Baltimore Curriculum Project August 2018 Newsletter
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In this issue:
- How does BCP Love Johns Hopkins? Let us count the ways...
- City Springs and Child First Host Hopkins Summer Intern Smitha Mahesh
- Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Holds Community Service Day at BCP Schools
- Govans Elementary: A Look Back at School Year 17/18
- HHA Field Day with Morgan Stanley and Living Classrooms
- Ravens Gatorade Junior Training Camp at City Springs E/M
- Family League Awards BCP After School Program grants for Frederick Elementary and Wolfe Street Academy
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How Does BCP Love Johns Hopkins? Let us count the ways...
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I. The Johns Hopkins Carey Business School
launched an exciting new
partnership with City Springs Elementary/Middle School in early 2017.
The partnership has already produced an ongoing series of initiatives including a clothing drive; a summer clean-up day; a breakfast for City Springs faculty; a donation for City Springs students to purchase books at a school book fair; a donation of $6,098 to restock and expand the City Springs library; and a presentation for students by four Vietnam veterans, which was arranged in partnership with Gilchrest Hospice.
In addition, City Springs staff and students attended Carey’s “Women in Leadership” panel discussion in spring 2018 and City Springs academic coaches hosted two training sessions for Carey volunteers about reading intervention strategies, Direct Instruction and Singapore math. Most recently, forty student volunteers from Carey’s Summer Intensive Program participated in Community Service Days at City Springs and Hampstead Hill Academy.
II. The Center for Social Concern
provided an intern for City Springs Elementary/Middle during the summer of 2018 through their Community Impact Internship Program. The intern, Smitha Mahesh, worked on a new attendance initiative and was hosted by Child First Authority. The Center for Social Concern's
Encore Music Program introduces students from Hampstead Hill Academy and other City Schools
to a variety of instruments and provides musical instruction.
III. The School of Education:
City Springs Principal Rhonda Richetta received the Distinguished Alumnus Award and City Springs teacher Wyatt Oroke received the Community Hero Award at the School of Education's 2018 Graduation Ceremony. The School of Education also sponsored BCP’s “Leading Minds” forum with Diane Ravitch on May 27, 2010.
IV. The School of Medicine's Society Advancing Chicanos and Native Americans (SACNAS) Chapter
facilitated a "Día del AND/DNA Day" with students at Wolfe Street Academy on April 23, 2018. Students learned how to extract DNA from strawberries and completed other interactive experiments related to the DNA of plants.
V. Wilmer Eye Institute
students held a "Vision Fair" for Wolfe Street Academy students during after school hours during the spring of 2017. The fair provided students with hands-experiences to learn about sight, eye health, and anatomy.
VI. SOURCE,
the community engagement and service-learning center for the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Schools of Public Health, Nursing, and Medicine
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has been a Baltimore Curriculum Project (BCP) partner for over six years and a Wolfe Street Academy partner for over seven years.
SOURCE has supported the BCP schools with service-learning projects, dedicated volunteers, tutors, and school supplies. BCP Executive Vice President Larry Schugam has served as a SOURCE Senior Service-Learning Community Fellow for two years. Both Larry and former Wolfe Street Academy Community School Coordinator Connie Phelps served on the SOURCE Community Council.
VII. The Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering
has run the City Springs Science Outreach Program since 2009. The program introduces students at City Springs to the wonders of science. Faculty members visit the school monthly to lead hour-long science sessions in which they unravel basic science principles, such as water tension and electricity, through simple and lively experiments and demonstrations.
VIII. Johns Hopkins Medicine
has provided the Adopt-A-Class/Career Day Program for City Springs for the past fifteen years. The program introduces elementary students to hospital careers and expands their knowledge of career choices in general. Once a month, from October through March, Hopkins staff and faculty members visit City Springs and deliver one-hour presentations on a variety of topics including surgery, nursing, and primary care.
Last spring the program culminated in a visit to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where students toured the hospital, learned about working in a professional health care setting, performed "surgery” on a stuffed doll and visited the rooftop helipad to see the Medevac 10 emergency helicopter.
IX. The Institute for Education Policy
hosted the Baltimore Curriculum Project’s ninth annual Leading Minds education forum, The Adolescent Literacy Crisis in American, at the Glass Pavilion on February 17, 2017. Dr. David Steiner, Director of the Institute, served as moderator for the panel discussion.
X. The Department of Pathology
held a school supply drive for City Springs in 2017. The drive resulted in the donation of 1,059 items and $260 in cash, which was used to purchase a laminator, history books, white boards, large bulletin boards, and other items.
XI. East Baltimore Community Affairs (EBCA)
has supported BCP schools in a variety of ways including monetary donations, an event sponsorship, and a service project to paint Wolfe Street Academy. Hampstead Hill Academy placed third in EBCA’s 7th Annual Johns Hopkins Black History Month Competition, which is co-hosted by the Creative Alliance.
EBCA’s Community Science Education Program, which includes an annual Community Science Fair, has engaged with City Springs Elementary/Middle, Hampstead Hill Academy and Wolfe Street Academy for several years. Hampstead Hill and City Springs placed first and second in the 2016 Science Fair and City Springs, Hampstead Hill, and Wolfe Street placed first, second and third in the 2015 Science Fair.
XII. The Bloomberg School of Public Health
piloted the Good Behavior Game, a classroom management tool that has been studied by researchers at the Bloomberg School for more than 30 years, at Govans Elementary in 2017. The School of Public Health and SOURCE setup a dunk tank to raise money for Wolfe Street Academy at their 2016 Centennial Fun Festival.
XIII.Vision for Baltimore,
a partnership involving Johns Hopkins School of Education, the Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore City Health Department, Baltimore City Public Schools launched the Vision to Learn project at Hampstead Hill Academy in May 10, 2016.The project provides free eyeglasses and vision screenings for PreK-8th graders in all Baltimore City public schools. Vision for Baltimore provided free vision screening and eyeglasses for students at Wolfe Street Academy and ran a parent focus group during school year 2017-2018.
XIV. The School of Nursing and Former Professor Joan Kub
implemented the Steps to Respect Bullying Prevention program at City Springs in 2014 and at Govans Elementary in 2015.
XV. The School of Medicine’s Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry
offers a
“
Fun with Science Summer Camp” to rising 5th and 6th graders at City Springs, Hampstead Hill, Wolfe Street and other city schools. During the week-long camp, students work with Hopkins scientists and learn about bacteria, crystals, mysterious smoke, and more.
XVII. The Krieger School of Arts and Science
engages Govans Elementary and Hampstead Hill Academy students
in “Making Neuroscience Fun,” a program designed to teach children about the brain and the nervous system through age-appropriate interactive and fun presentations.
XVIII. The School of Medicine’s Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Interest Group
has partnered with Wolfe Street Academy to sponsor annual workshop discussions on ADHD and special education that are open to the entire Hopkins community.
XIX. The Johns Hopkins Consortium of Health Disparities Centers
partnered with the Baltimore Curriculum Project for “Obesity across the lifespan: Complex issues, creative solutions”, an all-day conference on December 10, 2012. BCP organized the community panel discussion and organizational showcase.
XX. The Black Faculty and Students Association and Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
donated school supplies to City Springs School, Collington Square School, Hampstead Hill Academy and Wolfe Street Academy in August 2011.
XXI. The Urban Health Institute’s Community Health Initiative
was a collaborative effort to improve the health and well-being of East Baltimore residents with an initial focus on a community health assessment and specific health interventions.
The Baltimore Curriculum Project was an active partner during the asset mapping phase from 2010-2014.
XXII. The School of Nursing
sponsored the Baltimore Curriculum Project's “Real Talk 4 Girls” conference on April 25, 2009
.
The conference provided middle school girls with the opportunity to talk about health and other issues that affect self-esteem, behavior, interpersonal relationships, and academic performance.
XXIII. The Center for a Livable Future at the Bloomberg School of Public Health
has supported Hampstead Hill Academy’s Food for Life program, a food and nutrition education program that teaches students about healthy food from around the world, associated cultures, food safety, and culinary skills and how food is grown.
BCP would like to thank the Johns Hopkins Institutions for their outstanding partnership and for all the support they have provided for our schools over the years!
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City Springs and Child First Host Hopkins Summer Intern Smitha Mahesh
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Smitha Mahesh, an undergraduate student at Johns Hopkins University, spent her summer interning at City Springs Elementary/Middle School.
The internship was made possible by the Johns Hopkins Center for Social Concern's Community Impact Internships Program (CIIP). The program is a competitive, paid summer internship, that pairs JHU undergraduate students with nonprofit organizations (in this case Child First Authority) and government agencies to work on community-identified projects in Baltimore.
Smitha worked on an attendance initiative with Ahmad Collick, the Child First Authority Community School Coordinator at City Springs. She is majoring in biophysics and minoring in philosophy, and has a passion for medicine and public health. She describes her summer experience below:
This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity of interning with Community School Coordinator Mr. Ahmad Collick!
Our summer project can be summed up as investigative attendance tracking. Whether rain or sunshine, we worked through the summer days interviewing teachers and calling parents and families to learn the reasons behind absences.
Once the findings were compiled into data, we were able to assess the data trends and see clearly the next step to take in this project: informing the community and preventing at-risk chronic absenteeism.
While these are ambitious goals, a plan was charted and step by step we continued working towards these goals!
These steps included making a comprehensive resource guide to connect students and families to resources; constructing and providing an external resource guide for all parents for the upcoming school year; and collaborating with community school coordinators across the city for community-wide events.
I enjoyed each and every minute of this internship, especially having the chance to help students with such large potential to reach their dreams. I am very grateful for working with Baltimore Curriculum Project and having the chance to meet many passionate educators of Baltimore!
Each CIIP intern documents their experience through a Blog hosted by the Center for Social Concern. Read more about Smitha's experience at:
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Johns Hopkins Carey Business School Holds Community Service Day at BCP Schools
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BCP would like to thank the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School for holding their Summer Intensive Program Community Service Day at City Springs Elementary/Middle and Hampstead Hill Academy (HHA) on August 3, 2018. Thanks also to Business Volunteers Maryland for coordinating the event.
The Carey Business School’s Summer Intensive program is designed to empower international students entering the Carey Business School to think critically and creatively, communicate clearly and work both independently and collaboratively. Throughout the program, students learn about their new academic environment and city through a variety of experiences such as the Community Service Day.
“A key part of Carey’s Summer Intensive for incoming international graduate students is the Community Service Day, where students and staff grapple with the question of stewardship, what it means to be a business leader and the social responsibilities that come with the privileges of their position,” said Ben Davidson, a Baltimore City Schools ESOL Teacher and Summer Intensive Group Leader.
Robin McFadden, Volunteer and Events Coordinator for Business Volunteers Maryland, connected Carey Business School with the Baltimore Curriculum Project and oversaw all planning and coordination for the event. Coincidentally, Carey Business School has been a City Springs partner since 2017 and Business Volunteers Maryland has been a Baltimore Curriculum Project partner since 2007.
Two groups of approximately twenty volunteers each visited City Springs and HHA. Brittany Larkins, Program Administrator at the Carey Business School served as the team leader for the City Springs group. Ben Davidson and Tracy Carter, Assistant Director for the Coaching & Education Career Development Office at Carey, served as team leaders for the HHA group. City Springs Assistant Principal Robert Summers and HHA Director of Special Projects Chris Kotchenreuther served as the main points of contact at the schools.
City Springs Elementary/Middle Volunteer Group
“Our students had a great time volunteering for City Springs,” said Brittany Larkins, Program Administrator for MS Programs at the Carey Business School. “We had three teams who painted, cleaned iPads and headphones, and removed bolted TVs. When we asked students for feedback on their experiences they told us they found the day very meaningful, and enjoyed working with and helping Rob.”
Andy Devos, Technology Coordinator at City Springs said: “It was great to come back from vacation and see all of the tasks I left for them finished. The amount of work they completed was incredible, and they should know how appreciated they are!”
Hampstead Hill Academy Volunteer Group
At HHA, students helped out by placing tennis balls on the bottoms of tables and chairs. The group was able to finish three classrooms filled with tables and chairs, and they had fun doing it.
“At the end of our day, we reflected on why we were there,” said Mr. Davidson “We discussed public school funding structures in the United States, funding inequities among schools in Maryland, and how our actions will directly impact Hampstead Hill’s students come September.”
“Carey’s students left the school with not only the satisfaction of a hard day’s work, but also with a more nuanced and holistic understanding of the social responsibility that they should and must have as future business leaders both in the United States or abroad.”
“What was really great about Hampstead Hill was that they were so very gracious in welcoming us and that they worked alongside our students to accomplish what needed to be done,” said Ms. Carter. “They continually emphasized to us how much time our help saved them in preparing the classrooms for the students' arrival.”
Ms. Kotchenreuther expressed her gratitude on behalf of HHA: “What a wonderful bunch of students and Ben and Tracy were just as awesome. The teachers and students at HHA appreciate the placement of the tennis balls on the desks and chairs. Again from the bottom of my heart thank you!”
BCP, City Springs and HHA would like to thank all of the volunteers from the Carey Business School and everyone who helped make the volunteer day a success including: Tracy Carter, Ben Davidson, Andy Devos, Kevin Frick (Vice Dean for Education, Carey Business School), Chris Kotchenreuther, Brittany Larkins, Robin McFadden, Priscilla Mint (Summer Intensive Administrator at Carey Business School) Robert Summers, Geri Swann, and Bobbie Tchopev.
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Govans Elementary: A Look Back at School Year 17/18
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As Govans Elementary students and staff get ready for the new school year, we thought it would be a nice time to reflect on all of the wonderful experiences from last school year.
The slide show below includes photos of: the Back to School Blast Off, BCP's 21st Century Community Learning Center, LET'S GO Boys and Girls STEM activities, Girls on the Run, Hero Boys, the 2017 OCHO 4K and 8K race, Trick-or-Treat at Belvedere Square, Career Day, Sonja Sohn, Yoga with Mom, Donuts with Dad sponsored by Denver Bronco Shaquil Barrett, the Attendance Matters Challenge sponsored by MADD FLAVA Entertainment, Be a Chef for a Day, dedication of the Ann Doak Memorial Reading Nook, Laptop Fundraiser at Flight Restaurant, Chinese New Year Celebration with the Baltimore – Xiamen Sister City Committee, Diamond Girls after school club, Volunteer Appreciation Lunch, First Robotics Competition, Are You Smarter than a BCP 5th Grader? Quiz Show, York Road Partnership, and portraits by Linnea Poole, a recent graduate of MICA's M.F.A. in Community Arts program.
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HHA Field Day with Morgan Stanley and Living Classrooms
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Over 350 Hampstead Hill Academy (HHA) elementary students had a wonderful time at the school's annual Field Day in Patterson Park on June 14, 2018 thanks to the support of Morgan Stanley and Living Classrooms Foundation.
Last May, Adrian McDermott, Operational Risk Analyst at Morgan Stanley, reached out to Geri Swann, HHA's Director of Community Outreach, to find out if Morgan Stanley could hold a volunteer day for the school.
Geri suggested that the Morgan Stanley volunteers help with HHA's annual field day and she connected Adrian with Kevin McCloskey, Coordinator of Athletics and Events at Living Classrooms Foundation. Living Classrooms has hosted HHA's Field Day for several years at their athletic field in Patterson Park.
Twenty-two volunteers from Morgan Stanley's Baltimore Branch and twelve volunteers from Sylvan Learning participated in the Field Day.
Students played soccer, tug-o-war, handball, sharks and minnows, kickball and competed in obstacle courses. They also enjoyed telling jokes to one another on the microphone between stations, practicing their stand-up comedy routines.
"We all had a great time with your faculty and students." said Adrian McDermott, Operational Risk Analyst at Morgan Stanley.
"After almost five years of collaborating with HHA through field days, the Bee Fit fall fundraiser and Leaders Go Places, this field day was the best yet," said Maritza Dominguez, Director of Park House.
"With additional support from Morgan Stanley and Sylvan, volunteers ran the show this year."
“The partnership between HHA and Living Classrooms has set the standard for the level of collaboration and communication we hope to sustain with other partner schools," said Kevin McCloskey, Coordinator of Athletics and Events for Living Classrooms Foundation.
"Geri Swann and Jordan Donovan of Hampstead Hill were not only integral in the planning of the day, but also the execution. Additionally, Principal Matt Hornbeck visited the field day to personally thank volunteers and encourage his teachers and students."
"This event brought together an entire school community, their after-school program as well as enthusiastic local college students and professionals. The fellowship fostered at the HHA field day is one we aim to continually grow.”
BCP and HHA would like to thank the following organizations and people for making the Field Day a success: Morgan Stanley Baltimore Branch, Living Classrooms Foundation, Sylvan Learning, Kevin McCloskey (Athletics and events Coordinator, LCF), Adrian McDermott (Operational Risk Analyst, Morgan Stanley), Erin Myers (Volunteerism Director, LCF), Geri Swann (Director of Community Outreach, HHA).
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Ravens Gatorade Junior Training Camp at City Springs E/M
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Middle schoolers from City Springs Elementary/Middle and schools throughout the Baltimore area trained like pros at the Baltimore Ravens Gatorade Junior Training Camp at City Springs Elementary/Middle on July 19, 2018
Participants ages 12-14 were coached up to raise their game both on and off the field at this free 2-hour training camp.
The young athletes were put through football drills and combine exercises on the purple turf turf (which the Ravens helped build) to prepare them for gridiron success this coming season.
NFL veterans who helped with the training camp included former Ravens Obafemi Ayanbadejo, Michael McCrary, Kyle Richardson, and former Philadelphia Eagles player and Baltimore Curriculum Project Board Member Victor Abiamiri. Victor gave an inspiring speech to participants at the end of the camp, encouraging them to work hard and describing how his education paved the way to success after his NFL career.
BCP would like to thank the Baltimore Ravens, Gatorade and everyone who made this wonderful training camp possible including Victor Abiamiri, Obafemi Ayanabadejo, Michael McCrary, and Kyle Richardson.
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Family League Awards BCP After School Program Grants for Frederick Elementary and Wolfe Street Academy
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The Family League of Baltimore has awarded BCP a grant of $125,000 to manage the after school program at Wolfe Street Academy and $86,400 to manage the after school program at Frederick Elementary.
Frederick Elementary After School Program
Frederick Elementary's after school program, which BCP began operating last year, will serve 100 K-5 students from October through June, five days a week from 3:00pm - 5:15pm. Last year the program provided instruction in English Language Arts, Core Knowledge and Math, as well as a variety of enrichment activities including dance, visual arts, jewelry making, LEGO Machines, photography, and gardening.
Students went on a variety of field trips including bowling, roller skating, Junior Achievement's Biztown, and Morgan State University for an entrepreneurship conference. The program culminated in a year-end family dance celebration.
Plans for next year include adding the AAA School Safety Patrol program; a recycling club where students will create art out of recyclable materials; and the Rites of passage charter education program.
Wolfe Street Academy After School Program
Wolfe Street Academy's after school program will serve 180 K-5 students from October through June, four days a week from 2:40 PM to 6:00 PM. The program will provide STEM instruction and a variety of enrichment activities such as the MAESTRO String Instruments Program, LEGO Robotics, service-learning, character education, art, music, drama, recreation, history, Spanish language and culture, wellness, gardening and educational field trips.
Service-learning activities will be supported by the WE Schools program, which challenges young people to identify the local and global issues that spark their passion and empowers them with the tools to take action.
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Baltimore Curriculum Project | 410.675.7000 | [email protected] | www.baltimorecp.org
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