Feed Our Needs Etiquette Luncheon at PS 59
Every last Wednesday of the month, Arete hosts an Etiquette Luncheon at PS 59 where students are invited to go out to eat at a local restaurant and participate in an etiquette class.
Students are invited through a selection process that involves observing their behavior during their daily lunch periods. If students adhere to cafeteria and playground rules during the regular school lunch periods, they are called to participate in the Etiquette Luncheon.
On Wednesday, selected students are gathered together during their lunch period for an etiquette class with Alejandra Figueroa (Community School Director) and Ms. Crawford (Substance Abuse Prevention and Intervention Specialist). This class consists of basic table manners, appropriate body language, and properly greeting others. Moreover, students are prompted to have meaningful conversations and make friends - positive table talk.
Selected students express excitement and pride when they are invited to participate for this event! After having lunch at the local restaurant, students return to school enthusiastically to discuss their experience of learning respectful mannerisms and getting the opportunity to go out to eat. Restaurants for these events also happen to be within the community, selected as part of the Arete Feed Our Needs initiative that supports and promotes local Black- and Brown-owned businesses. In essence, these luncheons help foster an environment where students are stimulated by the process of learning new skills while also getting the chance to explore a new restaurant. This helps engage students with the local restaurants and establish a sense of community!
2023 Table Tennis Tournament
On Saturday, January 28, Arete hosted a table tennis tournament at The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology for the middle school and high school students!
The tournament was split into two different groups: middle school participants and high school participants.
Both groups played against each other until there were three participants left. Congratulations to the following for making it to the top three of their respective divisions:
Middle School Group:
1st - Evelyn Cuatle
2nd - Amy Chavez
3rd - Desmond Figueroa
High School Group:
1st - Angel Vargas
2nd - Safiatou Haidara
3rd - Delilah Barreto
The first place winners of each group went face-to-face to determine a winner for the entire tournament. Congratulations to Angel Vargas (9th grade) for winning the entire tournament!
Arete Alumni Feature - Kailyn Espinosa
Meet Kailyn Espinosa - a third-year college student (technically a lower senior) at Hunter College double majoring in Adolescent Education grades 7-12 and English Language Arts. Combined, these two majors work towards equipping her with the skills to do work in the field of Adolescent English.
Kailyn’s journey started off in her senior year of high school, during the pandemic where she worked as a middle school tutor. She tutored middle school students in different subjects such as English, Math, Science, History, and did other work like social emotional learning. On top of that, she often had to communicate with parents to discuss the progress of the students.
As she entered her first year of college, she took on the role of Learning Advocate. As a Learning Advocate, she conducted family outreach which meant she helped families connect with different resources. She often helped families acquire access to chromebooks and wifi during this tough period of time of online learning. Additionally, in order to build community through the pandemic, she hosted movie and game nights to unite students even through a screen. At some point during this point in time as a first-year student and as a worker within the organization, she took on both roles simultaneously.
Even through her roles within Arete as a newcomer, Kailyn underscores her growth as a student but also as a worker. While in high school, she never envisioned herself becoming a teacher; however, after becoming a tutor, she found out it was not as bad as she thought it would be. “Maybe I could become a teacher!” asserted Kailyn as she recounted that upon entering college, she declared an undecided major but her initial roles within Arete allowed her to develop a strong interest in teaching and education. Her professional development also consisted of figuring out her strengths and weaknesses. She found out that she was pretty good at teaching and advocating for families and had the necessary skills to go into the profession of teaching. On top of that, Kailyn was able to narrow down the age group of students she felt most suited to teach through her work as a tutor and Learning Advocate.
During her second semester of freshman year, Kailyn got promoted to a supervisor of the tutoring program. She essentially overlooked high school tutors and helped foster a stable environment for the tutor-tutee relationships. This meant she created breakout rooms, welcomed both tutors and tutees, and conducted observation sessions during ongoing tutoring sessions. During these sessions, she observed the relationship between tutors and students and gave tutors feedback to help them improve on their tutoring skills. Kailyn’s previous experience as a tutor gave her the expertise to know what was working and what was not working during tutoring sessions. Her promotion from tutor to supervisor gave her insight into the management of tutors and gave her the opportunity to professionally develop and gain competence as someone in a higher position.
Later on, during summer bridge, Kailyn became a literacy educator. As a literacy educator, her focus was on students who were behind in literacy. Her responsibility was to help bridge the gap between on-level students and students who were struggling in literature. In order to do so, Kailyn helped students by reading and testing their comprehension skills in small groups. One thing that Kailyn learned as a tutoring program supervisor and literacy educator was that she could work with older students and professionals. Her previous experience revolved around a younger demographic, but these two new roles allowed for her to experience what it would be like to work with older students and also take on roles that were higher up within the organization.
Currently, Kailyn works as a Specialized Reading Intervention Facilitator. She administers and facilitates specialized lessons to help students’ comprehension skills through different activities like SEL, writing prompts, and discussions about the books they read. In conjunction with this first role, Kailyn is also a Program Coordinator and Data Specialist. She reports data for middle school and high school students through two different platforms - EZ Reports and CitySpan. The data she handles and reports is fundamental to the funding Arete receives. It is worthy noting that Kailyn started off with just reporting data for one community school (The Laboratory School of Finance and Technology) but has now transitioned to managing data for all of Arete’s community schools.
“Before Arete, I did not know what social emotional learning was!” One thing that Kailyn pointed out as something she appreciates and makes Arete distinct is that they exposed her to SEL. She was shown different activities to conduct SEL. She then became equipped with the skills to host her own SEL sessions and activities. Through this, Kailyn learned that social emotional learning is an integral part of learning and development which ties back to her career aspirations of working with children and education.
Kailyn acknowledges that her work with Arete as of now delves into a more administrative field, but still maintains the essence of working with kids. She benefited from the flexibility that Arete granted to her as a college student. Arete was able to accommodate to her schedule and helped her gain social skills through her various roles. Her exceptional journey within Arete highlights how she was given the opportunity to professionally, socially, and emotionally grow as an individual.
Feed Our Needs - 2022 Round Up
Over Two Years: 1,700 Families Served
As the year comes to a close, Arete Education and The Collective Black Employee Resource Group (CFBERG) wanted to thank you for your generosity and support for the Feed Our Needs campaign. For the last two years were we able to raise $40,250 that was critical in supporting disenfranchised communities, as food insecurity continues to increase.
Your contributions during challenging times enabled us to support Black- and Brown-owned restaurants who were key in sourcing meals that were distributed in the Bronx and Harlem. To date we have been able to feed over 1700 families and students, and in 2022 we partnered with JFFNYC who helped us to reach more families in need. We hope to continue this partnership and drive our mission investing in youth across New York City, we need your support to fulfill this mission in our communities.
How You Can Help
We have several upcoming events that we need your help with in January! You can help pack warm clothing bags for families and serve hot meals at our next Feed Our Needs events during MLK Jr. Weekend (January 16th). Find out more ››
Our Impact
Across the city, you have helped make a difference in our communities! Since 2020, we have partnered with local NYC restaurants, The Collective CF BERG, South Bronx Mutual Aid, The Lab School, Harlem Police Athletic League, Harlem Lacrosse, Carvers Savings Bank, and Zeta Boule Fraternity.
Help Raise Funds for 2023 Events
We are actively fundraising now for our 2023 events. Please consider supporting us by or volunteering or OR making a donation..
Volunteer Today
Volunteer today with Arete Education.
First Name*
Last Name*
Email*
Phone
Address (Country, Address, City, State, Zip)
Volunteer SignUp Date (today)
Just complete the form below. We'll record your interests, skills, availability, and volunteer location preferences and call you within a week!
Arete's Holiday Kickoff at LSFT
At Arete Education, we love to celebrate the winter holidays by providing meaningful opportunities for our high school students and staff to give back to our school communities. We are sending out a heartfelt thank you to the entire LSFT & Arete communities for supporting our students and families at our Holiday Kickoff 2022 Event on December 3, 2022.
Here are the numbers for this annual community event:
- Families Served: 100
- Hats/scarves/gloves: 200
- Arete holiday bags: 100
- Socks: 200
- Coats: 34
- Hot food: 100 Feed our Needs Meals from local Black and Brown Owned Restaurants
- Wrapped Toys: 100
- Clothes: 140
- Duffel Bags: 87 for families in temporary housing
Thank you for all of your support!
Juneteenth Freedom Fest 2022 Impact
Arete Education and The Collective (CF BERG) partnered over the Juneteenth 2022 Holiday weekend to support the 2022 Juneteenth Freedom Fest NYC in Harlem.
We donated $5,000 in meal vouchers to residents of Harlem in partnership with NYC NYCHA offices and JFF Event staff to feed over 450 people at the event and support a local business partner, Casa Birria NYC! We are so proud to have expanded our Feed Our Needs Initiative to include this Juneteenth Freedom Fest Community Event.
Arete Education volunteers also hosted a youth Creative EQ Table, featuring local business-owner Nicoise Waring's Coisescape Black Arts experiences.
Closing, we extend a large appreciation to Arete Board members McEvans Francois and Kholofelo Mothibi for organizing the event alongside Barclays ERG leader Erica Fray and the 15 volunteers and financial support from Barclays, S&P Global, Mizuho, Nomura, Deutsche, USB, and Factset.
S.T.E.M. to S.T.A.R.S. 2022 Launch
Support Our Summer 2022 Launch of S.T.E.M. to S.T.A.R.S.
Make a Contribution on Square to Sponsor Our First Cohort at our Juneteenth Program Launch
S.T.E.M. to S.T.A.R.S. Supporter
Juneteenth Freedom Fest
Join the Arete Team in Harlem June 18th from 12-6 pm at the Juneteenth Freedom Fest 2022 Block Party
Reflecting on the ExpandED SEL Convening 2022: Belonging and Excelling Toward a Bright Future Part 2
This April, Arete Education had the remarkable honor of joining fellow SEL Educators and exceptional EQ-minded professionals in facilitating the ExpandED Schools SEL Convening 2022: Belonging and Excelling Toward a Bright Future. This annual event was curated to lead members of the SEL educational community in networking and in learning promising SEL practices. Arete was asked to co-facilitate the Breakout Room focused on SEL Frameworks and Models. We shared Arete’s SEL Curriculum and the SEL Module II model with a wider audience, and in turn, received numerous SEL resources and praise from others. This 4-part Reflection will share the highlights and takeaways from the Convening and also challenge the readers to join the SEL conversations.
Feel free to explore the resources below:
· Session Slides and Resources (presenter slides/videos)
The Convening was sectioned into four parts. The second portion was The City Artifact Shareout, which is a space for selected SEL Educators and professionals to share the resources they utilized to help guide EQ activities within their communities. This year, seven eager SEL experts volunteered their go-to tools. This article highlights three.
-
Tozyea Reed (Dallas, TX) - SEL Calm Corner are physical spaces designed to help students check in with themselves. In these spaces are handouts, and hands-on tools for self-awareness and mindfulness.
-
Kara Hader (Tulsa, OK). - Yale University’s Mood Meters are color-coded zones that help students identify their moods and that mood intensity. These meters are helpful in setting up norms and practice for noticing how you feel and then regulating those emotions.
-
Lavone Walker (Omaha, NE) - Vibratone is a percussion bell that is used to focus group attention. At the sound, SEL student practitioners are intentionally centering.
Other impactful artifacts shared included Cooking Clubs for kids and staff, SEL Calm kits, and stipends geared at SEL initiatives. All of the artifacts provided takeaways that could be specified to our own communities and EQ practices.
The Arete SEL Challenge: Thank you for reading this article. As a part of our growing SEL community, we invite you to join the conversation. Which of Adams's highlighted artifacts interests you the most? Which of the briefly mentioned artifacts would you like to hear more about? Do you have any cool SEL artifacts to share?
Reflecting on the ExpandED SEL Convening 2022: Belonging and Excelling Toward a Bright Future Part 3
This April, Arete Education had the remarkable honor of joining fellow SEL Educators and exceptional EQ-minded professionals in facilitating the ExpandED Schools SEL Convening 2022: Belonging and Excelling Toward a Bright Future. This annual event was curated to lead members of the SEL educational community in networking and in learning promising SEL practices. Arete was asked to co-facilitate the Breakout Room focused on SEL Frameworks and Models. We shared Arete’s SEL Curriculum and the SEL Module II model with a wider audience, and in turn, received numerous SEL resources and praise from others. This 4-part Reflection will share the highlights and takeaways from the Convening and also challenge the readers to join the SEL conversations.
Feel free to explore the resources below:
· Session Slides and Resources (presenter slides/videos)
The Convening was sectioned into four parts. The third portion was The City Networking Session, and participants had a choice of three Breakout Rooms. The Breakout Room discussions were focused on Strengthening Community Partnerships, Youth Voice, and Policy and SEL Working Groups, respectively. I joined the Youth Voice room since Arete’s Vision, Mission, and Motto are aligned with youth advocacy and SEL Leadership. The facilitator, Farhen Johnson, was phenomenal in delivering this thought:
“SEL can’t work if it’s being done to you. However, SEL can work if we are speaking life into each other and showing up for one another.”
She drove home her point by challenging us with this thought:
“ SEL is a thread. How can we braid it in culturally?"
I took this as: Where in Arete’s program can we emphasize beneficial customs and observations based on our specific cultures and experience?
The key is developing a Connected Environment. Johnson listed four strategies for developing Connected Environments:
-
Know Names
-
Practice Emotional Checks
-
Introduce Community Circles
-
Keep all spaces in alignment
Reflecting on the ExpandED SEL Convening 2022: Belonging and Excelling Toward a Bright Future Part 1
This April, Arete Education had the remarkable honor of joining fellow SEL Educators and exceptional EQ-minded professionals in facilitating the ExpandED Schools SEL Convening 2022: Belonging and Excelling Toward a Bright Future. This annual event was curated to lead members of the SEL educational community in networking and in learning promising SEL practices. Arete was asked to co-facilitate the Breakout Room focused on SEL Frameworks and Models. We shared Arete’s SEL Curriculum and the SEL Module II model with a wider audience, and in turn, received numerous SEL resources and praise from others. This 4-part Reflection will share the highlights and takeaways from the Convening and also challenge the readers to join the SEL conversations.
Feel free to explore the resources below:
· Session Slides and Resources (presenter slides/videos)
· Session Recordings
The Convening was sectioned into four parts:
- The Welcome and Key Note Speech
- The City Artifact Share-out
- The City Networking Session,
- SEL Professional Development
The keynote speaker was David Adams, CEO of Urban Assembly, and the premise of his presentation was to drive home how Belonging truly influences one’s purpose and need for education. The main text of reference was W.E.B Dubois' The Souls of Black Folk. This literary work revealed to Adams several insights. He emphasized three:
1.) The purpose of Education is to transform from a carefree man to a thoughtful man, and the responsibility of each educated person is to help us all through the struggles and into progress.
2.) To belong is to understand your responsibility to the group, and the group's responsibility to you. Being named and claimed can be healthy and helpful.
3.) Burdens are easier to bare if everyone carries their own weight. Keep in mind that the strengths need never be unformed, as long as their benefits are mutual.
In closing, Adams reiterated the importance of belonging to and in educated communities by emphasizing the standstill politics places on education. Adams expressed that when education is guided through teaching rather than learning, a student’s scope is narrowed. The solution to teacher-centered education is in our shared characters, groups, and mutually shared experiences.
The Arete SEL Challenge: Thank you for reading this article. As a part of our growing SEL community, we invite you to join the conversation. Which of Adams's three insights were most impactful to your concept of belonging? What are some of the groups you proudly belong to?
Recent Comments