Tags: Community

• Mic Check MD: Youth Exhibitions

  By: YLan Nguyen, MD Middle School Coordinator Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff AALEAD Maryland ended its five-week summer program with exhibition walks and presentations. Youth were split into five “houses” or teams for the entire program. In these groups, youth participated in meaningful team-building activities and worked on their final art exhibition project.

• Farewell AALEAD

  By Yonsoo Kang, Previous VA Middle Schools Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff My dear AALEADers, During my interview for the VA Middle School Coordinator position, then executive d

• Finding My Voice

  By Freidricka Camille, Community College and Internship Programs Coordinator Photo Courtesy of AALEAD Staff   My name is Freidricka Camille, and I am excited to join the AALEAD family as the new Community College and Internship Coordinator. A little bit about me, I was born and raised in the Philippines for eleven years before my mom and I immigrated to the United States to live with my dad. It was the summer before 6th grade.  When I lived in the Philippines, I had imagined that

• Coming full circle…

    My first job in California was with the Pacific Asian Alcohol Program, which is a social service agency that provides counseling and referral to Asian Pacific Americans (APA) who were convicted of drunk driving and other misdemeanors. Many of our clients were recent immigrants who do not speak nor understand English. The county could not provide translators most of the time, so our clients would bring their elementary or high-school age children to do the translation. I witnessed how t

• Starting a New Adventure with AALEAD

  By Vi Bui, Mentoring and Volunteer Programs Coordinator Photos Courtesy of Vi Bui My name is Vi and I am AALEAD’s new Mentoring and Volunteer Programs Coordinator. I am really excited to start this incredibly important and valuable work and wanted to take some time to introduce myself to the community. I was born and raised in the State of Delaware. Not to be confused with the city in Ohio or the county in Pennsylvania. You’ve probably never been there, driven through it on I-95, do

• Safe, Supportive, Stable: The Importance of Out-of-School Time Programs

  By Keo Xiong, MD Programs Manager   Any space that serves youth and young people should be safe, supportive, and stable. Safety, both physically and emotionally, sets the foundation for youth (and all people) to thrive. Creating a culture of support allows youth to share in each other's successes, and rally to uplift others in times of difficulty. Stability ensures that youth know they will always have a place to go and trusted people to talk to. When youth feel safe and supported in

• My Fourth First Day

  By Stephanie Lim, DC Middle and High School Program Coordinator Photos courtesy of Stephanie Lim On one of my first Mentoring Program site visits in 2015, Ari, our MD High School Program Coordinator, joked that they had a plan to have me join the after-school program team. At the time, I'd already worked with youth and students in after-school and teaching programs, and thought that perhaps my time with that kind of programming was over. I took Ari's words to signal a welcome to the full-tim

• Envision | Create | Transform and Aspire to LEAD on March 22!

  By Neel Saxena, Executive Director   Aspire to LEAD is about getting involved with Asian American LEAD to impact the lives of low-income and underserved Asian Pacific American youth. One of the ways to get involved is joi

• Reminders at the End of National Mentoring Month

  By Stephanie Lim, Mentoring & Volunteer Programs Coordinator Photos Courtesy of Stephanie Lim This past week marked many celebrations. As we wrap up National Mentoring Month at AALEAD, I'm glad to have the opportunity to publicly appreciate our Mentors, whose victories and accomplishments occur in conversations, laughter, and moments of sharing with their mentees. [caption id="attachment_14788" align="alignleft" width="329"]

  National Mentoring Month Highlight: Eugene K.

  By Eugene K., Current VA Youth Mentee Photo Courtesy of Eugene [caption id="attachment_14766" align="aligncenter" width="865"] Eugene (right) with this mentor, Dave (left)[/caption] This last youth mentee spotlight this month comes from Eugene, who is dual-enrolled in our Mentoring Program and our VA aft