Nearing Our Volunteer Goal

We are so excited to report that we have a total of 450 volunteers so far that have been tutoring and mentoring our UrbanFUTURE students!   Our goal is 500!  Just 50 more to go...We have fulfilled our current tutor needs and are looking for more mentors to complete our need this year 2010-2011!  This week, the Community Outreach Department has been attending various volunteer fairs including Harris-Stowe State University and Webster University High School.  Our volunteers include a diverse population including high school students, University students, retiree's, lawyers, doctors, teachers, community members, corporate sponsors, and many others.  Thank you to our current volunteers for spreading the word and referring their friends and relatives to become UrbanFUTURE volunteers!  

A Spotlight On Academic Success

Quarter 3 is in full swing and Fanning has a number of shining and rising stars!  Students have been working hard in both INSPIRE, IMPACT, and Explore! and it shows!  

Victoria is a 7th grader who exemplifies UrbanFUTURE's mission.  In the fall when she joined, Victoria struggled with her attitude and was performing poorly in her classes.  She was often sent to the UF office after school because of her attitude and refusal to comply with after-school rules.  Yet Victoria began to realize that in order to accomplish her goals, she had to make a change.   The change started with her tutor, who helped her to see that her struggles in school did not need to define her.  By working hard, Karen let her know that she could do whatever she decided she wanted to do.  So they began working together in communication arts, twice a week, and the improvement was dramatic!  

Victoria started out reading at a 2nd grade level and, by mid-October, had already raised her level to the 4th grade.  By the end of the second quarter, Victoria had soared to a 5th grade level.  She moved from an L to a Q bin, in a matter of months!  At the same time that she was pushing herself in after-school tutoring, she was pushing herself in class.  Her GPA improved and, after her second acuity test, she reported that she "felt very confident" about how she had done.  Additionally, on her latest SRI assessment (Scholastic Reading Inventory), she went up by 400 points! Wow!  For the first time, Victoria is feeling successful in school and is proud of her accomplishments.  She looks forward to coming to tutoring and, with her new tutor, she is eager to explain what she's been working on and how the tutoring sessions should run.  

She is also continuing to focus on developing her character.  After being matched with a mentor, Victoria continued to excel, working with her mentor and Mr. Hadley to set academic and behavior goals to continue to push her success.  

In the photo above, Victoria and Mr. Hadley work on a project for class.  Victoria's focus on academics and her openness to change has made Victoria one of Fanning's SHINING STARS!