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THE PROGRAM
The Melanie Thornton Youth Arts Foundation, a Gwinnett County based nonprofit organization, has partnered with Leaders of Tomorrow (L.O.T.) Youth and Community Center and I-CAN Studios to develop after school and summer programs for special education and at-risk regular education students in elementary through high school. The Success Programs Providing Opportunities for Talent (The SPOT) are designed to help put youth on the path to success – both in school and beyond.
Matching Individualized Academic Development (IAD) programs that use tutoring and homework help strategies to compliment the schools’ Individual Education Plans (IEP); and using the U.S. Department of Education/National Partnership for Quality Afterschool “Homework in Afterschool” tool kit to develop accurate, reliable communication and monitoring systems among the day-school teachers, families and the SPOT staff are key foundational components for academic improvement activities. This improvement is reinforced and enhanced by the usage of language arts, math and science knowledge and skills in a broad range of arts activities. Students and their families will have separate and joint activities and mentoring opportunities.
The SPOT’s primary goals are to:
Give students an inviting, safe environment to spend their out of school hours
- Improve student’s academic performance and desire to stay in school
- Develop student’s leadership potential and skills
- Improve student’s confidence and self image
- Increase family’s involvement in their children’s education process
Our goal is to identify at-risk youth in communities and offer positive support systems to assist them in avoiding the pitfalls that can derail their lives. The focus is slightly different at each age and developmental level but the mission remains the same; empower the young person to make positive choices in his/her life.
The Program
The SPOT will service school aged at risk and special needs youth from pre-k through eighth grade and will include homework assistance, tutoring, study skills training, testing skills training and arts enrichment. The program will run Monday through Friday from 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. onsite at elementary and middle schools, and at The Lilburn Cultural Arts Center, 4230 Lawrenceville Hwy. in Lilburn, Ga 30047.
Our program offers academic enrichment that will boost student performance during the regular school day. We make sure activities are engaging enough to keep students coming back. For Homework assistance and tutoring, our comprehensive program will be linked to the regular school program and other community support systems in order to yield compounded results.
**All of our staff members have gone through a rigorous interview and training process and must have passed a national criminal background check in order to work with children. Our insurance policy covers our programs, staff members and students both on site at The Lilburn Cultural Arts Center and at your site.
A typical day will look like this:
Each class of 15 students will be assigned a color (the purple group, for example) that stays with them through to the next grade or a switch in rooms.
Students will rotate through their daily activities by coded color.
1. When children arrive they receive an afternoon snack (20 minutes)
2. Homework/Tutoring sessions begin soon after (60 minutes). Tutors will be certified teachers from area scools and retired educators. Each day parents will receive a homework report that will list what their child had for homework that day, what they completed, what they did not complete and in which areas or tasks the child had questions or difficulties. The child’s teacher will be emailed a copy of the report.
3. Students, on their designated days (either Mon. & Wed. or Tue. & Thur.), attend an arts enrichment class (45 minutes).
Each enrichment cycle lasts for 6 weeks. Students will have an opportunity to sample each grade specific program during the time they are enrolled.
Pre-K through 1st: Grades 2 – 5:
- Music and Movement * French, Spanish, ESOL
- Ballet, Knee-Hi Hip-Hop * Hip-Hop & Pom-Pom Club
- Mixed Martial Arts * Mixed Martial Arts
- Art Appreciation * Dramatic Arts
- Puppetry Arts * Song writing
- Bullying Strategies * Bullying Strategies
- French, Spanish, ESOL * Shutterbug basics
Grades 6 -8:
- Animation/Cartoon Creation
- America’s Best Dance Crew
- Creative Writing/Playwriting
- Improv, comedy & Drama
- Photography
- Modeling
- Mixed Martial arts
- French, Spanish, ESOL
- Bullying Strategies
These activities are designed to: build skills in the arts, help students express themselves through the arts, make connections to history and culture, think and talk about works of art, integrate the arts with math, language arts, science and technology, and involve families and the community. Students will be encouraged to participate in two public performances each year.
4. On days when some students are participating in specific arts classes, all other students participate in fun learning activities in math, literacy, science, technology, test taking skills and arts appreciation, designed to strengthen their academic skills and peek their interest in learning. On non enrichment days students will have the opportunity to spend time with their mentors from the Super Star Mentoring Program.
5. Some programs may choose to offer their after school participants a hot supper.
6. Valuable soft skills and character building lessons and experiences are strategically weaved into the fabric of our curriculum. Along with academics & the arts our after school program students all learn how to:
Give your best effort, Be a good listener, Cooperate and be a caring person, Be respectful, Be responsible, Handle anger, Be a good citizen, Better focus, and MORE!
Every two weeks our instructors will add a new lesson as a part of their every day activity schedule. Our goal is to teach in a way that is so much fun and comfortable that our students won’t realize that they are learning.
7. Parents are able to sign-out and pick up their children between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m.
8. On Fridays students who have had a successful work week will be able to participate in the Friday Jam Session at the Lilburn Cultural Arts Center. Jam Sessions will consist of fun events for students where they will meet arts professionals and have the opportunity to express their creative passions; for example:
- Street Cred – A free style dance battle for street style dancers
- Rock the Mic – A rap contest for MCs to prove their skills
- Runway Strut – An opportunity for those interested in modeling to strut their stuff on the runway
- The SPOT Film Festival – Opportunity for amateur videographers to test market their short films
- B-Boy Cypher – Breakdance dancers bring out their competitive fire
- The SPOT Idol – Opportunity for singers to showcase their abilities
- Hip Hop Heaven – Hip Hop dancers & dance teams present their best Dance moves
- Beat Masters – Song writers and beat makers display their music
- Comedy Central – Amateur comedians test their new material
- Poetic Power – Opportunity for poets to read their latest poems
- Art Contest – Display your latest art work
- Friday Night Live – Talent show
Additional services the SPOT provides:
1. English as a Second Language, literacy, behavior management and modification, healthy eating, computer literacy, talking about sex and drugs, and other family focused classes and mentoring for parents of students enrolled in the program.
2. Incentives to students whose grades improve, continue to improve, and to students who graduate from Elementary to Middle School, Middle School to High School and High School. Community partners will provide gifts to those who are progressing through their educational process.
3. An opportunity for high school students to take part in the mentoring program or our intern program. Our intern program provides a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the fields of business management, non-profit management, education, communications, marketing, web design, and program planning while contributing to the community. Internships offer students and invaluable opportunity to explore career options, enhance skills, network and learn from seasoned professionals.
Super Star Mentoring Program
Research shows that a mentor relationship can be one of the most important relationships in a child's development. Mentoring helps children become all they can be by helping to build self-esteem, self-confidence, interpersonal communication skills, social values, aspirations, and scholastic achievement. Our mentors help children; through personal, one-on-one time, once a week; develop their leadership skills and unique qualities to reach their full potential.
The Super Star Mentoring Program engages students, faculty, staff, and business professionals in an environment that promotes academic excellence, leadership development, and career exploration for young women and men. Furthermore, the program supports students’ continuous growth and development, the transfer of knowledge, and the building of capability in our protégés and mentors.
The Super Star Mentor Program is designed to help Proteges:
- Learn to take charge of themselves and their lives. They learn to focus on what they can influence rather than what is out of their control.
- Learn to demand the best of themselves and accept responsibility for their actions and attitudes.
- Learn the importance of teamwork.
- Understand and pursue academic integrity
- Learn to be patient with themselves and with others
- Learn to value diversity by being confident in themselves so they are free to accept the differences of others.
- Learn when to work independently and when to ask for needed help.
Protégés and mentors learn that they have the ability to make a difference in their lives and someone else’s life.
Enduring relationships between protégés and their mentors are developed through a mutual respect for different points of view and the different stages in a career pathway.
Our Mentoring Program, Super Star Mentors, provide at risk youth with mentors who are professionals in the arts and entertainment industry. These artists and arts educators will serve as volunteer mentors and will be paired with students to attend specific performances in the Atlanta area. Students will participate in facilitated group discussions immediately following each performance, and on occasion will have the chance to meet the guest artists. Mentors will also spend time and provide guidance pertaining to life skills and teach the business and entrepreneurial benefits of a career in the arts. This unique learning experience is designed to create a safe environment in which to discuss and share ideas, values, and feelings, which the arts stir, and to encourage leadership and critical thinking. This year-long program will culminate in a final event for participants, parents, and mentors.
Our Partners:
Bright From the Start - Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (Bright from the Start) is responsible for meeting the child care and early education needs of Georgia's children and their families. One of Bright From the Start’s responsibilities is to oversee the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program and the Summer Food Service Program. Food for our programs is provided by Bright From the Start.
I-CAN Studios, Corp.- I-CAN Studios amplifies, coaches and cultivates the skills of aspiring performing artists in dance, theatre and visual arts. They foster creativity, discipline, dedication, physical fitness and responsibility to community and self. Our partnership with them allows us to administer and oversee our onsite and mobile arts enrichment programs.
L.O.T Youth & Community Center- The learning resources at L.O.T. center emphasize education, assimilation of family and cultural values, as well as overall humanitarian support to the entire community. Our partnership with L.O.T. assists us in administering educational, arts enrichment and mentoring programs in Latino communities. www.lotcenter.org
Costs:
Programs at schools or churches will be administered completely by The Melanie Thornton Youth Arts Foundation, Inc. and will not cost your organization anything. Staff, transportation, food and supply costs are incurred by the foundation and its partners. Your organization only provides the space to host the program.
Parent’s cost for the program is $45 per week per child. A sliding scale between $25 and $40 is available for families with more than one child attending. This fee covers administrative costs. There are a limited number of half and full scholarships that we will provide based on financial need.
How do we get started:
- To start a program at your school, community center or church: Your organization will need to complete and sign a memorandum of agreement. Once completed and submitted it will take approximately two to four weeks for the program to begin. The short delay allows time to advertise the program and register participants. Parents will be able to register and start their children in the program on your site immediately.
- To enroll your child in a program at The Lilburn Cultural Arts Center: There is a simple application parents complete and pay a $20 registration fee and a $15 supply fee. Children can begin within a week or two. Parents may register online at www.foundationforyoutharts.org or at our centers between 4pm and 7pm.
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