Wildwood Internship Program

Kayla (center, left of woman in white) sits with her team after a game.

 

Hey everyone! It’s Kayla, one of the America SCORES LA’s interns. I am a seventeen year-old junior at Wildwood School. I just started volunteering for the organization in September, and ever since, I have fallen in love with the program!

America SCORES LA is the perfect organization for me because it revolves around two different topics that I love, creative writing and soccer! I love writing because it gives me the opportunity to express the creative side that I have in me. I have played soccer since I was three years old, and it has had a huge impact on my life.

I have learned that soccer not only improves your fitness level and athletic skills, but it makes you a better, and more well rounded, person. As I grew up, I had to learn what it meant to be on a team. Teamwork to me is working effectively with a group of people in order to achieve one common goal. What I love about being on a team is that everyone’s personality traits and strengths contribute to the overall success of the team.

When I was able to recognize my strengths as a player, I began to gain confidence. When I gained confidence, I was able to transform into a leader. When I was younger, I was not the loud, confident leader I am now. However, after playing soccer for 14 years, I was transformed into that person. Now, being the captain of my club soccer team, I have been able to see how much I have grown as an individual. Soccer has taught me essential life skills that I will need for the rest of my life.

Something that is unique about America SCORES LA program is that they implement what I have experienced through soccer into their program. Their main goal is to make these kids compassionate, loving, and confident individuals through soccer and poetry. It has been my absolute pleasure working with an amazing staff and interacting with cheerful kids.

Coach At Work

Sssssshhh...Coach Dre has no idea I'm taking this picture. Look how hard he works for the program. What a guy.

Getting By With A Little Help From Our Friends

There are moments in life when one feel overwhelmed. It's a universal truth, so lets not waste any time arguing. Last Friday was one such moment for LA Scores. It was our second game day. Life, in its constantly evolving way, struck our coaches. Some were sick. Some were held up. But many were unavailable. The coaches who made it were going to have to pull double or triple duty as coach, ref, snack passer outer, and the multitude of other tasks that needed to be completed in order to make game day a success. It got to a point where we feared we may have to cancel game day because of safety issues, not enough coaches for kids. And it was in our darkest hour when the volunteers arrived: former participants of LA Scores, a group of teenagers from a local high school, Caitlin Barrett (the Assistant Director for Coach Across America and lifelong friend of SCORES), even a couple of our sixth grade students from Charnock reffed a game. Difficult though it may have been, this past game day proved to be one of the most fulfilling and I would like to thank all of those people out there who contribute to make this program so special. As you can tell from the pic, it was a day undoubtedly enjoyed.

September, how I loathe thee!!!

There is something wicked about the month of September. For reasons unknown, the ninth month has always been the month of a thousand events. Well, let me fill you in: we recently had our annual Scores Cup on 9/23 at the Home Depot Center. This was the first year we invited some of our elementary school students to play and they had a blast, especially when it was them versus their parents...a tale as old as time. Tomorrow marks the inaugural game day for the 12-13 season. I know, for a fact, that the students at Charnock, Palms, and Braddock elementary schools are vibrating in their classes from the excitement. Finally, on Saturday, 9/29, is the World Record Breaking Soccer dribble that america Scores LA will be a part of. The event is from 2-4 and the actual Dribble starts at 3 at Palms Elementary. It costs one dollar to participate so sign up here: http://www.americascores.org/soccerdribble/la

We hope to see all your happy, shining faces there. LA Scores out!!!!

One Month Down...

We have been in school for about one month and here is what I think so far: the collection of kids participating in our program are awesome, the coaches have been spectacular when dealing with their duties and responsibilities, and the actual program has been running particularly well. We do have a busy month coming up. The Corporate Scores Cup is taking place on Sept 23 at the Home Depot Center. This is one of our biggest fundraisers of the year, so we would love to see a lot of friendly faces out there. On Sept 29, all of the Scores sites around the nation will join together to break the world record for most people dribbling a soccer ball at the same time. The Los Angeles Edition is to be held at Palms Elementary School at 3 pm. Bring the family and come be a part of history. Coach Armond and Coach Dre went to Boston to learn new and better ways to be a coach (as if they could get any better than they already are). They have returned filled with new ideas and practices to help LA Scores become a better program. There is a pic with Coach Armond and many other LA coaches who work for several programs located around the city: A World Fit for Kids, Brotherhood Crusade, and Kids in Sports. The start date for the LA Scores soccer season is on 9/19. We look forward to starting our programs at Palms and Braddock Elementary. This update has been brought to you by the LA Scores staff.

A Compendium of Events

So much has happened over this past week. The biggest, without a doubt, is the early start of the LAUSD school year. Tomorrow will be the last day of the first week of school, and the first week of LA Scores programming at Charnock. We are off to a wonderful start so far and can hardly hold our enthusiasm for all that this years promises to bring. And now, for a bit of sad news...today is the final day for our Americorps VISTA Shannon Huang. It is hard to believe that she has already completed her year of service with LA Scores, but time waits for no man (or woman). Shannon is off to Pittsburgh, where she will be attending Carnegie Mellon University as a graduate student studying Arts Management. We have no doubts that she will do wonderful things in the future, but she will be sorely missed and impossible to replace. Now for a bit of good news...Coach Armond Richards has decided to stay on for another year as a member of Coach Across America. Coach Armond is, to put it modestly, the most awesome coach to ever blow a whistle. LA Scores is excited to have him continue his involvement in the program and look forward to all he will contribute in the coming year. Lastly, it is Coach Dre's birthday today. He is getting older, so when you see him, shout HAPPY BIRTHDAY as loud as you can to make sure he will be able to hear you. That is all. Go forth and be merry.

Summer...byebye

Can you believe there is only a week left for the summer? LAUSD begins the 12-13 school year on August 14. That's next Tuesday!!! Enjoy those precious sunshine moments, for they never last.

LA Scores FFL

This Friday, LA Scores will have the draft for its 1st Fantasy Football League. As of now, we have 8 teams signed up to play including ED David Joseph. The winner will get a prize, but we have yet to come up with an award. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to drop us a line. Please keep in mind that we are a nonprofit and the economy being what it is, we cannot afford to send the winner on a cruise to Greece or anything. But gift certificates to a delicious restaurant or the movies or amazon...thats what im talking about.

Thank You Fire Station 43!!!

Today at the elementary camp, we received a visit from the firefighters from Station 43 located on Motor Ave. They drove their truck right onto the play area at Palms Elementary School and showed the enraptured students all of the various equipment needed to combat that most insatiable element, fire. After the firefighting tutorial, the students were allowed to sit inside the truck to see all the many buttons and contraptions installed on the fire engine. Finally, the firefighters brought out the hose and each kid received a turn turning on and turning off the hose. Lots of smile and a perpetual rainbow as a result of the visit from Engine 43. What a day.

Alumni Coaching Team and CoachArt

CoachArt, a nonprofit organization based in LA, has the expressed mission of providing arts and recreational activities to children and adolescents with chronic and/or life-threatening illnesses. For several years now, America Scores LA has partnered with CoachArt to provide a variety of soccer activities for many of the those involved with CoachArt. Today and Thursday, our Alumni Coaching Team will go to CoachArt and run a soccer clinic for the children there. I do no believe I need to spell out the benefits of this relationship, whether they are practical or sentimental. The only thing I am certain of is that when good people get together, good things happen.

Chivas! Chivas! USA!

With two buses filled with kids, parents, and coaches, Wednesday saw the elementary school summer program off to the Home Depot Center to watch Chivas USA face the Portland Timbers. After 90 minutes of riveting soccer, the end resulted with Chivas topping the Timbers one goal to none. Pandemonium ensues. I was there, loyal readers. And while the game was an entertaining one, I found much more pleasure in watching our students' faces light up as the men played their hearts out. For many of our students, this was their inaugural professional soccer game. Hopefully, these students left the stadium with a memory they can carry with them for the rest of their lives. This coming week will be the last for our summer programming. If you haven't already, feel free to come by and see the program every day from 12-4 at Palms Elementary School. Mondays and Wednesdays at Mar Vista Park from 12-2 to watch our alumni coaching team work with our middle schoolers. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays to watch coaches Dre, Armond, and Marisha run the high school camp.

New Coach: Marisha Schumacher-Hodge

We, at LA Scores, are lucky to have the experience of Coach Marisha Schumacher-Hodge to help at our alumni soccer camp. Marisha, who has coached briefly for Scores in earlier years, has join the summer coaching team of Coach Dre and Coach Armond. Alas, if only she were able to stay with our program for an extended duration, she is committed to coach at Durham University in England (the third oldest university in England). Marisha attended and played soccer at Boston University and played professional soccer both in the US and Europe. If that doesn't make her legit, then I have no idea what you people are looking for. Come out to the alumni camp at Mar Vista Park on Tues, Wed, Thurs from 2-4 to watch her coaching in action. See you there.

LA Scores Summer Camps

We are officially in the full swing of our Summer Programming. The elementary school camp is on its 4th day, catering to near 100 kids on a daily basis from 12-4. The middle school soccer camp has just completed their first week, being led superbly by our LA Scores Alumni Coaching Team. The high school camp concludes its first week this afternoon, being headed by Coach Dre and Coach Armond. The sun is shining. The children are laughing. The coaches are smiling. I think it is safe to say the summer has gotten off to a great start. With the help and support of countless volunteers, we are able to keep all the kids engaged and active.

Wise Words

"Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair.

Nelson Mandela

Well if Mandela says it, it must be true.

Time Marches On

This was the first year, in the three that I have been working at LA Scores, where I felt a little teary-eyed on the last day of school. Students that I watched grow up cheered as they prepared to go on to middle school while I could only express my happiness for them while feeling a bit down on the inside. If I am ever lucky enough to have children of my own, I feel that when they go off to live their lives, I will be a mess. But time marches on and we have new students coming in to nurture and instruct in order to continue this cycle of positivity we have tried so hard to cultivate. The summer is shorter than the ones previous with the LAUSD school year beginning in the middle of August instead of early September and we have still managed to plan out our summer programming which begins on 7/7 and ends on 7/27. I look back on the past school year with a sense of fondness and pride while looking ahead to the coming school year with much enthusiasm. What a life. What a ride.

I come to you bearing gifts: water words for the parched reader. The hours of the day come and go, and over the last few weeks, we have been spending them so that we may end the school year as spectacularly as we started it. Tomorrow afternoon is the end of the year Jamboree, to be held at Mar Vista Park from 3-6. The entire program will be in full force, celebrating another successful program year under our belt. Bu while i have you here, let me mention what has gone on these last few weeks. Inspired Art you already know about. We also enjoyed the Bike rodeo held at Palms Elementary, a coach gathering at the historic (and haunted) Culver Hotel, a Festival at Palms Elementary, and a wonderful end to our partnerships with both the Bruin Belles and Coaching Corps. But one of the few things that the kids and coaches can agree on is: thank God summer is almost here. Can't you tell by the faces? Im sure I will have more to say over the next few days. Please be patient with us. Gracias.

Photos From Inspired Art!!!

We would like to thank photographer Victor Leung for all the great pictures of our fundraiser. Always making memories...

Into The Valley

On May 17, we held our 2nd annual Inspired Art Fundraiser at the Bank of America Plaza in Downtown LA. There was food. There were drinks. There were old friends getting together and new friendships being created. There was a poetry chair. There was a dj. There were many wonderful works of art depicting many interpretations inspired by the poetry written by the kids in our program. It had everything one could ask for in a fundraiser. We would like to thank the superb people who helped make this event a success: Brookfield, Starbucks, Whole Foods, Hogan Lovell, Xerox, and the LA Scores Development Board. This event would have been impossible without all of those excellent people. We would also like to thank all the artists who contributed their time and talent to this great cause. It is these kinds of occasions that helps to remind people what community is all about. And as we descend the mountain of Inspired Art, we see the next peak looming on the horizon. We will ascend the approaching mountains as we have all the others: with the help and support of friends and family, though it is getting more and more difficult to tell the difference between the two.

Two Days Away!!!

We are officially neck-deep in the art of local artists and hammering out the final details of the event. Venue: check. Art pieces: check. Food, drinks, guests: check, check, check. Barring some natural disaster resulting in the utter destruction of Los Angeles, the event should go off without a hitch. Well...that's not entirely true and I refuse to be the person who jinxed LA Scores. Hitches happen despite the level of planning and development that goes into putting together fundraisers of this magnitude. But we come equipped with an excellent staff who are more than willing to face any challenge that would dare to show its face. If you have yet to get your tickets, you may do so at inspiredartla.org. A good cause is a good cause and Karma will not forget you.

Countdown: Inspired Art!

Formulating and executing the Inspired Art fundraiser takes patience, time, and a certain measure of resilience that is fulfilling, yet exhausting. But with the event less than a week away, we suddenly find ourselves surrounded by the beautiful pieces donated by local artists. Every time a new work arrives, we scramble to read the poem that inspired the masterpieces and often find ourselves moved, or grateful, or pensive, or outright happy. America Scores LA would like to take this opportunity to thank our Americorps Vista, Shannon Huang, for all the hard work she has done to get Inspired Art ready.

Inspired Art 2012!!!

We have broken into May with our Inspired Art Event looming ever so gloriously on the horizon. To be held on May 17 (almost 2 weeks away to the day) at the Bank of America Plaza in Downtown LA at 6:30 p.m. Up for silent auction are 30 pieces of art from 25 local artists, all of which were inspired by poetry written by our students during our after-school program. If the evening bears even the slightest resemblance to last year's fun, then this night will be one to remember. See you there.

Words Are Winds

The world is not an intelligent place. Though it may be filled with havens of knowledge, oases of wisdom, and back-alleys of common sense, none of these are permanent enough to be written on a map. And yet, I implore you to be not dismayed. Words are winds, able to travel great distances without tiring, able to enter inaccessible hovels of secret hearts on the backs of whispers, capable of surviving well beyond the hands that wrote them, the lips that spoke them. They build magnificent cathedrals stone by stone, sentence by sentence, decorated with all the pretty punctuation, tapestries of patchwork metaphors coloring the walls, grand gardens blooming with inimitable opening lines and glorious fountains of sculpted dialogues. Villains perched on ledges, with hideous faces and monstrous features, all hidden beneath the lights of the cities yet to be created. There are a thousand cosmos to bring forth. Words are winds.

There are two months until the end of the school year. Boom! Mind blown.

National Poetry Slam!!!

The plans are being finalized. The poems are ready for recital. The kids are jazzed. The 6th Annual Poetry Slam is just about here. Congratulations to the LA Scores participants Preston Anchang of Palms Elementary and Cynthia Flores of Braddock Elementary. They will be headed to New York City and will join many great artists of present and past when they perform their poems at the world famous Apollo Theater. We, at LA Scores, have no doubts that they will have a wonderful time. And we are ever proud of all of out students.

Climbing Everest

I am fairly confident that no person can climb Mount Everest in one day. There are several base camps along the ascent that provide brief paradises of rest for those courageous men and women who brave the trek to the summit. Survival is not guaranteed. But once you reach the apex and realize that you are as close to infinite as any man, woman, or child can reach under their own power, I imagine that everything challenge you have face before would appear infinitesimal. Well...working with children in schools is its own mountain, perhaps larger than Everest in the amount of energy expended to reach the point of completion. Thank the powers that be for those base camps better known as Breaks. I said all this to say Spring Break starts next week. My comparison may have been a little roundabout, but I think you get my point. This is a time for rest, for gathering our energies while we prepare to continue up this mountain. And we prepare to survive.

Alas, the day has come...

...for the start of season. The coaches: excited. The kids: excited. The parents: excited. The entire Palms neighborhood: excited. A kid scoring his first goal: ecstatic.

I Am Large, I Contain Multitudes

It was the great American poet Walt Whitman, whom I have heard described as "the chronicler of the cosmos," who inspires the title of this blog, a line taken from his poem "Songs of Myself". There is so much being digested in the belly of LA Scores, and this is our attempt to purge its contents in the classiest of ways (please note we have used to word "purge" rather than vomit).

First, I caught a glimpse of the micro-documentary of our program I mentioned in a previous post...it looks phenomenal. All I ask is a for a little more patience and we will bring you the final product.

Second, we have begun planning for the Inspired Art event which gives local artists a chance to create a masterpiece inspired by the poems of our students. Last year's event yielded many wonderful works, some of which are hung in the office.

Third, on the financial side of things, we have received funding from WSA and the Rose Hills Foundation. Those of you shoulder-deep in the muck of fundraising know what relief this could bring.

Fourth, we have hired two new middle school coaches who go by the names of Jenna Goldfein and Jake Axelbank. They are in their third week of coaching and, judging from what I have bore witness to, are superbly holding up the high standard of LA Scores coaches.

And finally, regular programming will be commencing at all our schools on March 14th. The excitement growing each day is threatening to overwhelm us, but we are professionals. We get the job done.

Just look at all that stuff. LA Scores is a vessel of the Walt Whitman line: I am large, I contain multitudes. And you are, too.

Good Omen for Arsenal

With Arsenal striving to get a bid to the Champions League, perhaps the results of our own Palms Premier League will serve as a herald to their ambitions. As of Monday, Arsenal has been awarded the Palms Premier League trophy, defeating Chelsea 2-0 in the finals. Their team boasted the league's top scorer, Cesar, with 7 goals in 7 games. Adding to their prestige was the winner of the Assists Award, Kelvin. America Scores LA would like to thank all the students who participated in the PPL and we hope next year will bring in a new class of competitors.

Palms Premier League

I may have mentioned it. I may not have mentioned it. The Palms Premier League has been underway for a week and the play is competitive. We have three teams consisting of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders all vying for the glory of being a member of the greatest soccer team to hail from Palms Middle School. Many of these players have come through our program at the elementary level and will continue to serve their communities at the high school level. It is imperative that we (and by we, I mean the people who read this and care) continue to support those who have the greatest need for support. Fairness is not about everybody getting the same as everyone else. Fairness is about people getting what they need. And in the course of ten years, America Scores LA has spent every day trying to fulfill needs as they arise.

Big Thanks to the Eisner Foundation!!

To our loyal follower(s), we have something wonderful in the works. The Eisner Foundation, in their apparent generosity, is helping America Scores LA to make a micro-documentary meant to present the multiple depths of the program into one minute. Coming soon to a blog near you. As a reward for your loyalty, we do have some pics that should keep all your media desires at bay, featuring Coach David and the Alumni Coaching Team (sounds like an indie band). Enjoy.

Mayhem

Mayhem is the only word I can think of to describe the current turbulence in the school system. Suddenly, there is a severe lack of trust in our teachers because of the severe betrayals of a few. First, and most importantly, I do not have the answer. Mainly because I have no idea how deep the problem goes. Is it a national issue? State? Local? Should the Arne Duncan (the current Secretary of Education) completely raze the institutions that seem to be failing the children? Should only the individuals who corrupt our most precious resource be held accountable or should the blame reach higher? I dont have the answers. The only thing I can do is come to work every day and be better than I was yesterday, and hope. I hope that there all still enough good people out there who are not only capable of teaching, but are also willing.

Word of the Day

irenic-an adjective, aiming or aimed at peace. Sample sentence: America Scores LA strives to be a big gun in the irenic arsenal of education.

Candor

I, like the multitude, have doubts sometimes. Am I doing good? Am I good at what I do? But children have a nature which have no aptitude for hiding happiness. The chances I get to be component in the joy of children is more than enough. One may have the ability to run faster than a locomotive, leap tall buildings in a single bound, walk through walls, or battle 100 ft monsters to a standstill, but working with children is truly superhuman. What. Up.

King Henry V

King Henry V understands the position we in the non-profit world take as we go through our morning rituals: Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.
Winter Break is melting away in the glowing sun of the coming semester and we are shrugging off the silk garments of relaxation in favor of armored vigilence, a sword of good deeds, a shield of comraderie, and our noble steed, Perseverance. We are preparing to fight the good fight. We anticipate many victories.