand Blvd.
Ste. A
St. Louis, MO 63118

The suggested donation is $10, the cost for a student to enroll in UrbanFUTURE for a single day. Your lunch donation will go a long way to making sure more urban youth will have opportunities to succeed in high school and beyond.

But this event is meant to be more than a fundraiser. We want people to use the lunch period on October 27th discussing and debating the academic achievement gap that persists in urban (and rural) districts across the country. Hopefully this will become a part of a larger conversation you can have with family, friends, classmates and co-workers. It is an issue that affects every single one of our lives now and in the future, but every single one of us can do something about it.

Please help us spread the word about this event and UrbanFUTURE. Together we can help close the achievement gap and help urban youth see and believe in their possibilities!

UrbanFUTURE and L'Ouverture Form Strong Partnership

Although UrbanFUTURE is new to L’Ouverture Middle Academy, Team Leaders Laura Whitehead and Jacob Blanton have already begun blazing a trail of student achievement! They started the year greeting the students on the first day of school, went on to break the record for family attendance at their Family Game Night on September 1st, and have gotten after school programming underway with up to 50 students attending each day!

Now that programming has been going on for a few weeks, Laura and Jacob invited a few students to reflect on why they enrolled in the first place. One young man said he signed up because he “needs help with reading and math.” Another student said she signed up because of the sports and other activities offered by the YMCA during the first part of after school programming. Exemplifying true honesty, one young lady admitted to signing up for after school programming in order to “stay out of trouble.” In addition, some students have already begun working with math or reading tutors! Speaking about her tutor, one student said, “He takes his time and has patience. When I don’t know how to do something he will try his best to make sure I know how to do it.” Another praised her tutor for “making sure I use my time wisely.”

Teachers are jumping on the UrbanFUTURE bandwagon as well with one eighth grade teacher stating, “Miss Whitehead and Mr. Blanton have assisted students and teachers. The students seem to be responding to them and the program positively.” A seventh grade teacher raved, “The staff is dedicated and follows through in checking on student progress, daily homework assignments, and missing work. They help me in ways no other organization ever has! I am so happy our administration decided to collaborate with UrbanFUTURE.”

Last but not least, L’Ouverture Principal Lisa Nuyens had nothing but positive things to say when asked about UrbanFUTURE’s role in her school. “UrbanFUTURE is so much more than an ‘after school program.’ The staff attends to needs in every area of a student’s life – with the ultimate goal being to increase life chances through academic achievement. UrbanFUTURE staff understands that to meet that goal it takes connecting with a student, their home, and their teachers.” The coming weeks and months include lots of exciting activities for UrbanFUTURE and their students at L’Ouverture. Laura and Jacob will be present during parent-teacher conferences on October 22nd, they are currently collaborating with communication arts teachers to develop a writing competition that will include a celebration dinner, and they even have a reward field trip in the works as well. In terms of student success, UrbanFUTURE and L’Ouverture Middle Academy are speeding along, full steam ahead!!

Meramec Students Explore! Science Center

In the beginning God created food, water, and shelter. As man and time progressed we found ourselves quite easily bored, and so entertainment was born. Now entertaining yourself is something we as adults find easy( even though we can rarely find the time to do so ). However, planning entertainment for kids that is the holy grail of awesomeness and educational is an entirely different ball game!  

Recently, I was given the task to arrange a field trip for the 5^th grade students at Meramec Elementary as part of UrbanFUTURE's Explore! Career program. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed with excitement, but at a loss for where I could take these kids who have probably been to all of the staple locations in St. Louis (the Magic House, the Art Museum, the History Museum, the Botanical Gardens, the City Museum, and of course the designated fall guy…the free and infamous St. Louis Science Center). So, the first thing I did was ask the school’s Parent Facilitator for ideas; it was then when she informed me that the kids hadn’t been to any of the aforementioned locations. So, immediately I  thought ….”the free and infamous fall guy”! But, instead of doing the expected, we would go to the Science Center’s Omnimax theater. 

The kids had a blast, and would you believe it, most of them had never been to the Science Center. I mean everybody was in awe of this carnival of mystery and fun, and we’d just walked in the front door. The movie I’d planned for was Hubble (a fifty minute exploration into the life of astronauts planning on repairing Hubble, a space telescope.) Hmmm….I thought to myself, this could either turn out to be the greatest movie ever, or they kids will sell parts of me on EBay in exchange for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos and Blow Pops. You find yourself reading this so obviously my brilliance paid off…thank you Tom Cruise! They loved the movie; the jocks, the goof balls, the scared cats, and even my stage five clinger managed to pry herself away from my arm just long enough to enjoy new found independence and the show. 

When we got back, I had to give the kids a much deserved pat on the back. They were on their best behavior, they willingly took notes and most important, they had a chance to discover new possibilities for themselves.  I learned a lot from my short lived solo gig as an entertainment planner of education and awesomeness.  I can’t wait for another opportunity to show these students what their possibilities can be when they work hard in school.  

If you’re interested in having UrbanFUTURE students come and learn about your business please call our office at (314)776-3434.

Tam Anthony

Meramec Team Leader 

Get Involved in Volunteer Recruiting Process

Did you know that UrbanFUTURE will be providing services to 3 times as many students this year? We are excited to be helping more students see and believe in their possibilities, however, we are in need of even more volunteers than ever. This year, we have gotten off to a strong start with nearly 150 active volunteer tutors and mentors already meeting with students at Fanning Middle School and Mann Elementary, and we will be starting at 4 additional schools over the next several weeks.

Our volunteers this year have come from a variety of sources. You may have seen our flyers at Walgreens, or our posters at your favorite coffee shop. We may have met you at one of the many community activities we participate in such as the Festival of Nations, or an outdoor concert. What you may not know, is that while these activities help us meet many of our volunteers, over 60% of our volunteers come from organizations and institutions. It seems that once a member of a company, club, church or school starts working with our students, they share their experience and before you know it we have several volunteers participating from that same location. Maritz, Wells Fargo Advisors, and Ameren are all wonderful examples of companies that support us with volunteerism and funding, while St. Louis University shows how mobilizing the student body can provide much needed tutors for our students. 

In saying this, think about groups in which you belong. Whether it be your place of employment, church, fraternity or sorority, or professional organization, we would love for them to hear our story. Our current volunteers are our best advocates, but we are willing to come to your organization to provide a presentation. The presentation could be as brief or as detailed as your time allows, and we are even willing to provide on-site volunteer training. UrbanFUTURE is excited to have the opportunity to serve more families, schools, and communities, and looks forward to even more volunteer participation.