Volunteering with Thomson Reuters

This past Friday, October 23, a handful of our SCORES participants joined volunteers from the local Thomson Reuters office for Make a Difference Day. Both groups and our staff gathered at the Dellwood Indoor Soccer Arena for a day of poetry, soccer, dancing, and fun!

The day started off with both groups creating their own group "I am" or "we are" poems. These poems were a great way for the teams to practice together and to identify unique characteristics of the individuals in the group or the group itself.

After this session, our volunteers were finally able to interact with the kids by learning every body's name. First, everyone gathered in a circle in the middle of the soccer field. Next, Matt announced his name along with an adjective which started with the same letter as his first name (Mathematical Matt). The next person to his left had to repeat Matt's first name and adjective along with his or her own. This continued until the last person in the circle went through and recited every one's adjective and name. Some of our favorites included "Mississippi Marcel", "Ridiculous Rhett" and "Sassy Sean".

Next, everyone rotated between three separate stations: 1) a modified game of sharks and minnows that taught everyone about the importance of staying hydrated (water instead of soda!); 2) A World Cup station that educated everyone on different countries and geographies, which also involved teams of two competing to be the last team standing; 3) A gauntlet station where the participants had to evade defenders trying to steal their ball away.

For our delicious and nutritious lunch, we had sandwiches from Subway, 100% juice, Gatorade or water, fresh fruit, and either vegetable root or Sun chips.

Everyone would need all that energy for our next activity, a high-intensity dance workout called Zumba. Zumba incorporates merengue, salsa, cumbia, reggaeton into a very fun, very high energy workout for all ages.

Our day concluded with a soccer scrimmage that spanned the entire field. Let's just say that some of our kids and volunteers were fairly winded after the match!

We will be posting some photos from the event in the near future and would like to thank Thomson Reuters again for spending a day to support our program. Hopefully we'll be able to partner with you again in the future!

The Afterschool Alliance just posted the results of their in-depth study, "America After 3PM," which examines the availability of after-school programs and the current need for them. Their research indicates that 15 million children are unsupervised after school, and that the parents of 18 million recognize the importance of after-school programs and would enroll their kids if programs were available.

To view their key findings, click here. An interactive map and statistics for each state will be available at their website on October 15th.

The Campaign for Educational Equity recently produced a report entitled "Can After-School Programs Help Level the Academic Playing Field for Disadvantaged Youth?"

As this review suggests, rates of participation in after-school programs remain relatively low among disadvantaged and minority youth - the very youth who may be most in need of academic assistance. The report also examines the current state of after-school programs, and attempts to answer their title question.

To view a PDF of the full report, click here.

Physical Education, Activity and Academic Performance

A 2007 report from our friends at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation further highlights the need to fight for PE and active after-school programs. According to the report, "...physical education has been substantially reduced -- and in some cases completely eliminated -- in response to budget concerns and pressures to improve academic test scores."

Most of us (especially SCORES folks) know that 1/3 of children of teens is overweight or obese. Yet very few elementary schools are providing an adequate amount of physical activity. The belief of some school administrators is simply to replace the time devoted to PE and replace it with additional classroom instruction in the hopes that this increase will lead to improve standardized test scores. The report cities 5 controlled experimental studies in three countries that suggests,

Sacrificing physical education for classroom time does not improve academic performance.

Other conclusions from the report include:

• In some cases, more time in physical education leads to improved grades and standardized test scores.
• Physically active and fit children tend to have better academic achievement.
• There are several possible mechanisms by which PE and regular physical activity could improve academic achievement, including enhanced concentration skills and classroom behavior.
• Additional research is needed to determine the impact of physical activity on academic performance among those who are at highest risk for obesity in the U.S., including African-American, Latino, Native American, Asian American, and Pacific Islander children, as well as children living in lower-income communities.

Follow the link for the complete report.

Fall Frenzy Re-Cap

Everyone on the SCORES team wants to thank all of the parents, teachers, volunteers, and Saint Louis University for helping with our Fall Frenzy 2009 celebration. All the games and festivities went smoothly and we managed to get through the day without any rain (there was a good amount of wind, however).

The stations included:

1. Soccer Drills
2. The REI Web of Life: Students discussed how nature, people, and communities are connected to one another.
3. Face Painting and Operation Food Search
4. Parents vs. Kids Soccer Scrimmage
5. Dancing to the Beat w/ SCORES parents

It was great to see the parents interacting with our poet-athletes, the volunteers facilitating each station, and the coaches keeping everyone organized and motivated throughout the afternoon. We estimate that about 15 volunteers, 40 parents, and over 100 kids came out for our kickoff event. An additional thanks goes out to Dream Center for supplying and cooking our turkey dogs!

Our SCORES photographer, Wendi Fitzgerald, took a lot of pictures throughout the afternoon so please check them out at our Facebook fan page by clicking on the link to the right [coming soon!].