Apopka Christmas Parade: It's a Star Spangled Christmas

     The Apopka Family Learning Center (AFLC) participated in the Apopka Parade on Saturday December 8th. The theme of the parade was "Star Spangle Christmas". Our float was designed and decorated by the AFLC staff. We had 3 Christmas trees, a blue tree that represented Liberty, the red tree represented Perfect Union and the white tree represented Justice. 

   Many children and parents participated with us by marching in the parade. They hand out candy with our website to the public that was in the parade. We had a great time with the children and the parents, they were really helpful and cooperative by working together as one whole family.

   The children were really enthusiastic and cheerful during the parade. The younger kids were sitting on the float with the trees that were representing part of the United States Constitution.

  One of our staff, Beatrice Puebla was the coordinator of this great float. She was in the float supervising the children that were sitting there and making sure that everything was going well.

  Here we have our children and some of our staff in front of the float happy and excited to be part of the parade. It was a great time to share not only with our kids, parents, but also with the community in general. It was the perfect time for the community to know about the Apopka Family Learning Center and our mission.

Holiday Play and Party with Darden Restaurants, Inc.

The Apopka Family Learning Center hosted a Holiday Party with the help of the Darden Restaurants. Beatrice Puebla organized and directed a Christmas Play that was acted by some of our students. The play was called The Journey. The Journey was about birth of Jesus Christ. The children were dressed like Mary, Joseph and the Angel.

One of our Kids in Motion teachers, Miss Laura Rodriguez was the person who organized the chorus that was part of the play. They were all dressed up in white and with a Christmas hat. They were really excited and happy to sing in front on their parents and all the people that attended the party.

Here is our CEO, Ellen O'Connor, Mylitza Woodson, and some of our children with representatives from Darden Restaurants!!

  Thanks to the Darden Restaurants, our children and parents were really happy and thankful because not only the children that attend to the Apopka Family Learning Center received a gift, but also their siblings had the opportunity of getting a Christmas gift too. Also, thanks to St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, every family left with a bag of food and a Publix gift card.  One of our classrooms was assigned as the room where the families and their children would go and get their gifts. Our teachers helped find students gifts and gave them to one of the Darden Restaurants people so they could hand the gifts to the children. The children of Frankie Delgado were involved in the party by giving candy and bracelets to the children in their way out. The Apopka Family Learning Center is really thankful to the Darden Restaurants for donating the gifts for our children.

                                                            THANK YOU DARDEN RESTAURANTS!!!                  

We Love St. Margaret Mary School!

St. Margaret Mary Catholic School has come to visit and mentor the students at the Apopka Family Learning Center for years.  December 6th was an especially wonderful treat as they came bringing an ice cream sundae bar, gifts and food for our families!

Students carried in 70 bags full of food with gift cards purchased from Publix for our families to have this holiday season.  

Our students then lined up and were served ice cream sundaes by the students from St. Margaret Mary!  Yum!

While students enjoyed their ice cream, a lovely holiday jazz concert was provided by a former student from St. Margaret Mary who asked to come back to play for the students.  Everyone loved the concert and the perfect Florida winter weather that allowed it to happen.

Following the show, students opened gifts from the school for the learning center.  

We were thrilled to find canvases, paints, clay, glitter, and more art supplies that will be put to good use.

Thank you St. Margaret Mary!  We are blessed to have you in our lives.

21st Century Learning

We are on our way at the Apopka Family Learning Center to being a model in 21st Century Learning.  

Check out our newly designed website and updated logo.

www.ApopkaFamilyLearningCenter.com

We don't just educate children.  We educate the whole family at the The Apopka Family Learning Center.  The Kids in Motion After-School Program and our upcoming summer program, Peace, Art and Literacy, take a holistic approach to educating children. Intervention strategies and techniques are guided by the latest neuroscience.  The children who attend Kids in Motion live at or below the poverty level.  Parents of children in Kids in Motion attend a class of their choice: English, Financial Literacy, Parenting, or Family Literacy.   Check out our YouTube Video to learn more about our little center's big impact.

Apopka Family Learning Center Online...

We are also building a social media presence to connect with others to share our success stories, achievement and learn from the success and achievement of others.  

You can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, YouTube and even Pinterest!

Like us on Facebook to keep up with our day-to-day happenings and courses.

Follow @aflcenter on Twitter and connect worldwide.

Check out our Pinterest Boards for #pinspiration on topics like Peace, Family Literacy, Art,  Fundraising and more.

Thanks to Westside Tech, we will soon be equipped throughout our building with wireless. Now, we could really use some technology for academic enrichment in Kids in Motion.

Microsoft Surface Tablets would be used creatively.

Or  iPads  would be so AWESOME and put to good use for enrichment.
  

We have some seriously creative energy at this center that would make amazing use of either one of these tools that our students would otherwise probably not experience.  

And so we say please Twitterverse, do your magic as we cross our fingers and toes!

Apopka Family Learning Center 

800 South Hawthorne Ave. 

Apopka, FL 32703

Giving Tuesday

On this Giving Tuesday, we would like to give thanks!

Last summer, the Central Florida Women's League gave a grant providing new tile floors for the center!  The beautiful tile lightened up the atmosphere providing a more conducive environment for learning.

  <- BEFORE

<- AFTER

The Central Florida Women's League didn't stop there!  They came back at Halloween and put on a lovely party for all to enjoy.  There was laughter, games and sweets!  The students and staff had a wonderful time.

Just this week, Ruth Burton came back to the Apopka Family Learning Center to share her passion, decorating for Christmas!  (Ruth sat on the Charitable Granting Committee of the CFWL and grew up in Apopka.)   She turned our center into a wonderland with her handcrafted wreathes, lovely trees and festive touch.

On this Giving Tuesday, we say, "Thank you!"

Fine Arts & Theater

This blog was written by Giovanna Dasso, Public Allies Volunteer and resident artist.

The art program is growing. I have an art's and craft's time everyday Monday through Thursday with my class. The kids love it a lot. Art time is a time where the children have the opportunity to enjoy what their imagination can create. The art that we do can consist of cutting and gluing, making their own masks, and even just drawing a story. I want them to know that they are talented and their imagination is important and valued. Art is not something that is wrong or right and they shouldn't be afraid to show off their personality through their art.

I can see improvement in so many children. Now, when I say improvement I do not necessarily mean that their art  has been improved. I mean that their way of thinking has been improved. So many children will ask an adult to do their art. A lot of them believe that their art is "ugly", "wrong" or they just say "I don't want to, because I can't". I can see a change in the way that they think. I can see them as more confident children, wanting to do thing's themselves, and they are proud of the work they do. I am glad that this has been a success with many children who doubted their own abilities.

Oh yay, the Christmas play! The Christmas play is going quite well. The children in the play practice their lines at home and are anxious to perform and do a great job. It was a great relief to see the children actually act their roll very well. I was expecting low whisper voices, saying the words without emphasis, and shy posture. I was so surprised and far from the truth! They seemed confident right off the bat and acted very well. This is an area that many of the children are comfortable in. What a big, pleasant, and wonderful surprise!

Teaching Outside the Box: Improv

When you meet people working in the area of their passion, you can feel it.  It radiates from them, grabbing the attention of all those around. The kids at the Apopka Family Learning Center first experienced the troop in September, watching their play, A Book Can Take You Anywhere.  Humor Resources Improv enjoyed their time so much, two representatives from came back voluntarily to work with a group of fourth and fifth graders doing a lesson in improvisational comedy.

There was so much educational value in improv, especially for the very many second language learners serviced by the Apopka Family Learning Center.  Improv immersed students into a dynamic literacy lesson that included many elements of social-emotional development.

Mini-lessons were revealed along the way hitting topics like...

-story structure
-sentence structure
-parts of speech
-working as a team
-thinking on their feet
-self esteem

-And everyone had so much fun!  So much learning was rolled into one dynamic, worthwhile experience.

One boy sat back and watched, choosing not to participate for the first part of the session.  When he joined in, he was amazing.  Before our actors left, he poked his head back into the room and asked if they were coming back again, and the actors answered that they weren't sure yet.  His words of thanks were, "Well, thank you for the fun time."

Improv- Who knew?  

A Time for Thanksgiving

         
  On Monday, November 12th our monthly Kids in 

Motion parents meeting was a special event – a Thanksgiving 

potluck!  Approximately 150 parents and children gathered 

to enjoy dinner together, and the families all brought 

delicious food to share.  Our Thanksgiving buffet included 

everything from tamales to spaghetti  to arroz con leche.  It 

was hard to choose which foods to try!

            Once they had filled their plates, families sat together 

at long tables to eat and chat, mingling with AFLC staff.  Over 

dessert, it was time for the business part of the meeting.  Our 

Program Director, Mylitza Woodson, reviewed expectations

for parents, including commitment of volunteer hours and 

attendance at one of AFLC’s adult classes – options include 

financial literacy training, English, Souns (R) and Rhymes,  

parenting classes, or the Mujeres de Poder group.  At the end 

of the night,  everyone went home having enjoyed some great 

food and conversation – it was an evening well spent!

            On Friday, November 16th, the staff of the learning 

center gathered  together  for a Thanksgiving potluck 

luncheon.  The  Grandparent Volunteers were honored for 

their service to the center with a gift.  All gathered around 

the table took  turns giving thanks for the blessings in their 

lives.  

Grow Boxes

Thank you Our Whole Community and Florida Hospital for coordinating this earthy planting project.  Our Whole Community coordinated the efforts and Florida Hospital paid for the distribution of the 15 Grow Boxes that came to our center.  The project began on Saturday, October 20th when parents and students from UCF and the Apopka Family Learning Center worked side by side to plant flowers and vegetables.  The Grow Boxes will be on display at the Winter Park Harvest Festival  ion Saturday, November 17th.  

A fourth grade student from the learning center writes the story of the project...