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35 Years Serving Communities in Baltimore, MD
20 Years Serving Communities in Washington, DC
March Newsletter
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New CNA Program Joins Roster of Workforce Training Opportunities |
There are currently ten students enrolled in a course to become Certified Nursing Assistants as part of our latest pilot program providing career opportunities and job training to unemployed and underemployed adults living within the Baltimore Target Investment Zone (TIZ).
The 12-week hybrid online course and in-person clinical work is being offered by Living Classrooms and our training partner, itWORKS with Living Classrooms' wraparound support from our Workforce Development case managers. The support includes barrier mitigation (like technical issues and time management tools) in addition to job application and placement assistance upon completion of the course. Graduates will also receive at least one year of wraparound and job retention support to help them continue to navigate unforeseen barriers to success during their first year on the job.
The course joins a roster of training programs that have been offered through our workforce development department, including a construction pre-apprenticeship (see below), IT and retail certifications, forklift and flagging training, and youth fellowships. Throughout the last year, our staff has been connecting with community members virtually and offering regular online resume and interview skills workshops in addition to a number of supportive services. Despite record levels of unemployment last year due to the pandemic, we successfully helped 159 Baltimore adults find employment.
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New Group of Pre-Apprentices Graduate Training Program |
Four new students celebrated their completion of our pre-apprenticeship training course during a small recognition ceremony on Friday afternoon. For the past 12 weeks, the students participated in hard and soft skills training in preparation for career opportunities within the construction industry.
All are current or former members of Project SERVE and all enthusiastically attribute the peer support in both programs as being key in keeping them coming back and helping them stay on track after being released from prison. Each has career plans following today's graduation, including one young man who has an interview with Commercial Construction this week and another who is working towards a career in home remodeling. Please join us in congratulating these hardworking young men as they continue down their paths towards realizing their goals.
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Virtual Maritime Education Reaches Three Cities and 700 Students this Winter |
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Due to the pandemic, our Maritime Education team reimagined our signature hands-on, environmental STEM education program that normally takes place aboard Lady Maryland, Sigsbee, and Mildred Belle, in order to reach students in their homes and assist teachers in preventing learning loss during remote learning. Since this time last year, our educators have developed a robust virtual maritime education program that has not only helped us serve students in the Maryland and Washington, DC, region but also students in locations that would normally be less likely to participate in person. This winter, which is considered off-season due to cold weather, we took our virtual program to seven Title I schools in Philadelphia and have 445 students.
The distance learning program includes a 90-minute live session with our educators, Living Classrooms Activity Boxes delivered for each student with all necessary supplies for guided hands-on experiments, complete watershed science curriculum and teacher resources, and supplemental videos and digital content.
In addition to our Philadelphia programming, our educators are working with students in Baltimore, DC, and surrounding counties that will total over 700 elementary and middle school students from the three cities by the end of the month. Our educators are also serving the National Capital Region, working with 30 classes in ten schools thanks to funding from the Anacostia Watershed Society and by the end of the school year will provide virtual programming to roughly 900 students from Title I schools in Washington, DC. Our team is also working towards an ambitious goal of reaching 100% of the 20 schools located within the Baltimore Target Investment Zone by the end of the school year.
While we look forward to once again bringing students out on our education vessels (Lady Maryland, Sigsbee, and Mildred Belle) for in-person education programs, we are thrilled to be able to offer this virtual program to keep students engaged in learning while schools work towards long-term recovery from the pandemic.
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Dent House Food Pantry Serves Washington, DC Residents |
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Our staff at The Dent House Community Center on Buzzards Point have spent the winter working with community partners in Southwest Washington, DC to operate a Food Pantry for residents of the three adjacent public housing communities who continue to be affected by the ongoing pandemic. The Greg Gannon Food Drive and The Whitlow Foundation contributed an assortment of non-perishable items in addition to frozen meats, chicken, and seafood after residents shared with us that fresh proteins were high on their list of desired items. Additionally, Here2Help DC donated freezer bags and energy-efficient lightbulbs. Thanks to our partners, we've served 148 families and distributed over 2,000 parcels of food items to our neighbors this winter.
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Historic Ships in Baltimore Reopens |
We are excited to share that the USS Constellation and USS Torsk will once again be open for visitors at 50% capacity starting Thursday, April 1st. Tickets are on sale now.
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Free Youth Lacrosse Clinics Are Back at Utz Field |
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Spring has arrived and with it comes the opportunity for us to once again host small-scale outdoor programming. Last fall, the BeMore Athletic League's season was postponed due to the pandemic, so instead, we hosted community-based lacrosse clinics that were open to all ages and skill levels. This spring, we are excited to work with US Lacrosse to bring these clinics back to Patterson Park's Utz field and get students active outside after spending the winter months indoors. Clinics are being held 3 days/week after school beginning this week.
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Blossoms & Baseball: A Drive-in Movie Pop-up to Celebrate The Nationals Opening Day Weekend and Benefit Living Classrooms |
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Celebrate the start of spring and the return of baseball with a weekend of baseball-themed drive-in movies! The Capitol Riverfront BID has teamed up with the National Cherry Blossom Festival and the Washington Nationals for Opening Day Weekend to bring baseball-themed movies to the Capitol Riverfront. Proceeds benefit Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region.
Friday, April 2nd: 42: The Jackie Robinson Story
Saturday, April 3rd: A League of Their Own
Pre-movie trivia, prizes, and giveaways will be featured throughout the weekend; and gameday fare from the Swizzler Hot Dog Truck will be available for purchase on Saturday night.
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James Piper Bond Recognized for Leadership of Living Classrooms |
Congratulations to Living Classrooms Foundation President and CEO, James Piper Bond, for being recognized among The Baltimore Sun's 2021 Business and Civic Hall of Fame. Honorees were selected for their leadership and community focus and will be honored at a banquet at The Center Club on September 9th and a special section to be published shortly thereafter.
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Honoring Women's History Month |
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Women's Long and Varied History at Fort McHenry |
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Living history demonstrators Sophie, Kira, and Elizabeth explore the role of laundresses as U.S. Army contractors during the War of 1812 and the role of women in the long history of Fort McHenry (including nurses during WWI). Living History Demonstrators are paid positions held by high school and college students and young adults as an early job experience coordinated through Living Classrooms and Friends of Fort McHenry.
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Our Maritime Education Crew Honors the First Female Skipjack Captain |
In honor of Women's History Month, the Maritime Education Department at Living Classrooms is highlighting the remarkable story of the first female skipjack captain, Leigh Hunteman. Lore suggests she may have captained our education vessel, Sigsbee, at one time but we have been unable to confirm that claim. Nevertheless, her role as the first woman skipjack captain is profound for a position that was historically dominated by men.
Leigh Hunteman took command of the 50-year-old oyster dredging skipjack Lorraine Rose in early March 1982 when she was 30 years old. Before she became the captain of the Lorraine Rose, Leigh worked as a deckhand on two other skipjacks: Stanley Norman and E.C. Collier. Leigh had also previously been a deckhand on Lorraine Rose but was promoted to Captain by Francis "Smiley" Cole who owned the vessel and the Bridge Restaurant on Tilghman Island. Cole had spent the winter of 1981-1982 with a series of unsatisfactory captains that all had neglected the maintenance on his vessel. By the time March came, he was ready to take a gamble with Leigh at the helm. "It worked out better than I'd expected. She was the first woman ever to captain a skipjack in the history of the Chesapeake Bay," Francis Cole.
Until Leigh took command of Lorraine Rose, only men sailed the vessels in the oyster fleet and no woman had ever captained a skipjack and managed a crew during a winter oyster dredging season. Since Leigh took charge of the vessel and her crew at the end of the season, she had a hard time keeping a steady crew and earning a living dredging the oyster bars. For the month of March, she relied on two steady crew members: Suzanne Bonner and Sean Maclain. Most other skipjacks in the fleet had crews of four or five, sometimes even with additional crew in standby.
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Digging Data: Pivoting in a Pandemic |
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Each month, our Research & Evaluation Department digs and sifts through our data to extract a meaningful "data nugget" to highlight the accomplishments from our programs and services. |
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Share Your Professional Development Skills as a Volunteer Guest Speaker |
Project SERVE is seeking presenters to facilitate workshops focused on personal and professional development topics or even to share personal stories of struggle and triumph. Topics may include public speaking, mock interviewing, email etiquette, mindfulness, conflict resolution, time management, professionalism, workplace leadership, self-care, etc. Help our workforce development members as they prepare for the challenges they will encounter in any work environment.
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Join Our FrogWatch Citizen Science Project on Kingman Island |
In 2021, DOEE & Living Classrooms are teaming up to provide volunteers with guided FrogWatch walks on Kingman &
Heritage Islands Conservation Area. The walks will take place 30 minutes after sunset and will last for two hours. There will be one walk every month on the third Thursday between March and August. FrogWatch, a citizen-science project, needs volunteers to collect and submit data on calling frogs and toads at streams, ponds, and wetlands in and around the District.
All training is now online, and volunteers who have completed the training can conduct their own surveys or register for monthly in-person walks on the Islands. Pre-registration is required.
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Apply to be an Inspired to Serve Summer Intern |
Established to honor the life of longtime volunteer and intern Cara Becker and in partnership with the Karma for Cara Foundation, the Inspired to Serve program offers rising high school seniors, college, and graduate students the opportunity for an intensive hands-on summer internship with one of Living Classrooms’ programs. Interns will be mentored by senior staff, work closely with program participants, and learn invaluable skills that will help them become leaders and agents for change in their communities.
Each intern serves 10 weeks in a unique placement that matches their interests and skills with the needs of a Living Classrooms program. Over the course of the summer, interns will also develop, complete, and present a service project that will provide a meaningful contribution to their site.
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Donate to Our Food Pantry
Our POWER House community center located in Baltimore's Perkins Homes is now accepting donations of non-perishable food items to help stock the Food Pantry. POWER House has been a vital resource during the pandemic for its residents of 629 apartment units who have been receiving regular meals from the site since March. For a shopping list and contactless drop-off details, visit the link below.
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Make a Lasting Impact and Leave a Legacy |
The current pandemic underscores the importance of Living Classrooms Foundation's sustainability in the future and the need to grow our endowment. Make a difference in the lives of thousands of youth and young adults with a bequest, planned gift, or donation to Living Classrooms. In addition to your annual support, you can help ensure the future of Living Classrooms by considering a planned gift to our endowment.
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Living Classrooms Foundation | 1417 Thames Street | Baltimore, MD 21231
Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region | 515 M Street SE | Suite 223 | Washington, DC 2003
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