DC SCORES Covers DC: Anne Beers Elementary, Ward 7

As DC SCORES has grown over the past several years -- from 20 schools, to adding middle schools in 2006, to 27 schools, then 42, and now to 60 sites, including several recreation centers that make up the first-ever DC City Soccer League -- we've expanded our reach across Washington, DC. And now we serve 2,200 kids in neighborhoods throughout the entire city -- meaning all eight wards. This fall, we'll bring to you a highlight program in each ward.

Last week, we visited Anne Beers Elementary School located in Ward 7 while they were in full swing preparing for the Poetry Slam!. Both the coaches and the students were equally dedicated to working as hard as they can to strive for the Golden Mic Trophy at the Poetry Slam! in mid-November.

This will be Beers' 19th Poetry Slam! -- every single one of them. Beers is one of the longest-running DC SCORES programs, having started in the year of our founding, 1994. Since then, there have been hundreds of game days, dozens of impactful service-learning projects, and thousands of original poems. Alumni of the program at Beers have come back to events. Many of spoken about the effect DC SCORES had on them while at the school.

Of all of the topics that the this fall's students had to choose from, the theme of Black Lives Matter resonated the most with them. Many kids wrote about the movement in their individual poems. The team then took parts of the solo poems to patch together the group piece. Coach Herras Howard called himself a "technician of some sort" because he stitched together the pieces of the students' poems to make the final product.

Each student had many thoughtful things to say about the matter, and their passion shined brightly. Not to tease the Poetry Slam! performance too much, but fifth-grader Nihjaia J. will likely play a large role. "I've been through a lot, me and my grandmother both," Nihjaia said of discrimination she's faced.

We can't wait to see all of your hard work pay off when the Poetry Slam! comes up, Beers!

WARD 7 PROGRAMS
Aiton Elementary School (1999)
Anne Beers Elementary School (1994)
Burrville Elementary School (2000)
Deanwood Recreation Center (2016)
Hillcrest Recreation Center (2016)
J.C. Nalle Elementary School (2012)
Kelly Miller Middle School (2004)
KIPP DC: KEY Academy (2013)
KIPP DC: QUEST Academy (2014)
Thomas Elementary School (2014)

BEERS FUN FACTS
Year DC SCORES started: 1994
Ward: 7
Team mascot: Cheetahs
Uniform color: Yellow
Coaches: Soccer -- Herras Howard, Clarence Myers; Poetry -- Herras Howard, Saheter Cook
2016 service-learning project:

COACHES' CORNER
On working with DC SCORES:
"I've grown from teaching them and also them teaching me."
-Herras Howard, Soccer/Poetry Coach

“The power of the word is very convincing so i want to make sure that these kids are using their words properly to tell a story that will bring their emotion, energy, and message to those in the audience in a convincing manner.”
-Herras Howard, Soccer/Poetry Coach

KID TALK
On writing the poem for Poetry Slam!:
"It was very fun and it kept my brain keep thinking, though it made my brain hurt a little bit!"
-Sebek M., 11

An "I am" poem on the Hunter's Moon
I am graceful
I am hope and one big light
I am the guide to many hearts
I help lead to romance
I am peaceful
I shine bright in the night
I am there when it is dark
when the wind is cold and brisk I compliment the stars
I am here to lead you when it is dark and mysterious
but I am not always in sight
and it is your choice to define what I am to you
-Nihjaia J., 10

FROM THE ARCHIVES

BLOGS

6.9.2014: Former program participant Kyndall Brown returns to intern for DC SCORES
12.26.2013: A parent's view: How DC SCORES boosted his daughter's confidence and improved her reading ability

VIDEO

12.3.2015: Beers performs at the DC SCORES Poetry Slam!

2015 Eastside Poetry Slam! -- I am powerful, I am enough!

Written by Jake Lloyd
Communications Manager

Before the Eastside DC SCORES Poetry Slam! began Thursday evening, guest poet Malachi Byrd did a call-and-response with the hundreds of young poets inside H.D. Woodson High School.

"I am powerful," the DC Youth Slam Team member said.

"I am POWERFUL," responded kids representing the 18 teams.

"I am enough." "I am ENOUGH!"

But then a kid piped up from the crowd, "What does 'I'm enough' mean?" Good question, responded Bird, who told the kid and every poet-athlete in attendance what they've come to realize and embrace during the 12-week fall DC SCORES writing program.

That who they are and what they do is, simply, enough. That they should love themselves.

And that was the theme of what followed -- an array of serious, funny, poignant and brilliantly choreographed performances that captivated a capacity audience.

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The Aiton Elementary School Bears are known in DC SCORES circles for being quite the tenacious, determined soccer players. They are athletes led by a coach, Mr. Hollins, who takes their games seriously and holds each poet-athlete accountable.

The Bears were in character Thursday, marching out on stage as boxers and dazzling the audience with a rhythmic, perfectly choreographed performance that might land some of these Bears in Hollywood (if they're not playing professional soccer).

I can/I can!
I can learn/I can learn!
I can achieve/I can achieve
I am successful/I am successful!
I am a scholar/I am a scholar!

The Aiton Bears were the Aiton Bears, and at night's end they rushed the stage for a second consecutive year after winning the Golden Mic trophy and danced joyously alongside D.C. United coach Ben Olsen and goalie Travis Worra.

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Beers Elementary School's second-place performance was dictated by an event that hit close to home. Earlier in the year, the Cheetahs (team name) lost a beloved teacher to breast cancer.

The Cheetahs not only dedicated their performance to the teacher, but made it educational. Poem 1 was for Mrs. Agurs:

We were blessed to have you on this earth

We wish you were here to help us with our work

You were very inspiring and pretty

I wish we had more people like you in this city

Then the students, all dressed in pink, performed "Cure It," a plea to find a cure for the awful disease and for women to take every precaution possible to avoid and/or detect it.

And finally, the Cheetahs performed an ode to all their DC Public School teachers. They might be third- through fifth-graders, but their understanding of life's delicacies and embracing what you have shined brightly. 

Teachers educate us and give us knowledge

They give us work to prepare us for college

You teach us different subjects like ELA, science and math

Don't torture them before you come to school/Please take a bath!

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Each team took the stage in different outfits. As is usually the case, there were plenty of schools sporting their soccer uniforms -- proud of all the progress they made on the field this fall and feeling united as one, the same school name on every child's jersey.

Leckie Elementary School, decked out in their customary gold shirts, showed great pride in their ethnicity.

"Black like you, Black like me, Black like us, Black like me!"

"Black is beautiful!"

Orr Elementary School brought silly to the stage with an "I am" poem. Each kid approached the microphone and said something completely unpredictable and outrageous, and laughter ricocheted off the walls of the auditorium. The Jaguars finished their performance with an ode to rain set to the song "Drip Drop."

KIPP Quest brought the audience back to serious matters with an appropriate reaction to an event in their community -- a shooting. This was the second time in five years the students at the school, formerly Arts and Technology Academy, had to deal with violence right outside their building's doors. 

The Poetry Slam! stage provided what it did then, too -- a safe place for the kids to express their feelings. They did so in a well-rounded way that demonstrated how proud they are to represent their community and also what needs to change. They started with group poems about "urban rappers" and how good they can be, and followed that up with a fun "If I was a rapper" poem.

The rapper in me is an urban poet

The rapper in us goes to KIPP DC

See all rappers are not bad

They go to college and get degrees

And then Shine Award winner M'kya S. punctuated the performance with a solo poem and dropped the mic with this:

"The next time you want to shoot, shoot with cameras -- not guns"

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Words, words

Words have power

Words have power
Words have power

Moten Elementary School's poets were the second team under the bright lights and they helped set the stage for the night.

Whether teams were educating about breast cancer, decrying violence in their community, showing how fun it is to be goofy, embracing their skin color, or boxing to the beat of their words, all poet-athletes on stage embraced themselves and their teams. 

And that was more than enough.

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Elementary Schools 
1st place — Aiton Elementary School
2nd place — Beers Elementary School
3rd place — Burrville  Elementary School
Spirit Award — J.C. Nalle Elementary School
Shine Award — M'kya S., KIPP QUEST

Middle Schools \
1st place — Jefferson Middle School
2nd place — Hart Middle School
3rd place — KIPP KEY
Spirit Award — Eliot-Hine Middle School
Shine Award — Lorenzo J., KIPP KEY

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: Anne Beers 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: Anne Beers Elementary School

BEGAN DC SCORES: 1994

FUN POETRY SLAM! LINE: "Her hair is so colorful, it looks like a collage."

Watch Beers above or here.

View Beer photos here.

The meaning of a soccer uniform: A former DC SCORES participant reflects

This summer, Kyndall Brown -- a DC SCORES alum of Anne Beers Elementary School -- is interning with DC SCORES. As we near Do More 24 on June 19, Kyndall wrote about the impact wearing a DC SCORES uniform -- and being on a soccer team for the first time -- had on her. Beginning at 12am June 19, please give the gift of a team to DC SCORES. A $24 donation equals a soccer jersey, shorts, shinguards and socks for a DC child. Our goal is to provide 384 students -- the equivalent of 12 DC SCORES teams -- with uniforms. Thank you for your support!

Kyndall didn't just play soccer in her uniform. It also
united her team on stage at the Poetry Slam!.

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Written by Kyndall Brown 
Communications Intern

A team uniform can have a different meaning to every player that wears it. The team uniform is the first physical representation of a team’s unity. I practiced with my team for about a week or two before my very first DC SCORES game. My coach handed out our uniforms the day before the game, and it was easy to see the anticipation on all our faces as he pulled out the bag full of jerseys.

Once I received my uniform, the only thing I could think about was wearing it on the field.

My soccer uniform was the final piece that brought together my understanding of the role I played on my soccer team. My uniform made me feel a part of my team, but my uniform number gave me my independence as a player. My number was unique to me and I was the only person that could identify with it, but receiving my entire uniform -- jersey, shorts, shinguards, socks -- along with my teammates showed me where I belonged.

My SCORES soccer uniform was the first I ever owned.

Having my own uniform made me feel like I was officially a soccer player. I looked forward to wearing my uniform every Thursday. On those days, everywhere I went someone would be reminded that I was a soccer player.

My uniform became a part of me, and playing without it could never the same. I never wanted to be the person on the team who forgot their uniform or did not have their complete uniform because it would let the team down. If I did not come to a game prepared, I didn’t only let my coach down but also my teammates.

Our uniforms gave us a responsibility to except from one another.

When I wore my uniform with my teammates, I even played differently. Wearing it kept me aware of and thinking about the responsibility I had to my team. Not only was I reminded to be a team player, but also to play  my best because it was what I expected from my teammates.

Wearing our uniforms together as a team changed our presence on the field. Seeing the whole team at Anne Beers Elementary School in complete uniform sent a message to each team member and every other person that saw us.

It was time to play.

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Learn more about Kyndall's DC SCORES experience HERE. Sign up for the Do More 24 Facebook event HERE.

Former program participant Kyndall Brown returns to intern for DC SCORES

Kyndall Brown was a DC SCORES program participant at Anne Beers for three years, where she learned how to play soccer under the tutelage of her coach and father, Michael Brown. She also became a star poet at Beers, performing her solo poems at the DC SCORES Poetry Slam!. Kyndall went on to play soccer at Bell Multicultural High School and now, as a rising sophomore at Temple University, is interning this summer in our communications department. Below, Kyndall writes about what brought her back to DC SCORES. Follow @DCSCORESInterns for Tweets from Kyndall during her internship experience. 

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Written by Kyndall Brown 
Communications Intern

I was introduced to DC SCORES when I was in the third grade at Anne Beers Elementary School. Being a part of DC SCORES was the highlight of my elementary school years at Beers. In the short three years between third and sixth grade, I gained and experienced so more than I could have imagined.

When I moved on to middle school, the school I chose unfortunately did not have a DC SCORES program. Leaving Beers was bittersweet because I was excited about growing up and going to a new school, but I knew that I would never be able to find another program like DC SCORES.

I never played soccer or any sport before DC SCORES. My participation in the program made soccer a big aspect of my life throughout high school. It also improved my confidence in my writing and is the reason that English is one of my strongest subjects in school.

In 2005, when I was in sixth grade, I performed my first solo poem at the annual DC SCORES Poetry Slam!. That experience and the preparation leading up to the Slam! helped me become comfortable with public speaking. In 2013, I used the same skills I developed during the Poetry Slam! to give a speech that helped me become the senior class president at my high school.

I will be able to use skills I learned in DC SCORES — including the most effective approach to teaching and outreach — for the rest of my life. Now, as an intern, I have the special opportunity to be a part of giving back to what was once given to me.

I am currently a Media and Communications major at Temple University and still exploring the major to decide exactly what I want to do with my degree. Coming back to DC SCORES to learn about the communications aspects of the organization is exactly how I want to spend my summer. It is great to be back in an atmosphere that I once was able to prosper in so much, and now I have a chance to grow even more.

During my time interning, I hope that my efforts continue to help the organization grow and have the same influence on other students that it had on me. Interning for any organization takes hard work and commitment. Interning for an organization with a mission you are passionate about makes both the hard work and commitment well worth it.

A parent's view: How DC SCORES boosted his daughter's confidence and improved her reading ability

Taylor Hawkins with her father and fan, Gregory.

(Please give the gift of team to students like Taylor before Dec. 31. Thank you!)

It’s Oct. 31 and Gregory Hawkins is making his presence felt on the sideline of the soccer field at Burrville Elementary School.

“Go, Taylor, go!” he yells exuberantly for probably the 10th time in 10 minutes. He claps, he cheers, he pumps his fist — all because he’s excited that his daughter in the yellow uniform of Anne Beers Elementary School is active on the soccer field.

Taylor Hawkins runs up and down the field, getting passed the ball one moment and dribbling the next. But as is the case with elementary school soccer, her touches are unpredictable. More important to Hawkins, his 9-year-old daughter is getting exercise and having a great time doing it.

"She’s so impressed with her physical ability,” Hawkins says beaming, explaining in further detail how much pride Taylor now takes in being fit.

Hawkins, a DC native who does construction for Tradesmen International in Fairfax, Va., doesn’t like missing a DC SCORES game or larger event like Fall Frenzy. He wants to see in-person his daughter’s continued progression into a confident, outgoing leader on the soccer field.

“Her leadership and her confidence — that's what I feel is the most important part of DC SCORES,” he said.

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Fast forward to Dec. 5. Minutes before the beginning of the Eastside Poetry Slam! at H.D. Woodson Senior High School, Gregory Hawkins enters the auditorium filled with anticipation. He can’t wait to see Taylor’s Anne Beers team take the stage to perform their 5-minute piece of original poems.

While Taylor enjoys the soccer aspect of DC SCORES, she’s passionate about writing poetry. This is her first year in the program, and she’s already taken to writing poems at home. She carries her poetry journal everywhere.

“Me and my wife were looking at all the poems and every creative one, off the top of her head, just what she sees,” Hawkins says. “She can really put something together. She talks more about the family and what’s going on with us (in her journal).”

As is often the case with DC SCORES participants, once Taylor began expressing herself consistently through the Power of Poetry curriculum she became more engaged in school. She now reads more, and her father notes that the fourth-grader is reading at a fifth-grade level.

No longer does he have to tell her to do her homework or turn off the TV.

“She’s eager to do homework, reading,” Hawkins says. “You can find her just putting up a book, and they love going to the library. So I really appreciate DC SCORES for all of that."

Hawkins says that before this year, Taylor lacked an outlet for expressing herself. She was too timid to open up about what she was feeling. “She didn’t have anything to occupy that space,” he adds.

Now her grades are up, she loves to read, and she demonstrates great pride as she takes the stage with her teammates during the Poetry Slam!. Taylor is also setting an example for her younger sister Morgan, who is in first grade and, Gregory says, will hopefully be in a DC SCORES uniform, too, soon!

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As we near the end of the year, DC SCORES needs your help. Any donation you make before Dec. 31 will help provide that creative outlet for self-expression and opportunity for physical fitness that thousands of students such as Taylor have benefited from — but still thousands more don’t have.

Please give and share today!

Poetry Slam! 2012 video of the week: Anne Beers Elementary School

 

NOTE: Each week, we are featuring a school's performance from the 15th Annual DC SCORES Poetry Slam!, the largest youth slam in the District! During the two-night culminating event of the fall season -- held Nov. 28 at Columbia Heights Education Campus and Nov. 29 at H.D. Woodson High School -- 35 schools had the opportunity to perform original group and solo poems and songs in front of their peers, families and community members. At the end of each night, teams were called back up on stage to receive trophies.

We hope you enjoy this glimpse into the self-expression DC SCORES instills in youth. 

On the second night of the Slam!, longtime DC SCORES school Anne Beers Elementary School delivered a poised, well-rehearsed performance — with students first describing in unison how they use their time "when I'm alone." Beers capped off the show with a proclamation about how their school class: "Anne Beers, Class of 2013: Success, Nothing Less."

As one student said: "My future is in the palm of my hand ... No one can block my brightness and intelligence. No distractions. Only a stronger and more focused me."  

Amen, Anne Beers. Watch the students' powerful performance on stage!

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

Highlighting our youth poets: Beers 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 poets of Beers Elementary School put on an impassioned performance with lines such as "We'll eliminate all distractions and change our ashes"; "Go to school, you can still be cool"; and "We can all make change for the better."

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