It's been a whole month since you last heard from me, but it feels like I was just writing a letter two days ago. 2022 is off to a swift and active start! It’s hard to believe that February is already almost over.

I recently reflected on what Black History Month means to me and shared it with our staff. This month has always been important to me and my family, and at Goodman I feel blessed to be surrounded by Black excellence every day. As I told my grandson, Xavier, the Black youth in our community – including him – are living examples of Black history in their commitment to helping others. You don't have to win the Nobel Peace Prize like MLK or host a talk show like Oprah to make history. You're doing it by shaping your community, by advocating for your neighbors and your family. (Read more in the Good News section below.)

At Goodman, the majority of our youth are kids of color, and our program leaders and staff work hard to make sure they have opportunities to display and expand on their greatness. I couldn't be more proud of the work staff and students are doing, and I hope you are too.

Take care,

Have you had a chance to check out the new Goodman Center blog? It is our new home for just-plain-good news happening at GCC and in our surrounding community.

Here are a few stories worth reading:

Our CEO shares some reflections on what Black History Month means to her and her family.

Goodman Center staff put a heavy focus on Social Emotional Learning (SEL) because it's the foundation every child needs to succeed in school and beyond. Learn more about what SEL is and how we foster emotional intelligence in every one of our students, from preschool up through high school.

Letesha and Goodman Center program leaders had the good fortune of hosting the Wisconsin Office of Children's Mental Health on Jan. 26. Read more about that visit and why OCMH sees Goodman as a great example of connecting youth to peers and trusted adults.

Interested in even more community news? Browse all blog stories here.

Summer at Goodman is a healthy mix of learning and fun for kids and youth ages 3 through 19.

Goodman staff take an intentional approach to programming to create activities and outdoor adventures that make learning fun, and kids have the opportunity to just be kids. From STEM activities to arts and crafts, practical gardening and kitchen skills to employment opportunities for teens, the Goodman Center's summer camps and programs are a good idea for children and young people of all ages.

Scholarships and tuition assistance is available for preschool and elementary-age kids. Middle, high school and Girls Inc. programs are FREE.

Our TEENworks staff are both students and employees at the Goodman Center. They're learning important real-world lessons as they build valuable work skills. Part of that experience includes team building, much like employees do with companies every day. A few weeks back, new and existing TEENworks staff paired up to see who could build the tallest, strongest tower out of uncooked spaghetti, marshmallows, string and painters tape. Teens had a blast using teamwork to explore construction and engineering basics, while getting to know each other better.

Our preschool teacher Judy uses puppets to act out social stories with the Purple Room. This kind of interactive story involves the children as they use their own experiences and problem-solving skills to guide the story. The children get to chime in on what kind of conflicts the puppets encounter and the different ways the characters might handle those situations.

At the age of 3, students naturally pick topics that they have personally experienced or witnessed in their lives. These types of social stories help preschoolers develop empathy, understand instructions, build confidence, prepare them for strategic thinking, and give them ownership of situations.

Two weeks ago, Girls Inc. of Greater Madison STEM coordinator Rachel kicked off her elementary after-school STEM club with an eager and engaged group of young people. Here, they're working on Power Packs, folders the youth design to showcase things they're passionate about.

Rachel will be leading a free Girls Inc. STEM camp this summer. Get more info here.

Sign your child up for our Fit Youth Initiative spring sports camps, running weekly from March 14 through May 20. We're featuring activities for 2-year-olds to eighth graders, including basketball, soccer, volleyball and our brand new Intro to Sports, which is great for young players looking to find a sport that they will enjoy.

FYI is dedicated to providing an equitable, low-cost opportunity for all youth to participant in sports. We understand the cost of participating can sometimes be an economic burden and offer assistance in the form of scholarships for our sports camps.

Introducing a new Mindfulness Meditation class, taught by Laiman Mai, who has been studying meditation since she was 19 years old. All ages are welcome and the class meets every Thursday 6-7pm.

The class contains three parts:

We are all about investing in our community now to secure brighter futures for every neighbor.

If you haven't already, there's one simple way you can secure the future too, and even support your community: Creating your will.

We've partnered with FreeWill, a simple, accessible will-writing platform that has helped more than 480,000 people find a sense of security through a plan. It also makes it easy to plan a gift to Goodman.

Take 20 minutes today to join us in strengthening lives and securing futures. Get started here.

Current open positions: 

We love a volunteer who's not afraid to get right in there. Big thank you to Angie at Four Lakes Photo for capturing our Girls Inc. of Greater Madison STEM club in action.

It was her first time donating her time and talents, and she didn't even flinch at the prospect of getting accidentally slimed!

Hours:   

Questions? Contact Francesca at francesca@goodmancenter.org or 608.204.8049.  

This year is off to a great start, and it promises to be one for the books. Thank you for your support. We're so happy to have you in our community!

P.S. We have a new and improved online donation system that's incredibly secure, but we are still working out a few functionality kinks. If you make a gift and notice something amiss, please let us know by emailing amie@goodmancenter.org. Thank you!

608.241.1574 | info@goodmancenter.org | goodmancenter.org

Read the Eastside News, our bimonthy, uber-local newspaper.