FREEDOM YOUTH ACADEMY, INC.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MRS. MARY ANN GASKINS
1600 MORRIS ROAD, SE
WASHINGTON, DC 20020
(202) 889-1682 OR (202) 584-3012 FAX: (202) 610-1519 OR (202) 584-3012   

OVERVIEW OF SUMMER PROGRAM 2005

FREEDOM YOUTH ACADEMY/OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP

CHURCH AND SCHOOL

The Freedom Youth Academy operated and maintained two sites this summer in the church portables, located at 1600 Morris Road, SE, and at the lower school located at 1409 V Street, SE. The programs were highly successful in accomplishing its objectives in an outstanding manner. There were 129 students registered in the two sites, 91 at the portables, and 38 at the lower school. The interest and average daily attendance consistently ranged between 85-100%. The following synopsis reflects the outcomes achieved with each segment of the program.

Mrs. Sharon St. Clair, Lead Teacher for kindergarten and first grade, along with her staff, reinforced the younger students in phonics, reading, writing, and mathematics. Each student was given a workbook for each subject. The students were also reinforced in their writing skills. Each student received 20 minutes per day of computer time. They went on field trips and enjoyed the daily arts and crafts activities.

Computer Program

Mr. Molver Fieffe was the Computer Teacher. Each child spent 20 to 30 minutes daily on the computers. He installed educational software such as Learn2Learn Snoopy (five fun learning activities), Magic Spelling Games Ages 4-8, Adventures Workshop 4th 6th grade (Math Detective, Logical Journey, Spellbound, and Amazon Trail), Beginning Phonics, Jumpstart for PreK through 4, Jumpstart (grade 2) Adventures Workshop Grade 1-3 (Personalized Math, Treasure Cove, Kids Pix Studio, Thinking Science) PreSchool Workshop Preschool 1sst grade (Thinking Adventures, Math Games, Reading Games, Dr. Seuss Preschool), Spanish, and Mickeys Word Adventures. The students always wanted more time in the computer room, and Mr. Molver would allow them more time once every student in camp had been on the computers. This was one of the favorite classes for all students.

READING PROGRAM:

Students in Grades K-4 on a daily basis read and were read to books from the Academys Library and the older students wrote book reports on what they had read. They also participated in daily Higher Order Thinking (HOT) Skills vocabulary building and reading comprehension sessions to increase their reasoning skills. Back to Top

BRAVE BLACK GIRL READING CLUB:

This year, a total of ten 3rd-4th grade girls were chosen to be a part of our summer camp. The summer camp initially was for grades kindergarten through third. However, I wanted a special program for older girls as a pilot. Ms. Joanna Banks of the Anacostia Smithsonian Museum, volunteered to help me with this pilot program by creating a Brave Black Girl Reading Club. This program was such a success that it will become a permanent part of Freedom Youth Academy. Ms. Banks met with ten girls ages 8-11 who were given three books during this session. The Brave Black Girls Reading Club showed the young ladies how writers have celebrated the courage of Black girls in works of fiction. Through this program, the young ladies learned the elements of different types of fiction: tall tales; historical fiction and fairy tales. They created their own stories on how they too can be brave and achieve their dreams. The girls were able to sharpen their reading and creative writing and thinking skills and recognized themselves as Brave Black Girls who are empowered to affect change in the world. All of the selections emphasized this theme and resonated with the young readers, bolstering their self-confidence and self-worth. The book club culminated in a closing club meeting, with each of the girls receiving a certification of completion, and a goodie bag including a personalized scrap book of their time as a Brave Black Girl. The girls had such a sense of accomplishment and pride after this recognition, that a formal tea followed with a celebration to all young girls in the summer program. The tea included special guests, parents, and FYA Staff. All girls dressed in afternoon tea attire complete with hats. Each member of the Brave Black Girl Reading Club stood and shared something they had learned. They also presented Ms. Banks with several special gifts.

NBA ALL STAR PARTY:

While the young girls were attending the Tea Party, the young men were attending a NBA All Star Party, with gifts provided by Que Gaskins, Vice President of Global Marketing RBK for Reebok International, and Ms. Dawn-Marie Gray, President of DMG Management, LLC. Thanks to Que and Dawn-Marie, each student received T- shirts, key chains, water bottles, hats, towels, posters, miniature basketball courts with basketballs, chap sticks, rubberbands, and numerous other gifts. They were served refreshments and watched basketball movies, Like Mike, Coach Carter, and others.

CREATIVE WRITING PROGRAM:

A one-day creative writing program was held at the Anacostia Smithsonian Museum taught by Ms. Joanna Banks for students Grades 2-4. The children were given a creative writing assignment which was based on the current mural exhibit. The exercise was designed to heighten their attention to detail. Each student was given a journal at the end of the workshop and encouraged to continue writing to expand their imaginations through writing.

DOLL MAKING WORKSHOP:

Ms. Joanna Banks, of the Anacostia Smithsonian Museum, held a doll-making workshop at Freedom Youth Academy. This activity was open to the girls and boys in grades 2 and above. In the interest of time, the dolls were pre-fabricated by Ms. Banks. Each student was able to create clothing, hair, and a face for their doll. The students created dolls in their own likeness and were proud of their accomplishments. Back to Top

SCIENCE PROGRAM:

The National Science Resources Center, operated by the Smithsonian Institution and the National Academy of Sciences offered an opportunity through the D. C. Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation for programs to participate in their pilot science project. This summer, the students participated in a pilot for soil and electricity. Mrs. Sharon St. Clair, teacher for Grades kindergarten and first grade, and Mrs. Rose Brown, teacher grades 2-4, along with their staff, introduced the students to the study of soil The students examined the soil sample to see what they could observe, they performed tests on the soil by adding water to each of the three types of soil, and watched what happened. The students in Mrs. St. Clairs class talked about what they had done while the students in Mrs. Browns class wrote down and drew what they had seen in their notebooks. They planted seeds in the different soils, watered the soil and watched to see which one grew best from what soil. The results would show the students what can make a garden grow better. Mrs. Browns class also did electricity. To help the students understand how electricity works, the students performed hands on experiments with electricity that taught them the properties of electricity. They performed experiments using batteries to show how a light switch goes on and off as well as other exciting experiments. The final culminating activity was to design a room inside of a cardboard box and wire the lighting for the room. The children did an outstanding job and enjoyed all the science projects that they performed

THE COMIC BOOK PROJECT:

Through the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation, the students participated in a pilot program, The Comic Book Project, created by Michael Blitz from New York. He believes the illustrated stories have potential superpowers of their own to improve literacy by getting kids to create comics of their own. His comic book club has been adopted by 45 schools in New York, Baltimore, Chicago and Cleveland. He further states, Teachers say students in the comic book clubs also improve their writing and reading skills by refining and editing of project over a long period of time. But success is hard to measure. This year, a pilot program was created for Washington, DC. Approximately 30 students participated in the project. The theme was Leadership. Each student received an activity booklet, manuscript starter, comic book canvas, and two comic books created by students in New York called, Save our City, and Save Our Planet. There were 16 sessions for creating the comic book. At the end of the project, 10 outstanding comic books were presented to Mr. Blitz to be included in the Washington, DC Comic Book Project that will be highlighted on Mr. Blitz website www.ComicBookProject.org. Mr. Blitz is also making plans to host a reception to display all the comic books chosen from all camp sites in Washington, DC. Back to Top

SPANISH PROGRAM:

Maurice Scott, a senior and the class president at School Without Walls, was accepted as a Freshman at North Carolina A&T, taught the students beginning Spanish. They learned to count up to 40, the days of the week, their colors, the months, and some phrases of greetings.

MATH PROGRAM:

All students grades Kindergarten through Fourth were drilled daily in their age appropriate math such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions. Students reviewed their math daily on the computer, and hey also reviewed math word problems and played math games such as one-minute math and mental math games.

VERB CROSSOVER PROGRAM:

Through the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation, the students participated in the VERB Crossover, program. Part basketball. Part anything. Its your shot. The program was designed by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to increase and maintain physical activity among kids. VERB Crossovers aim is to encourage kids to have fun, to get, and to stay active. Maurice Scott managed this project. The children participated in games that crossed basketball with other sports and activities, the result, VERB Crossover. The games included Baskickball, Hoopscotch, and BasketTag. Each day for six weeks, the students participated in a hour of daily VERB Crossover activities.

CHESS PROGRAM:

Mrs. Patricia Sanker continued with the chess program. The participants from grades 2 to 4 were so enthusiastic with having learned these skills, that they asked if we could continue the chess program in this years winter component. Chess will continue to be an integral part of our program because it was implemented to assist the students with reading, math, and socialization skills. Since chess involves all levels of critical thinking (knowledge, comprehension, analysis, and evaluation,) we noticed that the program improved the academic skills for all the students in Grades 2 through 4.

FIELD TRIPS:

Grants provided by the Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative (FSFSC) and the D. C. Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation (CYITC) paid all students bus and entry fees for the following field trips: *Anacostia Park for Mayor Williams Opening Ceremony for the Summer Camps;
*Highland Library (2 field trips (1) students received Library Cards and learned how to use the Library, (2) participated in an African Step Dance Demonstration);
*Goddard Space Flight Center,
*Washington Navy Yard Museum,
*The Fun and Learning Zone Convention Center,
*Melvin Deal African Dancer Program,
*Rain Forest Mobile at TheArc,
*Potomac River Ride,
*Anacostia Park for outdoor Roller Skating, bowling, and,
*Rivertowne Movie to see March of the Penguins. The final field trip on Thursday, August 25, 2005, was the highlight of the summer program. The children were invited to visit the Johnson Farm in Port Republic, MD. This trip was made possible by Ms. Maria Wilson, of the Anacostia Smithsonian Museum, who is also a cowgirl from Oklahoma. At the farm the students saw a buffalo, a variety of horses that the Indians rode, cows, chickens, a minature horse, a mule, African goats and a donkey. In fact, the donkey was from a line of donkeys that Jesus rode and has as a cross birthmark on its back. This represents the cross that Jesus carried. They were treated to a barbeque and hayride around the 300 acre farm on the Johnsons property. This was a very inspirational trip for the children. Some had never seen farm animals before and were extremely excited about everything on the trip. Back to Top

ARTS AND CRAFTS PROGRAM:

Mrs. Rose Brown, the second through fourth grade teacher, also served as the Arts and Crafts Director for the entire camp.. In the afternoon she prepared an activity that helped the students develop their creativity and expression skills via this medium. The children made paper flowers, journal covers, toy cars, place mats, patriotic pinwheels, patriotic painted stones, designed cups, paper bag puppets, sports bracelets, shell art bracelets, gliders, tissue paper flowers, embroidery canvases, plaster of Paris hands, wooden animals, yarn baskets, designed tee shirts, balloon people, fuse beads, tissue paper boats, popsicle stick coasters, picture frames, paper hats, yarn octupus, sun catchers, sand jars, loom bands/belts, book markers, tie dye butterflies, and spirit pennants. The arts and crafts program has proven to be one of the highlights of the program because it gives the students a way to express themselves creatively, positively and openly.

CROCHET AND CANVAS SEWING:

Through her love of crochet, Mrs. Gaskins has found a new way to teach the children some of the skills that they need to succeed in this world today. Crochet and canvas sewing teaches the students to be patient, the repetition reinforces memory and the ability to remain focused, to be organized and prepared, and increases confidence in their design and creativity skills. Finally, this art form gives them a sense of pride in completion of a task, as well as taking pride in their finished product. Some of the items the students made were handbags, ponchos, scarves, hats, and pot holders. This new learning tool/strategy that Mrs. Gaskins created is one of the seven characteristics and learning styles identified in human intelligence by Dr. Howard Gardner in his book, Frames of Mind. The multiple intelligence theory provides educators with a way of thinking about individual gifts and how to accommodate teaching to them. It also is a way of teaching conventional subject matter in ways more accommodating to the different ways of learning and comprehension. A basic knowledge and understanding of these learning styles and characteristics can be highly beneficial in improving the academic performance of most children.

Career Day:

Career Day was held on Wednesday, July 26, 2005. In attendance was Mr. Robert Rouse, a DC Fireman, who gave a presentation on how to make 911 calls. Ms. Dawn-Marie Gray, President of DMG Management, LLC, a local business owner, talked about her experience working with Reebok and the special projects she helped market for Allen Iverson, as well as other athletes that she represents. She also spoke to the students about what sports marketing entailed and that there are other more important jobs than being an athlete or rapper in the athletic and entertainment business. Ms. Marie Wilson, a Cowgirl from Oklahoma, and Docent from the Anacostia Smithsonian Museum, spoke to the children about her experiences as a Black cowgirl, and her work at the Smithsonian as a Docent. Ms. Janice Corbett a registered nurse, spoke to the students about her occupation, and Ms. Jaqueline Champion spoke to the students about her job as a DC policewoman. The students were put into groups of 10 and were able to spend at least 20 minutes with each guest. The day proved to be quite successful to the students, and gave them ideas about different career opportunities. Mrs. Brown held a small reception at the end of Career Day and presented each guest with a Freedom Youth Academy Certificate of Appreciation. Back to Top

Cowrie Shell Workshop.

Ms. Olivia Aikens-Cummings, a 15 year old entrepreneur held a workshop at the Academy for the students. Olivia creates and sells jewelry that links us to our past. The hand crafted artifacts tell us the history of the cowrie shell. She also showed the students the difference between a male and female cowrie shell. Olivia presents the history of entrepreneurship through her skills that include her hand crafted jewelry. She also wrote and produced her own historical video. She lectures, presents displays and produces workshops for all ages on the history of the cowrie shell. At the end of her presentation, each student was able to make a necklace, bracelet or anklet out of cowrie shells.

Bread for the World Institute:

Ms. Cheryl Adams, a representative of Bread for the World Institute, Strengthening Rural Communities Hunger Report 2005, and their photographer, Mr. Eugene Mebane, came to the Academy to shoot some pictures of the children for their national nutrition program. Mr. John Stokes, of the DC Educational Office for Free Summer Meals Program, recommended the Academy for this publication. We will receive copies of the 2006 Issue of their report once it has been published. The students enjoyed taking the pictures and are excited about seeing themselves in print.

CLOSING PROGRAM-CARNIVAL:

The closing program was a Carnival held on Friday, August 12, 2005. Even though the camp was extended an additional two weeks the closing program was held that day because reservations for the space, the Moon bounces, the DJ, and the magician had been scheduled for that date. Also, some of the students would not be able to attend the extended two weeks because they were going on vacation. This was a special day for the children who had worked so hard during the academic summer enrichment program. The Carnival consisted of 2 moon bounces, games such as golf, bowling, basketball, fishing, soccer, milk bottle ring toss, parachute, horseshoes, croquette, etc. A DJ played four hours of music. A magician, face painting, popcorn, snow cones, and other snacks were also provided. At the end of the day, each child left camp with a bag of goodies. A good time was enjoyed by all.

TRIBUTE:

On Sunday, August 7, 2005, Ms. Brenda Smith, a Teachers Aide for grades 2-4 died unexpectedly. She was a great loss to our program. Ms. Smith had been a part of the Freedom Youth Academy since June of 1992. To help the children deal with their grief and let them know that death is a part of life, I thought it would be a good idea to have each student express their loss through poems, pictures that they drew, and messages they wrote. They were organized into a scrapbook by Mrs. Brown and presented to Ms. Smiths mother as a gift of love. Her mother was overwhelmed and said she would cherish this gift forever, and pass it on later to Ms. Smiths son, Omar.

SUMMARY

Our accomplishments this year continue to be very inspirational, outcome driven and rewarding for the staff, students and parents. We look forward to another outstanding year challenging the needs of the students East of the River. We also give a special Thank You, to our sponsors and funders of the summer program: The D. C. Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation (CYITC), the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the D. C. Parks and Recreation Summer Program Summer Food Program (Breakfast and Lunch), the Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative (FSFSC), and the Mars Foundation. Moreover, these outstanding accomplishments would not have been possible without the love, dedication, commitment and expertise of each member of our wonderful teaching staff, our junior volunteer staff, and the volunteers from Senator Edward M. Kennedys Office. A special Thank You, to Ms. Joanna Banks and Ms. Maria Wilson of the Anacostia Smithsonian Museum. Both were truly an outstanding addition to our summer enrichment program. Their animation and warmth challenged the students to rise to the occasion for each assignment and task. Finally, a special Thank You, to all the families who provided water, snacks, paper, arts and craft items for the students to use on a daily basis. Because of each and every one of you and your belief in the accomplishments of the Freedom Youth Academy, we delivered another awesome program for the children East of the River. LUKE 2:40 The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him. Back to Top

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