Suntrust, now Truist, team members have become regulars at YELLS this year! They’ve proven how valuable community is to their team, making corporate engagement a priority. We’ve already welcomed three groups in 2020 alone! Each time they visit, they bring a large group of eager volunteers, and they have developed into such an incredible partner. It’s been a win-win as their engagement provides an opportunity for BB&T and Suntrust employees to come together as a new Truist team while making a meaningful difference for our youth.
Speed Networking with the Community Action Cafe
Networking can be scary for anyone, but the volunteers from Truist have provided authentic opportunities for our teens to overcome the butterflies and experience the power of relationship-building. During each round of our “Speed Networking” session, students grew more comfortable, and by the end, it was hard to stop the conversations from flowing! Each time that Truist has come to visit, our students get more comfortable, are excited about making new connections, and grow in their leadership and professional skills.
While our youth developed their professionalism and networking skills, the experience was just as meaningful for our guests from Truist. Volunteers shared how much the experience moved them:
Thank you for all that you, your team, and your organization do for the youth who enter the doors of YELLS. I was truly blown away by one of your students who stated the most important life skill YELLS has taught him was the ability to forgive. I was not expecting such an answer but you and your teammates have unquestionably made a difference in this young scholar’s life.
It was such a great day for us. All day today I got feedback from my team on how full their hearts were with that experience, and how motivated my teammates are by the students. For me personally, it was a moving experience to see the students with their ambition and their dreams. I’ve told so many people about it!
I was truly moved by the young men that I personally spoke with and honestly overwhelmed by emotion I wasn’t expecting.
That was such an amazing experience and I walked away just in awe of the students that I was able to speak with.
Transforming Our Space
As if the impact they had on our teens wasn’t enough, volunteers also transformed our space! They rolled up their sleeves and got to work building tables for our homework room, cleaning our kitchen, and writing inspirational messages for our elementary students. We’re so enriched by the mark Truist has left with us at YELLS!
Thank you, Truist, for helping our students learn and grow!
We are always looking for groups that are interested in Speed Networking with our teens – Please contact Laura@YELLSinc.org for more info on how to get involved!
YELLS staff and youth rung in 2020 with New Year’s Eve-themed activities that challenged us to think about how we can grow our skills and spread our impact in 2020.
While our students were still enjoying their holiday break, our staff met to get a head start in putting the YELLS model into practice. The morning started out with exciting and fun choice activities. Our staff like to play, too! Our staff had the opportunity to experience first hand how we want to welcome our youth when they return. New Year choice activities included: human ring toss, beach towel volleyball, Blink! Card game, four square, firework painting, and flour face challenge (a messy favorite). As the team wound down from all of the fun, they had a chance to reflect on which activities were their favorites and then create a database of new activities for our students’ first day back!
The staff continued learning about ways to engage our youth, and started creating a vision for our youth for the new year. Broken into teams, the staff navigated through a series of challenges designed to model what a fun, engaging, and meaningful lesson could look like. Instead of sitting and discussing or writing out ideas, the staff experienced what it feels like as a student to learn in this environment, and how hands-on activities, in line with the Kolb Experiential Learning Model, inspire creative thinking and meaningful discussion.
The first challenge they faced was a colorfully lit “balloon drop” in which staff had to pop balloons suspended from the ceiling in search of instructions. At this challenge staff reflected on ideas about ways to empower youth to go above and beyond and fulfill their greatness.
Next it was time to “’Toast’ to the YELLS Family” where team members had to throw pieces of toasted bread at a stack of champagne glasses in order to proceed to the next step. Staff discussed ways we can ensure that everyone feels welcomed at YELLS as a part of the YELLS family.
Then it was time to “Spark Youth-Led Community Building” which involved using a lit candle to burn through fishing line, releasing their instructions from the ceiling. Staff reflected on their vision for youth-led community building and community engagement.
Finally, our team had the chance to “Cook up a Third Place” in which they got to create their own croissant with fillings of their choice while discussing their ideas and vision for the Community Action Cafe and how it can truly be a space that welcome community.
All of these activities came together to help staff remember our values and inspire them to empower our youth to live these in their lives and in our community. Our staff then had the chance to meet with their programs as a team to put this into action and plan an exciting New Year’s Eve themed welcome back for our students!
Before the team knew it, it was time to welcome our students back for their first day of the semester! As our students entered on their first day back, they were welcomed with music, games, and lots of new choice activities to choose from! Some of our teens were even brave enough to try the flour face game!
Next our high school students had the opportunity to “knock out” what they wanted to leave behind in 2019, as they stepped into the boxing ring. They also celebrated their accomplishments of the past year.
Then it was time for our high school students to put a lot of trust in their friends (and us!) as they were broken into groups and blindfolded, preparing to go on a journey of teamwork challenges, without their sense of sight. Each team navigated the Cafe by following a string that was strung from room to room. They cautiously relied on each other with only the string to guide them.
First up, they had to find 6 cups before building a cup tower. This was challenging, but it got more difficult from there. They followed the guiding string to the back room. Once there, they were given five spoonfuls to blindly taste. As a team they had to identify something spicy (jalapeno), sweet (chocolate pudding), salty (pretzel), sour (warhead candy), and bitter (grapefruit juice) using their senses of smell and taste. At the next destination they had to use their sense of touch and dig through a bowl of dry rice and find 5 small safety pins. It’s harder than it looks! After they completed this challenge they navigated to their final challenge using the string. Once they were in the conference room, one team member was secretly given a word. The group had to line up, one behind the other, as they drew the word on each other’s backs. Once the word got to the front of the line, that student drew what they thought the word was on the wall, all while blindfolded! This was by far the hardest challenge for the students, but they had successfully completed their journey!
Once they made it back to the front of the Cafe and their eyes had a chance to adjust, the students had time to debrief and learned that when you don’t have a vision(or are blindfolded) it makes it much harder to accomplish your goals. They were then able to started writing out their vision for 2020, and broke that vision down into manageable goals.
Our K-5th students stayed just as busy downstairs as they began to explore their emotions and learn about different feelings. Youth identified different emotions by placing raindrops under each “feeling” category. Next, they’ll learn skills for how to regulate their emotions effectively. This is just the start of our students understanding the theme for the month, “We Create Peace,” and the importance of connecting with their emotions so that they can “create peace” in the year ahead.
It was time to celebrate! Keeping with tradition, both age groups had a blast counting down to the new year! The students toasted to the new year with sparkling grape juice, music, and a New Year’s count down. Both students and staff are looking forward to a wonderful 2020 full of vision and purpose!
In case you missed it, our teens hosted a tremendously successful Community Dinner to help us close out the year. This was a huge service learning opportunity for our Community Action Cafe Scholars and Mentoring Bigs, as they learned first hand what it takes to hold a successful event of this magnitude. We are super proud of their efforts and the resulting event. We are also very thankful to our community for showing up for this event and our kids!
Our students created flyers and canvassed the community, being sure to invite community members, apartment managers, and local businesses on Franklin Gateway. They also practiced drafting professional emails in order to invite other Marietta business leaders, local political figures, and school representatives. They were so excited to see what a huge turn out they had. As you can see from the pictures, the building was packed! 120+ community members and guests joined us, and space quickly became limited, but this was a good problem to have, and the community had no problem squeezing in together with their neighbors to accommodate all of our guests.
The students also solicited donations from neighboring restaurants, receiving delicious contributions from Franklin Gateway restaurants: La Iguala Meat Market, Soul Food Train, and Golden Tropics Jamaican Restaurant. Our parents and community members also contributed dishes for this potluck style event, and everyone left very satisfied after sampling all of the yummy offerings.
This dinner was about more than just good food. The YELLS teens thought about every detail, including discussion questions that they developed and placed in the center of each table inspiring meaningful connections and partnerships between Franklin Gateway neighbors and businesses. The students strategically dispersed themselves at separate tables so that they could guide conversations between people. Each student had a role, whether is was to serve, welcome guests, capture memories in the photo booth, spark conversations or share testimonials of their achievements at YELLS on the mic. Thank you to Theron Furr, our teen Co-CEO for doing a great job as Master of Ceremonies at the event. It was not an easy task with it being such a packed house, but he kept the energy high the entire night!
Many of our K-5th ASP youth were also in attendance, and they enjoyed the event so much that they decided to model their own service project after this one, in which they created flyers to secure food donations that they would then serve to their younger peers during their holiday celebration. Our high school students did a great job of inspiring our younger students and showing them first hand how to be servant-leaders!
Our students from the K-5 scholars up through our graduating seniors are busy planning many more community events for the Spring. Be sure to keep in the loop for our Community Action Cafe Thursday night community events, and our Mentoring Program community service projects. You will not want to miss what they have in store!
Each December the Franklin Road Community Association hosts Holidays Around the World. This huge community event led by Franklin Gateway residents provides holiday entertainment, crafts and activities, Christmas gifts, and a resource fair. Our Mentoring Bigs took advantage of this opportunity host “pitch tables” for their upcoming community service projects. Each service project group shared their project visions and received feedback from the hundreds of community members in attendance. This spring, the Bigs are hosting a Community Voter Registration drive, a “Franklin Fair” neighborhood block party, and a Community Business Outreach Event for small businesses on Franklin Gateway. Holidays Around the World served as a great platform for the Bigs to network with the community, receive feedback on their projects, and practice their pitches.
During the event, community members were given secret ballots. As they listened to each Mentoring group’s pitch for their service projects they recorded their favorite presentation and had the opportunity to leave feedback for our students to read and improve on the delivery of their projects. The team with the most votes at the end of the night received $100 towards their project!
The Mentoring program Bigs meet on the first Saturday of each month to work on developing their service projects. These projects are entirely teen-led. They put a lot of time, energy, and heart into making these events a success and something that truly benefits the community. We are always searching for dedicated volunteers who are interested in being Service Project Coaches that help guide our teens as they learn what it takes to plan these large scale service projects. Service Coaches meet with Bigs in their service projects groups one Saturday a month from 10:00 am – 2:00 pm.
These hardworking Bigs also meet every Tuesday to help instill servant-leadership values to their elementary school aged Littles. We are also always in need of volunteers that are interested in working with our high school students as adult Mentors on Tuesdays from 3:00 – 6:00 PM.
We hope you will plan to join us at our Bigs’ Community Service Projects this spring!
Interested in learning more about becoming a Mentor or Service Project Coach? Email mentoring@yellsinc.org for more information.
“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!
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!
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.
“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.
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!
Mr. Tim is the embodiment of the YELLS Family and a true servant-leader. He joined our YELLS team as one of the first two official staff members when we started our daily YELLS Afterschool program in 2011. He’s grown in his leadership as he’s shaped each one of our programs and each one of our youth over the years. We’ve been incredibly blessed to have Mr. Tim with us for most of his adult life, we’re thrilled he grew his family by finding his future wife at YELLS, and we’re proud of him for taking the leap to his next big journey. During his time at YELLS he’s been involved in every program – he began as our YELLS Afterschool Program Leadership Instructor with our little ones and grew to serve as our incredible Teen Program Manager with the Community Action Cafe, and he’s volunteered at every signature event and community program along the way. Mr. Tim has left a lasting mark on every member of our YELLS Family, and we know he’ll continue to do great things! Check out the photos and video memories below to see just a little peak at the legacy left by Mr. Tim.
During Mr. Tim’s last week, he got to see three students from his very first year at YELLS. They’re now in high school and continuing to give back to their community!
Because we learn about the community [from community members] we are more knowledgeable about the needs of the community.
Tori
The kids don’t always talk about their day at school, but they always want to talk about their day at YELLS.
Tosha Freeman, Afterschool Program Parent
The way people see you changes when you help them address a problem in the community.
Ashami
YELLS allowed me to see that all people have something to offer.
Imani, YELLS Big
It’s all positive energy in here!
Devin, YELLS Graduate
The kids out here [on Franklin Road] are all looking for a better future, and we help them find that better future.
Ashami, Hospitality and Service Team Member
YELLS has been a medium where I can actively change a life, and actively manipulate my own life to be what I want it to be.
Ana, YELLS Big
I take everything I learned from YELLS everywhere I go. Your vision is truly being lived out through students like me.
Jonah, YELLS Big
When we first came to America we were timid. When we came to YELLS my mentality changed… YELLS has helped me to keep my family together and organized. Taking care of kids by YELLS is wonderful!