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Front Street Blog

September/October 2015 in Review

10/29/2015

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​As promised, we wanted to sum up this past month and a half at Front Street.
  • On Friday, September 25th, we kicked off our Friday movie afternoons with a screening of Disney’s Mulan! We are thinking that based on the positive review this will likely be a monthly event.
  • On October 8th, Mitch from the University of Maine Cooperative Extension (an organization that has support Front Street and the study center since we’ve reopened), helped us throw a community barbecue! We munched on hotdogs and hamburgers, played outside, and got to know some of our neighbors. A big thank you to Regina for donating her grill!
  • For the weeks of October 12th through 23rd, we learned about Fire Safety and had several students submit original posters tackling awareness regarding the need for working smoke detectors in all homes. We will be finding out soon who the cash winners are – all students living in Section 8 or Portland Housing Authority units were welcome to submit, and regardless of the material winners we witnessed the creation of many truly strong works of graphic design.
  • On October 14th, farmer Isabel of Frith Farm came in and taught us about the fall vegetable harvest in Maine – a demonstration in which we got to eat our way to understanding the differences between various nutritious foods! The crescendo came the week after, on October 20th, when a group of us drove down to the farm in Scarborough and got to tour the site. We helped harvest and wash carrots, met the pigs and chickens, and got to learn a little bit more about local agriculture in Maine. Thanks again, Isabel!
  • For all of September and October we have been taking part in a reading challenge. Any student that reads and writes (or draws) about one book from our “reading challenge” bookshelf gets an official invitation to a reader’s pizza party Friday, November 6th. A big thank you to OTTO Pizza for donating slices!
  • We have started up a “Super-star of the day” series. This title is given to students in our space that exhibit all the qualities of a super-star community member: demonstrating their best effort in work and play, being kind and actively helpful to others, and sincerely expressing themselves to staff and friends. Unless guardians have marked off that their students may not be photographed, students are invited to take a photo next to our super-star sign on the days they are nominated!
  • Students have been cranking out countless artistic creations since we’ve opened our doors this September! Activities we have worked on include but are not limited to:
    • weaving with salvaged sticks and flowers we collected, leaf rubbing, self-portrait-creations, book-making, card and poster making for sick friends, and contributing to our community space by making works we can decorate our walls with.
We also have a party planning committee in full swing with plans to celebrate Halloween later this week. We will most likely share treats, enjoy some music, and decorate the center with our spooky art.

If you would like to bring a pot-luck item to our space on Friday to share, please email fsstudycenter@gmail.com or let us know in-person!
Our student party planner is Ajok.

That’s some of the things we’ve been up to so far! Please let us know if you have programming needs or dreams that you would like to see in the Front Street space.
​
Be well,
Benny and Martha                                      
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a greeting

10/29/2015

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Picture
Hello, Front St. community members, students, parents, volunteers, and other visitors of the space!

My name is Benny VanDerburgh (on the left) and I am one of the two co-coordinators this academic year at Front Street. In this past month and a half, Martha Schnee - co-coordinator - and I have been busy meeting, working with, and learning from the Front Street community - from Pre-K students to seasoned volunteer parents from the neighborhood. To learn a little bit more about us, check out our staff bios.

First we would just like to say: thank you for welcoming us so kindly so far! In September alone (and we were open for only two weeks!), we had 47 unique visitors of the space.

We have been very busy! In the next post we will highlight some programs we have started, students we are proud of, as well as specific positive moments we have shared as a community.

If you would like to get in contact with me, Martha, or any other PHA personnel regarding the space, what we do, or who we are, please contact us at fsstudycenter@gmail.com or drop by during our hours, M-F from 3-7 pm unless otherwise noted.

Don't forget to follow us on instagram! We are live and posting @fsstudycenter.

We look forward to working with you!

Be well,
Benny
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    Front Street

    The Front Street Study Center reopened in 2013 after a decade closed and was welcomed with students of all ages seeking a positive place to do homework, be artistic, and hang out. Front Street is our smallest family housing complex on outer Washington Ave just north of Back Cove.

    Front Street is demographically and culturally rich in its diversity, with students and families new to Maine from across the world, including North Africa (most notably South Sudan), Somalia, and Iraq.

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