Teacher Appreciation Week

In 1953, Eleanor Roosevelt persuaded Congress to create the first National Teachers’ Day. Then in 1980, Congress officially declared March 7th as National Teacher Day. Then, and five years later, in 1985 the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), established Teacher Appreciation Week as the first full week of May.

The National Education Association calls this, “A day for honoring teachers and recognizing the lasting contributions they make to our lives.”  

 In celebration of the end of Teacher Appreciation Week, here are some stories and advice from some of our Andson tutors and teachers who provide free after school tutoring at Clark County Libraries in Las Vegas.

“My favorite thing about tutoring for Anson is getting to meet new students and watching them learn something new. I’m looking forward to spending a lot more time helping students grow and learn. My day job is working with students with autism for the Clark County School District. When I’m not tutoring, my favorite thing to do in Las Vegas is to go out and try new restaurants and find fun new things to do around town. My advice to students when they come into tutoring is to be ready to learn. The team and I are here to help you grow and we are excited to watch you succeed in your educational goals and challenges.” – Kim at Whitney Library

“I have been tutoring with Andson for over 6 years. I love being able to work with a wide variety of age groups and needs representing a large number of different schools. It’s interesting to see the expectations of one school versus another at the same grade level. I also love seeing the growth in students who have been coming to us since our site opened. What a difference knowing that our Whitney staff has contributed to this student growth is very rewarding!” – Pam at Whitney Library

“I’ve been with Andson for 4 and a half years. I like teaching students using real world situations and memes. Our team is the best team I’ve ever worked with. They’re supportive, cooperative, and most of all, empathetic.” – Angela K. at Rainbow Library

“I enjoy the interactions with the youth. I've always appreciated working with young people. Tutoring mathematics also keeps me "with it." I enjoy the challenges that come to my table! When I’m not tutoring, my favorite thing to do in Las Vegas is to go to concerts. I love music. My advice to students is to come prepared to think and work. Bringing notes from class is helpful for the upper grades.” – Tamplyn at Centennial Hills Library

“I’m a retired preschool teacher and director and I feel lucky to be on such a good team at a very good library. The team is always nice and nurturing. My advice to students is to do your best work. We are here to help you and guide you.” – Bobbi at Rainbow Library

Don’t forget today is the last day to enter the SSSCU drawing for a chance to win $1,000! In honor of #TeacherAppreciationWeek our partners at Silver State Schools Credit Union are doing a Visa gift card giveaway to 3 lucky Southern Nevada teachers! You do not need to be a credit union member to enter the drawing. Submit now for a chance at $1,000!

And here’s a list of hundreds of discounts offered to teachers on school supplies, clothing, food, and more! 

Academics Spotlight: Angela Kabiling

Twice a year, we issue a survey to the students and parents we serve at libraries with our Academics free tutoring program. This time around, student responses to the question “What is your favorite thing about coming to tutoring?” at Rainbow Library had a common theme.

“Miss Angela, my favorite tutor, is especially a good tutor and me, along with many others, love her ways and she is incredibly helpful.”

“Coming to see Miss Angela because she always helps me. Last year she brought my grades up from D's to A's, B's, and C's.”

“Coming in to see Miss Angela because she helps me understand what I didn't [before].”

With those only being a handful of shining reviews for Ms. Angela Kabiling,  we not only took notice but decided to sit down with her and ask her a few questions. Her charisma and obvious love for what she does made it clear why she is so beloved by students.

Angela was born in Olongapo City, Philippines as the 2nd of her parents’ 3 daughters, but has been in Las Vegas for 17 years now. She has obtained two Bachelor’s in Accounting and Economics from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and has been working for Andson for 3 years and 7 months.

Angela has no children of her own, but is very close to her students at Rainbow Library (“Shout out to JAAAMK!”). She is “passionate about motivating kids to improve on their math knowledge and challenge them intellectually. Mentorship is important for the youth, and [she] plans to be a better role model for them. We should love nature, each other, and most importantly, ourselves.”

Part of what makes Angela such an effective tutor is her ability to relate to students, which she does through references to memes and social media. “[She loves] making connections to social media with mathematical problems. It makes homework more relevant and [creates] entertaining situations. Seeing the light bulb above their heads and watching their gears work makes [her] proud that they’re utilizing their critical thinking skills.” But more important to Angela is the trust the children have in both her and themselves.

“I want my students to trust in not only me, but in themselves as well. I love to build their confidence in themselves. This applies in their schoolwork and in their choices they make in their life. Building that trust with my kids also strengthens our relationship, and I believe that is what makes a great tutor.”

When she’s not tutoring for Andson or working in our Piggy Banks, she enjoys gardening, playing video games, improving her culinary skills, spending time with her friends, and traveling whenever she can. Lately, she has been planning road trips to all of the country’s National Parks. Most recently, she visited Cathedral Rock and Great Basin National Park.

She also has an impressive menagerie of pets, with 7 chickens (Beignet, Brioche, Baguette, Biscotti, Tiramisu, Sesame, and Pistachio), 2 rats (Ratnor and Ribbon) and a salamander (Lucio).

Finally, if there is one piece of advice Angela wants to leave her students with, it is: “Let’s get this bread, so believe in yourself more often!”

Forecasting Demand for Andson Services

by Anthony McTaggart

Its the beginning of 2015, and that means that corporations - both for profit and nonprofit - have to report to both shareholders and board members.

I was engaged in a conversation with an engineer at a public corporation recently, where he (and soon, I) was upset about the potential for, and complete lack of forecasting that was going on for production of their product line. Initially, I said to myself "Why aren't they forecasting?" That quickly changed to, "Wait, why aren't WE forecasting?"

Forecasting demand is required for most businesses - but may be overlooked in the nonprofit sector. It’s the analysis of past performance in one’s organization, combined with data that alludes to demand for future products, performance, or markets. In essence, it can be a beautiful symbiosis of art and science, one that usually takes time to hone and eventually master.

Some of us are so busy in the day-to-day that we often don’t plan ahead for what's to come. That can lead to two things: Either we have unsustainable growth that causes unplanned budgetary expenditures, or we get into the "No" mode - where we couldn't possibly grow since we have no time to plan where that funding or partnership might come from. How are we to serve a rapidly growing community if we don't plan for it?

Every window in my office is used as a whiteboard

Going forward for the 2015- 16 school year, we as an organization will be looking at 55% of our programming, in terms of budget and locations, being attributed to pre-existing, in place programming; 25% will come from new funding, meaning new locations. For the other 20%, meaning new business, we will be engaging in real demand forecasting. What this entails, is paying attention to data across the Valley: population growth, new communities, new partner locations (like where a new library or Boys & Girls Club are planned), trends in test scores, and areas of general concern in the community.

This isn't difficult, but it does take meaningful dialogue and time - now is the time to start within your own organizations.

If you think you don't have someone that can do this, you might be pleasantly surprised. Look no further than your Development and Marketing team. Mixed with some programming staff, you can have a forecasting team built and deployed by the end of February! Great Development staff have their ear to the ground and are always identifying new resources. This is learned behavior and can be taught. Great Marketers are used to deploying new collateral quickly, and creating a following. Great programming staff can quickly engage in feasibility analyses to conduct new programs.

Our team is amazing, and we are willing to help! Please contact us if you want to grab a coffee and discuss how to become better at forecasting. It would be a wonderful feeling to know what the next year of partnership holds. We look forward to sustainability and planned growth going forward for both our organization, and yours.

Cheers, Anthony

Spotlight Site - Bridger Middle School

December’s spotlight is on Jim Bridger Middle School. The magnet program at Bridger Middle School provides so many incredible opportunities for the students, exposing them to careers in the fields of robotics, aerospace, aviation, biomedicine, and computer technology.

Andson is committed to helping the students at Bridger reach their full potential and excel academically. By providing after school tutoring, we can ensure each student is working at grade level and is able to participate in all that the school has to offer.

Please watch the short video below to learn about this fantastic partnership.

To Our Terrific Tutors And Aides

As Andson's Homework Help and Tutoring program comes to an end, we want to let everyone know how much we appreciate our 45 amazing tutors and aides!  

To our tutors and aides,

After putting in a full day at school or at your other job, you continually show up on time, four days a week, wearing big smiles, and carrying an abundant bag of teacher-tricks.

You pinpoint the children's deficiencies and bring effective and creative teaching strategies to their groups.

You work diligently with kids of many ages, big and small, happy and sad, rain or shine, on good days and bad, at a variety of locations, helping them achieve their goals and stay on track.

You send out progress reports, write daily tutor notes, acknowledge students of the month, and help our kids achieve those precious "a-ha" moments.

You wipe noses, hand out treats, listen to tall tales, hold little hands, kiss boo-boos, and sternly say, "sit up straight in your seat" at least 50 times an hour.

Mostly importantly, you establish positive relationships with your students in a healthy environment.  You work hard so that no child gets behind in school.  You impart KNOWLEDGE, which we all know creates empowered, confident and successful adults. What could be more important than that?

Thank you!!

Project Connect on Friday

We’re having another Project Connect this Friday! What’s even more exciting is that it’s not only a Project Connect, but it’s also a tutor appreciation party!

As we’ll be springing into summer soon and the semester will be wrapping up, we want our tutors, and all of our supporters, to know how much we appreciate them.

So we hope that you will all make time to come down to McFaddens at Town Square, because starting at 4 o’clock we’re all going to eat, drink, connect, and celebrate!

We can’t wait to see you there and hope that you’ll have time to stop by.

So be there at the square!

We Love This Letter

How many of you daydream of the day that your kids will tell you they are craving broccoli over ice cream, or yearn for the day when your youngsters will voluntarily choose schoolwork over their toys? How many of you fantasize about getting your kids to do things that are good for them that they just don’t want to do, without having to wrestle them to the ground or threaten their TV privileges?

Well, this dream came true for the tutors at the Gulbis Boys & Girls Club when one little girl wrote Andson a letter in which she said, “Tutoring was so fun. I’d rather be in tutoring all day than go to Wet and Wild.”

That’s what we love to hear here at Andson, that through our hard work, devotion and perseverance with these kids we are making a lasting impact in their lives! We love it when they love their tutoring sessions!

Oh yeah, the student also mentioned, “I loved the treats you gave us at tutoring that one day.”

…nothing wrong with a little incentive!

Carrying Out Our Mission

We received this letter from Margarita Gamboa, Principal of Sunrise Acres Elementary School: Greetings Andson Foundation and City of Las Vegas Safe Key,

We would like to thank you for the opportunity you have provided to our students. Through the partnership between the Andson Foundation and Safe Key our students have been able to increase homework completion and academic learning time.

I walk through the Multi-Purpose Room every afternoon and see students grouped in 3’s and 4’s at tables around the room playing board games or physical games where social skills are emphasized, which is just what our students need. The significance of what these children are experiencing daily will assist our students in establishing positive relationships with adults and peers!

This program and the simple act of playing a board game with others has provided our students experiences that they otherwise may not get. They were taking turns, applying math skills and socially engaging in safe, risk-free recreation.

My visits to the library during homework help has been nothing short of amazing! To be able to provide our struggling third graders additional time and help on daily homework, that is an extension of what they are learning in their classrooms, has helped to increase the rate of homework completion, increase mastery and focus, and academic learning time for them.

We are so proud of our tutoring team, the recreation staff, and our students for all the effort each has made in making this program a success.

Most of all, we thank you! Without the Andson Foundation and City of Las Vegas Safe Key, this would not have been possible. You make a difference in children’s lives everyday!

We are grateful for our staff and students who are actively involved in our mission and whose incredible efforts and hard work are definitely noticed.

We're Proud of Our Kids!

Last week was Opening the Door to Education National Boys & Girls Club week, and boy did we have a blast at the Silver Pines Boys & Girls Club on Monday, March 24^th! After Homework Help and Tutoring, the Andson kids decorated “smart cookies” with help from Andson tutors.

Awards were presented to several students for showing academic and behavioral improvement on their 2^nd trimester report cards.

We are so proud of our kids’ improvement and the increasing progress that they are making!

We are excited about the future because we get to continue to watch them grow.

We're Much Obliged Bridger

We want everyone to know how much we value our partnership with Communities in Schools (CIS) and After School All Stars (ASAS)! Together, we ensure that no child falls behind in school, or gets into after school trouble! One example of these programs in action is at Bridger Middle School. At Bridger our after school Homework Help program impacts on average 55 kids per day.

Like all of our other locations, we provide Homework Help at Bridger four days a week. However, what’s really cool is that in addition to Homework Help, we also prepare students for exams (their midterms, finals, etc.). What’s even more awesome, however, is the fact that the program has expanded to the entire school, not just the ASAS and CIS kids.

What does this mean?

Homework Help is open to all students at Bridger – any student in the school can come for help!

On top of that, the majority of the tutors are dedicated teachers from Bridger. This is important for so many reasons! Not only does it mean that these teachers know the curriculum that they’re tutoring their students on like the back of their hand, but they’re so dedicated that they want to work with their students after their normal work day has ended.

We’re so thankful to work with such devoted and motivated people.