4 minute read
Event Recap
Change Agents Made Our MISSION: POSSIBLE
Many accepted the mission and joined the fight to be an agent of change! This year’s North Texas Giving Day campaign was a huge success thanks to those who so thoughtfully gave to the Family Annual Fund campaign. We raised over $117,000 and reached our goal of 100% participation among our students, faculty/staff, and trustees!
Many thanks to the Pitre Family, Andrew and Abigail Sinwell, Juliette and Mark Moussa, and Fr. Jon and Dale Stasney for serving as lead agents. Their compassionate support empowers us to combat hunger and poverty and to champion education and opportunity in South Dallas. No mission is too great to conquer when WE join forces.
Annual Community Thanksgiving Feast
The Community Thanksgiving meal is a longstanding tradition of St. Philip’s that started in the early eighties with the faculty and staff cooking at their homes and serving a few people in the neighborhood. This year with over 315 volunteers, we were able to serve the members in our community. Thank you to volunteers from organizations and our many friends and families of St. Philip's for making it possible.
Our students aren’t the only ones learning, our parents are, too. This year’s “Step Up to Excellence” Parent University delivered an interactive experience of “staying the course” at St. Philip’s through sixth grade. Attendees journeyed through classrooms getting handson experience of what students take part in daily. St. Philip’s educators highlighted the impact of each grade level across the curriculum with particular emphasis upon what makes those grades unique at St. Philip’s. Special panel sessions were conducted for sixth-grade students and their parents to equip them with wisdom and guidance as they prepare for “life after St. Philip’s.”
While parents were gaining insight into the life of their children, the students were immersed in workshops. Students participated in fun, yet educational experiences to encourage the development of life skills. Students gained new knowledge on social-emotional learning by practicing how to manage their emotions, encourage others, and understand verbal and nonverbal emotional cues.
6th Annual Kidpreneur Expo
Enthusiastic, polished and confident young entrepreneurs from 6-16 years of age showcased their ideas and products at the Annual Capital One Kidpreneur Expo. The expo which provides a platform and support for budding children and youth with businesses of their own, proved to be a great learning experience for all those that participated. Thanks to the generous support of The Mark 11:24 Foundation and our new partners – DFW Child and D CEO, the sixth year was once again a success with this year’s Kid Tank participants bringing their A-game. The judges included Will Maddox (D CEO), Sunny Banerjea (FIS), Dr. Tunde Adeyemo (Ernst & Young), Mark Esposito (Esposito Securities and Esposito Private Equity Group) and Ashlyn Simmons (a previous Kid Tank winner and Kidpreneur alum). A special thanks to Kidpreneur alum, Hannah Selders, (ESINIARA) for sharing her success story and best practices during the expo’s Q&A.
First Place Kid Tank Live Winners - $500 Ti'Ani M. of leMonADE with Love (10-13 Age Group)
Second Place Kid Tank Live Winners - $250 Gabrielle G. of Pawsome Pamper Kit (10-13 Age Group)
Third Place Kid Tank Live Winners - $150 Lela J. of JusTootieB (6-9 Age Group) Yazmin W. of Yaya's Sweet Treats (10-13 Age Group) Khalil S. of The Real Daily Boost (10-13 Age Group) Qaadir M. of Raadiq Couture (14-16 Age Group)
St. Philip's Inaugural Fine Arts Symposium
This Fall, St. Philip’s launched its first Fine Arts Professional Development Symposium, funded in part by generous support from the Kimbrough Family. This year's theme, "Giving Our Children Space to Express Themselves,” allowed participants to explore intentional teaching practices and policies that create an artistic pipeline of success for children of color. We examined how teaching professionals have the power to ensure that all children who seek the arts have opportunities afforded to them in the schools they attend.
Our keynote speaker, the incomparable Debbie Allen, gave a motivating account of her life as an artist and arts educator. She shared moments from her youth where her skin color was a barrier to her art. The audience learned of her absolute resilience, and fortitude as an actress, dancer, and activist. Mrs. Allen gave a master dance class of a lifetime in the Snyder Activity Center to a well-populated group of students, adults, and fans who moved across the floor with her guidance, receiving a small but impactful moment of her legacy.
Save the Date
TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY
AWARD LUNCHEON // 2020
St. Philip’s School & Community Center
Friday, February 21, 2020
A conversation with Taraji P. Henson
MODERATED BY: Lily Weiss
