The Burrville Eagles Part II: Forte returns to former school to coach

Daryl Forte returned to his former elementary
school to teach PE and coach soccer.

Note: This is the second part of a series on the DC SCORES program at Burrville Elementary School in Ward 7, which has been in place since 1999. Read Part I here.

Daryl Forte stands on a small dirt patch near the goal he's breaking down. About 25 years ago when he was in kindergarten, this was where the school building stood. By the time he entered first grade, the new structure was in place. But it would be decades before Burrville had a soccer team.

"When I was coming up, we didn't have programs like DC SCORES," Forte said. "As a matter of fact, for me, I didn't get into athletics until middle school."

A couple years after Forte returned to his home neighborhood to teach, DC SCORES arrived at Burrville. He jumped at the chance to coach a sport he had always loved but not had the chance to play.

"I try to encourage the kids through coaching," Forte said. "You have an opportunity to have what I didn't have," he tells them.

Forte has the build of a middle linebacker, and during girls and boys games he paces the sideline constantly encouraging his players in a loud, boisterous voice. "Shoot, shoot!" he yells when a girl nears the opposing goal.

But when the game is over, Forte's even-keeled demeanor returns regardless of the outcome. After all, like Jenkins, he is one of the school's most recognizable faces. Everything he says and does will be mimicked by his young student-athletes.

He's a leader of not just a soccer team, but a community.

"With the coaches, we also try to encourage the kids that we're all one family," Forte said. "We win together, we lose together, and at the end we'll celebrate together as a family."

As darkness sweeps over the empty field, Forte can't imagine his life without Burrville. Growing up, any sports coaches he did have never stayed for long. He didn't get the chance to be a part of a strong school community molded together through athletics.

"Community wise, it means a lot being able to walk the same hallways that the kids are now walking," Forte said, "and share with them some of my experiences being a youth in the neighborhood."

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Nowadays — 25 years since Lillian Allen began at Burrville as an educational aide; about 17 years since Edythe Jenkins took her first job at the school in its cafeteria; and 16 years after Forte returned to teach at his former school — the trio observes the impact of the program through who returns.

At a recent Game Day, a pair of Burrville graduates asked Forte if he needed help. He enlisted them to run warmups. With each passing season, Allen said, the number of Eagles alumni who come back to the school to sit on the mini hill and support the soccer team increases.

Those cheers can also be heard loud and clear during the Eastside Poetry Slam! at the culmination of each fall season. When Burrville's poets take the stage, hundreds of Eagles watch in anticipation, with the occasional parent, grandparent (or maybe great grandparent?) yelling out "Go Eagles!"

"It's just amazing how it carries over from one year to another," Allen said of the community spirit.

The Burrville girls and coach Forte and  after winning their
seventh straight City Cup championship last spring. 

When the competitive spring soccer season arrives, community members remind themselves, Allen said, "Better get up to Burrville to watch a soccer game."

Forte's parents still live in the community and don't miss many of their son's games. And Jenkins, when she can get out of her post-retirement after-care duties, joins the Eagles cheering section, too.

Her grandchildren are graduating from college. Her great grandchildren are out of elementary school. But the Burrville community, in a sense, is an extension of Jenkins' family. A day rarely goes by when a student doesn't run up to her, give a hug, and greet Jenkins as "Grandma."

Much like a sports coach, Jenkins doesn't let her age make her think about retiring again. She's having too much fun within her Burrville family. Why step away now?

"I enjoy what I do, I really do," she said. "And whenever I can help (the team) with snacks or anything, I always contribute.

"It's something that I do because I want to do it."

The Burrville Eagles Part I: A family of DC SCORES participants

Ms. Jenkins, as she's known at Burrville, with members
of the Eagles DC SCORES team. 

Note: This is the first part of a series on the DC SCORES program at Burrville Elementary School in Ward 7, which has been in place since 1999. Part II comes tomorrow!

Because Halloween fell on a Thursday, DC SCORES coaches at 30 elementary schools throughout Washington, DC, faced a bit of a challenge: Convincing their team members — not to mention, parents, teachers, and others within their school communities — that, yes, there would be time to trick or treat after soccer.

There were no problems at Burrville Elementary School in Ward 7. At 3:50pm, the goals on the soccer field were set up, players were in neat lines taking shots on goal, and — on the slight hill that separates soccer field and school building — parents, teachers and others were gathering.

When the opposing team, Anne Beers Elementary School, arrived 10 minutes later, DC SCORES Game Day was set to begin — like it has hundreds of times over the past 14 years.

There's a reason things always run so smoothly at Burrville — stability. The same people have been at the school and available to students during the after-school hours every single year. There's a strong trust and mutual respect between pupils and adults.

Edythe Jenkins — or Ms. Jenkins, as she's known by most of the school community — arrived at Burrville in the mid-1990s, retired in 2006, then came back to work in after-care two years later. Today, at 77, she feels young spending every afternoon with elementary school students.

"Age is like numbers," Jenkins laughed while sitting in the Burrville gymnasium during Game Day. "I try not to pay much attention to it.

"I like to be active. I don't like sitting around."

Daryl Forte, 41, grew up in the neighborhood and attended Burrville during the 1970s when there were no programs available like DC SCORES. Following college, he worked in the federal government for a few years all while feeling the tug of his old school and neighborhood.

In the late 1990s, Forte returned and has been changing lives ever since. During the school day, he teaches physical education and listens to any problems his students feel comfortable sharing with him. Once the bell rings, he take his no-nonsense approach outside to teach youth the game of soccer and what it means to be on a team.

"I take seriously being a role model for the kids and just (them) knowing that they have me to come to," Forte said.

Lillian Allen is Jenkins' daughter, but to avoid confusion even her mother calls her Ms. Allen. She, to avoid confusing students, reciprocates by calling her mother Ms. Jenkins.

Allen arrived at Burrville in the late 1980s and hasn't left. She's held a few positions, including running the after-care program that Jenkins now helps her with.

Allen has been at the school, like Forte, for every DC SCORES season — including seven consecutive City Cup championships for the girls soccer team. She knows as well as anyone how the Eagles' soccer teams create an excitement in the community that normally one would associate with high school or college athletic outfits.

"I think last year we were starting to sell hot dogs outside," Allen said. "The word has gotten around. Every year we see more and more parents coming from the community."

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Describing Burrville as a big family fits perfectly for Jenkins and Allen. That's because many of their grandchildren and great grandchildren — and, yes, one of Jenkins' great, great grandchildren! — have gone to the school.

And participated in DC SCORES.

Many of them are now in college.

There's Daniel Jenkins, who next month will graduate from Penn State with a degree in Communications. He's one of Ms. Jenkins' 17 grandchildren and the first to don a Burrville Eagles soccer uniform for Forte.

Nijah Allen, a grandchild of Ms. Allen's, is attending North Carolina A&T. Brynee Dade, a niece of Ms. Allen, is a junior at George Mason University studying Home Economics. Nijah and Brynee are great grandchildren of Ms. Jenkins'.

So is Jalen Allen, who's a sixth-grade DC SCORES participant at Kelly Miller Middle School — less than a mile from Burrville. And Nicholas Allen, nephew of Jenkins', went through Burrville before continuing school in Maryland.

Add in Marvin Timmons, and that's six grandchildren or great grandchildren of Jenkins and Allen who have come through the Burrville DC SCORES pipeline.

Born, raised and educated through high school in Washington, DC, Jenkins didn't have any after-school options like DC SCORES. She had no idea what soccer was, either.

So when the DC SCORES program came to Burrville in 2000, she took a look at the shinguards worn by her students and shook her head in confusion.

"I kept saying, 'Why do y'all have this long thing down your leg?'" Jenkins said.

Once she saw a few kicks to the shinguard, Jenkins quickly figured out the equipment's purpose. It also didn't take her long to buy into the after-school program and its approach to connecting with youth.

Jenkins is beloved at the school for her kindness and openness. When a child has a problem during after-care, she listens. Much like DC SCORES' emphasis on empowering youth by giving them a voice through poetry and the chance to make a difference through service-learning, Jenkins embraces the role of being someone the children can always approach.

"When they see you're concerned, it helps a lot," Jenkins said. "And you're not hollering at them and you're just talking to them nice. It helps a lot."

After the first- and second-graders had been picked up from after-care Halloween afternoon, Jenkins, decked out in a blue DC SCORES summer camp T-shirt, walked outside. The Burrville boys game had just concluded, the Eagles scoring with 10 seconds left to win for a thrilling 2-1 victory.

As Jenkins walked down the steps in the fading light toward the field, she was greeted by all the children that passed her. When she stopped for a photo with three youth in their red uniforms, they all smiled big. It was as if they were posing with a celebrity.

That, in a way, is how Jenkins is viewed by the Burrville student body. Just ask Forte, who's been at the school longer than she has.

"She's pretty much the grandmother of the team," he said. "All the kids, they love Ms. Jenkins and they know to thank her for her contributions to the soccer team both monetary and her support of the team."

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The Jenkins/Allens isn't the only family tree strongly linked to DC SCORES' 13-year history at Burrville. There's the Smiths — five children, including former Poetry Slam! star Jasia.

And there are many more DC SCORES families, the women insist.

Jenkins wishes the program would begin in first grade for the students. As soon as students enroll at Burrville, they see the third-, fourth- and fifth-graders decked out in their Burrville jerseys and want to take part. A couple years ago, Forte and his co-coach Chiara Forte (then Chiara Lee before they recently married) even began organizing short scrimmages for the younger children during halftime of the games.

Allen is just glad that thanks in large part to her after-care program and DC SCORES, students are taken care of through their elementary school years.

"We have some scholars that with DC SCORES, that's saved them," Allen said, "because without DC SCORES and them having that option to say, 'Well, I can do something different, I don't always have to get in trouble,' DC SCORES has been that."

"Everybody gets a chance to play soccer ... It has really opened up a lot of doors for a lot of them."

Principal Atasha James cherishes her second DC SCORES program

Atasha James, Leckie Elementary School principal.

On a late September afternoon, Atasha James sat in her office at Leckie Elementary School finishing the day's work when she was suddenly interrupted.

A parent of a child came into the principal's office, asking if James had tag board.

"I said, 'I thought this was something really important,'" James said. "She said, 'It is. We need posterboard!'"

A few weeks later, sitting behind her desk, James laughs at the memory. The parent wanted the material because she was going to Leckie's first DC SCORES soccer game that afternoon. She was one of many parents, school administrators and teachers excited that the Lions have a soccer team.

For the first time in the school's history.

"The parents are fired up and they're going to the games and they're representing for Leckie," James said. "Just that, in and of itself, is worth the time and effort that everyone is putting in to make sure the students have the opportunity."

Leckie's school motto is "Proud Pride." When they're on the soccer field in their yellow DC SCORES shirts, that pride is at its highest level.

In fact, the shirts create such a positive atmosphere around the school tucked off Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in Ward 8 that James -- a huge sports fan who wears her Buffalo Bills jersey before games -- makes an exception to the dress code rule:

On DC SCORES Game Day, the students in the program can wear their shirts during the school day.

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The M.C. Terrell girls team last season.

A year ago, James was the principal at another DC public school that had DC SCORES -- M.C. Terrell Elementary, 1.8 miles north of Leckie.

It was James' second year as the school's principal, but her first with DC SCORES as an after-school option for students. The difference in the behavior of program participants was mind-boggling.

Her first year at the school, James was disturbed by the lack of athletic opportunities for girls. Cheerleading was their only option. There was a "loosely run" basketball program for the boys, but nothing that consistently offered physical activity for girls.

"M.C. Terrell did not have a sports program that was co-ed," James said. "We didn't have an opportunity or outlet for the girls to engage.

"That first year, we were caught up in a lot of age-appropriate and melodramatic girl stuff and we couldn't put our finger on it."

At a cluster meeting, James was talking to principals from Thomson and C.W. Harris when they began piping up about DC SCORES and told James, "Our kids are doing it up big playing soccer!" James immediately knew she needed the program at M.C. Terrell.

From the first soccer practice to the first poetry session in the classroom, the changes were clear to James her second year at the school.

"We saw a huge shift in how the girls exchanged with each other," James said. "And when they put on their jerseys and their folks were on the sideline, they were teammates.

"That same sort of collegiality and camaraderie translated to each other in the classroom and it created the sort of bonds that we were indirectly hoping for. It definitely made the kids a stronger unit and it made them a team, and that's what we wanted. We were able to see that loud and clear."

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M.C. Terrell performs at last year's Poetry Slam!.

A boy James introduced as "Mr. Wood" exemplified the difference DC SCORES made at M.C. Terrell. 

"He gave us all a run for our money," James said.

The principal, other administrators and teachers asked themselves, "How can we hook this kid and just get him to come to school and give us a shot?"

Using DC SCORES as the reward, they introduced a "Work hard, Play hard" theme throughout the school's classrooms and made a pact with Mr. Wood: If he came to school and worked diligently and attentively, he would get his "play time" on the soccer field.

"He was an angel during soccer season," James said laughing. "We didn't know what to do with him after soccer let out."

What stands out most to James in remembering that year at M.C. Terrell is how the after-school program became a staple not just for the youth but for the greater community. After James missed a handful of soccer games because of other obligations, parents approached her and said, only somewhat tongue in cheek, "If you miss this game, we're done with you."

James had a cluster meeting that afternoon and ripped her pants on a chair leg, but "came to that (game) hole-legged, and when they saw me they gave me a big round of applause and said, 'Well, she came!'"

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Unfortunately and very sadly, M.C. Terrell was one of the 15 schools that had its doors shut at the end of last school year -- effectively ending the DC SCORES program there. The news was devastating to James not just because of the obvious difficulties that come with change for youth but because of the tight-knit community that had developed during her second year there.

In late July, James learned of her new placement at Leckie. Sitting behind her desk a few months later, she pulled out a survey taken by Leckie students after the previous school year. The activity most missing from school? An athletic team.  

It was late in the game to be considered for DC SCORES. Because of her experience at M.C. Terrell and teachers' support, however, James was able to work with the organization to bring the program to her new school. 

"We had teachers who were so willing to make it happen for the kids," James said. "We were able to pull it off."

The program is young and there are the usual kinks. Many students join because of the soccer. It can take awhile to get them to buy into poetry. But James -- who believes it really takes two years to build a strong presence as a school principal -- is already seeing daily signs of DC SCORES' impact.

For example, the posterboard-craving parent.

"The parents are so pleased, the kids are so pleased," James said. "It creates a different dynamic for us in the community just to boast about how proud of a Lion share we are."

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James is building a sense of community at Leckie
similar to the one DC SCORES catalyzed at M.C. Terrell.

Leckie is a school that gives off great energy. Even on a recent rainy afternoon, it's easy to feel it. Upon entering the school, you're greeted by a large painting of a lion on the main wall. The hallways are painted bright yellow and green. When walking within the school's confines, it's always spring.

That's especially the case with the presence of DC SCORES. James uses the program to boost school spirit at every chance she gets. From letting the students wear their T-shirts on Game Day to posting soccer photos on Facebook and Tweeting about the Lions, James and the team's coaches, Caroline and Josh, make DC SCORES a catalyst for creating a larger, more cohesive Leckie team.

"I think one of my favorite experiences as a school principal is seeing the kids' pride on Game Day when they can wear their jerseys all day like, 'Look at me!'" James said. 

"I think the only thing that's missing is, I need a jersey to wear on Game Day."

We're working on it, Coach James, we're working on it!

To see photos of the Leckie Lions, visit their Facebook page. Stay updated on Leckie's DC SCORES team by following @LeckieDC on Twitter.

Kelly Miller Middle School students provide insight into service-learning process

Kelly Miller students plan their service-learning project

Written by Molly Fessler

DC SCORES intern

When the Kelly Miller Middle School DC SCORES team started thinking about their service-learning project, they knew they wanted to raise money to help their school — but they also wanted to go further than that.

“Last week we were talking about things we could do to raise money for Kelly Miller. Our teacher wanted us to do something more than pick up trash ... so we thought we could do a car wash,” Taejon B. said. “Then when the bombings in Boston happened, we thought we could raise some money for them too.”

The Kelly Miller Lions are working on developing their project, a process that takes a couple months and requires the creative dedication of all students working together. One week, they came up with their idea; the next week, it was time to figure out how to make the car wash a
reality.

I caught up with the team members to find out how they would develop a solid plan of action.

“We're going to need to get our supplies, figure out water and soap and all that stuff,” Precious J. said. “People will need clothes they can get wet in … We'll have to advertise, maybe people can make signs.”

The students have moved past the initial brainstorming phase and are asking more tangible questions:

What goes into creating an event?

Who needs to do what?

Do the students have to ask for permission — and from whom?

It’s a process that takes time, problem-solving skills, and teamwork as the students determine who should do what, when it should be completed, and how.  

Beyond creating lists of supplies and negotiating roles on the team, another important part of implementing a service-learning project  is discussing why the work being done is important.  

As Taejon B. puts it, “Raising money is really good.”  

Joshua M., adds, “It’s going to help us learn more about our community and the people in Boston ... they need help, ‘cause some people can't pay their medical bills if they got injured.”

DC SCORES service-learning projects are all about students identifying issues at their respective schools but also exploring their greater communities and identifying what needs addressing.

The Lions envisioned a project through which they could become engaged in their local community to spread a message of solidarity and understanding. With the help of their service-learning coach, Ms. Kavon, Kelly Miller students are thinking big.

They set a fundraising goal of $1,500, money that will be split between their school and a fund for victims in Boston.

As the service-learning season winds down with three weeks remaining before the Jamboree! celebration June 1, the Kelly Miller team — and dozens of other school teams throughout the District — is moving forward, putting their strong plan into action.

“I’m excited,” Precious said. “We’re going to help people.”

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!

Not just about the kids: DC SCORES helps teachers improve, become more ingrained in school communities

Written by Cory Chimka
Program Director

At DC SCORES, we talk a great deal about what our program does for students, but do we underestimate the transformative effect DC SCORES can have on teachers and schools?

DC SCORES soccer and writing coaches get the opportunity to form more meaningful relationships with parents, teachers, support staff and administrators. They describe a positively unique teacher-student relationship that arises from encouraging students to explore their feelings, expressing themselves through poetry. There is a permanent shift in the way a student looks at the adult who gives them the skills, tools and resources to become positive change-agents within their communities. Imagine the difference made to a teacher’s day-to-day interactions in classrooms, hallways, cafeterias and playgrounds.

Teaching is often an isolationistic experience. We spend the majority of our time operating independently in the microcosm of our classroom. Time is of the essence when it comes to lesson planning to deliver a broad curriculum to 30 widely diverse learners in just 180 days. Opportunities for collaboration are few and missed.

Contrarily, when I became a DC SCORES soccer and writing coach at Harriett Tubman Elementary in 2000, my classroom became a hub of teacher interface.

Ms. L. was concerned that a group of her boys was participating in after-school soccer but not consistently turning in homework, so together we created a system of accountability that used DC SCORES game day to motivate the boys in documenting progress toward completing all assignments.

Ms. D. couldn’t believe that Dana was actually writing poetry after school, so we sat down during a planning period and I taught Ms. D. the strategies I’d learned at DC SCORES trainings and in the America SCORES Power of Poetry curriculum.

Mrs. J.  was fed up with Dante’s disrespect and disruptive behavior in her classroom, and she wanted him OFF the DC SCORES team. I understood Mrs. J’s frustration. I explained how and why we’d named Dante DC SCORES Equipment Manager and shared some other strategies that had been working for me with Dante. We scheduled a meeting with Dante, and explained that being on the DC SCORES team and serving as Equipment Manager were privileges, and that he was still representing his team while in Mrs. J.’s class. We introduced a weekly chart by which Dante earned stickers and minutes of soccer playing time by complying with Mrs. J’s instructions and treating others with respect.

I became closely allied with the school nurse, psychologist, social worker, and special education coordinator to make sure any student that needed the opportunity for self-expression, physical fitness, and a sense of community had them through DC SCORES.

The team-building and character-education elements ubiquitous throughout DC SCORES curricula align with widely accepted best practices like Responsive Classroom, Positive Behavior Intervention Systems, and Balanced Literacy. My DC SCORES team’s favorite team-building games became my go-to Morning Meeting activities; and they could be masterfully led by the students who were members of both my team and my class. This intersection produced our leaders and as a class, we became Team 204 (our room number).

Our team resolved to have the straightest lines in the hallway, the cleanest table in the cafeteria, and we’d look out for one another on the playground and in the streets.

We learned what one another’s academic strengths and challenges were, and made a commitment to advance to fifth grade together as proficient readers, writers and mathematicians. At the end of the school year, we received the Academic Achievement Award for superior growth in scores on the state standardized reading and mathematics test.

At the whole school-level, DC SCORES was also transformative. There was a small green amphibian on the sign in front of Harriet Tubman Elementary School that largely went unnoticed. That is, until the DC SCORES team began referring to themselves as the Tubman Toads. Soon after, the entire student body began dressing in green and yellow and our soccer games became large-scale community events.

We had fans of all ages. Ice cream trucks and fruit vendors lined our dusty field. Team news became a featured staple of morning and afternoon announcements. We all became the Tubman Toads: the whole school, the whole community. The neighborhood had been waiting for a way to celebrate its youth, time to bond over common experiences, and a place to rally around a shared goal.

For soccer games and poetry slams alike, the community came out en masse to support their Toads.
 
Being a part of DC SCORES meant working to improve the lives of students throughout Washington, DC. But in addition, DC SCORES made me a better teacher, a better leader, and a better community member. It made my school a better place to be, to learn, to play, and I’ll forever be a proud Tubman Toad.                  

Poetry Slam! lights up the stage at community high schools

Written by Amy Nakamoto

Executive Director

My favorite event is here. The Poetry Slam!.

There are countless reasons why this event tops the charts for me and many of our supporters … the evidence of hard, creative work put in by teams of students; the passion our writing coaches — most of whom are teachers — exude as they watch their teams come to life on stage; and the sheer numbers and volume of support by family and community members in the crowd.

Imagine a fourth grade boy performing before hundreds of community members — walking out on a vast stage to represent his current school at his neighborhood high school. A year prior, that boy might never have written a poem and certainly never recited one out loud for even his peers.

But on this night, he is a great orator conveying deep passion for a subject he’s been wrestling with for weeks. His parents, aunts, uncles, and neighbors will beam with pride amongst an audience of at least 400 guests.

He may be small in size, but his presence will fill the stage.

This boy has a lot to be proud of this particular evening, including performing on a high school stage in front of hundreds of supporters who came to celebrate him and all of DC SCORES’ poet-athletes.

The new H.D.Woodson High School.

Bell Multicultural (Ward 1) and H.D. Woodson (Ward 7) high schools are the host sites for this year’s two-night Slam!. For hundreds of DC public and public charter school students and their families, these schools will be symbols of self-expression and community. The schools will represent a place that welcomes families and celebrates students and their achievements.

Woodson in particular has long been thought of as an unfriendly building and one that needed a complete overhaul. Well, we are fortunate to be hosting the first and largest community event in the school’s brand new space on 55th Street, NE.

I can’t wait until students walk out on that stage tomorrow night and perform confidently in a school they will one day attend.

We are thrilled and thankful to have many of our foundation and corporate supporters confirmed to attend the Poetry Slam!, including Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., which is presenting us with a check on the second night of the Slam!. We’ve invited many of our Councilmembers as well as Mayor Gray to join us as a statement of investment from the District into our youth and to help usher the new H.D. Woodson into the broader community.

Lastly, to all of our donors, volunteers and board members: Please join us — you’ll have a great time!

DC SCORES Poetry Slam!

Wednesday, Nov. 30

6pm

Columbia Heights Education Campus

3101 16th Street, NW (map)

Thursday, Dec. 1

6pm

H.D. Woodson High School

540 55th Street, NE (map)

Elementary School Program Director Cory Chimka learns from Rwanda's vision

This past month I spent nearly two weeks in Rwanda with a small group of teachers hosted by SEVEN Fund (the Social Equity Venture Fund). The object of the fellowship was to study Enterprise Based Solutions to Poverty, their successful implementation in Rwanda, and their implications for K-12 education here in the United States.

When most people hear Rwanda mentioned, they immediately think of the horrible and devastating genocide that took place in 1994. But what’s as astounding as those horrific 90 days when roughly 1,000,000 lives were taken, is the amazing, unlikely reconciliation and renewal that’s taken place since.

In July of 2000, His Excellency, President Paul Kagame, laid out Rwanda Vision 2020 after a comprehensive consultative process building broad consensus among Rwandans of their hopes and dreams for the future. The ambitious plan called for reduction of aid dependency; building a knowledge-based economy; creating a productive middle class; fostering entrepreneurship; eradicating HIV and AIDS; ensuring 100 percent enrollment in primary and secondary schools; and providing universal access to quality healthcare.

All by the year 2020.

2011 sees much of the vision realized, and Rwanda has become not only an example for developing countries, but for the world.

When it comes to gender equality, good governance, economic development and environmental sustainability, Rwanda is no longer compared to its neighbors in Africa, but with the likes of China, Singapore and Costa Rica. The self-determination and collective responsibility of the Rwandan people can be observed throughout the country, and are credited for the great strides the country has made.

The Rwandan people and their government refuse to let the rapid development leave anyone behind. In fact, it is the most vulnerable populations that are identified first and best cared for. By concentrating on real and sustainable solutions to poverty, refusing to apply band-aid solutions to local and national problems, and by doing small things right from the beginning, Rwanda avoids many of the large problems we see every day in Washington, DC, and throughout urban America.

I am eager to share the lessons I have learned in Rwanda, beginning with a new curriculum on entrepreneurship and its natural links to service-learning and environmental sustainability.

Our students have learned through DC SCORES’ service-learning component how to look critically at their communities and include stakeholders in effecting positive, sustainable change. I believe we have a new responsibility to be more deliberate in teaching them ways they can turn these and other skills into greater educational and employment opportunities in the future, ensuring their seat at the table in deciding what the future holds for their communities, themselves and their families.

These are but a few of the many lessons that we can learn from a small, under-resourced, landlocked country in Africa that from many public policy standpoints has surpassed the U.S. in but 14 years since a devastating tragedy took Rwanda as a nation back to square one.