What UrbanFUTURE is Thankful For This Year

With the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, this is a great time to reflect on the past year and share with others what we are thankful for and how much we appreciate them. In spirit of the holiday, here is what we at UrbanFUTURE are thankful for.

• Outstanding volunteer tutors and mentors who spend an hour each week working with urban youth. They play a vital role in Restoration and the success of UrbanFUTURE.
  
• Dedicated teachers who work with UrbanFUTURE staff on a daily basis to help each student succeed academically and grow as a person. Teachers provide us with some of the greatest insight to each student we work with.
• Enthusiastic donors who ensure that Restoration will continue to have an impact for urban youth in St. Louis and share our vision of eliminating the academic achievement gap in urban schools.
• Strong partners who collaborate with us to maximize resources and impact in the lives of students on a daily basis. Our partners include Youth In Need, YMCA, St. Louis Public Schools & Human Development Corporation.
• Corporate sponsors who invest their time, money and leadership in UrbanFUTURE. Our sponsors include Walgreens, Wells Fargo Advisors, Maritz, Kaldi's Coffee and Ameren.
• Engaged parent leaders who are taking charge of their child's education and working to ensure they succeed academically and in life. Our parents are a vital cog in Restoration and are great advocates for UrbanFUTURE.
• Hard-working and dedicated students who show up every day to learn and grow. It's amazing how inspiring our students can be for all of us.
  

We know Restoration only succeeds because of everyone involved and can't thank you all enough for your continued commitment and dedication to helping urban youth see and believe in their possibilities!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jefferson Students Explore with Local Artist - Part II

The kids had a blast at the City Museum on Friday!

We started off in the skateless park to see Stan's work - the kids loved seeing it in person!

"Ms. Stephanie, look, Stan did this!" "He showed us pictures of this one!"

Then, we split into groups for a scavenger hunt around the museum...
The fact that the word "Museum" is in the name is misleading - the City Museum is far from a stuffy, quiet museum where you can look but not touch. The City Museum puts kids in a fantasy world where they can experience art as they climb, slide and explore.

The City Museum found all of its reclaimed building materials within St. Louis, including features such as old chimneys, salvaged bridges, construction cranes, miles of tile, and even two abandoned planes!

Kids and adults alike had a wonderful time exploring the gem that is the City Museum.

This field trip was used as an incentive for good behavior. A couple of students who didn't earn the trip have already met with me to come up with behavior plans so they don't miss out on the next one!

While we have not started full programming at Jefferson, UrbanFUTURE has already begun to make an impact at Jefferson. We can't wait to see what a huge impact our mentors and tutors will have come January!

Jefferson Students Explore with Local Artist

UrbanFUTURE is new to Jefferson Elementary this year, and we kicked off our Explore! program today with our first guest speaker! Students learned from local artist Stan Chisholm (18andcounting.com), who shared about his experiences as an artist and what it takes to turn a passion for art into a profession.

Since Jefferson is an arts-integrated school, students have had exposure to the arts and were able to ask some great questions...

... and loved learning about how Stan creates art by viewing pictures of his work!

A couple of students who are especially interested in a career in art stayed after to talk to Stan and ask more questions - wow, what an opportunity!

UrbanFUTURE students from Jefferson will be taking a field trip to the City Museum this Friday, where students will be able to see some of Stan's work in person! Stay tuned for a post about the trip next week.