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Marathon Weekend Whizzes By!
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| | The Vikings mascot and drumline start up the pep rally. |
Marathon weekend, January 15-17, was a whirlwind of activity for the students and staff at Avondale House.
On Friday, over a dozen students from the Village School geared up (on their day off from school!) to support Avondale House by hosting a pep rally for our students! A surprise performance by the Village School drum line and Viking mascot really put everyone in the spirit. The students had a blast cheering on the runners and dancing the "Nae Nae" and the "Chicken Dance," two of the dances learned during a week of lessons with Episcopal High School seniors.
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| | Avondale House was joined by friends of the Village School and DJTonic on the race course. |
On Sunday, race day started before sunrise for not only the runners, but Team Avondale House's cheering squad. The Village School joined us "dark and early" on Allen Parkway to set up our Hoopla Station along the race course. To get the energy flowing for runners and fans, DJTonic blasted out tunes. Soon runners were whizzing by and the party was pumping. Team Avondale House fans were ready at mile eleven with noisemakers, pom poms, hand-made signs and even bagels to motivate all our runners.
Thank you to all of our 39 marathon runners, including two of our very own staff, Bethuel Akuma and LaTerria Anderson, the Village School cross country team, and to all who donated to the $20,000 fundraising goal! Special "thank you's" to our 1st and 2nd place fundraisers - Nathan Merz with $2,450 and Toni Tamborello with $1,420 for Avondale House!
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A Continuing Volunteer Partnership
For over a decade, Avondale House and Episcopal High School, a four-year co-ed private high school located in Bellaire, have teamed up for a unique volunteer experience. Before returning to classes after winter break, EHS seniors are tasked with volunteering at various schools and social services agencies in Houston for a week and a half.
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| | EHS senior Drew partners with an Avondale student during a geometry lesson. |
Every year, Avondale House hosts eight to ten seniors who act as student teachers, leading lessons in rotating subjects. This year, the
seniors taught interactive geometry lessons and trendy dance moves.
Avondale House Volunteer Coordinator, Alyssa Purcell, discusses the benefits of this partnership for our students and the Episcopal seniors: "Experiences like this give both groups of students a slice of 'real life.' Avondale students practice skills to help them thrive in a social world while their peers from mainstream school take away life-long lessons."
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| | Austin learns a new dance move from EHS senior Katie Rose. |
For the past several years, the seniors have also helped us put on a Team Avondale House pep rally on the Friday before the Chevron Houston Marathon. In between lesson times, the EHS students made spirit signs for each of our runners, a giant run-through banner and decorated the multi-purpose room for the big event. They were great leaders during the pep rally, encouraging our students to show off their newly-learned dance skills and cheer for our runners and Village School guests.
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Avondale House Receives Inspiring Gift
Avondale's development department recently received an unexpected surprise. A donation was accompanied with a letter from a former day school student's mother. It read, "My cousin's daughter, Ariel, decided to make bracelets this past summer to sell as a fundraiser for Avondale House. Over the summer and fall she raised $100!" The letter went on to explain that Ariel is only 15! We thought to ourselves, "Wow, we have to talk to this awesome young lady and hear her story." Ariel agreed to an interview and explained what motivated her to make this kind gift.
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| | A sampling of the string bracelets made and sold by Ariel in support of Avondale House. |
"I know a fair amount about autism. At my church, during the Kid's-Growth program, I am a buddy to a three year old boy with autism. I also used to be in Girl Scouts and that helped inspire me to do a fun project that could help people. So, I just knew I wanted to fundraise for a cause, perhaps for a cause that may be smaller or doesn't get as much attention. Since my cousin Micah went to school at Avondale House, my mom suggested I could fundraise for you. This summer when I found a whole box of string in my closet I knew what I could do. I have been making bracelets since I was really young. My mom taught me when I was six. I raised a hundred dollars and now I want to do another fundraiser!"
It's great to see a young person be inspired and moved to action. Ariel is proof that no one is too young to make a difference.
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