What We've Been Up to at The Empowerment Factory - June 25
Family Art and Literacy Night at Fallon Memorial Elementary, Pawtucket Child Opportunity Zone, Upcoming Start of Art in the Parks
At Fallon Memorial Elementary's Family Art and Literacy Night, Attendees Enjoy a Night of Reading, Printmaking, and Pizza
On May 25, at Fallon Memorial Elementary School in Pawtucket, The Empowerment Factory hosted its Family Art and Literacy Night, providing students with a free evening of reading, mindfulness, and arts and crafts. Throughout the evening, over 40 event guests were treated to guided meditation, storybook reading, and printmaking crafts.
As attendees filled the Fallon cafeteria, the night began with a guided mindfulness breathing session led by The Empowerment Factory Lead Teacher, Leon Ibacache. Mr. Leon remarked on how the opening mindfulness sessions helped prepare eager young students to be calm, present, and receptive to learning. “We not only help them do things but also be in the moment when they’re learning,” Mr. Leon said.
Candy Chamberlain, Community Resource Coordinator at Fallon Memorial Elementary remarked: “We have students here that are special ed and maybe have high anxiety. So it [Art and Literacy Night] certainly benefits those students, because they're coming into a familiar environment with their family.”
Leading up to the storybook reading, attendees were served pizza and refreshments. The reading of the night was “The Dot” by Peter H Renolds, which chronicles a young student’s creativity in an art class taking off after drawing a dot. At each of The Empowerment Factory’s Art and Literacy Nights, copies of the storybook are available in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Following the reading, attendees were treated to a comedy break with jokes like “What’s a pirate’s favorite letter?” (It’s C).
Mr. Leon guided a discussion and journaling session of “The Dot” encouraging students to reflect on social emotional learning themes of self-esteem and creativity. Mr. Leon encouraged students not to be dismissive of their own creativity, and to work to affirm the creativity of their peers. Afterwards, printmaking crafts began as students colored in stencils reading Margaret Fuller’s quote “today a reader, tomorrow a leader.”
Students lined up at the 100-year-old printing press as they rolled ink across the plates, with each young artist going home with a custom print reading Fuller’s quote.
Chamberlain has been noticing the impact events like Art and Literacy night have: “The kids will reread the books when they come to the library. They check out the same books that they saw Gail reading.”
The Empowerment Factory Hosts Final Spring Session of Pawtucket Child Opportunity Zone Program
On May 29, The Empowerment Factory hosted its final spring session of after school programs with Pawtucket Elementary Schools and Child Opportunity Zone’s (COZ) after school program . Throughout the school year, March 31 to May 29, The Empowerment Factory led afterschool sessions at Curtis McCabe, Elizabeth Baldwin, and M. Virginia Cunningham, three Ttitle I Pawtucket Elementary Sschools. This year’s spring session, themed “Eco Explorers,” prioritized social emotional learning, environmental education, and community building.
The spring session took place over 8 weekly after-school sessions at each of the schools. As students were let out at the final bell, each COZ session began with 15 minutes of outdoor recess time and a guided Mindful Moment. The Empowerment Factory Lead Teacher, Leon Ibacache, noted that the Mindful Moment cooled down students and primed them for learning with guided breathing exercises.
Each spring session continued with a storybook read aloud. At each of The Empowerment Factory’s reading events, copies of the book are available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. This year’s spring session included titles such as Alison Inches and Pete Whitehead’s The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle, William Kamkwamba’s The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, and Cynthia Rylant and Brendan Wyzel’s Life.
These readings and guided discussions blend sustainability education and the Yale RULER social-emotional learning skills. Mr. Leon remarked on teaching students' emotional regulation and intelligence skills:
“If the students recognize which emotion they are feeling, they can recognize which is the right tool to use. Like ‘I want to be relaxed. I want to use this motivation that I have. I don't want to be mean if I'm angry.’”
The final class of the spring session marked a celebration of the bonds and learning formed over the program’s 8 weeks. Proud young sustainability advocates showed off their eco-projects and shared what they had learned over the spring. The final social emotional learning lesson focused on hope – encouraging students to believe that they can make a difference in the world around them.
Mr. Leon remarked on saying goodbye (for now) to his students during the final spring session:
“It's kind of cute when the kids want to show off what they learned. It shows that they actually learned their stuff, and second of all, that they feel so proud about what they learned that they come to me and show off. That's awesome.”
Stay tuned in the coming weeks for information about the upcoming summer session!
Register for Art in the Park - Free Family Fun in the Parks!
Art in the Park is a series of weekly free community events from June 25 - August 27 located in Pawtucket, Central Falls and Providence’s public parks. Each one-hour session includes a read-aloud illustrated story time, a guided discussion of social-emotional learning lessons, and a related art project for your proud artist to take home.
Art in the Park connects families and communities, engaging children in reading, art, and collaborative discussions. We explore a variety of social and emotional concepts, including positivity, kindness, perseverance, and diversity. Build your young artist's self-confidence, emotional intelligence, empathy, and mindfulness. For more information and how to register, click here.