Have you seen the King Street Center video?

Here's the link!
http://vimeo.com/27842947

We are so grateful to the crew at Mt. Mansfield Media and to an anonymous donor on our Board of Directors who made this happy. A shout-out to Martha Maksym, Phil Daniels, Tim Halvorson, Linda Wellings, Jake Agna and to the Board members (and of course the kids!) who were interviewed. Thanks, as always, for your partnership. We feel like this 7 minutes of story-telling truly shows the heart of what we do here at King Street Center.

We've been using the video at small events to help with volunteer recruitment, friend-raising and fund-raising... but now we want to share it with the world!

And, Omar... well. We just think you're amazing.

So, you might remember that King Street Center was the beneficiary to the 2012 Laura Kate Winterbottom Wine Tasting and Auction last spring? With the funds raised, King Street Center was able to hire Teaching Artist, Sandra Hawkes, to work with children on-site all summer long. Boy, the kids just loved Sandy. And, they loved, loved, loved creating art.

Sandy taught the kids all sorts of different techniques - a new adventure every day. But, Sandy is a teacher - so she understands the importance of building upon experiences and skills. So, while kids got to bring home their own pieces of art all summer long, they also worked on a long-term project that stayed at King Street Center - a mosaic.

King Street staff were pretty blown away by this project. Not only was it huge - and beautiful - but the kids worked quietly and patiently on it for weeks. It was almost like meditation for them. What we didn't know was that Sandy had reached out to the parents of Laura Kate Winterbottom. (For the tragic story of how the Laura Kate Winterbottom Memorial Fund came to be, read here). Sandy, knowing that her presence at King Street Center was inspired by the life of Laura Winterbottom, reached out to Laura's parents. She invited them to contribute small pieces, emblems, "tesserae" of Laura's life.

So, as you walk in to King Street Center as a child, a parent, a volunteer, a friend - look up and look closely.

See if you can find Laura's butterfly barrette, made of beads and porcupine quills. There is also her dragonfly hairpin. Both were chosen because they represent the beauty and brevity of life. Laura's button with the slogan "Extinct is Forever" succinctly captures Laura's concern for the environment. Ned and JoAnn Winterbottom were recently in Burlington for the annual Laura's March. Their visit also coincided with Laura's birthday. To honor their daughter, they decided to start their day at King Street Center to see the mosaic up in all its glory. A pretty humbling moment for all of us here. Thank you kids, thank you Sandy, and thank you to the Winterbottom family for bringing art to King Street Center.

Jake Agna Award

Back on August 2, Frank Willis was presented with the Jake Agna Award.

His mentor, Mark Johnson, gave the follwing speech. Needless to say, there were definitely some misty eyes in the crowd! Congratulations, Frank.

"My name is Mark Johnson, I have been paired with Frank Willis in the Jr\Sr Buddy mentor program for the past 5 years, and I was asked to say a few words. 

The Jake Agna Award is presented annually to a King Street Center youth who exhibits a high level of leadership, engagement, curiosity, humor, teamwork and respect for self and others.

I have to admit, when I read about the Jake Agna award, I pictured someone who “never gets out of line”, is always on the honor roll, is “really easy to deal with”.  And there are young men and women who fit this mold………….and then there is Frank Willis.

When I first met Frank in 6^th grade, I noticed some things right away…. his energy, his openness to trying new things, a variety of interests, and the ability to tell a good story.  His grades were not great in Middle school, he did not participate in many organized activities, and he sometimes annoyed people… on purpose (yes, even King Street staff).  Over the first year we knew each other, I began to notice other things…. When he did sit down to do homework, he didn’t rush or scribble…he did a neat, complete job… and sometimes it got handed in.  When he attended an activity (like the King Street Science Thursdays program), he absorbed information quickly, he was smart, he “got it”.  Around the house, he was quick to pitch in and help…he enjoyed life’s adventures and showed it.   

Frank has a support system: a caring mother, his aunt and uncle in Rutland, the people here at King Street, his church community, teachers and his friends including me. But – even with a support system, it is easy for young people to make bad choices: in school, at home, around town.  It is easy to make a mistake, then compound that mistake, to get derailed…to stop trying.

Frank has consistently made good choices, and has taken advantage of the opportunities he has been given.  When he does make mistakes (as we all do), he comes back the next day with a positive attitude. His behavior has opened doors….he began as a Burton Chill participant, Jim Young negotiated an extra year for him in the program, and Frank was eventually chosen by Burton Snowboards to represent Burlington at a Chill summer camp in Oregon. Frank works harder in school then he once did…he was named outstanding freshman at BHS in Social Studies.   He has worked for years at the lemonade stand, and is now assistant manager…and with Jake’s years of instruction and encouragement, Frank joined the BHS tennis team.  People help Frank along the way, but he moves things forward, he does his homework, he practices his tennis, he stays on track.

If I am making Frank sound like a perfect, boring, nose-to-the-grindstone, goody-goody, then I am painting a poor likeness.   Some of the criteria in the Agna award….engagement, curiosity, humor……are definite strong suits.  Frank will at laugh at you, and at himself. Frank is generous….if he has $20 in his pocket, he will share it with you…immediately, and till it is gone.  Frank is a perceptive and loyal friend, and he has a diverse set of friends. You could be Frank’s friend….it is easy, and fun.

So, when I REREAD the criteria for the reward, I realized that Frank is an excellent choice…he is a leader and role model.  Thank you King Street for recognizing Frank’s achievements. 

Summer Reading - Check!

Afterschoolers work hard on their summer reading.  This group read Phineas L. MacGuire . . . Erupts! by Frances O'Roark Dowell, and as a final project, they made a papier mache volcano and then exploded it.

More Prep for Fashion Show

Fashion Show in Progress

Fashion Show Prep

We're getting ready for a fashion show at King Street, and that means drawing!

What we do in Teen Tech Workshop

Nate made this poster using Adobe InDesign for the Lemonade Stand because he noticed that a lot of customers were asking who the Stand supports.  What great marketing!

School, Sliding, Sunrise, and Names

So, in this one, Juim gets a bad grade in school, then she decides to study harder, and the next time, she gets an A+.

Sliding all over King Street.

The sun rises and sets, the moon comes out, the stars come out, and then the sun comes up again.

Testing out the app by writing names.

Music, Music, Music

Today was Garage Band on the iPads and music-writing websites on the computers.  Here's Zach's newest song, 'Another Hit'.


We also used a website called Tone Matrix.  Here's a link to Ali's song.

Here are a few other websites that we liked:

Tony-b Machine

Online DJ Mixer

Noteflight

DubStep Studio

Creating Music

Anyone have any others that they like?

Hey Sandy, Your Art ROCKS!

Castle Campers checked out some work by Van Gogh before creating their own still lifes yesterday.  Some amazing art was the result.  We're so glad our art teacher Sandy is here this summer.

 Oh, and we also think Sandy's crazy-talented.  Check out this etching she made!

Safety Comics

 Apparently, we were very into learning lessons today in Tech Workshop.  For example, it's important to not be greedy: 

 It's also important to drive carefully:

 

And sometimes it's just fun to make funny faces:

Stop Motion Tuesday

A Glogging Welcome

The Volunteers for Peace started at King Street today, and in Tech Workshop, we made some glogs to celebrate their arrival. Welcome!

Bully and Rapunzel

Here's the movie we made about bullies:

And here's our version of Rapunzel:

Toontastic Tuesday

Some fun Toontastic movies from this morning's Tech Workshop.  This week, the kids did EVERYTHING on their own.

King Street News July 16

Comics that Might Fool You

So, we made comic books.  Don't let the comics fool you - everyone had a great day, and everyone who wanted to got to play Poptropica.  They always make me be the bad guy in their comics.

King Street News July 10

I Write the Songs . . .

Today's challenge: Garage Band on iPads.  Beyond fun.

By the way, does anyone out there know how to quickly post songs to blogger without having to turn them into movies?

Thursday = Movie Day

What happens when 10 afterschoolers get an hour to make a movie? Two movies that involve heroic rescues, of course!

King Street News - July 3rd

Loving the Toontastic!

For this morning's tech workshop, kids paired up and wrote stories together.  Here are two of our favorites: 

Ladybug Comics and Today's King Street News

We are SOOO busy having a great time at Castle Camp!

Today, the afterschoolers used this (AWESOME) video to inspire ladybug comics:

Here's what they came up with:

And, today's edition of the King Street News:

Comic Books in Castle Camp!

We spent some time getting to know the ComicBook! app during Castle Camp tech workshop today.

King Street News June 26

Three Little Pigs!

The Castle Camp staff is hard at work preparing for the kids to come back on Monday.  Yesterday, they had a technology workshop where they used the iPads to make different versions of The Three Little Pigs.  Think the campers will enjoy them?  We do!