Thursday Poem of the Week!

Alliteration Poem

She smells like a river of sugar,
Sweet then sour
She is some sort of a show,
Acting.
Her acts are all of a sweet girl
That’s all over the world
Her name is Shelly.
As sweet as can be,
She’s on every TV.
That’s Shelly,
And she’s friends with me.

by Niani Mendes, Grade 5
John Marshall Elementary School

Kids Corner: Dimitri Moore

Check out what Dimiti Moore, a 5th grader at Mattahunt Elementary, has to say about his experiences at SCORES and what advice he'd give future SCORES' student-athletes.

Thursday Poem of the Week!

In light of a recent rise in street violence in Boston, we ask that all of our readers and followers listen to the words of ASNE's poet-athletes as they convey how this violence affects their lives as children in our city, and as they propose messages of peace.

Gun Violence and Me

Blood is a word that starts with b,
I hope someone who’ll be shot will not be me.
Gun is a word
It starts with G
Gang members stop,
It hurts my community.
Violence is a word
It starts with V.
I hate that word
You can already see.

Ciara O.

Gun Violence and Me

You and me will never be free
We will never see a day without this violence
Or a day with some peace and silence
There is something we can do
And everything starts with…YOU!!

Geniya R.

Hats off to the Henry Grew Elementary School in Hyde Park!

This week’s school spotlight story goes out to the ASNE poet-athletes at the Henry Grew School in Hyde Park, who have raised over $800.00 in proceeds to benefit and promote their student-led initiative Learning Outside the Classroom! The SCORES Students at the Grew creatively raised funds for field trips, performances and other fun activities by hosting two separate “Hat Days, one for students and one for teachers. On these Hat Days, event participants were able to wear a hat during the school day if they paid the $2.00 participation fee, thus allowing students and teachers to break the school’s “no hat” policy for this very special cause.

ASNE poet-athlete Dave was especially pleased with his team’s project because he got to “wear a Rock and Roll hat all day,” and because his team made lots of money. Olive, one of ASNE’s exemplary Coaches stated that the event “was a great success,” and relayed her enthusiasm by telling teachers at other schools to follow her team’s lead. In addition to raising money through Hat Day, ASNE’s poet-athletes also sold snacks and beverages during lunch in order to reach their impressive sum of $850.00.

Both Hat Days and the student’s entrepreneurship during lunch were implemented as part of ASNE’s spring season writing curriculum, Writing for the Community (WFTC). During this 10-week spring session, students at all of ASNE’s schools learn to use writing to affect social change. After studying the power of writing forms such as political poetry, letters for a cause, newspaper articles, petitions, and comics, our poet-athletes use these forms to write on behalf of their own causes. For ASNE’s poet-athletes at the Henry Grew School, where America SCORES is the only afterschool program in operation, this cause was to ensure that all Grew students were able to participate in fun activities both during school and afterschool, designating the SCORES students as both leaders and advocates for their peers.

Next up for ASNE’s poet-athletes at the Grew is ASNE’s Jamboree! year-end festival, where all of ASNE’s elementary school participants will display poster boards that document the impact they had on their respective communities as a testament to the combined impact of each SCORES team’s work. This years Jamboree! will take place on Saturday, June 5th at the Franklin Park Playstead.

Thursday Poem of the Week!

My Puzzle

I’m a puzzle
Because my pieces are different
There’s purple, yellow,
Hard working, funny,
Smart, El Salvadorian,
Penguin, American.
But that’s not all
I say that because
Its true.
I’m a puzzle
For someone to solve
Like an ocean
With deep,
Dark,
Secrets.

Jocelyn M.

Meet Lisa Rubin, an Elementary Writing Coach at The Jackson Mann and Our Coach of the Month!

How long have you been involved with SCORES?

I think this is my fourth season

And how long have you been teaching?

13 years

How did you decide to get into teaching?

I always knew I was going to be a teacher. I always felt kind of lucky when I was in college; all of my friends tried different majors but it was always a clear path for me

And what grade are you teaching?

I teach in a 4^th and 5^th grade combination SEI class, so that means it is a Sheltered English Immersion class. All of my kids are learning English and they are at incredibly varied levels of English acquisition, most of my kids are from Brazil but I’ve also got Angola represented, Cape Verdean, Portugal, Honduras, and Eritrea.

Did you decide that you wanted to get into bi-lingual education initially?

My first year of teaching, was a standard 4^th grade class and then after that, I was teaching in a school that was predominantly Puerto Rican and Mexican kids. I taught in a bilingual transitional class, because that was the only opening, and I just really really loved it. And then I got accepted into a fellowship program for bi-lingual ed., so that meant that it was free and that was my decision, it was either going to be reading certification or bi-lingual ed. And the free is what did it. But I love it, these kids are really unique, their parents are incredibly appreciative and warm and I love seeing the progression of English. It’s amazing how the kids pick it up and how they use the language.

How did you decide to get into SCORES?

Wow, it feels like a long time ago. I love the idea of community and team and I think a lot of times, at least in this school, which is so big and where the kids live all over the city, you loose something when you are not in a neighborhood school or affiliated with some sport or team activity. and I just know the enthusiasm for SCORES in the school was so big that when I had a chance to get involved, I jumped in on it. I just think it is such a good opportunity for these kids.

What is your favorite memory of SCORES in the last couple of years?

I have two:

So one of my current students was on SCORES last year and he is a great little soccer player and his family used to come and watch all of the games. It was great, we had tons of parents coming that year. I remember when he scored a goal and his dad ran out onto the field and picked him up and spun him around. His dad was so happy and everyone’s eyes welled up, it was beautiful. So that was great, I loved that!

We had a parent/teacher vs. kids game and at that time a lot of our parents were Brazilian, so big big soccer country. So, they came to this game decked out in their team jerseys, and shorts, shin guards, and cleats. They are out there and they took it so seriously. It was like a FIFA match out there, the kids were just watching the ball. I had to take a couple of parents aside and be like, “you’ve got to take it down a notch, relax.” So that was really fun!

Any last thoughts or words about SCORES?

I just think it’s great when the kids get to be part of the team and I love that that team is cross-grade, we do it with boys and girls together at this school and I really like that. I like that on game days they wear their jerseys and everyone knows that they are part of SCORES. I was talking to one little guy two days ago when I came into school, he’s at the bottom of the ramp at the school and he just looks really, the best word I can use is, glum.

I was like, “What’s wrong?”

He answered, “I don’t have any friends.”

I was like “Oh hun, have you been thinking this a long time or is this a new thought?” He was like, “for a long time, Ms. Rubin.”

And I was like, “well I know that sometimes when it feels like we have no friends, it is the worst feeling in the world,” and then I said, “let’s talk about some times you feel like you do have friends. What about SCORES?”

He was like, “yeah, those kids are my friends.” It just had never occurred to him. He was just in a different setting, he was in the cafeteria and he had no one to sit with at that moment. It’s like the end of the world and it is just very dramatic and depressing. Then he realized, those kids are on my team but they are also my friends.  That was cool to see!

 Hear from Lisa directly in her interview below from the 2009 SCORES National Poetry Slam - 

BOSTON MUSICIANS STAND UP FOR AMERICA SCORES NEW ENGLAND AND THE CITY’S AT-RISK YOUTH

On Sunday evening, May 2^nd, an intimate crowd gathered last night Upstairs at the Middle East in Cambridge for America SCORES New England’s STAND UP FOR SCORES Benefit Concert, which featured over 16 Boston-area musicians playing an eclectic mix of hip-hop, reggae, and rock.  America SCORES New England’s Education Director, Dwayne Simmons, also known as veteran rapper Dagha, headlined the event with Project Tree. Together, Dagha & Project Tree are known for their smooth reggae beats, “pure hip-hop wit, and concise lyricism.” Other performers included DJ IN N’ OUT, Sir Dilla, MC Moe Pope, and the internationally-acclaimed Agari Crew.

More than anything else, the event showcased a group of inspiring local talent who are using their art as a means to benefit the Boston community, both through their positive hip-hop narratives and their commitment to America SCORES New England’s mission. An example of this dedication was Agari Crew member Mark Merren’s response after being thanked for his participation in the event, a gesture he kindly rebuffed by stating “C’mon, now. We’ll do anything for the kids.”

These 16 performers epitomize the under-lying theme of the STAND UP FOR SCORES Benefit Concert and the creative writing curricula taught to all of SCORES’ 660 Boston public school student participants—that the voice is a powerful tool for change. Though the art of hip-hop often suffers on the academic front, where it is largely ignored as an accredited form of expression, these musicians stand as a clear reversal of negative rap stereotypes. Through their devotion to utilizing hip-hop as a means to inspire the younger generation, the STAND UP FOR SCORES musicians prove that hip-hop is a positive forum where creativity can be freely expressed and thus a vital tool for the empowerment of all youth. 

Dagha & Project Tree

 Moe Pope