ESSENCE Brings Joy to Others
ESSENCE : The intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something , which determines its character . In other words , essence is your ability to BE you !
The ESSENCE young women ' s groups within Northwest Suburban ’ s eight member districts have been learning about character development . As a part of character development , group leaders discuss the importance of caring and showing
compassion towards others , learning what gratitude is and giving back . The Essence group members decided to make fleece blankets and put together personal hygiene packets for homeless youth and families . The participating schools are Buffalo Community Middle School and Buffalo High School , Rockford Middle School , Maple Grove Jr . High , Edgewood Middle School , Elk-River High School , Rogers High School , and Zimmerman High School .
ESSENCE implements four key educational concepts that help girls think about their current life situations and future goals in a constructive way : Achievement , Opportunity , Aspirations , and Expectations . The goal of ESSENCE is to help middle and high school girls that may be struggling with academics , decision making , self esteem , social skills , cultural and ethnic identity , bullying , and conflict resolution , to learn to cope with life issues through positive and productive discussions and activities .
North View Junior High IBMYP Students Stuff Over 500 Bears
For many years , North View Junior High International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme students have had the opportunity to weave IB curriculum with real life circumstances . The IB Learner Profile concept of Caring helps students make a personal commitment to service and through the Mother Bear Project , students bring comfort and hope to children affected by HIV / AIDS with a teddy bear .
This year over 70 students stuffed 500 teddy bears in an hour and a half ! This brings North View ’ s total bears stuffed in the last five years to 5,000 ! Former NVJH parent , Judy Johnson , has been knitting bears for the Mother Bear project for years and continues to bring hundreds of bears to North View for students to stuff . A way of staying connected to the school and to the students ; Judy knits 1,000s of bears throughout the year to be stuffed and then sent to Africa .
The Mother Bear Project is a program dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV / AIDS in emerging nations . More information about the Mother Bear Project can be found here . National African American Parent Involvement Event at Northdale Middle School
Schools across the country honor and celebrate Black History Month throughout the month of February . Monday , February 10 was National African American Parent Involvement Day ( NAAPID ). Anoka-Hennepin School District ’ s Northdale Middle School in Coon Rapids invited all families to “ Our Village , Our Kids !” event . Treated with dinner , students and families visited information booths and were serenaded by student lead musical groups . Keynote speaker , Mr . John Warren , spoke about being a parent , being better and being engaged ! He led parents through an activity on how to be the best parent possible with all the obstacles facing everyone everyday . Pictured at left is NWS ’ s Ayenna Davis singing the Black National Anthem .