Doris Law, an Aim High @ Lick-Wilmerding graduate, recently won a $750 scholarship from the Yo’City, Yo’ Rules poster contest with her entry: “YOUths Can Make a Difference.”
Doris also chose Aim High for a $750 mini-grant from the Youth Empowerment Fund. Many thanks to Doris for remembering us – and a big congratulations to her from the entire Aim High family!
Aim High is proud to announce that we have been chosen by the San Francisco Foundation as one of its prestigious Community Leadership Award recipients in 2012.
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The San Francisco Foundation’s Community Leadership Awards celebrate visionary leaders doing extraordinary work to strengthen Bay Area communities. Out of many other nominations this year, The San Francisco Foundation chose Aim High, stating: “Aim High was chosen for closing the achievement gap through programs that inspire a love of learning and a strong sense of community. Through its innovative, free summer school program, it supports the educational and developmental needs of middle school-aged children, providing the tools for learning, a commitment to their community, and the hope for their future.“ We at Aim High are truly honored by this extraordinary recognition and validation of our work. Many thanks to The San Francisco Foundation for their generous support of Aim High. |
Tahoe/Truckee Aim High, Aim High’s first rural campus at Kings Beach Elementary School, has just wrapped up its inaugural summer. TTAH 2012 was composed of 12 staff members and 52 rising sixth and seventh graders from the Tahoe/Truckee region. All students were provided with free transportation, breakfast, lunch, and snacks. Many students had perfect attendance during all five weeks of the TTAH program. All of TTAH’s students had a fun but challenging academic schedule, with projects such as cow eye dissections in Science, learning the fundamentals of managing debt and credit in Math, studying explorers in Humanities, and playing the “Game of Life” in Issues & Choices class.
After their morning academic classes, students joined afternoon activities classes in yoga, martial arts, golf, art, drama, music, and dance. Students also went on field trips to survey the Van Norden Wetlands and participated in outdoor recreation activities such as a wilderness survival class with the Tahoe Adventures program, rock climbing on Donner Summit, hiking on Mt. Judah, and kayaking at Lake Tahoe.
Students, families, and staff attended a barbeque at the beach, a TTAH Olympics competition, two potlucks, and a performance of “Two Gentleman of Verona.” Students and families also attended Back To School Night and Celebration Night in large numbers. With high levels of student and family participation throughout the summer program, TTAH’s Co-Site Directors, Carl Siegel and Katie Jamison, are expecting nearly 100% of TTAH’s students to return in 2013.
Congratulations to our dedicated TTAH staff for all of their successes in bringing the Aim High Magic to Tahoe/Truckee!
Today is the last day of Aim High, summer 2012. I’ve been going to Aim High Summer Program for 8 summers in a row. Nearly half my lifetime; and it had SUCH an incredibly big influence on my life and who I am today.
That first summer that I filled out the Aim High application form, forced to by my mom because SFUSD didn’t offer summer school anymore, I had no idea what kind of commitment I was getting myself into. I went through my first summer of Aim High quiet and unnoticed, and practically made no friends at all because I was so painfully shy. The next summer, I begged my mom not to make me go back. I had no choice, my mom is a powerful woman and she knows a good program when she sees one.
She made me go back to Aim High the second year, the year before my 8th grade summer. That was when things started changing. That summer was when I was going through my awkward puberty stage; I was trying new clothes, starting to flirt with boys, dabbling in make up, and starting to take control of confidence that I had in my academic skills and social skills. I met a group of people that became my Aim High crew of friends, and I felt like I finally belonged. Things were moving so fast for me as I started becoming more social, learned to speak up, and lived in somewhat of a second life away from what I was used to at school. For the first time in my life I felt like a cool kid, and a superstar from my peers and from my teachers who would keep pushing me forward.
It was sad and bittersweet to go back to normal school that year because I had had such a surreal experience of growing up at Aim High that summer. During my school year, I continued to become more daring, outgoing, and confident. The next summer, I returned to Aim High eagerly and had one of the best summers with people I loved to be around. When we finally got to graduation, it was one of the saddest moments, having to leave the program.
Aim High had taken me, that shy little 6th grade girl who no one knew, and turned her into an outgoing and confident student ready for high school. This program inspired me to reach out of my comfort zone and become proud of who I was and what I could offer to others. It inspired me to jump at the opportunity to apply for a faculty position the next summer and do the same for others that were just like me. My first year of teaching was tough because I was teaching students literally equal to or less than one year younger than me. But as time went by, I learned from other teachers, learned from students, and slowly developed a desire to help my students see what they would gain from trying harder.
This summer was my 5th summer teaching, and experienced being lead teacher for two weeks, while my lead teacher was out. These few weeks helped me realize the responsibility of the position and exposed me to my capabilities in a classroom and put on display everything that I had learned over the years as a TA and intern. I realized that I have so much passion; I try to get through to all my students to make them feel like they know the material even when they’re unsure, give them a boost to reach higher even when they’re not motivated, create a safe environment for them to learn, give them knowledge that they missed out on in school, prepare them for curriculum to come in the future, and give them opportunities to go above and beyond what they think they are capable of.
Although I’m not pursuing teaching as a career, Aim High has taught so much on how people can make such a positive influence on a student’s life. I have learned so much about lifting others, seeing the good in people, not judging others for what they seem, and the power of encouragement.
For these lessons, I cannot thank Aim High enough, for these skills will continue to help me in how I deal with people later on in life and will continue to shape my attitude when I reach for greater achievements and endeavors. So thank you Aim High for the great times, for being such a solid program, for doing such a fantastic job helping the lives of thousands of students and teachers every year, and for giving me something to look forward to each year. I really admire what Aim High does for its students, teaching the motto of reaching for their dreams. This program changes lives – it sure as hell changed mine.
Darrius Johnson is an Aim High graduate and a Teaching Assistant with Aim High’s Environmental Home program (AHEH). AHEH is a hands-on outdoor experience that fosters environmental awareness, leadership, interpersonal understanding, and a stewardship ethic that extends into all areas of life. For more than 15 years, Aim High’s graduating 9th graders have spent a week exploring the outdoors at Aim High’s Environmental Home site in the Marin Headlands. In 2008, Aim High expanded its Environmental Home program to sites in Huddart Park, the Palo Alto Baylands, Redwood Regional Park, and Sausal Creek. This is Darrius’ third year working for the AHEH program.
What do you do at AHEH?
I work with kids from Oakland, East Palo Alto and Redwood City. We take the students out into the wilderness and they have a week-long experience discovering the outdoors. The majority of the kids have never been in an outdoor setting, so they get to try new activities, overcome their fears and move beyond their comfort zones. The AHEH crew produces a different brand of the Aim High magic and camaraderie, and the AHEH experience creates a great balance with the rest of the Aim High program.
What’s it like to work with kids who are out in the wilderness for the first time?
While the kids are with us, they begin to realize that the Aim High Environmental Home is virtually located in their own “backyard.” We show them that their home extends far beyond the building they live in. We really want students to grasp this, because it allows them to open up and become more comfortable in the outdoor environment. Our great is goal is to see the kids actively participating, taking ownership and accomplishing something new. Once the kids understand that the outdoors is a place they can call home, they get really excited and engaged.
What are you most excited about for this summer?
I love seeing the kids discover their self-identity. My own 9th grade environmental week with Aim High made a big impression on me. I remember being a 9th grader, confused about who I was, searching and exploring. It’s such a crucial time. This summer, I’m looking forward to being able to provide that same experience for the kids. I love bringing kids into this outdoor space where they can live in their own truth and find out who they are.
Do you think Aim High is making a difference in your students’ lives?
It definitely does. My little brother is attending Aim High for the first time this summer. He is nervous and scared about it, so I’ve been helping him feel more confident about entering the program. I tell him, Aim High can change your life.
The Math teachers at Aim High’s Lick-Wilmerding campus are helping students raise math to the power of fun. The 8th grade Math students designed and drew their own comic strips to demonstrate their knowledge of the mathematical order of operations and laws of exponents. This unique project blends critical thinking, art, and math skills, and teaches students how to evaluate the quality and accuracy of their own work. Students chose a math problem from their math book, or created their own problem. They used the comic strip panels to explain the steps of solving the problem, and then exchanged their work with each other and graded each other’s projects. Using a special rubric as an evaluation guide, they could easily understand the criteria the teachers expected from them to successfully complete the assignment. The guests who attended Visiting Day at Lick-Wilmerding were extremely impressed with the quality and creativity of the students’ work. Gold stars and A’s all around!
Back To School Night is a campus-wide event for parents and families to head “back to school” with their Aim High student. Twelve of our sites hosted Back To School Nights this past Wednesday evening. Parents and families visited the Math, Science, Humanities, and Issues and Choices classrooms as teachers explained the curriculum for each class, showed them examples of the students’ work, and answered questions.
Many sites also held potlucks, gave out special campus t-shirts designed by students, and showed videos of some of the recent campus activities. This special event builds community and friendship, and lets the students show off the great work they’ve been doing.
