Youth Spotlight : Anyla Edwards

“YELLS helped me to grow in my communication skills, keeping eye contact, networking skills, and becoming more of a leader. It helped me to see that there is always a way around things. If there is a bad situation, there’s always a way to make it better. The YELLS values helped me to realize this, especially Professionalism, Going Above and Beyond, and of course Energy and Enthusiasm. It has helped my peers to grow too. A lot of my YELLS peers were childish at times, but now they are more focused and thinking about plans after high school.”

– Anyla Edwards (YELLS Community Action Cafe Graduate)

We’re so proud that our amazing YELLS graduate, Anyla, used her inner leadership and the lessons she learned at the Community Action Cafe to succeed both academically and personally! Anyla started attending the YELLS Community Action Cafe program during the 2017-2018 school year. She moved to Franklin Gateway from the Virgin Islands with her family during her Freshman year. Once enrolled in school she was told that she had only 4 transferable credits and was behind the rest of her peers. Thankfully, Anyla had an incredibly strong work ethic and was introduced to the Performance Learning Center(PLC) program at Marietta High School.  The PLC program allows for students that are behind in their credits to work at their own pace through online classes. It is a good alternative for students that need to catch up, but it requires diligence and self discipline to succeed. Anyla made it her mission to catch up to the rest of her class and also maintain her good grades.

Staff remember Anyla’s first few visits to YELLS vividly. She was quiet at first and would come straight to the back of the room and sit down to start on her assignments, only talking to her closest friends. But the quiet Anyla that we were first introduced to, quickly came out of her shell. As she got more comfortable, we quickly learned who the real Anyla was. She became one of our fiercest student leaders, a student that was always willing to lead the group, jump on the mic, and always had an opinion to share. She had an infectious, fun, and sassy personality that was hard to miss. She took it upon herself to make sure that each student felt loved on their birthday, rallying all of the other students and staff in a planned celebration, complete with heartfelt cards and speeches.

While Anyla loved to have fun, she definitely prioritized her school assignments. She took her grades and schoolwork very seriously. She always started each day by making her daily rounds being sure to welcome each of the other YELLS students and staff, before checking out a computer to start on her work. Before long, Anyla not only caught up to her peers, but she surpassed them. We were so proud when she announced that she would be graduating December of 2019, an entire semester early! Her hard work paid off and she exceeded her goals!

Now an official YELLS graduate, and the current teen Operations Manager for the Cafe, Anyla has already begun giving back to her peers by inspiring them to succeed in their goals, and supporting staff in activities and events. She has also agreed to use her leadership skills to help us re-engage other YELLS alumni and continue to give back to the Franklin Gateway community. As Anyla reflected on her time at YELLS, she shared that her favorite part of YELLS is “how we are given the chance to come up with events or activities for the community, and how we are so involved in the community outside of YELLS.”

Anyla is currently working at Studio Movie Grill, sharing that the serving and customer service experience she gained as a Community Action Cafe student has helped her excel at her new job, receiving recognition from her employers even before she was fully trained in her new role. Anyla has future plans to pursue a degree in nursing and the YELLS staff couldn’t be more proud of all that she has accomplished. Congratulations, Anyla!

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Volunteer Spotlight: Mr. Dan

Our daily volunteers are a very important part of the YELLS team. Volunteers are needed to help make sure that everything runs smoothly and our kiddos receive the individual guidance to help them learn and grow.

Dan Moore, affectionately referred to as Mr. Dan, came to YELLS last year as a retiree looking for a place to donate some of his time. He learned of YELLS through some neighbors who lived in the area. Mr. Dan jumped right into the hustle and bustle with all of our kids, and now he is a rock star of managing the homework room, joining us at least twice a week. It is clear that he genuinely cares about our students’ success, which we greatly appreciate! He takes the time to work one-on-one with each student during homework time. His commitment and quality time spent with each student is so valuable, and is exactly the type of dedication that we need to help our students be successful. When asked why he keeps coming back, he said that he really enjoys interacting with the kids and seeing the difference he is able to make in their academics. Our staff even occasionally consult with him to find out how students are doing with their assignments. He is able to share valuable insight because he is a regular that sees our students often and cares about helping them to be their best.

He’s handy, too! When Mr. Dan noticed that we needed a place to hang our students’ reading certificates, he brought the supplies and hung a new cork wall in our homework room. When he noticed that a wall needed to be repainted, he offered some extra paint he had laying around and came to touch up the wall in his spare time. When he noticed that a few of our ceiling tiles needed to be replaced, he generously offered some extras from his home and helped us to replace them.

Mr. Dan is so committed to the achievement of our youth that he’s even working to recruit more volunteers like him! He wants to see every student receive the one-on-one support and attention they deserve.

When asked to share a favorite interaction with a YELLS student, he shared these moments with us:

YELLS student to Mr. Dan: “You dress nice.”
Mr. Dan: “Why thank you, why do you say that?”
YELLS student: “Because of the little animals on your shirt.”

One night during dismissal, students were given pizza once their parents arrived to pick them up. One student asked Mr. Dan, “Is your mother coming to pick you up?”

Thank you, Mr. Dan, for your dedication to helping our YELLS students succeed!

Youth Spotlight: Ansleigh Phillips

Last school year was a very successful year for many of our students, but we’re especially proud of one of our graduates who, after struggling with many family issues, wasn’t sure she saw a path to graduation before she began at YELLS.  Ansleigh recalls learning about YELLS from her two brothers who had been attending for a year before she decided to visit YELLS for the first time. She was nervous at first, telling us, “I just didn’t feel like it was something for me. Then I went one day, and I’ve loved it ever since.” She has made such progress both in her self-esteem, her community support network, and her academics since she first started at YELLS.

“I never knew I would get the opportunity to receive a diploma on May 25, 2019. My four years of high school were very rough. Family issues and friendship issues got in the way of my academics. I struggled my freshman year and that messed up all my four years.  I saw a huge difference in the grades I received in the beginning from the ones I received in the end. YELLS has helped contribute in an amazing way.  My self-esteem was extremely low until I came to YELLS. The activities helped me come out of my shell and do things that I would have never thought I would do. The tutors have helped me accomplish all of my goals. I am so grateful for all of the staff, new students and new friends I made.  For my senior year of high school, I got the opportunity to go to Marietta City Schools Performance Learning Center. If I did not go to PLC, I would have to do another year and wouldn’t have graduated on time. After receiving my diploma, I feel like I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. I am so grateful for the opportunities I was given in all my four years.” – Ansleigh Phillips, Community Action Cafe Graduate

Now a YELLS graduate, Ansleigh comes back to volunteer and pass on what she received at YELLS, and our community has an educated and invested citizen who will continue to give back.  She recently joined us as an assistant on the annual servant-leadership retreat to Camp Blue Ridge. It was amazing seeing just how much maturity and confidence she has gained. She was able to assist in creating workshops and lessons for our current high school students. The current students look up to her so much as a role model, and she takes it upon herself to support and encourage them to follow in her footsteps. She has a unique connection with the students because she has been in their place before. She is able to motivate and uplift them, and it has been amazing to watch the relationship between Ansleigh and our current students grow from peer to mentor.

Ansleigh recently shared, “Being a YELLS graduate makes me feel like I have accomplished something. It makes me feel like I did something right. I’ve loved YELLS since the first time I stepped foot in the building. YELLS is my second home.”

We’re so proud of you Ansleigh and all you have accomplished! Keep up the great work!

Partner Spotlight: Advanced MD, Assurant Solutions, and United Way

We want to give a big shout out to three of our partners, Advanced MD, Assurant Solutions, and United Way! Each of them played a role in making a very special afternoon for our students!

Advanced MD, a Global Payments company, first came to YELLS in 2017, and we are so happy that they keep coming back! The company organizes days of service in order to give back to the community throughout the year, and we are so fortunate that they continue to choose YELLS as a partner. This time they brought a group of 10 members to help to maintain an organized and uplifting space for our students to focus and learn in. We also had a few Global Payments team members stay to spend time with our K-5th grade students. Our kids enjoyed having new energetic volunteers to play games with and to help them with their homework.

We have been teaching our K-5th graders about the 5 Love Languages and helping them to discern which love languages pertain to them. For many of our students “Words of Affirmation” really help to encourage them to be all that they can be. The Global Payments team wrote an uplifting note for each one of our 55 K-5th graders. These special notes were taped to their cubbies as an exciting surprise when they got off of the school bus. The kids were so excited that someone would take the time to write a special message just for them! We were then able to discuss the power of uplifting others and words of affirmation with our youth. They will remember these messages for a long time to come.

Thank you, Advanced MD, for choosing to make an impact in the lives of YELLS youth!

To sweeten the pot even more, YELLS was thrilled to be a part of a snack pack making event hosted by Assurant and United Way. Thank you Assurant for assembling and donating 200 snack packs filled with a juice box, granola bar, gold fish, fruit snacks, and a fruit cup – each bag decorated with a hand-drawn doodle or message. What a treat! Advanced MD volunteers helped us to distribute the snack packs into each student’s cubby as a special surprise, along with their notes.

Partnership is all about teamwork. Thank you to each of these partners for playing a part in making a very special afternoon for our students! Teamwork makes the dream work!

Camp Blue Ridge Servant Leadership Retreat

Each year our YELLS teens embark on a journey of self-discovery and teamwork as the Mentoring “Bigs” and Community Action Café Scholars join together for an intensive weekend retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The retreat focuses on servant-leadership and building upon YELLS’s core values while strengthening family ties among our older students.

Welcome to camp!

As we arrived at the camp, students were instructed to remove their shoes and socks, as the initiation process began. The tone for the weekend was set, as each student was challenged to go “all in” and walk through a pathway of “guck” as they entered the threshold of camp. Our fearless YELLS teens encouraged and cheered on their peers until each student made it through. Let the games begin!

 Opening Ceremony

The first night, the students were introduced to our theme for the weekend, The Hunger Games! The teens were called up one-by-one as they were given bandannas and necklaces and placed in their “district” during the opening ceremony.  Each district was assigned a YELLS value that they pledged to demonstrate for the weekend: Servant – Leadership, Professionalism, Positivity, Energy & Enthusiasm, Uplifting Others, Going Above & Beyond. May the odds be ever in your favor…

Competition was fierce among the districts as they sent tributes to compete for their honor and the YELLS Hunger Games Challenge, but all represented well and lived out their YELLS Values even through the trials – and even when it got messy…

Bonding by Firelight

Each night our teens shared incredible personal stories of perseverance, forgiveness, and hopes for the future. The annual candlelight campfire ceremony was a powerful time of bonding and storytelling as each YELLS Hunger Games tribute was challenged to share “What are you hungry for?” and “How will you keep your light shining?”

 

Alive, Awake, Alert, and Motivated

Sometimes we need a little motivation, and no YELLS Retreat is complete without the voices of our Bigs and Cafe Scholars echoing through the mountains!

 

Reflecting and Sharing Our Stories

The beautiful Blue Ridge mountains provide the perfect environment for reflection and visioning.  Our teens were challenged to think about the important people, places, and values that define them, ultimately charting their Life Map.  Youth reflected on their Servant-Leadership journey, where they are now, and where they want to go.

   

More than Fun and Games!

Camp was a great opportunity to show that learning about leadership can be fun! The districts competed in a series of challenges throughout the weekend including messy games and water relay races. Each activity focused on teaching how to use the tools we have to make impact in our community and work together to uplift each other when things get tough.

 

The YELLS Mentoring Bigs had time to plan their service project focus for the year, while the Café Scholars found out which Apprenticeship Team they will be serving on this year as the manage their Community Action Cafe.  Teens had just completed resumes and interviews before the retreat, and they were eager to hear the roles they landed!

We ended the Games with an awards ceremony. The Red district took Grand prize for the most points earned during the weekend, but each district had a team member who was awarded for their dedication to upholding their district’s YELLS value. Once our young leaders had the opportunity to award medals to their peers who exemplified YELLS values, it was clear they had become a true family and true servant leaders.

The annual YELLS Retreat is just the beginning of our youth’s Servant-Leadership journey.  As they return to our Franklin Gateway community, they are prepared to bring the lessons they learned with them.  YELLS Bigs and Cafe Scholars will push through their trials, find their parachute, and continue to uplift others along the way.

Celebrating 10 Years of YELLS: A Look Back from Graduate, Bridget Reyes

Celebrating 10 Years of YELLS: A Look Back

My name is Bridget Reyes, and I’m a proud YELLS alumna and Board Member!  My reflection here is one in a series of  reflections leading up to YELLS’s Tenth Anniversary Networking Dinner. This amazing organization and the people who make it so incredibly special have pushed me to become a better version of myself, and I hope you’ll join us on October 18 to offer this opportunity to others like me.

 

Back in 2011, during our YELLS Retreat in a little apartment complex on Franklin Road, we woke early and circled the Community Garden for a morning reflection.  After, we started to work on the garden together – what we thought was an unsuccessful harvest, was actually A WHOLE LOT OF SWEET POTATOES!  I couldn’t believe it!  We could help provide nutritious food to those in need, while also learning the importance of healthy eating and bringing our community together.  It was such a humbling moment to reflect on the hard work put into the garden. It was hard work from people of the City of Marietta’s Parks and Recreation department, helpers from The Atlanta Community Food Bank, YELLS volunteers and members, my amazing team – but also me.

I realized how much good was put into the garden and how much I had grown in less than a year. When I joined YELLS, I knew I had what it took to be a leader, but I always compared myself to others.  YELLS pushed me to work in a group and appreciate everyone’s strengths and learn to grow each other. We had so many opportunities to practice leadership by leading special “CEO Days,” presenting to the community, networking with leaders, and constant activities that all led to us completing our service projects.

YELLS gave me the push I needed to be a better version of myself –  a version that has been impacted by all those who donated to YELLS financially and also with their time. Little did I know the passion I developed while in YELLS instilled self-motivation that has led me during college and in my professional life. I graduated high school with over $22,000 in scholarships, I studied abroad to two different countries in college, and I graduated debt free.

Bridget building relationships at one of our first Networking Dinners!

Six years after high school, I currently serve on the YELLS Board.  I have approved agendas, shared my opinions on programs and projects, and reviewed financials – a whole different world that I didn’t know existed when I was a student.  And though I serve in a different capacity now, I can honestly say I am still growing and learning because of my YELLS Family.  I’m glad to have been a part of the YELLS Journey, but also excited for what is to come.

The hard work that reaps a harvest is much like the servant leader’s path. By investing in others, it’s often surprising how much you grow yourself. A seed was sown within Bridget, and now she is nurturing others.

Community Champion Leads Mixer & Inspires Neighbors

“This will not be my last one,” YELLS Achievement Club member and Franklin Gateway resident excitedly shared as she closed out her first community mixer.  Brenda Gregory, a grandmother of one of our YELLS youth, hosted her first community mixer as a part of her chosen Achievement Club goals, and it was a major success. As a testament to the power of United Way’s Achievement Club model, Ms. Brenda merged her own personal growth with a plan to uplift and strengthen her neighborhood.

Numerous community members and members of neighboring communities came to support the event.  Attendees did not know just how much they would gain from this mixer, titled “The Removal of the Mask” … but with many tears shed and unveiling of stories, Ms. Brenda’s inspirational event helped to continue that positive shift of changing lives in the Franklin Gateway community.

This event was a true community mixer, allowing community members a chance to share their perspectives and combine their stories for healing and understanding.  Ms. Brenda facilitated the event by inviting a panel of three other individuals willing to share their stories. The motivational panelists included a YELLS Community Action Café alumna, Yadeihja Butler, community Minister Robert Wright, and Mechelle Stephens, author of Unmasked and Unashamed.

 

Ms. Brenda did an amazing job incorporating various parts of the community in her event.  She created a welcoming platform for different age ranges within the community and various YELLS parents and adults, as well as youth, current and alumni, were brought in to help make this event a success.  Our YELLS teens worked with our elementary youth to create various masks that would be placed along the walls to decorate the event space.

Greatly spread among the audience were Brenda’s fellow Achievement Club members.  With her final remarks, she stated how difficult it was to continue with this goal, and how she thought many times about calling it off. She continued on to express her gratitude toward her family and YELLS staff, Christina Rodriguez and Renelda Batts, who continuously pushed her forward toward this goal: “I used to be afraid to speak out. I was afraid to continue with this event, but I wanted to give back to this community and the people that have inspired me to do this. This will not be my last one!”

We’re so proud of Ms. Brenda’s hard work!  As a true Community Champion, she is leading grassroots change, healing, and transformation.

Volunteer Spotlight: Jenny, Cameron, and DJ

YELLS is so fortunate to have such amazing volunteers. This month, we want to thank the volunteer team that gave up their entire weekend to join us at Camp Blue Ridge for our Servant Leadership Retreat.  DJ, Cameron, and Jenny all started in different places at YELLS, but joined forces to make this special weekend a success.

Jenny, started with us as an Afterschool Program volunteer in 2016. After taking a short break from volunteering to focus on school, we are so happy that she has rejoined us as an intern in the Community Action Café! She said she was nervous at first about making the switch from helping with K-5th graders to High School students, but she is already helping to encourage our older students through challenging assignments.

Cameron started as a volunteer in our Mentoring program last school year. He has been a dedicated mentor, helping to show our high school “Bigs” what it means to be a good role model to others.  He took his role with us as a team leader on the retreat very seriously, leading his district to victory with the most points earned at the end of the weekend.

DJ is our newest volunteer in the Community Action Café. He joined us just a few weeks ago wanting to assist our Café scholars with their math homework. When asked to join us on the retreat, he jumped at the chance. DJ has an “all-in” attitude that has already connected with our teens as he continuously works to support and build relationships with them.

Thank you Jenny, Cameron, and DJ for being such amazing role models for our teens and support to our staff and community!

 

Youth Spotlight: Syriah Fields

Servant-leadership is at the core of YELLS’s ideology, and our scholars learn to embody this principle through various fun activities and academic lessons.  One of our 1st grade students, Syriah Fields, has gone “above & beyond” (another one of our core values!) from the start of the school year. Each day after homework completion, Syriah reads with her friend Llary. While this might sound like a normal task, these young scholars have their own system in place.

With improved fluency and phonemic awareness levels, Syriah leads the reading experience. “It’s great to see a student choose to help another student without making a big deal about it. Llary’s confidence has improved, too” shares Ms. Autumn, AmeriCorps VISTA member. The duo points to each word together and practices new sounds. At the end of each sentence, they repeat the process until Llary and Syriah both read each sentence at the same speed. As a student who has received individualized support in reading through tutoring services from Achieve Through Education (ATE), Llary has had much experience with paired reading. What her partner Syriah offers is a level of relatability and fun through working with a friend! By using her strength in reading to support a fellow YELLS member, Syriah demonstrates the power of servant-leadership in everyday moments.

Not only is Syriah a helpful peer and teacher-in-the-making, but she also knows how to spread kindness through art.  Syriah uses her creative skills to make pictures and cards with memos for other scholars and teachers. By including positive affirmations like “You are nice” and “love YELLS,” Syriah continues to uplift others and pour positivity into those around her. We are excited to see more ways that Syriah empowers other scholars throughout the school year, which, in exchange, builds upon her own identity to be a true servant-leader.

Celebrating 10 Years of YELLS: A Look Back from Graduate, Ana Vianei

Celebrating 10 Years of YELLS: A Look Back

My name is Ana Vianei, and I’m a proud YELLS alumna!  My reflection here is one in a series of  reflections leading up to YELLS’s October 18 Tenth Anniversary Networking Dinner. Next month’s reflection will offer a different perspective on the path of this amazing organization and the people who make it so incredibly special.

 

As a sophomore at Marietta High School, I sat in Laura Keefe’s Language Arts class and at some point, between reading comprehension exercises and writing prompts and presentations and projects, I realized that what I was learning was something much more profound than the ways of the English language.

At that point, YELLS was still Laura’s brain baby, in its infancy and not yet fully developed into the youth force that it is today. But in her daily actions and in her lesson plans, she was already being a steward of servant leadership and instilling in students the values that YELLS espouses.

I didn’t know it then, but I was lucky enough to be a part of the last generation of students to sit in Laura’s classroom and one of the first generations of “Bigs” in the YELLS Mentoring Program. That year I learned how to use the English language to communicate my vision for a better world and inspire others to join. Also that year, with the support of Laura and a nascent YELLS, I participated in Global Youth Service Day and started my own philanthropic project that I continued throughout my high school career. Unlike most years in high school, that year was immensely consequential for me—my interactions with Laura and my involvement in YELLS set the tone for the rest of my time at Marietta and even helped shape my higher education and career years later.

Ana building relationships at our YELLS Networking Dinner.

From that moment on, nearly every Tuesday of my time in high school was spent meaningfully – having meaningful conversations with the Marietta Police Department officers who drove volunteers to the YELLS site; having meaningful interactions with the “Littles” we mentored and tutored in a small townhouse in a Franklin Road apartment complex; thinking meaningfully about the challenges our community faced and how we could address them; and reflecting meaningfully on what it meant to be a leader. Among those meaningful conversations and introspections were also plenty of meaningful actions! We created a community garden, we held a hunger banquet to raise money for food security, we hosted networking events, we participated in city forums, and organized intercultural fairs. And through these meaningful reflections and meaningful actions, we transformed bits of our community and ourselves!

YELLS was for me, as I’m sure it was for many others, a key and transformational aspect of my high school years. It guided my character building and taught me how to think critically, act meaningfully, and lead with integrity.

Ana and her team wrote proposal letters, engaged experts, secured donations, designed their garden, and mobilized their neighborhood to create their very own Community Garden!