AALEAD's Maryland 'Discovery Portal' Summer Program kicks off

Students in the Maryland Middle School program, as well as other from schools we haven't yet begun to serve, begain their summer program at the Wheaton Community Recreation Center last week. This year's program centers on several on-going projects which include focus on space exploration, computer program and art.

The main focus of our summer program continues to be "Health and Wellness", so student get ample opportunities for outside exercise and we've schedule guest speakers to talk about nutrition and fitness.

After a few team building exercises where we got a chance to meet one another, We've already begun several cooperative programs with Pyramid Atlantic and VisArts that we're hoping the youth in the program will be very engaged with. Check back often for more updates!

---

October 24, 2008 Community Service: Gilchrist Community Center

Mentors, mentees, and student volunteers gathered on a Friday afternoon to create a Welcome Wall at the Gilchrist Center for Cultural Diversity!

Here is the wall they were tasked with decorating:

Thanks to donations from Home Depot, there were large styrofoam panels that students used as their base.
Each group was responsible for one of the letters in "W-e-l-c-o-m-e."

Students included flags, maps, and pictures to decorate the welcome wall. The word "Welcome" was also translated into various languages!

The last group was tasked with making the exclamation point, using AA LEAD's logo!

Slowly but surely, the pieces of the wall all came together as students carried their panels into the room.