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!  

Results Speak for Themselves

Darrion proudly displays his 'Science Student of the Week' certificate

Darrion is an optimistic 8^th grader with tremendous potential. However, optimism doesn’t always produce tangible results. Hence, Darrion’s mediocre academic performance.

Fortunately, his INSPIRE mentor, Aaron Adams and Darrion's mother, are committed to Darrion’s personal and academic progression.

Describe your first meeting with Aaron.

He asked me what my favorite things were. He used to play baseball and I played baseball. He actually connects with things like that.  We really hit it off.

How has Aaron’s guidance impacted your performance?

We really focus on goal setting. He told me, he made sure that he did his work and did his sports. He inspired me to do the same thing.  Homework goals – making sure assignments turned in. He helps me with my Communication Arts work. We read a few passages and write about what we’ve read. I’m also reading a lot better. 

Discuss your recent accomplishment.

I recently improved my science grade from an F to B. We talked about science a lot and the experiments I was doing in class.  He could relate since he’d done them before.  Every time I had science homework, we would go over our science homework.   I’ve been doing better in her class.  I was science superstar of the week. I felt like I couldn’t have done it if I didn’t have the help. He has been the only type of mentor who I’ve had that has helped me achieve goals and become a better student. 

With continued work and dedication, Darrion knows he can continue to display academic growth, especially with the support of his INSPIRE team. 

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!

Fanning Falcons are Flying

UrbanFUTURE at Fanning Middle School is in full swing!  With 62 students fully enrolled in Restoration, afternoons are filled with a buzz that starts off with grade specific homework help.  Students are already taking charge of completing missed assignments, as well as staying on top of current assignments, and are eager to improve or maintain the grades that they received on their progress reports at the end of last week.  

Following homework help, students are engaged in great enrichment classes through the EXPLORE! program.  They are cooking with St. Louis University nutrition students, sculpting with COCA, rooting for the football team through cheerleading, battling in a game of wits during Chess Club, and establishing a student government among other activities. WOW! Enrichment programming runs Monday through Friday so that our students have engaging alternatives to going home every day of the week.  As the EXPLORE! program manager, Jocelyn Peters has gone above and beyond to engage our students in a fun and meaningful way.

The fun doesn't stop there!  Students are also excited about the tutors and mentors that they have the opportunity to work with during the last hour of programming through the IMPACT and INSPIRE programs.  Tutors have begun delving into the curriculum with students in both math and communication arts and already the students are soaring!  Though the academic component can be difficult, students and tutors have been working hard to improve in basic skills and in challenging reading materials.  Keep up the good work!

Keshun Rhodes, a seventh grader pictured above, asks about her mentor every day. Through the INSPIRE program, run by Domnick Hadley, she has found someone that she can talk to about reading, classes, teachers, and just life in general.  Though they have only met with each other once, Keshun is bubbling with excitement to work with Doreen again.  Already, Doreen has met with Keshun's language arts teacher and her mom to talk about Keshun's reading levels and how she can help to improve her grades in language arts!  

In addition to great programming after-school, UrbanFUTURE is also involved with the students during the school day!  On the 8th grade field trip to the Magic House last week, UrbanFUTURE staff helped to facilitate the trip with the 8th grade teachers and had a lot of fun in the process.  Check out some of the great fun the students (and staff!) had in the pictures below!

Ms. Berry, the IMPACT team leader, on the electric ball!  Hair flew everywhere as both teachers and students took their turn!

Ms. Krominga (science teacher) with two UrbanFUTURE students, Porcia and Darrion,  in the Mark Twain exhibit about Tom Sawyer!  Students got the opportunity to dress up like the characters they'd read about in class.

Kicking Off the Program Year

Labor Day has come and pass marking the unofficial end of summer. With the end of summer comes the beginning of a new Program Year for UrbanFUTURE. Next week, programming will be in full swing at Fanning Middle and Mann Elementary schools with over 100 students signed up to meet with tutors and mentors. Already, parents have attended orientations, volunteers have been trained/re-trained and students have completed pre-test assessments.

At both sites, 4th - 8th grade students will have an opportunity to participate in INSPIRE Mentoring, IMPACT Tutoring and Explore! Careers. The full menu of programs will help students grow as a student and as a person in preparation for high school.

UrbanFUTURE has hired Ray Sewell as a Community Specialist to work specifically with parents on taking on a leadership role in their child's education. This new position will provide
UrbanFUTURE parents with an additional resource in navigating their child's educational path. Ray and the Team Leaders will host several parent events during the year to engage, instruct and listen to parents on the challenges they are facing.

The biggest news for the new school year is UrbanFUTURE's expansion into three new school sites. Team Leaders have already begun meeting with parents, teachers and students at L'Ouverture Middle and Jefferson and Meramec Elementary schools. Beginning in October, students at these sites will have the opportunity to begin the IMPACT Tutoring program. There may also be opportunities for students to attend Explore! Careers' field trips this fall. INSPIRE Mentoring at these sites will not begin until January.

This promises to be an exciting year for UrbanFUTURE. We look forward to working with more students, parents, volunteers and teachers than ever before as we all work towards eliminating the academic achievement gap in urban schools.

How to Fit Science & Social Studies

There is ongoing debate in the education community on how much emphasis should be placed on reading and math at under-performing schools at the expense of science and social studies. This article from the Post-Dispatch highlights the frustration of one teacher at Fanning over the scaling back of science and social studies classes so students who are below grade level in reading and math can get caught up.

UrbanFUTURE has recognized this issue in putting together its IMPACT tutoring curriculum. On the one hand, students need strong vocabulary, comprehension, critical thinking and logical reasoning skills to fully grasp topics in science and social studies. On the other hand, removing these subjects completely, robs students of opportunities to learn about the world they live in and have an understanding of why things are the way they are.

To combat this issue, UrbanFUTURE is working to embed science and social studies topics into reading and math activities that students complete with IMPACT tutors. This will help students learn about gravity or ancient Egyptian culture, while building vocabulary, comprehension and critical thinking skills. In fact, UrbanFUTURE has learned that this is exactly how some of the teachers cover science and social studies topics in their classroom and embedding these lessons into reading, writing and math.

As a way to further enhance the student's experience with science and social studies, UrbanFUTURE is using its Explore! program to take kids on field trips that will introduce them to professionals in science and social studies fields. These field trips will give kids hands-on opportunities and create excitement in career fields in science and social studies.

UrbanFUTURE would like to thank Monsanto for providing funding to expand our IMPACT curriculum into science and help cover the cost of these field trips. Its funders like Monsanto that help more students have opportunities to grow in all academic areas so they can see and believe in their possibilities!

A Final Push

Spring has arrived in St. Louis. For UrbanFUTURE that means there is one more quarter to make a final push to end the year strong. It's easy for students to lose focus when the weather warms up, the days are longer and summer is right around the corner. Despite all of that UrbanFUTURE staff and volunteers are working diligently to ensure students finish the year strong.

In preparation for year-end diagnostic tests, students at Fanning are having competitions in educational games that are enhancing their skills in math and communication arts. With teachers assigning less homework, these competitions help to keep the students' minds sharp, while having a good time.

Fanning students are also participating in reading circles. These small groups read a book together and have an opportunity to have open discussions. It's been a great way for students to keep building their literacy in a casual, laid-back atmosphere. Jennifer Davies, IMPACT Manager at Fanning, said, "This week students were disappointed about missing the reading circles because of having to take the post-test. They are very excited to get back to their small group next week."

At Mann, INSPIRE Team Leaders Lauren Coppedge and Sakinah Ra'uf have been emphasizing goal achievement. To ensure that students are staying on track for their 4th quarter goals, they have been checking in with teachers each week to see that students are following through on weekly action steps. Mentors are also checking student progress on goals each week and helping students fulfill weekly action steps. Team Leaders have also created a goal board that publicly displays each team's progress towards their goals. As an added incentive, students who achieve their 4th quarter goal will get a McDonald's Happy Meal at the end of the year.

The nice weather can be a major distraction for students, but at UrbanFUTURE students are learning the importance of finishing the year on a high note.