What's Happening at Elev8

Elev8 schools in Chicago and New Mexico distributed Thanksgiving food baskets, helping meet critical needs in their communities.

Educators, community partners, evaluators and funders came together from across the country to expand their knowledge and skills, share lessons learned, and build and strengthen partnerships, both within and across Elev8 sites.

This article, published on Oct. 16, reports on the US Department of Education award recently won by Elev8 programs in Baltimore and Chicago.

The Juanico Family of Laguna Pueblo lost their home to fire in the early morning hours of October 7, 2012. The Elev8 New Mexico community has rallied around the eight-member family and is working to help them replace their home and belongings.

On July 30, about 60 students from Reavis and Marquette elementary schools joined youth from other Children's Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools in Chicago in a march down 95^th Street—encouraging adults to register to vote.

An article in UCSF's Science of Caring celebrates a new partnership between Elev8 Oakland and the UCSF nursing and dental schools. During the 2011-2012 school year, more than 60 UCSF faculty and nurse practitioner and dental students began working in health centers and classrooms in Elev8 schools, helping meet a critical need in Oakland's communities.

On May 10, Elev8 leaders presented to policymakers, administrators and practitioners from around the country at the Coalition for Community Schools’ national forum in San Francisco. This year’s forum was focused on “Scaling Up School and Community Partnerships.”

Students from Elev8 Oakland recently crisscrossed the campus of one of the nation’s premier historically black colleges, in search of the answers to 40 questions. In two competing teams, they worked to identify buildings, query college students, even count the number of steps leading up to the physics and astronomy hall. The scavenger hunt at Howard University in Washington, D.C., was just the latest effort by Elev8 Oakland to get its middle school students thinking about college.

While the Mi Voz film being shot at Wilson Middle School is part of the Elev8 afterschool program, it has all the trappings of a professional production. Students are learning to use industry-standard equipment. They even get coaching from a television star—Steven Quezada from the hit AMC series Breaking Bad. Read more...

After meeting with a group of Elev8 students at the state capitol, Sen. Raoul accepted their invitation to visit Reavis Elementary School.

On Monday, March 19, Elev8 Chicago and the Federation for Community Schools hosted US Secretary of Education Senior Advisor Greg Darnieder, who led a dynamic discussion about college access. 

Elev8 Baltimore parents recently gathered to tell the city's leaders about "deplorable conditions are in our public school buildings." Along with parents from other schools in the city, they asked leaders to consider an innovative plan out of Greenville, SC, which was able to raise $1 billion for school construction. As a result of the plan, Greenville constructed or renovated 70 schools in just five years.

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.

The Stanford Social Innovation Review highlighted the work of Safe Passages/Youth Ventures in Oakland. 

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 now part of the school clinical team, helping address some of the social and emotional challenges that middle grade students face, including self-identity development, grief, loss and neighborhood violence.

Elev8 stakeholders from Baltimore, Chicago, New Mexico and Oakland converged in New York City on October 26 for the Children's Aid Society's Community Schools Practicum, "Focus on Results." The practicum brought together leaders from nonprofit, education, community, government, research and philanthropic organizations to share and examine results from community school evaluations across the country and to consider challenges involved in documenting the impact of community school initiatives...

As students dive into a new school year, Wilson Middle School is implementing new policies to address attendance issues; these policies were developed over the last school year by the Elev8 Family Engagement Team and school staff.

Over the summer, school administrators visited the homes of students who had been absent between five and seven days over the school year. During the home visits, administrators found that many absences had been miscounted. They also discovered that health issues or other family problems were key reasons students were missing school.

(This article is reposted with permission from YouthVentures/SafePassages) 

Access to legal services have for the past decade been a void in low income communities with the elimination of federal programs for legal clinics in our neighborhoods. Without these services, it is difficult for families to fight for their rights and, often, even to know about them.

At the request of dozens of families in Oakland schools, Safe Passages and Elev8 have partnered with the East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) to provide free legal assistance to families. Each week EBCLC staff attorney Rosa Bay holds free legal clinics at the Elev8 school sites. Families receive advice, guided referrals, and possible representation related to special education, school discipline and other youth law issues, as well as housing, public benefits, immigration, and consumer issues. Families are also invited to participate in a series of "Know Your Rights" workshops at the schools on the various legal topics listed above.  

(This article is reposted with permission from YouthVentures/SafePassages)

Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) 2011 Provides Free Tax Services to Community

"I was not expecting such a large return from the IRS. I was actually expecting to pay money to the feds- thank you for this program and look forward to seeing me next year," states a parent of a middle school student at Madison Middle school. 

Elev8 Oakland schools are in their third year of providing Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA). The success of the program are in the numbers and in the voices of families previously concerned with tax preparation. This year's Elev8 Tax Clinics exceeded program goals by successfully filing $104,000 in tax returns. This is twice that filed in returns last year for families at Elev8 schools. 

(This article is reposted with permission from LISC) 

It's not yet 9 a.m. on a steamy morning in July, but the Reavis Elementary School gym in Bronzeville is alive with chanting and arm-waving worthy of a church revival.

After an uplifting song about standing up to racism, a normally shy boy with a wide smile leads a call-and-response cheer: "Rock the Freedom School!" the kids shout, jumping and throwing their fists in the air.

The Freedom School is not your typical summer school program-and not just because each morning starts with a rousing kick-off called Harambee, a Swahili word meaning "let's pull together."