July 2020
REASONS TO CELEBRATE!

"One of the huge joys of these 10 years is working with SCGLR and admiring Beth Duda's leadership. We are so blessed to have Mind in the Making in your hands in Florida." - Ellen Galinsky, author of Mind in the Making.

Since the first facilitator training in May 2016, the SCGLR has trained more than 70 facilitators to lead Mind in the Making (MITM) workshops to more than 1,613 educators, parents, grandparents, foster parents, expectant parents, pastors, mental health professionals, and teens, throughout the Suncoast region.

In celebration of MITM's 10-year anniversary, SCGLR is eager to share reflections from local facilitators to show how families, like yours, have grown from these FREE workshops. Held in English and Spanish, MITM is currently offered online and dubbed Coffee Chats.

Holly Brody, MITM facilitator, Assistant Principal - Sarasota County Schools
"MITM is an incredible tool for all members of a community. Families rarely get a glimpse into this kind of 'brain' learning. It's fascinating for everyone because not only are you learning basic life skills for the betterment of children's lives, but you're learning through the lens of self-reflection. Executive function skills (noted in the picture above), like clear communication or perspective taking, can easily be taken for granted or unknowingly expected of others that have yet to develop them. In MITM, these skills are defined, clarified, practiced, and reflected."

Elizabeth Sierra, MITM Facilitator
"MITM gave participants the tools to help their children reach their greatest potential. It also gave them tools as business owners to change how they handle their business and project themselves to clients and potential clients.

It is exciting to see these parents ready and eager to help their children achieve their greatest potential and to improve as business owners."

Juan Carlos CintrĂ³n, MITM Facilitator
"I presented the MITM workshop with Elizabeth Sierra to parents at Alta Vista Elementary School in partnership with UnidosNow.

The group was diverse in terms of ethnicity--people from various Hispanic countries, and social status. Among these differences, there was one common goal: learn for the benefit of future generations.

The group was dynamic and eager to learn about executive functions. During the games and exercises, participants applied the executive functions we discussed, thus helping Team Lion to realize how simple and easy it is to teach children the same principles through play.

During the workshops, a few people realized that they were controlling/protective of their children, and that sometimes, they had to let their kids make mistakes and learn on their own. They needed to teach the children not to be afraid of new challenges but to be creative in trying to solve them.

Many saw the benefits of these essential life skills and how they would be able to translate them to their workplace, family dynamics, and everyday tasks.

It is very exciting to see people ready and eager to help their children achieve their greatest potential, and that it is never too late to reach our potential and learn new things."

LeeAnne Moody, MITM Facilitator
"Every activity, every moment of sharing, or the experience of heightened awareness is supported and designed to bring people together, to foster connection, and to experientially build upon the '7 essential life skills that every child needs,' which hold the keys to authentic learning. Watching this unfold over and over again, no matter the varying circumstances, is always fascinating.
It is also a lot of fun!"

Jenifer Johnson, MITM Facilitator
"MITM workshops take on the personality of the cohort participants.

Following 16 hours of intense conversation, entertaining exercises, and playing a few games, these parents had a whole new perspective on life and were open to trying new ways of doing things. One mom shared that they had a week-long Memory marathon game going on at home. She was inspired by playing it in the MITM workshop the prior week. She was happy to have the children play and develop their executive functions."

We hope you will join us in this series of FREE workshops. Each MITM workshop provides participants the opportunity to reflect on their own experiences and practices and discover how children and adults learn best!
 
MITM is made possible for the Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading through generous support from The Patterson Foundation . If you would like to have a series of online workshops for your business or community organization or are interested in participating in the workshops , please contact SCGLR at info@gradelevelreadingsuncoast.net .

Family Events with SCGLR

On June 30, Cedric Hameed guided online guests through an interactive journey of spoken-word poetry. Families created and shared poems that began with "I need you because..." "I want to see you..." "I want you to know..." and "Because even when I am gone..."
 
Here is the poem Cedric and his AMAZING kiddos, Avianna and Tyus, so beautifully shared:
I need you because when I am broken you heal me, you appreciate me, you free me,
I need you because you engorge my heart with love, because you generate love, because without you there is no love ,
I need you because you create life, because you take the darkness out of life, because you breathe life,
I'll never leave you alone, scared, furious
I want to see you prosperous, Brave, curious,
I want you to know that I love you, that I'll always be there, that you don't have to fear,
Because even when I am gone, our memories, and the moments we share, always keeps you near!
 
Others shared their poems, too! 
 

This was an incredible experience, and SCGLR is looking forward to the next one, right around the corner!

Join SCGLR & The Patterson Foundation for  "Story-gami" with artist Kuniko Yamamoto, happening Tuesday, July 14, 7:00p-8:00p.

Glimpse into Kuniko's magic as she and host, Beth Duda, delve into the wonderful world of origami via THIS BOOK IS COOL!'s webisode "More-igami," written by Dori Kleber and illustrated by G. Brian Karas.
 

Participants will need to have an 8.5" x 11" piece of paper and their imagination handy. Note: children might be more comfortable using a half sheet.
  
All are welcome to join. REGISTER HERE.
 
THIS BOOK IS COOL!

Kudos to these wonderful guests who have made their THIS BOOK IS COOL! debut. Any of them look familiar to you? Click the names below to see these stars in action! 
 
Week 1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Week 2
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Week 3
Week 4
   
Stay tuned each week as SCGLR shares new videos, activities, and special moments. If you haven't registered, you still can.  
 
 
We welcome your thoughts. Contact us at info@GradeLevelReadingSuncoast.net.