Dear Friend,
I am excited to announce that Live It Learn It begins its 15th year of partnering with schools and cultural institutions to provide experiences to children in Washington, DC! Since its inaugural pontoon trip with 23 students down the Anacostia River, we have directly impacted 21,000 students who attend Title I schools in DC. We're excited to celebrate this milestone year from now through September 2020. Your friendship, partnership, and generosity have made this critical work possible for 15 years. Thank you!
I am excited to share the Quarterly Update with you, which highlights snapshots from the past 15 years. We are already adding to these historic milestones as we begin this school year! We look forward to you visiting our classrooms and destinations and hope to engage more deeply with you—you are an integral part of the Live It Learn It family.
Sincerely,
Michelle N. Edwards, Ed.D
Executive Director
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PROGRAMMING UPDATES
LILI's Anniversary — We are beginning our 15th year of programming at Aiton ES, our very first partner school! Since Aiton’s inaugural pontoon trip with 23 students down the Anacostia River, we have directly impacted 21,000 students who attend Title I schools in DC, with more than 50% of those students living in Wards 7 & 8.
New Partner Schools — We are excited to welcome back Thomas ES (Ward 7) and Raymond Education Campus (Ward 4) to the Live It Learn It family! Fifth-graders from Thomas ES will visit Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens with the Audubon Naturalist Society and learn how erosion and trash pollution affect stream habitats and their inhabitants.
Stand Where MLK Stood — Our staff enthusiastically attended the Washington International School Summer Institute for Teachers again this summer. We also facilitated a course for Day at the Museums at the Lincoln and MLK Memorials. Course participants stepped inside the perspective of historical figures, such as Marian Anderson, James Baldwin, Anna Hedgeman, and John Lewis, in order to better understand the diverse viewpoints of demonstrators at the 1963 March on Washington. A course participant shared, “This was, by far, one of the best learning experiences I’ve had as an educator!”
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ORGANIZATIONAL UPDATES
Growing Staff — We are excited to welcome a new Data and Operations Coordinator, Florence Lee, as well as two Experiential Learning Educators, Bridget Berg and Jackie Broussard.
Professional Development — This August, LILI Executive Director Michelle Edwards led a trauma-sensitivity workshop at the National Gallery of Art for 22 gallery teachers and staff, allowing them to engage deeply to understand the importance of their relationships with the students they teach.
In addition, Michelle participated in a panel discussion focused on program design at the Teaching Artists Institute (TAI) hosted by the Commission on the Arts and Humanities. LILI Educator Erin McSpadden was accepted into the TAI and cultivated methodologies for arts-focused learning, in partnership with TAI attendees and mentors.
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