10 Years Later..our Partnership Continues

2012 marks RE’s 10th year in partnership with Breakthrough Atlanta, a tuition-free program that works with middle school children with a six-week academic summer program for rising 7th and 8th graders that encourages academic success. We are proud to announce that 8 RE students that attend Kennedy Middle School have been accepted and will plunge into the challenge of using their summer time off, as time on, in preparation for the upcoming school year. In addition, throughout the school year, the students meet up for Saturday workshops throughout the year that focus on academic empowerment, preparing them for transitioning into high school and helping the high school students prepare for college. Beginning in January our students started their application process which consisted of two essays, an extensive application and several short answers questions. In the end, each student had to participate in an interview at the Breakthrough Atlanta offices at the Lovett School. To prepare RE students for these critical interviews, staff members held mock interviews with them one week prior to their big day. And now we are proud to introduce our new class of BA students: DaeJour, Daylon, Kel'vadiea, Markala, Montravious, Nayya, Renard, and Tionne for their admission into this wonderful opportunity and we know that this summer they will excel!

Black Excellence

Never brought into the Light
But trust me, we won’t go down without a fight
Because being Black is having pride in our race
Not being mad at the white man’s face

Stolen from the motherland, and
Stripped from our cultures
Our history disappearing like meat eaten by a vulture

But at last, we prevail
And we’re here to tell our tale
Being Black is being blessed
It’s God himself putting us to the test
Like the CRCT, making sure we exceed

So if you haven’t met a real black person yet
You have now,
Cause you’ve met
ME.

Nayya Greaves
RE 6th grader

Cavalia: A First for Most!

Raising Expectations works hard to bring new and unique opportunities to the youth we serve through our Social Discovery programs. Before Christmas Cavalia donated some great tickets for their Oddyseo performance. For most of our youth seeing this amazing show with horses, acrobats and performers from all over the world, was a first. Here are just a few of the comments they shared about their experience at Cavalia:


On a scale of 1-5, how much did you enjoy this fieldtrip? why?
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"5, I loved it!"
"I've never seen a horse up close."
"The show and horses made me feel calm."
"I loved the acrobats and the tricks the horses did."


Have you ever been to a show like this before?
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All responses were a no. These are the windows we have to change a child's perspective and view about what is possible in the future.


How did the show make you feel?
*********************************************************************************
"..like I was in a fantasy"
"awesome!"
"relaxed and calm"
"curious and excited"

Describe this show in 3 words.
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amazing, extraordinary, fantastic
vivid, impressive, fun
outstanding, tremendous, exciting
fantastic, incredible, interesting

Through Their Eyes: Poetic Reflections

As a part of RE's weekly programs, all of our youth are enrolled in activities that we call Enriching Experiences. The poems below are reflections from a class entitled, Creative Expressions, which is led by our in-house and talented artist, Mr. Kevin Parker. Enjoy these poems from several of our middle school youth. Feel free to respond and give these young people some positive reinforcement for their effort.

Torn by Nayya Greaves

Torn down and new built back up
They say our generation will never make the cut
But lets prove them wrong
And stand strong like King Kong

Killing and abusing one another
Thought we were supposed to help not hurt our sisters and brothers
Follow in our ancestor steps
Enhance out Black History in which they kept, in our hearts!
Nayya Greaves
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ONE by Eddie Turner

We sit and look
But take nothing

We dont care
All we do is sit and stare

Not us all but most
And most is us
And us is you and I
And I is me
And I need to show all
And little did you know
The word all is 1
Eddie turner
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Speechless by Rashad Bates

I really dont have anything to say
But
My generation has passed away
Its a big huge mess
None of us want more, just less

We have all died
And
The white man lied
'u
Black on Black crime
So poor cant even buy a lime!
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My Generation by Phyllis Thomas

Is a Mess
We live in
the unfair
die for the other
children come next

As you look at it
Decreasing
Becoming less

Our neighborhood
Its so messed up
People are misunderstood

We sit and don't care
about our city, its not up to the mayor

Its crazy
people do what they have to do
It’s up to you!

High school students to earn college credit at Clark Atlanta University

High school students to earn college credit at Clark Atlanta University

Raising Expectations is proud to announce that 1 of our students is in this program. What a great opportunity! Great job Angelina Barden!

re summer camp

Check out our Raising Expectations Project RISE Summer camp video. Our 7 week camp covered topics from Traveling around the Globe, Protecting our Environment, Science and Technology just to name a few.

Exposing RE Girls to Technology & Engineering

Our first day of camp at Georgia Tech was not what I expected but I enjoyed it. We went to see a chemical engineer that taught us how to make gel. Mykia and I were partners, we mixed water and other chemicals to make something that turned out like jell-o. Then we went to a nail polish station and designed our own colors. We also visited an airspace station and learned how airplanes fly.
Shakia Hoosier 8th grade RE 2nd year student

When I first started camp I was a little worried because I’m not use to going to camp. But I was wrong, on my first day I had a blast! I made new friends and participated in interesting classes. We also visited a lab where we watched cells grow. Then we went to a class where we learned how to style and make websites. Most of our classes were about engineering, bioengineering and aerospace engineering. Can’t wait til Thursday when we will go back to the lab to see how our cells are growing.
Mykia Green 8th grade 3rd year RE student

I made new friends and learned about the many types of engineering like civil, chemical, industrial and many more. We made cells grow and mixed nail polish and learned about building websites. Can’t wait til tomorrow, we get to go swimming at the huge pool on Georgia Tech’s campus.
Zaria Palmer 8th grade 2nd year RE student