Miracle Mile Money

Well, we got oodles and oodles of wet coins from the Miracle Mile Shops, $3,031.01 to be exact! Thank you Miracle Mile for choosing us for March’s donation of coins from the fountain and indoor rainstorm at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino!

Also, we want to give a shout out to each and every one of you who took the time to toss your coins into the fountain and contribute to our cause!

We received six five-gallon buckets full of coins (and other interesting odds and ends).

We can’t wait to put this money to use in our Adopt-A-Student Program, and we’re sure the kids can’t wait as well.

College Students - Starving Students or Financial Role Models?

There are financial benefits to living like college students, and we could learn a few things from them. How in the world, you might ask, are college students to be looked at as financial role models? When most people think of college students, they think of starving, desperate young people who can usually be found slurping down some ramen noodles off of a folding table (which is usually one of the only pieces of furniture you’ll find in their living space).

According to the article on Lifehacker, “The Practical Benefits of Living Like a College Student,” we should take a closer look at college students’ habits and traits.

College students are always out there being “busy learning, growing, and transitioning,” and they have some “highly effective habits” when it comes to money, even though these habits usually stem from just pure necessity.

A few habits that college students have that we could learn from are their eating habits, their constant openness to learning and growing, and that they tend to embrace experiences over possessions.

Think about it.

Although college students are forced out of necessity to eat and cook at home a lot, this is one easy way to save money. Just because you start making more money doesn’t mean that you can’t still cook in order to save that money. I mean, come on. How much do you spend on eating out each week? And if you cut that habit out for a while, how much would you be able to save for your next vacation?

Another point talked about is that college is a time of continual growth and many changes. After college, people get more settled, more set in their  ways, and are far less open to opportunity and change – which can make it very, very hard to change financial habits once they are established, especially bad ones. Going back to that state of mind where you are open to change and growth would have countless benefits when trying to readjust your finances.

Lastly, let’s face it, college students, most of the time, are just plain broke. However, for most students, their focus isn’t on attaining an abundance of material possessions at the moment, but rather an abundance of experiences. What an awesome state of mind to have! What if we we’re more focused on new experiences and meeting new people rather than always needing the newest versions of everything!?

Anyways, those are a few things to think about especially this month, Financial Literacy Month! The next time you see a college student maybe you’ll see one of these traits and think about how you can apply it to your own life, rather than just seeing a broke student slurping down some ramen noodles!

To read more about this, go to http://lifehacker.com/the-practical-benefits-of-living-like-a-college-student-1553814909

We're Excited to Add to Our Team

We just hired a new site-coordinator, Nevena Cvijetic, who has been with us for about two weeks. She oversees two of our sites, Agassi and Silver Pines, and told us that she is extremely enthusiastic about her new position, as well as those she works with. When I became a member of the Andson Academic team, I knew that it would be a fulfilling position – I just wasn't aware of how much.

I knew that Andson Academics provides a high-quality tutoring program that encourages young students to become effective learners, but I wasn't prepared to see how much passion and heart our tutors and staff bring into this program.

Tutors such as DeAnn Sheehan, who brings in various games each day for her students, create innovate ways to strengthen students math and reading skills, while awarding good behavior.

Tutors such as Angela Wilborn, Jessica Webb, and Loretta Lee show us that this program isn't limited to only academics – they create a positive environment in which their students feel safe and important.

The student’s progress and excitement towards learning is a clear indicator that the hard work of our tutors pays off.

Andson’s remarkable staff and volunteers show, through their incredible effort, that they want each individual child to progress in all areas of life.

It is a great honor to have the opportunity to work for an organization whose members believe in making a positive difference in their community and working towards something greater than themselves.

We are excited to have Nevena join our team, as her enthusiasm is proving to be contagious!

March Tutor of the Month - Karen Hipsher

Karen Hipsher is our “Tutor of the Month” for March! Currently a teacher at C C Ronnow Elementary, she’s been a teacher for 7 years now. She teaches 3^rd grade science (her favorite subject) and social studies as well as a 1^st grade class and a kindergarten class.

She can’t stand calculus and is so thankful that she doesn’t have to teach it!

Her favorite hobbies are reading and beachcombing, something she dreams of doing more.

She was asked what she likes most about working with Andson. She replied, “I love that I’ve had an opportunity to work with so many fun and caring people. I’ve never worked with a more appreciative group.”

We love working with you too, Karen!

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.

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/.

Project Connect Social Hour This Thursday!

This Thursday, Feb 27th will be our first Project Connect of 2014! Original invitation

It's a informal way for Andson to connect with friends and supporters at our offices in Southern Highlands.

We'd love for you to join us - RSVP here.

Our office is located at 11920 Southern Highlands Parkway, STE 101 Las Vegas, NV 89141

Please contact us at 702-785-0020 or info@andson.org for any questions.