Winter Edition 2015 Volume X
NSPIRED
Kids Speak
Priyanka & Meghanashree, 16 Grade 11 Bangalore
Phenomenal Photography Page 30
3rd grader Salimah speaks of her travels to Mexico Page 16
POCA winner Corrine helps the homeless with Warm Winters Page 30
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AT IUPUI
We have been overwhelmingly pleased with the caliber of the professionals we acquire when we hire IU School of Education at IUPUI graduates. Newly hired teachers and administrators from IUPUI immediately demonstrate their deep acumen of pedagogical theory and practice and constructively contribute to the eectiveness of our learning community. Simply put, they are exceedingly well prepared and demonstrate a passion for the art and science of teaching. Concetta A. Raimondi, Ed.D. Former Superintendent (2009-2013) Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township
The Indiana University School of Education at IUPUI is committed to urban education and your success. Learn more about our transformational teacher education programs. Our advisors can help you get started. Call us at 317.274.6801.
education.iupui.edu
departments
features
Letter, 4 Art, 5 Photography, 11 Music, 12 Writing, 18 Community, 19-21 Tech, 28
FEATURE:Salimah’s Trip to Mexico 16 At Christel House Mexico, 3rd Grader, Salimah tells her adventures.
CONTENT 2015 Global Engagement Expedition Analise’s Story 18 Experience Analise’s 2015 expedition to Bucerias, Mexico
Crooked Creek Insert, 23 Students of Crooked Creek Elementary create a magazine insert with help of Butler University Students.
POCA: Warm Winters, 30 Meet Corrine and how she is providing warm winters to the homeless
PUBLISHER Michael Vander Sande ART DIRECTOR Brian Brosmer SPONSORSHIP/ADVERTISING For sponsorship information contact Inspired Magazine at 317.691.4237 EDUCATORS Submit classroom set requests and address changes to: editor@readinspiredmag.org STUDENTS Submit your original fiction, non-fiction, poetry, art, photography, music and film for consideration for publication at www.readinspiredmag.com Copyright © 2015 Inspired Kids 9149 Lantern Lane Indianapolis, IN 46256 Inspired Magazine, our publisher and our advertisers are not responsible or liable for misinformation, misprints, or typographical errors.
Jasmine, Grade 5 Greenbriar Elementary Indianapolis, IN
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All rights reserved. May be reproduced with proper citation for educational purposes. Inspired Magazine 317.691.4237 michael@readinspiredmag.org www.readinspiredmag.org
Express Yourself
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LETTER
Letter from the Publisher Thank you for reading the Winter Edition of Inspired Magazine. Winter is full of amazing work and stories and our first ever international art from Kids in India and Mexico, associated with the Christel House. Please also note our new Technology Section, which will be a regular section, and is kicked off by two amazing girls who won the 2015 NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing, and the Indiana Affiliate Award for Aspirations in Computing. Also note the inclusion of work from Kids associated with Allowance For Good, a remarkable nonprofit in Chicago started by Elizabeth Newton, a Butler graduate.Finally, note the magazine created by Kids at Crooked Creek Elementary School, with the the help of Butler University students. We have been “all things Inspired” for three years and we are thrilled with the continued support that we are making a difference by paying attention to and celebrating Kids. Publishing Kids work has a direct and positive impact on Kids’ self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-awareness. This is why we continue to do what we do To Inspire Kids. We are pleased to be featuring so many Kids in this 10th edition. We are in the midst of some wonderful opportunities to expand our reach to Kids, and continue to be blessed with the amazing people we continue to meet, especially amazing Kids! As we close 2015 there are many to thank for their support, enthusiasm, introductions, and recommendations. The list is too long yet we’d like to thank the Chairman of our Board, Dr. James Lemons, and Board Member, Marilyn Leatherman who, as working Board members, are greatly appreciated! We also thank The Children’s Museum for 10 POCA winners, Lincoln Square Pancake House and Indianapolis YMCAs for their support and involvement with Don’t Waist Your Belt, Brad Weber, in San Diego, and many more who help us To Inspire Kids! Enjoy our magazine, have a blessed Christmas and holiday season with friends and family, and remember To Inspire Kids…….all the time! BTW - Keep your eyes and ears on us and Inspired Kids as we have an amazing 2016 in the works! Michael
Yassmine Fashir, 18 Graduate of North Central Freshman Ball State Muncie, IN 4 Inspired
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INTERNATIONAL
Only 7% of India’s youth graduate from high school—but at Christel House BANGALORE, every student has a plan for success, and the support to achieve it. In Mexico, 40% of youth fifteen years old and above cannot read and write. Christel House embodies the philosophy of 12th Century
Philosopher, Maimonides - “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” At Christel House, children are encouraged to dream, plan and achieve. And, Christel House helps them turn those dreams into reality.
Mansi, 15 Grade 7 Lavasa, India Seema, 12 Grade 7 Bangalore, India
Ana Karen, 14 Grade 9 Mexico
Alejandra, 14 Grade 9 Mexico Yesh, 13 Grade 7 Lavasa, India
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ART Ismael Grade 7 Christel House Academy South Indianapolis, IN
Chelsea, 6 Grade 1 Christel House Academy West Indianapolis, IN
Brian, 6 Grade K Christel House Academy West Indianapolis, IN
Rachel, 6 Grade 1 Christel House Academy West Indianapolis, IN 6 Inspired
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ART Jakayla, 10 Grade 4 Greenbriar Elementary Indianapolis, IN
Reagan, 9 Grade 4 Greenbriar Elementary Indianapolis, IN
Jordyn, 10 Grade 5 Greenbriar Elementary Indianapolis, IN
Colin, 10 Grade 4 Greenbriar Elementary Indianapolis, IN
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ART
Paige, 12 Grade 7 Holy Cross Lutheran School Indianapolis, IN
Dawson, 12 Grade 6 Franklin Township Middle School West Indianapolis, IN
Jackson, 13 Grade 8 Holy Cross Lutheran School Indianapolis, IN
Dawson, 12 Grade 6 Franklin Township Middle School West Indianapolis, IN 8 Inspired
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ART Keiko, 14 Grade 8 Holy Cross Lutheran School Indianapolis, IN
Maddie, 12 Grade 7 Holy Cross Lutheran School Indianapolis, IN
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Drew, 12 Grade 7 Holy Cross Lutheran School Indianapolis, IN
Kids Speak
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ART Gabriela, 10 Grade 4 Greenbriar Elementary Indianapolis, IN
Kareem, 11 Grade 5 Greenbriar Elementary Indianapolis, IN
Guadalupe, 9 Grade 4 Greenbriar Elementary Indianapolis, IN
Lillian, 10 Grade 4 Greenbriar Elementary Indianapolis, IN
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Talia,18 Pike High School Indianapolis, IN
PHOTO
Thag, 18 Grade 11 Broad Ripple High School Indianapolis, IN
Brad, 17 Pike High School Indianapolis, IN
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Kids Speak
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MUSIC 6 questions for Percussionist, Matt Ridge A Senior Musician at Fishers High School
Gabrielle, 18 Freshman Ball State University Munice, IN
1. What made you decide to want to audition for the Cavaliers?
I’ve known since my first exposure to the activity that I wanted to try out for a drum corps. As for which one, I narrowed it down to the Cavaliers because I love their front ensemble. Not only is their writing extremely active and impressive, but their technique keeps a good balance between building chops, getting sound of the instrument, and not killing your wrists. (Plus, it’s all-male, so they get to use both restrooms at their housing sites!) The Cavaliers were founded in 1948. They were actually the drum corps of Boy Scout Troop 111, which is why they remain an allmale corps. They faced some rough terrain in the 70s, but they soon gained an important sponsorship from the village of Rosemont, 12 Inspired
Illinois. To this day they have won seven DCI world championships and they continue to be one of the most recognizable world class drum corps 2. How did you prepare for the audition?
They have a packet which contains a description of their methods along with the audition music - warm-ups, ensemble pieces, and excerpts from previous shows. I read that packet through multiple times and familiarized myself with the music and how they executed it. And, of course, I kept my chops up between rehearsals of my school’s ensemble. 3. Describe the auditioning process and your experience
I was driven up to Rosemont, Illinois, a village just outside of Chicago (near the O’Hare airport). We stayed in Rosemont Elementary /InspiredKidsIndy
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MUSIC School for the entirety of the process - we slept on their gym floor and had front ensemble sectionals and ate in the cafeteria. There were brief breaks every half hour or so, but besides those and meal breaks, the time from 6:30pm Friday arrival to around 2pm Sunday was spent entirely in sectionals where the front ensemble played the material together. This was where the staff got a feel for how each of us played. Gradually, the tempo and level of expectation would ramp up. On the last day, they took each of us out one by one and heard us do some solo playing of the exercises and excerpts. Personally, I found the pain to start settling in around Saturday afternoon just because I hadn’t endured for that long before, but I pulled through.
5. Do you have a favorite memory?
I just met some cool people! The center marimba at auditions was in their 2013 and 2014 ensemble, and right now he’s part of Music City Mystique, my favorite front ensemble in the winter drumline realm. I met Erick Eckstrom, who was not only a prominent Cavalier player from 2011-2013, but he’s also attended IU, which is where I plan on going. There was also a veteran named Carl who actually graduated from HSE a few years ago! 6. What were the results and how did you react?
At the end of the process, Joe Roach (front ensemble coordinator) told me that the staff saw a fearless player in me and that they’d like to see how much further I could go in the 5 weeks before the January camp. I came for the experience, so I wasn’t really expecting a callback. I even had to ask, “Wait, is this a callback you’re offering me?” And he said yes! I just did mental backflips and pushed through to the very final note of the show-and-tell performance at the end.
4. How do you think you improved as a musician and as a person after the audition?
As a musician, my endurance was far improved just from that weekend alone. I got back to the FHS winter drumline and found myself breezing through warm-ups for awhile. It was also a good wake-up call about how important hearing protection is. You don’t really think about it because you get used to it, but everyone there had such great sound quality that I found myself wearing earplugs, which I continue to do whenever we rehearse with the battery at FHS. As a leader, I found myself growing just by watching the veterans of the ensemble. They always conducted themselves with class during rehearsal and they took an everybody-helps attitude during transitions between rehearsal and meals. (Since we were in the cafeteria, we got to do the set up and tear down of all the tables).
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I actually started in music before joining band as a percussionist in 6th grade. Early on I took drum set lessons, and from the moment I had a basic understanding of how music worked I just started writing sheet music. In retrospect, it sucked and I had no musical reference to even know what it sounded like, but it was a starting point. The March before my freshman year, I saw my friend Jimmy playing with four mallets in my junior high band, and I was immediately jealous. I asked him where I could learn to do that and he referred me to Mr. Kohler, the percussion director at the high school, and I just blossomed from there. .
Kids Speak
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WRITING I Stole the Cup While in Darfur, Sudan, I was escorted to the market by my 8 year old cousin. Please sir, it’s worth so much more than that. I recognized the voice of my aunt. She was trying to sell her goat. I didn’t understand it at the time but she was trying to buy bottles of water and bread for my family. My mother told me that many people in Sudan do not eat everyday and that showers were rare. Darfur is a region of limited means. Water is not plentiful
Yassmine Fashir, 18 Graduate of North Central Freshman Ball State Muncie, IN a mother of 4 was brought out in a stretcher. She died hours earlier. There were lines that stretched for almost a mile. I spotted a bin of water with one cup for all patients to share. I saw trash and bugs all over. I saw vomit that everyone was trying to avoid stepping in. I saw doctors reusing the same infected medical supplies for all patients and there were swarms of flies. I went back to the village and began drinking bottled water again. Within the next two weeks, I was 5 pounds lighter and free of sickness. I was deeply affected by my experience. I was strong enough to survive cholera
but I showered multiple times a day because of the heat and I drank many bottles of water not realizing the impact I made. I ran back to the village with my younger cousin and decided that it was time for a change. I took a used bottle of water and filled it with water from a container underneath a shade tree. I drank out of that water bottle and continued to refill. In the days after, I would feel pain in my stomach and I would find myself in the bathroom, or hole in the ground, more often than not but I did not think much of it. I started visiting more of my family members and because there was not much water, everyone in each household drank out of the same cup of water. I did the same and I felt as though I was fitting in. I couldn’t get up. My temperature was extremely high. I was vomiting. I hadn’t eaten in two days. I was told going to the hospital would hinder rather than help me but my mother insisted. I walked into the hospital just as 14 Inspired
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WRITING but I cannot say the same for other Darfur citizens. Before I left the hospital, I took with me the cup left for all the patients to share. I threw the cup in a ditch near the hospital. I want to study biology in the hopes of sharing my knowledge with others. Simple knowledge about health could help save the life of many people worldwide. I hope to join Doctors Without Borders someday and help make a difference. I need to be around free thinkers that will help me change the world, or at least part of it and I know that I can find that at the University of Chicago. With one of the best schools of medicine in the nation, I know that I can push myself intellectually.
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Kids Speak
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FEATURE Salimah’s Trip to Mexico In my third grade class, there were 25 other kids and some kids spoke a little English and some did understand me at all. They were all very nice to me. At recess we played together chasing each other and drawing pictures. I made some good friends in Mexico. Schools started at 7:30 in the morning with breakfast and ended at 4:00. When we came into the lunchroom we had to stay in a straight line and talking was not allowed. At lunch we sometimes had American food. One Friday we had a hamburger with Jello. I did not like the hamburger because it was fat. You could not even take a big bite of it. At Christel House Mexico during lunch you have to finish your food or you go to detention. In Mexico they have lots of tacos. My favorite thing to eat was tortillas. We put lettuce, meat, and lime in our tortillas.
Salimah, 8 Grade 3 CFI #84 Indianapolis, IN
The last week we were in Mexico everyone was getting ready for Halloween and Dia de Muertos, a holiday in Mexico where people celebrate those who have died, The holiday is on November 1 and 2. To celebrate, Mexican families have a table (altar) in the house with things that person liked when they were alive. We had an altar at our school for my teacher’s grandfather. Our table had skulls, fruit and bread. Even though I missed my family when I was in Mexico City, I still want to go back. Now I have friends in Mexico and I miss them. They taught me Spanish and I taught them some English. Adios!
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Allowance for Good Want to learn how to be a young changemaker? Get involved with Allowance for Good, a Chicago-area nonprofit that develops the rising generations of global philanthropic leaders. Start your journey towards global good today!
www.allowanceforgood.org
Global Philanthropy Summit This five-day summit brings together youth for intensive gatherings to advance personal understanding in and encourage collective action toward social enterprise, leadership, philanthropy, and global citizenship. When: June 27-July 1, 2016 Where: Chicago, IL Who: Youth ages 13-18 More info: www.allowanceforgood.org/summit
Global Engagement Expedition Participants have the opportunity to build cultural bridges, combining their commitment to global change with direct service opportunities in both urban and rural settings. When: July 24-31, 2016 Where: Quito and Highland, Ecuador Who: Multi-generational trip for all ages More info: www.allowanceforgood.org/expeditions
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Kids Speak
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WRITING
2015 Global Engagement Expedition Analise’s Story
Analise, 10th Grade Mokens, IL
Analise was a youth traveler on Allowance for Good’s 2015 Global Engagement Expedition to visit Human Connections, a social enterprise designed to foster cross cultural understanding and empower local entrepreneurs.
Coming back from 2015 Global Engagement Expedition, my view on my own daily life and the lives of the people I surround myself with has significantly changed. I now have a greater understanding of how much I have and how I can use all the blessings I received for better. There were several moments on the trip that caused this change, but there is one moment that stands out from the rest. On Friday, the fourth day of our trip, we visited Lomas del Valle and worked with Fundación ATD helping build the new school and playing with the little kids. After we finished playing with the kids I got to get a better look at the old school. It was astonishing to see this “school” with walls made out of wire and a roof made out of tin and then to think about my own school, Saint Ignatius. As I walked next to one of the four outer walls of the school there was a list, as there are on many schools in Mexico. In the Mexican school system, the government sets up a school, but that is it. The children must pay for supplies, books, and
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repairs of their classrooms. As it is not uncommon for families to be unable to pay for all that is needed for school, each list schools’ lists have the names of children who owe money to the school and how much they owe. I read the list outside of the school in Lomas del Valle and I added up the money that was owed by the ten names on the list. All together it was $435 and I thought for a low income community 435 U.S. dollars was a lot so it made sense to me. Then, it hit me. It wasn’t U.S. dollars, it was in pesos. which meant it was only about $35 U.S. dollars. I knew right there that I had 3 times that amount of money sitting in my wallet on the bus. I will forever remember that moment. It put my life in a whole new perspective I had never thought of before. I realized just how incredibly blessed I am to be born where I was, to have the family I have, to be the person I am, and to have so many opportunities in front of me that I must not waste.
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COMMUNITY
Cardboard Challenge We are Lucy and Maddie, 5th grade students at Allisonville Elementary School in Mr. Auslander’s class.
Inspired by the inspirational video, Caine’s Arcade, and run by the Imagination Foundation, an organization founded to find, foster and fund creativity and entrepreneurship in children around the world, the Global Cardboard Challenge is going strong! This Fall, during the 4th annual Global Cardboard Challenge, over 170,000 students across fifty countries celebrated their creativity in many different ways during the many Cardboard Challenge events that occurred across the globe. Some challenges took place in schools while others were run in science centers, libraries, museums, and various other locations. Here in Indianapolis, at Allisonville Elementary School, all six fifth grade classes participated in this wonderful event. Each class enjoyed its own unique spin on the event. Some classes even sold Fun Passes (a Caine’s Arcade reference to all you can play tickets) to support charities. This is the third year that the entire 5th grade has taken part in the Global Cardboard Challenge, and it’s truly becoming a tradition! To learn more about the Global Cardboard Challenge, go to http://cardboardchallenge.com. You can also check out the great work that the Imagination Foundation does by visiting http://imagination.is
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On October 1st, we, along with every 5th grade class at Allisonville Elementary School, participated in Cardboard Challenge. The Cardboard Challenge is a challenge, created by the Imagination Foundation and inspired by Caine’s Arcade, where you have to make an arcade out of cardboard! We sold Fun Passes that parents bought for $1.00 that allowed them to play any game they wanted. We used the money raised from Fun Passes to support a charity of our choice. Some choices were Crones because a students dad had Crones, Epilepsy because an other students sister had Epilepsy, Suicide prevention, because another students sister had a friend who committed Suicide, and last but not least Tatum’s Bags of Fun because I, Lucy, have a
friend, Tatum who started the organization. When Tatum was little she had gotten Cancer. When she was in the hospital she got a bag of fun from the Gabby Krause Foundation and she wanted to do the same. Now, Tatum’s Bags of Fun provides bags of toys to children who are in the hospital, sick with cancer. I gave the presentation about Tatum’s Bag of Fun and they were chosen as the winners of our Cardboard Challenge event where we would raise money for them. I asked Maddie to help me to try and persuade Tatum to come to our Card Board Challenge event, and after making a video inviting her she accepted! Tatum came to play our amazing games, Turkey Run, air hockey, basketball, alien shoot and much more. It was a BLAST! We raised over $80 for Tatum’s Bags of Fun!
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COMMUNITY Vanessa, 12 Grade 8
International School of Indiana Indianapolis, IN
EVERYONE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Earth Charter Indiana is a a grassroots organization bringing the Earth Charter principles of peace, sustainability and justice to our beloved Hoosier State. Our fun and practical programs aim to inspire everyone to roll up their sleeves and join us as we tackle climate change and social inequality. Earth Charter Indiana has fraternal relationships with Earth Charter U.S. and Earth Charter International.
YOUTH POWER INDIANA is a program of Earth Charter Indiana. They believe that Youth will inspire us— through civic engagement and the creative arts — to invest in the future — their future. Youth have the persuasive power, the scientific education and the intelligence to transform the discussion beyond our predominant bottom-line-obsessed paradigm. Youth will inspire us— through civic engagement and the creative arts — to invest in the future — their future.
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My name is Vanessa, and over the summer I went to a weeklong Climate Camp at Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis. Going to Climate Camp really changed the way I think about the environment around me and has pushed me forward to take action at my school. When I went to Climate Camp, I began to understand what is going on in the world. I made new friends who were learning
Climate Camp was when we went bike riding on the Cultural Trail in downtown Indianapolis. I believe we were sending a message to all of the people driving that there are around 50 kids who are able to make their way around the city by bicycle. Another opportunity I had was learning about bicycles and bicycle maintenance at Freewheelin’ Community Bikes. Riding bikes is better than
with me. One key thing I learned was that the first step to making a change is to be educated. Some of my favorite experiences included bike riding in downtown Indianapolis and going to an urban farm at Paramount School of Excellence.
driving cars because it is better for our environment. Cars pollute and add to our climate change problem. Another great thing about riding bikes is that it is a good form of exercise.
After Climate Camp, I noticed some changes I could make at my school like creating a compost pile and rebuilding the greenhouse. One of my favorite activities at
I also went to the Eskenazi Hospital to visit their roof garden. It was very impressive and I thought it was really cool how many different plants they have up there. Another one of my favorite memories was going to an urban farm at Paramount
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COMMUNITY
School. The students there raise chickens, goats and bees so they can collect eggs, milk and honey. It was cool knowing that people my age or perhaps younger can help make a difference. Throughout the week, I learned so many different things. I learned about bees and how they are responsible for every third bite of your food. Bees are a huge part of life because of how much pollination they do for our fruits and vegetables. I also learned a lot of the science behind global warming. Through this I learned examples that I can use to teach other people about climate change. My favorite one is if you take a hot shower, you can see your mirrors fog up. If you take a cold shower, you don’t see it and that shows you that warmer air holds more water vapor. Because of this, we are getting a lot of weather disasters. When I got back to school, I started talking
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to my principal about an idea I had. I suggested we start a compost pile and discussed materials that I would need. Other future ideas I have are to recreate a greenhouse and start planting our own fruits and vegetables. If we started planting our own fruits and vegetables, we could get less food from other states. The food would be healthier and companies wouldn’t have to transport as much food, which would lower the energy used and decrease pollution. Everyone can make a difference by educating themselves and other people about what’s really going on around us. If people are more informed, they are more likely to change their ways or take a stand. For example, after I learned about climate change, I wanted to do something to make our generation and generations after that have more potential to do great things. If we start now, we can still change the things that adults now are not willing to. You can start by doing something for your school or even at home. Composting and growing your own food is just as rewarding as buying a new pair of shoes. Vanessa, 12, is a student at International School of Indiana. To learn more about Climate Camp, contact Jim Poyser at jimpoyser@ earthcharterindiana.org.
Kids Speak
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LENDING HANDS CROOKED CREEK ELEMENTARY SPECIAL EDITION
Amazing Artwork Page 25
Explore the world of publication with Butler Students Page 24
Interview with Michael Page 27
LENDING HANDS CROOKED CREEK ELEMENTARY
CONTENT
departments
features
Letter, 24 Poetry, 25 Art, 25 Writing, 26 Community, 27
Teachers Interviews, 26 Miss Black, Miss Vannata and Mrs. Rubey are interviewed by students.
Student Quotes , 26 Here is what Students say about making a magazine
Michael’s Interview, 27 Students interview a real life magazine publisher
Our Service Project , 27 Read about the Crooked Creek Students Service Project
Creation of Lending Hands A group of Butler University students majoring in Elementary Education came together with third grade students from two Crooked Creek Elementary School classrooms (Ms. Megan Ruby and Ms. Kristen Vannatta), working closely together for five weeks in order to create this magazine. The focus of the magazine was to explore the meaning of service, through performing service within the school. Although we were there as the educators, the third graders taught us a lot as well. We built relationships with our Crooked Creek buddies and learned how to plan in ways to help our students succeed. Our experience with our groups taught us a lot about how to keep them on task and engaged. Lastly, we learned how much pride children can have in creating something on their own, and in doing an act of service anonymously. The Butler students visited Crooked Creek for five weeks for our site-based education course (Dr. Arthur Hochman). We were exploring the ideas of service and the process of creating a magazine, with the 3rd graders. As future educators, we did this to gain experience in the field, to practice lesson planning and implementation, and to collaborate on what would work
Butler Students
best with our group of children. We gained a sense of achievement after seeing the final products. The children learned the importance of service through the making of the magazine, and the initial service projects that provided the content. Each group began by honoring someone from the school who helps them everyday. They did it anonymously in order to learn that it’s the thought that counts and to focus on the receiver, not the giver. The children also learned that service can come from anyone, regardless of their age. They used this service to provide the content of the magazine. Each group had a different element of the magazine that they were designated to work on, such as photos, interviews, articles, etc. Through the multiple steps the children had to work through, they learned that meaningful work takes time to complete. The children were able to get out of their comfort zones and do work that they would otherwise probably not typically experience. In addition to service, they also learned what goes into making a successful magazine: that it takes many different people, including the writers, editors, etc. to create the best possible product. Being the creators of the content made the project even more meaningful for these special third graders.
Kaylyn Adams
Madeline Fry
Caroline Kuremsky
Kathryn Welch
Allison Killian Behling
Carolyn Gassmann
Erin Marsh
Emily Wilkerson
Megan Commerford
Claire Goudie
Bethany Paarlberg
Bailey Wiseman
Matthew Condon
Allison Hermann
Rachel Silverman
Alyssa Zook
Lindsay Douglass
Arthur Hochman
Rebecca Streiff
Kate Eppen
Caroline Hudec
Amanda Usyak
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LENDING HANDS CROOKED CREEK ELEMENTARY
POETRY
DJ and Dariann, Grade 3 Maddie, Grade 3
Maddie, Grade 3
Florence, Grade 3
LENDING HANDS CROOKED CREEK ELEMENTARY
ART
Abigail, Grade 3
Akira, Grade 3
Mariama, Grade 3 Abigail - Abigail drew a dinner that she made for someone. Akira - Akira imagined a place called “Free Clips” where they give haircuts for free. Donte - Donte drew himself giving a friend a gift. Kristine - Kristine drew herself raking someone’s yard for free.
Donte, Grade 3
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Kristine, Grade 3
Mariama - Mariama drew herself giving away a gift with nothing in return.
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LENDING HANDS CROOKED CREEK ELEMENTARY
WRITING
Teachers’ Interview Miss Black
Interview by all class students
How many years have you been teaching? 11 years When did you start teaching here? December 2, 2014 What is your favorite way to serve at Crooked Creek? Say hi to every kid What is your favorite subject to teach? Likes to teach them all What do you like to do in your spare time? Spend time with family and read
Miss Vannata
Interview by Deon Gilmore + Allie Geter
Interview by Jason & Parker 26 Inspired
How many years have your been teaching? 12 years What is your favorite subject to teach? Reading What is your favorite way to serve at Crooked Creek? Volunteer at festival What do you like to do in your spare time? Play with her daughter
Mrs Rubey
How many years have you been teaching at Crooked Creek? 5 years What is your favorite subject to teach? Math Whats your favorite way to serve at Crooked Creek? Help plan events out of school What do you like to do in your spare time? Play with dog and read graphic novels
Student’s Quotes How’s it going? “It is going real well. I really like working with Butler in this class.” -Ethan “I like that we can give attention to other people.” Miss Wiseman “I love that is makes people happy” - Mrs. Vannatta “I like that it includes everybody!” -Matthew Condon What did you make? “We made lyrics and poems to give to the principal!” - Chase Have you had fun making the magazine? Paige: “Yes!” JD: “Yes!” Ethan: “Yes, the pictures are cool!” Abigail: “Yes!” Rachel: “Yes, we’re going to make a lot of pages!” Mrs. Vannatta: “Yes, all of the students are working hard on the magazine!” Jasmine: “Yes, I am drawing for the magazine!” Butler Buddies: Miss Wilkerson and Miss Streiff Crooked Creek students: Meredith, Caleb, Jackson, Tommy, and Ty /InspiredKidsIndy
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LENDING HANDS CROOKED CREEK ELEMENTARY
THE WORLD
Michael’s Interview
Question: Why did you make a magazine? Michael: “I think it is important to pay attention to kids.” Question: What materials did you use? Michael: “For materials I used software, and then printed it out onto paper.” Question: Do you like your job? Michael: “I love it because I get to meet kids like you.” Question: What is your favorite part of your job? Michael: “My favorite part of my job is when kids and their moms give me hugs after publishing their work.” Question: When did you make your first magazine? Michael: “We made our first magazine in February 2014.” Question: What are your magazines about? Michael: “Work that is created by kids.” Question: What are the steps for making a magazine? Michael: “The first step is getting content from the kids. The second step is that we take that content on a computer and we build the magazine. For the last step we print the magazine”.” Question: What are the hard parts about making a magazine? Michael: “The hardest part about making a magazine is making sure we get all of the content and ideas we need.” Question: What inspires your magazines? Michael: “I was a stay at home dad for seven years. When my daughter went into the first grade I needed to find something to do. So, I figured why not do something for kids. That is when I started brainstorming about ways to include kids in my work.” Question: Do you like to read magazines? Michael: “Yes, I love to read magazines!”
LENDING HANDS CROOKED CREEK ELEMENTARY
Our Service Project
COMMUNITY
Since service is about helping others and being nice, for our service project, we made art projects for two of our favorite teachers. First, we thought about what they like, and how we could make something that would make them really happy. We remembered that Miss. Badger loves Disney, so we made her a Disney autograph book like the ones you buy and the characters sign at Disney world. We asked our classmates to sign and write something nice about Miss. Badger so she knew everyone loved her, and we decorated it with colorful pictures of Disney characters. We knew Ms. Callis loves art, so we wrote her a poem. Every line of it was written in a different color and we added some drawings. We
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put the poem in a picture frame so she can put it on her desk and see it everyday. We all had special jobs for the projects. We took turns cutting and gluing and coloring. We think the teachers will really like their gifts because we made them really special and thought for a long time about what would make them the happiest. We think this project was important because our teachers do a lot for us and we want to make them feel supported. Service also helps you learn and makes others feel good. We are not going to tell the teachers who made them the gifts, because service is special when the person knows you’re doing it just to show you support them and not to get recognition. Mallory, Reed, O’Neil, Jonathan
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ENGINEERING MY FUTURE Jasmine Grade 12
Franklin Central High School
My sophomore year, my robotics team won the Excellence Award at the City of Indianapolis VEX Championship. This award is presented to a team that best exemplifies outstanding teamwork, a passion for robotics, a well-documented engineering process, and an overall successful robot. This award qualified us for the 2014 VEX Robotics World Championships and we traveled to Anaheim, California to compete. I remember walking into the arena, awestruck at the magnitude of the event. There were over 700 robotics teams gathered into the Anaheim Convention Center. Not to be deterred, my team and I approached the event with a competitive mindset. The first day of the competition started on a high note. We won our first two matches easily. Then, our robot started malfunctioning. It would stall randomly during the matches. In one heartbreaking round, it never even moved. I unaffectionately dubbed this the “worldspecific problem” as it had never happened before and has not happened since. It was frustrating and disappointing and led to a few sleepless nights, but the team persevered. My teammate and I came up with a few patch jobs to reduce the strain on the motors. We reduced the weight of the robot. I reworked the intake to go through the drive train to stop the cortex from overheating. At the very last match, our robot worked gloriously and we handily won the round. However, our ranking had plummeted, leaving us unable to continue onto the elimination stage, dashing our hopes. Despite this, I would not trade the experience for anything. The robotics championships gave new meaning to the phrase “nerds of a feather flock together.” I
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met people from around the world, all of us united in our love of robotics. Currently, I am the Head Coach and engineer of the robots. As leader, much of the responsibility for the team’s success falls on my shoulders. The hard work that my team and I have put in is already reaping rewards. This season, we have already won an Excellence Award and a tournament, qualifying two of our robots for state. We are also ranked in the top 100 in the world for programming. Robotics has unlocked a passion within me that I hadn’t known existed. I love working with my hands, designing, building, and programming. Through robotics, I have learned more about engineering and physics, and I want to pursue a career in astrophysics Jasmine Kalia is currently a senior at Franklin Central High School. She balances her roles as Head Coach of the Auto Flashes VEX Robotics Team, President of World Cultures Club, and a varsity tennis player with a rigorous academic schedule. Jasmine is a National Merit Semifinalist, an AP Distinguished Scholar, and a two-time winner of the National Center for Women in Information Technology Aspirations in Computing Award. She plans to pursue a career in astrophysics, aiding with future discoveries in the field. /InspiredKidsIndy
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ASPIRATIONS
Aspirations in Computing is a talent development pipeline initiative of the National Center for Women & IT (NCWIT) The NCWIT Award for Aspirations honors young women at the highschool level for their computing-related achievements and interests. Award recipients are selected based on their aptitude and aspirations in technology and computing; leadership ability; academic history; and plans for postsecondary education. Eleven Fifty Academy is a nonprofit coding academy that teaches the most relevant and up-to-date coding coursework, through immersive learning, to those interested in becoming a first time coder, making a career change to become a coder, or skilling up in their current coding role. We exist to help close the nation’s growing technology skills gap through our mission of creating an ecosystem of coding talent that benefits the individual, their employer and their community.
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When I first heard about the NCWiT Aspirations Award, I had never built a computer from scratch or created a program with code. However, I had the desire to learn more about technology and how we can use it to better our lives. My passion for technology began when I was in third grade when I learned how to make PowerPoints. I loved how you could change the designs, create your own themes, and have the power to show others your thoughts and share information. As I grew up, I realized that I could use technology to make not only presentations, but on a larger scale to connect society and the world in ways I had only dreamed about. Today I am currently a freshman at IUPUI in the School of Informatics and Computing, and I know that without the Aspirations and Computing Award to help me realize my passion for technology, I would not be here. At the School of Informatics and Computing, there are numerous types of technology related majors that range from video game design to cyber security areas of focus. The technology field is growing and with it there are numerous ways that people can change and innovate the technology we have today. When you enter into the field of technology, you are not just entering technology but you are gaining a family. Every single faculty, professor, and student that I have met wants you to succeed in this field and will
help you. When I first started my major, I was so afraid that I would be behind in my major. But through the Aspirations Award and my first semester at IUPUI, I have learned that my passion for technology is what I need to be successful. While it can be an intimidating field, there is a huge support system for you, numerous opportunities to work with new pieces of technology, and share your passion with others. For example, at IUPUI I have used my passion for technology to give back to the community by working with the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana during robotics workshops where we teach them about circuits and various aspects of technology. Throughout the past few weeks, It has been amazing to see them start to work with technology and find their passions as I had found mine. The Aspirations Award gave me the confidence to pursue my dreams and it has shown me that you can never be too young to start on what you are passionate about. Whether it be graphic design, making websites, or programming robotics anyone can do it as long as they keep their passion for technology alive. Hannah, 19
IUPUI School of Informatics and Computing Indianapolis, IN
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POCA Warm Winters Corrine, 16 11th Grade Northgate High School Walnut Creek, CA
I remember clearly the day when I first noticed a homeless man, dressed in a T-shirt and jeans on a terribly cold day during the winter months on the streets near my house. I was eleven years old. I vividly recall feeling horrified by how chilled he looked, and the fact that he had no jacket to shield him from the cold broke my heart. That was the moment when I gained clarity about my purpose in life. I knew that I had to help that man and others like him in any way that I could, and I had to figure out a way to help make their situation better. A few days later, my best friend Katrine and I, both avid ski racers, were at the Lost & Found at my ski resort looking for a hat that I had misplaced. We were amazed to see a huge pile of warm coats, hats and gloves that no one had claimed. I asked the ski resort if we could take the unclaimed warm clothing to donate to the homeless in our community, and that was how Warm Winters was born. We quickly expanded our work to 4 ski resorts in northern California, and were overwhelmed with all of the donations! We wanted to expand Warm Winters to other states, and train teens around the country to work with us, but we had no idea how to do that. In 2013, we received a regional Jefferson Award in San Francisco for our work with the homeless, and we joined
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Making a Difference 30 Inspired
The Jefferson Awards GlobeChangers Leadership Training Program. With this training, we began expanding nationally in 2014. By year-end 2014, Warm Winters was partnered with 17 ski resorts in 8 states, with teen leaders (WarmWinTeens) heading up our efforts at each resort. To date, we have distributed over 10,000 items of warm clothing to 6,500 homeless people, engaging 500 youth volunteers, and we are just getting started! Over the next five years, we will train 5,000 youth to help 50,000 homeless across America. I was so thankful to receive a Power of Children Award from the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis this November. The $2,000 grant that I received from them will power our expansion efforts this year, as we work towards our goal of partnering with 60 ski resorts across the country. I have learned that you are never too young to make a difference! At 16 years old, I have been able to impact thousands of lives, and I believe that each of us can accomplish anything if we put in the effort and stay motivated. Favorite Quote? “Never give up, and always work harder than anyone expects you to. Fight On”. This quote was given to me by a dear friend and mentor of mine, Ellen Wleklinski, and it motivates me every day to keep reaching for my dreams. /InspiredKidsIndy
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Now Available!
Ordinary Youth Making Extraordinary Differences The Power of Children Awards program (POCA) was established in 2005. In 10 years of its existence, it has recognized 50 young people who have made positive impacts on their communities and the world. The Power of Children: Ordinary Youth Making Extraordinary Differences is a book that offers profiles of these young trailblazers, educators, and helpers, describing the projects that led to their awards. POCA winners embraced their causes and marched into the unknown with their hearts open. Through it all, they remained Deborah true to a common Joy Simon goal: to make a difference in Charitable Trust someone else’s life.
Proceeds from book sales benefit the Power of Children Awards. The book is available at The Children’s Museum Store and online at Amazon.com
The Power of Children Awards established by
Deborah Joy Simon
www.readinspiredmag.org Charitable Trust
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To learn how you can help create a brighter future for Azul and impoverished children worldwide, visit us at www.christelhouse.org
Reimagining futures, one child at a time.