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• Waves of Change: A Reflection of the Year

  By Antwoine Johnson, MD Middle School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” ― Søren Kierkegaard This has been a very interesting year, for both me and the youth at Loiederman and Newport Mill, where I am the coordinator. At both schools we received new crowds of youth that were very different from the ones that were in programs

• AALEAD – A Constant in Our Lives!

  By Shaima Ahmad VA High School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of Shaima Ahmad Yesterday, Anandale High School AALEADers came together and reminisced about their past year with AALEAD. Surely, our youth have come along way since they started their journey back in September.  The over all consensus was that this year was full of opportunities and experiences that they may not have experienced outside of AALEAD. The youth remembered the team building activities they took part  in the beginn

• Message from the ED: May Inspiration

  This month I have been lucky to experience several reminders about why we do this work. I have had the opportunity to interact with 4 of our alumni and have seen them shine. More than that, they all credit AALEAD for developing their confidence and giving them the opportunities to lead. On May 8, AALEAD hosted a wonderful event with UMD basketball player, Varun Ram. Varun is a great role model for our

• See You Next Week!

  

  We are so excited for our 16th Annual Dinner on Wednesday, June 3, 2015--exactly a week from today! We will kick o

• Food and Fun: Learning through Eating

  By Keo Xiong, MD Middle School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of Keo Xiong, MD Middle School Program Coordinator "What are we doing today?" asks a youth entering the room as I am writing the agenda on the classroom board. "Are we making food today?" shouts another youth from the doorway. I hear these two questions daily. As expected, middle school youth are most excited about our in-class food and cooking lesson plans. As one youth remarked, "I like cooking activities because it shows me

• MDMS & MDHS: A Tour of High School

  By Melor Suhaimi, MD Programs Manager Photos by AALEAD Staff Transitions can be tough and with the end of the school year coming to an end, many of our AALEAD youth are transitioning from middle school to high school. This past week, AALEAD's MD high school programs at Einstein and Blair High School offered a tour of their schools for our youth at Newport Mill, Eastern, and Argyle Middle Schools. The tour kicked off with an opportunity for middle school youth to share what they think high sch

• Thomson Tales: AALEAD Flea Market

  By Justin Fogata, Elementary Program Teacher Photos Courtesy of Justin Fogata

  “Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which [youth can] deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world.”  -Paulo Freire

  The 4^th

• Eastern MS AALEADers: Time Flies

  By Melor Suhaimi, MD Programs Manager Photos courtesy of Melor Suhaimi When asked to think of one word to describe AALEAD, Eastern Middle School AALEADers answers varied from "fun," "family," "laughs," to "home." The school year is almost coming to an end and time definitely flies by! This school year, AALEAD at Eastern introduced new 6th graders to the program, AALEADers participated in various in-class student service learning projects, and overall created a strong family bond. A memorable

• Fear The Turtle: AALEAD Heads to MD Day 2015!

  By: Antwoine Johnson, MD Middle School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of AALEAD students

  Maryland we're all behind you, Raise high the black and gold. For there is nothing half so glorious, As to see our team victorious. We've got the team boys, We've got the steam boys, So keep on fighting, don't give in! M-A-R-Y-L-A-N-D Maryland will win

  The MD fight song is iconic in the sense that anyone who hears it that has the pride and spirit of

• Message from the ED: Life is Precious

  The devastation in Nepal and broken community bonds closer to home in Baltimore are so tragic that I am nearly beyond words.  I felt it was important to say something, however, as saying nothing fails to recognize the tragedies impacting youth in our world today. In Nepal, it has been terrible to see the increases in the number of lives lost day by day.  But it’s been encouraging to see people asking how they can help and news stories focused on what we can do. In both Nepal and Baltimore,