spotlight – YELLS, Inc.

Partner Spotlight – Learning Spaces

In the past, YELLS has strived to be a hub for the Franklin Gateway community, offering our space as a venue for town hall meetings, community food programs, professional workshops and more. That took a hit during the pandemic as we pivoted to ensure the safety of our youth and staff, but now we’ve reached a point where reopening to the community is once again a possibility! As we begin to welcome more partners back into our building, we would like to spotlight one such partner that has been using the YELLS space weekly to provide valuable early childhood learning services to young children on Franklin Gateway: McCleskey-East Cobb YMCA and the Learning Spaces program!

Learning Spaces is a United Way of Greater Atlanta initiative that provides a free parent/child pre-K program aimed at helping children ages 0-5 learn and grow in an engaging and playful environment. The aim is to equip these young children with the skills needed to thrive in Kindergarten while learning to socialize with other children in a classroom environment. At the same time, parents learn strategies for supporting their child’s learning and build social connections with other families in their community. With funding support through the United Way of Greater Atlanta and coordination by the McCleskey-East Cobb YMCA, we’ve been so blessed to be able to bring this impactful model right here to our Franklin Gateway neighborhood. Since April, Learning Spaces has been using the downstairs space at YELLS to host these learn-and-play sessions every Tuesday morning with diverse lesson plans filled with new experiences for the children!

“Every time we meet, I try to teach the kids something new that they don’t know,” said Learning Spaces Coordinator Maria Daniel. “We do reading time first, and everything is done in English and Spanish. I like to emphasize the key words in English, and have all the kids repeat it. So during story time, if we talk about a lion, we ask what the lion does, and then have them all repeat it in English. After story time, we have crafts where we’ll create something related to what we read. And after that’s done, we do singing and dance time, and that’s usually fun, the kids have a blast.”

Learning Spaces Serving Franklin Gateway Community

The majority of families that attend only speak Spanish at home, and offering Learning Spaces as a bilingual program provides these young children with plenty of opportunities to speak English in a classroom setting while still learning alongside their mothers in their native language. Additionally, Maria says the YELLS space has been a perfect location for the program, giving her the freedom to focus more on exposing the children to new experiences.

“The space, the access to tables, chairs, everything set up, this is ideal! I think they all like to see the different colors on the walls, the artwork, it’s just what a regular classroom is going to look like,” Maria said of the downstairs Afterschool space. “Even getting their hands in paint and getting that feeling. I know at home, they won’t always do that because it’s a mess and it’s a whole preparation at home… So here, that was so much fun to do and working a lot of fine motor skills. They loved it, getting their hands wet with paint, then using the scissors, and then trying to hold the pencil or crayon to write out something really close to their name.”

Learning Spaces also fills an important need in the Franklin Gateway community by providing preschoolers with exposure to educational materials and resources that they may not ordinarily interact with at home. Maria says that she noticed some of the young children didn’t know how to properly use scissors, so they spent time practicing the cutting motions without paper first, and then introducing the paper later. She noted that this could be signs that a child might be behind in his or her social development compared to children that age. But Maria is optimistic that Learning Spaces can help fill those gaps in a child’s early development and prepare them for what’s to come in Kindergarten.

“Sometimes I think I am over-cramming my day, giving them too much to do, but they remember and they pick it up. A mom told me today that her daughter listens to the song that we played here and she does it at the park. She’s actually listening and following the step. So they’re incorporating this into everyday (life), not just Tuesday,” Maria said.

We would like to thank McCleskey-East Cobb Family YMCA and the Learning Spaces staff for facilitating these important child education classes to families in the community, as well as the United Way of Greater Atlanta for making this work possible. YELLS is truly honored to work with Learning Spaces to make this program more accessible for Franklin Gateway families and children. By working together we truly can do more!

Learning Spaces meets every Tuesday at YELLS from 10AM-12PM, and all families with children ages 0-5 are welcome to stop by and attend a class!

Volunteer Spotlight – Amanda Jimenez Biehler

YELLS has seen many volunteers over the years that have impacted the lives of both our staff and the youth we serve. However, few have impacted our organization like one of our AmeriCorps Volunteers In Service To America (VISTA), who dedicated a year of her life to growing the operational capacity of YELLS in the midst of an unpredictable pandemic while simultaneously supporting our 3 programs every day. This month, we are spotlighting our amazing Volunteer Specialist, Amanda Jimenez Biehler, who is wrapping up her year of service with AmeriCorps!

Amanda was born and raised in Santa Barbara, California, where she was involved in community service from a young age. She joined Girl Scouts in Kindergarten, introducing her to service projects and volunteer work, but Amanda says it was her family that really instilled in her a passion for helping those in need.

“With my family growing up, we would feed the homeless once a month. My entire family, all my cousins, aunts, uncles, we’d make a whole meal and then feed all the homeless in an area in town,” she said. “And when I got older, I think it was in high school, I started coordinating that. So I’ve always really liked to volunteer, I’ve done a ton of volunteer work. I was president of Youth for Direct Relief at my high school, which Direct Relief is a huge volunteer organization. I worked with fundraising and just doing different volunteer things like making mother kits and hygiene kits to hand out in the area. That’s how I’ve always enjoyed it.”

Amanda & YELLS

After graduating from UC Santa Barbara with degrees in biology and applied psychology, Amanda moved to Atlanta in the summer of 2021 with her husband Michael, who was set to begin a PhD program at Georgia Tech. She didn’t know what she would do during that time, but she wanted to find something that could allow her to serve a community, much like she did back home. Amanda stumbled across YELLS during her job search and was drawn in by the opportunity to be immersed in the Franklin Gateway community as an AmeriCorps VISTA.

“I really liked the fact that they focused on one community. I thought that would make it a little easier for me to make an impact working in one smaller area because Atlanta is huge. So because they work in a niche area, it’d be easier to make an impact and also get to know a community and the people that live there and the culture,” Amanda said.

Amanda officially joined YELLS on June 7, 2021, and has become an indispensable member of the YELLS family ever since! As our Volunteer Specialist, she coordinated with new and returning volunteers in our programs and worked with community partners to organize exciting volunteer opportunities. Amanda also built the capacity of our organization by engaging with families and community members in both English and Spanish, ensuring that language was not a barrier when accessing our services. But her work at YELLS extends far beyond just the volunteer realm! From the beginning she has stepped up and supported our three programs when needed, especially when it comes to filling in for the Mentoring Program and ASP.

“As soon as she came on and joined us last summer, she immediately understood the vision and rose to the occasion as far as stepping in and prepping and planning for the summer,” said ASP Coordinator Ms. Sherri. “She took a leadership role amongst newer staff, even though she was new herself, and I admired that from her. Since then, a lot of what we have been able to accomplish over the year probably would not have been completed had it not been for her, not only in supporting the staff, but championing things for us to do.”

In reflecting on the past year, Amanda says that she is most proud of the confidence she found in using her voice during her year of service to champion our youth. Whether it’s communicating with coworkers or advocating for our youth, she says that now she doesn’t shy away from speaking up and providing her ideas and input. A great example of this is the recent Scholar Dollars initiative that was implemented in ASP, which Amanda spearheaded along with our Scholar Success Specialist, Jamie.

“It all started with a conversation between Jamie and I. We were talking one day and talking about how in school, if you can guess the number of marbles in a jar in class, you can earn things,” Amanda said. “So it was really cool to see that from that conversation, we made it into something that the kids really enjoyed, and that it helped a lot of kids. For the ones that were really into it, I think it helped get their schoolwork done, and also gave them incentive to do more reading and things like that.”

Life After YELLS

With her year of service ending in early June, Amanda will continue part-time at YELLS Summer Camp as the ASP Social-Emotional Learning Specialist. After the summer, Amanda says she sees herself taking a few months of maternity leave to rest and prepare for the arrival of her first child, a baby girl! We all know she is going to be an excellent mother, and eventually she does see herself returning to school to receive a degree in clinical mental health counseling with the hope of one day working again with children in a community.

“Through this experience, I have come to realize that in the future I want to continue working with youth in some capacity. I have really enjoyed playing a role in helping shape and expose the youth to new things. Becoming a VISTA has helped me decide on wanting to be a counselor specifically working with youth or in the school systems in my future.”

Thank you Amanda for a truly remarkable year of service! You made an incredible impact at YELLS and the Franklin Gateway community, and your work in our organization will be remembered for a long time!

If you or someone you know is looking for a life changing experience like Amanda enjoyed through VISTA, consider joining our YELLS AmeriCorps VISTA team! Click here for more details on our VISTA roles.

Partner Spotlight – Chris Roupp, Synergy Systems & Solutions

YELLS is blessed with so many partners that pour into our youth and community and make our work possible. Often when we think about these amazing partners, our first impulse is to consider those that work directly with our youth. But the truth is that partners come in all shapes and sizes, and it’s extra special to see partners contributing to YELLS in their own way, even if they don’t directly work in youth empowerment. These partners think outside of the box to harness their gifts and resources to contribute and make a significant impact on our day-to-day operations. This month, we would like to recognize a new partner who fits this mold, and that is Chris Roupp with Synergy Systems and Solutions!

Chris is the Managing Partner of Synergy Systems and Solutions, a copier company based in Atlanta. A few years ago, in the early days of building his company, Chris found himself walking through Franklin Gateway and introducing himself to different local businesses, offering his services if needed. It was during this walk that Chris first stumbled upon YELLS, and what started as a simple conversation about printing services quickly evolved into a broader discussion about the YELLS mission and how we empower our youth to give back and serve their community. Chris said that something about that initial conversation struck a familiar chord in him.

“So my whole family are educators. And I sell copiers. But I have a strong leaning toward that, and toward the purpose of what you guys are trying to accomplish. So as soon as I got that feeling, then I was like, ‘Well, I’ll tell you what. I’m finally in a position where I get to make decisions about what I want to do for supporting organizations and stuff.’ It’s not like I’ve got a ton of income coming in. We just started probably weeks before I first stopped in to see YELLS. But what I can do is I can give you a copier, and I can give you services associated with it. So that’s the piece that I can provide.”

At the time, YELLS didn’t have an immediate need for a free copier. But a few years later, our Executive Director, Laura, did reach back out to Chris asking if his offer was still on the table, and a month ago Chris personally came to YELLS to install a brand new copier along with associated services like ink cartridges at no cost to our organization! The donated copier and printing savings has been a game changer, allowing us to print the resources we need for engaging lessons and the fliers our youth create to promote their events for our community. The incredible value of this contribution is felt every day. This kind gesture was not lost on us, and it further served to remind us that the work we do isn’t lost on those who cross paths with our organization.

“Part of my vision when I opened up the company is that when it comes to being a member of an association to support, I wanted to pick two that I really believed in and go full bore with those two,” Chris explained. “And very similar, I’m not going to donate copiers all over town. I’m not doing this to get my name out there or to be able to name drop or earn more business; I’m doing it because I really believe in the mission of what you guys are trying to accomplish. I probably meet with 100 different businesses every day, and I’m sure 99 of them would love to have a donated copier. But it really has to be something that speaks to me and also, on the selfish end, fills that void of doing something to be able to help out in that education space that I’m not fully contributing to.”

Moving forward, Chris sees a couple of ways for this partnership to continue growing. He has always been a firm believer that sales can be a great equalizer for a lot of people, and expressed interest in possibly leading workshops with our Community Action Cafe teens about the power of sales as a viable career path. Many of the YELLS values that we aim to instill in our youth, values like self-respect, having a growth mindset, and a willingness to always improve, also correlate to success in a sales field. Chris thinks giving teens alternative options on how to proceed in life can go a long way in helping them get to where they want to go.

We’re very grateful to Chris Roupp and his generous donation to YELLS! Sometimes what makes a great partner is simply an appreciation of the values we share, and a willingness to contribute to our mission. Although Chris doesn’t work in youth empowement, his actions just go to show that these shared values can transcend industries.

“For me, I’m not an educator like the rest of my family. But these are little things that I can do along the way, in order to still get back to what I believe is a righteous cause.”

Youth Spotlight – Abigail and Joshua Saho!

Whenever possible, we like to take a moment to pause and celebrate some of our amazing youth who exemplify our YELLS values in beautiful and inspiring ways. At the heart of our mission is to serve and empower our youth to see themselves as change-makers, equipped with the tools and knowledge to make their world a better place. This week, we are spotlighting Abigail and Joshua Saho, two of our ASP Scholars who were recently published in a book!

Abby (9) and Joshua (7) are sister and brother in our Afterschool Program, and they recently had some of their writing included in Stories by Children, a collection of short stories and poems published by The Fernance and Cyrilla Family Club (FCFC). FCFC is a family organization formed by descendants of Fernance and Cyrilla Prince of Grand Fond, Dominica, who also happened to be Abigail and Joshua’s great grandparents!

“We have a group called FCFC, because my great grandparents, their names are Fernance and Cyrilla,” Abby says. “So that’s the name of the group and my extended family on my mother’s side, we’re really close. Since Corona hit, we couldn’t do family reunions anymore. So we would do Zoom, and we were like, ‘we need something else to bring us closer together.’ So we said, ‘Hey, all of us like writing, how about we write a book?’”

And write a book they did! In January 2021, FCFC created Stories by Children, Volume 1 as a literary movement celebrating the poems, prose, and short stories written by the children of Dominica and the diaspora. This movement aims to create excitement about reading and writing while providing an avenue for creative expression and boosting the self-esteem of children of the extended Prince family.

Volume 1 is all about FAMILY, which is fitting considering that many of the children featured in the book are Abby and Joshua’s cousins and extended family! This book is a reminder of the family bonds that connect them all together even as they are scattered around the world. When the book was published, FCFC organized a listening party where the kids had the chance to read their stories on the public radio!

“It was not in this country; it was in Dominica. They had a party and we were all on the radio because not a lot of people over there like TV. So they have radios and there was music playing and it was really fun! I got to listen to myself on the radio and I felt so special,” Abby said with a smile.

The Fernance and Cyrilla Family Club intend to build on this literary movement by releasing a second volume of Stories by Children, and Abby and Joshua are already working on the stories they want to include in that edition. Joshua has a knack for writing fun poems, while Abby’s favorite stories to write are fiction, and she often puts herself at the center of her stories as the main character!

“I like reading and word study and how words are spelled. So I like writing more, because I can go more into it with the words… When I read it over, it really shows an adventure. I can feel what I’m saying in each part (of the story).”

All proceeds from the sale of this book will go into an education fund for the authors, so please consider purchasing a copy to support Abby, Joshua, and the other young child authors on their literary adventures! Copies of Volume 1 (and soon Volume 2!) of Stories by Children are available for purchase here. Everyone at YELLS is so proud of Abby and Joshua for their hard work, and we can’t wait to read what they write next!