Educate & Enrich A Child in Houston's 3rd Ward

Ok… maybe we are a little biased, but we are overjoyed to report that with the exception of one “C” in one class… ALL of the other grades were “A”s and “B”s.  Out of the 22 children enrolled in our after-school program, 21 students made honor roll at their respective schools this term.  Some of the children struggled with marks as low as the 40’s during the semester, but they were undaunted and pulled through with exceptional marks. We are so proud of each one of them.  And, we hope that you share in our joy because your support of this program helped make it possible.

This period brought other positive results that are not all quantifiable.  The children were able to participate in a photo shoot that was donated by one of our supporters, so they could star in various ads for our #GivingTuesday campaign.  Seeing themselves featured in the campaign and on SHAPE’s social media, helping to support their own program, was a definite confidence booster.  One of the parents shared with me that her son showed his Facebook post to their whole family and all of his schoolmates. 

Now, the children are working on a new campaign in which a music video they completed during the summer program, titled “Water,” is the feature for their fundraiser.  Another one of our awesome supporters supplied artesian bottled water and he is donating 50% of the sales back to the program.  The children feel ownership in their program and in their community, as they learn some of our core values including:  Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work & Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity and Faith.

Links:

• WATER- SHAPE Youth Enrichment Music Video

Since our last report, we have transitioned from the Summer Enrichment Program to the After-School Enrichment Program and attendance has dropped. However, this is not uncommon, and we usually see an increase after the first reporting period for grades. We are happy to say that many of our current students transferred over from the summer program.

Our after-school curriculum includes Life Skills, music, sports, wellness, and art. We are especially honored that the music students will be taught vocals by renowned artist Tweed Smith, the only female to be a member of the 1970’s R&B and Funk band "WAR."

Parental support continues to strengthen the program with almost 100% participation in our bi-weekly parent meetings. Our parents have shared insightful feedback and we are listening! We learned that parents are concerned that their children will face challenges during the reading portion of standardized tests because of the lengthy passages, which require at least an hour of reading time. To help the students prepare, we are instituting mandatory reading for at least 15 minutes each day, with incremental increases every two weeks. Parents are also asked to do the same thing at home.

We also learned that parents and students are facing challenges with “new math” procedures. In response, we will incorporate “new math” sessions in our free Saturday tutorials. In the upcoming weeks, we hope to provide our students with language classes in Spanish and Swahili.