This summer, United Way For Greater Austin is funding a six-week blended enrichment program for middle school students in Manor. In partnership with Bank of America, a special cohort of incoming 9th graders will concentrate on career readiness and financial literacy as they prepare for high school. Students will not only learn about careers in the classroom, but will take weekly field trips to various businesses and organizations to learn about different career paths from the employees working in each field. Last week, the summer program kicked off with students visiting the state capitol to learn more about the political sector. The students took a tour of the capitol to learn more about the history of the building and Texas government. They learned some interesting facts when visiting the State Senate room, like how the Senate does not have a limit for debate which can cause a filibuster. (The longest filibuster in Texas happened in 1977 when a representative talked for 43 hours!) After the tour, students met with Miguel Liscano and Curtis Smith to learn about their career paths and experiences working in the capitol. Curtis Smith works as the Chief of Staff for Representative Terry Canales from District 40, and Miguel Liscano who works as the Committee Director for the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence for Representative Abel Herrero of District 34. Miguel and Curtis discussed how they started their careers through internships, working with a business or organization for a semester or summer to get both educational and real life experience in different fields. The […]
Read MoreMendez Summer Program Served 60 Students
This summer, students from Mendez Middle School pitched tents, made films, dissected frogs and went on service field trips to supplement their school-year learning and learn new skills. After running a successful summer program at Decker Middle School last year, United Way for Greater Austin made an additional investment in summer learning at Mendez Middle School in Dove Springs to contribute to an academically-engaged and adventure-filled summer experience for more than 60 middle school students. Boys & Girls Club of the Austin Area, 21st Century ACE Austin and a cohort of energetic and creative Mendez teachers worked side by side to lead students in projects that bolstered school-year learning and introduced new concepts and activities. In reading classes, students read a community novel about making tough choices, which they discussed enthusiastically in literature circles. This provided a safe space to discuss challenges such as social choices, gangs and family life, while also encouraging students to practice reading aloud and helping one another with word comprehension. In math class, students set out to find price estimates for a house, a car and an education, and then tied budgeting skills and internet research skills with their own, unique life ambitions to correspond to the importance of planning for the future. Afternoons allowed students the chance to build new friendships and exit their comfort zones by tackling projects like making their own films, learning about aviation, building a campsite in a survival scenario and much more. Vendors including Camp Fire, Phoenix Arising, Austin […]
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