From our hearts to yours... Happy Valentine's Day!

Communities in Schools - Charlotte-Mecklenburg

Volunteer | Donate | Success Stories | Schools WINTER 2019

From our hearts to yours, Happy Valentine's Day!

We just LOVE working with our students! From every age, from Kindergarten through 12th grade, they amaze us with their intelligence, insight, curiosity, and interest in the world around them. They inspire and motivate us every day to ensure they have the tools they need to succeed and realize their bright potential. Thank you to CIS Site Coordinator Annette Abrams and her students from Reid Park Academy - Marcus, Adriyana, Hayden, and Ma'Khia - for taking time for this "photo opp" and sharing their beautiful smiles with us on this Valentine's Day!

SAVE THE DATES!

YOU can help fuel our students' potential by supporting our two signature events in 2019. Please mark your calendar and save the dates for Dine Out For Kids® in June and Lowcountry in October!


Dine Out For Kids® June 18, 2019	Lowcountry October 5, 2019

"Lost Einsteins"

How We are Squandering American Innovation

by Molly Shaw, CIS-Charlotte President and CEO

In case you missed it, we'd like to share this opinion piece by Molly Shaw, which was first published in the Dec. 7 issue of The Charlotte Business Journal.

I know how it feels to be underprepared. When I joined Communities In Schools I brought unexpected deficiencies in perspective stemming from a lifetime of private school education, white collar jobs, and privilege - surrounded by people who looked like me and shared similar experiences. Read More

CIS-Charlotte Students win "Student Innovation Challenge"


	Three CIS students from Vance with their moms and Site Coordinator LaKendra Phifer.

CIS-Charlotte is excited to share that we had THREE winning entries in the first-ever "CIS Student Innovation Challenge," sponsored by CIS National. CIS Site Coordinators from across the CIS network were encouraged to engage their high school students to generate innovative ideas and solutions to topics that impact them. CIS-Charlotte Site Coordinator LaKendra Phifer took the challenge to heart and ultimately led three teams (14 students total) at Vance High School to come up with creative ideas and enter the contest. Fourteen entries from across the country were reviewed as finalists, with four chosen as winners - three of them from Charlotte! Read More

#WhatWeAreMadeOf: Telling Student Stories through Mosaic Art
In January, CIS National launched an exciting new storytelling campaign, one that uses a unique way to explore student voices and "what they are made of" through oversized mosaic art portraits. Check out this cool time-lapse video below that shows the renowned pop artist, Jason Mecier, creating the portraits, and visit the microsite to read and interact with the student stories. This is just the beginning; more student stories will be added to the site, especially as graduation nears. But the stories of these initial seven students from across the CIS network are amazing - see for yourself!

"Mosaic art has the power to tell a story on many different levels. It evokes a layered experience, starting with a big takeaway, and then drawing viewers in to reveal smaller components."

"More than a Book Club" at South Mecklenburg High School

"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens"

Shout-out to Amelia Abbott and Do Good CLT for donating 20 copies of Sean Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens to CIS Site Coordinator Jeannette Jackson for her new book club at South Mecklenburg High School. Jackson is launching the book club for CIS students this winter and says the club will encompass much more than your typical book club, with plans to study each of the "7 Habits" and develop community and school service projects around those themes. Read More

Press Release
CIS-Charlotte wins "Challenge Schools" Grant from CIS National

CIS-Charlotte is one of 14 CIS affiliates selected by the CIS National office through a competitive grant process to share $13 million in grant funds. The funds are intended to support expansion of CIS services to additional schools across 23 communities in 11 states. The grant is funded by a multi-million dollar donation from AbbVie, a research-based global biopharmaceutical company. Read the full press release here

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