By Amy Buchanan | Co-Director
The “International Kids Club” began its second academic year on September 17th, and is off to an exciting start. While we remain focussed on meeting the academic and wellness needs of middle school students from international backgrounds, several new developments and changes to the program are underway, including new partners, new classes and new kids!
Through a new partnership with the African Community Center (ACC), we are now hosting the “International CITY” after school program for high school students in our center. International CITY runs simultaneously with our program for middle school students, and shares common areas and resources. This new partnership has strengthened both programs, making more classes and resources available to all students, and has given our middle school students better access to youth mentors and tutors. In addition, many students in our middle school program have older siblings who attend ACC’s program, allowing siblings to be in the same space after school and travel home safely together.
New interns and volunteers from Myanmar (Burma), Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago and various parts of the US have joined our team. Through a new partnership with Denver University Graduate School of Social Work, we have offered internships to two MSW candidates, who are developing and implementing a social-emotional learning curriculum. We are still building our volunteer base with the goal of expanding our tutoring program to ensure every young person in our program has the individual attention and academic support they need to succeed in school.
New classes and activities this semester include a weekly art workshop provided by Downtown Aurora Visual Arts, outdoor sports, social and emotional learning workshops and Hip Hop and African dance classes. Through our partnership with ACC, our students also have access to music therapy classes.
Our 15-seater van was stolen over the summer, and although it was recovered several weeks later, it is damaged beyond repair and will need to be replaced. Without a van or bus, our ability to pick and drop kids and go on field trips is limited, and we are currently working to raise additional funds and find a new van as quickly as possible.
We are grateful to have secured two more years of support from the Colorado Health Foundation, which will allow us to hire a Youth Program Manager (currently in recruitment) and continue to build a dynamic, enriching and lasting program.
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
