“The people … are the most special ingredient of the Aim High Magic.”

At our 25th Anniversary Gala on November 16, 2011, several Aim High alumni took the stage to share their thoughts on how their lives were changed by their experiences with Aim High.  The following is the text of remarks made by Jessie Escobar, an Aim High-Visitacion Valley alum.  Great speech, Jessie!

Jessie Escobar (right) with Michelle Capobres, Director of Academics and Program Evaluation, at Aim High's 25th Anniversary Gala

Good evening, my name is Jessie Escobar.  It is a pleasure to be here tonight to celebrate such an incredible milestone. I attended Aim High Visitation Valley and graduated from the program in 2002.  Just this spring, I graduated from San Francisco State University and am proudly the first in my family to do so.  Although it has been years since I was a student in the Aim High program, I have been back to be a part of it for many summers, most recently as a lead Humanities teacher at the same site where I once was a student. By being on both sides of the classroom, I have gained some interesting perspective throughout the years.

This is what I know… As a young student, Aim High set the stage for me to succeed inside a classroom. It has done that for many students, including my younger brothers and sister, and has done so summer after summer – now for the last 25 years. Aim High has been an influence in my life and in the lives of many others since it empowers young students to trust in themselves and be hopeful learners. Hope is the belief that you can.

I am convinced that Aim High is successful because of both what happens in the classroom and through activities, but most of all, Aim High is a successful program because of the people. THE PEOPLE you see in this room are the most special ingredient of the Aim High Magic.

During my time at Aim High, teachers like Charles Jolivette and Miss B focused their classrooms to have us learn more about ourselves, our families, and our communities. I still remember the Family Tree Project I did as a student. As a young middle school kid, the most valuable lesson I learned through the project was that I was on my way to quickly becoming the expert of the most important subjects: myself and my family, my community. In that way, Aim High changed the way I saw school and even more importantly, how I saw myself as a student – I became a learner with a belief that I could. Now years later, it has also changed the way I see myself as an educator.

Just this summer, my Humanities class put together a book containing the migration stories of the student’s families. We called the book Days to Remember. In this project, there was no right or wrong answer. There was simply a stage to be a storyteller, the opportunity to be the historian for a tale that may otherwise go unheard, and a way to share a family story before it is lost or forgotten. The instructions were clear and the project took the majority of our summer. I gave my students one friendly reminder because I remembered what my teachers had said to me: “Your writing is the voice for someone else. Write with pride and remember that if you get stuck, if you don’t know what to write, you are already the expert. You’re the expert of your own lives.”

So on behalf of the former Aim High students like myself, on behalf of my brothers and sister who came through the program, on behalf of my Aim High educators and friends, those in attendance and those in spirit, THANK YOU AIM HIGH for the past 25 summers. Thanks to everyone supporting this amazing program and I hope Aim High will be a part of Visitation Valley for the next 25 years!

College and Career Days

This shout-out comes to us from Alexis Bayley, who supports teachers and site directors to create college & career awareness (CCA) activities at their campuses and integrate CCA curriculum into Aim High Issues & Choices classes.

I had the pleasure of attending College and Career Day activities at several Aim High sites.  Site directors and teachers have put on amazing activities for students that expose them to opportunities for their futures. Here are some highlights:

Aim High @ Mission students were welcomed to UC Berkeley by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Incorporated. Fraternity and sorority members performed step and stroll routines for students and then made up a student panel. Panelists let Aim High students know what it is like to be a college student at UC Berkeley, gave advice to students about what to do in middle school to prepare to thrive at the college level, and answered questions.  Then, students ate lunch at UC Berkeley and went on a campus tour.

Aim High @ Marina opened their College & Career Day with three career panels. Panelists spoke from a wide range of career experience (dentist, journalist, hazards material chemist, teacher, marriage and family therapist, school counselor, musician, marketing professional, sound engineer, graphic designer, architect, environmental planning, engineer, intellectual property lawyer, legislative aide, artist and more). Three Aim High Alumni spoke on the career panels.  Then, students headed off to Mills, UC Berkeley, San Francisco City College, Dominican College, FIDM or California College of the Arts. At the colleges, students went of campus tours and met with admissions officers to learn about what they can do in middle school and high school to prepare to thrive at the college level.

Aim High @ ER Taylor is innovating in the area of college and career awareness! Over the course of the summer they have held two College Claro assemblies, where role models share their experiences in middle, high school and college with students and offer advice.  They have held a college and career panel and visited SF State University.  Lastly, this year they hosted a College Preparatory High School Night at Lick-Wilmerding High School. At College Preparatory High School night, Aim High counselor Joanna Wardell covered differences between public, private and charter college prep high schools, admission requirements for [SF magnet schools] Lowell and SOTA, financial aid for private college prep high schools, and the college prep high school application workshops that Aim High offers during the school year. The night also included a panel of students who attend a wide range of college prep high schools. Students discussed their experiences applying to/enrolling in their high schools, the community at their high schools, sports and activities at their high schools (beginning to explore career interests), the academic rigor of their high schools, and more! We have a video of the panel on an Aim High flipcam.

The Aim High @ Marin Academy team is knocking college and career awareness out of the ballpark!  Over the course of the summer, their students have engaged in college and career assemblies covering:

• first jobs and careers/how you found your path
• small private colleges versus big state schools
• diversity in higher education, migrant students, first generation students
• student life
• study abroad
• financial aid
• college athletics
• activism

Marin Academy students are also visiting USF and Sonoma State.

It was amazing to get to observe these great college & career activities.  Way to go, Aim High!

Aim High Magic Observed

This reflection comes to us from Steve Davenport, Aim High board member and former Head of School at The Athenian School in Oakland.

I VISITED THE St. Paul’s site on Wednesday, July 6^th.

As always the day starts as one community, gathered in a circle so that every person is visible and present to every other person.  The circle, with 2 staff members in the center facilitating and this day, leading a game – a version of Simon Says that allows grown-ups and children to be silly together – is a language that says much better than words can: we are a community in which each of us is treasured for who we are and a ritual that celebrates that fact.  That the children have caught on to this is obvious on their faces, and in their body language.  They are alert, glad to be where they are, expectant of the good things that will happen this day. The energy is palpable.

I followed a science class of rising sixth graders and their teacher into the botanical garden across the street. The garden  is in itself a place of intense beauty, a marvelous place just to be on a summer morning,  exotic in the center of a busy city, not one that a sixth grader is likely to enter on his or her own. The assignment: to observe. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? And what questions do have about these?  How many of us ever actually stop, be still and notice? The students are making their own information, not being fed it, and of course are performing the fundamental scientific act of observing phenomena and identifying the relevant questions about it.

Next I dropped in on humanities class of rising 7^th graders. The subject Pirates, but the deeper subject is the context in which pirates operated- how there wouldn’t have been piracy without the voluminous trade between Europe and the east which forced merchant ships to congregate as prey between Madagascar and the mainland. What were the working conditions and pay for sailors on merchant ships, or in the navies where the captain had absolute control over your life that might have induced you to become a pirate? It is hard to believe that the children didn’t emerge from this lively discussion more aware of context, of systems, connections.

Then to a math class which the teacher starts by challenging the students to put an array of numbers on the whiteboard at the front of the room on a number line in 4 minutes , “Starting right now!” Immediate intense focus to win the race against time! Some of the numbers are positive, some negative, some whole, some fractional, and one is expressed by an unsolved long division problem.  There are the same number of numbers on the whiteboard as there are children in the class, and at the end of the four-minute race to finish, the teacher holds a stack of cards in her hand, each card with the name of one of the students and asks each child, as she draws from the top of the stack to come forward and place one of the numbers on the line. Thumbs up if you agree, sideways if you are not sure, thumbs down if you disagree, and why. Everyone knows he or she will be called on, so everyone is important, and because no one knows when, everyone’s alert.  Then, after everyone is sworn to absolute silence, each child is given a slip of paper with a number on it, again either negative or positive or expressed in a fraction or decimal. Now the class is challenged: “You have four minutes to get in a line in sequence, the lowest on the left, ascending to the highest on the right with no verbal communication.” Smart kids, they write their numbers on the whiteboard, labeling them with their names and use the resultant info as their guide and beat the deadline. Teamwork and math combined. Everyone intensely engaged, working hard, and having fun.  Next the class is divided in two, one teacher taking some of the children who need more help to a different room. In the room where I stay, the teacher hands out individual whiteboards and calls out numbers to be placed on a number line. As soon each child is finished he or she shows the answer to the teacher for immediate corroboration or correction. The process is efficient, brisk. Superb time management.  How much can you teach in one short class period? At Aim High a whole lot.

On the board of an Issues and Choices class for rising 6^th graders;  OBJECTIVE: “I will know how important it is to prioritize and manage my time.” The teachers and students work with a chart that when filled out identifies assignments to be fulfilled, due dates, etc. so as to identify priorities and manage time. Much discussion about this and other methods, specific examples from their current homework assignments, what works for some and doesn’t for others. Near the end of the class a FINAL Word: one of the students summarizes the class, tells what was learned. And to get out the door, each child hands in an idea or plan written on a piece of paper, an EXIT TICKET.  Another highly interactive class in which the skillful guidance of the teachers keeps the students engaged in very relevant material.

Another humanities class: Focus: mythology, this week, western, specifically Atalanta.  Objective: perform the myth as a play with active voices. Agenda/Do Now: identify story parts: characters, plot, setting, resolution. Homework: read the myth, labeling the story parts. The energetic discussion, largely Socratic in nature, during the first half of the period,fused the unlocking of this specific myth with developing the ability to derive meaning from all kinds of narrative.  In the second half the students perform the myth, each taking a part and reading it as in a radio drama. Again, total engagement. No perfunctory reading here. That the students are willing to be so animated, so out there in front of their peers,  is sign of their engagement, their understanding of the myth, and of the comfort they feel in this supportive community.

Summary: I came away inspired. I’d spent a fascinating morning in a very organized, happy, intensely busy community in which the students are fully engaged in highly designed, effective curriculum delivered by teachers who are stars.

Voices: Brianna Frank, Aim High Teaching Assistant

Brianna is a rising senior at Mission High School who joined Aim High as a Teaching Assistant at the new Mission High campus.

I went to elementary school in the Marina, and I rode the bus there all the way from Hunter’s Point.  It took over an hour.  My mom worked for the school bus company when I was little.  There were no bus stops in Hunter’s Point.  My mom went to the board and said, “Hey, kids live over here! Bus stops need to be here.”  I’m proud that my mom really made a difference in my community.  But also, this is what my community has to deal with.

My 9^th grade year, I was placed in a class that was about science, but it wasn’t a science credit.  I had no idea.  I went to a meeting with my mom and a counselor because I wanted to sign up for a special science program in the school, and the counselor said, “you need to take a science class.”  I said “I’m in a science class!”  When I got to school I was placed in that class, and nobody told me it wasn’t a science class.  But I should have known, because if you looked around at who was in that class, you could see that there was something wrong.  That’s how it works.

If you asked teachers about me, well – I started off on a rocky road.  Where I came from, that’s just how you are.  I came in with an “I’m gonna get you before you get me” attitude.  As the road changed and as I see what’s going on around me, I saw that I had to get it together.

My family lives in a community where, if African American males don’t make it out by the age of 17, they’re usually dead. My dad passed away in February, and it opened up my eyes. I have a brother who is 8 years old.  I don’t want to say that time is ticking on my little brother.  But I want to make our lives better so his life can be better.

People who make it out of my community don’t come back.  They say they do, but they don’t.  They leave the state, and I’m still here, living in the hood with my mom. When you have a community that has always been at the bottom, and then people do make it out, it’s like – come back and help, please.  I want them to come back and hold our hands so we can all step up. But the people who do come back, they can only do so much, because they only made it so far.

I want to go to college.  I want to be an educator, but not a teacher.  I want to promote self-awareness and fight domestic violence.  I want to be a mentor and social worker.  I want to focus on helping kids in communities that need help – I want to help regular families do things like sit down to dinner.

My family is so proud that I’m in this program.  This is really big for us. The Aim High staff is looking at me and telling me about all these programs and scholarships I can apply to.  It makes me feel good and gives me a sense of hope that I can be something and go somewhere.  I don’t have that where I’m from.  A program like this shows you that this can happen for you.  You can make it somewhere, and you can be the difference.  These people are looking to you to be a positive influence on them.  And I can help them – if I can help just one person, to show them a track that they can go down, that’s what I want to do.

I am an African American girl and it looks like I have my head on right, and I do see the clear path that I want to go down, but I want people to see that I have a community behind me, and they have hopes for me to make it better for them.

More New Stuff for Summer 2011

In addition to our newest site at Mission High School and our partnership with Voice of Witness (see posts below), Aim High is excited for these new initiatives, pilots and partnerships for Summer 2011.

Social Support – this year, Aim High will be better able to serve the specific needs of urban youth with the addition of Site Counselors at out highest-need sites.  In the first year of this pilot program, Site Counselors will provide social and emotional support to students on site, offer workshops for families, and serve as a bridge among Aim High, families, schools and community resources.  Generous funding from Bill & Stephanie Mellin made this pilot program possible.

iPad technology pilot – Aim High has long served as a “learning lab” where professional educators can experiment with new ideas and tweak favorite lessons.  In that spirit, two Aim High sites will have the opportunity to use iPads in their classrooms this summer.  Aim High @ Urban and Aim High @ ER Taylor will have three iPads available to explore how this technology can be used in the classroom.

Golf activity with First Tee – students from Aim High @ Lick-Wilmerding will get a first taste of golf through the First Tee program, an international nonprofit that provides golf and character education to youth of all backgrounds.  Up to ten Aim High students will participate in the afternoon activity, which will take place at the golf course in Harding Park.

To learn more about any of these initiatives, or to RSVP for a Visiting Day and see an Aim High program in action, contact Kat White at kat@aimhigh.org.

New in 2011: Voice of Witness Oral History Project

This year, Aim High is excited to partner with Voice of Witness to offer an oral history project as part of our humanities curriculum.

Voice of Witness, the nonprofit division of McSweeney’s, publishes books that depict human rights crises through the stories of the men and women who experience them.  Their collection Underground America:  Narratives of Undocumented Lives will provide a foundation for Aim High’s project, which will focus on immigration stories and immigrants in students’ communities.

As part of the project, Aim High students will read personal narratives, interview community members, and practice transcribing and editing the accounts.  Developed for 8^th grade classes, the project will be piloted at Aim High @ Redwood City and Aim High @ Presidio (though all Aim High humanities classes will have access to the curriculum).

To learn more about Aim High’s collaboration with Voice of Witness, contact Michelle Capobres at mcapobres@aimhigh.org.

New in 2011: Aim High @ Mission High School, SF

This year, part of the school turnaround effort for three struggling Mission District middle schools will be a new Aim High summer program.

Funded by a School Improvement Grant through the US Department of Education’s highly competitive Race to the Top initiative, the new site will provide free summer academic enrichment for 60 students from Everett, Horace Mann, and Paul Revere Middle Schools.

This summer, nearly 1 out of 10 7th graders in San Francisco applied for a spot at Aim High. Aim High is able to accept only 55% of qualified applicants.  Aim High’s 6 existing sites draw students from all over San Francisco, while the newest site will serve students from Everett, Mann and Revere exclusively.

A growing body of research shows that summer learning is critical for students.  Lack of summer learning opportunities contributes significantly to the achievement gap between low-income students and their higher-income peers.    District officials hope that Aim High’s 5-week summer program will help a core group of students from these three schools boost their academic skills and gain the confidence and love of learning that will make them leaders in the classroom.

Eric Gutherz, principal of Mission High School, welcomed the opportunity to open his doors to Aim High. As an Aim High site director from 2006-2007 at Aim High @ Gateway, Gutherz witnessed the impact that Aim High has on students and families, and the dire need for programs like Aim High that get kids excited about learning and provide a critical bridge between school years.

Says Gutherz, “Through authentic community building, powerful academics, and truly engaging and exciting summer programming, Aim High creates a meaningful, life changing, and often magical summer for all of our students. For many years we have needed an Aim High in the Mission to serve and support this deeply diverse community. I am so excited that now the Mission has Aim High!”

Veteran Site Director Kate Baker and Aim High teacher Chrissy Flores will direct the site.

A Visiting Day at the new Mission site is scheduled for Thursday, July 21st, 8:00-9:30 AM.  To RSVP or find out more about Aim High @ Mission High, email Kat White at kat@aimhigh.org.

Alec Lee to retire, pursue lifelong dream of clown college

After 25 years as co-founder and director of Aim High, Alec L. Lee, Jr. announced his intention today to retire from Aim High and pursue his lifelong dream of attending clown college.

As a child, Lee excelled in both corporeal mime and balloon animals, and was the St. Louis Regional Champion in Seltzer Antics for three years running.

Lee excelled academically in high school and earned admission to some of the top schools in the country. Upon his arrival at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, Lee was dismayed to learn that his selective liberal arts school offered no clowning classes.

“Making children happy has always been my goal, and it’s the reason I worked so hard in school, to get into a good college.” Lee said. “I guess I never realized that clowning had been dropped from the curriculum at a lot of the top schools.”

“What has become of the American education system?”

This fundamental question drove Lee toward a career in education, and he found himself teaching literature at Lick-Wilmerding High School, a student body decidedly unreceptive to pies in the face. Lee and a fellow teacher founded Aim High in 1986 because they believed that school and clowning could go hand-in-hand.

In its first years, Aim High’s morning academics were supplemented by rigorous afternoon classes in acrobatics, costumes and makeup, and juggling.

Though Aim High has changed the lives of thousands of Bay Area kids over the past 25 years, Lee knew he would never truly be satisfied until a red foam nose and shrunken car were part of his work life. “I need to bring more smiles to more faces.”

Starting next fall, Lee will enroll in San Francisco’s Clown Conservatory and begin classes in Circus Skills, Body Awareness and Core Clowning. He is still working on his clown name and signature gag.

“Something to do with pasta,” Lee says. “Toasty Raviosty?  Still working that one out.”

Lee’s successor has not yet been named. Skeptics wonder if Lee’s timing has anything to do with daughter Jenni’s upcoming graduation from college. “She’ll be entering a tough job market, and she knows Aim High well,” says a source close to the family. “She wouldn’t be the first firstborn to take over the family business, if you know what I mean.”

Focus on Results: Highlights from Summer 2010

Aim High’s 25th summer was a more than a silver anniversary. As part of a long-term strategy to build upon our core curriculum, this summer marked the second year of our push to target math skills and the first year of a new program to help Issues & Choices classes incorporate college & career awareness. Read more about these programs and their promising results below.

Math curriculum

Following 2009′s 4-site pilot, Aim High implemented new math curriculum at all 12 sites in 2010, and results were strong and promising. Over five weeks, students improved their scores on math assessments by an average of 15% – the equivalent of shifting a grade from a C (75%) to an A- (90%). Aim High’s 8th graders began the school year better prepared for algebra, increasing their scores by an average of 22% over the summer.

The opportunity to improve math skills over the summer is all too rare for low-income youth, and critical to their success in school. Research indicates that students who do not practice math over the summer slide backwards by an average of 2 months (Alexander, 1996).

First piloted in 2009 at four sites, Aim High’s math curriculum was expanded to all twelve Aim High sites in 2010. Math teachers at all grade levels received training, in-class coaching, and curriculum that strengthened skills that prepare students for algebra readiness by 8th grade.

Support from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the Walter and Elise Haas Foundation has been critical in developing and implementing the program over the last two years.

College and Career Awareness Initiative

With support from the Gap Foundation, Aim High strengthened college & career information at all twelve sites this year. Issues & Choices teachers taught new lesson plans on preparing for college, choosing schools and career paths, and finding financial support. Sites organized college visits, career panels, and “Futures Night” presentations for students and families. Aim High’s focus on pointing youth toward college continues into the school year with our High School Application Workshop series, designed to support 8th graders applying to college-track high schools, and a college information night planned for the spring.

Results indicate that the new initiative has improved students’ understanding of the path to college. 84% of students report that they understand California’s A-G requirements – the high school course load necessary for admission to University of California schools – and 74% had a conversation about college with a parent or caregiver.

Reaching middle school students with information about high school, college and careers is critically important to their future success. Research shows that students’ preparedness for college-track work in middle school has a greater impact on their matriculation to college than anything that happens in high school (ACT, 2009).

In 2011, sites will continue to improve path-to-college initiatives, introducing more guidance on high school choices and sharing the best career and college awareness ideas from each of our 12 sites.

Aim High graduate Malia Cohen elected to San Francisco Board of Supervisors

On January 8th at City Hall, Aim High graduate Malia Cohen took office as the City Supervisor for District 10 of San Francisco. We sat down with her during her first few days on the job to talk about her Aim High days and her exciting new job.

AH: 20 years ago you were a 13-year-old Aim High kid, and now you’re a City Supervisor. Wow. What can you tell us about your Aim High days?

MC: Aim High definitely made learning fun.  I remember always looking forward to going to summer school because it was fun and engaging, it wasn’t so rigid.  You had the opportunity to talk to TAs and get insight into what high school life was like.  Aim High always provided lots of support around that – I remember that I got help with my college essays through my Aim High network.  I remember that there was a science teacher named Malia Dinell [Lehman] who made science really fun. The trip to the ropes course, and leadership experiences – at Aim High you had the chance to start a club or activity, or to take the lead on planning Cultural Days. And I remember Mr. Lee with the megaphone.  Does he still walk around with the megaphone?

I’m still in touch with friends from my Aim High days. One of my friends from Aim High, Kamika Dunlap, went on to become a journalist, and she did some work on my campaign. She wrote the swearing-in speech I gave last Saturday. Some of the teachers, too, we’re still in touch.

AH: You also served on the Aim High board.

MC: I was very active on the development side, communicating to donors the importance of Aim High and the impact it will have on young people’s lives. For me, I felt a responsibility to add a personal story, so that they know Aim High is more than just a feel-good charity. This will absolutely have an impact on the kids in the southeast part of the city. Trust your gut on this. As far as I’m concerned, Aim High is a program that meets its mark every single time.

AH: And now you’ll be more focused on the big picture. In your role as Supervisor, what do you hope to accomplish on behalf of education in San Francisco? And how does Aim High fit in to the education landscape in the city?

MC: I am proud to say that I am chairing the city and school board’s ad hoc committee where members of the city board and the school board will come together to address some of the challenges of public education. We’re going to be focusing on the southeast sector, which is home to many of the same kids that Aim High serves. Aim High is very critical because we have some pretty challenging budget times, challenging in terms of meeting our educational responsibilities to the kids.

I want to make this office available to any and every Aim High person who’s interested in coming by – students, parents, teachers. In a nutshell, ultimately, I want to inspire people to do public service, and I want to help redefine what it is to be cool. Being smart is cool, and being in school. It’s very glamorous and it will pay off in the end. I want to encourage kids to do well in school because, ultimately, their livelihood and their family’s livelihood is contingent on their educational backgrounds.

Want more Malia? Check out her interview in this month’s San Francisco Magazine.