MIAMI CHILDREN’S INITIATIVE PROMISING FUTURES REPORT
SUBMITTED TO THE FUNDERS COLLABORATIVE Period covered: May 1, 2018 – May 31, 2018
Program Overview Miami Children’s Initiative (MCI), in joint partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, provides afterschool, weekend/holiday, and summer programming for students attending Miami Northwestern Senior High School. Students in grades 9-12 receive academic and personal enrichment services including: academic remediation, homework assistance, tutoring, mentoring, Project Based Learning, social emotional learning, and college/career readiness. Program activities are designed to complement and enrich school day learning, and include reading; STEAM; character education; and service learning.
Project Goals 1. 2. 3. 4.
improve academic performance (mathematics, reading, and science); increase social competence; increase positive choices; and increase parent involvement and family literacy.
Attendance MCI’s Outreach in Terms of High School Students Served During May 2018 Total Students Served
Average Daily Attendance
51
32
May Program at a Glance During May, the Promising Futures Leadership Academy had various opportunities to expand and enrich student minds. Youth had a fun-filled field trip to Frost Museum of Science where they explored surface tension as they designed their own rafts. Students applied principles of physics to construct and launch their own catapults, analyzed surface tension of milk and its fats in a magic milk experiment, and had a debate about corporal punishment. Additionally, some students secured internships for the summer. Senior students who participated in an internship, organizing an oral health campaign through Catalyst Miami, were able to present their findings to Mr. Aristide (MNW Principal) and Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall (School Board Member, MDCPS D. II). Furthermore, some of our seniors were selected to win money for the college of their choice through the Eileen McCaughan Memorial Scholarship fund. All in all, May was an exciting and eventful month!
Congratulations! These students were recognized for superior academic achievement and service when they received the Eileen McCaughan Memorial Scholarship “In honor of Rickey Dixon�. Their scholarship can be used at any university or college. The students are very excited to advance their studies with this generous support (even though the picture caught them off guard)!
L to R: Students Kayla Walton, Barry Dudley, Florhuns Fleurestil Kiara Smith, Jeffrey Cooper (not pictured), and MCI CEO/President LaTousha Daniels
Kaleem Washington and Theodore Swett worked feverishly to get students placed in internships and job opportunities this summer. Featured in this photo are students who obtained summer positions for Parks and Recreation.
L to R: Kaleem Washington, Kiara Smith, Barry Dudley, Jeffrey Cooper, Florhuns Fleurestil, and Theoodre Swett
Students also had an incredible opportunity through a Partnership with Catalyst Miami. Youth worked on an Oral Health campaign throughout most of the school year. Students surveyed, interviewed, researched, developed deliverables, presented, and had the chance to present to Principal Aristide of Miami Northwestern and School Board Member Dr. Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall. We are very proud of their hard work and their stellar presentation!
FUN PHYSICS Students explored principles of physics with an engaging lesson by Mr. Salmerรณn. Using pencils, rubber bands, plastic spoons, and rubber erasers, the Promising Futures Leaders were tasked with planning, designing, constructing, and launching their own catapults. It was very exciting to see their brilliant minds at work.
Students also built their own rafts using aluminum foil, straws, and toothpicks. The goal of this fun activity was to construct a raft that can float and sustain the greatest amount of weight/mass.
Project-Based Learning Students learned the effect of the fats in milk on surface density as they did an experiment called Magic Milk! It was amazing to see the food coloring interact with milk, with only a drop of dish detergent!
Academic Remediation As usual at Promising Futures Leadership Academy, the month of May was full of homework help, academic remediation, and tutoring. The students had numerous projects to complete as the academic year was rapidly coming to a close. Here, Ms. Natalia is assisting some of our students’ research for their projects to ensure they achieve academic excellence this quarter!
College/Career Preparation Through our continued relationship with The Little Lighthouse Foundation, connections with individuals and organizations are continuously referred to us. We rely on volunteers who share their unique experiences, too. Here, you’ll see Mr. Alex Paino (volunteer) lead an activity with Charleen and Jeffrey. During this activity, students were paired up and they were asked to create well-written bullet points for their resumes. Alex shared his experience as an entrepreneur and hiring manager,
which really got the students excited! Thank you so much, Alex!
Field Trip to Frost Museum of Science
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Learning about unique jobs is always fun! We might have some marine biologists on our hands!