10 Ways to Be a Better Person

Our CEO and founder Sonia McTaggart-Anderson recently attended a Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida Board meeting the other day, and she thought something was so awesome that she wanted to share it. She was in the audience when twin middle school brothers, Jasian and Jakeson, gave an eye-opening presentation.

It was titled “Jasian & Jakeson’s 10 Ways to Be a Better Person.”

1. Look at yourself in the mirror every morning before you go out the door and give yourself at least one compliment that you actually believe. Even “Your sweater looks nice today!” will work.
2. Make an effort to be especially polite and kind to people throughout the day.
3. If you don’t understand something, ask. Don’t let the conversation move forward without you being on board because you’re too embarrassed to admit that you didn’t understand the first time around. Remember there is nothing wrong with asking nicely to repeat something.
4. Allow the little acts of rudeness that people enact on you throughout the day to serve mostly as a reminder not to do them yourself.
5. Offer to help someone so they don’t feel like they have to burden you by asking.
6. Always be clean and respectful when using public places instead of making a mess for both the custodian and the person who follows you to clean up.
7. Donate to the homeless around you once in a while. Offer to buy them a meal, or give your spare change, or bring them a cup of coffee when it’s cold.
8. Tell people when you like them, and remember that being rejected is not the end of the world. Also, be kind when you reject people.
9. Make more of an effort to talk to and learn from your elders.
10.  Go out of your way to do something nice at least once a day, in a way that may never prove beneficial to you in the long run. Even if you just let someone go ahead of you in line when they are pressed for time, it’s worth the tiny bit of effort it takes to do.

Wow.

How many adults do you know who live by these rules, or even try to?

How many adults do you know who live by even one of these rules?

Do you follow any of these rules?

Although adults often think kids are the ones who should learn from them and their experiences and mistakes, maybe they should take a step back.

Honestly, we could really learn a lot from kids.

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.

Project Dinner Table

Imagine this. You’re outside, at one of the most unexpected and random places imaginable for a dinner party. You look to your left and then to your right, and all you see is both sides of a seemingly endless table, seating up to 200 guests. You take a deep breath – inhaling the fresh air - and glance up, peering at the twinkling stars overhead, and then proceed to dive into the divine dinner placed before you. This event is called Project Dinner Table. According to its mission statement, its purpose is “to create meaningful and adventurous experiences around the dinner table celebrating local food, community and philanthropy.”

There’s a catch though – you must be willing to dine under the stars.

Project Dinner Table (PDT) has chosen us to receive a charitable gift at their Season 5 kick-off on April 12^th!

Project Dinner Table hosts fun events like this where it gives charitable gifts to nonprofits throughout the year! To learn more about it and how to become a member or volunteer, visit http://www.projectdinnertable.com/.

Fundraise By Playing at Wet 'n' Wild

What better way is there to start the summer off than by going to Wet ‘n’ Wild!? Kid or adult, there are few who would object to spending a smothering summer day in Vegas in the refreshing water wonders of the park.

However, who would object to spending a day basking in the sun and playing in this water park while raising money for two local non-profits, Communities In Schools of Nevada (CISN) and After-School All-Stars (ASAS), at the same time?

Wet ‘n’ Wild is hosting the first ever Splashdown For Kids that will take place on the weekend of April 26-27. All of the proceeds will go toward these two organizations, who are both partners of ours that we work closely with.

Tickets will be $20 if purchased ahead of time online, but $35 at the door. All children two and under will be free.

To learn more about this as well as the promo code to use, please visit http://new.pitchengine.com/pitches/49a6fed5-2280-42eb-aead-cb0e6b80a003.

Come support our partners who work as hard to build up our community as we do!

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.

Cox Contributes to Our Mission

We want to say thank you to yet another generous company that is supporting our cause with a donation! We are one of 28 local nonprofit organizations that has been awarded from the $168,000 Cox Charities donation this year on March 18^th.

This is the seventh grant cycle for Cox Charities, and since it began it has awarded nearly $1 million to local organizations.

The cool thing is that the donated funds come from their own employees’ contributions and their own fundraisers, including their annual Cox Employee Golf Tournament.

We are grateful to be one of Cox’s recipients this year, and we look forward to the great things that we will be able to accomplish with our portion of this money!

February Tutor of the Month - DeAnn Sheehan

DeAnn Sheehan is the winner of our “Tutor of the Month” for February! We are thrilled to have such a passionate tutor as part of our staff. Currently a teacher at Goldfarb Elementary School, she provides IEP’s in general education, teaches special education, and has been a CCSD teacher since 1989. She made note that her favorite subject is science!

Outside of work she is also passionate about hanging out with her friends and family, being a dedicated mother and godmother, and traveling to places such as Italy, Turkey, and Barcelona.

She currently works at the Silver Pines Boys & Girls Club, and we are so lucky to have her on board!

Students and Donors....Take Advantage of this Program!

Interested in working with nonprofits or building connections with them? Or do you just want to build up your leadership skills and experience (something that will look really, really good to future employers)?

Or are you someone who is looking to donate to a nonprofit, but you are unsure of which one and don’t have the time to research?

Then UNLV has the program for you.

Have you heard of Grantwell (a graduate level course offered at UNLV)?

As it states on UNLV’s website, the mission of this program is “to provide graduate students a laboratory for applying the nonprofit management expertise acquired in the classroom to real-world projects.”

Grantwell provides graduate students with real-life experience in working with nonprofits and donors and builds up valuable skills that students will exercise in the workplace.

The steps of the program are simple – the client and Grantwell students establish what the client is looking for in an organization to donate to. The Grantwell students submit Requests for Proposals to various nonprofits. The selected nonprofits submit proposals. The Grantwell students then submit their recommendations to the donor (after much research), and the donor then selects a nonprofit based on those recommendations.

UNLV adopted the program from Brigham Young University in 2013, and it presents such a great opportunity not only to our community, but also to our young adults, that our very own Executive Director here at Andson Academics, Anthony McTaggert, is one of Grantwell’s board members.

Anthony is ecstatic about Grantwell and the opportunities it provides to so many.

“Grantwell is an amazing combination of donors and students working together to support the best candidates in the community. I can see this program lasting for years to come, and being an important piece of grant funding in Southern Nevada. I know the importance of these types of life experience courses,” he said.

To take advantage of this unique opportunity and learn more about the program, please visit http://www.unlv.edu/ncli/grantwell.

Start Studying the SATs Right NOW For FREE

If you’re a high school student interested in going to college, then we have exciting news for you – it’s just gotten a lot easier and cheaper to prepare for the SATs! The College Board (creators of the SAT) announced that they are partnering up with Khan Academy to produce a redesigned SAT in 2016, and starting in 2015 students will have free online access to all the tools that they need to study and prepare for the redesigned test.

Not only are they redesigning it, but they have also made available to students hundreds of previously unreleased Math, Reading, and Writing questions from actual SATs and over 200 videos that provide step-by-step solutions to each problem that are accessible NOW for the 2014-2015 SATs.

“The SAT should reward merit and hard work, and success on the exam should be available to all. There is no better statement of our commitment to making the SAT a world-class, high-quality, and fair test than partnering with Khan Academy to provide free SAT preparation for the world,” said David Coleman, President and CEO of the College Board.

Now you can start studying right now from the comfort of your own home! You don’t have to pay, and you don’t have to leave your house to go to lessons at a tutoring center. You can study at your own pace and revisit tutorials as needed.

That makes studying so much easier!

But why are they redesigning the SATs on top of that?

The new SATs are being based on current research’s findings about what tools students need to be equipped with and what they should understand in order to to be successful in college.

To start studying for the SATs today as well as to learn more about the upcoming redesigned SAT, visit www.khanacademy.org/sat.

Site Tours

It’s important to us here at Andson that we do not just repeatedly tell you over and over what an impact we make in our community. We’d also like to show you so that you can see for yourself and not just take our word for it. Therefore, in an effort to show first-hand the life-long love of learning that is being instilled in our kids and the difference that we are making, on March 5^th we had our first of two site tours this month for Andson’s Board and Advisory committee members.

Our goal is to show them exactly what we do during our Homework Help and Tutoring programs and how vital it is for children to receive this one-on-one and small group attention.

The tour was at the Kish Boys & Girls Club, and there was a great turn-out. We are so grateful for all of the community partners that attended, and we are excited for our next site tour on March 25th!

If you would like to see our tutors in action and the work we are doing, feel free to email us for more information!

A Passion for Learning

Holly, a kindergartener at our Southern Highlands location, took matters into her own hands this week when she grew impatient waiting for tutoring to begin and lead the other kindergarteners into the tutoring room early. Her explanation to her tutor was merely, “Sorry Ms. Elias, we just couldn’t help ourselves.” She and the others then proceeded to sit down and waited for their tutoring to begin. Holly’s mother says that Holly is always so excited to go to tutoring and so sad when she has to leave.

If through all our efforts and hard work we ended up inspiring this little girl and the other kindergarteners to the point where they get excited to learn, then our goal here at Andson is met, though our work is only just beginning!

This is our reward – when we see students not only learning and understanding their work, but also developing a passion for learning.

A few of our other Southern Highland students’ family members have also told us that their children are excelling in their school work.

Third grader Elliot’s mother said that she loves the tutoring program and that Elliot’s math grade has gone up tremendously.

Fifth grader Patrick’s grandfather says thank you Andson and that Patrick has learned to enjoy math and is continuously improving his math skills.

Fifth grader Marae’s mother says that Marae is always excited to go to tutoring and that she has not seen her daughter that excited to learn before.

Here’s to reaching out to even more students!

Who knows, maybe there’s a future teacher or two among these kiddos.

Now that would be awesome.

Miracle Mile Shops Support Andson

What would you do if you were given oodles of wet coins? Well, we know what we’d do with them!

That’s why we have some exciting news as we have become the recipients of a very generous donation!

The Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino are collecting donations for us this month. As part of their Caring, Giving, Changing community campaign, all change that is tossed into the Miracle Mile Shops’ fountain and indoor rainstorm throughout March will be donated to us for our Adopt-A-Student program.

Thank you Miracle Mile Shops for your generosity and support!

We are so grateful and would like to also thank everyone else who is supporting us. We could not fulfill our mission without you.

To learn more about this donation and these shops, please visit www.MiracleMileShopsLV.com.

What's Your Budget Black Hole?

For teenagers or just anyone in general, it’s always extremely difficult to save money. Sure, it’s easy to talk about it or learn about it in class and think it’s a good idea.

But actually doing it? That’s a completely different story.

We are very impulsive creatures and there are all sorts of reasons why we spend money without thinking about it, or without caring at the moment about the consequences of it.

It’s so easy to spend money to “fix” a bad day, or a bad mood, or just to distract yourself from reality for awhile.

When you realize you've run out of money, you may regret your decision. The knot in your stomach begins to tighten.

I’m sure you’ve all heard of black holes.

But did you know that black holes and budgets go hand in hand?

According to the blog Budgets are $exy, “According to NASA, some of the hallmark characteristics of black holes are invisibility and varying size. They literally can’t be seen, and can be sized anywhere from a puddle to a sea.”

If you're having difficulty sticking to a budget, or saving your money, you may be unaware of your budgeting black holes!

So that’s where it all goes!

No, there’s not really a black hole in your wallet, pulling your money into another universe! You are the one sucking it out, and most of the time without even realizing it. That's why it's important to learn how to keep track of your spending.

Budget black holes can be caused by anything! They can be anything from you’re daily latte purchase, to impulsive book buying, to eating out, and taking trips to the movie theater.

They may be areas in which you think you may not spend a lot of money and, therefore, don’t worry about, but they become black holes when they go uncalculated. They add up, and BOOM! Suddenly you’re hit with a reality check. You’re broke!

Once again, the above mentioned blog, http://www.budgetsaresexy.com/2014/01/black-hole-in-your-budget/, says “the key is being able to spot these black holes, and knowing the size of them.”

Therefore, find out what they are and keep track of them to save yourself from the horrors of being broke!

What are your budget black holes?

Find out what they are! PAY ATTENTION to ALL of your purchases, especially the “little” ones! If you find that you’re always broke a few days after pay day, then maybe occasionally skip the coffee or trip to the movies. Don’t give them up, just learn when to put spending off for another few days, making it even better when you do buy something (and you’ll be guilt free)!

Flip That Classroom!

Starting in 2010, Marc Seigel, a mere chemistry teacher at Middletown High School South in New Jersey, made his students’ wildest classroom daydreams come true. He not only allowed them, but even encouraged them to use their cell phones during class time.

According to the article “Flipped Out” written by Jennifer Miller, Marc Seigel is one of a few brave teachers who are trying out a new method of teaching called a “flipped classroom.”

The idea behind the whole flipped classroom is that students do homework in the classroom and watch their lessons at home through video tutorials. This allows students to pause or rewatch lessons as many times as they need at their own pace, while receiving more one-on-one time with their teacher and homework help in the classroom.

Seigel even got rid of the cell phone ban at his school and set his students up with Google Apps so that they could upload images of their completed homework from the classroom and keep track of it in an organized folder online.

Sounds cool, right?

However, after a few weeks his students weren’t challenged enough with their video lessons and lost interest in their studies again, so Seigel revised his online lessons to interact with his students.

According to neuroscientist Dr. Gary Small, “Watching video is a passive experience.” It’s the decision making in lessons that activates students’ neurons.

The problem is that the education system's focus is on having students memorize facts, rather than on developing their cognitive skills. This is not enough to prepare students for jobs in the 21^st century.

Pretty much, in this fast-paced world students have shorter and shorter attention spans due to the media and technology. Students just aren’t stimulated in the classroom the way that they are outside of the classroom. Our traditional learning models just aren’t cutting it.

The article goes on to say that when students are required to learn or memorize information for a test, they remember this information only when they take the test (as opposed to learning a musical instrument and being able to recall it all the time). Therefore, the information they study does them little good outside of the classroom with this method of mere fact memorizing.

Well get this.

When kids play video games their brains release a neurotransmitter called dopamine. This happens when they experience pleasure. Active participation and decision making is one instance in which this happens. This is the reason why video games are addictive.

The flipped system is like a video game. If you succeed in a video game, you get to another level. However, even if you failed you immediately come one step closer to understanding why. Immediate feedback in school gives more motivation and understanding to students than delayed feedback (the old fashioned school system of having to wait for questions and homework help). Whether students do their homework correctly or incorrectly, they understand why right away in a flipped classroom.

This is why Seigel allows his students to retake tests and emphasizes interactive labs over problem sets. Like a video game, they “replay” until they succeed and understand.

Not a bad idea, huh?

To read the article in full for more details on this innovative idea go to http://www.spiritmag.com/features/article/flipped_out/.

Nevada College Kickstart Program

According to Nevada State Treasurer Kate Marshall, “Research has found that children with a college savings account are up to seven times more likely to attend college than those without an account, regardless of family income, ethnicity, or the educational attainment of the child’s parents.” According to research, it doesn’t matter how much money is in the children’s accounts, but just the fact that the children know that college is something to save for is what makes so large of an impact on them. Fascinating!

That is why today Marshall participated in an exciting new beginning of a program that will immensely benefit many children as she launched the Nevada College Kick Start Program at Walter Bracken Elementary School.

The concept is to provide an initial $50 deposit in a college savings account for students. That is how the seed of anticipating a college education is getting planted in these children.

This is not only happening in Las Vegas, but all over Nevada. Another incredible part of the program is that it is funded from program manager fees paid to the state, not from tax payers’ wallets.

Here’s to watching those seeds grow!

College Isn’t Cheap – Fill Out Your FAFSA!

As Sophomores and Juniors, you may hear your Senior friends talking about “FAFSA” a lot.  You may figure, “no need to worry, I’ve got years  before that.” Then, you wake up. Your parents are freaking out about your college applications, and senioritis is seriously kicking in.

According to https://fafsa.ed.gov/help.htm, “Completing and submitting a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the single most important thing you can do to get assistance paying for college.”

You might ask yourself what in the world does this have to do with me?

However, if you are in high school, or are considering going to college or returning to college, this has everything to do with you!

Many students do not know how easy it can be to get money to help with college.

The FAFSA website mentioned above also goes over many fears or myths that students might think would stand in their way when it comes to receiving money for college. These may include thinking that you or your parents make too much money so you won’t qualify for aid, that you have to have good grades to receive aid, that you’re too old for financial aid, or even that the form is too difficult or complicated to fill out.

NONE of these are true!

We already went over why you need it, so let’s go over more specifically what it is.

It is merely a FREE application for federal student aid that can come in different forms including: federal grants, loans, and work-study.

See how easy it is to be walked through the application process and have all your questions answered. Visit the above mentioned website - https://fafsa.ed.gov/help.htm.

Also, be sure to check out this awesome website https://getschooled.com/fafsa-resources.

This website, Get Schooled, has tons of helpful tips and links from not only the experts, but also students like you.

Their topics include:

• Finding out which parent to use for the FAFSA
• Getting an estimate on your aid package
• All of the different types of aid that you might qualify for
• FAFSA tips from your peers
• FAFSA on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube

Go check it out! It’s not scary at all.

Agassi Grand Opening

Andson is embarking on yet another new journey as we prepare to open our 13^th location at the Andre Agassi Boys & Girls Club on February 18^th….only 5 days away! With new tutors counting down the days to the grand opening, their enthusiasm bursts through as they discuss their desire to meet their soon to be students and their hopes that their own enthusiasm will quickly spread to those students. They are also counting that their wish for a waiting list of eager students will be recognized.

Our tutors are super excited and can’t wait to begin the new program and build a community for their students who will have a safe environment and will be equipped with all the learning tools they need.  That,  along with our tutors’ patience, perseverance, and one-on-one and small group time will give students the attention and assistance that is not always available to them elsewhere.

We at Andson are prepared to help our students conquer all challenges as we deliver a structured concise program to the members of the Andre Agassi Boys and Girls Club.

Nevada calling for Mentors, Tutors, and Motivators

Strong Start Nevada is a community outreach program with similar education goals as Andson that believes that early childhood experiences lay the foundation for that child’s success throughout life. According to an article they wrote, “Young children’s brains develop 700 synapses [neural connections that support learning and skills] every second. Research shows that children begin developing their science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills well before high school, middle school or elementary school.” How awesome is that!?  The younger the child, the more the child’s brain will retain information.

The Problem-

Nevada’s children have fallen behind in education. According to Strong Start Nevada, in Nevada we rank 50^th in education in the nation. What exactly does this mean?

• 70% of our children never go to preschool
• 75% of our fourth graders cannot read proficiently
• 71% of our eighth graders cannot do math proficiently
• 42% of our high school students graduate late

The Result-

The destructive impact this has on our young adults who are struggling and not keeping up in Nevada’s current education system is limitless. Young adults are ill prepared for the world and work force, and in most cases they are not equipped to meet the standards that industries look for in their hiring processes. How many of our young adults are we talking about?

According to Strong Start Nevada:

• 75% of young adults (ages 17-24) would not qualify for the U.S. military, or meet the physical, behavioral, or educational standards that industries also look for today.

At-risk children are:

• 25% more likely to drop out of school
• 40% more likely to become teen parents
• 50% more likely to be placed in special education
• 60% more likely to never attend college
• 70% more likely to be arrested for a violent crime

The Plan of Action-

What do we need to do to better prepare our children in Nevada?

• Get personally involved in your children’s education. If you are a working parent, send your children to an after school program where they can receive the mentoring, tutoring, and homework help that they need to keep up to speed with their education, and keep their learning process as stress free as possible.
• Donate to organizations that support educating the children of Southern Nevada. Help provide learning resources and tools for them, as well as make sure they are affordable for all students.
• Volunteer. Personally make a difference in a child’s life by volunteering in organizations, such as Andson, and becoming a child’s mentor, tutor, and motivation.

January Stars of the Month

Congratulations to Alijah Elgas (kindergarten), Brianna Bonner (third grade), and Melanie Jimenez (third grade) for winning the Stars of the Month awards for outstanding performance in tutoring at the Boyd Club location! Great job guys for being January’s outstanding students of the month!

Keep up the smiles and hard work!

January Tutor of the Month - Laura Bastian

Laura Bastian is the winner of our January “Tutor of the Month” here at Andson. Currently a speech-language pathologist at William Ferron Elementary, she treats speech and language disorders from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Laura has over 10 years of teaching on her plate and has taught preschool, first and fourth grade, and special education in both middle and high school. She has been both a tutor and a tutoring coordinator for much of that time in both Illinois and Nevada. Laura also has quite the busy life outside of the classroom. When she is not with students, she loves traveling with her family, visiting unique museums, and having one-of-a-kind experiences. Other activities she and her family do together include volunteering across the Valley.

Also near and dear to Laura are her efforts to educate her students about college. Therefore, in order to kindle an interest in college in her students, she has her students currently doing a pen-pal project with her daughter’s sorority at Iowa State University.

Thank you Ms. Bastian for all you do for our students!