Our third-grade Dreamers in Boyle Heights have been participating in many enrichment activities these past months, including STEM with Cal Tech volunteers. When we last checked in with Program 19, the Dreamers were enjoying their Fun Fridays during our after-school program. Since then, program coordinators (Raquel and Cursta) and program assistants (Mayra, Josh, and Michel’le) have been exposing the Dreamers to a variety of fun, exciting, and educational activities.

I Have a Dream Foundation Los Angeles (IHADLA) Enrichment Updates
The Dreamers have been working hard in their classes to improve their math scores, reading scores, and social skills. With the help of IHADLA’s after-school program, enrichment clubs, Dream Speaker series, and college-going culture, our third grade Dreamers have strengthened their academics, social skills, and overall knowledge about the world around them.

Cal Tech Students Volunteer STEM Physics Learning for Boyle Heights Dreamer Students

In early April, students from Cal Tech University came out to volunteer with our Dreamers. The wonderful Cal Tech volunteers taught the Dreamers how to make newspaper towers which helped teach them about physics. The students were divided into small groups with one or two Cal Tech volunteers. The Cal Tech volunteers provided supported and guided the groups as they led the Dreamers in constructing the towers. Our Dreamers had so much fun, not only building the newspaper towers, but also working on their team-building skills while doing so.

In addition, the Cal Tech students taught the Dreamers how to make invisible ink using lemon juice! The students loved using their fingers to draw and write on the paper to transcribe secret messages. The Dreamers learned how to use every day resources and integrate them with science!

Cal Tech students also volunteered at our Dream Big event back in November 2015. We look forward to continuing this rich relationship. Thank you, Cal Tech!

The Arts: Participating in a Play Called “The Power of Rumor”

Program Assistant Michel’le worked on a small play titled “The Power of Rumor” with a few of the Dreamers. The play spoke about the harmful spread of rumors and the potential negative power that rumors harness. Plays are a fantastic way to expose the students to the arts, in this case, specifically theatre arts. In order to practice the play, the Dreamers had to read and comprehend what they were saying. They also had the opportunity to practice their public speaking skills as they performed “The Power of Rumor” to the rest of the Dreamers and IHADLA Staff.

Small Bites Healthy Eating and Wellness Enrichment Club

Healthy eating and wellness are important in everyone’s life. At IHADLA, we try to incorporate aspects of healthy choices into our enrichment club, which is called “Small Bites.” Small Bites helps the students understand how healthy choices impact their lives and also teaches them how to make smart food choices. The Dreamers recently learned how to make yummy fruit kabobs–they loved how colorful the fruit looked on the sticks, and they were surprised at how easy they were to make!

Dream Speaker: Chef Mancilla

We love our Dream Speaker series at IHADLA! Our third grade Dreamers especially benefit from and love Dream Speakers. A recent Dream Speaker in our third grade class was Chef Mancilla, who is the father of one of the Dreamers (Mathew). He spoke to the Dreamers about his career as a chef and even gave a small demonstration to teach the Dreamers about culinary arts and culinary skills.

USC Campus Tour

The third grade Dreamers visited the University of Southern California (USC)! They took a campus tour using a scavenger hunt as a guide. One of the challenges during the scavenger hunt was to find as many water fountains as they could on campus and take a group picture in front of them. Two of our MSW interns, Marsy and Matthew, assisted Program 19 on this college field trip!

All of these wonderful activities would not be possible without the support from our donors and sponsors. Thank you!