Followers

Friday, January 25, 2013

Peace

The Apopka Family Learning Center was born of the Justice and Peace Office, Inc., envisioned and founded as a social justice organization by Sister Teresa McElwee. She was often heard saying Pope Paul VI's famous quote, "If you want peace, work for justice."  

We continue to keep peace as a central focus today at our learning center. At the beginning of the 2012-2013 school year, students were asked to complete the sentence "Peace is..."  A variety of answers were given.  One especially poignant one was a kindergartner's explanation.  He said, "The orange play dough on top is God. The smaller play dough below is His Son.  And that is me (on the right.)"


Peace and positive discipline are major focal points this year.  Students are "caught being good" every day, and whenever an adult walks into a classroom displaying a peaceful moment, a hand is added to the peace tree.  

"Peace is possible," as Mattie Stepanek would say.



For Christmas this year, we continued our focus on peace.  We were too late to get our ornaments turned in for Mattie's Peace Tree so we made our own at the center, and the Peace Tree project extended to Florida.  Every child in the center and the Souns® and Rhymes Family Literacy class decorated an ornament for the 2012 Peace Tree that was proudly displayed in our lobby. 





For this year's holiday performance, the children closed by singing, "Peace." 




We are also beginning to read some of Mattie Stepanek's poetry together at the center.  When a fifth grade student read some of his poetry, she said, "It's so amazing that a child actually could write poetry that could help he world be a better place and stop the bullying.  We could just be like a family all around the world, sharing, being all with each other."  



















She went home so inspired that she came back to share a poem she had written at home. 


Help children recognize peace as a tangible concept and not an abstract idea using a lesson plan approved by Mattie's Foundation.     Exploring Peace through Heartsongs   








The current Education Director, Della Palacios, agrees with Mattie  that "Peace is possible."  


 

For more ideas on creating a more peaceful environment, visit our Pinterest Peace Board. 



Thursday, January 24, 2013

Dreams for Our Children




The January parent meetings  looked a little different than those in the past.



At the Apopka Family Learning Center, our vision is "Empowering Children and Families through Education." 


During the January parent meetings, we asked the parents, 

"What are your hopes and dreams for your children's future?"

Every parent was given one color.
The rules were that they needed to collectively design a drawing illustrating the question without trading colors.  






 Children ate while the parents worked.



Once the artwork was completed, the groups appointed a spokesperson to explain the group's effort. 






The drawings were different in themes but similar threads sewed all of them together. The dream of a completed and well-rounded education while connected to God/Dios.






The final January parent meeting was January 29th.  The ever-creative Ms. Beatrice came up with the lovely 
idea of having families co-create the image together.








                  






The conclusion of the meeting tied the adult class offerings in with the vision the parents have for their children.  A parent is a child's first teacher and simply modeling the importance of education by attending a class sets a precedent for the child.







Saturday, January 12, 2013

Success Stories- Illustrating our Vision


The Kids in Motion program is in its seventeenth year.Two former students are living proof the Apopka Family Learning Center is "Empowering Children and Families through Education!"


Fabian

“When I failed 5th Grade I wanted to give up. The Kids in Motion staff helped me realize I had to try harder.”  

At the early age of 12, Fabian was at risk of dropping out of school! His mother knew this was a critical time for him to make a change and enrolled him in the Kids in Motion program.  

“At Kids in Motion my teacher, Miss Kate coached me one-on-one,” Fabian said. “I started to get better grades, and it felt great because I had worked hard to get them.” 

Fabian credits the Apopka Family Learning Center for charting his course in a new direction. Perhaps most important was that the program inspired him to reach for bigger goals in all areas of his life. Today, Fabian is a graduate of Apopka High School, employed as a line cook at Universal Studio® and actively pursuing a culinary arts degree.


Mary

Mary was one of six children from a single-parent home and could have been another at risk student dropout. However, her mother found the Apopka Family Learning Center. 

“It was the best thing she ever did!” exclaims Mary, a native of Puerto Rico, who learned English at the Kids in Motion Program. “The program provided me with self esteem and I know that I could do anything I wanted, if I put all my effort into it.” 

She stayed on top of her school work and, with her inherent determination and the help of scholarships, Mary is now a certified medical assistant and newlywed in the process of buying her first home.


Thursday, January 10, 2013

We are blessed with many talented volunteers!

The Apopka Family Learning Center would not be nearly as successful without the help of its many volunteers.



The Foster Grandparent Program has one foster grandparent in each classroom reading to children and helping them with their homework.





U.C.F. students came in October to volunteer and spruce up our landscaping! 


One former Kids in Motion student, who is now a senior in high school and a member of the National Honors Society, comes in weekly to teach art to our middle school classroom.  


Another former Americorps member now returns once a week as a volunteer P.E. teacher.



Six former teachers with over a century's worth of experience form our Teacher Advisory Council.  Since our Americorps members are new to the classroom, these experts helped start the year off on the right foot! Many of them even come in to tutor students on a weekly basis.  


D'Anne threw a celebration for students who achieved during the first reporting period.  



Karen and Gayle come in weekly to help students with homework. 



Jane, former middle school principal, helped teachers structure routines for smooth classroom transitions.  

Profile Picture of Jane Kerr

Kristen, one of our Advisory Council, taught the teachers to run class meetings. 



Sharon is teaching Hands-On Equations, giving older students a jump on algebra. 


The very creative and talented, Ms. Mickey, came in to teach the Creation Story.


Students from Westside Tech are helping our center with 21st century skills by getting us connected with wireless.  Many of them have even returned as volunteers, sharing their talents with our students. 


Our volunteers make our students' lives richer and we thank them!