“What happens next,” I am often asked. What happens after the burst of energy each April surrounding our LearnServe Fellows Panel and Venture Fair? After the reviewers’ feedback? After the school year ends?
I am proud to share that the answer is: quite a lot! This month I have been privileged to see how the impact of the LearnServe Fellows Program ripples far beyond our students and the program itself. Below are a few highlights.
BUTTERFLY Takes Flight
The BUTTERFLY Initiative, founded by Julia Peck ’11 (Wilson High School) and Sharmila Das ’11 (Bethesda Chevy-Chase) celebrated a successful year of teaching after-school French classes at Garrison Elementary School in Washington, DC. The students showed off their French skills with song and dance, then rocked out to — no, you never would have guessed it — tunes from a Michael Jackson impersonator, invited by the parents. (Photo: Julia, center, poses with “Michael Jackson” and members of the BUTTERFLY team.)
ScholarCHIPS Honors its first Awardees
Maybe you saw her introduced recently in the Washington Post? This Saturday you can meet Yasmine in person. On June 23, Yasmine Arrington ’10 — founder of ScholarCHIPS — will present the four winners and four runners-up with the first annual ScholarCHIPS award for children of incarcerated parents. The award will go towards the winners’ post-secondary education.
A National Platform
The Council of State Governments and Microsoft invited LearnServe alums Amy Wu ’12 (Richard Montgomery High School) and Omnia Saed ’12 (Annandale High School) to present at their Digital Learning Policy Academy, hosted at Microsoft’s Innovation and Policy Center in Washington, DC. The audience: state legislators and education policy leaders from Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. Amy and Omnia drew on their experience as LearnServe Fellows to underscore the importance of personalized and experience-based learning.
The Art of Change
Khadijah Wilson ’12 and Janee Wall ’12 (Luke Moore Academy) exhibited their murals at an art event hosted by AIGA, the Professional Association for Design. Khadijah and Janee are the founders of Foster Teen Expression, which gives children in the foster care system the opportunity to express themselves through creative arts.
Below, Khadijah, Janee, and Julia show off their DC roots.
~ by Scott Rechler (Director and CEO, LearnServe)
One thought on “What happens next?”
I remember this day I really enjoyed the artwork and all the DC artists.