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GEAR
UP-dates
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Two Valleys – One Vision GEAR UP is an
exciting program funded by the U.S. Department of Education and
administered by the University of Washington. It is a partnership
with the Yakama Tribal School, schools in Mabton, Mt. Adams,
Granger, Union Gap, Goldendale, East Valley, Toppenish, Grandview,
Wapato, Sunnyside, the Mt. Vernon and Burlington-Edison School
Districts and 11 other community partners including The Power of
Hope!
Imagine!
reported by Kat
On Monday, February 18th, we brought Imagine! to Toppenish
Middle School in Toppenish, Washington. Imagine is a day camp
bringing together youth from multiple schools across the region to
express themselves creatively, learn new skills, and reflect about
possibilities for their future. In addition to participating in
whole-group community-building and exploration of the day¹s theme,
youth attended 2 out of 5 arts workshops to further explore their
creativity and personal gifts. At the end of the day, students drew
their 'dream tree' and had a chance to discuss their dreams for
their life and the plans they had for how they would achieve their
dreams. It was a fun and energetic day, and we are looking forward
to returning to Yakima Valley for our next Imagine event on
Monday, March 31st!
Monologue Project Performance
reported by Jen
On February 28th, students from West View
School in Burlington and Mt. Baker Middle School in Mt. Vernon, WA
came together at Skagit Valley Community College for the performance
of “The Monologue Project.”
Over the past few months, the middle school students had been doing
creative writing activities to develop a series of monologues.
These monologues were then given to college acting students at
Skagit Valley Community College and Shoreline Community College.
The college students then rehearsed these monologues and performed
them back to the middle school students on the 28th. All
of the careful planning and coaching drew the amazing stories from
our kids and gave them the tools to be skilled writers.” The
performances for the public will be available at the end of March.
"Thank you for providing an incredible
experience for our students at Mount Baker Middle School through the
Power of Hope/SVC project. I was truly blown away at the quality of
the student writing and the quality of the performances. The
monologues were sincere, authentic, and evocative. I would have
never imagined that the monologues I heard were authored by 8th
grade students. As a former English teacher, I know that this was
not by accident."
- Beth Ashley, principal at Mt. Baker Middle School
“[The
Performance] went SO WELL on Friday. The kids’ energy was great,
the teachers were PUMPED and talking about it all day, the principal
is really excited. Thank you so much for all of your work on this."
-Molly Westring, Counselor, Westview School (Burlington)
“Finally, I must
again say how amazed I was at the performance. I have never seen
our 8th graders so enraptured. I could tell that many of
our 8th graders wished now they had completed the
assignment and or taken it more seriously. I had several students
asking if we could do it again after the performance. I hope this
rare enthusiasm lasts. The other staff members were amazed as
well…I am really looking forward to doing this again next year.
Please let me know what that will take.”
- Jim Palmer, English Teacher, Westview School, Burlington
(2 of his classes participated as writers)
Skagit Radio Project
reported by Jen
The Radio Project has continued to be a hit with the
small, but dedicated group of 8th graders from LaVenture
and Mt. Baker middle schools in Mt. Vernon. This project teams with
Skagit Valley Community College and the college radio station KSVR
91.7. The students have been writing and recording public service
announcements in both English and Spanish on a variety of topics.
Topics included are: gangs, healthy family relationships, getting to
school on time and more. The students are currently working on a
radio show that will discuss different career options in their
community.
For more info, visit GEAR UP Two Valleys One
Vision
here on the web. |
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