Education United States Project #4440

Inspire DC Youth Through Soccer, Poetry & Service

by DC SCORES

Inspire DC Youth Through Soccer, Poetry & Service

Project Report | Aug 9, 2010
DC SCORES Summer Update

By Cielo Contreras | Development Manager

Making new friends at camp

This summer, DC SCORES hosted three summer camps for our poet-athletes. As one of our supporters, we would like to take the opportunity to tell you about one of them:

On a hot June afternoon, counselors and coaches pumped up the 35 elementary and middle school students at Bruce Monroe Elementary School at Park View.

“When I say ‘DC,’ you all say ‘SCORES!’ DC!” “SCORES!” “DC!” “SCORES!”

With that introductory cheer, our six-week Soccer & Arts Summer Camp was underway. A wide range of students of various ages from different parts of the city – both DC SCORES newbies and veterans – gathered on the first day of camp to improve their soccer skills, engage their creative side in the classroom, and make new friends. Some of the camp highlights included:

• Step dancing with Step Afrika; • Nutrition workshops with DC Central Kitchen including a guided tour of Giant Market in Columbia Heights; • A visit to the White House for the trophy presentation of the Women’s Professional Soccer champions; • An interactive tour of the Children’s Gallery of Black History; • A visit from the Washington DC Knights, an organized soccer team through Street Soccer USA; and • Performing a group poem at halftime at a Washington Freedom game.

Our summer camp participants gained valuable skills and had meaningful experiences. Studies show that the way students spend their summers is one of the biggest factors contributing to the widening education gap in the U.S., which is why participating in free summer camps can significantly improve a student’s success during the school year. With our summer camps, we were able to keep our poet-athletes across the city engaged, active and having fun – all while keeping their minds fresh and ready for the upcoming school year.

Guided tour of Giant Market

Teambuilding games

Soccer practice

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May 7, 2010
DC SCORES Update

By Cielo Contreras | DC SCORES Development Manager

The spring season began on March 15 at all DC SCORES partner schools. During the spring, students participate in soccer two days a week, service-learning two days a week, and soccer games on Thursdays and Fridays.

In the spring, our elementary school soccer league is competitive as teams work to earn their way into the playoffs and eventually the City Cup Championship in June 5. Standings are based on game scores, but also on the sportsmanship points that each team works to earn each week. Our soccer curriculum also includes health games and lessons designed to teach students that physical fitness requires both exercise and good nutrition.

Our service-learning curriculum, Writing for the Community, takes students through the process of exploring their community and the issues that affect it. Once an issue is chosen the team researches, develops, and implements a project to tackle the issue. Each year, DC SCORES provides an overall theme for Writing for the Community. This year’s theme is “the environment.” One of the first lessons is a community walk where the students take a walk around their neighborhood and identify the positive and negative aspects of it. After the walk, they discuss what they would like to change in their community. From there, the students begin to create the project that they will work on for the rest of the semester. One DC SCORES team, for example, has challenged their entire school to collect plastic water bottles, which will be used to create a large-scale art piece to show the community importance of recycling and reusing.

The DC SCORES program year will culminate on June 5 with our annual Jamboree! at Trinity University in Washington, DC. The Jamboree! is a city-wide event that brings together our 700 participants and their families for a day of soccer and fun activities including face painting, activity booths, and relay games. The event is a great way to both celebrate our poet-athletes' hard work throughout the year and start the summer.

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