Here:

Walk to the women’s center

Wishing for the best

Winners laying with me on the

Warm woman’s dress.



Imagine:

Lamborghinis in the garage

Lickerish lumpy lime in the slide

On my machine big and bumpy

Bob and boogy



Builds a bridge with bricks

With beats from the heart.



Old:


Better than the best

With friends at the crest

Homeless humans humming at their neck.

Wishing for shelter like me and you.

So help them they can be the best to you.

Be brave, be bold, be more than boogie

Young student from one of the Discovery Program creative writing classes at an emergency shelter shares his poem.

The photo:  Artists at the Volunteer Appreciation event in March illustrate their interpretations and stories of transformation from the Discovery program onto the podium used by BuildaBridge in trainings - one of the visuals inspired by this young student and now remains a permanent part of BuildaBridge.

A was very resistant at the beginning of the term.  During the first class, A refused to dance and sat against the wall with her arms folded around her legs.  A few weeks passed and A returned to class.  Her attitude had changed drastically. She was focused,  fully participated in each aspect of class and was enthusiastic about the learning experience. I am not certain about what she was going through at the beginning of this term because I did not get a chance to speak with her. I did let her know that I am proud of her progress and the way she is approached the material in class.

As one of the oldest students in the class, she began to take on a "lead-by-actions" leadership position in the class. It is often harder for the younger students to stand still and grasp some dances in the combination.  A and her younger sister, An, were more than willing to take the younger students to the side to help them with the movements. They also helped to keep them motivated through the class. A consistently came to class during the middle and last weeks of the term and fully expressed her leadership skills. She has completely transformed during the course of this term.

By Maritza Ogarro

Maritza is BuildaBridge's hip hop and African dance teaching artist. Her story is from the fall 2011 semester.

---------------

3:30 is a question: What is your 3:30 story and what role will you play in contributing to the development of children in your city and your world?

BuildaBridge answers with our own stories of transformation from the children we serve.

3:30 is a challenge: What will you do about 3:30?

BuildaBridge responds with the continuation of after school programming for children in need.

3:30 is a promise.

BuildaBridge promises to uphold this commitment both in Philadelphia and abroad.

Will you respond?  Will you commit?  Will you advocate?  Will you give?

K. gets to a point of each project and eventually scrawls over what she has done.  In a previous class, I told her that she could not have more materials to work with, but that she would have to work to change the piece she scrawled over.  (this was expensive aluminum, limited supply and I thought she needed to work through this tendency).  She cried quite a bit about this, but stayed in the class.  Eventually, I talked to her about what her actions meant and what my hope was for her in terms of honoring her work, sticking with it, finding help if she was frustrated and respecting supplies.  She listened really well and I gave her another piece of aluminum.

She slowed down and took great care with this.

She had a good attitude and was happy to have been given another chance to make better decisions.

Stories and quotes give us an in-depth look into the out of school programs BuildaBridge conducts in the emergency and transitional housing shelters of Philadelphia.  They also provide evidence  that the BuildaBridge Classroom model is effective in not only bringing hope and healing to children, but also in building leadership, resilience, protective factors and self-confidence.  Two weeks in the Discovery Fall term 2011, BuildaBridge teaching artists comment on their experiences, children and classes:

N. arrived first and was visibly reserved. She stayed at the door asking "what this was" and muttering about Mr. K. I engaged the young lady in conversation and found out that she was into rock music--some stuff Katie the assistant recognized--and vampire novels--at which I got very excited and she finally came into the room. During class we found out that she is from Minnesota and used to being the "odd black girl". By end of class she was smiling and laughing with the other girls; she was not shy about creating, performing, or critically listening with her peers. - Miss Camille, Spoken Word

One student was isolating herself from the rest of the group and did not want to join or come closer, although she was admittedly having trouble seeing and understanding steps for book-making.  She was getting frustrated and making a few discouraged comments.  She was starting her project, but not in a way that really worked with the directions.  I sat down with her and recapped the process and she followed my lead.  She ended up coming out with a great story about her siblings--which I asked her to share with the class.  After a while, she was able to suggest some things for students who may have been struggling with developing a story.  I was also able to use her book as a successful example for the class, which seemed to make her feel good and helped her to engage more with other students in the second half of class.  - Mr. Robert, Visual & Photo Arts

The special moments in this class session involved allowing the other students to talk about each others work. Students who looked at their creations as "stupid" were able to see the work in a different light and perspective, hopefully building confidence in their growing abilities. - Mr. Tyler, Visual Arts

N. was not able to attend the first class and did not know how to do the Doug E. Fresh (Dougie) dance.  He verbally expressed that he could not do the dance.  I told him that  we do not use “I can’t” in the class and that I would break the dance down for him along with his classmates.  I stood in front of him and slowly broke down the dance and encouraged his classmates to join in, which they did.  He did not say, “I can’t” for the remainder of class and was able to embody the Doug E. Fresh (Dougie) dance.  His resiliency was key to him embodying the dance.  - Miss Martiza, Hip-hop & African Dance