Workplace Mentoring

Starting in March, AALEAD teamed up with IBM to host a 5-class workplace mentoring pilot program. 10 of our MD high schoolers signed up to be testers for the program, and were matched with IBM employees from across the DC region. This Thursday, May 6, we will celebrate its completion by talking about internships and job shadowing (and having a small party)! Other topics we covered were how to create a résumé, interview skills, and workplace ethics.

Look for a workplace mentoring video, edited by one of our high school participants, soon to come! In the meantime, here are some pictures of our pairs deep in conversation.

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A Day of Service for AALEADers!

Thanks to all our students, staff, and volunteers who diligently came together for an early Saturday clean-up event. April 10, 2010, celebrated the 22nd Annual Potomac River Watershed Clean-up, hosted by the Alice Ferguson Foundation, and AALEAD was proud to have lent our hands.

After meeting at Theodore Roosevelt Island in the morning, we received a safety talk by National Park Service Rangers. Then we set out across the bridge armed with gloves, rubber boots, and trash bags. Some of the items we collected were car bumpers, tires, soda cans, and other pieces of garbage that had floated aground.

We had over 50 AALEADers at the park to help, many wearing their orange AALEAD shirts. The coordinators from the Alice Ferguson Foundation and park rangers all commented on how bright we made the day, not just with our clothing, but attitudes and smiles!

We hope that our service day encourages our youth to remain involved in the community, and shows the importance of conservation efforts in the region.

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Hoops for A Cause

AALEAD’s basketball tournament was held on April 17^th 2010 from 10am to 3:30pm. “Hoops for a Cause” aims to bring students together for a day of fun physical activity and charity. While participating in the tournament we encouraged each team to bring in canned goods as a tournament registration fee. The winning team will receive trophy at the end of the day and the canned goods that each team gathers will be donated to a nonprofit of the winning team’s choosing.

On the morning of April 17^th, 10 teams came together to compete for both the championship and for their charity. Each team played 3 games for a spot in the final four. Around 70 students showed up to play and to watch the games. Kaleidolinks, a nonprofit that is dedicated to youth empowerment and advocacy, brought two teams and assisted with scoring games.

At the final four, the Panthers (3-0), the Titans (2-1), the Assassins (3-0), and the Turtles (2-1) made their way to top of the tournament. Each team battled it out in a single elimination to make it to the finals. The final two teams were the Panthers and the Turtles. Through a very close game, the Turtles emerged victorious. The final donation of canned good was given to Capitol Area foods. I want to thank all the students who attended, all the volunteers who helped referee, AALEAD staff, and I want to thank Kaleidolinks for their support and participation in this event!

Going GREEN at Bancroft!

For the past month, students from the Secondary School Program (SSP) traveled to Bancroft Elementary to help students learn more about going green. Our “Going Green” project included teaching the Elementary After School Program (EAS) students about things like, recycling, living a green lifestyle, conserving energy, and why helping the environment is important. This was an amazing project where two of AALEAD’s programs got to work together.
To help make the learning process fun, SSP students worked with EAS students, it was to prepare videos about the going green. They used the materials that they had learned and created 3 videos about living a green lifestyle. It was great to see students having fun with each other while learning.

Teriyaki Chicken and Omurice

Teriyaki Chicken and Omurice
AALEAD’s Secondary School Program is cooking again. On April 8th SSP hosted another cooking class focusing on Japan. This time Olivia Milholo took on the role as head chef as she organized other students into two groups to make two different Japanese dishes. Chicken Teriyaki is a well known Japanese dish that uses a sweetened type of a soy sauce marinade and can be combined with a variety of different meats. The second dish of the day was Omurice. Omurice is an omelet stuffed with rice and vegetables. The students waited till there was enough to serve everyone and then they began to eat. Many of the students really enjoyed both meals.

Spring Break Fun

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High School students from DC and Maryland came together over spring break for a three days filled with fun and learning. On March 30^th, students participated in a Maryland vs DC competition. Students got to participate in events like dodge ball, balloon popping, Mad Gabs, riddles, and trivia. At the end of the day, students from Maryland defeated the DC student 3 to1. Each of the game was very close and the students had a lot of fun bonding with each other. After the competition, students got to relax and play basketball and board games.

AALEAD Board members visit Programs!

On April 20 and 21, AALEAD Board members came out to programs to visit our students.

It started with a MD Site Visit Day, where new Board member Will Choi shared about his life story with our middle and high school students. Students listened intently to what he had to say, and even asked him for internship opportunities!

On April 21, Board members visited our elementary sites were they learned how to make paper cranes from our 3rd-5th grade students. The students are currently working on a project to make 1,000 paper cranes for the Children's Hospital.

Board members Ria and Ban hold up their finished cranes!

Rosetta Lai (executive director) and Virginia also show off their finished cranes!

New Board member Amee made TWO cranes for each of her daughters! and Jimmy and his mentee swapped cranes!

Then the Board members moved on to Bancroft Elementary, where students were working on a Going Green project and making paper windmills. Below, Smita our Board chair, helps a student pin down his windmill.

Thanks for your support AALEAD Board Members~!

AALEAD goes bowling

On Saturday, March 27, 2010, the Mentoring Program hosted a wonderful event of bowling and billiards at the University of Maryland, TERP Zone. Students from our mentoring and high school programs enjoyed competing and trash talking against each other.

Mentor volunteers tested their abilities in bowling and the dance dance revolution game. Everyone had fun playing, eating 6 foot subs and laughing at the lack of bowling skills many possessed. It was a great event!

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Korean dumplings...yum!

The Loiederman students in Maryland experienced for the first time for many their first Korean dumpling. We were able to share about the culture of Korea, the lifestyle and food.

Korean dumpling is such an important part of Korean culture, it is the one food eaten on Chinese New Year throughout all families. The students made some beautiful creations, and they were able to enjoy the fried treats the next day.

Beware, the pictures may cause some hunger pains :)

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SPRING BREAK Maryland AALEAD Style

During the spring break, Maryland AALEAD programs had a great day of sports, fun, and BBQ at Wheaton Regional Park. It was a beautiful, perfect day to enjoy some fun together.

We had a lot of food and fun games like Red Rover, flag football, basketball, and just hanging out and getting to know each other.

Thanks to all the students and parents that came out, and especially to the new AALEAD'ers of this year meeting and getting to know others from AALEAD.

And also thank you to the volunteers and staff of AALEAD that came out to help!

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MOST Annapolis Fight for After School Programs Advocacy Night

On Monday March 15th, our Maryland Middle School and High School AALEAD'ers were able to represent the after school program to meet face-to-face with their state representatives to advocate for creating policies which support and expand out of school opportunities.

We were able to tour Annapolis and see where the State House and Senate assemble. Thank you especially to Maryland Delegate Roger Manno for meeting with the students to hear what they had to share, and for giving us a private tour of the General Assembly. They will always remember that experience.

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