December 2011

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Elev8 Engaging Students, Families, and Communities

As 2011 comes to a close, Elev8 stakeholders in Baltimore, Chicago, Oakland and New Mexico are working hard to implement effective programs, share knowledge, and advocate for needed policy changes at local, state and federal levels.  

	Elev8 Baltimore has found that its school health clinics aren't just for asthma attacks, headaches, and bloody knees, but have become places to find friendships, confront bullying, and cope with stress. Licensed mental health counselors are helping address some of the social and emotional challenges that middle grade students face, including self-identity development, grief, loss and neighborhood violence.... Read more.
	Elev8 Chicago has been able to maintain productive relationships with students, long after graduation. In June 2010, Reavis Elementary in Bronzeville bid farewell to its 8th-grade graduates. More than a year later, most are still there, mentoring younger students, painting murals or just dropping by to help out.... Read more.
	Elev8 New Mexico's Microsociety is confronting real-life challenges in the community. In Microsociety, students produce goods and services, establish laws, arbitrate disputes and report the news. But at Gadsden Middle School, Microsociety students are not just creating a microcosm of the real world inside their school.They are working to build a better community in the surrounding town of Anthony, NM... Read more.

Building Knowledge and Sharing Lessons
This fall, Elev8 staff and partners have had valuable opportunities to share lessons with colleagues doing similar work in other parts of the country and abroad. In October, a team drawn from the four Elev8 initiatives traveled to Ireland, where they visited a range of youth- and community-serving organizations and attended the First International Conference on Age-Friendly Communities.

Later that month, Elev8 stakeholders converged in New York City for the Children's Aid Society's Community Schools Practicum, "Focus on Results," which brought together leaders from various sectors to examine results from community school evaluations across the country. Finally, in November, Elev8 ‘s National Learning Institute was held in Baltimore. Sessions covered such topics as community organizing, sustaining programs, federal policy, media engagement, program evaluation, and communications.

We thank all our partners for their support and hard work in 2011, and look forward to continued collaboration in 2012.