Photo blog: The first 7 days of DC SCORES' fall season

Today is just the eighth day of DC SCORES programming for 1,500 youth across the District, but much has already happened. Here are some photos to illustrate the beginning of our 20th autumn providing the arts, athletics and academics for DC youth.

DAY 1: Lincoln Middle School, Ward 1

The Lincoln Knights were hard at work the first day of programming, warming up for soccer practice with several exercises.

DAY 3: Burrville Elementary School, Ward 7

Coach Daryl Forte is beginning his 15th season coaching the Eagles, and his approach doesn't change. Expectations are set during the first week of practice.

DAY 4: Truesdell Education Campus, Ward 4

Fifty kids. Fifty! That's how many elementary school children came out for DC SCORES programming during the first week. Truesdell also has a thriving middle school program. DC SCORES is a huge part of the school's identity and culture. Look for a Truesdell Trojan nearby!

DAY 5: Barnard Elementary School at The White House, Ward 2

Programming wasn't a week old, but the Barnard Bears were in midseason form when they put on a clinic for guests at The White House during the Social Innovation Fund's "What Works" Showcase.

DAY 6: C.W. Harris' alphabetic scavenger hunt, Ward 7

The Viking immersed themselves in self-expression during an early lesson, thinking of 36 words that identified their school's neighborhood and writing them in their journals.

DAY 7: Alphabetic string poems at Anne Beers Elementary, Ward 8

At Anne Beers Elementary, students studied their poetry classroom and identified objects beginning with each letter of the alphabet. They then wrote five-line poems using an alphabetic string of five words!

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Check out our large collection of photos from Brightwood Education Campus' first week of writing, and see all photos from the season -- both soccer and writing -- on Flickr. 

Stay up to date with all things DC SCORES by following us on Twitter @DCSCORES and searching the hashtags #PowerOfPoetry and #SCORESfall114.

Who's ready for fall? Poetry Slam! jam: C.W. Harris Elementary School

The fall 2014 DC SCORES season begins September 15!

To see images representing all 47 of our program schools, follow us on Instagram @dc_scores for a school-by-school countdown until Opening Day.

On this blog, each week day leading up to the season we'll highlight a school's Poetry Slam! performance from 2013. Just about everyone is familiar with the soccer component of DC SCORES, but the self-expression aspect is just as important. Each fall, all of our 1,500 youth go through a three-month curriculum that culminates in every school performing original works of spoken word at our blockbuster event of the year, the Poetry Slam!.

Watch, be inspired, and mark your calendar for December 3-4, the dates of the 2014 Slam!

SCHOOL: C.W. Harris Elementary School

BEGAN DC SCORES: 2005

FUN POETRY SLAM! LINE: "Crunch under my feet like sour cream and onion chips."

Watch C.W. Harris above or here.

View C.W. Harris photos here.

DC SCORES students feel empowered, have voices of change on Global Youth Service Day

It was a beautiful morning on Saturday, April 27, at Tubman Elementary School in Columbia Heights. As people were sleeping in, going on a morning jog or heading to brunch, four DC SCORES teams participated in Global Youth Service Day, the largest service event in the world.  

Global Youth Service Day is a weekend-long event dedicated to service-learning projects created and implemented throughout six continents and 100 countries all led by youth.  At Tubman, C.W. Harris Elementary School students joined their friends from the Winter SCORES program, Bancroft and Thomson elementary schools, along with Aiton Elementary for a day of fun and fitness.

DC SCORES was able to host the event thanks to service grants received from the Sodexo Foundation, Disney Friends for Change and UnitedHealth HEROES.

The theme? 

“Dance, Run, Play.”

The youth danced to Beyonce’s “Move Your Body,” the “Cha Cha Slide,” “Cupid Shuffle” and the “Wobble.” They really got down when it was time to show the DCSCORES staff and volunteers how to “Dougie” and “Gangham Style.”  

They then created snack bags to promote “portion control” when bringing snacks to school. After all, as long as eaten in moderation, most snacks are good for you! They filled the bags with their favorite fruits and veggies. The kids also created banners that read “Healthy Food for Everybody” and “Dance, Run, Play” along with many posters for the ultimate event of the day — the walk-a-thon. 

Next up, it was time to take the Presidential Fitness Test, which measures students on their level of fitness. Students turned the test into a fun competition, with each school’s youth measuring their collective fitness level. Medals were given for demonstrating strength and endurance, but more importantly as symbols of kids’ dedication to being fit and healthy for their DC SCORES teams.

When it was time to cool off, students were greeted by the smiling face of Sodexo volunteers eager to see the service their grant helped fund! At their station, kids made their own trail mix with such goodies as Chex, pretzels and chocolate chips, along with fruits and fruit juice.

Then, finally, it was time for the main event. The WALK-A-THON! 

At 12:30 p.m., we all gathered our posters and banners and lined up outside of Tubman ready to march! The students took to 13th Street chanting and cheering! 

“When I say fruits, you say veggies.” 

“Fruits! Veggies!”

“Fruits! Veggies!”  

Spectators admired and cars honked in support as our change makers belted out, “NO KID HUNGRY, NO KID HUNGRY!” 

Paula, a fifth-grader at Aiton, led the march with her megaphone, encouraging the community to “Wake up and start eating healthy! Say no to cheeseburgers, eat a turkey burger! Say no to junk food and eat a salad!”

As we turned from Otis Street onto 11th, the Saturday brunch patrons at The Coup, Red Rocks Pizza and Wonderland got a lesson from our kids on healthy eating. We began singing, “Healthy life equals a happy life” as we danced and waved our banners. Customers cheered and may have also questioned their brunch choices as our kids informed them on the growing issue of childhood obesity.  

Crossing the last street light on our way back to Tubman, we paraded on the sidewalk, boasting, “DC SCORES keeps us healthy, DC SCORES keeps us healthy!” 

Not only was Global Youth Service Day an event to promote healthy eating and living for the community, it was a day of empowerment for DC SCORES students. The day allowed students to advocate for change — and feel really good doing it! — for their respective communities. 

This was demonstrated by Paula, our walk-a-thon leader, who after the walk called her mom to say, “Mom, you would have been so proud of me! I led the entire walk-a-thon, they had me on the microphone, and I was telling everyone to eat healthy!” 

Or Ti-Ti, an Aiton fourth-grader who jumped up and down as she received her medal for the Presidential Fitness Test, exclaiming, “This is my first medal EVER!”  

So often kids feel unimportant as parents, teachers and other adults tell them what to do and how to live. Global Youth Service Day — and the DC SCORES spring service-learning season as a whole — is a day set aside for youth to voice their opinions and create awareness on issues that solely effect them, such as childhood hunger and childhood obesity.

Consider the mission, this year, very well accomplished!

Global Youth Service Day -- A preview!

Students at last year's Global Youth Service Day.

April 27th will be a busy day for the Bancroft SCORES team and their friends from Aiton, CW Harris and Thomson Elementary Schools. From 10-1pm, the DC SCORES poet-athletes, families, community members, and partners will be participating in Global Youth Service Day, making a difference and creating change in their neighborhood. 

Thanks to generous support from Youth Service America, Bancroft, CW Harris, and Thomson students have had the opportunity to get a jumpstart on their service learning projects and in making a difference. Youth Service America (YSA) has sponsored Global Youth Service Day for 25 years. Celebrated in more than 100 countries across the globe, GYSD brings communities together for a day for service and activism, inspired and created by young people.

DC SCORES students, who participated in our Winter SCORES healthy living and nutrition programming,  are working hard this spring to tackle two interrelated problems. A recent US Census report found that nearly 1 in 2 young people under the age of 18 in the DC area are at risk of hunger. Paradoxically, many of these same young people are obese. The most recent statistics show that 43% of DC students are overweight or obese: the 9th highest percentage of overweight and obese youth in the nation.

This year, Bancroft students received a generous YSA UnitedHealth Heroes grant for their Power of Running project. They’ve been tracking their steps with pedometers, participating in fitness clinics, and learning about healthy eating, thanks to the support of UnitedHealthcare.

CW Harris and Thomson students have also developed a day that is sure to be full of both fun and service. The theme? “End Childhood Hunger!”  With the generous support of a Sodexo Foundation grant, these teams will work on Global Youth Service Day to end hunger in our city and around the globe.

On April 27th, DC SCORES participants from all teams will celebrate with an event at Tubman Elementary School to raise awareness. Kids, parents, and DC SCORES will spend the day participating in activities designed to promote physical well-being and fitness. Participants can take the Presidential Fitness Test, try out their dance skills during a Zumba workshop, and participate in a food and nutrition demo sponsored by the Sodexo Foundation. Thanks to support from Disney, the program will also be able to include DC SCORES alumni. There will also be a station for sign making and arts and crafts, in preparation for the culmination of the event: a Walkathon around the Columbia Heights neighborhood to garner support for the fight against childhood obesity and world hunger.

It’ll be a great kickoff to our season of service learning; a fantastic opportunity to support grassroots community activism; and a chance to better understand the role of service in the DC SCORES program.

How can you help? Come on out to support DC SCORES kids as they work to make a difference. Learn more about our great partners and generous sponsors by checking out the links below. We can’t wait to see you next week!

C.W. Harris DC SCORES students leave a lasting impression on seniors after service-learning presentation

Written by Cory Chimka
Program Director

“What’s the difference between a teacher and a train?”

Anticipation hung in the air, grins glued to the faces of the 18 students, six staff members, and 19 senior residents of 5th Floor North at the Deanwood  Rehabilitation and Wellness Center on Nannie Hellen Borroughs Avenue, Northeast.

All eyes were on fourth grader DeShawn, young comedian, as he worked the room like a Saturday Night Live veteran.

“A teacher tells you to spit out your gum. The train tells you to ‘choo-choo’”… and the room exploded into laughter.

DeShawn’s set of original stand-up comedy was just one of many highlights of the show May 31, planned and executed by the DC SCORES team at C.W. Harris Elementary School.

In the beginning stages of the service-learning process, the students began to focus on the elders in their community. They recognized the growing number of seniors living nearby and were disappointed by what they perceived as a lack of attention to, and respect and care for, the oldest residents of their Deanwood neighborhood.

They decided to partner with Deanwood Rehabilitation and Wellness Center to see what they could do to help.

After weeks of planning and practicing their show, the big day was upon them. The team hopped on a Metro bus together, rode down to DRWC and took the “stage.” The students were confident and well-rehearsed; they had all their parts memorized, and wheel chairs rolled forward to be closer to the action. Dance, comedy, poetry and song -- there was something for everyone.  

One senior said it was her favorite day as a resident at the center.

At the conclusion of the show, the students announced they weren’t leaving just yet. They had packed up all their favorite board games and brought them along to play with their new friends. As they set up Monopoly, Checkers and Connect Four, the students could not have been more mature, respectful and poised in their interactions with the residents.

Perhaps the students’ proud principal, Tiffany Clemmons, said it best.

“It is amazing to see how far the children have come over the school year and the collaboration between (Coach) Ms. Logan and community-based organizations. This experience will last a lifetime.”  

Coach profile: Ericka Logan, C.W. Harris Elementary School

Ericka Logan

Writing coach, C.W. Harris Elementary School

How long have you been with DC SCORES and at what schools?

Eight years. Seven at Kelly Miller (Middle School) and one year at C.W. Harris.

What’s your other job within or outside the school?

This year I am a third and fourth grade English teacher. In the past I've been a middle school reading teacher and instructional coach. I also was the girls assistant basketball coach at Kelly Miller (years ago).

How did you get into education or start working with youth?

I studied elementary education at Towson University and knew at that time I wanted to become a teacher. I had a high school math teacher, Ms. Mamano, that made learning fun every day you entered her classroom. She greeted us with a smile, taught us with excitement and enjoyed doing it. I wanted to give that same energy and love for teaching and learning to my students one day.

Why did you choose to work for DC SCORES; what attracted you to the program?

Having the opportunity to see students in a different light outside of the classroom is what attracted me to DC SCORES. Seeing them excited and encouraged in other areas other than day-to-day school work. Seeing the quietest child come out of his/her shell and being the loudest child on the field but in a positive way.

Now that you’ve been doing it for awhile, what do you enjoy most about it?

Poetry Slam! every year. At school my kids act like they aren't ready, sometimes even act shy and even forgetting their own words to poems they've written. But they absolutely amaze me each and every year when they hit the stage. Their excitement, confidence and smiles make me proud.

In addition to that, I am able to see other DC SCORES students perform. Seeing their excitement and their coaches with them makes all the hard work well worth it.

Why is DC SCORES important to the school and the students it serves?

There are times that pressure is on teachers to make sure our students pass state assessments, which is good because we definitely want our kids to be able to compete with other students across the country academically. But sometimes that doesn't allow us to do activities such as poetry and public speaking during class time, because there simply isn't enough time in the day.

DC SCORES gives me the opportunity to get to know my students on an even deeper level. Things they share in their poetry I sometimes am not able to get in the classroom. It also gives them/me the opportunity to meet and bond with other students, either younger or older, that they/I wouldn't normally meet because they transition with their homerooms all day.

Was there an experience you had growing up that pushed you into education or toward doing a program like DC SCORES? Were you in a similar program?

I wouldn't say that there was an experience I had growing up that pushed me into education, but I can say I had a mother that instilled in my brother and me the importance of education and becoming a well-rounded individual. There was never a summer or an evening after school that we weren't involved in something. We were always involved in some kind of activity.

We were involved in sports, after-school programs, boys and girls scouts, Friday night youth Bible study, HAP (Higher Achievement Program), after-school tutoring, sewing class, piano lessons and band practice. My parents reminded us of our "mission" daily. The "mission" was going to school daily and performing and behaving in school that demonstrated excellence. It was the expectation that we fulfill the "mission" daily and even to this day, we are still on the "mission.”

What’s your favorite DC SCORES event and why?

Jamboree! is one of my favorites or the service-learning projects (in the spring). Just seeing our kids involved and engaged in doing something positive that benefits them and mankind. Seeing them involved in activities that they probably would've never even considered participating in.

What’s your most memorable DC SCORES experience?

One summer I had the opportunity to take a summer poetry class at the University of Iowa. I had the opportunity to meet other writing coaches from across the country. I never considered myself a poet but after leaving Iowa that summer I said to myself, ‘Not bad, Ericka, not bad at all.’ I too am a poet and enjoyed doing it.

Who is your favorite athlete?

Allen Iverson

Who is your favorite singer or poet?

Ledisi and Jill Scott

What is your favorite food?

Lasagna

Highlighting our youth poets: C.W. Harris Elementary School

NOTE: Each week, we are featuring a school's performance from the 14th Annual Poetry Slam!. During the two-night culminating event of the fall season, each of the 27 schools DC SCORES serves had the opportunity to perform original poems and songs in front of their peers, families and community members.

On the second night of the Slam!, the C.W. Harris Elementary School poets provided some comic relief for the capacity audience with a give-and-take debate on the merits of ... cake! Check out this poem along with C.W. Harris' other works from their night of presentation on stage.

To view any performance from the Poetry Slam!, visit the DC SCORES YouTube page.

On a rainy game day, signs of real progress on the soccer field

Last Thursday, at first glance, seemed like a dismal afternoon. At 4 p.m., as DC SCORES games were about to begin, the sky was gray, the temperature was in the mid-40s, and a rain that began as a drizzle started to steady itself.

Standing on the soggy grass outside Noyes Education Campus, I was alone with our volunteer referee Jackson. Noyes coach Russell Holmes had smartly decided to have his team wait inside the school until the Wolfpack’s opponent, C.W. Harris, arrived.

With darkness just around the corner, I hoped we could just get a game in.

Sure enough, there was only one game — a co-ed affair — but to my surprise, the poet-athletes on the field demonstrated, in 40 minutes of action, a season’s worth of progress, a season’s worth of coaching.

The rain didn’t affect them. The cold didn’t change the way they played. Even as nighttime arrived early, they weren’t rattled.

Don’t get me wrong — I wasn’t watching the most “Beautiful Game.” But what I saw spoke to the impact two months of proper soccer instruction can have on kids who have never put their foot to a ball before.

There was a handful — or should I say “headful” — of perfectly executed headers. There were series of passes that led to scoring chances. And there was a pair of perfectly placed goals scored by a Noyes boy from 20-30 yards out.

But what most impressed me was what I didn’t hear often — Jackson’s whistle.

Almost every fall season, we stress to referees that they should correct players every time they incorrectly do a throw-in. This occurs quite often, as it doesn’t exactly click in kids’ heads that they can’t lift even one foot off the ground.

What a silly rule!

Last Thursday, however, Jackson didn’t have to blow his whistle and make a single correction.

As I watched this unfold, I chatted up a Noyes poet-athlete on the sideline as we both tried to stay warm and dry. He told me how Coach Russell had stressed and had the team practice — over and over and over — correct technique.

It was, by the second to last game of the season, drilled into their heads. The same seemed to be the case for C.W. Harris.

As I mentioned, this wasn’t the prettiest game. There were some handballs that had the coaches shaking their heads. And C.W. Harris coach Curtis Yarbrough spent most of the game trying to remind his team not to get too bunched together on the field.

They never completely got the message, and he used the few minutes after the final whistle and before the bus arrived as a mini practice. In the dusk, Curtis instructed seven players to go to positions on the field. Then he demonstrated to them how they needed to move as one, maintaining that spacing regardless of where the ball went.

It was dark. It was raining. It was cold. And the learning wasn’t over.

No wonder these kids have made such progress in such a short time period.

I’m looking forward to the final week of games this Thursday.

Highlighting our Inspired Art Gala student performers: Lanayia S., C.W. Harris Elementary School

NOTE: Each week, we are featuring a performance from the 2nd Annual Inspired Art Gala, held May 18 at the Corcoran Gallery of Art! During the Gala, seven individual poet-athletes and one team put on tremendous performances for the audience of DC SCORES supporters. Learn more about the annual Gala on our website.

Lanayia S. of C.W. Harris Elementary School impressed the audience with her fiery poem "Free Woman."

Check out Lanayia's performance!

See more DC SCORES videos, including summer campers step dancing and African drumming, on our YouTube page.