Help our Alumni Help Others!

Open Doors Academy May Newsletter

Issue: # 18

May, 2010

Greetings ODA Supporters,

The end of the year is quickly upon us! It is hard to believe we have already moved quickly through an entire year with four sites in operation! In April, we had a wonderful family night at the Great Lakes Science Center and thanks to the Owens Group, our families will enjoy seeing the new Karate Kid movie next week, before it goes public! We will end the school year with a cookout in June and End of the Year Trip to Fun N' Stuff. Normally this would be the end until fall, however, this year will be the first year we launch our summer program with camps starting immediately after we finish the school year!

We are overjoyed with our 2010 graduating senior class! Be sure to see the list of strong colleges our seniors will be attending starting in the fall! We are incredibly proud of them!

Finally, before closing, I ask that you consider a financial contribution to the Harlan Scholarship Fund. For our alumni this is one of the most important weeks of the year for them and they are eager to head down to Harlan, Kentucky to build homes for families in need. They need your support to help them get there! With 88% of our families at or below the poverty line, we need your support to offer them this opportunity! Please consider a partial or full scholarship for one of our alumni!

Thank you for your continuing support! We wouldn't be where we are today, without you!

Sincerest Regards,

Annemarie M. Grassi, M.S.Ed.
Executive Director

SERVICE LEARNING SCHOLARSHIPS NEEDED!

The annual Harlan, Kentucky Service Trip is a rite of passage for many of our alumni. It is the reason many of our youth remain in the program for all three years. The opportunity to travel to the Appalachian Mountains to help build homes for families in need has become an annual tradition and a very important part of our curriculum over the last five years. It has become so popular that we have expanded the trip to two weeks during the summer, taking approximately 16 kids each week.

Make no mistake, it is hard work! Youth are awoken at 6:45am each day and work a full seven hours, Monday through Friday. In addition, youth are placed into teams and expected to carry their weight around the cabins. Each team has chores to be completed and take turns preparing meals, cleaning the cabin, and taking care of one another throughout the week. Throughout the week we engage in cultural awareness exercises and experiences, community building, and group processes.

The Harlan Service Learning Trip is not built into the general operating budget for Open Doors and is paid through individual student contribution and corporate/ Individual scholarships. In order to participate each student must come up with $400 for the full week. This cost covers COAP (Christian Outreach for Appalachian People) administrative fees, food, lodging, and transportation. Open Doors offers full and partial scholarships to youth, based on need and availability of corporate support. As our program has expanded, so have the needs of the families we are serving.

Based on the three new communities we are serving, we are in need of scholarship support to ensure that our youth get the opportunity to participate in this experience. Our goal is to obtain 27 full scholarships, so that each youth gets the opportunity to experience giving back to others.

Please consider providing a scholarship to a student (partial or full) your support would be greatly appreciated. A Full Scholarship is $400 and covers food, transportation, lodging, and administrative fees for COAP.

To scholarship a youth (partial or full), please send a check payable to Open Doors Academy to:

Open Doors Academy
2460 Fairmount Boulevard, Suite 202
Cleveland, Ohio 44106

To set up a scholarship via credit card, please contact our office at
(216) 229-1900, ext. 105. If you have any questions, please contact Annemarie Grassi at agrassi@opendoorsacademy.org.

Students in the News

COLLEGE BOUND SENIORS...

Congratulations
Open Doors Academy Class of 2010!

Tatiana Dubose- Butler, Harvard University majoring in Psychology
Alex Miller, Columbia University majoring in biochemistry and hispanic studies
Walter Quiesser, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Adria Adams, Akron University
Marcus Primes, Purdue University majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in Spanish
Lydia Craddock, Armstrong Atlantic State University majoring in art education
Ashley Grimes, Emory University
Emily King, Oberlin College majoring in International Studies
Taylor Reynolds, Kent State University majoring in Elementary Education
Rienna Scott, Bowling Green State University, majoring in Pre-Veterinary Medicine
Donald Thomas, United States Marines, specialization in Intelligence and Logistics will be studying art, fashion design and business.
Lache Thomas, Lincoln University, majoring in pharmacology
Liam Corrigan, Cleveland State University

What is Happening at Open Doors Academy?

Launch Pad - In partnership with Little Jacket Communications the Open Doors students are launching an organic web-based project management system that they are calling Launch Pad. Under the system the students are able to brainstorm project ideas, maintain a project management system, communicate with peers on their team and peers at other sites, and produce a project that they will launch at the end of the year celebration in June! When asked how you would describe Launch Pad, Roger Frank said, "It is Facebook on Steroids"... the kids are loving the opportunity to truly express their entreprenuerial style!

Boot Camp with Mr. Mujaheed - three of our four sites are working out weekly with Mr. Mujaheed, personal trainer and professional boxer, in an effort to make exercise fun and demonstrate the importance of physical fitness. Students are learning the core drills that are important to health, while still having fun learning new double dutch skills, team work, and encouraging each other to keep at it, even when it gets tough!

Believability, Express Yourself, Cool Matt, and Drum Circles - Each of our four sites is engaging in one of four programs meant to build self-esteem, design new ways to express oneself, and improve writing skills through self-expression. Students meet weekly with their groups and are each building up to a culminating event where the students will perform and "express themselves"!

Student Led Fundraisers - As has become an annual tradition at Open Doors, each year each site develops a fundraiser to earn money to support Open Doors. The students go through a process of developing the fundraisers, establish budgets, forecasting revenue expectations, securing volunteers, and promoting the fundraisers.

Family Night at the Science Center

tH

Thank you to the Great Lakes Science Center for allowing Open Doors Academy and its' families to enjoy an evening out full of education, exploration, and time together! It was a fun-filled evening with 300 family members in tow!

Neftaly and Mom

Did You Know...

Open Doors extends beyond the 3pm to 6pm hours of most after school programs. Open Doors offers parent support groups and educational events in the evenings and weekends, monthly family events, full-day summer programming, and alumni programming to our high school and college youth!

Open Doors Academy Celebrations