By Afsaneh Faki | Chief Financial Officer
The support GlobalGiving has granted us continues to grow Ballet and Books. Since our last report, we have seen so much development and new wins for our program!
We have officially published our very own children’s book, When We Read. This book promotes the Ballet and Books curriculum and implements one of our core values, diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is intended to bring Ballet and Books to students who may not have a chapter near them. We also plan to get When We Read into dance studios, along with our full curriculum, so that children from families who have the means to pay for a program like Ballet and Books also have access.
Programming kicked off just last week and we’re proud to say that this spring we welcomed a new chapter in NYC through Columbia University! After our recent 2nd feature in Pointe Magazine, several more communities have reached out to start chapters. In Fall 2023 we plan to start up to two new chapters in Cincinnati OH, and Michigan.
Two weeks ago, we completed our semesterly mentor training including a literacy education session, child dance education session, and an unconscious bias session. These three pillars are core to the Ballet and Books values. To ensure chapters run smoothly each semester of programming, it is essential that each mentor understands how to work with diverse children in mentoring and teaching literacy and dance. Now that all mentors are trained and student leadership teams are in place, all of our chapters had a strong kick off of programming this past week!
The Howard chapter already has 20 children enrolled this semester and all of our other chapters are not far behind. Now with eight chapters nationwide, we will be spreading our mission of bridging literacy through dance and mentorship to over 100 young mentees and college student mentors just this semester alone. We project to have impacted over 500 children through all of our years of programming by the end of 2023. We’re so excited to watch each chapter grow this semester and complete their end-of-year performances in the spring!
Finally, we are kicking off our first year of chapter fundraising this semester. Each chapter will host a fundraiser centered around their served community this spring. To support chapter fundraising, please visit this link!
Looking back on these past few years, we have come such a long way with the support of Colgate and GlobalGiving. As we look ahead to the future, we’re so excited to continue growing our impact and closing the literacy gap one community at a time. You have not only helped support us up until this point, but have also given us the resources to begin supporting ourselves moving forward. Ballet and Books would not be possible without you!
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