Balanced Life Skills Martial Arts

Thursday morning I attended the weekly South Anne Arundel County Rotary Club meeting.  Each week there is a speaker and this week the speaker was from the AA County School System, Lynne Weise.  She is with Student Support Services and works with and for those students who are homeless.  Did you you know that in Anne Arundel County we have as of yesterday, 948 students who are homeless?

Here are some facts on children and youth who are homeless from the University of Maryland:

• one in 50 children in the United States experience homelessness each year
• less that 16% of elegible pre-school children are enrolled in school.
• 42% of homeless children transfer schools at least once a year and 51% of these students will transfer twice or more.
• Every time any student transfers schools their GPA will drop 10%.
• Less than 25% of homeless children will graduate from high school

In AA County about 98% of the funds Student Support Services has is spent on busing and trying to keep students in a single school.  There are many groups that work on being sure that they have food with breakfast programs and weekend food programs like Bountiful Backpacks.  Still there are so many other events and possibilities that are not available for children and students who are without homes.

As an individual or a group anyone can sponsor a student for a particular need.  There are some students in South County that would like to take drivers ed – but cannot – due to funds.  There are many needs and opportunities.   Want to learn more or learn how you can help?  Call 410-222-5326 and speak to Lynne Weise, who is the Homeless Education Liaison – Student Support Services. You can email her also at tweise@aacps.org

For the past 5 weeks Balanced Life Skills has been seeking the support and help of local businesses and individuals in our efforts to support teens from Anne Arundel County who find themselves in foster care. There are over 100 teens in foster care who in our opinion deserve to have a nice Christmas this year. Over the last couple of years we have been able to give them a gift card or two for them to take to the store and find something that they would like to have.

This year has been a bit more difficult and we are appealing to all in our area to help us in this final week to provide a small gift card to each of these teens. I have attached a letter and form for making a contribution either by cash or gift card for this very worthy endeavor. Foster Teens request

Thank you for your assistance and please share this request with others.  A small donation by many will be the way we make a difference in the lives of these young boys and girls.

On Friday October 14,  the Grants 4 Teachers advisory board met and discussed the largest number of grant request ever made to this fund.  There were 54 grant requests for over $23,000 for all kinds of projects and materials needed by teachers to do an extraordinary job.

Each year G4T has two cycles of grant funding that takes place, filling needs for special field trips, supplying community service materials for classrooms, musical instruments and many other items that keep teachers from reaching their hands into their own pockets for that project.  It is estimated that every school teacher spends about $1000.00 every year of their own money for their classroom.

G4T wants the teachers of Anne Arundel County to know that we value them as one of the most important resources we have in the county.  We do this by providing some funds for those innovative, creative projects that would otherwise go without being done.

If you are a teacher in the county and have a creative way that you would like to approach a subject, please apply for a grant.  Many times we are able to combine our efforts with others that appreciate teachers and larger grants are made available.  This year we were very moved by one teacher who offered to make up the difference in the grant and what was needed themselves.  What dedication!

If you are a member of the community and would like to support our efforts to show teachers how much we appreciate them you can learn more at Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County.

The school year has open and is well underway.  It is time for all of us to show our support for teachers in our community, as they are one of our most valuable resources.  Grants4Teachers is now accepting grant applications from AACPS teachers for those special projects in their classroom that will not be funded by others.

We are looking for creative ideas that teachers would like to implement to bring the love and joy of learning to their students.  If you are a teacher please think about what you could do special with your students if you only had the money for the supplies.  If you are a parent, be sure to share this opportunity with your school and all the teachers.  We have supplied violins, trips, and some very special art project materials in the past and we are looking forward to doing the same this fall.

Here is the website for complete information:  http://www.cfaac.org/receive/grants4teachers

Here is the simple one page application: Grants 4 Teachers – Grant

Balanced Life Skills has just sent out over 600 pairs of shoes to Soles 4 Souls.  They will deliver them to children and  individuals around the world, many of them who have never owned a pair of shoes before.  We are grateful for the wonderful contribution and service made by Pitt Ohio Express who came, shrink wrapped the pallets and loaded them on the truck.  The driver was very pleasant and helpful.  Our own students put the shoes together and boxed them up to prepare them for shipping.

Friday July 22, 2011 Annapolis, MD – Balanced Life Skills students and families came together and made 150 jump ropes that will be sent with Brian Williams and Think Kindness to an orphanage in Kenya. The name of the orphanage is Tumaini. Through the very high temperatures and high humidity the outside work was done, like cutting and sanding the handles and carturizing the ends of the rope, while taping the handles and putting the ropes together was done inside Balanced Life Skills studio.

Children as young as 3 helped while mom’s and dad’s and students of all ages did there share of the work. With some volunteers arriving at 9 AM all 150 jump ropes were completed by 12:30 PM. This was a great effort by over 30 volunteers, as they made very quick work of the project. Balanced Life Skills Martial Arts encourages all of their students to take part in community service as a part of their training in the martial arts.

Last year, I had the privilege of traveling with Think Kindness to Kenya and spend time at the orphanage, delivering shoes, school supplies and jump ropes. In addition as a group we were able to help them purchase chickens for their use on the grounds that will compliment the gardens that feed the children.

Late this year in December, I will be returning to Kenya with Brian and others, including doctors, dentist and nurses, to assist in the establishment of a medical clinic, and of course, spend some time with the children. Spending time with the children is so exciting, as they all have a story and you must just love their smiles. I hope you enjoy the video we made of making the jump ropes.

Here is a link to some of the photos we took at the jump rope making event. PHOTOS

This year ThinkKindness.org will be traveling to Kenya once again to visit and support the orphanage in Tumaini. Though I am unable to make this trip, I will be returning with a group of medical personnel in December to establish a medical clinic.

For the time though Balanced Life Skills students will once again make jump ropes for the children in Kenya. We need your help in making them. Please check out this short video for more information.

For my service project I worked with my grandmother to design an art project from my class to complete together for the fundraising auction at our school.   We designed an under the sea collage.  My class divided into groups and each completed a square.  Marmee and I painted the background, and my group did the treasure chest square. We named it “Shark Bottom”.  The golden shark is the one I made.  It was lots of fun, and here is a picture of it all finished.

Collin and his brother Gavin brought in all of these toys for the Prize Project.  We talked about how happy the children who needed an operation at John Hopkins are going to be to choose one of these prizes.

More than 30 Care Bears

After years of collecting these beautiful little bears, they are now going to be prizes for children who have undergone surgery  at John Hopkins Pediatric Unit  in Baltimore.  Thanks to Aiden the children there will be comforted by these soft  and cuddly gifts.

Two of our favorite care bears