WELCOME TO IMAGINE SYRACUSE!
Join the fight to give all children equal access to arts and enrichment!
“…The child must know he is a miracle,
That since the beginning of the world
There hasn’t been,
And until the end of the world
There will not be,
Another child like him.”
-Pablo Casals, Spanish Cellist and Conductor, 1876-1973
For the last year, Imagine Syracuse has provided free after-school arts and enrichment to more than 60 children between the ages of 5 and 14 years old in the Near Westside neighborhood-- the 9th poorest census tract in the COUNTRY.
Between school budget cuts and no proximity to enrichment in the neighborhood, children who grow up here have had little or no access to the kinds of creative and life-affirming opportunities afforded suburban children. Until now.
Joining forces with Huntington Family Centers, Inc.’s daycare program in the heart of the Near Westside, Imagine Syracuse provides hands-on experiences and workshops in the visual and performing arts, dance, poetry, music and career exploration. In exchange, our children gain a sense of accomplishment, develop positive life skills, and inspire hope in the struggling community around them.
We are proud of what we have accomplished as a community of volunteers, families, children and caring professionals. We have seen the power of dance, painting, sculpture, music, poetry and art empower children to find their own voice, establish their own form of creative self-expression, increase their own confidence and use it to change their lives. As a result, their families, their schools and the community around them are richer, more vibrant and more inspiring.
Our goal: to capitalize on existing community and personal assets in this vibrant neighborhood, bolstering their efforts to provide an impermeable net of positive support and innovative programming for school-age children.
Imagine
LIFE i.s.(Career and Community Connections) – Weekly guest speakers and/or field trips designed to expose children to career opportunities and experiences outside their typical environment.
DANCE i.s. (African Dance, Hip Hop, Ballet) –Dance teams are positive support networks that build self esteem, skill and community. Hip Hop, Krump (both positive forms of physical expression of emotions within the African-American culture), and Ballet and Modern Dance are led by trained
ART i.s. (Imagine Me, My Family, My Neighborhood, My Dreams) Students are invited to explore these aspects of themselves and their world through digital photography, mural painting, graffiti as art, digital filmmaking and editing, sculpture, storyquilting and poetry.
Yes, we’ve already seen anecdotal results marking great changes in attitude, behavior and commitment in the children we serve.
But we know we can do better.
Approximately 99% of elementary and pre-K children on the Near Westside live in poverty. Many of these children are being raised by single parents, grandparents or other relatives. Many live in homes or apartments that are shared with other families, or go home to dark, empty apartments at night. Tragically, these children spend their youth navigating the physical and emotional hurdles of poverty, hunger, substance abuse, domestic violence, gang activity, crime and poor health care.
The majority of the families we serve have at least one working parent who spends every day navigating public transportation to get to their first, second and sometimes third job, looking for childcare, and trying to get food on the table.
At the end of the day, their children still face a daunting 33% graduation rate from their neighborhood high school.
The facts stand: children from low-income families are more likely to fail, and be allowed to fail. Children born into poverty are likely to continue that cycle of poverty. How can we bolster these families’ efforts to raise proud, productive children? How can we capitalize on their children’s innate talents and dreams?
Research strongly suggests that minimizing investments in arts programming to bolster math, science and language programs in our public school system will not strengthen our children’s academic performance and commitment to school. In fact, in a study published by leading cognitive psychologist Eric Oddleifson in “The Learning Revolution,” there is rigorous evidence that schools that dedicate less than 25% of the school day to the arts produce students with academically inferior abilities.
Imagine
The key word is COLLABORATION. We asked community members to define their needs. They answered:
1. More opportunities for the children
2. A community center where this rich, culturally diverse neighborhood can gather, organize, create commerce and find ways to sustain itself.
As a result, we have identified and are pursuing funding to purchase and renovate a 35,000 square- foot building in the heart of the neighborhood where we can truly work together with some of the city’s best dance, art and music organizations to provide life-changing opportunities and alternatives for low-income children and their families.
Imagine
As a result, children in our community will achieve:
1. Better academic performance and enthusiasm for learning and school
2. Fewer behavior issues in school and at home
3. Improved confidence and self esteem
4. Improved standardized testing results in core curriculum within the
5. Increased high school graduation rate for children in the Near Westside neighborhood from
6. Increased student participation in community projects and service.
Now, YOU have the opportunity to get in the game:
Investing in the proper education of a child’s mind, body and spirit RIGHT NOW can change the course of a life. We are asking for your investment today, knowing the returns are great.
Contributions will directly serve our mission of providing day-to-day art enrichment programming, teachers and weekly educational field trips.
Contributions to Imagine Syracuse are an investment that will produce life-changing dividends to the children we are serving, and the community they live in.
Join this fight today to keep Imagine
Thank you!
Jessie Keating, Executive Director
Imagine
315.243.6204
Jessie.keating@imaginesyracuse.com
ART i.s
Tuesdays 4-5
No comments:
Post a Comment