The UWATX Volunteer Project Leader (VPL) middle school program aims to transform youth into active community leaders by teaching them leadership skills they need to make lasting change in their communities. This week, 35 middle school VPL students from the three campuses we work on attended a celebration of their accomplishments at Kerbey Lane Cafe. They ordered pancakes and breakfast tacos from a special menu featuring a letter of encouragement and congratulations from Kerbey Lane’s CEO and UWATX Board Member, Mason Ayer. These students from Mendez, Webb and Decker Middle Schools completed 20 volunteer projects this year, ranging from making seed balls and beautifying their neighborhoods, to packing hygiene kits for the homeless and leading a craft station for refugee children. After breakfast, students received special certificates, t-shirts and journals to document their ideas on how to continue making Austin greater. As with any VPL meeting, the event concluded with a peer shoutout exercise we call “brag on your neighbor.” Students and volunteers recognized the contributions of each other that made this year both successful and fun. Below are some messages left by the students on a reflection board from the event: “Thank you for helping me help others” “Thank you for showing me skills I didn’t know I had” “Because of VPL, I know that I want to grow up to be a philanthropist” Want to make a difference in the community? Visit HandsOnCentralTexas.org, the largest volunteer network in Central Texas, and find opportunities that interest you!
Read MoreBecome a Mentor For a Local Student
January is National Mentoring Month. Middle School Matters recognizes that each student is different and therefore has individual needs in order to be successful in high school. One of the many important support services offered through the Middle School Matters program is mentoring. United Way partners with two research-based nonprofits, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas and Communities In Schools, to provide mentoring services to the students of Decker, Mendez and Webb Middle Schools. Students who are matched with a mentor see a rise in their class attendance, grades and overall satisfaction with school. In addition, adults who volunteer as a mentor see positive changes in their own lives as well. Alison, a graphic designer who has lived in Austin for two years, has learned a lot from her time mentoring. She has learned more about other cultural traditions, family dynamics, and herself. Alison has mentored Izzy, a 15-year-old student in Austin, for a little over one year. Izzy’s family originally signed her up for Big Brothers Big Sisters to help Izzy work through bullying issues and to set up a support network for her outside of school. Since Izzy and Alison have begun their journey together, Alison has noticed changes in Izzy’s behavior. “She has always been kind and caring, but had a hard time showing it before in school. Now, she is more confident in herself and able to share her creative and happy side.” Izzy and Alison first bonded over their love of art. On their first outing, Alison took […]
Read MoreTexas Mutual Donates Bikes to Middle School Students
As students and their families filled the Decker Middle School cafeteria last Thursday for an end-of-camp celebratory dinner, the camp’s English teacher welcomed families by giving a speech about the enduring memories of his summers spent at his Boy Scouts camp. The events that followed left our campers with their own bank of fond memories of a summer spent learning, building new skills and making new friends. Throughout the course of the night, students presented their summer work to their peers and families, showed younger siblings the collages they made and the personal stories they recorded, and stepped forward to receive awards and recognition for their hard work and leadership. Awards given to the students included the “Change Maker Award,” “Force for Good Award” and “Spirit of Service Award.” The final and most coveted award of the night carried much anticipation; students worked for weeks on creative projects for the chance to win a brand new bike. Texas Mutual Insurance Co. built 14 new bikes to give away to selected students at Decker, complete with encouraging cards, helmets and locks, all to support the summer learning initiatives of UWATX and the students who made the choice to return to school during the summer to continue their education. At Decker Middle School, camp staff saw the bike giveaway as an opportunity for the students to display their leadership and creativity by opting in to a bike contest. Students could either give an oral presentation, draw a picture or write an essay […]
Read MoreDecker Students Learn About Financial Stability with Chase Volunteers
Getting students thinking about making financial decisions at such a young age can be a challenge, but having knowledgeable and friendly volunteers makes it much easier! “Camp Raven” is UWATX’s free summer enrichment program at Decker Middle School, where each week students learn about an issue affecting their community and complete related educational activities with volunteers. Last week, seven Chase volunteers dedicated a total of 27 hours of their time at Camp Raven, where they led financial literacy games and activities for the campers. “ I chose to spend the most on food and healthcare because taking good care of my children is the most important thing to me.” — Kevin, 7th grade student There were two exercises that the children and volunteers participated in, a market simulation exercise and a budgeting exercise. The market simulation exercise was completed using food items such as fruit snacks, mints and juice that had different values. The students were divided into assigned groups and were classified as either buyers or sellers. Sellers had to come up with a price and strategy on how to sell their “products” for the greatest amount of dollars and create ads with the product information. The buyers group made transactions using fake money based on what the advertised prices were. Following the activity, students discussed what they learned in regards to their money making decisions. The budgeting activity taught the children how to budget their candy “money” by allocating them into realistic categories. Each student based their budgeting decisions on the idea […]
Read MoreSuccess Story: Kevin Rogel
What do you think of when you hear the word “philanthropist?” This year’s theme for employee campaigns is to “put away your top hats and monocles” and that “anyone can be a philanthropist.” We believe that whether you give $5 a year or $500,000 a year, you are a philanthropist; it is your giving spirit and earnest attempt to better your community that grants you this fancy-sounding title. We could find no better example of this than Kevin Rogel, who graciously agreed to let us share his story. We met Kevin, 16, a few years ago when he was a student at Webb Middle School. He joined our Volunteer Project Leader group, which teaches middle school students to not only give back, but to design and lead their own volunteer projects. While on a tour of the middle school, H-E-B senior vice president Jeff Thomas heard Kevin speak about the program and was impressed with his confidence, philanthropic heart and always positive attitude. Thomas told Kevin later that day, “when you hit 16…look me up” for an open position awaiting him at H-E-B. Mere days after Kevin’s 16th birthday last April, Kevin filled out his application with the help of his mentor and UWATX Director of Volunteer Engagement, Nikki Kruger–and as Thomas promised, he was hired as a Customer Service Associate. Unfortunately, Kevin awoke a few days later in a hospital in San Antonio with more than 40% of his body covered in third-degree burns. While helping his mom cook, he slipped […]
Read MoreSummer Learning Day 2015
Many adults still vividly recall their time at summer camp: canoeing, arts & crafts, field day and all of the social aspects that make summer camp such an unforgettable experience. Unfortunately, these enriching programs are often reserved for middle to upper class students, as many low-income students are unable to participate due to high cost, family obligations, lack of knowledge of high quality programs or other barriers. When students are unable to access summer learning opportunities, they lose out on much more than fun. Researchers from John Hopkins estimate that roughly two-thirds of the achievement gap between low-income and higher-income students in the ninth grade is a result of unequal access to summer learning opportunities during elementary school. Low-income students lose an average of more than two months of reading achievement, while middle and high-income students actually improve their reading skills over the summer, according to the same study. This lost time contributes to the lower high school graduation rates among low-income students, which in turn sets many children up for lifetimes of economic hardship. Additionally, summer learning opportunities have been linked to increases in self-esteem, self-confidence and motivation, meaning low-income students have fewer opportunities to develop these crucial soft skills. Central Texas educators are doing their part to work to close this gap. In Austin, there are currently 64 summer programs hosted by 60 different organizations dedicated to expanding access to summer learning opportunities. These programs have enrolled over 32,000 youth and represent the combined efforts of school districts, […]
Read MoreAccenture Employees Inspire Future Women Leaders
Accenture is one of the top consulting firms in the world that brings first-class business and technology strategy to companies and organizations to carry them into the future. Accenture employees invest in local solutions for our community as well by giving back their time to speak with students who are the future. Just before school let out for summer, the Women’s Employee Resource Group at Accenture took time away from their jobs to pay a special visit to the students at Decker Middle School. The Women’s ERG shared personal stories about their lives, their careers and how they got to where they are today with the students. Accenture employees first spoke with the Decker AVID Class about college readiness before eating lunch and discussing common interests with the Tech Girls Club. Accenture employees not only got to know the students they support through employee campaign better, but also got the chance to inspire each of them by sharing their own unique stories of how they became successful women in the corporate tech world. Katy Aus, UWATX’s Out-of-School Time Coordinator for Target Graduation, said: “Students see their future when professional volunteers come out. The Tech Girls Club all have aspirations of being women in the fast-paced tech field. Accenture volunteers are real models of that and show how you can reach this goal from all different paths.” Decker Middle School is located in Manor ISD and is one of three schools UWATX offers intervention and support services to students through the […]
Read MoreYLS Chaperones Webb Middle School Dance
As the school year comes to a close and students have summer tunnel vision, most adults would assume that they are thinking about anything but school. This is not the case at Webb Middle School. Managing the Young Leaders Society for UWATX has allowed me to get a glimpse into the lives of middle school students at Webb and they continue to truly impress me. On June 2nd, the Young Leaders Society volunteered to chaperone the 8th grade graduation dance for the second year in a row. The dance immediately followed a graduation ceremony, where several Webb students were honored for academic achievement. As I listened the names being called of the students that worked so hard to gain success, I could not help but be moved. As an employee of United Way for Greater Austin and a donor, I could clearly see the impact this organization has on Webb, Mendez and Decker Middle Schools at that graduation ceremony. After the last name had been called and the parents made their way down to congratulate their graduates, other YLS volunteers and I headed into the cafeteria to get set up for the dance. Members of the YLS executive committee as well as potential YLS members mixed and mingled while we set out punch, tacos and a sheet cake the size of Texas. After a few minutes all of the middle school students filled the room, and once the DJ started playing you could tell it was going to be an […]
Read MorePrincipal Alejandro Góngora Wins OST Award
The end of the school year is a time to stop and celebrate successes, and that’s especially true for Austin’s Out-of-School Time (OST) community who works tirelessly year-round. Each year, the Central Texas Afterschool Network (CTAN) bring students, families, providers and funders together for the Breakfast of Champions event, to recognize excellence and the important work these collaborators do. Educators and afterschool professionals submitted more than 100 nominations this year to nominate OST champions in 12 award categories. The winners are chosen by a nominations committee, made up of volunteer OST leaders and staff. This year, it’s a privilege for UWATX and the Target Graduation team to join the larger community in applauding one of our key partners, Principal Alejandro Góngora, who received the award for “Best OST Collaborator.” Principal Góngora of Decker Middle School in Manor ISD has been a tireless collaborator with United Way through a variety of channels related to our Middle School Matters program. This award is a testament to his responsiveness, creativity and commitment – especially after the loss of federally funded afterschool programming last year. OST staff from Camp Fire and our Volunteer Project Leadership (VPL) programs are quick to commend Principal Góngora for his willingness to collaborate on events, participate alongside students in the classroom and assist with everything from communication to translation of materials. We’re grateful to Principal Góngora for embracing collaboration before, during and after the school day. This award is a reflection of his leadership and the hard work of […]
Read MoreSaatchi & Saatchi Donates to UWATX During SXSW Panel
Saatchi & Saatchi don’t just talk the talk. They hosted a SXSW panel on Sunday titled “Do Good. Feel Good: The Science of Altruistic Acts,” and showed the audience firsthand exactly how doing good can make you feel good–by ending the panel with a check presentation of $1,000 to UWATX! Saatchi & Saatchi is an international global communications and advertising agency network with 140 offices in 76 countries. S&S’s global chief creative officer, Kathy Delaney, sat on the panel along with Devon Eyer of Johnson & Johnson, Michael Norton of Harvard Business School and Sebastian Buck of Enso. UWATX development officer and Young Leaders Society manager, Keith Richardson, accepted the check on behalf of United Way. The $1,000 will be put toward the YLS $180K Challenge to provide full-time service coordinators at three local middle schools. Keith’s perspective of the panel: “When first hearing the title of the panel, “Do Good. Feel Good: The Science of Altruistic Acts,” I knew I would be impacted by the content. As the manager for YLS, I’m always looking for ways to engage our donors more with our work, so linking volunteerism to positive physical effects hit home. The panel discussion began when moderator Kathy Delaney welcomed everyone in attendance by introducing the topic as a “different kind of wellness.” Kathy’s opening statement, “If you want to be happier and healthier, giving back or doing good is essential,” truly set the tone for the panel. The first part of the panel focused on examples […]
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